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Well, I threatened fanart, didn't I.

There's something about the Gormenghast trilogy that makes you want to try to visualise it, so I sketched out some ideas. (I've just started re-watching the BBC adaptation, and I'm sure my illustrations have been coloured by it somewhat, but I tried as much as I could to go with what was in my head when I was reading the books.)

Steerpike:

Fuchsia Groan:

Lordy, I haven't drawn in months and months and months! Getting back on the wagon is hard. If only I had time to practice along with everything else. Maybe I'll try some more Gormenghast fanart at some point. I'd love to try my hand at the Countess, Titus and Muzzlehatch.

Oh, and p.s. have a nice Christmas and New Year if I don't see you before, won't you?

*collapses* Why is December always so tiring? Here, have some food photos to make up for it.

Double cheese, potato and ham bake
This is another of those recipes that's never going to look good on a plate. It's nice to eat though. Tastes exactly like you'd expect it to: cheesy, potato-y, ham-y, onion-y, spinach-y. (I couldn't find chives for the top so I used thinly sliced spring onions instead.)

Classic panzanella salad
This was nice enough. I had to use dried basil because I couldn't find fresh but I think I scraped by with that one. And the croutons soaked in the dressing were tasty.

Cheesy vegetarian sausage rolls
I used cheddar and double Gloucester cheese for these. Shockingly, even with all that cheese, they were less greasy than your normal sausage-meat filled sausage rolls. The rosemary meant that they tasted quite like a non-vegetarian sausage roll too. All in all, these were very nice.

Easy Thai fishcakes
I couldn't find Thai red curry paste so I used Thai green curry paste instead; I worried that this would mean that they would turn out horrible, but I was wrong. Seriously, guys, this is the nicest way to eat salmon that I've ever discovered. They are super tasty and super nice. Yum yum yum yum yum. (They're even nicer if you have some sweet chilli sauce to hand too.)

Avocado and tomato dip with cheese straws
I normally find cheese straws too greasy for my own tastes but these weren't bad at all. I put it all down to eating them with the dip, which was really nice.

I meant to write this post yesterday but I spent the day battling the crowds on Oxford Street and then sleeping off the horror of it all. So that means I'm writing it today instead.

Last week, guys. Last week, I finished reading the Gormenghast trilogy. My thoughts; let me give you them.

***

The trilogy had been on my 'to-read' pile (at times literally in the physical pile) ever since it had been adapted for TV by the BBC in 2000. Yes, that's right. I'd been meaning to read the books for 12 years!

By the time I came to read them, I couldn't even remember why they had been put in the 'to read' pile to begin with. All I could remember about the TV series was that it was fantasy, must have been good to make me want to read the books, and that it contained Zoë Wanamaker.

So, earlier this year, without really knowing why, I set out to read the trilogy. Coming, as I was, straight from Gone With the Wind and civil war Atlanta, diving into Gormenghast was a bit of a shock. But don't get me wrong, it was a good shock, because I found myself captivated by the books almost from the get go.

Now, here's where I add a disclaimer: a lot of people I know and respect have told me that they did not get on with the books at all. They found them to be slow, dull and excruciating. Clearly, they are not books to everyone's tastes; but, apparently, they are to mine.

I do get where these people are coming from. The books are slow. Things take a long time to happen, the characters are all two-dimensional at best, and the plot can seem rather confused. But! None of that is actually what you find yourself reading the books for. What you find yourself reading the books for is the atmosphere and Mervyn Peake, the author, is astoundingly good at conveying it.

From page one you find yourself sucked into this other world that is so well thought out and described that you can almost feel it. Putting the book down felt like waking out of a trance. Because that is what the Gormenghast trilogy is about; it's not about the characters and the plot and the action; it's about the world of Gormenghast itself, the castle, which is laid out, page after page, in loving, visual detail.

Here, have a snippet:
Summer was on the roofs of Gormenghast. It lay inert, like a sick thing. Its limbs spread. It took the shape of what it smothered. The masonry sweated and was horribly silent. The chestnuts whitened with dust and hung their myriads of great hands with every wrist broken.

What was left of the water in the moat was like soup. A rat floundered across it, part swimming, part walking. Thick sepia patches of water were left in the unhealthy scum where its legs had broken through the green surface.

What you get a feel for here is not just the description but something of the tone of the trilogy. Because Gormenghast is dark. It's dark dark dark. In a way, I found myself reminded of Alice in Wonderland because there's a terrifying kind of insanity hanging behind everything that happens. This is not a fantasy story that contains magic; it's a fantasy story where everything, from the people to the animals to the buildings, is just a little bit wrong somehow.

