Civil Service Day

Tuesdays are meant to be the most productive days for UK workers. Am I feeling productive today? Kinda. Am I channeling this productivity? Not exactly. I do have grand plans - completing my uni applications. These plans are not quite at an implementable level. I have completed one though, so half the battle....most of that was already done though.

Reasons I am not working:

• I lost a scrabble game by 11 points, when it was in the bag until an entirely unforced error. Boo.
• Spurs lost last night. Again.
  
• I have a slight hangover.
• The lovely lovely staircase polisher man is singing along to Magic FM.
• I woke up at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep. This too wasn't that bad, meant I could daydream, giving me control of my screenplay rather than just having to accept whatever my mind chooses. Enough of that.
  
• I am still a bit high from yesterday and can't really be bothered to focus.

So, yesterday. It was the TF Government and Civil Service Sector Training Day. A really good day, learnt a lot about the Civil Service, how the Government is structured, how policy is implemented, the various roles civil servants can take on, the opportunities presented by the Fast Stream, a snapshot into the life of an MP etc. Very informative. Two highlights: visiting the House of Commons, and being taken on a whistle-stop tour of Whitehall while being simultaneously taught about the structure of our political system by lovely Irish Steve.


I didn't know that members of the public can actually sit in on parliamentary debates, but we can, you just have to request a ticket for the Public Gallery from your MP. You can find out who your MP is using theyworkforyou and then email your MP using links from the site. My MP was super efficient (a reason to vote Tory?) and got me a great seat.

We watched questions to Des Browne, Secretary of State for Defence, which was really good and detailed. The department under question gets questions submitted to them 5 days beforehand, and then they have to prepare all the answers. It's good to know that other MPs are questioning the actions of various departments, and also that there's a bit of checking and balancing going on even within the Labour party. I was a bit shocked at how the MPs behaved around each other, lots of heckling and cutting each other down etc. but the Speaker was a good referee and kept them under control (kinda reminded me of dealing with a rather enthusiastic class!)

Anyway this was all exciting enough, but then at about 3:20pm loads of MPs started coming into the Commons and we were all trying to figure out why. Then the big-shots came in too - Cameron and Brown. Mr Brown delivered his speech on the EU Treaty hot off the press, was really cool. Annoyingly we had to leave before it got super juicy, but it was pretty awesome to watch the whole thing and also see the Prime Minister and Charles Kennedy and Ian Duncan-Smith and others too live in action. I wanted to say live in concert there, heehee.

The crazy tour made me a laugh, mainly because Steve doesn't know I did politics at university, and also because I am shocked at how little I remembered from first year...clearly the years of drinking have knocked me out. Bless him though, he answered all kinds of questions and even dealt with my endless comparisons of our government being a large football squad and the Cabinet being the first XI. So despite being really rather hyper all day yesterday, I was on good form and it was educational.

Still a bit gutted that Spurs lost last night, but on the plus side I had a lovely evening with Mouche, with lots of walking and drinking and laughing about silly things. London at night by the river is SICK. It was strange, we were walking through these side roads in the cold cold back to the tube station and Westminster was just silent, it was like being in some village somewhere, very nice. I think the coldness helped keep me sensible, I am proud.


Right I'm going to have a nap to prep for some squash later this afternoon. Rouse, a shout-out to you, I am still laughing at you today, you're hilarious! Maybe I will dream of you and cakes...

Weekend update

Friday night - reunion with the girls from school at Puja's place. Fruli, yum yum, Curacao, yum yum, cherry brandy, yum yum, Black label, oh dear. A night of fun and poker, won the first round (whoop whoop) then battled HW till almost 5 in the morning, ultimately losing. Four hours of sleep wasn't good, but the night was worth it.

Sat night - having slept through the day once I got home, went to a wedding reception. Nice and fancy schmancy. Crucially, the news broke that my cousin Dhushi has got engaged to her Muslim boyfriend. Only slightly controversial in the traditional sense - more alarming that now there is only one female cousin before it is officially my turn to tie the knot. Crumbs.

