Gordon Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares – Morbid curiousity

As a vegetarian and a bit of a lefty rebel, I am programmed not to like Gordon Ramsay and his slightly macho persona.  However, last night saw the return of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares which for me is like watching a car crash and then feeling satisfied afterwards.  Haha, no I don’t get off on watching accidents but there is always a morbid curiousity if you ever see one on the motorway and this is just that.
Despite his acerbic opinions about Vegetarians and anyone vaguely left of the central barometer, he makes for compelling viewing and kind of reminds me of my stepdad in a sort of macho, down to eart way.  There he goes, whipping lazy chefs in to shape, ruffling as many feathers as possible and promoting ‘fine dining’.  OK so he is effectively a consultant who comes in and just transforms the entire business regardless of what people think, but the man actually knows what he’s talking about (at least it’s edited that way).
It was interesting last night because the series kicked off with Allan Love, big name of stage and screen (before my time?) and his failing Oyster restaurant.  However it was edited, it gave the impression that Ramsay actually could turn off the big man switch when Love frequently broke down in tears, and frankly I felt that there was more to him that was let on.
Whipped up the staff with motivational excersises and just generally saved the day, minus a few episodes of drama which always makes for good telly.
Afterwards, it all changed and they settled on Fish and Chips scrapping the Oyster menus etc.  And Ramsay saves the day again.

So, that was really the most television that I will ever watch all week, but it did leave me with the dream of running my own veggie restaurant.  But as usual, it all looks easier then it really is and I have no experience so that leaves me at a bit of a disadvantage.  Plus I can’t cook.

http://www.lovesrestaurant.co.uk/ 

Monday madness makes me morbidly merry

Today is Monday, the beginning of a new half to the term and the countdown to December 15th  well underway.  If you have read this and got a phone call about RSVP’s then that is because you didn’t send a card back, as we are trying to get everyone to send a card so we can collect them together as a sort of memory, archived thing.
Feeling good after a rested nights sleep and nice breakfast, focused and enthusiastic.  I love it when I feel this way as things get done and I do not dwell on anything.
I am not feeling as ‘mortal’ as I have been, not sure if this is a good thing or not? But I feel energised and more alive then I was 6 months ago.  Life is starting to continue.

I haven’t really thought about anything intellectual recently, I have started to have excellent ideas for poetry and if I get the chance I will whip up some found poetry! (poetry constructed from existing texts), it’s not creative laziness just an added avenue of expression.  In fact, it can be argued to be more intensive then sitting at a keyboard and just expressing yourself, keep an eye on Cheesegreen for the results.

Photography has taken a back seat for the minute, the light is getting worse, my time and motivation is becoming shorter and smaller but I am sure it’ll fire back up soon enough. 

-Social? You? hahaahahha (I heard myself say)

I know its weird, I am going out tonight.  The teetotal thing didnt work out really did it?  Although I doubt I’ll drink a whole lot tonight anyway, but it’s going to be nice to go out for the first time in months even if it is with work peeps.  But it is Exeshed! Yey!
I have found this half term very hard to focus, pretty much because I have been on my own and constantly feeling unfocused.  Easier to focus when students are here!

Things that make you go mmm

I got my copies of the letters that have been sent to my GP and to my Oncologist down here and it says that the largest nodule is 5mm.  I never really thought that it was that big really, and when I read it last night I was quite shocked.
So, second day of half term, and today might be the day that we go down to Falcon House to play with MyPC which got rolled out earlier then it should have.  Will be nice to have an excuse to get out of the college for legit reasons apart from getting milk, which we now can get from the new cafe on the first floor.
I am feeling rather rotund today, need to start the diet for the wedding.

FRIDAY!

“Can you believe it?” Chris sprung off his bean bag as he rubbed his eyes blearily as the sun started to climb over Exeter, sleeping soundly.
“It’s FRIDAY!” he shouted, running out of the door with little on, he managed to eat his trousers and put on his toast and feed the toothpaste and finally brush the cat.
Jumping in to the car Chris drove to work unaware that he was not wearing anything but a stale piece of toast.