It's no surprise when you find out that Titus Groan and Gormenghast, the first two books in the trilogy, were written during and just after the Second World War. This is an author who has seen the horrors of war and knows what it is like when the whole world seems to lose its sanity around you. For some authors, the tumultuous first-half of the 20th Century led to fantasy stories that were based on faith, with epic good-vs-evil battles where good wins out in the end. Not so with Mervyn Peake. If there is any faith in these books, it's misplaced. If there are any battles between good and evil, there are no clear winners.

It's a complex and captivating read.

So, what am I trying to say? Gormenghast might not be to everyone's tastes but I would heartily recommend it. For those months that I was reading the trilogy, I was actually there and I have to say, I feel like a slightly different person coming out of the other side of it.

Read it. Read it. Go on. If the first half of Titus Groan catches your interest, you'll like the rest of it.

***

Oh, but I seem to have reached my conclusions when I've still got things to say! Like:

- Can I admit to having a really confusing crush on Steerpike? (A quick Google search suggests I'm not the only one.) I remember feeling the same way (i.e. confused) when I watched the TV adaptation. I had put it down to me being 16 and hormonal at the time, but 12 years later and it's still the same! Oh Steerpike, you are a right, proper bastard. You're horrible. If only you'd stop having nice cheekbones and taking off all your clothes every five chapters, then it would be much easier to hate you.

- Other characters I came to enjoy (in less confusing ways) were Doctor Prunesquallor, the Countess and Fuchsia (she's such an embodiment of teenage awkwardness. It's great.)

- I kind of get the feeling that the books are maybe meant to be allegorical but I'm not sure about what. Anybody have any ideas?

- The third book, Titus Alone, was really confusing. It almost didn't feel like part of the trilogy at all. Where were the characters and the setting that I was used to? Gone! Why was the plot even more confused than before? Thank God one of the new characters (Muzzlehatch!) was good enough to keep me reading.

- Muzzlehatch! Muzzlehatch Muzzlehatch! My crush on Muzzlehatch is not confusing at all. He is possibly the most BAMF-y character that ever BAMF-ed. I mean, for crying out loud, one of the first scenes we see him in, he's riding a stag while entirely naked save for a fireman's helmet. What's not to love? I ask you.

- Where is the fanart? I need fanart. Don't make me draw some myself, good God.

- Despite not covering Muzzlehatch the third book at all, I think I need to rewatch the BBC version again. Like right now.

Peppers stuffed with cod
These tasted nice enough (I left the chilli out of mine because I'm not a huge fan, and I used dried basil because I couldn't find fresh). The peppers could have done with longer in the over though because they were very firm.

Black olive and pumpkin bread loaf
I don't know why the recipe suggests making these two loaves together, because, as far as I can tell, they have nothing to do with each other. The pumpkin bread (which, to my uninitiated eyes, seems to be more of a pumpkin cake) is really yummy and great eaten slightly warm on a cold day. The olive bread was a little bland but every now and again you got a hit of olive, which was fairly nice, and it goes well eaten with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Also, the olive bread was quite dense, which I'd like to blame on the rye flour but was probably entirely my fault for not adding enough water and so finding it difficult to knead (throughout cooking I couldn't help a mild panic at the thought of what Paul and Mary might say if they were watching - a sign that I've been watching too much of The Great British Bake Off if ever there was one).

Minced meat and prune pies
These pies were hard to form because the warm mince left the puff pastry too floppy and my parcels didn't want to stay wrapped; I'm actually surprised they came out of the oven looking mostly ok! Taste-wise, I thought I wouldn't like the prunes as I'm not a fan of sweet in my savoury, but it turns out they're the best bit. The combination of the mince and the pastry is really really greasy, so you need a lot of prune in there for some sharpness. It's not a horrible taste though; it actually reminded me of Christmas.

Sausage, salami and pepper stew
Once again, my photo-taking skills are foiled by stew, which always looks like a mess in the bowl. I didn't add the wine to this and I substituted yellow peppers for green ones. The taste was nice though; it tasted almost exactly like you'd imagine it to taste - tomato-y, olive-y and sausage-y but in a good way. Dipping fresh bread into the sauce was rather lovely. The crunchy bits of salami were also an unexpected bonus.

Suddenly the weather has turned cold! The combination of Halloween, Bonfire Night and the clocks going back an hour can only mean that winter is almost here. I can't say I'm looking forward to the dark, the cold or the frantic Christmas shopping, but I do now get to see some amazing sunsets from my desk at work, so there is that.

Most of what I've been doing post-Cornwall has involved wrapping myself in a blanket, foraging out some hot drinks, and listening to some Billie Holiday songs that I managed to download with a free voucher from Amazon.

When I've not been doing that, I've been mourning the loss of The Great British Bake Off (which was a wonderful mix of baking, summer and funny moments), having nightmares after watching Downton Abbey (no, really), and reading Gormenghast (when I get to the end of the trilogy, I am deffo going to write a review about it here, guys).

