Sunday Summary

Did ya miss me last week? Did ya?

No? OK, fair play to you. It's not all about me.

(Oh wait, it's my blog. 'Course it flipping is.)

See, the problem with me having 'committed' to write these Sunday Summaries is that sometimes I just have nothing to write.

{I love a gif that requires no subtitles.}

I know.

Shocking. Surely, I hear you all mutter at your blog feeds, she must have done something with her week worth warranting? She's young(ish)*, carefree(ish) and single -- surely she must be gadding about town in the manner of Carrie Bradshaw?

But really, no. Sometimes life gives you nothing of note to summarise, or as my mother and I often say, nothing strange nor startling. But that's OK. I've been keeping things lo-pro.

Anyway. This week has been slightly livelier so here we go!

This week I have mostly been...

Reading

Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List | Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Enjoyable but my goodness how self-centred is Naomi?! Two men named Bruce actively define themselves by the order in which they were dated by her. Get over yourself, girlfriend.

The Silver Sword | Ian Serraillier

Written shortly after the end of World War 2, this is raw, honest, and non-patronising to child readers. And uplifting. I owned this book as a child, and read it, but never 'got it' because my world was too small. Definitely one to appreciate as an adult.

And my current read: Louder than Words | Laura Jarratt 

So, yes, I am mostly reading YA/children's books (they boost my reading quota!) but I am of the firm belief that these are of no less value as reading material than adults' books.

Singin' and Dancin'

Next Saturday night, 150+ friends and I will be taking to the stage at the Hawth in Crawley for our annual Voicerox Choir performance.

Every year we spend September to June/July working up to this event. Since 2011 we've grown out of our local theatre in Redhill to this 800+-seater in Crawley and it's a one-night-only performance. (At the time of writing there are but 22 seats left to book!)

And I cannot wait. I love this choir, I love these people, and I love performing with them. Our musical director Mel coaxes professional-level performances out of all of us.

{Photo by Anthony Gould-Davies via www.voiceroxchoir.com}

For the last two years I've been functioning as a 'Deskette' with six other lovely members -- helping on the front admissions desk before rehearsals, from taking payments to ticking in all the members (I can nearly remember everyone's names now, nearly...) -- and our reward for this is to perform our own number in the show. With moves.

Last year we were the Spice Girls (who did we think we were...?), the year before, the girls were Bananarama and this year, we're ... so excited. And we just can't hide it.

I am struggling a little with my dance moves -- QB is not one of life's natural prancers -- but I think on the night we'll all be on so much adrenalin the moves will just... flow. I'm still trying to channel this chickadee:

rather than wigging out and executing this kinda move:

Rewatching | Stealing Beauty

Next Friday 4th July marks 6 years since my lovely clan and I set off for Florence to celebrate two 60th birthdays and one 30th.

I developed a hankering to see Florence after watching Stealing Beauty, and I still love the region -- and the film. And Jeremy Irons in the film. Somehow this translated into the decision to persuade my whole family we needed to go to Tuscany.

But more on that next weekend (once I've recovered from all the singing and shenanigans...)!

Stealing Beauty is the rather wondrous, dreamy tale of Lucy who travels to Tuscany to spend time with her late mother's friends and to find out who her real father is, as well as to discover first love. Made in 1996 it is only slightly dated now (see: Lucy bouncing up and down with a Discman in her hand, and the video footage of her on the plane at the beginning of the film) and it's still rather beautiful.

Here's the trailer:

Check out Design*Sponge for an aesthetic appreciation of the film.

Swimming Not swimming

Now, it's not that I've lost the love of the swim itself, I haven't. But I've lost the ability and scope to get into the pool and just swim without some numbskull blatantly disregarding pool etiquette and effectively bullying other swimmers out of the lanes.

Additionally, the timing of many of the open sessions appear to revolve around clubs and lessons, so oftentimes I can't even get into the pool until 9pm. It's too late and isn't working into my life routine as I would like it. #firstworldproblem

So I've made the rather sad decision to turn in my pool membership and only swim as an occasional pleasure. It does mean I am breaking one of my promises to myself, and I'm not quitting altogether, I'm just not making it a regular event any more. I was getting frustrated more than liberated, and that wasn't what the exercise was supposed to be about.

But all is not lost on the Get-QB-Moving Campaign Front because I have also mostly been...

Entering the London 2 Brighton 100k Challenge 2015

Yep -- I'm doing it!

These stumpy little legs will need to carry me the equivalent of two-and-a-bit MoonWalks** from deepest Richmond to brightest Brighton next May.

http://www.london2brightonchallenge.com/

There is something deliciously solitary about walking that I love. It can be a social activity, and my walks with my work girls have been brilliantly social and edifying. But there is definitely something of the Harold Fry about me. I need to forge out my own pilgrimages and be alone with my thoughts.