Sunday - went to the gym. Got screwed over by new parking restrictions and so landed myself a ticket. My "unnecessary costs of driving" now exceed £1000 i.e. a whole grand, a whole month's salary essentially wasted due to my poor driving. Don't even get me started on car insurance aka tax on the honest driver.

Aaaaanyway....had a nice piano lesson, then went to play Scrabble with Mouche, CK and Gid. Mouche is alive and well, and we bonded, very nice. Gid won the Scrabble, but that was ok as he had no sleep last night and is busy seeing two different boys on the trot. CK was all good, but then he got a phone call with some bad news about his grandfather. Am still a little shocked on his behalf, but hope he's ok. Had four pints of Guinness and haven't planned any lessons...the cumulative hangover is growing.

Busy day tomorrow, but, crucially, am seeing the doctor to think of ways to fix my head. Sure you'll love to hear the suggestions, so stay tuned.

Shout out to Yeen, by the way, looong blog no see. Nice to have you back.

Scrabble + Trash Palace

The sun was absent this afternoon so CK and I relocated to The Court near UCL for our scrabbling. Mouche joined us for a bit of a threesome and entertained us all with her fake word of the evening laming - supposedly the present participle of the verb to lame. In theory it sounds like a word, and MT has said that it is, as has dictionary.com, but I can't think of any occassion on which it could be used. Controversial. Also got thoroughly confused when trying to spell that word that means the coloured bit around nipples (areola - but I spelt it aeriole), which, along with CK's imam (turns out this IS a word for Muslim priests, rather than iman as I thought it was) ultimately cost me the game. Sigh. A very colourful board nonetheless including such beauties as: foodie, coy, fart, virile, bricked, mews, vertex, quo, fez and keystone.

After the game and a guzzled 3 pints (my beer baby is growing) we trotted along to Trash Palace (another gay bar I can add to my list courtesy of CK & co.) to see Gid and Josh. Josh told us the sad news that Noor has broken her arm snowboarding, oh dear. Gid is still amazing, even after partying hard for two weeks in New York. I decided that he is very personable, in an Ish kinda way, and that it could be cool if they met, I'm sure they'd get on. Although I'm not sure what she'd say about his gay jokes:

What did the lesbian do on her second date? Hire a U-Haul truck.
What did the gay man do on his second date? Second date, what second date?

I now feel vaguely hungover, which is a bad sign for the work I "intend" to do tomorrow. But a good evening indeed.

Commuter Cupid

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you've had a good one.

Strolling around London, I noted that it was indeed full of love. Very nice. I received the obligatory sweets and note from my folks, and a comedy message from a mate to "a beautiful sweaty Asian"...mmm romantic, heehee.

Decided to focus my entrepreneurial energies on love. Came up with The Love Train. Essentially speed-dating on the Tube, set-up in the style of those random silent flash mob discos (which, despite continually getting told about, I'm yet to attend, although they sound wicked. As an aside, that funkypancake blog is ace!) So, for example, the message would be spread that the last carriage of the eastbound Central line train on departing from Ealing Broadway at 17:57 on Tuesday would be a Love Train, where single commuters could congregate and ease their lonely hearts. Think about it, commuters spend aaages on the trains each day, and there are actually quite a lot of quite fit people on it, so why not spread a little love? It would also be particularly funny for the random tourists that get on that carriage and are subsequently approached by genuine Love Train passengers, heehee. Jade went one step further and told me I could hire a whole Circle line train and have dates going on all carriages for a whole evening, with people just popping on and off as they saw fit. I like the idea of being a Commuter Cupid.

