Getting back to it

Just for the sake of getting back into the habit of blogging, here's a little post. I can hardly believe it's been nearly two whole months since my last entry; I'm so negligent! Many thanks to those of you who kept checking in now and then.

What have I been doing since May 7th? Work's been extremely, so I probably saved my limited readership much boredom reading about work complaints, and a lot of my weekend days leading up to the Moonwalk were spent training, walking for miles and miles all around Edinburgh and the Lothians. The Moonwalk was two weeks ago and was a success (i.e. I finished with no ill effects and raised lots of money for breast cancer research). There's one photo on Flickr of my cupcake-themed bra. Many more were taken, but they're not especially flattering, so I'm sparing your eyes.

I can't think what else has happened of note. Nothing, probably. If I think of things, I'll write about them -- promise!

Mom's Rising

Listening to Radio 4's Woman's Hour on Monday morning, I heard some horrifying facts about women's employment rights in the United States (click on the link to listen). It's ridiculous that the wealthiest and one of the most developed countries in the world should be comparable in this regard to countries like Lesotho and Papua New Guinea. It's made me realise how lucky I am to work in the UK as a young woman and is certainly something to take into account when considering a future career move to the US.

Volver

Chris and I finally saw Volver on DVD last night. I really enjoyed it, but Chris thought it was weird, overly melodramatic and not Pedro Almodovar's best (he particularly disliked the long face and rolling eyes of Sole but appreciated Raimunda's cleavage). I'll grant that it wasn't the best of Almodovar (Talk to Her is), and there's no way Penelope Cruz actually did the singing for her role, but it was still good, and better than a lot of films I've seen recently. All the reds and greens were stunningly vibrant, and I loved Raimunda's skirts and tight cardigans, reminding me of aspects of both Amelie and Chocolat.

We also saw March of the Penguins earlier in the week (we're way behind in our movie-watching). How flipping cute were those babies learning to walk on top of their mamas' feet? However, we both enjoyed the bonus DVD feature focusing on the experience of the two French men filming in Antarctica better. Amazing!

Sick Saturday

I've come down with a cold just at the start of a three-day weekend. My head aches, my throat is scratchy and my nose is runny and Chris is noisily chopping a few inches off the depth of his enormous desk, which doesn't help the sore head situation. I had to take work home this weekend in order to meet some deadlines, too, so I'm pretty fed up. However, the sun is shining and I've got new sandals on, so I might take a small walk once my latest aspirin takes effect.

Since I don't feel like doing much else, I've gone back to knitting my pale blue Flair swing coat, which I hadn't touched since before going to Barcelona. At this rate, it might be finished by the end of the summer.

Getting into my stride(s)

Summer shoe fever has struck! I bought a much-coveted pair of turquoise Birkenstock Madrid sandals at lunchtime today from a little boutique on Broughton Street called Bliss. I had my eyes on them last summer, but couldn't justify buying them. Now I can, and my lust has been fulfilled. (I planned to link to them on their website, but they don't seem to offer them online in turquoise anymore. I got them just in time!)

Kate Moss at Topshop

I went into Topshop at lunch today and saw the new Kate Moss collection for the first time. It was underwhelming, to say the least. There was one dress that was quite cute on the hanger (the cream-shot-with-gold muscle back dress), and which I would have worn when I was thinner and a teenager, but which wouldn't flatter me at all now, and when I just looked at the website and saw Kate modelling it, I realised it was horrid even on her. Stink! Other items in the collection included a mustard and black pinstriped fitted waistcoast, matching hotpants, sailor-style hotpants, a waistcoat covered in metal coins, and a variety of plain cotton vests/tank tops. Nice...

However, I did buy a cute pair of brown gladiator sandals for cheaps (outwith the Kate Moss collection) that I foresee myself wearing all summer long. Yay!

Name the Fraggles

Who, from memory alone, can remember the names of each of the five main Fraggles in Fraggle Rock? I could only remember Red, but I loved that show. I'm appalled with myself.

Twelve miles

As training for the MoonWalk on June 16th, my teammates and I walked from Cramond to Musselburgh on Saturday. It took just over three hours and afterwards we treated ourselves a delicious lunch of cheeseburgers and ice cream sundaes at Luca's in Musselburgh. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that difficult and, although I was knackered on Saturday evening, I'm not even sore today. Fantastic! More long-distance walking to come in a couple of weeks.

Addendum: Oddly enough, I got sunburnt only on the right side of my face and neck. We were walking more or less directly west to east along the coast, so my right side was directed south for three hours from 11am to 2pm, but I never realised it would make such a noticeable difference when it came to UV exposure. Weird.

Homage to Catalonia

I've been back from Barcelona for a few days now, but haven't quite got back into the swing of posting yet. We had a lovely relaxing time in Barcelona, with beautiful weather and lots of cerveza, cava, ice cream and tapas. It's certainly up there as one of the most stunning cities I've ever visited (the history, the architecture, the museums, the palm trees!) and the public transport systems were very clean and impressive. I must go back and revisit it in the near future because there was so much to see and do and four days simply wasn't long enough. My recommendations: El Xampanyet cava bar down the street from the Picasso Museum (drink the yummy xampanyet (the local cava) and the sardine tapas), the Gaudi-designed Casa Batllo, purchasing a Barcelona Card for unlimited travel on the subway and buses and free entry into quite a few museums, and taking a leisurely walk around the parks on Montjuic, near the Olympic stadia.

While wandering around the Born neighbourhood, we came across this closed shop. Unfortunately, the shop stank of mothballs, so I didn't buy any of their otherwise lovely yarn when we went back the next day.

Barcelona bound

I'm off to Barcelona tomorrow for four days, so I'm afraid there won't be much blogging this weekend. However, I promise to post lots of photos and things when I return next week! I'm away to pack...

Shout out

My oldest brother, Richard, is in the May issue of Popular Science magazine. As our mother would say, "Isn't he clever?"

He's the one standing on top of the white pickup holding a notebook.

Dance me round and round the kitchen

The race for Dallas mayor is on and I've received my overseas ballot in the mail. It always feels a little weird that I'm allowed to vote in local US elections, given that I haven't lived in Dallas for twelve years and not since I've been of legal voting age, but I appreciate my enfranchisement and do generally vote (even though after the 2000 election debacle, I suspect my overseas vote isn't necessarily counted). In order to make an informed decision, I've been trying to read up on the candidates in The Dallas Morning News. It's not very easy, though, so I don't feel any more enlightened and am still undecided.

There are Scottish MSP elections coming up next month, as well, and in which I can also cast a vote (yay, dual citizenship!), but I don't yet know anything about my candidates for that race, either. I'd better get reading the paper.