Finish it.

My challange to everyone that reads this blog is to come up with what happens next…

 Anyway, it is Friday and I about as focused as a small beetle that has crawled in to the lens of a giant telescope.

thinner-Winner, baby ducks

I didn’t saunter in to work today, I sort of stumbled in a painful aching mass.  The computer still plays up when it starts loading my profile and the students that I have had so far today have all been gits.

I have just over heard a student bragging about how one of her mates broke a baby ducks legs, and then fell in the pond as ‘punishment’.  I am quite upset by this, being the empathetic mess that I am, but I am not saying anything as I would feel stupid.  I have also just taken inspiration from Michael Winner by his article in the Daily Mail today about his new food regime, the Winner diet seems to be ‘EAT LESS’ and thats it.  I usually go through the Mail and just wince at the quantity of crap journalism and facist polemic that seems to make my blood boil.  It is aimed firmly at a certain strand of middle class older reader who hates gays, the EU, anyone under the age of 18, students, smokers, Unionists, vegetarians etc.  But two articles suprised me slightly.  The first one was a nanny who said quite bluntly that rich people shouldn’t have kids, which was quite entertaining, and Michael Winners article.  For such a narrow minded paper, it was quite refreshing.

I had to try on my wedding suit last night, a bit tight to put it mildy.  I don’t know how much crap I eat every day but it is starting to add up.  Despite the fact I am slowly turning in to quite a porker, I am determined to shed the flab and get healthy again.

How to learn faster, deeper and quicker

http://oedb.org/library/college-basics/hacking-knowledge  Feast your eyes on this doozy.  Really this is one for zerotwozero but it falls just outside of its remit, so I am going to present it here as a beacon of godly knowledge.  This gives you inspirational and interesting ways to improve your ability to learn faster and increase retention of knowledge.

Hoarding and Piling.

So they didn’t turn up, but to Laura’s credit I didn’t get blamed for it.  However, I did realise after a heated debate (understatement) athat I am a compulsive hoarder.  Hoarding is related to OCD, but not being someone with a seriously obsessive personality I think it falls in to the unknown category.  No one really knows why people hoard but I know that I do it to gain a sense of self and identity, any attack on this collection of things is an immense insult and during out heated debate I found myself getting more and more anxious.
I guess, also, that this stems from my ‘piling’ as a system of thought and organisation.  I think in piles of stuff, they are organised and methodical but take the form of piles.  Since living with Laura my ability to pile has not diminished and in fact it seems to be getting worse.  I pile everything if I am sorting things out in my head or just putting things back like washing and ironing, it has to go in to piles and in to smaller piles from those piles.

People have ways of doing things and I guess this is just my way of doing things, albeit in the most awkward way possible.

The mystery of the missing Longleat tickets

About three months ago, Kathleen, Laura and I went to Longleat to see what all the fuss was about.  It was such a huge place and it was full of kiddie winks that we had managed to do half of it and then had to go home, so to be home in time for the BBQ.  As Laura’s birthdays have nearly all ended in some sort of disaster, this one was no different with a large argument errupting because we had taken Kathleen and brought her back for the BBQ and then people changing their minds and other people throwing totally unnecessary tantrums, all ending in the blame being lumbered on me.  As usual.

Well as part of this disaster the tickets (which allowed readmittance, so you can finish doing what you had not got around to doing) have gone missing despite them emerging in a large scale tidy up that we were having a few weeks ago.

So I have looked in every conceivable place and I cannot find anything, which makes me think that as part of the great tidy they were thrown away.  Easy mistake to make, but I bet anyone that reads this blog I will be blamed for it.

Anyway, the wedding is coming the wedding is coming! Preparations are well underway now and its not long before the big day and BOY am I excited and nervous and a whole loada other things too.

I like what I do

Strange as it is, I like being busy with lots to do.  I like helping people and today I realised why I decided to be what I am.  Yey for new found librarianess!  I like the people I work with, and I like the students and I like a lot more then I give on in this blog.  I like sunshine and sultanas and strawberries and sea and so many other things.   But I do like my job…