Jo Blogs

30 before 30 - the list

2012-01-30T19:56:00.004Z

At New Year my friends and I agreed that we would challenge ourselves to do some things we wanted to by the age of 30.
I've started putting together a list to tackle in 2012. We decided that a deadline of my birthday itself wouldn't give me much time to get stuff done.

I'm still a bit short on items, but I don't want to pad it with things I don't care about doing.
More will come...

Sell a print

Finish cross stitch

Sell stuff on amazon/ eBay

Join book group

Learn to code

Try cheerleading

Crochet something

Play oboe

Do a class in something

Make some iced biscuits - Biscuiteers style

2011 in numbers

2012-01-22T12:32:00.000Z

It's taken a while to get round to this post, but here we are.
2011 in summary. We had a good 2011, I can't really complain.
There were no massive events, like in 2010, but plenty still...

1 holiday/honeymoon to Italy
1 new job
1 wedding
4 friends had babies

1 music festival - Indietracks
8 gigs

1 American football match (Wembley)
About 5 football matches (I lost track)
2 golf days - the Open at Royal St George's, the PGA at Wentworth

30 books read
1 author book reading

2 exhibitions - postmodernism, Norman Rockwell, 2 affordable art fairs, Midcentury modern show, Pick me up at Somerset house
2 craft fairs - Renegade London, Craftacular
Joined WI
Bought an iPad

52 movies (including those at the cinema)
8 visits to cinema, 3 of which were at the London film festival and 2 for Disney films, and one live soundtracked version of King kong by Rob da Bank

My top music in 2011

2012-01-10T19:30:00.000Z

I didn't listen to so much music last year after switching jobs and being 1) without access to a music player and 2) too busy. But there are still plenty of stats to look at.

My top 20 artists haven't changed too much compared to last year:
Los Campesinos! *
Pulp
Belle and Sebastian *
Blur *
Frightened Rabbit
Two Door Cinema Club
Noah and the Whale
Florence + the Machine
Elbow
Patrick Wolf
Phoenix *
British Sea Power
Yeasayer *
Delphic *
Bloc Party *
Fanfarlo *
Ash
Ben Folds
My Life Story
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart *

* Also in top 10 2010
That's out of 631 artists I've listened to in the last 12 months.

I don't have a top list of albums out last year - I think I am a bit behind with things, must be getting old.
My 10 most listened to albums were:
Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History (2010)
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight (2008)
Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials (2011)
Pulp - Different Class (1995)
Elbow - build a rocket boys!(2011)
Delphic - Acolyte (2010)
British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall (2011)
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)
Patrick Wolf - Lupercalia (2011)
My Life Story - The Golden Mile (1996)

These 10 albums together accounted for only 285 plays - so that's only listening to each less than 3 times on average.

My 15 most listened to tracks were:
Ladyhawke – My Delirium
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Home
Fanfarlo – Fire Escape
Kele – Tenderoni
Delphic – Clarion Call
Gonzales – Let’s Groove Again
Delphic – Counterpoint *
Little Comets – Joanna
Two Door Cinema Club – I Can Talk
Everything Everything – Schoolin’
Los Campesinos! – Letters From Me To Charlotte (RSVP)
Pulp – Pencil Skirt
Beck – Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes
Jens Lekman – When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog
LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends

* Also in top 15 2010
These tracks together accounted for 201 plays, out of 1978 tracks listened to in total.

I was also impressed with myself that I managed to complete a 33 track playlist across the year. Search the music Monday tags for each post or get it on spotify.

Books read in 2011

2012-01-09T15:00:00.000Z

I read 30 books in 2011:

Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

The Vesuvius Club (Lucifer Box, #1)

You Don't Love Me Yet

The Internet is a Playground

The Maintenance of Headway

Tourist

Map Addict

Cryptonomicon

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

The Big Over Easy (Nursery Crime, #1)

Platform

The Death Instinct

The LEGO Book

Eleven

The Girl with Glass Feet

A Tuscan Childhood

The Undercover Economist

How to Be the Perfect Housewife: Lessons in the Art of Modern Household Management

SQL For Dummies

The Celestial Café

Soft!

Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North

First Among Sequels (Thursday Next, #5)

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

The Lace Reader

Information is Beautiful

In total that is 10,363 pages or 28.3 pages per day. The longest book was Cryptonomicon, which I think also took me the longest time to read, apart from Black Swan which I put down for a couple of months and came back to.

I think my favourite was The girl with glass feet, although I also gave Information is beautiful, The celestial cafe and Map addict 5 out of 5.

To read reviews and see how many stars I gave the other books, see my goodreads bookshelf.
My target for 2012 is 32 books.

Resolutions 2012

2012-01-08T14:29:00.001Z

Well, hello, and happy new year. I'm back from the wilds of Scotland AKA a few days on Arran with friends. While the weather may have been ferry-cancellingly bad, we had a fantastic, relaxing time, eating, drinking and spotting wildlife.Now is the time to look back on the year past...I don't think I did too badly on my resolutions in 2011, but that wasn't through any particular effort. I had made them relatively easy and things I wanted to do, which helped a lot.This year, my idea is slightly different. As this is the year I hit The big three-oh, I am going to make a 30 before 30 list.More to come in the next few days....- Posted using BlogPress

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T12:15:00.000Z

I am having a few days break before 2012 hits us with its full force. I hope you have a wonderful end to this year and that the new year is a clean break

I'll summarise this current year in a couple of weeks once I've had time to digest it

Image: Mr Singh

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T21:04:00.001Z

Things have been a little hectic leading up to Christmas, but now, sitting here on the sofa with my OH I finally feel relaxed.

Source: themeadowbrookblog.blogspot.com via [maisontwenty3} on Pinterest

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, however or whatever you celebrate. I also hope you get what you need, even if it is not what you want! For me that's some relaxation time!

Music Monday

2011-12-05T22:51:00.001Z

Just back from WI where we made Christmas table centrepieces. Plus i started making cards last night. So, it's got me in the festive spirit. Let's listen to Tim Wheeler and Emmy the Great. They have a Christmas album out which is worth a listen

Google reader - take 2

2011-12-01T19:11:00.000Z

So, I managed to get the rest of my data downloaded (thanks to this) and after a lot of faffing about, got what I wanted out at the end.

Between October 2006 and last week, I have starred 3,234 items, and read 125,875 (2.6%). That includes a bunch I had previously shared, but then starred when they took away the sharing facility.

As I did previously, I looked at my top sources first. The top 5 are Kottke, Craftzine, Roomthily, Design crush and information aesthetics - only two of which are also in the top 5 of the last 1000 entries.This chart shows the top 52 feeds by starred items. They make up 68% of my starred items.

Overall I have starred items from 313 feeds in total with between 1 and 210 starred items, meaning on average I have starred 10 per feed.

This is over 5 years, and I know my reading habits have changed over this time. For example, wedding blogs have (in the main) come and gone. The chart below looks at these top 50 feeds over time.

It starts to look a bit crazy this year - what was I doing in January/February! Based on the number of months I had the feeds (based on the earliest and latest starred item) I could work out the average by month by feed. I've had photojojo the longest, but I only star 0.5 items a month on average, while I am much more likely to star items - 9 a month on average - on Roomthily. Quipsologies is the feed I've had for the least time, only 9 months, and starred about 8 a month.

I had fun messing around with a bit of Impure and Processing with this data, but I'm not quite up to sharing yet, so you'll have to put up with poor excel charts for now.

Craftacular

2011-11-29T20:41:00.001Z

Sunday afternoon was spent wandering round the Bust Craftacular in East London. There were a lovely collection of stalls, including a few familiar favourites and some new to me.

I queued up to get some signed Rob Ryan screenprinted 'wrapping paper' (so not using it to wrap anything!) and had a lovely chat about dogs with the chap himself. I tried my luck at the Tatty Devine tombola and won me a mustachio ring - hurrah! it matches my necklace

I also had a chat with some of the girls from Shoreditch Sisters WI. Now that I'm a paid up member of my local branch, I thought I should start making connections with the most well known London WI. Might pop along to one of their meetings some time.

I can't say what I bought as it may have been Christmas presents!

