Oxford Literary Festival, etc.

I have been having a most pleasant week going to events at the OLF. This is held yearly but this is the first year I have remembered in time to get tickets. There are many events (talks) each day so it's a question of going down the long list to see what appeals. I started off with The Story of English: How the English Language Conquered the World. I have always found this fact very interesting. The talk was excellent. Next day I went to hear Barbara Trapido talk about her latest book, Sex and Stravinsky. I was very fond of her books many years back but hadn't read any lately. She read the first four or five pages of the book and I was rehooked. Wednesday was a panel discussion on "How to Write a Bestseller" They made many points and suggestions but the one that stuck was that just because a book is a bestseller, doesn't mean it is any good, i.e. Dan Brown. But then they would, wouldn't they. This is Oxford. Friday was another panel discussion, "What Makes a Good Short Story". A.S. Byatt was one of the panel members. I'm reading The Children's Book and enjoying every beautifully crafted sentence. The point that stood out from this discussion was, 'don't think that because it's short, it's easy' but I think I knew that having tried to have a go myself. Yesterday I listened to P.D. James talk about Barbara Pym. I think another rekindling is about to take place. I checked my book shelves and I have nine of her novels and, of course, can't remember which ones I have read so, no excuse to go shopping. Finished up yesterday afternoon with a talk by Martin Amis. The enfant terrible is 60. He moaned away so much about age that I think it is bothering him. But on the whole, I liked him and thought he was a good talker. My last event is today, P.D. James talking to Hilary Mantel. HM won the Booker prize this year - Wolf Hall. I have read it and I can see why it won but I found it somewhat confusing (perhaps I don't know enough Tudor history). It's also very long so brace youself if you plan to have a go. I am so lucky to be living in a city where events like this happen. I love Oxford.

Seaweed Bread

I am going to Brighton for Easter. I'm bringing back seaweed! I will also get some in Canada incase it's better!

Researchers found seaweed fibre could reduce the body's fat uptake by more than 75%.
A fibrous material in Sea Kelp called alginate was better at preventing fat absorption than most over-the-counter slimming treatments, laboratory tests showed.
Dr Iain Brownlee, who co-led the University of Newcastle team, said: "This suggests that if we can add the natural fibre to products commonly eaten daily - such as bread, biscuits and yoghurts - up to three quarters of the fat contained in that meal could simply pass through the body.
"We have already added the alginate to bread and initial taste tests have been extremely encouraging. Now the next step is to carry out clinical trials to find out how effective it is when eaten as part of a normal diet."
The scientists used an "artificial gut" to test the effectiveness of 60 different natural fibres by measuring the extent to which they affected the digestion of fat.
They presented their findings at the American Chemical Society's spring meeting in San Francisco, US.
Dr Brownlee said the aim was to see if the same effects modelled in the laboratory could be reproduced in living volunteers.
"Our initial findings are that alginates significantly reduce fat digestion," he said.
The research is part of a three-year project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

St Patrick's Day

That was Wed and I had what was supposed to be an Irish dinner party. I invited an Irish couple which probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. They knew what corned beef and cabbage was supposed to taste like. I had a terrible time trying to find corned been in this God forsaken British country. One of the butchers to whom I explained that it was for St. Patrick's Day asked me to bear in mind that I am in GB not Ireland. Eventually I found the meat which here is called salt beef. I cooked it as per recipe I found on the internet but I didn't think to soak it first. It was very salty but not too bad. The Irish people were very kind about my attempt but I'm glad I didn't have to be a fly on the wall when they got home and rehashed the evening. I had even found a picture of St Patrick and some shamrocks to use as my screen saver for the evening; with a green background of course. The best thing about this dinner party was that I am now back in entertaining mode but I won't be serving CB&C for the next lot.

Singing

SINGING – I went to a charity auction back in November and bid for a singing lesson. I finally got round to taking it up last Friday. This was happening in Kenilworth, a town 60 miles north of Oxford. Why Kenilworth? Because I have old friends who live there. They had the auction and we used their house for the lesson. It was also a chance to spend the night and have a visit with them. The singing was great. This woman runs a group called “Singing for the Terrified” but unfortunately it is based in Coventry so I can’t realistically join. Now the search is on for a local teacher and some sort of low key choir. I love singing. I’m pretty crap at it but it has a liberating effect on the whole person and as exercise, it sure beats calisthenics.

