Michael Jackson

You all know I'm not your typical topical blogger, but blimey, he has only gone and died. 

First person to show me the text at the end of Monkey Business tonight, I thought it must be a joke. (Wow, no, it wasn't...)

People actually talked on the tube home tonight.

Facebook is flooded with love, but mostly jokes and banter. That is what you get for befriending so many comedians I guess.

There are people in pieces on the radio. Should I be in pieces? I've cracked open a bottle of wine, any excuse...

Everyone is talking about all those great hits. I'm remembering ABC. 

Lets get things in perspective though. It is way past my bed time. 

Night night all. xxx

Blog of Love

Been to WW again. In a cruel twist of fate, I was down 2 and Sprogs was up 1.5 ...

We also went to comedy tonight and it has ended in another Dominos related incident. Mmmmm pizza.... And right now, Becki is here on my sofa making sweet love to my pussy-cat, Mornington. It is outrageous. There is snuggling, licking and that is just the cat! 

Where is my love? Huh, either of you?

Don't you worry, you pair of dirty feline flirts, for I have found happiness elsewhere. I think science love is my way forward and I'm as happy as larry!!!

Yes, read it and weep suckers. Oglet is happy!

BLOG, SCHMOG, GROG

I be cream crackered dear reader...

Sorry I haven't been blogging. It is because I've been very busy. Makes a change I s'pose. Being busy can take it out of a young Oglet though. It can really take it out of a not so young - thirty something Oglet.

Today is my seventh night out on the trot. Here is the 7:

1. Friday - date. *ahem* yes, I had a date and it was very nice and I'm not talking about it here, so theres...

2. Saturday - Drinking with my Sproggles :) Hoorah. Very nice day indeed. Sun & Booze and Becki. Lush!

3. Sunday - Zoo in the daytime followed by writing appointment, Sunday evening. Sorry to my writing buddy as I wasn't much cop this week...

4. Monday - work (well a visit to the office), followed by Wine and Houmous with my pal Anne.

5. Tuesday - office followed by Party Piece at the Pangea Project with Sprogs (and lots of beer and Dominos at hometime.)

6. Wednesday - office then Lewis Schaffer show with Peter (and lots of beer)

7. Today - office now and gig in Wimbledon Park later (and less beer than normal, coz I can't take the pace...

It may not be a huge surprise that I've fallen off the gym wagon a bit this week. I did 30 minutes cardio there yesterday and was going to swim today, but may have talked myself out of it before the day is through. Well it all gets a bit much really doesn't it!

The Manager is away on a training course for two days and back tomorrow. Maybe if I concentrate hard, I can make it look like I've done two days work in the next two hours.

Whatdayathink? Ooh, someone just mentioned tea. That always happens to me...

Welcome Home Sprogs (and a few other asides....)

In other matters. Sproglet is due home today from her adventures Al Italia...

Welcome home my lovely :)

Oh yeah, comedy - no I've been lazy again and not gigged in over a week. Bad lazy Jo. No getting rich and famous for you!! I have a gig next week. Yes, one gig...Wow. Rock on. Top Comedy Commitments.

Today, partly because I left the flat quite late and partly thanks to that lot of numpties, the RMT being on strike, I rolled into work at around 11. Then I took nearly two hours for lunch, so I'm kind of making up time now. Not actually with work stuff, but I am here in the office and ready to jump to attention, should any Performance Monitoring emergencies arise. It must be re-assuring to the general public to know.

Excellent - I'm all blogged out too. I think I might have a cuppa.

Gymmage Update

So, I went to see Fitness First on Monday and it was really grim in there. I hope that isn't libelous or anything, but it was really dingy and cramped. My gym Buddy Niamh agreed with me as well, she said it made her feel claustrophobic!

Not to mention they tried to tell us it was 51 quid a month, when I don't know anyone that pays more than 40 quid for FF membership. So, there we have it - it wasn't just me being silly after all. (Apologies to any FF users for being nasty, perhaps it is just the City Road one that is so wholly unpleasant.)

Re the comments from before. Virgin is spitting distance from work. It is 2 minutes away. FF is 4 minutes away, so I'm definitely at the right one! Hoorah... I do go at luncthimes occassionally, but even though it is close and even though I only work-out for around 40-50 minutes, I can't get there, get changed and work-out and get showered and changed again and back to work in less than 1 hour, 30 mins. Often if I faff around, and I'm infamous for my faffing, it takes me two hours. My manager might tolerate that, but when you consider the time I roll up to this joint, (yes, blogging on the Council's time again.) well, it could appear that I'm never here. *gasps-shock horror* So it is better really for me to go after work and sometimes by the end of the day I really don't feel like it.