This pic is my programme plus the badge I won in the lucky dip at Honksville. Some more great photos on Crafty Crafty, and reviews on With bells on, Make do and mend, and Knitting on trains

Music Monday

2011-11-21T20:00:00.000Z

I'm full of cold and waiting for some wintery soup for dinner, so something to cheer and warm.

This track, Here it comes from Doves, for some reason, makes me think of winter...

Midcentury Modern

2011-11-20T15:20:00.012Z

Through the haze of the fog blanketing London and my cold remedies, I visited Midcentury Modern at Dulwich College on Sunday.

Having been before, I knew what to expect, and it didn't disappoint. I like the mix of original and new design. I think I definitely sit in the camp of those who particularly like the new influenced by the old, however I can't say no to a good bit of ephemera.

I picked up two more (yes, more) People will always need plates mugs, and a Mini moderns tea towel (yay!) plus a Christmas gift from Type king.

This last pic is of a particularly delightful Erdem daybed with Yukari Sweeney London patterned cushions.

Pics mine

Affordable Art Fair

2011-11-17T20:13:00.000Z

I thoroughly enjoyed the Affordable Art Fairs in London a couple of weeks back.

On the Thursday evening it was the late view in Battersea, which we had free tickets for. The free flowing wine helped it along very well as well.

On the following Saturday I had a free afternoon which the OH was at football so I tottered up to Hampstead (so easy, thanks Overground!) for the second of the fairs.

I saw plenty of inspiring stuff, as usual; some of which I was already familiar with, but plenty of new stuff.

You can see some of my highlights on this pinterest board.

Google Reader

2011-11-15T21:39:00.001Z

I'm not too bothered by the changes made to Google Reader, but it got me thinking about what I have read on it over the last 5 years.

Time for a chart...

Click the image for a larger version.

The top sources are Craftzine, Roomthily, Quipsologies, Design work life and Where the lovely things are.

For some reason this only includes just over 1000 starred items, while my google account says I have 3212. Never mind, this is just a first stab. After downloading my data using the link provided on the site, I used a json to xml converter to put the data in a more readable format. That went into excel, and then it was a case of moving things around a bit and getting rid of all the extraneous columns. It's not perfect, but I'll keep trying.

I would have like to have looked at the tags I've used as well, as I think this would be quite revealing - but I don't seem to be able to get these cleaned up very well in my data file. Once I clean them up, I'll analyse.

I should also point out that I have slightly odd behaviour when it comes to starring items. I intermittently go back though and either read the item, bookmark on delicious or save images to visualizeus. I haven't done that for a while so there are some starred items which will eventually disappear.

Update: just been looking and the feed seems to be limited to 1000 records, so now downloaded all the data (using this helpful link) - I'll be back with more number crunching soon

Music Monday

2011-11-14T20:00:00.001Z

Today's track is from Yeasayer.
No particular reason for the choice this week, I just really like the track

Don't forget the Spotify playlist which has been updated throughout the year.

Blog eared corners: Soft by Rupert Thomson

2011-11-01T21:32:00.001Z

I noted this single passage from Soft by Rupert Thomson. I just thought it was so well observed:

Waiting for the tube at Tottenham Court Road one Monday morning, Jimmy noticed a man standing further down the platform. The man was in his late forties. Dressed in a cream-coloured raincoat and a dark-grey suit, he was reading a copy of the Telegraph, which he had folded until it was small enough to hold in his left hand. His right hand moved rhythmically, almost mechanically, between the pocket of his raincoat and his face. It took Jimmy a few moments to realise that the man was eating. What, though? Curious, he circled round the man, edged into position at his shoulder. Then, peering down, he saw three glistening, chocolate-coated spheres. Maltesers! He watched them bounce and jostle in the man’s cupped palm, almost as if they were being weighed. He watched them being lifted swiftly towards the man’s lips, which had already parted, bird-like, in anticipation. He heard their crisp pale-yellow interiors surrender to the man’s determined teeth. Sometimes there was a slight delay, the man’s hand unable to find the opening in the pack, perhaps, and a look passed across his face, the troubled look of a child dreaming, but he never took his eyes off the paper he was reading and in the end his hand always emerged again and moved unerringly towards his mouth. how much of what we do is automatic? Jimmy wondered as the westbound tube pulled in.

Image from stock.xchng

Music Monday

2011-10-31T19:00:00.001Z

Sooooooooo, it's Monday AGAIN! Where is this year going? Already starting to think about Christmas

Would you like some music to make today a bit brighter? How about some Allo Darlin'

We're off to see them this week with Darren Hayman

Vintage rainbow

2011-10-27T21:58:00.000+01:00

Vintage books have brought out a lovely set of books to celebrate their 21st birthday.
The selection is great, including favourites such as:

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE by Audery Niffengger
CAPTAIN CORELLI’S MANDOLIN by Louis De Bernières
ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan
MONEY by Martin Amis

I won't be buying the black covered one though because it's the WOMAN IN BLACK which still scares the pants off me!

But better than that, they are all colourful. By which I mean, you end up with a rainbow of books, with bright covers and matching coloured edges.

A good start for a bookshelf like this

Image from flickr user Santos

- Posted using BlogPress

London Film Festival 2011

2011-10-25T19:00:00.000+01:00

Once again, We've been to a bunch of films at the London Film Festival this year. Much practiced and savvier than ever, we went to some smaller releases knowing that we will see some of the bigger ones on another (cheaper) date.

First up was Sarah Palin, you betcha! The new documentary from Nick Broomfield - quite a favourite in our household. It was suitably pitched as expected, funny but not silly and getting into the hidden depths of an interesting character. It's a shame for the film that she has pulled out the race, but probably not for America, given the conclusions in the film.

The second film was a delightful French animation called A Cat in Paris (not quite translating the original title: Un vie du chat). It was quite an emotional story, and quite compelling, certainly not suitable for little kids, despite how it looked.

Our third choice was one of the restorations, a series of short films about London from the 1920s, part of a series called Wonderful London. They were fascinating, particularly as the lengthy and delicate process of restoring them had been described beforehand, so we could understand a little about the work which had gone into getting them into a condition for showing after all this time.
My favourite was a ride on a cargo barge along Regent's canal from Limehouse all the way to Paddington.

There are a good few films we hope to pick up on their wider release over the next couple of months, such as the Ides of March, We need to talk about Kevin and We have a Pope.

- Posted using BlogPress

Music Monday

2011-10-24T22:43:00.002+01:00

What a busy weekend, Saturday started early (unusual for me!) dropping J off at football, leaving me with a day to myself. I started with a wander round Dulwich including brunch at Le Chandlier, consisting of Russian Caravan tea and pesto beans on toast - something
I'll be trying to replicate at home.

I then took a donder over to the new Westfield at Stratford. And, boy, was it busy. I've never been to shops which need a one-way system to get in. Anyway, it was ok; I didn't really buy anything, and felt it was a bit of an any-mall, not sure it can supply much in terms of Christmas shopping opportunities, which was the aim of the scoping exercise.

Sunday included dropping into the American Apparel flea market at the Truman brewery. It was huge and there were good bargains, but I still don't think I'm quite target audience for all their stock (think neon!).

Later in the day was spent at Wembley watching the American football. I was suitably impressed by the venue and the game. I especially enjoyed the squirrel, yes squirrel, running around on the pitch during the first 5 mins of the game.

So to celebrate a fun weekend and the fact I'm off to see them tomorrow night, today's track is Ash - A life less ordinary

- Posted using BlogPress

Music Monday

2011-10-03T23:19:00.001+01:00

Monday again! How did that happen? We have just had the most amazingly sunny weekend, better than the whole summer and it's October.

Anyway - the music...
Today's tune is from Silver Columns. A dancy number, Cavalier.

They were one of my highlights of Bowlie -so much energy.

- Posted using BlogPress

France trip

2011-10-01T22:31:00.001+01:00

We were in the south of France last week for a gloriously sunny, relaxing and gluttonous holiday.

Our lovely home for the week

We based ourselves a couple of km off the main road through the Lot valley, an hour or so north of Toulouse. From there we explored the local area around Cahors (red wine country) and the medieval towns of the area across towards the Dordogne.

Our car was a beast of a machine with any fancy function you can imagine including a head up display (which I couldn't get used to) and a button hand brake (which I couldn't work). Very efficient, but quite a mammoth on the one track, cliff/river edge roads.

