Yo!

I am being strangled by the flat-hunting monster at the moment so I don't have much time to write. Here are a few things though.

1. Thanks for all the birthday cards and wishes and presents, guys! I got some lovely things from Mariya that I would love to share with you all, along with photographic evidence of some birthday-card wars (because you were clearly trying to outdo each other. Nick and Linda, I am looking mostly at you). But photos and things will have to wait for another time. Needless to say, I love you all ♥

2. This is quite possibly my favourite Horrible Histories sketch of the all:
Francisco Pizarro visits Peru

3. Can we talk about Sherlock? Not that you get a say in this, mind :D It's been a whole year now since it was first on the telly-box. Can you believe that? I'm pretty sure exciting filming things are happening for the second series right now (although I'm attempting to stay as far away from any spoilers as possible).

Anyway, I figured it was an appropriate time to share some things:
- This girl is talented and funny and quite awesome. She sings songs about the show and they are well worth a listen. The latest song about Dr Sarah is an absolute corker, but the others are good too.
- Words cannot describe how much I want to see the Shard building in the second series. It's been growing over the past year or so and now it's gotten to the point where London's skyline has been changed dramatically. And the thing's not even finished! Honestly, in some parts of London, it's impossible not to notice it. I adored how the first series was basically a love-letter to modern London. What better way to emphasise that modernity than to show the new skyline? Please?
- This one's only tangentially related. I watched Van Gogh: Painted With Words the other week because it was being repeated on TV. I don't normally care much for biographies but this one was interesting in that they took all the lines from Van Gogh's own letters. It was heartbreaking too. I was nearly in tears by the end. Great stuff.

4. I've still been reading millions of books. Including The Grapes of Wrath. Golly, it's easy to see why that book's famous when you read it. It's very good and very angry. I don't think I've ever read a book that's been so angry or so socialist before. I highly enjoyed it. Warning though: reading this book on an empty stomach will have you pining for a nice bit of pork (not a euphemism).