So the thing is... I said I was pondering option 1, (to stick with Virgin and go to the gym more regularly) and seeing the FF grimpit really made me realise what side my bread was buttered - or should I say reduced fat spreaded? Well, whatever your spread of choice, I know which side mine is on...Get this....

I have been to the gym Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...Tuesday: I went for a swim out of celebration at the wonders that are the lovely Virgin Active facilities. I am feeling much better about it already.

I don't know tons of people who use the gym, but I had a few lonely boring visits lately, where I went without Niamh and didn't see any of the staff I know and like to say Hi to. Maybe that took the fun out of it for me.

This week, Niamh and I have been across to the gym twice together and I've seen Nicole (the ex-PT) twice and all three days I've seen Roman (the ex-sometimes-stand-in-for-Nicole-PT). That man is so ridiculously hot. Well, I think so anyway. Either way, it seems to make it a lot more jolly if there are friendly faces and I get that extra bit of encouragement.

I had my WW weigh-in last night. The outcome - I had stayed the same weight as the week before. This is a good result really - as my overall approach to WW has been to eat salad slightly more often , but otherwise carry on with my normal unhealthy ways, while hoping for the best. I got myself a points calculator. It makes tracking points a piece of piss. So, maybe that will help me stick to the plan a bit more. Watch this space.

After WW, I went to the pub and got bladdered on five or six pints of premium lager. Points? what points? While at the pub, I got told of a fabulous way to lose weight called "Pig to Twig." Apparently, I absolutely must read this book!!! It is simple and easy and the weight just falls off. I am beside myself with excitement. I wonder if I can Pig to Twig while WWing. It could all get too much if I'm not careful.

The same friends (Sue and Lucy*) who told me about the book, also said I didn't really need to lose weight (women always say that to other women.) Women, hear this - I am above my healthy weight range, as was told to me what I must weigh by the government and I won't rest until I get back in range. Or something like that.

They, Sue and Lucy, proceeded to tell me I was an incredibly attractive woman and intelligent too. I will be seeing a lot more of these friends from now on. I don't know where they had got the impression that my self esteem needed that kind of boost. Moi - doubt myself? Pah, the very thought!! Of course, they were very drunk, but still - what lovely things to say.

*Sue and Lucy are real people. It is purely co-incidence that one is named after my cat. When I start taking diet advice and compliments from the kitties, please lock me up and throw away the key.

The Dreaded Gym

I've not been to the gym in weeks. So I've been thinking about cancelling. Facing the fact that it might be time to cancel is leaving me feeling a bit defeated. I don't feel relieved about freeing myself from an unnecessary 70 a month membership. I just wonder why I can't get on with it and use the bloody gym more.

So what do I want?

I want to have the motivation to go. To get on the fitness band wagon and start to feel a bit less embarrassed about my wobbly tum and other wobbly bits. Hmmmm.

Tonight I'm going to check out Fitness First. It is the cheaper option to the Virgin that I currently belong to. Chris goes there, so maybe he would drag me along to classes with him at lunch times. I don't think I like it there though. I've been once before and I'm only really going to see if it is as bad as I remember or if I'm just being a bit silly.

You see the thing about Virgin gyms is they have a pool. When did I last swim? Probably about six months ago. I love the idea that I could swim though!!

Oh and they supply the towels at the one I go to as well. But they don't supply towels in all their gyms and if you go to a Virgin Active where there is no complimentary towel service, they make you pay a pound even though the membership you've paid for your gym includes towels. Bonkers. No towels at all at FF though, so extra laundry would be in the offing and an even bulkier gym bag.

Oh and I have a weird sense of loyalty to the Virgin and to the PT, I don't even work out with anymore. I think she'd like it if I stayed at Virgin, but I never see her these days anyway.

On the other hand, there is a Fitness First quite close to where I live, so I might use that at the weekends, where as getting to a Virgin gym on a weekend is a bit more troublesome.

I don't really know what to do.

1. Stay at Virgin and make the effort to go regularly again.
2. or... cancel Virgin and join Fitness First and see if that works out better, despite the loss of the pool/towel benefits.
3. or... No gym. Cancel the membership and try and exercise in my own time with walking or some other activities.

