Evening LJ peeps.

Today I stumbled across this: a personalised morse code bracelet

Clever idea. Very cunning. Blooming expensive though, and entirely doable cheaper.

Not entirely sure how you'd get the beads to stay spaced apart though.

*ponders*

So. Daily blogging, eh? Whose crazy idea was that?


I've spent today wondering about green woodworking. You know, carving stuff like spoons. And what I'd need to get started. Some of my lovely twitter chums have pointed me in the direction of various sites and books and stuff, and I'm really quite keen to get going.

Only trouble is that I have no credit/debit card at present, due to a slight problem with some...one hijacking my Steam account, which lead to me cancelling my cards just in case I had them registered.

Which, on reclaiming access to my account, of course I didn't. Oh well.

I'm also slightly concerned about buying knives and stuff for carving wood, having read that it's ever so slightly illegal to be carrying a knife around. Something to do with blade sizes and whether they lock or not.

HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO GET IT HOME FROM THE SHOPS?

#frets

Ahem.

Have also pledged $25 towards Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter project on the basis that it's a great idea. She's rather good too. Linky:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amandapalmer/amanda-palmer-the-new-record-art-book-and-tour

Am also v. tired from long bike ride yesterday. I'll try and work out how to link to the route we did, if anyone's interested.

Anyhoo. Hi! *waves*

So tired. Been a busy weekend.

Friday
Kids were off school on an inset day, so we headed off to Alton Towers Waterpark. Not been there before, but it was great fun. Some good tubey slides.

Stayed overnight in a Premier Inn near Stafford, then on...

Saturday
Went to Shugborough Hall. More fun was had. Ed and I watched an old guy turning wood - he made this utterly gorgeous wooden goblet which was so thin that you could see the light through it. Trouble is, we have little/no use for one. Then he made an equally gorgeous bowl out of damson wood. Which I promptly bought. It needs a couple of coats of wood oil to bring out the colours, but is beautiful and only cost a fiver.

I also now know what I want to do when/if I grow up. Anyone got a spare wood lathe?

Came home saturday evening. It was nice to still have a full weekend ahead of us. Sunday was spent mostly down the allotment doing allotmenty stuff, then we watched the season finale of Homeland.

Cor, that was a bit good.

Today I went out for a bike ride in training for the madcrazy 100km bike ride. Ned and I did a shade under 35 miles in one go, which is pretty good going.

Then I took Ed to see The Avengers Assemble. I wasn't entirely sure what it was they'd be assembling, but it was jolly good fun nonetheless.

I do have a few questions though. Who is that Hawkeye dude? His superpower seems to be... being good with a bow? And what happens when he runs out? Seems a bit... feeble compared to the others. Apart from Black Widow, but without her we wouldn't get Scarlett Johanssen in a tight leather outfit. Mmmm.

Anyhoo, film great fun. Am now v.v.tired.

I fully intend to move back to blogging on LJ more often. Like, daily.

You have been warned.

Stunning. And in a little over a month, I'll be cycling around there at night. It's starting to feel really real. 100 kilometres is a long way...

You can still sponsor me on this crazy trip, if you like.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/dakegra

I've blown away my original target of £250, then my subsequent £500 target too. I'd really like to try and hit £750 - my employer will double it, making a cool £1,500.

Anything you've got spare would be more than welcome. Thank you so much to any and every one who has already donated. You're all wonderful.

I appear to have joined the ranks of Canon owners - picked up the Powershot AS1200 for £40 in PC World (ok, it was 50, but I had a ten quid voucher). Didn't want to take my D50 with me on the ride (obviously), and wasn't sure I wanted to risk taking K's little Panasonic in case it got lost/drenched/broken.

I figured this one is small & light enough to slip in a pocket, and cheap enough so that if it something horrible befalls it, I won't be too stressed. Plus it'll be good for taking on scout camps or down the beach. Pretty impressed so far, got a good range of options including a long exposure mode which, coupled with a gorillapod, should get some decent pics at the rest stops!

Obligatory eyeball shot.

that moment when you click on 'post', go do something else, then come back to the tab with the 'post an entry' displayed with a large white empty box underneath.

Hmm.

Got an email about the olympic footie Ed and I would have seen at St James' Park. Matches are Japan v. Morocco and Spain v. Honduras. Shame we'll be in France. Oh well.


Oh, and I'm semi-seriously considering picking up one of these:
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/canon-powershot-a1200-compact-digital-camera-black-09609830-pdt.html

to take with me on the 100km bike ride around london in June. I have no intention of lugging my D50 around with me, and don't want to risk K's little Panasonic travel zoom. This looks reasonable, is small, cheap and light. Bung it on a gorillapod for longish exposures, should do the job. Plus I've got a tenner off at PC World, so it's only £40.

If only I had £40. Need to use the voucher by the start of May. Payday this weekend, forfeit morning/lunch coffees for the month. Do-able.

Other than that, not much is new. Anything new in your world?

cycled 25-and-a-bit miles yesterday in training for my 100km bike ride around London in June.

Legs. Ache.

Also sustained my first cycling-related injury in years.

The bike in question was stationary. And upside down. I was adjusting the front brake.

Kids, never ever attempt to stop a spinning bike wheel by putting your hand on the rotating disk brake.

EVER.

#bleeds

#bloodohgodblooddripdrip

ok, it was a small cut, but it fairly neatly sliced the tip of my finger open.

Those things are *sharp*.

I pointed this out to Edward Q. Bean, and said it was an Important Lesson, and that it was lucky it happened to me and not him.

He gave me a Look, as only EB can.

"Well, who would be stupid enough to do that?"

Well put, EB.

