Ha! I've just done the quiz.. what 20th century theorist are you? and I ended up as (and as I can't make the link work....) quote-

Martin Heidegger! Your reputation is stained a bit by the fact that you were a member of the Nazi party, but your groundbreaking Being and Time is still read by a whole lot of people. You overuse the hyphen, and make up a lot of words. You died in 1976


Oh dear oh dear......trouble is I have always been vastly impressed by Heidegger's Being and Time - and his phenomenoligical outpourings - and he always stressed authenticity as being so vital, which I totally go with - though he does look at it all with a somewhat anthropocentric perspective - and yet he was a Nazi ??? how could he have been? this is something I have pondered for a while.... as you do............ ahhh well it is friday afternoon - a time prone to ponderings. ...and I was awake at 4.00am (Thanks Sacha! XX).... need sleep

Been a busy week! Most amazingly won the pub quiz!!! Maybe because it was a quiet night, it was raining hard when we headed to the Mayflower and we realised that competion might be lessened because of teh weather but I think actually it was the fact that this week we joined forces with 4 other people! Romped home to a win and I do so like winning! Trouble was that I'd already had my alloted sensible amount of red wine and as we won just about the right amount for a round of drinks it seemed appropriate to celebrate our victory with a large glass!! Sadly I barely remember the walk home, but woke with the taste of victory in my mouth the following morning, or was that............?
Then to the comedy cafe with Pete on wednesday night. Now wednesday night is a bit of a dodgy one to choose..... it's free to get in which is good but you get to watch 5 or 6 virgin comedians stutter and stumble their way through their, obviously well prepared, little 5 minute pieces. Hhmmmmmmm some of it was excruciatingly painfull, one poor chap launched himself on the stage, voice barely audible and blurted out his punch line for the first joke before he'd actually managed to relate the joke, you could almost see his brain scrambling to rejoin his head and fight to regain control of his mouth... but he was better than The Canadian who became so obnoxious and abusive that he left the stage with everyone now with a well defined hatred of any canadian whatsoever... Tim Styles was good and I even remember his name! Actually it was a very enjoyable evening!

Life has an odd way of imitating TV at times! Last night I felt I was totally immersed in a soap plot. Sometimes it is all truely unbelievable .... so ........ last week had me down to my last 90p and it was 4 days from pay day. Oddly I resigned myself to my, somewhat habitual, penury as I walked out of the tube station late that night. I felt totally calm and just shrugged my shoulders and decided not to worry about it as I could always cycle to work and I had enough food, so philosophically reconciled I turned the corner and there, right in front of me, lit by the glow of the street light was a £5 note! So I had more than enough to get me through the week and felt very grateful to life for supplying my need.
and then last night..... got home from work really tired but a friend phoned to say could she come swimmming, flatmate Sarah was up for it too so the three of us headed around the back of the building to the pool. Must admit to not actually swimming for more than 5 minutes before heading for the heat and bubbles of the jacuzzi.... ended up all three sitting in there and conversation turned to my friend's next date, she has a boyfriend but has been asked out by a mega rock star to go to lunch..... I suddenly realised the vast contrast ... last week I was picking up someone's lost change and being really in need of a few extra pennies This week I am lounging in my jacuzzi with 2 friends discussing the dilemma of dating rockstars!!! Life is a bit weird at times! But at least it isn't dull!!!

Last night after cycling home, and as usual getting lost, I went out........ wandered up Rotherhithe Street and eventually came to a part of Rotherhithe I have never been before, discovered a job centre, health centre and the object of the search, a library! It was brightly lit and the doors were welcomingly open so after taking a deep breath I headed up the steps. Inside I could see a gathering of people so I aimed for that, chairs were set out in a circle and a number had already been claimed. In one corner a couple of women were pouring wine into glasses and chatting, after a couple of seconds of taking in the scene I introduced myself to a wine pourer and was welcomed into the fold, offered wine and asked to find a chair. I had made it into my first reading group experience!!!! The group was larger than I anticipated and quite diverse though I guess the majority were 50 something women there were exceptions.. the young Chinese man and 40 ish gay bloke being the most obvious. The book they had read last month was Washington Square by Henry James, obviously I was at a bit of a disadvantage as I hadn't read it but it turned out I wasn't the only one and the conversation was lively at times challenging at others and dire on a couple of occassions. Turns out that next month they don't have a book to read but are having a Christmas party, so it will be January before I can really expereince the whole reading group thing... I have to produce a list of my favourite 10 books before the Christmas Party though, so that will take some thought!!

Interesting article in The Onion about what to do if Mom discovers your Blog! Think I have tackled this one in reverse....... when living in Cambridge I had my blog in my favourites list. Then Josh started using my computer, he looked and read about himself!! He wasn't too happy about my interpretation of his actions! It was about the time they told me of Hayley's pregnancy and so I had written about it (April?) ....... it's difficult to totally avoid the personal and so my policy is to put stuff that I would say to the person involved and if I wouldn't do that then it's best not to include it in the blog.........

Had a weird conversation about acid with J&J recently which I didn't write about as I have at times been a long way away from an available computer...... suffice to say the conversation was about shared experiences and how some stuff just hasn't changed!! Must admit I had never thought I'd be having a 'my favourite trip' conversation with my boys!!!

Home at last and it is utterly lovely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Feel very very lucky to have found it. The flat is gorgeous and already we have pictures on the wall, books on the bookcase .... it is a home! Even been very efficient in sorting out the phone line so am in touch with the world, just need a computer and life is complete.... and the swimming pool is a bit of a bonus!!!! As I haven't been sleeping too well and have been wide awake very early I am now able to don big hoody and trackie bottoms and with just a quick walk around the building I am at poolside within a minute of leaving the flat..... I have had the pool to myself, well it was 7.30! but actually being alone in a pool gives a real sense of pure enjoyment and freedom...... dived in, swam a few lengths and then realised I didn't need to just go up and down but could go in circles. Amazing what years of ingrained behaviour can do in that it took me a while to work this out!! So I swam and loved it........ will work on a few breathing techniques over the winter and then maybe that triathlon wont seem so impossible!!!!!! Life is good!

Ha! Now I know what I have been doing for the last three weeks... Sofa surfing!!!!!!!!! well I have surfed the internet, surfed the sea, surfed a set of concrete stairs on an ironing board, windsurfed, surfskied and now I am an accomplished sofa surfer too!!! It's amazing the skills you can clock up without even realising... Read an article in th Guardian yesterday about the phenomenon of sofa surfing and luckily my experience has just been a temporary blip but there are others out there who for various reasons, mostly to do with cost of housing and lack of decent references, have to rely on the support and kindness of friends for long periods of time. Must be awful to have no home and no personal space for a protracted period, three weeks has been enough for me ... though I don't know how to say a big enough thank you to friends who have given me space and time........ Many many thanks

and tomorrow I move into my new flat... will bring news of life with flatmate...