But when I've not been doing any of those either, what I did was these two things:

1. Visit the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford

This is a great museum. We were going to sightsee around Oxford too, but there was no time left after giving the museum a good run for its money all afternoon.

Here are some photos of random exhibits. And I can't remember what any of them are (aren't you lucky).

2. Fireworks!

With tomorrow being the fifth of November, it's time to celebrate that time when Parliament didn't get blown up 400 years ago, while conveniently ignoring the bits about ceremonial catholic burning.

Yesterday, Susan, Emma and I went down to Blackheath to see their free fireworks display.

It was a massive display and very enjoyable because it clearly had a lot of money go into it. The place was really busy though, and it was quite fun to see how excited all the kids were getting (probably less fun for their parents).

Then we queued for ages to buy some warm doughnuts (which were really nice on a cold evening). And then I spent an extortionate amount of money to win a bear at a fairground stall (but I'm quite chuffed with him anyway).

After that, we went back to Susan's place and spent the rest of the evening stuffing our faces with crisps, chocolate and edam. I'd call that a success.

Hi guys! I'm still really enjoying this 'trying to cook new stuff' lark. You never quite know how it's going to turn out; that's the fun of it. The fact that so much of it turns out tasty is a bonus :D

Not pictured below but a special mention goes out to almendras garrapiñadas, which Claire made me for my birthday. They are gorgeous; sweet and crunchy and really good. I'm going to have to try to make some at some point because it is horrendously easy to eat fistfuls and fistfuls of them in one sitting.

Roast chicken and tomato pitta pockets
These almost feel too easy to put up here. Quick, tasty and nice on a hot day. I made these with normal-sized pitta breads instead of mini ones because I wanted something to fill me up good and proper.

Ham, broccoli and cheese pasta salad
You can tell this is a recipe meant for kids. The pasta salad is nice but bland (even when I subsituted the frozen peas with frozen mixed vegetables instead). On the plus side, I never realised that honey and mustard dressings were so simple to make.

Chicken breast stuffed with soft cheese
This is definitely one for the 'tastes better than it looks' category. The mix of all the flavours together is lovely and the green beans are shockingly good. I made this again for my parents and they loved it too. (I used Parma ham rather than pancetta in the above picture because there was no pancetta in my supermarket, but I think it tastes just as nice with either.)

Winter root vegetable and barley pot
I couldn't find any swede or turnips, so I made do by throwing in extra carrots and parsnips. After a week of fish and chips in Cornwall, I was dying for some vegetables, so I made this. It tastes almost exactly as you think it would taste; nice enough, and you feel healthy, but it would go down a lot nicer with a bit of meat thrown in. Maybe some bacon.

Butternut squash and cheese risotto
This risotto is sooooo good. It's hard for me to express exactly how tasty it is (even without the wine, which I left out). Very rich, so it's hard to eat much in one sitting but, Jesus, is it good. Butternut squash is an arse to prepare but for this risotto it is utterly worth it.

Blueberry pancakes (recipe from Mother's Little Book of Home-Baked Treats)
My first time making American pancakes! I always wondered how they got so thick; turns out that the batter is just much thicker. Not entirely easy to flip when you're a complete novice but I slowly go the hang of it (while shouting 'Who's the daddy!' at the frying pan). The two above were the ones that came out best, which goes to show just how oddly-shaped the others were.

Hello. I've been quiet recently because I was off on holiday. My parents and I spent a week in a small coastal town in Cornwall and it was lovely.

When I say small coastal town, I mean small coastal town. The hills that the town is built on are steep and the streets are narrow and winding. Most of the buildings in the town are small fishermen's cottages and all seem to date from the 18th century or something. Despite the new rise in tourism there, the harbour is still an active one and you can sit and watch the fishing boats come in to offload their catch of an afternoon.

The weather was autumnal, but that didn't matter. We spent our time walking in the countryside when we could, and eating fish and chips and pasties when we couldn't. I also spent every waking moment trying to learn as much about the history of the place as possible because that is apparently how I get my kicks. And a cool history it is, with saints and ships and storms and smugglers!

Cornwall is a fascinating place, guys. It feels kind of wild and magical somehow. Of course, 'wild and magical' translates to: things that are slightly different from the rest of England because Cornwall has a Celtic heritage with its own customs and art and language that I'm not used to. Knowledge of the facts isn't going to stop me from indulging in some whimsy though. Christianity came early to Cornwall and almost every other town in the county is named after some obscure saint that you've never heard of before (the place I stayed in was named after two!) It's hard not to imagine what it was like back in those early days, with the steep hills and the tempestuous sea and the newly-founded churches clustering around the ancient holy sites in a land where giants and piskies prowled and long-lost villages lay submerged under the sea.