Yes folks, it's that time of year again. The Migrating Moleskine is ready to move again.

Wonder where it'll go next?

:-D



So far, it's been to:

miss_next [UK], caitirin [US], elaby [US], kniblet [US], dibsy [US], freyjakj [US], [US], hellziggy [US], hellbob [US], _generica_ [UK], rob_the_tyke [UK], sloopjonb [UK], guest writer, not on original list!), redatt [UK], isihac [UK], dave_t_lurker [UK], mazzie [US], corivax [US], passaddhi [US], chebutykin, primitivepeople, pickwick and novawildstar [UK]


It set off in April 2006. When will it return home?

:-)



~~~~~

You can still add your name to the list of who would like to see it next. If you would like to see the Moleskine at some point, leave a comment to this entry. If you no longer want to be on the list, that's absolutely fine too, just let me know and I'll remove your name. I know LJ has gone quiet for some people - I may review the list and ask people to re-sign up at some point.

The list of people yet to receive it:

alicephilippa [UK], , gioiaverdi [NZ], pteppic [UK], bloodlossgirl [US],nextian [US], adrith [US], roobarb [UK], perdita_x [UK], genevra [US], pendlemac [UK], tiggsybabes [UK], ayoub [UK], lexinatrix [US], alibee [US], magda_vogelsang [US], quaero_verum [US], erikaerin [US], maviscruet [UK], sessifet25 [UK], chiller, fragglechick

As ever, if you no longer want to be on the list, or want to be added, shout up!

You can track the Moleskine here:
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3640005

Tags: mmm

I appear to have bought espressococo.com

No idea why. Just liked the name. No idea what to do with it either!

It's either a coffee-related blog, or I'm opening an espresso bar.

back from sunny* Matlock. Hope you all played nice. What did I miss?




* for a given value of 'sunny', i.e. not very

Let's go fly a kite...

Kedleston

the Moleskine is on the move again!

from pickwick to novawildstar

more soon...

Comment on this post and I will list seven things I want you to talk about. They might make sense or they might be totally random. Then post that list, with your commentary, on your journal. Other people can get lists from you and the meme merrily perpetuates itself.

As all good memes should, obv.

huskyteer asked the following

1. Any more pets in your future? Not that I can see. K has talked about getting another guinea pig, but the Beans aren't particuarly bothered and it'd just end up with me looking after it again. K's parents have Bess The Beast, and she's plenty enough for two households. Built out of springs, that dog, and we adore her.

2. You're running a festival - what kind? Ooh, that's a great question. Probably something laid back. I do love the vibe of Greenbelt, with its mixture of funky tea tents, relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere, delicious food and (mostly) great music. Maybe Greenbelt without the religious overtones. Though that said, it's entirely possible to do Greenbelt without the religious overtones.

3. Dream holiday - solo Travelling around the world, visiting people that I've only ever talked to online.

4. Dream holiday - with the rest of the family We're rather fond of Centerparcs. It's ridiculously expensive, true, but once you're there it's entirely possible to spend 90% of your time in the pool, which is free. I reckon that if you add up the cost of a cottage somwhere on top of the cost of days out, it probably works out at a similar price.

5. A skill you wish you had Some kind of musical talent. I know that I keep going on about wanting to learn how to play an instrument, which is entirely true. I just never get round to actually *doing* it. Probably on the basis that I'd try it and be entirely useless at it. Also, plotting. I'd like the skill/patience to come up with a good start-to-finish plot for a story, sit down and actually write it, then edit it and show it to people.

6. What did you want to be when you grew up? A librarian. I became one too - took a postgrad course in Information Studies, qualified as a librarian and promptly went on to spend 3 years working in a law firm library. Then kind of fell into IT. I'd work in a library again in a second, if I could afford to and still support house/family. Not much money in it though.

7. Cake or biscuits? Jaffa cakes. Best of both worlds. Mmmm, jaffa cakes.

Finally saw Toy Story 3.

One word review: Magnificent.

Best film trilogy, ever. Note perfect, all the way through.

If you have any sort of fondness for Firefly (and if you don't, what's wrong with you?), you really ought to read this:

http://dreamcafe.com/firefly.html

Yes, it's Firefly fanfic. But it's Firefly. Our big damn heroes out for a spin in the 'verse.

shiny.

Hi. Me again.

As regular readers will know, I've signed up to do a charity bike ride this summer in London. It's 100km (62 miles) around the centre of London... at night. It's going to be awesome. Canary Wharf, deserted in the wee small hours. Brilliant.

We (me & my mate Ned) set off at midnight from Alexandra Palace to do a big loop around some of London's most famous landmarks, finishing up back where we started at about 6am for a large, well-deserved breakfast.

Mmm, breakfast.

Here's the route:
http://www.nightrider.org.uk/The_Route.htm

I'm doing this for charity. Yeah, you knew that was coming, didn't you?

And yes, I'm after your money.

My target is was to raise £250 for Practical Action (http://www.practicalaction.org/). I'm now up to £340.01! Fabulous response.

I'd really really like to hit £500. Especially as my employer will match whatever I make.

So. Every pound helps. If you've got a couple of quid to spare, would you consider sponsoring me?

Pretty please? It's a great cause, and should be a fantastic event. I will of course entertain you all with stories (and possibly photos) afterwards.

Here's the link to the sponsorship page. Please don't be put off by people with £10/£20 donations. I've been worrying that people have seen that and thought against it. Seriously, a pound would be enough. If a few people donate a couple of quid, more people might be persuaded to. They all add up!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/dakegra

And of course, if anyone wants to join us, there are still places available! (http://practicalaction.org/nightrider)

Thank you so much. You're all wonderful. And pretty. Especially you.