Had lunch with Ladun, who's on her way to America/St Lucia for the next three months. Was lovely to see her; she's one of the few people who can persistently and consistently challenge me intellectually, which I like. I look forward to her changing the world one day. The restaurant we went to made me cross. The bill was £47.20, which included a £5.25 service charge! How ridiculous, considering the place was practically empty and the food/service wasn't great. Boo! The place is called Carthage - don't go there! On the plus side, along with numerous debates about all kinds of political issues, I told her about my other idea of the day to do with transport, which she quite liked. I like it too, but will save it for tomorrow in case it's a dry day on the ideas front. If you need an idea fix, check this out.

Mouchey Peas, why are you rambling on about herons and stalks? More fictional pets?

And finally, the crude joke, which I expect you to try and drop into polite conversation as soon as possible:

How do you know if your sister's on her period?
Your dad's cock tastes funny.

Eeeeewwww. Heehee.

Bricks in the freezer

Having wasted an epic amount of time not making the EAL (English as an Additional Language) maths exam keywords dictionary that I intended to compile this evening, and having not completed a strenuous workout at the gym (Hollyoaks is my downfall), I figure I'd not bother to waste more time but instead just ask you the burning question of the day instead...

So, in the Proper Education video, the kids are all saving the environment etc. and at one point the kids break into a flat and put a brick in the freezer. How is this helping the environment? I can't figure it out and I really wanna know!

Mouche, good geekiness, but what do the words mean? I know I could look them up, but we're all about not taking responsibility today.

Running for the bus

As a rule, I don't run for the bus. When I walk down my road to the bus stop, I always see the bus going past just when I am within running distance to catch it. And I always think, shall I run? But I don't. Why should I run? I mean, I'm inevitably late anyway (perhaps a change in thinking is in order?)

Last night after Mos' surprise birthday party in Oxford (not convinced he was actually surprised, but wonderful fun nonetheless) I got the OxTube back to London and was walking down New Oxford Street at about 3am. I was about 300 yards from my bus stop when I saw the N8 zoom past me. Dang it, I thought, I'm gonna have to wait half-an-hour for the next one. Then, I don't know what happened, but my legs started moving. Really fast. Some might even call it a run. Hahaha, yes, I ran for the bus. And I caught it! It was amazing, I felt like I was flying. Admittedly I was a bit drunk (after only a few drinks, shockingly lightweight!) and I am a big fan of my new K-Swiss. But still, whizzing down that pavement was remarkably liberating. I am much better at running for a reason.




The bus was completely packed and full of chatter all the way home. It was lovely to see all these different groups of people from all over the world, sharing this delightful night-bus journey home. I felt as though we were a little community, brought together by chance. What else will we ever have in common apart from that one journey home together?

Mouche, thank you for the wonderful definitions. I like carapace the best, I think I may invest in one for myself. And yes, you need to blag your way out of work so that we can all go up on Friday night and provide the new Furies with a suitable source of hangover.

Sprouts and MePij, hope all is well.

Jade, I have learnt to play Silent Night on the piano! How exciting!

And finally Rob, if you're reading this, so lovely to see you and Francesca on Saturday, The Three Goats Head is def on my list, so thank you.

Wise horoscopes

Firstly a big shout-out to Puja - well done! See, now I feel loved :) And contrary to popular belief, Puja is real. As is Mouche. And my cat. One day you will all be able to meet each other and certify your mutual existence. This day will probably be my wedding, so there'll be cake and saris involved (an unexpected bonus for you all!).

So, what's new today? Well, I think my Metro horoscope says it all:

‘I can see clearly now, the rain has gone,’ sang Jimmy Cliff (amongst others) and that’s your theme for the moment. Scales have fallen from your eyes. Illuminating insights about a person or situation flood in. Like what you see?

Indeed the rain does seem to have gone. And by that I mean, even when the little monsters try and destroy my soul, I can leave it behind me and move on. Let me quickly touch wood now [touches wood] because I don't wanna go back to what it was like last term. But really, I'm reaching a turning point. I'm starting to care about what I teach, and think about interesting and fun and engaging ways to teach it. I'm starting to do all that stuff we were always meant to be doing (differentiating resources, providing EAL support, modelling positive values, taking an interest in my professional development). Despite having an awful awful Y8 lesson (that little monster D is going on maths department report from tomorrow, he is sabotaging that class's learning) I still feel like today that I could be a teacher in the long-run. Yes, I know this contradicts the whole medicine plan, but it's nice to know that sometimes maybe I have found something that's right for me.