Still, the car journeys gave us plenty of opportunity to listen to French radio. It has an astonishing mix of current music and obscure 80s classics. It's a bit like they collect up the records and start playing them as radio 2 chuck them out.

Just a small section of the vineyards

Being wine country, we thought it only right that we should try as many local producer's output as possible, and at €2 a bottle, it was a feasible plan. Between 10 of us, we got through 50 bottles in 7 days. That doesn't sound too bad, but we also had an additional 10litre box of wine, plus beer, plus port and one night we had cocktails so little wine was drunk.

No wonder I've been struggling somewhat this week.

Besides the wine, the cheese and duck also managed to get sampled on a number of occasions. This included a pizza topped with bacon, duck and something we never translated...

Photos mine

- Posted using BlogPress

Music Monday

2011-09-26T22:34:00.001+01:00

Just back from a trip to France and this was the song of our holiday.
It must have been on the radio every half an hour so we just about learnt the words.
Warning: It's a bit different to the rest of my playlist

- Posted using BlogPress

Mad Men

2011-09-11T16:18:00.000+01:00

How have I only just found out about the Mad Men collection at Banana Republic?

This dress is probably my favourite. Not sure how 50's pockets are - but I'll let that slide, any excuse for having a dress with pockets!

Can I justify getting one of these pretty dresses? I think I'd need to get all the accessories as well...

Music Monday

2011-09-05T17:32:00.000+01:00

The Bees' A Minha Menina -summery. Heard it yesterday while enjoying a range of ciders in a local pub, while it rained outside. Brilliant!

- Posted using BlogPress

Fun trainers

2011-09-02T16:30:00.000+01:00

Nike have brought out a range of shoes at Office using Liberty fabric

Random poetry

2011-09-01T11:30:00.000+01:00

More random poetry as seen on Peonies and Polaroids

The Spirit Is Too Blunt an Instrument by Anne Stevenson

The spirit is too blunt an instrument
to have made this baby.
Nothing so unskilful as human passions
could have managed the intricate
exacting particulars: the tiny
blind bones with their manipulating tendons,
the knee and the knucklebones, the resilient
fine meshings of ganglia and vertebrae,
the chain of the difficult spine.

Observe the distinct eyelashes and sharp crescent
fingernails, the shell-like complexity
of the ear, with its firm involutions
concentric in miniature to minute
ossicles. Imagine the
infinitesimal capillaries, the flawless connections
of the lungs, the invisible neural filaments
through which the completed body
already answers to the brain.

Then name any passion or sentiment
possessed of the simplest accuracy.
No, no desire or affection could have done
with practice what habit
has done perfectly, indifferently,
through the body's ignorant precision.
It is left to the vagaries of the mind to invent
love and despair and anxiety
and their pain.

Music Monday

2011-08-30T22:48:00.001+01:00

A brand new tune from Florence & the Machine: What the water gave me
(Pretending it's Monday today as it was a holiday yesterday)

Hold tight

2011-08-23T19:31:00.000+01:00

Spotted this new collection by Mini Moderns in collaboration with the London Transport Museum.
It's called Hold tight and is part of their day tripper collection.
I think the orange version is currently winning, but all is fiction as we can't decorate the walls...

I think actually we'd need a few more walls as I don't think I could pick only one from their collections

- Posted using BlogPress

Music Monday

2011-08-22T22:56:00.001+01:00

Today's track is a summery one from Ooberman.
Blossom's falling...

- Posted using BlogPress

My web

2011-08-17T20:47:00.001+01:00

Firefox is giving people the chance to create their web as a collage by answering a bunch of questions.
Here's mine

I'm not sure it's completely me but I guess my answers to the questions are to blame!
You can find my desktop or make your own here

Brunch

2011-08-16T21:19:00.001+01:00

Brunch is now officially my new favourite meal.
Work treated my team to brunch at the weekend at one of London's top hotels. It was at the Cookbook cafe at the InterContinental on Park Lane.

The first course was cold cuts and cheese, as well as smoked fish (about 5 kinds!) plus sashimi, salads, and more. But I learned from our experience at Stockholm's smorgasbords, don't overload on the first course!

Next came the freshly prepared eggs, pancakes and waffles. I went for a pancake with maple syrup, nuts, raisins and a spot of cream. The waffles were massive.

Hot dishes were then served to the table, luckily they were just tapas style dishes, so not too much. Leaving plenty of space for dessert.

Always my favorite course for most meals, the puds did not disappoint. There was a range of mini puddings including my choices which were panna cotta, macaron, pistachio cake (probably my favorite) and a little chocolate to go with my coffee.

This was all washed down with bellinis and plenty of sparkling wine.

We didn't leave until about 4.30, continuing to nibble on desserts and chattering away as the staff tidied up around us.The early evening hangover was an unfortunate side effect, but I didn't really mind given the lovely time we had had. I'd definitely go again.

Music Monday

2011-08-15T23:37:00.003+01:00

Sorry sorry! I shouldn't promise what I can't deliver...
Today's tune is from Two Door Cinema Club and their track What you know

- Posted using BlogPress

Indietracks 2011

2011-08-05T21:33:00.002+01:00

Another great Indietracks this year. Just as good as last year's.

I'd describe it as a weekend of sunny, happy times bopping along to indiepop - with some trains thrown in!

Plenty of photos can be seen on flickr

In no particular order, I saw:

Pocketbooks, Math and Physics Club, Milky Wimpshake, Jonny, The Hidden Cameras, Very Truly Yours, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, Edwyn Collins, Herman Dune, Horowitz, The Garlands, Withered Hand, Model Village

Image from flickr user anotherformofrelief

Music Monday

2011-08-01T19:48:00.001+01:00

Just back from having been at Indietracks festival this weekend. The weather, music and company were wonderful. More will follow later in the week...

So, given the indiepop credentials of the festival, we'll have an appropriate tune today: Darling, please come home by Math and physics club

- Posted using BlogPress

Paper cut dress

2011-07-28T19:14:00.000+01:00

This is fantastic and so intricate. But then I would say I loved it given that it is a Rob Ryan design - he can do no wrong in my eyes!

Anorak

2011-07-26T21:24:00.001+01:00

I'm sorry, I've been too busy to blog - naughty me!
Well, today here's we'll have a look at Anorak shop.

I particularly like this kissing rabbits picnic blanket

And if I could find an excuse to buy this trunk... I'm sure it would make our bedroom much tidier!

Lovely stuff!

Music Monday

2011-07-17T21:30:00.002+01:00

Today's tune comes from My Life Story. I love this group, and for a while they were about all I was listening to.
I found out recently that they are part of a genre called Baroque pop. Most of the artists in the linked list are amongst my favourites!

Anyway, back to the track...Sparkle.

Enjoy!

- Posted using BlogPress

Twitter infographic

2011-07-14T13:09:00.001+01:00

A nice personal infographic based on my Twitter behaviour

Come and follow me if I look like your kind of person!
(the rest of the visual.ly website is interesting too if you like infographics)

I love: earrings

2011-07-14T12:25:00.000+01:00

And, these ones are letterpressed!

Images from mxmjewellery, melanie favreau, relydesign, and martalugojewels (all on etsy), and egg press

Crafting

2011-07-13T19:15:00.002+01:00

I was messing around doing some crafts on Sunday and started doing some parabola drawing. This means drawing curves using straight lines. This link was very inspirational.

While I've done a few on paper, I tried one with thread.

You can see it here, on Pinterest
I was very impressed by the fact that I could take a picture on my iPad and upload it straight to Pinterest.

Music Monday

2011-07-11T22:02:00.004+01:00

Today's track is Ladyhawke's My Delirium. This album lived on my iPod for ages, and then disappeared for a bit. But in recent weeks, this track has popped up a couple of times...

Ladyhawke - My Delirium on MUZU.

While I know it's called My delirium, I like to switch in the word chameleon sometimes - try it, you might enjoy it!

My first WI

2011-07-09T14:19:00.005+01:00

This week I went to my first WI meeting. I didn't think I would be going to WI before I even hit 30, but it seems that is a rather outdated idea.

The local group was only set up a few months ago, and needed new members. A friend saw their stall, selling cakes and jam of course, at a local fair and was asked if she would like to go along.

