Category
Life
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03.02.08Some Totally Unsolicited Advice from an Old Married Woman on the Occasion of Your Wedding(Cobbled together for the recent nuptials of some friends, and based on my experiences of weddings, as guest (multiple), participant (several) and hostess (single). Please add your own!) On Wellbeing (Physical and Otherwise) Everyone will tell you to relax. You won’t — you’ll have not enough sleep and too much to do, and the whole thing will be full-on and in your face and a bit mad. But that’s ok. In fact, that’s more than ok. The extra adrenaline will get you through. Don’t sweat the small stuff. It doesn’t matter if it rains/something breaks/someone stuffs up their line. It’s not supposed to ...
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01.27.08Technique needs a little refinement, perhapsA scene from this weekend's family gathering near Arundel, West Sussex, in which your humble author is playing hide and seek with her beloved three and a half year old nephew, T. Meg: ...sixteen...seventeen...eighteen...nineteen...twenty! Coming, ready or not! [she springs up from the chair on which she has been sitting to count] ...Now, where could he possibly be? T: [somewhat muffled] I'm hiding in the cupboard, Auntie Meg!
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12.17.07Reflections on Le Web 3Last week, I went to Le Web 3 in Paris with my boss (who was participating in an onstage recreation of this debate and m'colleague Neil. It was a good event, mostly, and great to connect with a variety of people I like and admire both personally and professionally. I go to a lot of conferences - both as speaker and participant - through my work at The Guardian (and previously at AOL) and in a personal capacity, so it's always interesting to get another perspective on the industry we work in. This time, it was with a distinctly European ...
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12.13.07Dear SantaFor the avoidance of doubt, for Christmas/birthday/Festivus/Winterval/etc I would like: An Asus EEE PC 701 with optimal RAM etc A DAB Pure Evoke radio A Lomo LC-A Some stripy socks Some extra RAM for my iMac ...and that's it Geek, much?
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11.23.07Overheard at the bus stopOldish woman wearing a red coat, to another, with bulging handbag: 'Scuse me...I think I recognise you from somewhere. Can't think where, though.... Other woman: [smiles] Off the telly? Maybe? First woman: [cocks head on one side and pauses] No, that's not it... Second woman: I'm an Actor? In, um, Eastenders? [smiles at the other people in the bus stop, as if to indicate that this happens all the time] First woman: [studies the other woman for another moment] OH! I know! You look like that woman in the lamp shop down the road! Second woman: [looks confused] ... First woman: [reassuringly, smiling] ...it's the hair. Second ...
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10.02.07The Book Thief?I'm a big admirer of Douglas Coupland's work. I've read all his books, and am especially fond of Girlfriend in a Coma and Hey Nostradamus. So a couple of months ago, I went into a biggish branch of a high street book retailer to pick up a copy of GiaC to give to someone, because I'd been raving about it over lunch a few days before. I rifled through the various titles on the shelf, disappointed that they didn't have the one I wanted in stock, when my fingers alighted on...something unexpected. The Gum Thief is Coupland's keenly-awaited and newest novel, due ...
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09.30.07Back once again (only this time without the ill behaviour)Sorry about that. I vanished for a while - a crushingly busy period at work combined with a knockout bout of sinusitis followed by a cold to render me incommunicado for a week or so. Let me tell you, there's nothing fun whatsoever about sinus cavities swollen to the point that they are impinging on the nerves in your back teeth. Yeeesh. And then, a week offline and outdoors in Highland Perthshire. A long-overdue holiday. We ran away to a cottage in a remote glen not too far from Loch Tay, which enabled us to indulge in some gentle exploring (bimbling ...
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09.19.07Permission and passionOne of the things that's fascinating about the web is the way that users adopt and own brands, and the ways in which that fervent passion colours their usage of a product. Usually, it's great when people are passionate, loyal users of a web service. You can count on them to visit, provide feedback, and keep the faith when you go through hard times and change things - they've got a lot of forgiveness for your brand and service. New and casual users are trickier - they demand more in the way of stability and performance, weirdly (you'd expect it ...
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09.16.07The beach on the bridgeYesterday, despite feeling grim with a sore throat, I wandered down to the Thames Festival on and around the South Bank. Specifically, I wanted to see Southwark Bridge, which had been closed to traffic for the first time, in order to create a festival of food and music in different zones across its span. Another draw was to see Scottish bagpipe/samba fusion band Mac Umba, who have been a guilty pleasure of mine for over a decade now. (I know it seems like the most unlikely mix of musical styles, but if you think about it, what better accompaniment for something as ...
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09.11.07A guessing gameSo every day on my way home I pass by the Hammersmith Apollo gig venue. And at least one day in three, pretty much, there's a different band (or comedian) on. But I don't actually get to see the front of the Apollo until the bus pulls out of the bus station. So before that, between the tube and the bus, I get to see hoardes of people swarming the underground station, on their way to the gig, or picking up some refreshment (a sandwich and a neon alcopop, usually) from the Tesco Metro before they go in. And as a result, ...
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