Time for me to shut up. Have some photos:

Woah, guys. I've been so busy the past couple of weeks. I've got plenty to talk about, but if I don't give 'the wedding of the year' top billing, Linda's going to hate me.

So. A couple of weeks ago, the gang and I went up to Worcestershire (or was it Gloucestershire? It seemed to be a bit hazy on that front) to see Linda and Tom get married!

It was a lovely day, and the weather held out too. Linda's the first of my 'first time at university' gang to get married. We all had lots of fun, as expected, and we tried our hardest not to compare the day to what we imagine Steve and Heather's wedding will be like next year. (Tried and failed. Sorry to bring the wedding wars on you, guys. But on the positive side, wedding wars sound cool, like robot wars only with more cake and fewer flame-throwers.)

Here are the happy couple (Linda and Tom, that is) enjoying their day.

More photos!

Just arrived at the venue and all excited. From left to right: Steve, Heather, Eppa, James, Nick.

The venue for the ceremony was gorgeous. It was a proper old country mansion. Look at those half-timbered walls! And those fully-timbered chairs! :D

The place even had a moat. Full of proper water. Good work, Linda and Tom. Good work.

I stole this photo from Nick and subsequently nearly lost all his other photos in the process. Sorry, man! During the reception, there was a professional photographer lady with a DRESS-UP BOX. I think I was considerably more excited about this than anyone else. But look! I've got a pipe!

Dinner was really really nice. Seriously, they kept stuffing us with food at this place, which is a good thing, because we kept shoving it right in our faces. (We were treating the day a bit like The Hunger Games only without any children killing each other.) After dinner, there were wedding games, cake cutting and dancing.

And that was it. Evening over.

Everyone go home.

Oh, man. I've gotten swept up in The Great British Bake Off for the first time. It's so much fun! And Mel and Sue are my favourites.

I've started getting into baking to the point where it may be becoming a problem. The other day at work I got mixed up and threw my used paper hand towel in the toilet bowl rather than in the bin because I was too busy thinking about cakes to pay attention to what I was doing.

Welcome to my life, guys.

Teriyaki lamb with rice
My supermarket didn't have any teriyaki sauce, so I attempted to make my own using this recipe but without the spring onions. Other things I couldn't get at the supermarket were spring onions or soya beans. Also, the main recipe was really confused and didn't tell me what to do with half the ingredients so I kinda made it up. But the end result was really tasty so I'm calling it a success anyway.

Chorizo burgers with aioli
I don't have a food processor to mash everything together, so I was pleasantly surprised that my burgers still held their shape. Personally, I'm not too keen on chorizo but the aioli gave the whole thing a wonderful taste (mayonnaise always makes everything better).

Pecan and maple syrup sticky buns (recipe from the book, Mother's Little Book of Home-Baked Treats, that Mariya got me for my birthday)
I'm surprised these came out so well considering the fact that I haven't baked anything using yeast for about 14 years. They were massive, sugary and lovely-y.

Spiced chicken burgers with guacamole
I couldn't find any turkey mince so I attempted to make these using chicken breasts that I chopped up really finely. Once again, I'm chuffed that the burgers actually held together. Also, I didn't want to break into another onion, so I used red onion in the burgers, which gave them an unhealthy looking colour. Overall, the guacamole was nice but the burgers, considering all the ingredients that went into them, were super bland and boring. Maybe it was because I didn't use turkey mince? I don't know. All I know is I wasn't impressed at all.

Summer fruit and white chocolate muffins (another recipe from Mother's Little Book of Home-Baked Treats)
The recipe says it makes 6 muffins, but I think the muffin tray I used was too small because I ended up getting 11 muffins in total. And really nice they were too. The fruit made the sponge sweet and moist but not too soggy, thankfully. The white chocolate is hard to detect in there, but I'm sure it adds a little to the taste. Guys, I love baking. It's like you put a bunch of white dust into the oven and it turns out as cake!

Leftover vegetable tortilla
Not a vegetable, but I used this recipe to finish up my avocados that I brought for the guacamole. As you can see, I burnt the onions on the bottom a little. Whoops. Also, I don't have an oven-proof frying pan so I just cooked this one like a normal omelette. Didn't detract from the eating though. I've never had an omelette with ginger in it before but it made the whole thing quite light and tasty. (And trust me, it tasted far better than it looks.)

Cottage pie
It's impossible to take a nice looking photo of a cottage pie. Never mind. This is actually the tastiest cottage pie I've ever eaten (not saying too much though, because I normally find them really bland). I think it has everything to do with the unhealthy fact that this contains a third of a bottle of ketchup. But the Worcestershire sauce, mustard and feta helped too. (I was meant to add cheddar rather than feta, but my cheddar went mouldy at the last minute leaving me to improvise with the contents of my fridge.)