The session was about stained glass, run by a local artist (her story was similar to mine up to the point she gave up her career to go to art school!) and by the end of the session, we had made a stained glass tree between us all.

Definitely going to go back for the next meeting in September. £30 for a year is a bargain. Plus, there's tea, cake, chatting and crafts - what's not to like!

Music Monday (late again)

2011-07-05T22:52:00.000+01:00

We went to see Pulp in Hyde Park at the weekend. It was fantastic.

I loved their album Different Class and knew every word (at the time I didn't understand them all!)

This track is Underwear

And some video footage from the show

Pinteresting - foxes

2011-07-04T18:24:00.001+01:00

I've been looking at foxes this week, as I've been doing some crafting of my own (more to come) which involves a fox

A few choices from pinterest - click on the images to go to their pinterest page, and from there to the source
(for the record: 1: threadless, 2: zara illustrates, 3: nommon, 4: ty wilkins, 5: Robert Comire)

Last.fm stats 2010-11 part 2

2011-07-01T17:00:00.004+01:00

I posted my top 10 artists in the last post. I was interested to see that only 5 of these 10 were also in my top 10 last year. None of them are brand new though.

Bloc Party, Elbow and Friendly Fires have all fallen out of the top 10 this year, Bloc Party seeing its first place outside the top 3.

The last post also showed my top 50 artists chart, these artists made up 45% of all my listens.

28 of my top 50 this year were also in the top 50 last year.

16 have been in there since the beginning (i.e. 2008)
20 are new to the top 50 this year

5 of the bands in the top 50 are brand new bands this year. In total I listened to 414 'new' artists (new to my listening stats). The top one is Silver Columns (ranked 17 in 2011).

Last.fm stats 2010-11

2011-06-30T21:04:00.001+01:00

I'm using two sites to analyse my listening behaviour this year: Two Three Fall's Last.fm explorer and My music habits

Cover of Gorilla Manor

In the last 12 months:

I've listened to 1,003 artists, there are another 798 artists in my library
With 5,953 plays in total
My top 10 artists were listened to 766 times
My top 25 artists were listened to 1,551 times
I listened to 1,773 albums in the last year, and there are another 2,071 in my library
My top 2 albums this year (both with the same listen count): Gorilla Manor by Local Natives and Reservoir by Fanfarlo
I've listened to average 114 songs per week, although my highest week had 270

Cover of Reservoir

Top 10 artists:

You can see the rest of the top 50 here:

And, of course, last graph, which makes the prettiest analysis of my listening

Music Monday

2011-06-27T14:05:00.000+01:00

Harrumph! This didn't post last week, despite me thinking I had scheduled it. Never mind, we are in time for this week now.

This week's tune is from Death Cab for Cutie. They released a new album a couple of weeks ago which I've not had a chance to listen to yet, but it has prompted me to go back to some of their older stuff.
Here is I will follow you into the dark:

If you like my music taste, then please come and find me on Last.fm (more on that later in the week)

Jellymongers

2011-06-21T18:56:00.000+01:00

Jelly doesn't currently feature much in my day to day diet, and hasn't since I was about 7. It might, however, if I had jelly shaped as famous buildings.
Jellymongers have moulds which are shaped like Brighton Pavillion and Buckingham Palace which can be bought from Selfridges (they were limited edition, so it may already be too late!)

If there are none left, you can always buy the book

Images from Bombas and Parr

Burra Bears

2011-06-16T12:29:00.000+01:00

There's nothing like a teddy to hug or a warm wooly jumper - so how about both at once!

These bears are so cute, and the idea came from recycling fairisle jumpers

Image from Burra Bears

Music Monday

2011-06-14T22:51:00.001+01:00

I didn't pick up on this track until quite recently, even though I realised I had it on an album from a couple of years back - silly me!
It's Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the track is Home.
Enjoy

Pinteresting - Colours

2011-06-09T16:30:00.002+01:00

Some lovely things I've seen on Pinterest this week

Images all linked to original source on Pinterest - click through to see more details

Follow me here

The last couple of weeks

2011-06-08T22:08:00.000+01:00

So to summarise...1 - a local fair which included an outdoor version of one of our local pubs (sofas and all). It was shorts weather so the beer paddling pool soon also included children!
2 - a lovely rainbow over the rooftops from our lounge window
3 - mmmmmacaron
4 - my tatty devine lucky dip box

All photos by me!

Monday (ok, Tuesday) music

2011-06-07T14:17:00.001+01:00

Sorry, late I know but worth waiting for. I can't believe I haven't added Bloc Party to the list before.
They usually site, somewhat incongruously, next to Belle & Sebastian at the top of my listening chart.
The track is Helicopter - enjoy!

Adidas Vespa collection

2011-06-04T22:56:00.000+01:00

This is not new - I'm just not that good at keeping up. We saw the Adidas Vespa collection when on holiday in Italy earlier in the year. The leather jacket is very special. It's a guy's jacket, but I'd wear it (probably pretend it was my cool Vespa-driving boyfriend's)

The whole collection was very nice, it's a good combination of brands - both with clear identities, but working together.

We spent ages in the Adidas shop. I was particularly taken by the create your own design trainers, and I couldn't help but get a little excited about the Star Wars collection.

Music Monday

2011-05-30T15:52:00.000+01:00

Bank holiday tune today from Phoenix. This song, Too Young, may be my favourite song ever for dancing to
Hope you enjoyed the long weekend if you had one!

Norman Rockwell

2011-05-24T21:55:00.002+01:00

Sorry I've been awol. Basically, I've got a new job, so I've been a little preoccupied!

I'll get back to the music next Monday, but in the mean time, I thought I'd show you some work by Norman Rockwell.

I had vaguely heard of him when I went to an exhibition about his career at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Image by Ben Terrett via Flickr

Rockwell was an illustrator, most famous for his covers of the Saturday Evening Post. He did this for 47 years. They had all the covers from his whole career, chronologically along the wall of the exhibition. It really helped to illustrate (if you'll excuse the pun) how his career developed.

I liked the way he captured expressions and atmosphere of what he was portraying. A couple of my favourites were Volunteer fireman and Bridge game

Image from The Independent

Music Monday

2011-05-16T20:17:00.000+01:00

Another week, another tune
This week it's the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

First anniversary

2011-05-15T23:46:00.001+01:00

I can't believe we've been married a year already. This year has just flown by.
We didn't go to too much trouble, just a visit to our venue and brunch, but it was lovely. We've decided not to do presents, but instead put the money to one side and do something bigger on our 5th anniversary.

This couple have a lovely record of a year together. You can see more here: J & N Anniversary

Holiday part 3: Rome

2011-05-10T23:21:00.000+01:00

The third and final part of our holiday diary:

Day 1 - we travelled from Tuscany to Rome by train. Good tip - currently on Saturdays the trains are 2 for 1 if you prebook.
This did, however, involve a couple more hours in Pisa. This time we had our cases and so could not be bothered going far from the station. It's not the most salubrious of areas so we found a nice looking cafe where we watched the world go by while we drank (rather expensive) cappucini and had a sandwich.

Once we had got to Rome and settled into our hotel, we thought we'd hit up the sites straightaway. We had missed most of the cultural week in Rome where you can get in lots of the attractions for free, but we thought we'd at least make the most of the last day. The Colosseum was nearby so we headed straight there only to find it closed to set something up ready for Easter week, so we went round to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Its vastness is half of what makes it amazing. The other half is remembering how old everything is as you go round. We managed to spend a few hours there, taking plenty of photos and leaving only when the sun started to set.

Palatine Hill and Roman Forum

We topped the day off with a meal at a place in the Monti area, near where we were staying. The area is full of little boutiques and plenty of restaurants and bars. It's not too touristy either. The area served up eating places for most of our other evenings too.

Day 2 - Having checked it was open, we headed back to the Colosseum, and managed to get in.The tickets you get for the Colosseum/Palatine Hill are valid for 2 days, so we did not have to queue for the Colosseum.
It is amazing, for its size and completeness.

Inside the Colosseum

Much of the rest of the day was spent with my husband's cousin at his home, but in the late afternoon we visited il Vittoriano.This huge monument is not well loved by Romans it would seem. It is quite garish, but if I was in charge I'd probably build myself a large monument too! You can go up onto the roof in a glass lift - quite a test of my minor fear of heights. It is worth it for the views.