It's an introvert thing. No, really.

This time I've chosen to walk for the MS Society (UK) -- I don't have a fundraising page set up yet (I do have about 10 months to raise £400 after all) but when I do, rest assured there will be a link. Thank you please.

Discovering the enjoyment potential of Champagne Cocktails

And Chambord, black raspberry liqueur. I like raspberries. I like Champagne. This marriage will last, babies.

{Here's to the art of toasting Fridays...}

Asterisk round-up: 

* Check out http://you.regettingold.com -- according to this site, today I am the age equivalent of Alfie Allen (who's apparently in Game of Thrones) + the offspring of Shaquille O'Neal.

Or, in old money, I'm 13,133 days old. Excellent stuff.

** 100k = 62.137119224 miles to be exact. Which works out as 2 x MoonWalks + 37% of a MoonWalk. Yep.

Weekly Weblinks

• Very excited about all the book benches being created for Books About Town
• Free books given away at Food Banks
• Overwhelming response received to Books Are My Bag campaign
• The debate continues: Reading makes a huge difference to prisoners
• Uh-oh, time to perform a full boycott? Amazon accused of 'bullying' publishers
• National Literacy Trust renews its partnership with WH Smith

And now for the non-book related shenans:

• Why I love outdoor swimming
• A craze for loom bands
• Michael Gove wants to reintroduce school milk (and I actually think this might not be one of his worst ideas...)
• Artist David Gilliver creates grim scenes in miniature (though this one is just fun!)

And finally:

• Nope, I don't have vertigo or claustrophobia or a fear of the dark. Now can I have a turn on these amazing underground trampolines?!

{via here}

Bye-zee-bye for now!

Sunday Summary

So... this is something new I'm going to try to maintain. Previous form decrees that any attempt at a regular post falls by the wayside within about four tries due to time pressures or just a lack of inspiration but -- I'll give it a go, eh?

This week, I have mostly been...

Absorbing Jane Eyre | A friend of mine is in a musical adaptation at the end of this month so I thought I should gen up on the story, having never read it previously. Let's just say, I'm now hooked.

* I read the novel first (it took a little getting into as I’m not used to the language any more). Subsequently loved the novel and the palpable chemistry and passion between Jane and Mr Rochester.

* Then watched the 2006 miniseries on DVD. Subsequently loving the palpable chemistry between Ruth Wilson’s Jane and Toby Stephens’ Rochester.

* Then ogled and coveted this Penguin Drop Caps edition of Jane Eyre: gaudy, but fabulous.

Discovering David Levithan | On Wednesday I managed to score myself entry to an interview event with David Levithan, author of Every Day, Boy Meets Boy, The Lovers’ Dictionary and collaborative author of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and Invisibility… whoa, he really is prolific! And a great, great advocate for LGBT YA fiction. The event took place at Waterstone’s Piccadilly – I’ve previously seen Michael Grant interviewed by journalist Lucy Mangan there, plus Laura Jarratt on a panel with RJ Palacio and Sally Gardner. #meganamedrop

{Photo via @EgmontUK on Twitter}

David Levithan was speaking primarily on Every Day (published by Egmont) and his life as a writer and collaborator. It was one of those events in which the author was so dynamic, positive and enthusiastic that I genuinely felt compelled to read more of his material. Every Day is an amazing book that raises questions on the importance of gender and identity, and messed with my head a little bit – read my review over on Goodreads!

Rediscovering Grug | 

This is Grug. "Grug began his life as the top of a Burrawong tree. Resembling a small, striped haystack with feet and a nose, he is fascinated by the world around him and solves everyday problems creatively and without fuss." via here

I lived under the myth for many years that I was able to read this book [by Ted Prior] by myself when I was two, on a plane to Norway. The truth is I probably just recited it but – semantics. I accidentally discovered this Grug toy while Googling book and plush box sets for work purposes. Screamed a little bit. How cool is he?! Answer: VERY.

Singing The Air That I Breathe // The Hollies

With rock choir. Struggling with limited lung capacity. Need to work on that.

And finally, clipping these links and articles to my Evernote. Do you use Evernote? I was a cynic to begin with but now everything I need to remember and recall goes on there. I have it on my PC here at home, and synced to my work Mac and my phone. Brilliant.

Why is a children's book about rabbits being read at weddings?

Caitlin Moran's posthumous advice to her daughter (she's still alive, folks, don't worry)

Haiku to celebrate last Thursday being National Poetry Day, and haiku being the only poetry I can master...