in memoriam

casino

we were all around the blackjack table and T. had just put down $10,000! and won!! we all cheered. well done! this was after after M. had started playing with towers of $50 and $100 tokens and had started winning a lot by doing that rather than by playing smaller amounts, so we'd all followed her lead. then T. played another $10,000... but lost. he was crushed. of course. thank god we weren't playing real money! we could all see how people easily got addicted. but what a great surprise our boss had come up with for the Xmas party. we all had a blast!

think, somebody!

i'm all for world peace. definitely. and i know the situation in Syria is very serious. absolutely. and it's great that Ms. Clinton came to Geneva to discuss a way out of the crisis with them. i'm completely on board with that. but really, could whoever organised her schedule NOT have decided to have her 'travelling' from one location to another at the time that everyone heads home? traffic stopped like it did the last time it snowed unexpectedly. i was in the bus for over half an hour (and we'd only moved about 1km since i boarded) before someone mentioned the reason for the traffic chaos. and i could just see where this was heading. nowhere near home was where. in the end, it took me 90 mns and 4 buses to get home - with some creative thinking on my part and some walking. it normally takes less than 25 mns...

champagne lunch

i was invited to Xmas lunch a some friends' place. it was great. we were about 12 and W. had made loads of food. turkey, pork, parsnips, potatoes, broccoli, loads of other veg and 5 types of desserts. and champagne. that's all there was to drink. and water. but really, an entire meal with just champagne is pretty cool.

stradivarius

i went to a classical concert last night, which featured a solo violin piece by an artist who'd been lent a Stradivarius. the 'sleeping beauty', it's called. so i have now heard a Stradivarius play live. i know this means nothing to most people, but it is a rare event. although i must admit that to my untrained ear, it just sounded like a normal violin! that said, the music was great and we even got an encore.