An exciting life!

That would be me. Let me see; what have I done? I had the trench dug in the back garden followed by the laying of the new cable. It had been destroyed several months ago when I had a stump ground out. Now I have light and power again in the shed/studio so no excuse for not getting it cleared up and turning it into my creative work space.

Another meeting of the Headington Festival committee. What fun. I'm stumbling along trying to learn as I go. It's a fairly steep learning curve but probably good for me.

I've been cutting back on my food intake and I lost 4 lbs last week. I fired my personal trainer. Mr. Diget didn't suit me at all and I was tired of listening to him. I will do better on my own.

I had dinner at Diana's last Saturday evening. Five minutes before I was due to go over, the door bell rang and it was Diana saying would I come over immediately to hold the fort. She had dropped the casserole on the floor taking it out of the oven and the glass dish shattered with the chicken and sauce in it. She was on her way to Waitrose to buy substitute food. She wanted me to greet the other guests and keep them out of the kitchen. I had enough time to clean the mess up off the floor before the first guest arrived. She was a model of calmness and efficiency and produced an excellent salmon main course. If anyone wonders why I love this neighbourhood, there is a perfect example.

I saw Roger yesterday and we read two articles from the London Review of Books. I go round there once a week to read to him and it is a pleasure for both of us.

So that is my exciting week. Hey hey hey.

Chicken Pox

This is Adam's torso on Monday. He feels fine but he has had to be off school all week. Rosie has it as well but her spots pale in comparison to his. I covered the spots on Monday (possible because none on faces) and we walked over to Walton Street for a bit of lunch and some ice cream.

Improvement in Self

I seem to have come out of the horrible place I was in a few days ago. Thank God. It was really bad. I went to see Peter (Psychiatrist) yesterday and that worked out very well. I had tried CBT and I can see the value of it but it wasn't working for me. You have to do a lot of homework in between sessions and it may be that I am simply too lazy. I seem to like talking especially when the subject of the conversation is me. I'm going to see him a few more times and hope he doesn't throw me a curve. I need positive reinforcement right now.

I'm forging ahead with the Headington Festival stuff. There is so much background information that it is hard not to panic. I'm determined to make a success of this. Or at least see it through to the end in June. I need to do something well in order to break the succession of failures of the past two years. This event involves organizing things for about 3000 people. Fortunately, the bloke in charge is really nice and helpful. He probably has to be nice to me since I expect it is a job that no one else wants.

Fire

I had an email yesterday from Michelle with the following news. It sounds quite dreadful. Needless to say, I am thrilled that he wasn't badly burned. The update today was about the firemen. She thought they were cute, he thought they were cute. She wanted to know if she should bake them some cookies. How lame is that when she has me on offer!! I guess those 6,000 miles are a bit of a drawback. Perhaps even my age. How old are firemen anyway?

On another note..... Daniel had BBQ accident last night. he was messing with the propane tank and it flared up on him. He is fine now, but it was quite the scare. I had to call 911 and less than 5 min. later there were 2 firetrucks and several firemen at our house. We spent almost 4 hrs. at the ER at St. Joseph's hospital. He has first degree burns on both hands and arms. Today it seems to be more like a sunburn. Thankfully no blistering. Thank God that Olivia was no where next to him when this happened. It was bad enough that we (Olivia and I) witnessed it all happening from inside the house. Poor Olivia was crying because she saw fire and daddy very frightened.
What a night, but all is well today.

Headington Festival

I have taken on a new job - secretary/coordinator of the Headington Festival. I am truly starting from scratch; I know no one and I know nothing about how anything works. However, I think I can learn and it is a chance to meet new people who don't know anything about me. I've also taken on helping one of the local councillors. I met her recently and thought she was great so I offered my services. It is she who got me the job with the HF but I'm also doing a few things for her. I'm trying to carry on with my resolution to go to the gym 3X a week. Today was supposed to be one of the days but Rachel rang this morning to say that three children are home sick and would I like to drop by. Rosie and Adam have chickenpox and L. Charlie is poorly. Of course I would like to drop by. It may have to happen instead of the gym - what a heartbreaker!!

Off I go.