I went to my Grandpa Geoff's funeral on Wednesday. He died of pneumonia a couple of weeks ago. It's very sad but not a surprise; he's had Parkinson's for years, and when he struggled to get over a bout of pneumonia at Christmas, we had a feeling that he wouldn't have long left.

At funerals you always get to learn about the sides of people you never knew when they were alive. I found out that Geoff joined the RAF in the Second World War and went to Norfolk to work as a mechanic on the planes. He was also married three times over the course of his life, and so had a long, extended family that I've only just met.

Personally, I didn't know Geoff until the early 1990s. Technically he was my step-grandpa; he and my nan married when I was about 9 years old and I was one of their bridesmaids. I didn't know what to make of him at first, this strange, new man in my family, but he became my grandpa over the years. I knew him as a very laid-back, quiet sort of a person who never really let anything get him riled up. But as my aunt said, he did have a humorous side, and every now and then, when something amused him, he'd give you a secret, cheeky smile with a twinkle in his eye, as if you were sharing the joke just between the two of you.

Goodbye, Grandpa Geoff. I'll miss you. But I doubt you were very happy or comfortable near the end when your illness got worse so perhaps this was for the best.

Ink came to visit last week, which was a perfect excuse to gad about an Olympic-flavoured London.

We had lots of fun, which apparently means lots of photos on my part. Be warned for a very image-heavy post ahead!

Contents
1. Sherlock
2. Olympics
3. Touristing
4. Modern art
5. Brighton
6. Food
7. AOB

***

1. Sherlock

First there was the obligatory Sherlock sightseeing.

THE LEDGE

St Bart's

Baker Street station

Speedy's. (OMG flat 221B is to let :O)

***

2. Olympics

It was impossible to go around London last week without bumping into the Olympics. We also watched the Olympic Closing Ceremony on Sunday, which was comfortingly mediocre. (Thank God. After the Opening Ceremony, the super-efficient public-transport, and the Team GB medal successes, I was starting to worry that I'd secretly been teleported to a different country.)

Men's marathon swimming in the Serpentine. (There are swimmers in this photo somewhere, I'm sure.)

Men's marathon running by the Museum of London. (There are definitely runners in this photo.)

A view of the Olympic Park from the massive new Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford.

***

3. Touristing

Mandatory photographs of London landmarks were taken.

Apparently it is my aim on this blog to post photographs of the Shard Building from every conceivable angle. I'm sorry, guys (but not sorry enough to stop). The Shard is just so new and thrusting; I love it.

St Paul's Cathedral

Guildhall Wenlock

Sir Wenlock

Olympic flags at Guildhall

Monument Wenlock

The Monument

Tower Bridge, as seen from the Monument.

The Gherkin, as seen from the Monument.

St Paul's, as seen from the Monument.

Tower Bridge, as seen from London Bridge.

Inside the British Museum

Lions in Trafalgar Square

Nelson's hat has got an Olympic torch on it!

***

4. Modern art

Just south of the British Museum, we came across an exhibition by Mr Brainwash. I hadn't heard of the guy before, but apparently he featured in the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop and may or may not be a practical joke played on the world by Banksy.

***

5. Brighton

Last Saturday, we went on a day-trip to Brighton. I've never been to Brighton before, but I was quite taken by how old-school and cheesy it is. Also, the weather was lovely and the train fare was only £10 each for a return! (Even cheaper if, like Ink, you won the £10 back on a slot-machine on the pier. Take that grumpy man on the slot-machine next to us who refused to believe we were over 18. OMG I'm nearing 30 but that still felt like an insult D:)

I introduced Ink to the wonders of a British pebbly beach. Sand? Warm seas? What're those?

It was a bit windy.

Merry-go-round

The pier is so old-school.

Helter-skelter

Random lion

Seagulls swarmed above the pier because there were fish and chips and ice-creams going on up there.

A gorgeous bandstand.

A statue of, um, something.

They also had a live-screen on the beach showing the Olympics. We watched Mo Farah win his second gold and the atmosphere was wonderful.

***

6. Food

A cream tea outside St Paul's.

Ink was determined to try all the British food she could get in the few days she was here. British things we ate included:
- Scotch eggs
- Chunky chips in a pub
- Crumpets
- Cornish pasties
- A pork pie
- Party rings
- English muffins
- Sandwiches with butter on the bread (I seriously had no idea that American's didn't do this. Butter/margarine is as integral to a sandwich as the bread! You guys are crazy.)
- McCoy's crisps
- Jellied eels (I didn't partake of these because I can't get over how revolting they sound.)
- 99s
- A steak and kidney pie
- Fish and chips (They were really mediocre ones. Sorry, Ink.)
- Beans on toast (With Worcestershire Sauce, yum yum.)
- Toad in the hole
- Strawberries and cream
- Rock (From Brighton!)
- Flapjacks (Note to Americans: these are not pancakes.)
- Custard creams
- Chocolate buttons
- Poached eggs on crumpets (Not traditional, but I stole the idea from Eppa because they're so tasty.)
- An Indian takeaway
- A sausage roll

***

7. AOB

We came across this poor little guy in South Kensington.