Day 3 - On Mondays, most museums and sites of interest in Rome are closed. There are luckily a number of sites which you can visit. We went to the Trevi fountain to start with. But there was no water. I thought I'd been hit by the family trait - famous landmarks will be covered in scaffolding or out of order! Just as I was beginning to complain, a guy popped round the side and switched it on. Hoorah! That made it more interesting than if it had been on all the time. Once it was filled up we chucked our coins in and went on to the Spanish steps. These may win the prize for the most underwhelming site.
Our wanderings continued into the afternoon with a visit to the Pantheon. This may be the most impressive thing I saw in Rome. It is amazing, and even more so when you consider how old it is.
Finally, we stuck our hands in the Bocca della Veritas, just as Audrey Hepburn did in Roman Holiday.

Day 4 - Our morning was spent at St Peter's Basilica. We decided to go up into the dome. I'm not sure this was a great idea overall, but it was memorable. Firstly, we had to queue, then we had to pay (you don't pay to go into the Basilica itself) and then there were the stairs. There are plenty of signs warning of the number of stairs but not the Willy Wonka-esque sloping floors, the tight spiral staircase that feels like it's never going to end and, my worry was, that I was leaning on a wall which I knew was the interior wall of a dome I'd just been looking at from below. We got out onto the balcony on top of the dome feeling rather dizzy and unsettled, not really wanting to go through it again on the way back down.

View from the top of the dome at St Peters

Anyway, back on solid ground, the Basilica is quite grand and full, as you can imagine, with a lot of art, including another work by Michaelangelo. I think we worked out that by the end of the trip, we had 'ticked off' all the well known Michaelangelo works.

Whatever you do - prebook for the Vatican museums! They are busy, with large numbers of people there to see only one thing -the Sistine Chapel. That apart, the museums are full of an amazing array of works of art, both historic and modern. It is difficult to remember that this is a religious place, but is a fascinating museum.
The Sistine Chapel is amazing, we spent almost half an hour, mouths agape just staring at the ceiling. No photos are allowed (which you are loudly reminded of by the 'guards', ruining the atmosphere slightly).

After a busy day, we were headed to a football match at the Stadio Olimpico (Roma vs Inter).We stopped off for a quick dinner at Ristorante all' Orsetto near Piazza della Popolo, and then hopped on the tram up to the stadium. The stadium is interesting as outside are a number of reminders of its Mussolini-led origins.
If we'd got there earlier, we would have also gone to the Stadio de Marmi, but we had missed our opportunity and just managed to peek over the fence.
The football match was ok, I was more interested in the crowd. We were in the home stand near the ultras. They did not stop singing for the entire match, led by a band of conductors. They also had flares and fireworks which added to the excitement (and made me jump out of my seat).

Day 5 - Our last full day started with the remainder of the Roman museums at the Capitoline. In particular, the new extension is very interesting.
Outside the museum is the Capitoline Wolf (the Romulus and Remus statue) which was much smaller than I imagined it would be.

We found it quite difficult to find somewhere that looked good (i.e. not too touristy, not ripping us off) for lunch in Central Rome, and settled on a trattoria just off Via dei Condotti.
One last site to fit in: Ara Pacis. It is a reconstructed Roman altar, which I found really fascinating. It helped having the gaps filled in between the found portions of the building, and the brand new museum building it is housed in is perfect for it. The bonus was an exhibition on social housing in Rome in the basement.
Our last day was spent popping over to the Vatican to send a postcard (yes, seriously!) and then grabbing a pizza. We finished our trip with a visit to ciuri ciuri, a Sicilian patisserie - delicious cannoli and cassata.

The only other things of note for Rome were gelato (actually this was of note for the whole trip - I had to be rationed to gelato every other day or I would have had too much), the lovely shop, mia; and the tiny electric buses.
Rome was amazing in terms of what was there, although it is incredibly busy. Also, the food was not a patch on anything we had eaten in Florence or around Tuscany. Overall, it's worth a visit, but we should have done a little more prep.

Given that we were meant to go to Japan, and had put in nearly a year's planning, only to cancel and rebook our trip to Italy instead just three weeks before going, it was a wonderful holiday.
There was no point at which I thought, this is not what we wanted. Only that, as I mentioned, there were some things we would have done our homework on a bit more.

Music Monday

2011-05-09T13:48:00.000+01:00

Another golden oldie - Symposium's Farewell to twilight.

These guys should have been bigger!

Remember to check out the spotify playlist for most of these tracks

2011-05-05T23:28:00.001+01:00

Lucky me, look what I got:

Birthday prizes by smomo on Polyvore.com

Buy Rob Ryan Vase online at JohnLewis.com - John Lewis
35 GBP - johnlewis.com

Salter Black Electronic Platform Kitchen Scale: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen...
9.77 GBP - amazon.co.uk

Cath Kidston - Provence Rose Little Book of Pins Tin
6 GBP - cathkidston.co.uk

Threadless: Ten Years of T-shirts from the World's Most Inspiring...
8 GBP - amazon.co.uk

Antonio Carluccio's Simple Cooking: Amazon.co.uk: Antonio Carluccio:...
9.99 GBP - amazon.co.uk

Leon: Naturally Fast Food. Book 2: Amazon.co.uk: Henry Dimbleby, John...
11 GBP - amazon.co.uk

Princess Shake : Sweet Shakes : Hope & Greenwood
5.99 GBP - hopeandgreenwood.co.uk

Dipping Adventure
17 GBP - hotelchocolat.co.uk

Cath Kidston - Spring Flowers Ticket Holder
5 GBP - cathkidston.co.uk

Plus:

dip bowl
Pimms & summer fruit jam
Ginger marzipan wrapped in dark choc

Holiday part 2: Tuscany

2011-05-03T22:55:00.000+01:00

Day 1 - When we left Florence we headed back to Pisa to pick up a car, but not before popping in to see what Pisa is famous for. The tower is as wonky as you come to expect, plus there are plenty of people posing for the 'holding up the tower' photo to laugh at.
What you don't expect is the cathedral and the rest of the surrounds in the field of miracles, which are also spectacular but (un)fortunately built straight. The bell tower would not be the stand out building were it not for its lilt.

The leaning tower of Pisa

Time for food - thinking we were going to get ripped off anyway, we didn't stray too far from the tourist area. Pleasant lunch in one of the trattorias in view of the tower.
After this, we decided it was not worth paying to go up the tower, and as we had been advised by friends, Pisa does not deserve any more time, so we went on to our country retreat for the week. This was a converted water mill high in the North Tuscan hills in a village called Comano. I was still getting used to the car and more importantly, driving on the 'wrong' side, so this journey was a little hairy. It was mainly motorway followed by windy country roads, I'm still not sure which bit I preferred.
Time for food - we were lucky that the village had a shop and two restaurant/bars, so we of course had to try out both. Both were good, providing local specialities and classic Italian dishes, with the host reeling off the dishes and providing wine straight from the cask. We tried both the restaurants twice over the week, and cooked (mainly pasta) on the other evenings at the cottage.

Day 2 - Viareggio is a seaside town popular with Tuscans and with a strip of 1920/30s buildings hosting shops, gelaterias and restaurants along the beach front. The beach itself is divided into strips, which, in the summer months, you pay to get on to. I spent my time wandering and then reading on the beach while my other half went to a local football match.
It seemed nice enough, and it helped that it was a sunny day. We did however struggle to find a cash machine on the front (tip:go a block back from the front!) and reasonable food that was not really busy, ending up with a sandwich. We learned that the thing we should have done was queue at the fish and chip boat at the marina!

Day 3 - we had quite a local day and went exploring in the hills. We're not really walkers, so we drove on up into the hills to a reservoir called Lago Paduli, where we had a picnic.

Day 4 - today's drive took us right over the Appenines taking the route that Hannibal took (or so I've been told). This was the bendiest motorway I've ever driven on, plus I think it had the highest bridges, on which I did not look down. We spent the journey giggling at the fact that every bridge and tunnel has a sign giving the exact length before it. Reason?
We were heading this way to go to Parma, but before we went there we visited the Verdi museum in Busseto. The museum is not for those without some interest and prior knowledge. It is also a strange, if satisfyingly good, experience. Rooms in the museum are each designated to one or more of his operas, with the idea that the room acts as a stage set. The audio guide then provides contextual information on Verdi's life and the political goings-on in Europe at the time which had influences on his work. The museum itself has no real exhibits, although houses copies of relevant paintings, and of course plays plenty of the music.
From there onto Parma, utilising their park and ride site just off the motorway to get us into town.