Also, is this interesting blog material? Probably not. Just for the record - I'm thinking Number 1.

This did make me chuckle.

if you want more lol cats you know where to go - just look for the cheezburgers ....

Blue Skies on a Tuesday

Oh Hai,

It seems odd that I haven't blogged since this time last week and I kept meaning to, but it has been a really quiet week and other than overdosing on BGT, I've achieved very little. Not that enjoying the guilty pleasure that is BGT is any achievement. So, in brief, I've acheived nothing. OK? Happy Now?

My Sprogs goes to Italy tomorrow. Have fun there Sprogs and you take good care of yourself and don't eat too much lasagne. She has taken herself down to sunny Croydon to stay with her parentals tonight before flying from Gatwick tomorrow. As a result I'm off to WW alone this evening. I'm having the same traumatic expectations as I had last week, except last week there was a surprise last minute weight loss. Trust me: surprises like that don't happen two weeks in a row! I think I may have ballooned.

The week though: I haven't gigged, I haven't found (or even looked for) a new job, I haven't dated (or had any random overnight romances). It really has been a quiet week. There are a few highlights:

Had Fambly day in Brighton on Saturday. My niece is walking now. Yay for her. Oh, does that smack of bitterness? No, she was very cute and her toddling is divine! We went to a place callled Zizzi for late lunch and I had their Rustica pizza, which is huge. Yum Yum. Well the pizza wasn't that fantastic, but it was pizza and it was huge. Both of which I'm in favour of. I had a Twister as we walked along by the Brighton sea front. Only 85 calories in a Twister. Yum again... I didn't go in the sea though. Somehow a trip to the sea-side isn't complete without a paddle or a swim.

I got bitten by a ferret on Sunday. Actually the ferrets were very sweet and the biting was a bit of a shock, but handling them was still a highlight. We get so little animal interaction in our volunteer role at the zoo, that you takes your thrills where you can find them. Thankfully, I didn't panic, when his little teeth latched onto that bit of flesh on your hand between thumb and forefinger. I was putting him down just as it happened and although he was reluctant to let go, even once on the ground, he didn't break the skin, so I like to think he was only playing.

A little tickle under the chin or some other distraction meant he did let go after a few seconds and I was a little more cautious with them after that, but still happy to pick the little fellas up and show them to the public, which is why we there really... I am quite a confident ferret handler and that was only my second time. Must be all the practice with hamsters and rabbits as a teenager and kitties my whole life. Show them you're in charge and they are happy as larry. (Apart from the one nip, we all had a whale of a time. At least it was me that was bitten and not some little kiddy) Ferrets are smelly and dirty, but still cute and cuddly. How does that work? Or am I just a complete nitwit about all God's little creatures?

Chris suggested we had lunch in the Park today. I had a salad box from the local cafe and we had half hour in the sun on a bench. It was lovely. Shame everyone keeps saying the weather is due to change.

Look out for that oh so over due over achievement this week. I'm gigging tonight (Well going to the Comedy Car Crash) and I have all sorts of smashing stuff planned for the weekend. *ahem* Jo rushes to make smashing weekend plans, to give this blog some kind of purpose for a change.

I was told to keep this blog. Unleash your creativity I was told. These last few weeks, it just serves to remind me how fricking dull I can be.

Oh, just remembered the little birdy I rescued from my bedroom on Saturday morning. It was 5.30 am and I'd just fed the kitties, (Early Brekkie wake up calls.) so they were in the kitchen, when I heard this weird little scratching. I realised I'd heard the noise earlier too, but now both kitties were accounted for and out of the room, so it wasn't them arsing about, as I'd previously assumed.

I looked around a bit and hidden inside a crown of golden (cardboard) that I had made once for fancy dress, was a little brown birdy. It was nestled on a green felt pixie hat, that I'd made for Oxfam Stewarding pixie duties last year, that was under/inside the crown. Fancy that... a little birdy making a little fortress from my fancy dress headwear stack. Well, I rescued that birdy. I threw a teatowel over it's little crown/pixie hat hiding place, so as not to panic birdy when I moved it and I took the whole lot outside. When I lifted up the tea towel and the crown the little birdy flew away and up into a tree. I went back to bed, slightly weirded out at how long the little birdy had been in my room, but glad I'd been able to rescue it.

I threw the pixie hat and the crown away. They had bird shit on them.

OK maybe I'll do some work or have a cuppa or find something else incredibly important to do now. Did someone say Frappuccino? Why not indeed :) Laterz.