Pikachu, what's happened to you, man?

A couple of days ago, I received a parcel of birthday presents through the post from Mariya. Thank you! <3

So many lovely things, including some cute Japanese stationery and two pretty necklaces (I'm wearing the apple one right now :D)

Mother's little book of home-baked treats is a cookbook for cakes and other baked desserts. Everything inside it looks really gorgeous. (I wonder why people keep buying me cooking stuff recently? Hahaha.)

I am excited like you wouldn't believe to try and cook something out of this book. Pictures, of course, will be forthcoming when I do :D

Time for more photos of things I've been cooking recently.

On a previous post, Nick astutely pointed out that nearly all of my recipe links come from the same website. Sorry for the lack of variety! I seem to have developed a bit of website loyalty along the way, because I like the large selection of recipes that the Tesco website has. The last thing I want to do is endorse a big company like Tesco though, so I did consider not putting up the links to the recipes. But, I am also using these posts as an aide-memoire of sorts, and it's handy for me to have links to the recipes in case I ever want to cook them again.

So, the links will remain, but they come with a polite notice: there are plenty of other supermarkets out there. Use whichever is most convenient for you. Tesco doesn't need your money.

Onwards!

Warm zucchini and eggplant salad
With the combination of chilli and mustard, this salad was far hotter than I would have liked. The mix of flavours was quite odd too. I wasn't a fan.

Caesar salad with roasted tomatoes
I normally find Caesar salads a bit rich, but this one was actually really nice and not too rich at all.

Cherry poppy seed cake
As you can tell from the picture, I had a little bit of trouble getting this one out of the cake tin! This is pretty much all due to my own incompetence and inexperience when it comes to baking, but I can only learn from my mistakes. The cake itself, while fully cooked, could have done with a little longer in the oven; it was too anaemic and moist to the point of being soggy. The taste was nice though!

Salmon Niçoise with sun-dried tomato dressing
Very tasty. I have come to the conclusion that sun-dried tomatoes can really make a salad dressing sing.

Bengali split pea curry
This has a very mild sort of taste. That may not be how it's meant to taste though, because I swapped out most of the ingredients for approximate things that I already had in my store-cupboard.

Table of Contents

1. Olympics
2. Henry V
3. Birthday shenanigans
4. THE WALL
5. AOB (aka I'm going to talk about the Olympics some more)

***

1. Olympics

IT'S HERE!!!

Oh wait. That's the wrong song. I mean this one. I don't normally like a rap, but I do like this song. It was nice to see the Arctic Monkeys too.

So. Would you believe that I've never seen an Olympic Opening ceremony before? At least not since I can remember anyway. Normally they're on in the middle of the night and things related to sport really don't get me going so I tend to forget to watch them. But, seeing as I live in London, I thought I should probably put some effort in and turn the TV on this time.

It was very enjoyable for the most part. I'm surprised that this country was able to put on a show that was so well done. Haha. And I also discovered that I'm a massive hypocrite because things that are overtly patriotic make me feel kinda uncomfortable, and yet I actually shed tears during the opening ceremony. (I'm a loser, apparently.) Continuing on my hypocritical line, I like the fact that the ceremony wasn't completely 'woo, we're amazing' but also had a note of 'God, we've been bastards for centuries, haven't we?' Yes. Yes we have.

Other highlights included the Queen jumping out of a helicopter with James Bond. In fact, I can hear a helicopter above me now. She must be circling.

I also thought the fireworks were pretty fantastic. Normally I find fireworks a bit of a let down, but these were rather impressive. And. I HEARD THEM FROM MY FLAT. Guys, I heard the fireworks! I don't live anywhere near the Olympic Park but I heard them as a low distant rumbling. I wasn't expecting that at all. It was quite eerie.

The other good thing about the Olympic opening ceremony was that I was able to check my emails, browse the abstracts of some academic papers, shop for ink cartridges online, tidy the fridge and play some online games while it was going on. God, the parade of Olympic teams lasted for a looong time. Good for getting stuff done.

As for actual sport, I've been trying to watch some today, but it's mostly been on the TV in the background while I've not been paying attention at all. If watching the Olympics was an Olympic sport, I don't think I'd be winning any medals any time soon.

