the jungle

birthday brunch

ok, so my actual birthday is tomorrow, but there was no way i was going to celebrate after a long day at work so brunch today it was. and it was great. in the end, 17 people came. lucky it wasn't more as i made food for everyone. and although i thought i might have made too much, there's actually very little left, which is good. but still, think about it: scrambled eggs and sausages, croissants (ok, bought those), bread, Danish pancakes, cheese, quiche, rice salad, chocolate cake and a crumble. M. also brought her divine lemon drizzle cake.

the surprise guest was N1., who was on a visit from the Czech Republic, he'll actually be moving back in April, which is nice. and N2. was there too: although we've known each other for 5 years, it's the first time he's actually around for my birthday. i nearly didn't believe it when he said he was actually coming!

other than that, got lots of lovely presents and flowers. the funky present was the fish pedicure, which i'd seen a BBC slot on last week and had thought it looked like fun. it's for M., S. and me, so now we just have to organise a date. can't wait!

slow mail

back in September, N. had told me about this management course he was going to do online. i checked it out and it looked exactly like what i was looking for, so i tried to get on it for the November start, but it was already full. instead, i asked for the brochure, so i could have a look at what it was really like. i'd completely forgotten all about it, so when it arrived 10 days ago, i was a bit surprised. i thought maybe i'd asked for it the previous week, when i was looking at the whole sign-up process, but then i saw the date they sent it on: 30 November. wow, that was slow. first it took them 2 months to process my request, then it took 6 weeks to get to France. from the UK.

N. assures me once you're on the course, they're really efficient. i certainly hope so!

Danish cooking

they had a world cooking championship the other day and Denmark won! i'm impressed. Denmark is not famous for its cooking, so for them to win the gold Baucuse is quite something. and, amazingly, Sweden and Norway won second and third place...

Pushing Daisies

i'd heard a lot about this series and it sounded like fun. last night, it finally showed on regular French TV and i just loved it! it is so bizarre, in a good way, so tongue in cheek. i had a good laugh. can't wait for next week.

...all's well...

meanwhile, back in the Glades...

reminiscing

this tree so reminded me of Japan...

...and up there too

it's crowded up there

to be or not to be rude?

i got onto the bus this morning and sat down next to this guy. i got my book out and got as far as one line down when he started talking to me. he said it was getting colder. politely, i replied. yes. this didn't deter him and he started asking questions. i made my answers short, polite , then looked back at my open book, indicating i didn't really want to talk. but this clearly had no effect. he just kept going. even when i replied things like 'if you say so' ('but i know so!' he said) or 'i'm not really interested in banking' ('well, let me tell you...'), he wouldn't stop. i didn't want to be rude, but on the other hand, i really just wanted to read my book. i wondered whether telling him this would make him stop, but decided it probably wouldn't. but so, what should i have done? short of saying 'i'm sorry but i want to read my book', i mean.

the swamp

does it look like a painted floor? yeah, appearances can be deceiving: water covered in duckweed...

the great American Pelican

leftie

in the glades

the Empire State

i might prefer the Chrysler building, but this is a nice picture of the Empire State...

the Chrysler building

having now seen both the Empire State and the Chrysler building, i can only say i much prefer this one. unfortunately, i couldn't get a good picture from the Rock, so this is the best i got...

new year's eve

for new year's eve, we did not go to Times Square. are you crazy?? being cordoned off for more than 12 hours just to be there with thousands of people is just not my idea of fun. instead, we went to a club in Brooklyn - where we saw all the TS action (the countdown) on a giant screen. much better that way!