From Pizzeria al Corsaro website

Time for food - Pizzeria al Corsaro - we had to have Parma ham, and so had a plate each with chunks of local parmesan cheese, this was followed by delicious pizza. The kitchen/bar is styled as a boat, as you can see in the photo
We spent the afternoon wandering round Parma, which is a charming town with pretty shops. It is easy to see why it is mentioned as having the highest quality of life in Italy.

Day 5 - another driving day, but this time to the south again, to Lucca. Lucca had been recommended to us by just about everyone we knew who had visited Tuscany. Having been there, this is understandable. It is a charming walled town the perfect size for a day visit.
Our day was spent wandering again, this time round little streets with plants hanging out the balconies and surrounded by buildings painted in those glorious Tuscan yellows and oranges.
The town has its quirks, like the church where they realised they were going to run out of space and so is slightly lopsided, and the tower which has trees on the top, and the oval 'square'.

In the afternoon, we spent half an hour cycling round the walls on a bicycle made for two. Not a tandem but one of these!

From ciclofan

I let my husband take the driver's seat (despite him not driving or cycling normally) but I still spent the whole way round trying to steer, only realising half way round that my steering wheel was not attached to anything.

Day 6 was rained off. Just as well we had planned to have a quiet day.

Day 7 - the weather had improved sufficiently for our last adventure. And adventure is the right word. Suffice it to say, Le Spezia is not a great place and make sure you are at the right station. We were trying to get to the Cinque Terre, a world heritage collection of villages hewn out of a piece of coast. It is not possible to get there by car, so we were attempting to get there by train.
Anyway, once we finally arrived it was fine. There are 5 (cinque!) towns, and between the first two is a pathway called the lovers walk. It's a pretty walk, right on the very edge of the coast.
The railings all the way along the walkway are covered in padlocks. 'Love padlocks' have become a trend in this location to such an extent, they sell them there. Be warned though, we saw maintenance guys with tools, prising them off!
The train was the quick way to the far end of the towns, although you see very little in between as the trains are in tunnels. So, the best way to see the towns is by boat.

Cinque Terre - Monterosso

So that ended our Tuscan adventure - on to Rome

Music Monday

2011-05-02T22:01:00.002+01:00

May already! A retro one for you today: Gonzales - Let's groove again

Holiday: Florence

2011-04-28T16:43:00.004+01:00

Welcome to my holiday diary. Slightly longer posts than normal, so if you are not interested in where we went, and more importantly what we ate then just look at the pictures!

Day 1 - we arrived into Florence on the train (cool modernist station) after flying into Pisa airport and had a bit of a wander to acquaint ourselves with the town. We'd been given a full 15 minute run down by the hotel owner which was really helpful, and he'd scribbled plenty of useful tips onto our paper map.

We thought we'd try and tick off one of the big visits (Galleria dell'Accademia) straight away, but with one hour til closing the queue was too long to risk not getting in.

View from Piazzale Michaelangelo

We carried straight on with our original plan, heading up high above the town to get a good view. Piazzale Michaelangelo is on the far side of the River Arno, and after a short climb up the hill you arrive onto a piazza with great views over the city. We hung around at the (surprisingly not ripping off tourists) bar until sunset, and the views were as good as we had been told.

Time for food - il latini- this was probably the best meal we ate all holiday and on the first night! It had been recommended to us, and the recommendees were right. The waiter asked us if we wanted ham or soup, and it went from there. There were hams hanging above our heads so we went for that. Then followed pasta, of which we were offered three types. When we hesitated for a second, he just brought all of them. Then the main course - the largest steak I've ever seen (and we've been to Argentina!), just as well it was one between two. By this stage we had become quite chummy with the American couple sitting on our table, so dessert was brought for the four of us to share. Still more to come ('how much is this costing??!' chirps my husband), aperitifs and a bottle of muscat, biscotti and the offer of more wine ('please no!'). Amazingly, all that was just €50 each. Go there!

Map room at Palazzo Vecchio

Despite being stuffed we wandered over to the Palazzo Vecchio, which is open til midnight. Luckily for us they had Damien Hirst's For the love of God on display which mesmerised our slightly tipsy minds. The rest of the Palazzo was also well worth a look round. My highlight was the map room, as recently featured in the British Library's Magnificent Maps exhibition and talks.

A terrapin window frame - cute!

Day 2 - this was our main sightseeing day so we packed in the Accademia in the morning to see David; and the Bargello, which also has some art by well known names. In fact, this was a day when we got to see all the Turtles - Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Michaelangelo! Sorry, we're quite childish.

Time for food - Semolina - slightly off the beaten track but this was a pilgrimage for my other half. This pizzeria is half owned by ex-Rangers player Lorenzo Amoruso. The pizza was excellent and the place was full of locals, a great experience, even if the big man wasn't there.

The afternoon was devoted to the Uffizi gallery. It requires quite a lot of time, if only to play dodge the tour groups. You have to wait for them to get out of the way to see most of the major works, including 'the chick on the clam' (otherwise known as The Birth of Venus by Botticelli). This becomes a recurring theme of the holiday unfortunately.

Time for food - Ristorante Buca Mario - slightly more touristy, but still good. It's difficult when all you can do is compare to the night before. They gave us an apron as a parting gift.

Day 3 - the Cappelle Medicee was a good start point in the morning. If I had the money I guess I'd build my family a massive chapel and mauseleum too.

Then on to the Duomo, which is the dominant feature on the skyline from any view of the city. We didn't fancy the queue to go up the dome, as we knew we were planning another one later in the holiday.

And to top off the morning, more Medici goodies at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

Biboli Gardens

It was really hot in the afternoon, and the place to be was the Biboli gardens, which involved a walk across the Ponte Vecchio (meh!). The gardens are huge and we only saw a small part of it, they are quite hilly and it was too hot to do much walking.
The gardens are at the Palazzo Pitti, another fancy palace, which also kept us busy for a bit. The costume museum was worth a peek. You can get tickets for the gardens and/or museums.
Back in town, we visited an exhibition we had been eyeing up on posters. The exhibition, at the Palazzo Strozzi, was looking at Picasso, Miro and Dali and how they influenced each other. It was interesting to see the work of these artists chronologically, even if I needed a little more background info to make full sense of the exhibition.
Time for food - Obika mozzarella bar - we are a couple who enjoy a cheese board, but we usually have a variety of cheese. This was just mozzarella (with some salad, bread and ham), and delicious it was too. It had much more taste than the mozzarella we are used to.
So, that was Florence. This is a beautiful city which is very well kept and although busy, manages this well. I would definitely recommend to people who would enjoy an art/history filled holiday.
Also, worth noting is the Florence card. This is relatively new and needs a little more bedding in, but is worth getting if only to jump the queues, if you are going to visit enough museums. We calculated that we were just about even in terms of cost, but the time saved was worth more.

Spoonflower

2011-04-26T19:43:00.002+01:00

I got a sewing machine for Christmas, and so I now have a valid excuse/reason to look at fabric. I could spend all my pocket money on pretty patterns, whether I had something in mind to make or not - probably not the best mindset.

I remember being told about Spoonflower a while back, but until I had this excuse I had not really got into looking at it in any great detail. Cue an evening spent picking through all the lovelies!

My particular favourite searches included 'map', 'geek' and 'music'

Images from Spoonflower by members: Woo, Primenumbergirl, Avelis, and Marchingbandstuff
Now where to go for some ideas of what to make?

Wish list: Car eyelashes

2011-04-25T11:15:00.000+01:00

Quite crazy but I still want some car eyelashes

I have a little Nissan Micra I call the frog. I think she would suit long lashes

seen on Bust

image from carlashes

2011-04-24T12:05:00.000+01:00

Happy Easter everyone

We're back from our travels. Once I've had a chance, I'll get some posts up about what we got up to

Image from Martha Stewart

2011-04-06T13:13:00.001+01:00

Off on hols for the next couple of weeks. I assume you'll survive without me!

