Behold!

It's scary spider/wasp/moth hybrid monster! Waaaahh!!

Malarious visions

Out in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Africa, a teeny tiny grey ship bobs on the rough seas. A tired, lonely mosquito lies back on his bunk, grabbing a few hours of precious rest between shifts. His mind wanders, wistfully, to long hot summers in London Town and the amazing times he and his friends had back in the city, when there was flesh as far as the eye could see. Gazing up, he ...

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Life's rich tapestry

Played out on my (rather dirty) window sill

I haven't managed to go anywhere on holiday this year

So I'm opting for the next best thing - surfing Google Earth. My friend Helen recently left for a two month archaeological dig on St Helena in the South Atlantic, and it's given me really itchy feet. I'm also reading a book at the moment about a guy who travels to the remaining territories in the British Empire - pretty much entirely tiny, remote, inaccessible rocks such as Tristan da Cuhna, ...

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Ugly behaviour

The perils of living in the posh suburbs are currently being made all too apparent as i wait outside tesco for j. Two girls are hanging out of a nearby flat window, screaming their heads off. And their song of choice to shatter the muggy calm of this corner of south london? "you're beautiful" by james blunt. There. Really. Is. No. Need.

Oh yeah, it was the start of the summer

Yep, it may be almost August but today, for me, summer began. Baking hot sunshine, sunglasses, stupid straw hat, Ash and the Lemonheads, it was all perfectly marvellous... I'm currently wending my way home, having been struck by the fact that Brixton smells of fried chicken. Now, i'm a card carrying afficionado of the fine art of spiced poultry, but it's undeniable that as you pass from clapham into brixton, the air takes on that unmistakable aroma. Finger lickin good, the lot of it.

Summer sundae fun

Am off to Clapham Common in a few minutes for Ben & Jerry's Summer Sunday festival - it's 30 degrees C outside, free ice cream all day and the soothing sounds of Lemonheads and Ash to keep us entertained. Somehow I've made it this far in life without ever having seen the once-mighty boys from Bangor, despite the fact I was once a "huge" fan. If only I had my "3 boy hardcore action" band t-shirt to wear...

Hello again

Been quite a while since I posted - am now almost halfway through my hols and have just returned from Norn Irn, hence the relative silence on my part... Unfortunately it was not a happy homecoming as I was over to attend my aunt's funeral; all very sad and emotional but it was a beautiful sunny day and loads of people turned out to celebrate her life. I stayed on for a couple of extra days ...

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Only 49 hours til a fortnight off

And boy do i need it. I don't know if it's a break from work or from london i need, but i'm wound up at the moment. I'm trying to remain calm and relaxed, but it's not easy when i'm getting teeth-grindingly annoyed by things such as the girl next to me typing in an irritating fashion, people chewing food too loudly or pedestrians not telepathically understanding my chosen route along the pavement. Time for a couple of weeks of quiet reflection in a darkened room methinks.

Is this shit?

I can't work it out. Given the quality of other music videos I've posted, it could be. But for some reason even though I only downloaded accidentally and have only heard it a couple of times, I still perk up when I hear the intro. Might be just another sign that I am old and out of touch.... Next week: Status Quo Remixes.

J is back in da house

As it were. The cohabitation has recommenced after she gave up her beach side pad in Hampshire for the leafy environs and vaguely irritating humour of Dulwich and yours truly. We've only bickered a little bit so far. Each hour. I feel like a proper grown up in a proper grown up relationship.

Got two weeks off work coming up and I can't wait... I have no plans whatsoever, which I'm viewing as a good thing. It's a shame I'm not looking forward to an exotic flight somewhere, but there are mentions of Swindon and Norfolk day trips swirling about. Spontaneous life on the edge of adventure, tattie style....

Are these the coolest wellies in the world?

The commitment. The passion. The hilarious facial expressions

A company called Marathon Photos.com was taking the "official" snaps of the competitors around the course of the 10K. When I checked yesterday, only J was on there out of the whole gang of us; however they're obviously trawling through each picture matching up race numbers to individuals, as today we're all on there as well!

So if you fancy chuckling at my skinny legs, Scot's t-shirt or the fac...

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The tale of the tape

It's somewhat fitting that the plot of my race speed looks similar to the River Thames, given that it provided the backdrop for the majority of the route. I got round the course in a respectable 55 mins - not as fast as my first attempt, which I have to admit I was surprised about. I felt I was running at least as quickly on Sunday as I did a couple of years back.

Thanks, then, to my Nikeplus ...

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And so it begins again...

back page of the London Paper. Can't beat a bit of xenophobia disguised as friendly rivalry.

Happy finishers, Imogen and Craig.

Craig proving that clubbing til 9am the previous morning need not be a handicap, whilst Im has another 5.6 km run on wednesday. The fool.

Job done

You think you know someone....

then they appear in a suit looking somewhat dapper. 36 hours to the race. On my 2nd pint. Hmmm.

Less than 48 hours to go....

All being well, 48 hours from now i will have finished the british 10k and will be smoking a tab somewhere near the finish line. Last night i dreamt again, and as usual it was a mixture of the mundane and the seemed-perfectly-normal-at-the-time. It was friday night - this evening actually - and i was trying not to drink before the race. I went for a walk around the local countryside. Passing the ...

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Finally got my Nikeplus thing working!

Think it's safe to say that a consistent pace is not something I'm familiar with.

Hei, Halla, Heisann, Hellu!

Just checked my Google Analytics and I have had a visitor from Norway recently - and not just one of those shitty "accidental" visitors that I get, who stay for a total of "0:00" on the site.

So hello Norway! Or Oslo to be (perhaps) precise. Are you scared now? Don't be, I'm quite friendly once you get to know me. Says a lot about how the blog has become inextricably interwoven with web 2.0 that ...

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I am a herbaceous messiah!

Lo, for the rocket doth live again. Good old tesco organic plant food

I think i've broken the rocket

I think it's safe to say i shouldn't be trusted with anything more needy in the near future.

A mere 5 days

Until j, im, craig, scott and i will be labouring round so of the world's most famous landmarks in the british 10k. There's none of the excitement and build up of my first one, it feels more like something unpleasant that has to be done rather than a source of achievement. I partly blame the organisers for this - say what you like about nike but they know how to big up a show. During the north ...

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