In other news, I'm very pleased it's the year of the pig. What a noble creature. Some useful excerpts:"People born in the Year of the Pig are chivalrous and gallant. Whatever they do, they do with all their strength. For Boar Year people, there is no left or right and there is no retreat. They have tremendous fortitude and great honesty. They don't make many friends but they make them for life, and anyone having a Boar Year friend is fortunate for they are extremely loyal. They don't talk much but have a great thirst for knowledge. They study a great deal and are generally well informed. Boar people are quick tempered, yet they hate arguments and quarreling. They are kind to their loved ones. No matter how bad problems seem to be, Boar people try to work them out, honestly if sometimes impulsively. They are most compatible with Rabbits and Sheep." (not sure what the school would say if I got "compatible" with a sheep...)

Sound like me? I feel kinda like I should be an elephant, but pig suits me fine :) Check your Chinese horoscope out here (this site's description of "pig" people is almost me to the tee. Ooh rhyming!

Family Tales

In the spirit of regaling each other with tales of our families:

I just texted Mosser to tell him we'd have to raincheck our afternoon drinking session. My excuse for absence made me laugh: I have to help my Mum cook eggs for my uncle's surprise 50th birthday party tonight. This sounds completely ridiculous, and yet it is true.

Also I was chatting with my Dad in our family room and in the space of about 5 mins he said:

1. "Good, let them" - in response to my warning that the tax man would come and get him if he tried to avoid inheritance tax.
2. "You could move to Senegal" - in response to my pointing out it will probably be maaaany years before I could afford to entirely independently make it onto the property ladder.
3. "I am bored of giving her money" - in response to my questioning why we aren't giving my Dad's friend's daughter her usual birthday present.
4. "I wandered lonely as a cloud" - kinda outta nowhere, but when pushed on it, he admitted it was Wordworth who first put those words together, and not him as he originally claimed.

Mouche, the book is still about you. The pile of stuff is growing. Want some of my brother's old clothes too?

Oranges

I am reading this book. Very interesting. And not just because I like oranges. Or the references to gypsies.

Weirdly it seems to be about Mouche's life.

I knew Mouche couldn't be a real name...she is masquerading as Jeanette Winterson.

The clues:

1. Big emphasis on the Church - Mouche (or should I call you Jeanette?) tries to keep this low-key, but I know her Sundays are for The Lord (and footy of course).
2. A mother full of "character" - in fact, the mother in this book is almost the same as I imagine Mouche's mother, with lots of quirks but an overall logic that seems to justify them.
3. Jeanette went to Oxford - where did you go Mouche?

There are more clues, but they are harder to explain. Basically it just seems to be written as if Mouche is doing the writing. e.g.

"And now," said a voice, "a programme about the family life of snails."
My mother shrieked.
"Did you hear that?" she demanded, and poked her head round the kitchen door. "The family life of snails, it's an Abomination, it's like saying we come from monkeys."
I though about it. Mr and Mrs Snail at home on a wet Wednesday night; Mr Snail dozing quietly, Mrs Snail reading a book about difficult children. 'I'm so worried doctor. He's so quiet, won't come out of his shell.'
"No Mum," I replied, "it's not like that at all."

Can't you imagine Mouche saying that? Or, more specifically, imagining Mr and Mrs Snail? (Obvy the people who have never met or heard of her will find this bit difficult, but try).

Anyway, I am only 22 pages in, but we will see how it pans out.

In other news, went on a marathon shop in Romford yesterday, epic. Much more productive, mainly because of the presence of PRIMARK, whoop! Today I am contemplating doing some work for school. Unlikely to be done, but contemplation is the first step. Yuck, school next week, booo.