***

2. Henry V

I watched the last part of The Hollow Crown trilogy quadrilogy 4ilogy those four shows.

Henry V
(aka Let's have another war with France. You know. For shits and giggles.)

I enjoyed this one more than both parts of Henry IV. But it was still mostly about some boring fighting. And it had none of the style and razzmatazz of Richard II. (The BBC kinda shot themselves in the foot by showing the best adaptation first, I think, because the other three would have been fine if there hadn't been Richard II to compare them to.)

It's been jolly nice to watch some Shakespeare each weekend though. I wouldn't complain if the BBC wanted to do it again.

***

3. Birthday shenanigans

IT'S HERE!!!

No wait. Wrong song again. I mean this one :D I think there's supposed to be an age where you start hating birthdays because it reminds you of how old you are (I turned 28 this week). Idk. I still enjoy getting older. ONE MORE YEAR UNDER MY BELT! Obviously, I haven't reached the birthday-hating age yet.

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! Have a look at my selection of cards.

Shout outs to Nick for sending me a card of a cat dressed as Eminem (top left) and to Linda for sending me a card that's about as 2012 as you can get - a Keep Calm and Carry On, Cath Kidston style, Jubilympic card from Moonpig (top right).

The card I'm going to feature this year though (sorry Nick and Lin) comes from Steve and Heather. Because it was handmade with superb skill and a loving attention to detail.

Thanks, guys. I'm glad you remember that my birthday is in 'approximately July'. Just like I'll be excited to go to your wedding in approximately March :D

In addition to all that, my parents gave me some jolly lovely presents. Here, take a look.

Cooking things. To fuel my current cooking-spree.

Cute things. Including a cat handbag and (I didn't even know this existed before this week) Hello Kitty pasta.

Books! I've read so much good American literature this past year, so I'm really excited to be able to read Huckleberry Finn too. The London book, I thought might be a bit twee, but is actually really interesting. I particularly liked the bit that explained how Westminster Abbey, when it was first built, was situated on an island in a marsh in the middle of nowhere.

***

4. THE WALL

Speaking of historical London, my parents came to visit for my birthday and we went on a walk around London's old defensive wall. I've been wanting to do this walk for years!

It wasn't an easy walk though. Half of the plaques along the route that are supposed to guide you have now disappeared. And the remains of the wall itself only exist in a few places, which are normally hidden and out of the way.

That said, it's fascinating to walk the length of the wall and imagine London how it used to be. (The wall was first built by the Romans and then modified extensively during the middle ages.) It's almost hard to believe that, once upon a time, the entirety of London took up such a small space. Also hard to imagine a time when the world was so dangerous that you had to build a massive wall to protect you from whoever's outside the city.

So, yes. I enjoyed the walk a lot, and it was especially fun to find all the quiet, hidden spots and gardens in the City that you can walk past daily without ever realising they're there.

Looking towards the Tower of London.

Emperor Trajan, chilling by the wall.

To find this part, you had to walk through a hotel car park to get to a small courtyard.

We found some Olympic mascots too. These are marking a special Olympic walk around London, that we just happened to bisect when we were on ours. This mascot is Cockney Wenlock, near Aldgate.

Bishopsgate Wenlock, near, well, Bishopsgate.

In a small garden that used to be a churchyard before the church was demolished, but is now just a green space behind an office block.

A church that's still standing. This one is literally two minutes' walk from the last photo. The concentration of churches within the City is astonishing. Goes to show how many people used to live there.

***

5. AOB (aka I'm going to talk about the Olympics some more)

A little bit of ribbon came with my birthday presents. It's making me feel very Jubilympic so I thought I might practice my 'Go Team GB!' face.

But, guys. If you really want to get into the Olympic spirit. If you really want to feel it. What you need to do is the following:

Once - just once! - per day.
a) Hum this tune.
b) While doing something in slow motion.

It doesn't have to be running. You could be eating breakfast in slow motion. You could be plugging your phone in to charge - in slow motion. You could be taking a dump - in slow motion.

Come on, guys! I know you can do it! This is what the Olympics is all about!

Table of Contents
1. Olympics
2. Damien Hirst exhibition
3. Music at St Paul's Cathedral
4. Gone with the Wind
5. The Hollow Crown (aka Shakespeare on the telly)
6. AOB

***

1. Olympics

Shitttt guysssss. The Olympics start like next week! DDDDDD:

This is all good and really exciting, of course. I got quite giddy when I saw the Olympic rings up on Tower Bridge.

How awesome is that?

But, God, every single day we're bombarded with messages saying 'London is going to get more busy than you can even imagine. Don't bother trying to take public transport. No, don't. Seriously. What? You've got to get to work anyway? You're mad. It won't work. Honestly. You are actually mad.'

