Archive for January, 2007

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Sunday, January 28th, 2007

I first read Animal Farm for English class in high school, back when I was fifteen years old. We were told of course that it was based on the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalinist Russia, but I was yet to formally study Russian history. Re-reading it now, it is striking how closely the [...]

Caitlin is doing a snow dance

Monday, January 22nd, 2007

After months of unseasonally warm weather, it’s finally getting cold. Apparently it could even snow this week, although the official forecast is only for sleet.
I hope it snows - sleet is nasty and cold and wet whereas snow is beautiful and romantic and cold and wet. So I’m doing my best snow dance right [...]

Birthday bash in Cardiff

Monday, January 22nd, 2007

My uncle Chris celebrated his 50th birthday on Saturday and my boyfriend and I headed up for the bash at his house in Cardiff. Happy birthday, Chris!
My aunt Michele (left, in the purple dress) had prepared a fabulous spread of food - some of it with ingredients from her garden - including salad and quiche [...]

Making the most of LinkedIn

Monday, January 15th, 2007

I think I signed up to LinkedIn.com (a professional networking site for the those not in the know) a couple of years ago and forgot about it. A couple of invitations for connections here and there prompted me to periodically update my profile but I never really thought much about it or found it terribly [...]

Corporate Royale

Sunday, January 14th, 2007

I know I’m a bit behind the times but I finally made it to see the new Bond film last night.
Casino Royale is every bit as entertaining and stylish as its predecessors. It is also a lot smarter than the average Bond movie (or at least the recent ones), with a great deal more emotional [...]

Lambs and daffodils in winter

Saturday, January 13th, 2007

This is my third winter in London and its certainly the mildest so far. Normally at this time of year, I would be bundled up to my eyebrows with hats, scarves, gloves etc. This year I am wearing a coat but I don’t really need to do it up and I don’t need the accessories [...]

Literary quiz

Wednesday, January 10th, 2007

Last night’s meetup for BookCrossing was a literary quiz as a fundraiser for RNIB for talking books.
Last night we raised £187 - to be added to the £453 already raised - but the target is £2000 - the cost to produce one talking book. A whopping 96% of books are never made available to people [...]

2006 in theatre

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

The theatre - plays, musicals and ballets - I saw in 2006.
January: The Soldier’s Tale, Old Vic (my review)February: Resurrection Blues, Old Vic (my review)March: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Apollo Theatre (my review)August: Market Boy, National Theatre (my review)October: The Producers, Theatre Royal my review)Daddy Cool, Shaftesbury Theatre my review)November: A Moon for the [...]

2006 in travel

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

My travel itinerary in 2006.
December-January: Australia (Sydney and Queensland)January: Shanghai, ChinaMarch: Belgium (Bruges/Brugge and Brussels)April: UgandaMay: Italy (Rome, Umbria, Florence and Pisa) - I don’t seem to have written about this!June: Paris, FranceCardiff, UKJuly: Birmingham, UKTanzaniaScotlandJuly-August: Norway and Spitsbergen in the High ArcticDenmarkChristiania (community within Copenhagen that claims independence from Denmark)August: Cornwall, UKSeptember: Whitstable, Kent, [...]

Miss Potter

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

I took myself to the movies on Friday night and saw Miss Potter, the new film about the life of Beatrix Potter. I really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who loved Beatrix Potter’s books (the tales of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, Jeremy Fisher et al) as a child. It’s not thrills and spills [...]