Pic via the bottom of the ironing basket

Music Monday

2011-04-04T23:13:00.000+01:00

Some classic Blur for a Monday

Another random mapping image

2011-03-31T13:51:00.002+01:00

Any idea where it is?

Pick Me Up

2011-03-28T15:43:00.001+01:00

Just realised that's two music Monday's in a row - sorry, things are hectic. Firstly our 'honeymoon' next week has had a minor change in destination from Japan, given the current situation, to Italy. The other stuff I can't really go into just now, but let's just say it's keeping me busy.

We went to the last day of the Pick Me Up contemporary print show at Somerset House yesterday. So sorry, you've missed it!

Here are some prints I liked:

Kate Moross - Recycled bits

James Graham - M is for men

Stephanie Posavec - First chapters - there was a letterpress version with a number of books on, which I think I stood in front of for nearly 10 mins!

There was plenty else to see, this is but a snippet. These were sat alongside some favourites I've seen online like Jessica Hische, Paul Blow and Tom Gauld (these made me chuckle). I'll (hopefully) look at some other stuff later in the week.

In the mean time, I didn't take the camera, but What Katie Does did (?!) so pop over there to see more

Music Monday

2011-03-28T12:16:00.006+01:00

It's the turn of Los Campesinos this week. We have enjoyed watching this lot, I think half a dozen times now. The highlight was at ATP at Camber Sands in 2008
This song is lots of fun and makes it onto just about every playlist I make

You should also follow them on Twitter - tends to be very amusing!

Music Monday

2011-03-21T20:00:00.000Z

I realise I didn't do one of these last Monday, sorry.
I've had this song stuck in my head (in a good way) all weekend: Shall we dance by Liam Frost and the Slowdown Family
I had a good listen to the album while I was driving around at the weekend. It was well worth going back to.

Cool car

2011-03-13T22:08:00.000Z

I'm not searching for a new car but if I was, then I might get one of these Orla Kiely Citroens.
Now I love all things Orla (my buy count so far being a bag, clothes and bedding), but I'd love to drive around in one of these. I'd feel some pressure as I stepped out the car, to look as stylish as I'd expect a driver of one of these to do.

There's only a limited number of them being made, so act quickly.

Images from the downloadable catalogue on Citroen site

2011-03-11T23:39:00.002Z

Thinking of the people of Japan and other affected areas today

Image from The Atlantic

Music Monday

2011-03-07T11:00:00.007Z

Today's tune is a long time favourite: You are the light by Jens Lekman
I love the quirky lyrics of Jens' songs and his Swedishness, which seems to shine through.

Enjoy!

Blog eared corners: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde

2011-03-06T22:09:00.000Z

Image via Wikipedia

First among sequels is the fourth Thursday Next book, so I won't go into story or characters - you should check them out.
Anyway, here's a few quotes I noted as I was reading

This first quote links back to the ideas in my previous blog eared corners post:
"The Library was as nebulous as the books it contained; its form was decided not only by my base description but my interpretation of what a Great Library might look like. Because of this, my library was as subtly changeable as my moods, at times dark and sombre, at others light and airy. Reading, I had learned, was as creative a process as writing, sometimes more so.When we read of the dying rays of the setting sun or the boom and swish of the incoming tide, we should reserve as much praise for ourselves as for the author. After all, the reader is doing all the work - the writer may have died long ago." (p.54)

"'Jolly good,' intoned Bradshaw, eager to get on. 'Item one: an active cell of bowlderisers have been at work again, this time in Philip Larkin and "This be the verse". We've found several editions with the first line altered to read: They tuck you up, your mum and dad, which is a gross distortion of the original intent." (p.179)

"There are three things in life that can make even the worst problems just the tiniest bit better. The first is a cup of tea - loose-leaf Assam with a hint of Lapsang and poured before it gets too dark and then a dash of milk and the smallest hint of sugar. Calming, soothing and almost without peer. The second, naturally, is a hot soaking bath. The third is Puccini. In the bath with a hot cup of tea and Puccini. Heaven." (p.229)

Cocktails

2011-03-02T23:32:00.000Z

Need I say any more, sometimes that's the only thing that will do the job - and I'm not necessarily talking about the booze, more the colours, the mixtures of flavours, and the crazy brained ideas of what can be put together.
Tonight I had a mojito in a jam jar at the meateasy in New Cross.

Last week I had an orange ginger daiquiri at the Arts Theatre club, a speakeasy style bar in Soho. This was just ('just'!) in a martini glass, but they also do cocktails served to share from a teapots with mixmatched tea cups and saucers.

Images: 1 - New York serious eats. 2 - sorry I don't know the source

Music Monday

2011-02-28T11:03:00.000Z

We went to a James Yorkston gig this last week, so I obviously had to add one of his tracks.
This was a really intimate gig in a church, but it was even more special as he was reading sections from his new book, It's lovely to be here. We were laughing at his attempts at accents, Scottish jokes and retelling of stories which he told at the last gig of his at the same venue 18 months ago. I'm in the queue to read it after J though!
Never mind; we were at a book sale yesterday and I topped up my reading pile so it is teetering.

Back to the music, this week's track is Woozy with Cider. Enjoy!

Kate Spade

2011-02-26T20:00:00.000Z

How much do I want a book clutch from Kate Spade! I think at the moment the Importance of being Ernest one is my favourite.

Do check out the Kate Spade tumblr, which is full of colourful photos

Bus blinds

2011-02-24T19:30:00.001Z

Love these cushions from Michelle Mason which can be purchased from the TfL shop.

I admit it, I'm a geek. I also love this cushion, also from the TfL shop.

My dad collects these tickets (yes, I know, that's a bit crazy), so I think that's what attracts me. And that's despite growing up in a home surrounded by boxes of them!

Another random mapping image

2011-02-22T19:00:00.001Z

Another random image created in the process of doing GIS work.

Jasper Fforde at Foyles

2011-02-21T22:31:00.000Z

Tonight I went to a reading by Jasper Fforde of his new book 'One of our Thursdays is missing'.

He is an interesting chap to listen who seems to have the zany mind to come up with the off-beat ideas that his books are full of, and none of the high faluting ideals of some authors. He said that he uses 'narrative dares' to write - in other words, he comes up with a mad idea and challenges himself to write something credible around this.

I also liked his description that the books are high brow meets low brow.

It was quite a mixed audience, which was probably what I expected, given that both myself and my mum are fans, but none of my friends knew his work.

Image from Jasper Fforde website - it won't make any sense if you haven't read the books!

If you are really into it, you can go to Fforde Ffiesta in May

Music Monday

2011-02-21T15:00:00.002Z

Already Monday again! Here's another track for you, cherry picked to bring some sunshine into your day.
Elbow are a perennial favourite, and though I"ve seen them live a number of times, I've never seen them with a full orchestra, as in this video.
Thoroughly looking forward to the new album, which I understand is due out March 7th this year.

I've set up a spotify playlist which I will add the tracks to as the weeks pass. Enjoy it here: Jo Blogs Monday Music

Blythe Dolls

2011-02-20T20:29:00.001Z

How did I not know about Blythe Dolls before? I spotted a photo shoot in this week's Stylist magazine, where designer outfits had been recreated for the dolls.
There are a number of wallpapers available of the pictures, including this one. It's worth trying to pick up the magazine as they've done the whole outfit including the shoes.

Blythe dolls were popular in the seventies, but they now have a cult following, and, wow!, quite a following it is, based on the results of a quick google search.
I've a feeling they may be big in Japan, which bodes well for our trip later in the spring!

Suki tea

2011-02-15T23:26:00.000Z

On Sunday, I got to have some Suki tea at one of my favourite Dundee haunts, the DCA (how I wish I could use their print studio - not that there aren't any I could use in London but it looks more laidback, plus it would mean moving up there!)

Anyway, back to the tea. I had Apple loves mint - a fruity herbal combination containing baby rose buds, which tasted as it smelt i.e. yummy, something that many fruit teas fail to live up to.

Cute tea pots too

Must find somewhere that does it in London

Music Monday

2011-02-14T18:22:00.001Z

This week's is a brand new track, Little Comets' Joanna.
That's my name so I always enjoy tracks with the title. This one is quite good fun.