Every day my commute to and from work gets slightly more busy. Who knows what's going to happen once the games start, but something tells me it's not going to be pretty.

My commuting options for the Olympics are as follows:
- Chance it on the tube like normal. (Hahaha D:)
- Start work at 6am and so miss the crowds. (Hahaha. No.)
- Walk it at 2hrs each way. (Hahahaha. Oh God.)

Hmmm. Sounds fine.

In other Olympic news, I hope you're watching Twenty Twelve the spoof comedy about the 'Olympic Deliverance Team'. It is hilarious and also scarily realistic.
We are where we are with this and that's never a good place to be.

***

2. Damien Hirst exhibition

The other week, Claire came to visit and we went to an exhibition of some of Damien Hirst's artwork at Tate Modern.

I'm never fully sold on modern art, especially if it involves half an animal in formaldehyde, but I actually enjoyed this exhibition more than I thought I would.

Yes, there were the bits of animals, which were interesting and disgusting in turns.

But there were other parts that I really quite liked. Walking through a room full of live butterflies was magical. It's a bit sad to see the dead butterflies next door, but, God, the artwork made with them was beautiful. (This butterfly picture was actually sold as wallpaper. I kinda really wanted it, but it cost £250 per roll ;_;)

Also, I learnt that Damien Hirst was the director of the music video for Country House by Blur. Well I never!

***

3. Music at St Paul's Cathedral

The next morning, Claire and I toddled down to St Paul's Cathedral. Normally it costs about £15 to look around, but if you go to a service there you can get in for free (minus what you put in the collection plate).

So, even though I'm not religious in the slightest, I found myself sitting in a church service on a Sunday morning. It was hardly a chore though. The service we went to was one of the sung eucharists that they're putting on in the summer. From what I gather, a sung eucharist is like a normal mass, but all the prayers and things are sung rather than said.

So there we were, sitting almost directly under the dome, and listening to the St Paul's Catherdral choir, backed by the City of London Sinfonia, singing Haydn. For free.

It was breathtaking.

(If you ignore the irrational fear I get whenever I'm in a church, which is that someone will realise I'm just in there for the free music, and not for the God stuff, and shout out 'NONBELIEVER D:' in front of the whole congregation. Luckily, no one noticed this time. Phew.)

***

4. Gone with the Wind

Guess what book I've just finished reading!

If you guessed Gone with the Wind (aka 1011 pages of UST, plus something about a war), you'd be correct.

Now, here's where I confess my ignorance. I've never seen the film. I barely knew what it was about. I didn't even know it was based on a book! Shocking, I know.

Well, I still haven't seen the film, but now I've read the book I've realised why both it and the film are so popular. It's a really good story. Yes the writing does stray a little onto the purple side sometimes and, yes, it is also racist in places, but given that it was written nearly 80 years ago, it's (unfortunately) not that surprising.

I honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy the book as much as I did, but it was written really well. The backdrop of Georgia and the American Civil War are described in loving detail; you really feel like you're there when you're reading it. The plot is long, winding, shockingly feminist, and quite satisfying. And the characters, well, they might just be the best part of the whole thing. None of the characters are particularly likeable, but they are all fleshed-out and rounded enough to feel real and make you care about what happens to them.

So, yes. Very well written and enjoyable to read. I was pleasantly surprised.

Since I've finished it, I've started reading the Gormenghast trilogy instead. Very different but no less enjoyable. I'll make sure to ramble about them here when I'm done.

***

5. The Hollow Crown (aka Shakespeare on the telly)

Has anyone else been watching this? It's really nice to see something made for TV that's had so much money thrown at it. If this is what a Cultural Olympiad entails, can we have the Olympics next year as well, please?

I've now seen three of the four plays that they're putting on:

Richard II
(aka King Richard makes a bloody song and dance about everything but wears some gorgeous outfits while doing it)

Henry IV - Parts 1 and 2
(aka Everyone's a dick and Falstaff drinks a lot)

I have to say, Richard II has been my favourite of the three so far. It was just captivating to watch and it looked wonderful too (heavy-handed religious symbolism aside).

Henry IV, on the other hand, only really became interesting in the last half of the second part (if by interesting you mean absolutely heartbreaking). The rest of it was mostly about some boring fighting and, seriously, everyone is a dick in this play. Not that the characters were very likeable in Richard II either, but I cared what happened to them more.

Part of me wonders if this is the plays themselves or the fact that the direction was far more aesthetically pleasing in Richard II. That said, I love the contrast between the two kings and their two courts in the two shows; one is bright and garishly opulent while the other is dark, cold and weary. And it was interesting to see how the show suddenly became lighter and more colourful once Henry V took the crown.

So, who knows what Henry V will be like? I shall wait and see.

***

6. AOB

I've been listening to this playlist recently :D