Weird things I have discovered I am not half bad at lately:

* Removing nails from wood with a crowbar (don't ask).

* Learning the aerobics-based routines for my body attack classes (who woulda thunk it?).

* Cooking omelets (I have never been able to make a particularly good omelet and now, holy shit, I can almost every time and it's amazing to me).

*Bullying people into doing what I want (ok this sounds like a bad thing but in a work context it's useful - historically I've been a bit of a doormat so for me this is a step forward).

* Stepping on Mr Whiskerley's tail in the night (this is definitely not a good thing but it weird me out how good my foot is at seeking him out in the dark).

Signs The Husband and I may be well matched:

Me: So I sort of ate half of last night's trifle for breakfast. I feel shame. But the rest is yours for dessert.

Him: I ate the other half for breakfast.

Cute overload

I don't normally go in for cute, particularly when it involves old people. For one, I don't find old people cute and, for another, I find it sort of gross and infantilising when old people are treated like they're just sooo cuuutte. FFS: they've been here longer than you, they're not a fucking puppy.

That much said this story about an old Japanese woman and her cat or, rather, the photos, just undid me. The one where the woman pushes the cat through the field on a little trolley thing? I die. I die.

The run continues

I love going to the movies. I love everything about it: the darkness, the fact that you're forced to focus on the screen and nothing else, the enforced laziness of sitting in a chair for two hours and the ability to get carried away by a story.  I like to see a lot of movies because I like to make up my own mind about whether I like them: part of what I understand about the movie-going experience is that there will be good ones and there will be bad ones. That's the deal I sign on for.

So it strikes me as unusual that the last three movies I've seen - Her, Inside Llewyn Davies and most recent Blue is the Warmest Colour - have all been freaking tremendous. I came out of Her buzzing, thinking "I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that made me feel like that". And I came out of ILD feeling exactly the same way... and ditto for Blue. In each case the movie has stayed with me for days and I've found myself wanting to go back to the cinema for a repeat viewing. It's very weird.

Part of me has wondered if I'm just become less picky than I used to be, if nowadays I'm prepared to call any 7/10 movie "wonderful. life changing etc". But I don't think so. Instead I think that for some reason - luck, good instincts, all of the above - I've just had a terrific run of movies. I don't know when it well end - maybe never. Maybe I'll never see a bad movie again, Perhaps I'm destined to see modern classic after modern classic for the rest of my movie-going life.

I certainly have high hopes for the next movie on the list: Vampire Academy*.




* So I'm only sort of taking the piss because although I really doubt VA will continue my run it's based on a fantastic book series and I'm genuinely super excited for it so there.

Conundrum: to post or not to post

On the one hand, this girl is maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen and I must share her with the world.
On the other hand, looking at her photo makes me want to never leave the house again. Like, ever.

(Photo comes from the wonderful The Sartorialist, which you should all be reading)

This made me laugh

For True Detective fans only.

Falling asleep to a Russian woman folding towels? Ain't nothing weird about that.

This is not something with which I can particularly identify but for some reason just knowing this is A Thing makes me happy.

Katharine Pierce for the win

This one is for The Vampire Diaries fans only.

So...

...this cut of season three of Sherlock to fit the trailer of My Best Friend's Wedding is legit awesome. Mild spoilers (I guess maybe) if you haven't seen season 3 but WHY HAVEN'T YOU SEEN SEASON THREE IT'S AMAZING?

Things I have learned about myself after 2 months of dramatically increased exercise:

1. I need to buy sneakers. Continuing to wear my Fred Perrys like the gym hipster is now borderline unacceptable. Also I think the sole is starting to peel off one of them.

2. I am a cheapskate. At least when it comes to spending money on exercise clothes. See my point above: I think nothing of dropping pennies on a cute dress or pair of flats but will I shell out for a pair of running shoes that don't leave my feet aching after a body attack class? I will not. This also explains why I spend most gym classes loping around the room in a baggy tshirt I once got free with a copy of Marie Claire magazine. True story.

3. I cannot exercise alone in a gym and be reasonably trusted to tire myself out. I used to hate group fitness classes but they work because I am too shamed to stop when I'm tired when others are watching.

4. I'm not sure I believe in the whole post-exercise high thing. I mean endorphins... I guess they exist but when people talk about the amazing natural high they get after a grueling run or gym class I wonder what I'm doing wrong or what they're doing right. In no way does my feeling of smug satisfaction post-workout equate to a natural high. Possibly the closest the people who promote this bullshit have ever been to a not-so-natural high is a big glass of red cordial when they were 7.

5. I will never look as good as Olivia Newton John in a headband.

I die, basically

I don't know how I feel about this photo of Benedict Cumberbatch wearing a Sherlock Hemlock tshirt.

To clarify: I do know how I feel about this photo of Benedict Cumberbatch wearing a Sherlock Hemlock tshirt but I can't quite express my complex emotions on a, you know, public family-friendly blog.