Happy Valentine's!

Biscuiteers

2011-02-09T23:14:00.000Z

We got a box of these from a friend when we got engaged, and then I got the cookbook for Christmas. I'm slightly scared to make my own, I don't want to sully the good name of Biscuiteers!

So pretty and really yum too.

They have a lovely new box, sweeties

p.s. sorry I forgot a tune on Monday - I promise I'll remember next week

Erdem

2011-02-06T18:21:00.001Z

I keep spotting Erdem's delightful designs all over the place, so I thought they deserved a post.

Erdem by smomo featuring a butterfly print dress

Smell of my youth

2011-02-05T22:42:00.000Z

I was tidying out a huge box of toiletries today which has sat in a cupboard since we moved in 3+ years ago. The box consisted of bits of cotton wool, the parts I'll never use from Body shop gift sets, millions of hair grips, ancient sun tan lotion (why do we keep buying new stuff?) and a box of make up and jewellery from my teenage years.
I should add that some of this stuff is not that old, but there was a lot of glittery lipgloss and dayglo eyeshadow, which I doubt have much opportunity to see the light of day again.

While none of that is very interesting, I was quite fascinated by the perfumes which were in the box:

I had Gap's Grass perfume, which I liked because it smelt like a garden. According to a couple of sources this made a bit of a comeback more recently but I can't say I spotted it.

Benetton's Hot and Cold (I preferred cold by the amounts left in the bottles). I think I bought this one primarily for the bottles which had taps on the top!

Lush's Karma - all I can say is it has patchouli in it. Not really one for wearing to work

Quiddity came in little one-use pods. I was so reluctant to use any so it looks like I only wore this once or twice!

I'm not sure what the lifespan is for perfume, I didn't think it was very long, but there are websites which are still selling these. I haven't chucked them, just in case I want to smell like these again!

Sky Atlantic

2011-02-02T15:19:00.000Z

Great new channel which is going to take up all my time from now on: Sky Atlantic, launched last night and we were watching. The first programme was Boardwalk Empire which is definitely going to be one to follow. Apart from that we're going to get Six Feet Under (I can finally see the final series!), Mad Men, Sopranos, Curb your enthusiasm, and eventually Bored to death - it's HBO but over here.

It always gets me thinking about a question of great importance, as once brought up on Flip Flop Flyin: when you see the HBO logo and hear the "aaaah" noise, which show's theme tune pops into your head? For me, it's always Curb your enthusiasm or Sex and the City (despite not watching it)

Music Monday

2011-01-31T14:19:00.001Z

One of my all time favourite bands, Belle and Sebastian. A slightly older track (partly because I couldn't get embed code for those from the new album - hurrumph! - but you should definitely check it out: Write about love)

It's also worth checking out the God help the girl version of this track

House Doctor

2011-01-27T22:50:00.000Z

I just came across this lovely interiors company, and then once I went on a little search I realised I'm way behind the times and had actually read about this a bunch of time mid-last year! But I'll do this anyway...

Pictures speak louder than words:

And a stockist: Mabel and Violet
Go look at Decor8, where there are a number of posts including this one

Images from House Doctor recent catalogue, found on visualizeus

2011-01-25T21:28:00.000Z

I've managed to get signed up to Pinterest.
This place is full of inspiration and pretty things

Even if you're not signed up, it's worth taking a gander
I'll try and share some nice things I find

Image found on Pinterest originally from Purl Bee

Music Monday

2011-01-24T13:00:00.001Z

This week's tune comes from Fanfarlo.

Random band name generator

2011-01-20T22:54:00.000Z

I heard about this through BBC6music this week. You have to take the title of the article which comes up when you click this link – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
This is your band name

Next, you go to this link http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your album

Last step, click www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Mine turned out as:

Image from flickr user PDXErin

2010 in numbers

2011-01-19T13:55:00.003Z

2010 was a good year, I have no complains, despite little irritations (e.g. our flat is starting to feel like it needs some work, 2011 may be a year to move) we had a better year than some people we know, and for that we are thankful.

The absolute highlight of the year was marrying my sweetheart.

1 other wedding - in 2 parts, involving 2 of our 3 trips to Scotland this year
1 holiday/honeymoon to the South West
1 weekend break with the girls to Lancashire, including a visit to Blackpool
(I just realised I didn't leave the UK in 2010!)

2 music festivals (Indietracks and Bowlie)
Only 5 gigs - down again on last year
1 comedy show (Frankie Boyle)
2 cricket matches (2020 at Oval and 5th day of test at Lords)
3+ football matches (non league!)
1 day at the Ryder cup (yes, the wet day)
Joined a gym and went half a dozen times

30 books read

7 visits to cinema, 3 of which were at the London film festival
47 movies (including those at the cinema)

I should start to record some other interesting stats, I did start in my diary recording where we went out to eat and drink, but it didn't really last - maybe this year?!

Books read in 2010

2011-01-18T18:30:00.000Z

I read 30 books last year, which since I started recording, is some kind of personal record.
But it's not just the number of books, it's the number of pages which is important.

The grand total is 9,658 pages! Impressive eh! (well I was impressed until I worked out that's the equivalent of only 26.5 pages a day - slightly less impressive!). In 2009, the total was 8,506

The book I read fastest was Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (on train journeys on a weekend away, great reading time!)
The book I read slowest was A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by Dave Eggers, and if anyone else has read that, you will understand - it's dense but brilliant, you need to take your time over it!

The full list:
Lost in a good book by Jasper Fforde, Status anxiety by Alain de Botton, Addition by Toni Jordan, A heartbreaking work of staggering genius by Dave Eggers, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Happiness TM by Will Ferguson, Well of lost plots by Jasper Fforde, The Shack by William P Young, The gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, One day by David Nicholls, Personal days by Ed Park, Nectar by Lily Prior, Special topics in calamity physics by Marisha Pessl, Emotionally weird by Kate Atkinson, Interpretation of murder by Jed Rubenfeld, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan, All quiet on the orient express by Magnus Mills, The book of revalation by Rupert Thomson, Library of shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard, Something rotten by Jasper Fforde,Anansi boys by Neil Gaiman, Her fearful symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, The smiling school for calvinists by Bill Duncan, The Romanov prophecy by Steve Berry, Mr Dixon disappears by Ian Sansom, No and me by Delphine du Vigan, In the miso soup by Ryu Murakami, Buyology by Martin Lindstrom, How to talk about books you haven't read by Pierre Bayard, All my friends are superheroes by Andrew Kaufman

I read so many good books last year I really couldn't pick a favourite, but highly commended are Her Fearful symmetry, The shack, One day and the Gargoyle.

I didn't read anything I wanted to give up on either!

For reviews see my shelf on shelfari

Image from flickr user Krisatomic (as seen on Where the lovely things are)

Music Monday

2011-01-17T18:14:00.000Z

Monday again, and a tune for you.
I can't tell you why I like this but I do

Everything Everything - Schoolin'

Jo Blogs

30 before 30 - the list

2011 in numbers

My top music in 2011

Books read in 2011

Resolutions 2012

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

Music Monday

Google reader - take 2

Craftacular

Music Monday

Midcentury Modern

Affordable Art Fair

Google Reader

Music Monday

Blog eared corners: Soft by Rupert Thomson

Music Monday

Vintage rainbow

London Film Festival 2011

Music Monday

Music Monday

France trip

Music Monday

Mad Men

Music Monday

Fun trainers

Random poetry

Music Monday

Hold tight

Music Monday

My web

Brunch

Music Monday

Indietracks 2011

Music Monday

Paper cut dress

Anorak

Music Monday

Twitter infographic

I love: earrings

Crafting

Music Monday

My first WI

Music Monday (late again)

Pinteresting - foxes

Last.fm stats 2010-11 part 2

Last.fm stats 2010-11

Music Monday

Jellymongers

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Burra Bears

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Pinteresting - Colours

The last couple of weeks

Monday (ok, Tuesday) music

Adidas Vespa collection

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Norman Rockwell

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First anniversary

Holiday part 3: Rome

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Holiday part 2: Tuscany

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Holiday: Florence

Spoonflower

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Wish list: Car eyelashes

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Another random mapping image

Pick Me Up

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Cool car

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Blog eared corners: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde