Doing the right thing

moving on up...

2007-03-24T21:54:00.000Z

...I was surprisingly disappointed not to get into Shaggy Blog Stories. I'll start by saying I didn't really expect I would. But it did make me realise that I'm not as good a writer as I would like to be. Unlike other bloggers, I don't blog purely for my benefit - perhaps if I did it would make me a better writer - but really I blog as a way of interacting with people and hoped that my posts would stimulate discussion.

I haven't devoted as much time and energy to the blog as I should have done. I've been moving; working on a masters; and generally getting my life in order. Blogging is more fun, but life gets in the way.

Plus there seems to be a limit to what can be said about living an ethical life. I feel like I'm repeating myself and it feels like its been done. Not done living an ethical life, but perhaps done writing about it. I want to write better funny posts but its hard to be funny while maintaining this level of anonymity. And the anonymity is important.

So I'm off to the sunny southwest for a couple of weeks so its time for a break. The first draft of this post ended with me bidding a fond and more permanent adieu and thanks to all the recent kind comments and emails I am determined to be back. I am however having a think about how to proceed.

In the mean time - buy the book, the blog is staying put, this is not me taking umbrage. I am so grateful to anyone who's read or commented and I will still stick around. I have other projects in mind and I will be back in one form or another. Please keep in touch - I do answer email.

Eventually.

gee thanks...

2007-03-23T18:09:00.000Z

..for that 2pence from income tax. What with cutting the bottom rate of income tax, for people like me, part timers, and for people working many hours on poor pay scales that at best will make bugger all difference.

And why tax cuts anyway? Possibly public money is not being spent on the right things (I could certainly make a few suggestions) but if there is indeed too much public money lets start with the tax that dare not speak its name and take away charging for personal care. Lets accept that if - rightly - wealthy people still get their rubbish collected and still have their kids go to state schools that charging people with modest savings for having their arses wiped and their needs met in a minimal way is due to change.

Now.

tis done!

2007-03-16T19:59:00.000Z

Shaggy Blog Stories is finished - go buy it for goodness sake! Clare's in it, Zinnia's in it, Rachies in it - what more do you want people?

one step forward...

2007-03-15T21:05:00.000Z

..two steps back perhaps isn't quite the right terminology to describe this report about attitudes towards disabled people and how "over 70 per cent of people would not feel very comfortable were a person with schizophrenia to move in next door and over 50 per cent would not be very comfortable were a person with depression to become a neighbour"

Well 100% of me doesn't want to live next door to people who have these attitudes. Perhaps some kind of branding is required? The majority of people living with mental health difficulties have their difficulties well under control and if they become ill they need help and support - perhaps this should be evidence of a need for this?

Or are we saying that people with mental health difficulties are the only problems in society? I'd love to know exactly what they were scared of - because we know that you are more likely to be murdered by someone without a mental health difficulty?

a thing of beauty....

2007-03-13T17:49:00.000Z

...while many of us are trying to limit our flights these pictures on the Guardian website are a nice reminder of what is out there in the UK.

Assuming the weather is good, of course....

indeed funny ha ha

2007-03-10T19:49:00.000Z

So its Red Nose Day next Friday, which can generally be regarded as a Good Thing. Lots of money, given to generally empowering organisations, raised without reducing the beneficiaries to pitiful heaps of humanity. Lovely.

And the Mighty Mike over at Troubled Diva is after having a good idea about fundraising by composing a book of funny posts. So help him out people; spread the word and if you're feeling funny, send in your posts.

And I'm not all that funny, but am going to try to get one in under the wire, as it were. I'm considering vegetarian stovies or surviving moving house. Any thoughts?

BSL in schools...

2007-03-10T18:12:00.000Z

..if you didn't sign the petition on sign language in schools, you won't have seen this response. While on the surface, that's fine, the schools have control over curriculum and the government don't need to be prescriptive, the evidence suggests that disability related activities are not a priority in schools and that without encouragement from above, such lessons are less likely to happen, which means that deaf children will miss out on one of many ways they could communicate, which means it may be harder to get a job....

I guess I just have to focus on the fact that this was given a high profile - maybe next time action will be taken.

Happy International Women's Day...

2007-03-08T18:30:00.000Z

... everyone. Time to celebrate being a woman, or to at least celebrate the women you know. I chose to celebrate via the medium of doughnuts.

And while we're talking about it - which we need to do while we are incarcerating mentally ill women, and discriminating against parents (who are producing children, which are, you know, handy) why hasn't Google changed its icon for this, when it does for so many other things?

an inconvenient birth

2007-02-28T11:15:00.000Z

The 'Killing Rooms' of China, the fate that I'm sure continues for girl babies born in poor areas in particular was, in my naive mind, linked to China specifically and their one child policy. Sure, it would happen occassionally in other poor cultures, but not in any big way...

... And how wrong diddly wrong was I. Turns out, in India so many female children are either aborted or given up that the ratio of men to women has shifted by nearly 10%. Which imagining the population of India, is a collososal amount. Of course, disabled boys are thrown out too. The quotes in the article are particularly disturbing too - the doctors appearing not to even question what is suggested. The fact that the practice is not limited to children born in terrible poverty suggests incredibly deep seated sexism which has terrible consequences for society, and of course women. And what's even more frightening is that it appears to be getting worse.

(Thanks Zinnia for reading the Guardian in the very early hours and alerting me.....)

cheap clothes?

2007-02-24T21:44:00.000Z

This is an interesting article about the real cost of cheap clothes. I still want to know if more expensive brands mean more money to the workers involved, but I'm guessing it doesn't.... It puts me off supermarket clothes (though not a huge thing really - I already boycott Tescos and Asda and there isn't a Primark round here) I must make more of an effort to buy ethical/second hand clothes... They are undoubtedly my hardest weakness to overcome!

feelings part 1

2007-02-21T11:27:00.000Z

About twice a year I have a major clear out of my wardrobes, drawers etc. This doesn't necessarily mean a grand offloading, it can involve getting things mended and organised, but usually there is then a trip to the charity shop. I also occasionally make buying mistakes; these also make their way to the charity shop. I usually choose mental health charities, as sadly I'm aware (though can't find a link to the evidence at present) that they are less popular than for example cancer charities. I like giving to charity shops, it makes me feel good about myself, it means less rubbish, and it usually gets reused.

Now and again, people I know ask if they can have bits from the charity shop bag (items remain in the bag for a few weeks so I can be sure I'm not making a mistake) This makes me uncomfortable. I like to think of myself as a generous person, (which could mean anything) and I/we have given stuff away should that be the right thing at the time. But to just 'give' clothes for example, or things of a similar value to someone not in financial difficulties leaves me a bit uncomfortable. I don't know if this is because I feel like I'm distributing bounty, and being British that makes me feel a bit ick? I know its in part because I actually want the charity to benefit - past suggestions that in return for a top people chuck £2 in a charity box have gone down like the proverbial.

Or do I just need to get over myself?

heathen leanings.....

2007-02-18T21:07:00.000Z

...so finally, last night, we watched Withnail and I. There had been much anticipation; we liked the idea of it, people whose views I trust liked it. And as it turned out, I'm not one of them.

It was engaging enough, and Richard E Grant is somehow always a joy (though afterwards, while The Doctor and I were discussing the film I could only remember him in was Jack and Sarah) but it wasn't funny. Is that a travesty? Am I a humourless hoor?

I then thought that perhaps it was wrong viewing it within the context of growing up with The Young Ones and similar and assumed that Withnail and I was prior to The Young Ones. But it wasn't.

So what was I missing? I've had bad DVD karma lately, I gave up on Rushmore, and found Election vaguely disappointing. Recommendations please!

how much is too much..

2007-02-16T19:16:00.000Z

..far be it from me to publicly comment on my husbands gastric liveliness, but we may have been talking about wind, and wind inducing foodstuffs. When the following conversation occurred....

The Doctor: Bananas are good for the gut. It isn't anything to do with what I eat.
The Bird: How many bananas, today did you eat?
TD: A normal amount, not many!
TB: How many?
TD: Five.

Now here's my question folks - is five a normal daily serving of bananas?

Sign here, please...

2007-02-08T14:13:00.000Z

Two petitions have come my way of late about which I'd like to spread the news.

1) The English Federation of Disability Sport have a petition about improving provision of sports facilities for disabled children. Now you'd struggle to find anyone less sporty than me, and even I think that's a good thing.

2) Another lobbying for the teaching of BSL (British Sign Language) in schools. Lots of reasons why this is a Good Thing there - but includes of course communicating with deaf people, as well as in noisy environments!

(PS - I have been assimilated to New Blogger. I didn't like New Labour so I've got my reservations... Watch this space!)

Love means....

2007-02-07T15:54:00.000Z

...getting home and finding a big pile of my favourite mini crunchies and mini Cadburys dairy milk caramels in the bottom of our Cadburys Heroes box.

Found 'em, ate 'em.

Happy now.

film advice...

2007-02-01T19:22:00.000Z

..so I saw 'Last King of Scotland' which was good, fairly violent, one or two bits where I had to hide behind The Doctor. It told the story in a fairly linear way, without much criticism or challenge - but good. I think I know more. I saw 'Infamous', which was excellent, also fairly violent and an extended period behind The Doctor. Apparently its better than Capote - which I didn't see.

What I need now though is cinema which doesn't involve hiding. And for which I use my brain. Any suggestions?

(And please help me, or I'll go and see this. Which is most likely dreadful....)

there's chasing, and there's running away....

2007-01-24T10:15:00.000Z

...I like photoblogs; I'm not a great photographer or art critic, so I suspect that I don't see the depths in things. If someone had told me that Running from Camera was some bloke, running from a camera, I might not have clicked on it. But I did and I'm hooked.

It is just some bloke running from a camera. All over the place.

Just running. Not enormously gracefully, not incredibly fast.

But I'm hooked...

all things damp and snuggly....

2007-01-18T21:38:00.000Z

Though I am far from a vintage blogger, I have started finding myself convinced I have written about subjects that I then dismiss from consideration only to find no trace of them on my blog (Coming soon, Ashley X). Hmm, perhaps Blogger search is not as efficient as I hoped.

This recent article in the Guardian discusses an issue which has been around in the world of disability, well, forever I'd imagine. A young man, who cannot, or feels he cannot, get a girlfriend resorts to paying for sex as he fears he cannot get a full relationship. This article is a particularly well written, it is not coming down on the side of assuming that disabled men cannot ever have relationships, or on the side of a Right to have sex, or any particular view point. Such articles are not always about men; though in the many I have read the only woman who has publicly written about paying for sex has been a Dutch woman who has made use of a government funded sexual surrogacy service. (Interesting article about sex surrogacy here)

To give context; my disability isn't a million miles from the man in the articles, and my husband is not disabled. I didn't have a particularly free and wild sex life before meeting him - this may have been due to my disability, or going to an all girls school, or significant bereavement in my early 20's and having Other Stuff to sort out. At the time I thought 26 was Terribly Old to meet your future spouse and that I was On the Shelf. I don't know that my allegedly late development into the world of relationships was entirely due to my disability, or that it entirely wasn't. I don't think I'm going to find a specific answer there.

I'm uncomfortable with the use of prostitutes because I'm a feminist, and I am, and/or because I believe that the issue is also about whether or not we believe as a society that anyone can be sexually attractive and desirable. I worry we are getting close to saying that prostitution is wrong; but that sexual surrogacy is OK because who'd shag disabled people. I don't think that sex is a right, necessarily, although I don't think that sex between consenting adults should be restricted.

I guess I think its sad that Nick had his first sexual experience in exchange for cash. Lets hope next time its a shared experience.

time after time...

2007-01-08T14:48:00.000Z

..in this, the 1249th day since my wedding, I'm prone to pondering many things. Only one of which is that its taken us 1248 days to sort out the albums.

They're done now. I wouldn't pop round for a while.

(And I calculated this by popping the phrase 'how many days' into Google. Truly the interweb is a miraculous thing)

no surprises....

2006-12-30T15:08:00.000Z

Two Wrongs Do Not Make A Right, is one of the first things I remember being told as a child desperate for lego related vengeance (a small amount of toddler wee, as it happens, gets a long way through a box of lego) It seems like a sensible edict; doing bad things is wrong, therefore doing another bad thing in response to a bad things is also wrong. And therefore lies my anti death penalty pacifist views. The death of Saddam Hussein, seems pointless. I believe its wrong to take any human life. And even if you believed in such things; how can one life 'make up' for all the wrong that has been done by him or on his authority?

And pictures? Of a man with a noose around his neck? Everywhere online? So as a British society we are condoning the killing of a man, because he's killed people?

This is wrong, people. Why do we need to see pictures? Even if you believe killing him was the right thing to do.

i let a dj run my life...

2006-12-20T20:55:00.000Z

..I don't like winter, I don't like mornings. Its hard for me to get up and running these days. I now have a shortish commute to work and so really its down to Terry Wogan/Ken Bruce to get me there on time and in good mind. And one day last week they came up with the big 3;

Fame - Irene Cara
Raining Men - The Weather Girls
Wouldn't it be good - Nik Kershaw*

Am I showing my age? What are your three songs guaranteed to get you going in the morning? Not the same as your most listened to albums, I bet.

*No links; I thought it better that way...

dozy is as dozy does...

2006-12-16T12:42:00.000Z

..so Blogger want me to switch to New Blogger. I'm sort of tempted, because it suggests bells, whistles and general good stuff. But of co-bloggers who have switched, I've had enormous difficulties signing in to comment as I have two google accounts, one as birdy.chirp and another at real.name and the new commenting won't accept either. Nor, can I sign in as birdy.chirp if I have real.name logged in. As I usually do. If there's no work around I suspect that this means I'll be moving in the New Year. And if you haven't had any comments from me lately - rest assured that your posts are all witty, thought provoking and erudite and that I'm just longing to comment on them. The most irritating thing about New Blogger is that I don't think that you can just stick with Old Blogger. Grrrrr.

Any advice?

Being normal...

2006-12-10T17:18:00.000Z

... am I normal? I suspect not - though I'm not sure if that somehow means I'm being snobby about mainstream as dull. Its something I ponder about; should I want to be normal, in a disability is mainstream sort of sense, or whether diversity means that typical is Not A Good Thing.

I'd normally avoid asking a doctor - a medical doctor - what constitutes normal, but in this case it looks intriguing. I haven't had a listen yet - but I'm in my mid 30's now. Sooner or later I will 'get' Radio 4*

*other than the knicker wettingly funny 'Now Show'.

mutterings...

2006-12-06T17:50:00.000Z

Me: so we'll start the session with a brainstorm, on this issue, but lets not call it that - we don't want to dilute the issue with the alleged controversy over the term.

Colleague: so what shall we call it? (looks vague, pondering)

Me: we'll just explain the exercise. No need to call it anything?

Colleague: (still pondering) How about a concept douche?

timorous wee beastie...

2006-11-29T21:21:00.000Z

...its amazing what you can argue about when you're married, you know. Today: Is Meat Haggis better or worse for you than Veggie Haggis.

In the red corner Dr Chirp, vociforously: Meat haggis is better; it has actual offal in, and the veggie one tastes of margarine.

In the blue corner Birdy Chirp, equally vociforously: Yeah but offal. Its not a synonom. Homymum.....

It seems I meant homonym. So offal is awful and I barely speak English.

Still. I'm right....

sorry..

2006-11-28T21:10:00.000Z

...too busy reading issue 2 of subtext magazine to post.

Its awesome.

Backsun.

things you thought you'd never say... no. 1

2006-11-19T21:20:00.000Z

In the first of an occassional series of random thoughts;

'Is that bird shit on that candle? Fantastic.'

And I was genuinely pleased about it.

What did I mean? What could I have been talking about.....

holy shit....

2006-11-17T18:22:00.000Z

..the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology have put forward a lot of unsettling ideas about their wish to engage in active euthanasia for babies with certain medical conditions. My regular reader (hello!) will not be surprised by this post... The gist - and its outlined here - is that obstetricians would like to discuss the extension of the 'management options' of sick newborn babies to include "non-resuscitation, withdrawal of treatment decisions, the best-interests test and active euthanasia". Lovely.

For what its worth, non-resuscitation could sometimes be sensible. As can good palliative care. But the best interests test worries me hugely.

Firstly - and again - is who decides what is quality of life? Obstetricians? Doctors who probably haven't seen a disabled person since they were first doing clinical training - relatively few disabled people have children. And people who are not exposed to disabled people (lovely phrase that) are not accepting of them (as supported by recent, offline, research by the Employers Forum on Disability) so not in a great position to judge on quality of life.

Secondly - the suggestion that disabled children are expensive. Well - yes they are, actually. The way to deal with that however is to put more money into it. See, if disabled people who wanted to work all had the support to be able to do so that would generate more tax. Perhaps that would help towards keeping these children alive. Or alternatively we could get all the most senior people to pay all the tax they should be?

Thirdly - it used to be that there would always be some organisations in your corner. I'm not entirely in agreement with Care Not Killing, for example, but here they make some great points. So its almost unbelievable that the Church of England, who could have been relied upon to at least to promote the right to life, have now changed their mind. So only most of human life is sacred then?

And fourthly, to put the puss firmly among the aves, Micheline Mason, a disabled woman and lifelong advocate for inclusive education, has produced a response saying:

"Who gave you the arrogance to make my disabled friends feel that all the effort and struggle they have made during their lifetimes to contribute to their families, their communities, their loved ones, to hope and dream and work towards a better world, is as worthless as a stick of chewing gum? Why don't you know that this is just wrong? That if you step one inch away from the principle that all human life is equal, and we all have an equal right to it, then we all step into a new world where no one will ever be safe again, not even the people who are proposing such a step. It would change the foundation upon which we live."

Full statement I'd be pleased to email you. I can't find it on the interweb at present.

bits and stuff....

2006-11-14T18:25:00.000Z

Has anyone read 'Natural Flights of the Human Mind'? Did you like it? I really want to talk to someone about it..... I loved 'Astonishing Splashes of Colour' and well, 'Natural Flights...' was certainly better than OK. It has interesting characters, a good backstory and its gripping and readable without being overly simplistic - and its well put togethre. But I couldn't help feeling it was a tad contrived. I may be being unfair - I have read a lot of good books lately.

And the cabbage - so far have used some in a thai curry, and stir fried with garlic and mustard seeds. Your suggestions have saved our fridge.... Oh and The Doctor doesn't like colcannon as he once had food poisoning after eating it - not from it, but it was that which - erm - returned...

veggie box woes...

2006-11-08T21:28:00.000Z

Two enormous cabbages.

The Doctor does not particularly like colcannon.

What am I going to do with them? And are cabbage parcels as fiddly as they sound?

vegetarian stovies recipe

2006-11-05T21:00:00.000Z

Excuse the rather dull title; as I had almost a full hand of root veg this evening - bar turnips and it was both dark and freezing here I decided that stovies were the way forward. Stovies are a traditional Scots way of using up odds and sods of meat and veggies. In my family, this is veggie - I come from a long line of veggies and near veggies. I googled; and there was not a single veggie recipe in sight.

So here's the definitive MacChirp stovies recipe. Get this in your search engine Google!

For four people (probably six if one of the four isn't Dr Chirp)

Six small medium potatoes, half a large swede*, four large carrots, one parsnip
Two onions roughly sliced
Some olive oil
Some rosemary, if the mood takes you.
1.5 mugs stock

Saute the onions in a goodly splash of olive oil til well done.
Add some rosemary, or something.
Add all the veggies, chopped into bite size pieces (unless you aren't in a hurry to eat it)
Toss, vigourously.
Add stock.
Turn down heat, cover tightly, ignore for about 45 mins.

Ta dah!

Oh and the burnt stuff on the bottom of the saucepan is a) yummy and b) comes off if you cover it thickly with salt and boil it. Sorry. The idea of stovies is that they are quite dry - the veg themselves are gloriously soft but there's no juice. If you are more canny than I then you probably stop it cooking a little sooner (40 mins?) and save the saucepan. I may try it in the oven next time to see if that saves my pots.

I served it with steaks for the carnivores and I intended to have some veggie sausages with it but didn't fancy any at the last minute. I imagine that putting in some veggie (or non veggie) bangers in at the start would also be splendid.

*swede in England is turnip in Scotland. And vice versa.

ping!

2006-11-02T19:32:00.000Z

...said the car, rather unexpectedly last night. 'Ice warning!' popped up on its happy little display.

'ICE WARNING?' said I, with a few extra adjectives. 'Ice warning' agreed The Doctor.

And this, in the UK on the 1st of November. Truly; the weather is banjaxed - isn't it? This isn't normal is it? I'm not about to start to fly to work or stop recycling etc but can the human race fix things?

I'm beginning to doubt it.

words, only words...

2006-10-31T20:09:00.000Z

there's few things in life I care less about than Big Brother (oh wait - here's one) but I was intrigued by this Guardian article as it was about Pete, who is disabled, and also on the day of the Commons vote on an enquiry about the Iraq war, one of the most popular articles on the site...

I don't really know this interviewer at all, so can't compare his style in this and other articles, but why oh why does he transcribe Pete's ticks? What does that achieve? Anyone who knows anything about Tourettes doesn't need it; anyone who knows less will not really understand what it means or the implications for a persons life. I think it detracts from any important points which Pete might make. His tadger size is not one of them....

when two blogs collide....

2006-10-27T12:09:00.000+01:00

Me and Zinnia. Bet we're just how you pictured us....

feeling hot, hot, hot...

2006-10-21T19:50:00.000+01:00

George Monbiot has a new(ish) site about climate change called 'turn up the heat' It makes chilling - and interesting - reading and I agree with all of it, apart from possible that Coldplay are inoffensive. I think they're pretty annoying actually, even before I got a black eye which meant that The Doctor followed me around singing 'yellow' to me for weeks...

One interesting aspect of it is that it points out how some of the so called 'green' actions taken by some are in fact anything but - which I'm sure many suspect, but its nice to know why! He also acknowledges;

"Let me begin by admitting that almost every environmentalist I know - and I include myself - is a hypocrite. We all want people to live by codes rather stricter than those we apply to ourselves, which is why real action on climate change isn’t possible without intervention by the government."

Which is a very fair point.

two quickies...

2006-10-20T17:39:00.000+01:00

..I cracked the drop down menu for my archives by going here and following the wonderfully specific instructions. So my sidebar is tidier but is it accessible? I really need to go on a course.. Feedback welcome (in particular ways of making it more accessible)

And I capture the castle is a SPLENDID book - could well be the best book I've read all year..... Accessible, engaging, and I'd have thought everyone could relate to her a bit.

further mutterings....

2006-10-16T11:13:00.000+01:00

Since my last post.....

I have discovered that Tesco have developed square watermelons.... Grrrrrrrr

American Apparel have been in touch to tell me more about their production processes - and they were very honest and open about their successes and their limitations. Currently they guarantee not to use sweatshops from the knitting of the yarn to the garments appearing in the shops and eventually to ensure the full chain is sweatshop free. So well done them.

So I've been pondering on clothes shopping - and found some online organic clothes shops. And another option might be ebay or other second hand shops (thanks felicity for reminding us about this!)

I originally planned to make a list of fair trade/organic right on clothes but then found one here.

Off shopping now - have already found more than I need so will keep you posted!

cheap as chips?

2006-10-13T10:55:00.000+01:00

Time is short chez Chirp, but one issue on which I ponder is whether or not cheap is really a good thing. I have wavered about posting this - it sounds terribly smug and is not intended to at all - price is a factor for us in choosing the 'right' purchase to make.

I was sent this article from the Scotsman in which Tesco, my absolute favourite multinational has again done wrong. I know that the issues with child labour are perhaps not as clear cut as some would say, but still - I'm guessing these are children working after school, or for pocket money.

So how much should clothes cost? I'm not sure that more expensive means less child labour. Charity shop/second hand is one solution (that I contribute to, but don't really patronise, as I'm not really able to rummage any more) and American Apparel make all their clothes in Los Angeles so comply with US workplace regulations (not sure where the fabric comes from though) There are various fair trade/organic clothing companies, providing you are a relatively wealthy and relatively slender....

Answers ~~on a postcard~~ in the comments box please.....

not quite loaves and fishes, but...

2006-10-07T15:32:00.000+01:00

..so I'm in the culinary limbo between the emergency back from hols shopping and the arrival of the veggie box, and all I can remember being in the fridge is peppers. Five peppers. And some salad.

I was stumped, utterly for inspiration. Then suddenly, as if a miracle, I remembered two sweet potatoes. And in the freezer, aduki beans and tortillas... My freezer is a mod con I'd struggle to live without.

...so burritos it was then (after an emergency dash to the market for onions and garlic) Onions sauteed, along with sweet potatoes, peppers and garlic. 1.5 tsps smoked hot paprika, 0.5 tsp cinnamon added, plus tinned tomatoes. Simmered, for 20 minutes then rolled in tortillas with grated cheddar.

THEN in the greatest act of self control known to this human - baked in the oven for 20 minutes. Yum! I do think that the best recipes are those that come to you when you think you have nothing in the house.

(and that really, there's never nothing in the house....)

Check the date, people!

2006-10-04T17:40:00.000+01:00

Dear Figleaves,

Thank you for your email. However, as its the 4th October I do not fudging well care about Christmas shopping as yet. Please resend around the start of December,

Love Birdy x

naughtiness...

2006-10-02T11:30:00.000+01:00

...a holiday is indeed a time for chilling out, kicking back and generally taking It in as easy as manner as possible. On reflection, also an opportunity for naughtiness.

Not that kind of naughtiness. Wrong kind of blog for THAT.

So naughtiness. I wasn't smug that we weren't flying, tho' I like the drive from Birdley to Scotland - 'tis beautiful. I like having my powered wheelchair with me too, which I can't if we fly. The car is newish, and cleanish. Self catering apparently is less resource hungry than hotel staying - though the resources of The Doctor in providing me with all my assistance in a self catering cottage is fairly substantial, together with looking after the cottage. At a tangent however, generally we don't have a choice about where to stay when we travel.

The real - potential - naughtiness was I guess in the bath and the tumble dryer. I do agree that baths (in general) use more water than showers (in general) I don't have a bath I can use at home; the bath there is used only rarely. I do wonder in my case whether I use less water showering than bathing; showering sitting down is a slow process and undoubtedly more water is used. I also think - and this may be the contentious bit - that really green living is about doing your best. Reducing as well as reusing and recycling and therefore if I feel like a bath on holiday I'll have ~~one~~ several. Cutting back on water use is important but to effect real environmental change surely governments will have to change their policy? Individuals actions can only go so far.

Oh and the tumble dryer? I'd always considered them Satan's white goods. However, having soft towels for the first time in 12 years has caused me to waver. I don't think we'll indulge - I suspect when the memories of soft towels and a kitchen not full of washing have faded we'll decide that the impact is not worth the benefit. And the rough towels? Well we have lovely soft skin.....

back!

2006-10-01T17:07:00.000+01:00

and knackered - though in a good way. Scotland was, as ever, fab, and catching up with family, visiting places and spending time with husband all truly restorative. And as we came home with nearly all clean clothes, and arrived there AND back on time, I suspect we may be grown ups. Please don't tell anyone.

So we're back, working on sorting the house out - the piles of boxes are now under attack. Pictures are going up, the curtains have arrived and there appears to be some floor in our bedroom. Its like a miracle.

off!

2006-09-15T21:25:00.000+01:00

on hols.

Backsun. With ideas, and energy....

And in the mean time, please take care of yourselves. Your services will be required again.

car troubles....

2006-09-14T22:06:00.000+01:00

...so Birdley is further away from work than Birdyville was, and so the driving to work is non negotiable. There are two routes; 11 miles along an A road, or 18ish miles along a winding country road.

In the morning - route fairly clear. I go the shorter route - currently pootling at 40, due to roadworks.

On the way home, I usually go the winding route, as the traffic is moving that way, or the shorter route rather slowly. So this is the question - is it better to go longer and quicker, or slower and shorter? Cost of petrol is one thing, but I'm also interested in emissions. Any science out there?

books etc

2006-09-11T20:25:00.000+01:00

So I took your inspired book selections and righteously - ie no buying, but reusing - attacked the library. So far.....

rachie - I LOVED The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant, much more than I thought I would. I found it really engaging and can't wait to read some of her others. The Temple of Optimism by James Fleming - I gave up on that I'm afraid and What a Carve Up by Jonathan Coe is still on the to read list.

rhea - The Power of One - Bryce Courtney is STILL on order at the library. May have to buy a copy.

felicity - I LOVED the Time Travellers Wife. Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre still on order...

daisy - Elizabeth McCracken - the Giants House - OH MY GOD I loved this. Read it. All of you. Go on - get to it..... step away from the blog....... Very Ann Patchett like - a good thing.

Sue Grafton A is for Alibi - fantastic - will be working my way through the rest. Phil Whitaker - Eclipse of the Sun, and Glenn Savan White Palace and Goldman's Anatomy

lilwatchergirl - loved Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington - on order.

In my recreational reading - I got to the end of The History of Love by Nicole Krauss was good - though not as novel - geddit* - as it could have been. I have just finished The Red Thumb Mark by R Austin Freeman - a Conan Doyle esque novel - which was great in a romping British kind of way. Distinctly pre feminism though - lots of glorious rants about looking after women which I am choosing to find funny. After all - it was written in 1907.

Oh and no more Amazon links. I am in a big grump with them.....

*sorry....

boxes of lovelieness

2006-09-06T20:06:00.000+01:00

Now we've moved - we have boxes of - well stuff - which apparently is ours, tho' I'm not entirely sure what it all is, and now have boxes of loveliness. These arrive on a Thursday lunchtime and provide us with enough veggies for the week in exchange for merely fifteen English pounds.

I had box schemes in the past, but they were twice as much and the veg never lasted the week. I realise that organic veg and fruit doesn't keep so well - but it was economically not viable. I do still need to buy some bits, and of course lots of fruit (the fruit boxes have loads of citrus fruits, of which I'm not a fan) But overall, real veg from a real farm less than 10 miles away? I'm sold.

I read in the Guardian, that supermarkets, in particular my favourite Tescos are starting their own box schemes. Surely people won't go for this? Rather heretically, I'm not convinced that organic everything is the way to go - I think the world will run out of space, but I do think that buying what you can organically sends a good message to the Powers That Be that the conventional intensive farming is not the right way to go either. And for me the box scheme is as much about supporting smaller farmers as it is about organic food. Oh and the tastiest potatoes in the world.

The upside of the scheme is clear; tasty ethical veggies, contributing to the local economy, supporting independent farmers. So far the downside; not knowing what's coming has made meal planning harder - though that in turn has made me more creative. Meals currently seem to take longer; though inspiration can lead to exciting things - this lentil and cauliflower curry will feature highly on the Chirp menu this winter. Which I guess only serves to remind me I was using too many long distance out of season veg.

never assume....

2006-09-03T13:30:00.000+01:00

...that just because a film maker is sometimes awesome - Dogma - sometimes irreverently hilarious - Jay and Silent Bob strike back - and sometimes entertaining enough - Chasing Amy that they can't sometimes be appalling. Kevin Smith - that makes you a very bad man.

I do not recommend Mallrats. Well, I mean some bits are funny, but only the bits with Jay and Silent Bob....

Not having cable/freeview etc means we are watching a lot less TV, and what we are watching is of better quality. Scrubs, mainly, and American Splendour later today. So that's a good thing I think - its amazing how compelling watching TV can be. And how time can pass with nothing achieved.....

not the greatest of surprises....

2006-08-29T20:38:00.000+01:00

...I don't know if it was a slow news day today, or whether it really is a big surprise to people, but this story about the tragedy of older (and sicker) people not getting assistance with eating and food in hospital seemed to get top billing today.

Its appalling that patients like these are not offered basic care. Its not a highly specialised medical need, its not funded by drugs companies, but eating is a key part of getting better or at least remaining comfortable. And it could be that the quality of the food is also an issue.

Gah. What next - a hot news story about too many cars on the road? about poor people in Africa? This isn't news. We know it goes on - unless you really try to ignore it. So why isn't something being done?

so so tired.....

2006-08-28T19:52:00.000+01:00

Two days. Two toddlers. So tired...

Mommy bloggers. How Do You Do It?

disappointment raining down...

2006-08-20T14:19:00.000+01:00

...so Long Term Kiwi PA is leaving us. To live with a boy, no less. So we went out today, to mark the occassion. Bit of culture, we thought, followed by a spot of lunch in a pub.

(Its 2.15 here. You can guess this doesn't end well.)

The culture goes well. The culture is fully accessible. We get bored of culture about 1.15. We are peckish. This is bad, I get petulant when peckish. Unusually - rather than planning everything to the nth degree I decide to be spontaneous about our choice of pub. I think to myself - between home and culture there are many villages, and many pubs. One of them must have wheelchair access and a traditional yet veggie menu?

Apparently not, as we are now at home and The Doctor is making a full English (with veggie sausages - mmm) I am Not Amused.

The DDA is making a difference and access is improving, but whenever I get complacent, whenever I decide not to worry about it, I get stuck somewhere. And usually it makes me angry; but today it made me sad.

A Public Service Announcement - 3

2006-08-18T15:32:00.000+01:00

Apparently - we're not drinking enough wine. The WWF are concerned about alternative bottle stoppers to corks in wine, as this has a negative impact on cork growers, and on cork oaks which are part of a habitat in which many birds and beasties can live happily. I also understand that cork is actually very environmentally friendly and we should be promoting its use.

Anyhoo. Bottoms up!

(hic)

complicateder and complicateder...

2006-08-14T21:43:00.000+01:00

...so we're frustrated with Microsoft, aren't we, for being a big nasty company and trying to be In Charge of everything, of taking over all sorts of things and making products which apparently can be a tad buggy....

....but on the other hand he's publicly said some very sensible things about HIV prevention in the developing world. That abstinence simply isn't an option, particularly for some women, and he is putting his money where his mouth is. I know this is a relatively small contribution to AIDS prevention, and I may well have readers who are or have been doing more. But it seems that it is a key figure in the US speaking out against Bush's policy on this, and there's a tiny part of me which hopes its the start of a new trend.

wowzers....

2006-08-09T18:48:00.000+01:00

Les Chirp have reached the 20th century; We Have Broadband.

We didn't get broadband in our old house I think because we were certain that we should wait for the next big thing in technology. Then we didn't get broadband because we were moving.

So we moved, and signed up. And waited for our modem, and waited a bit more, and then bought the sodding thing.

It works. We have broadband. Its like instant internet! Its always on! I can download stuff fast! I got to watch this! I can browse in the garden! on the loo! in the usual officey type space!

I may never go out again.

whoopsie...

2006-08-06T15:12:00.000+01:00

.. I did NOT mean to get lipstick on the grooms waistcoat on Friday. He grabbed me, platonically, and I couldn't get away.....

Ho hum. Perhaps not doing quite the right thing, though I don't think there is a standard etiquette for such a scenario?

******************************************

I have been a Bad Blogger recently, and am very sorry. Partly as this is always a busy time chez Chirp, partly due to freelance projects building up and partly because house moving? Pretty tricky to do so righteously. Hints and tips will be passed on imminently though.

a shift in world view...

2006-07-31T20:31:00.000+01:00

The Doctor; Are you sleeping well Bird?
The Bird: Not really. I'm pleased, etc, to have moved, but still not quite settled
TD: Bird, that's a shame. I'm sleeping really well.
TB: Well, at our old aviary in Birdyville our bed was under the window, and now at Casa Oiseau the bed is against a wall. According to Feng Shui having a bed under a window is bad, and is better against a wall to support your back.
TD: Humph
TB: Humph?
TD: Sodding new house getting me believing in such things.....

the voice of the elderly....

2006-07-23T17:00:00.000+01:00

The Doctor: Birdy - where are the bits for your manual wheelchair?
The Bird: No idea.
TD: Ah go on, you do really (walks away, does enormous double take)
TD: Really? Where is it?
TB: Erm....

We found it, which was a relief as my powered wheelchair doesn't go into my mum's house. Twas the only thing that we almost lost in the move, so I guess that's a good thing. TD has spent every waking hour lately either going to IKEA or putting together flat pack furniture so we are Reclaiming the Box Rooms.

Yesterday was my birthday and I now have 500 new pets. I am very excited about them - the main hurdle will be keeping them alive in the heat...... I think that this will be a great way of dealing with kitchen waste (and apparently the contents of the vacuum cleaner) without it having to be carted off anywhere. Plus when you take the lid off they stick their little heads up to see you! How cute is that?

ooh! ooh!

2006-07-17T21:54:00.000+01:00

This looks rather fab - the 'Water Two'. It diverts your bath/shower water into a water butt - leading to happy green gardens. All for £30!

The Doctor had expressed some concern that it would only work for our other bathroom, as my bathroom floor is glued down tighter than a tight thing, covered in glue and sat on by Jabba the Hutt. But lo - it attaches outside.

Anyone got one?

scuppered...

2006-07-15T20:55:00.000+01:00

..look I'm not on a diet, OK? I'm just on a health kick, having had six months of 'I need that latte/chocolate cake/panini' starting to show around the midsection.

So I'm showing rare self restraint. Its going well, and I'm off to another location to train. A location famed for its biscuits. I worry. Health Kick HQ has suggestions - take a banana, they say. Birdseed, suggests another.

I go to the location; no biscuits. I do the session - its fine, I'm hydrated, my will power is set on maximum. The tea break comes.

Tiffin. AKA chocolate refrigerator cake.

I give up. Will power flies in the face of reasonableness that I Really Like It.

So I get my PA to fetch some. Its in front of me, the saliva is pooling, and I care not that it doesn't look quite right.

Malt loaf.

Its clearly been a while since I had any chocolate.....

thinking.....

2006-07-09T20:44:00.000+01:00

Well the move happened - I'd post photos of chaos but naturally I can't find the cable to upload the photos... The Doctor is an absolute hero and has shown his heroic stature by laying enormous amounts of wood flooring.....

And I'm having a think about the blog, and future posts. In the mean time, I've been looking for ages for a really good chocolate refridgerator cake recipe. And while I haven't tried it yet, by jove I think this might be spot on!

en route to casa oiseau...

2006-06-30T19:02:00.000+01:00

...so the big moving day loometh and therefore my usual supply of good ideas is drying up in favour of trying to make sure that only things I don't need over the next few days get packed. Only had to return a few mispacked items so far....

Anyhoo. Backsun. Suggestions for future posts welcome.

(oh and thanks rachie for the suggestion of 'The Birth of Venus' by Sarah Dunant - twas excellent. I'm working my way through your suggestions!)

gaaaaaah...

2006-06-25T20:32:00.000+01:00

so a New Dad has realised that men too cannot Have It All, whatever It All is. When will those writing in newspapers realise that

a) feminism is good for men too as it should mean that both genders can be free to make the choices they wish to - in my mind without hurting others
b) What is 'It All'? What does that mean? Being able to do everything at the expense of others? Surely no-one can have it all - are there enough hours in the day to be all the parent, worker, employee, friend that you really wish you can be? If so - please tell me how.

Or have I missed something again?

how far would you go....

2006-06-15T22:37:00.000+01:00

...yclepta wrote a great post recently about the positive choice of compromise - about how sometimes its about seeing the bigger picture. In her story - I think she was absolutely right.

I've worried a lot about not going far enough to do the right thing by the planet and its people. I still wonder if I only do as much as I easily can rather than as much as I should. I think for me I do have a point when its just too much. This story in the Guardian about what one family had to go through for a green funeral would be too much for me. Phoning in advance to say a plot would be needed? No idea where the body is? No way I'd put up with that.

I don't think it has to be easy to be worth doing, exactly, and I realise that many of the actions we take in the west are far from humane for those in other parts of the world. But there has to be some care involved, for a service to be truly ethical?

more haste...

2006-06-12T21:18:00.000+01:00

...less speed. Rose Elliott's recipe for Greek butter beans appears to be such a quick recipe - and indeed is quick - until you get almost to the end of the recipe and discover you have no lemon juice...

There are only about six ingredients, so the lack of lemon juice is something of a deal breaker.

I went to Waitrose and of course nothing I needed was anywhere I could reach it. The staff are very helpful, but I so didn't feel like tracking someone down and asking them. I did it anyway, as I really wanted the butter beans (made from dried - no cans and less salt and sugar. I need to feel smug as the organisation involved in the soaking etc is rather taxing for a brain like mine....)

Some days its easier to ask strangers for help than others. I have a theory - you can only ask for help a certain number of times a day. If you have a new assistant - as I do at present - you have to ask for more and more help and so you are more likely to run out of times in the day...

I also think that its a matter of practice. One in every few times you ask for help it does go wrong; the person takes umbrage, or uses you request as a reason to ask lots of impertinent questions. But then the next time it all goes well, and yay! Confidence restored.

“Why women?”

2006-06-10T22:00:00.000+01:00

Not much time for blogging at present, but this got sent to me - a timely reminder that feminism still has some way to go.......

“Why women?” campaign - Women’s Resource Centre

Women’s organisations work with the sharp end of discrimination, providing essential and often life-saving services to the most forgotten and isolated women. Yet we are currently facing a funding crisis.

We are constantly being asked to justify why we work for women, despite the expertise and experience held by the sector in meeting women’s needs, and in challenging discriminatory laws and practices - marital rape was only made a criminal act in 1991 after decades of campaigning.

The Women's Resource Centre, the umbrella body for women’s groups in London, recently launched the ‘why women?’ campaign which calls on government to put gender back on the agenda, and sustainably fund the women’s sector - over 170,000 postcards highlighting the achievements of women’s organisations are currently in cinemas and bars across London.

Based on in-depth interviews with a diverse range of women’s organisations, the ‘why women?’ report found that the deep-rooted issues these organisations work on rarely appear on funders’ criteria or government targets - and this will only get worse as funding moves from grants to more prescriptive, competitive tendering to deliver public services.

Campaign resources, which they hope will be of benefit to other women’s organisations lobbying for change, include their research report, which highlights the social problems women’s organisations work to address, as well as the difficulties they experience in finding suitable funding; their charter, which outlines the reasons why women’s organisations are needed; their executive summary, which highlights recommendations for change, targeted to particular government departments; posters and postcards illustrating how women’s groups have contributed to challenging discrimination and pushing for equality for women, and a short film about the women’s sector (which is almost finished!).

Please sign up to support this campaign at www.whywomen.org.uk

the da vinci code....

2006-06-06T22:02:00.000+01:00

...so we went, and actually, it was pretty entertaining. I liked the book in a big US crime blockbuster sort of way, and, you know, liked the film in a big US crime blockbuster kind of way...

For your consideration -

Audrey Tatou, it would appear can't act. The Doctor tells me this does not matter
Tom Hanks is great as Robert Langdon. Those thinking otherwise - are wrong (of course I can't find the link to the review saying this at the moment...)
But the best of the best of the best - casting Dr Octopus as the bad guy. Inspired!

Google is...

2006-05-31T12:15:00.000+01:00

.... (to quote Pewari) borked. And I'm worried I was the last one to touch it.

Very sorry.

Are there any other search engines?

wonderful wonderful...

2006-05-29T13:54:00.000+01:00

...This weekend, while The Doctor has mostly been laying flooring chez Casa Oiseau I have mostly been reading 'A History of Tractors in Ukrainian' by Marina Lewycka. And consequently, having my socks knocked off.

I really want to write something moving and poignant to explain why its such a good book, but I suspect I may fail. I loved it as it was different without being overly complex or inaccessible, and because the language was very tight, ie every word was necessary, and it was funny without trivialising any of the issues.

I felt the same way about 'The Time Travellers Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger. I loved this for the reasons given above, because it was alternative without being too different. Not that different is bad, I just loved the way she blended the sci fi aspect into a well written romance novel without anyone really noticing.

So for the rest of the year I want to only read books which will knock my socks off. Your suggestions please!

*******

Also - I'll pay in chocolate/beer/comfort food of your choosing anyone who can tell me how to get the links in my posts to appear underlined, or to stand out in some way (without me going through and setting each one as underlined, or similar) without the links in the sidebar standing out too?

its not easy..

2006-05-26T12:03:00.000+01:00

..being green, according to this series on BBC2. I've watched a couple of episodes and been fairly entertained. I think that its good that the BBC are bringing to the publics attention the different ways in which people can improve the ways in which they conduct their lives for the benefit of all. Important, I think we all agree. They raise loads of issues, insulation, composting toilets, recycled chip fat for diesel - all worthy of consideration.

While I think its important that those who can do more do so, its a tad frustrating for them to say in the programme that these are things we could all do. Well probably, with their skills, a half million pound farm and £100,000 to spend on making it green. We don't have enough space for everyone to do this - there has to be another way.

If only I knew what it was.

Long division...

2006-05-20T18:27:00.000+01:00

..so I'm cutting up peppers for roasting, in order to prepare The Doctors pre half marathon supper (Brown rice. Fish. More brown rice) when all of a sudden I couldn't remember who sang 'Love will tear us apart'. I knew it wasn't Soft Cell, or Teardrop Explodes, but the bit of my brain that knew it was Joy Division had been entirely overwritten by something. Something useful, I hope. Work related, even. I just have to hope that it wasn't anything written by James Blunt perporting to be music.

So I google - 'Who sang 'Love will tear us apart' and guess what? There's a Chinese film of the same name, and also a book. I am not sure why I think this is so cool, but I love google for making me realise there are the same ideas going on all over the world....

onion hilarity....

2006-05-17T20:56:00.000+01:00

... I absolutely love the onion and this article 'I'm Doing My Inconsequential Part for the Environment' made me howl with laughter! Not least because I broadly think its true - really the changes are required at a higher and more strategic level.

That's not to say that I don't think its important to do what we can - hate them as I do Tesco is right that 'Every Little Helps' - not least to be able to live with ourselves. But without serious action on the part of multinationals, major changes will not take place.

nothing to see here...

2006-05-15T21:25:00.000+01:00

...turns out that two jobs and gearing up to move house makes birdy a dull oviparous vertebrate. So please insert your own post here....

***************************

In funnier news, I was happily cleaning my teeth last night when I heard The Doctor slow pacing up the stairs in his walking boots.

Me: (through toothpaste) ?!?!?!?!
Him: *more slow pacing*
Me: Darling, are you trying to be a cyberman?
Him: Maybe........

Clare's book title meme

2006-05-10T20:56:00.000+01:00

OK Clare - have grasped the mettle.....

1. Briefly describe an aspect of your life for which 'The Dying Of Delight' would be an apt title.

I loved the title of this book as it could have been either a moment in which all happiness leaves you, or a moment in which you were so happy you thought you would die with joy. I suspect its meant to be the former. I'm naturally an optimist though - and in most of my more difficult times I have kept hold of something. Hope I guess.

I'm going to go for joy, actually as I'm not sure I know any of you well enough for the sadness thing. Buy me a pint sometime if you want to know. Or a large mocha, no cream.

Happiness - well my wedding I'm afraid. Predictable I know but it was a great day - obviously because I committed myself publicly to my Doctor. But also because all our friends and family were in the same room all at the same time. Now that is a great feeling.

2. Pick another book whose title has some resonance in your life, and write a little about it.

Golly - so many. The Hours by Michael Cunningham moved me, so did Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and I loved The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen and Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Blimey. Turns out I like contemporary male US authors. I had no idea.

My absolute favourite author is Carol Sheilds. 'Unless', her final novel really moved me as it was about how one instance can change the path of your life without you expecting it. My life is good; but as a disabled person the expectations placed on you are not the same as your peers, and most achievements are found through alternative, sometimes harder routes. I can see though there are points in my life where one opportunity has put its head up and I've been able to move forward in a positive way.

3. Write one more short personal piece - one which matches the book title chosen (in part 2) by the person who tagged you.

So Clare picked What Women Want Men to Know

I haven't read this - tho' in my younger and single days I did read a couple of the John Gray books and did actually find it quite useful. I don't think its all true, or anything of the sort, but, y'know, I went to an all girls school, only have sisters, and when all my peers were beginning to start dating my life was VERY complicated and it wasn't high on my list of priorities.

My husbands fab, and if I wanted him to know something I'd simply tell him. I have not had good experiences with men as colleagues. This is not an all men are a nightmare to work with, this is me personally hasn't had good experiences so far with men as colleagues. So I'd probably tell them that competitive behaviour is wearing and boring in large amounts.

4. Take your favourite little-known book and plug it to your readers. Authors need incomes, and word of mouth is one of the best ways to sell books.

Ahem. The best independent book I've read in ages is The Dying of Delight... prior to that I seem to remember The Reader by Bernard Schlink was a novel of that kind, although that isn't how its portrayed on Amazon. Still it is an amazing book which gathers up your insides and swings them around its head until everything you know seems back to front.

In a good way.

5. Sit back and marvel at the magnificence of this meme. It was brought to you by an out-of-breath author, reduced (on account of her publisher* having expired) to trundling copies of her book across the internet on a rusty old trolley with one wheel missing, sweating and shouting "Buy me book, Gov?" Now visit www.TheDyingOfDelight.co.uk and see if you'd like a copy for yourself.

Bought it, read it, recommended it....

6. Tag five people with this meme.

Not sure who's been tagged, so not sure who to tag. Deirdre and Rhea do always have great things to say though. Let me know if you do it though!

*Diva Books, ceased trading Feb '06. RIP.

the mythic invasion..

2006-05-07T16:02:00.000+01:00

...as you know immigration and asylum is of particular interest to me - and this article in the Guardian, promoting an amnesty on asylum seekers who have outstayed seems eminently sensible. It goes on to say;

"Thanks to the drip, drip, drip of distorted tabloid reporting, the public became so bemused that an Amnesty poll found the British believed they were taking in 24% of the world's refugees when the whole of Europe was only absorbing 3%"

Relatively speaking then, not that many. The idea of the amnesty is that it saves the country money. Yes, that's it - saves us money.

Radical....

..a new definition of optimism...

2006-05-04T17:26:00.000+01:00

..that despite the Lib Dem poster in our window, the local Conservative candidate STILL put a flyer through our door....

And now I've voted, I might even read it. Just for a laugh... I cannot imagine ever voting Conservative, although there are a few tory MP's who do good for their constituents. But behind them all are some scary, scary people.

what in the world would you do this time?

2006-05-01T13:42:00.000+01:00

So here's a trickier one - and one I'm less sure about. A few weeks ago, The Doctor and I went to see Hayseed Dixie. A fine blend of bluegrass and heavy metal (yes really) and well worth a listen. Even if you don't like bluegrass and heavy metal. Perhaps particularly in that case.

Now I'm a wheelchair user, which makes me fairly noticeable, and my wheelchair elevates, like this. Excellent for all sorts of social and work activities, and for blocking the view of others at gigs. Fortunately the novelty of doing this has worn off now, so I now go to the back and slurp my beer while bobbing enthusiastically along to the band. Beer is a key element of all the gigs I go to, so the muppet quotient is usually high, and people also stumble over my crotch height leg rests while too drunk to know better which creates some marvellously surprised looks. This night was no different - I'm sitting there with The Doctor and this genius comes up to me and says;

"Are you disabled?"

Readers - I was speechless. Which never happens. I didn't know what he expected of me - volleys of swearing are not my thing, but the music was deafening and I couldn't be bothered to reason with him - plus he wouldn't have heard me.

So I ignored him. Genuinely because I thought he might think that I hadn't heard him and that we may all end up at the end of the experience with our dignity intact.

But no, he started trying to tell The Doctor about his hat. So The Doctor ignored him. If I had to guess, I'd imagine it was a story about how he got the had from a friend who was disabled, and that he was just trying to make my day. From past experience this is, when I was more tolerant/friendly.

It was a really unpleasant moment. If he'd been standing near us and said 'great gig' or something - I'd have chatted away. But why did he think I'd think he was funny? He clearly, from his body language and facial expression expected me to laugh. So what do you think I should have done.

Sound of readers all running away from the nasty person....

Oh and hilariously, our dentist was at the gig too. What with seeing him dance to Hayseed Dixie, and him looking and acting a little like Basil Fawlty, we'll never leave him. I had an orthodontist that looked and acted like Alan B'Stard once, and never went back to him.....

what in the world would you do?

2006-04-28T15:50:00.000+01:00

So I've had two situations lately which I'm not sure I handled in the best way possible. Life has been a bit stressful lately hence the lack of blog posts. So I thought I'd run them by you for a bit of constructive criticism.... One today - one another day.

So I'm at WHSmiths, a large chain newsagents for any non brits, looking at magazines, with my large powered wheelchair facing the magazine rack with my PA. I'd moved fully to allow a pram to pass, and then gone back to looking at the magazines. Its a busy time, there isn't much space, but I don't quite know what I want.

Two minutes later I get patted on the shoulder by an older (50?) man who rather curtly asks 'Why don't I sit sideways on to the magazine rack?'

'Because I wouldn't be able to see them' I reply, at which he looks embarrassed, pats me on the arm, and walks off.

I may have been a bit more sarcastic than absolutely necessary - but I wasn't unreasonable was I? It would have been possible for a pedestrian to go behind me?

a joke...

2006-04-22T17:03:00.000+01:00

...testing out the theory that I'm the only person in the WORLD not to have heard this joke....

Tony Blair is visiting an Edinburgh hospital. He
enters a ward full of patients with no obvious sign of
injury or illness and greets one. The patient replies:

"Fair fa your honest sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin race,
Aboon them a ye take yer place,
Painch, tripe or thairm,
As langs my airm."

Confused, Blair just grins and moves on to the next
patient, who responds:

"Some hae meat an canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat an we can eat,
So let the Lord be thankit."

Even more confused, with a now rictus-like grin, the
PM moves on to a third patient, who immediately begins
to chant:

"Wee sleekit, cowerin, timrous beasty,
O the panic in thy breasty,
Thou needna start awa sae hastie,
Wi bickering brattle."

Deeply troubled, Blair turns to the accompanying
doctor and asks "Is this a psychiatric ward?"

"No," replies the doctor, "this is the serious Burns unit."

almost forgot...

2006-04-19T20:31:00.000+01:00

I've been here TWO YEARS.

Two years people! I can't quite believe it. While blogging hasn't been the launch pad to doing loads of writing I had hoped it would be, it has been good discipline, and a great way of meeting literally and figuratively some really fab people.

So thanks for coming along with me. Here's where it all began.

Doing the right thing

and three days later...

2006-04-18T17:58:00.000+01:00

...I read it! And it was fab. Its a beautiful book, happy, sad, challenging, entertaining and GRIPPING.

Here's my post on Clare's website;

"I am writing this before reading anyone elses feedback - I ABSOLUTELY loved the book. I thought it was paced wonderfully, had a nice balance between the twist and not skimping on story as it went along. I loved all the characterisation as well, although I didn't love all the characters.

If I'm brutally honest, I wouldn't have bought this book if I'd seen it on the bookshelf as having had a dull RC childhood I wouldn't have felt I could relate to it at all. I read it as Clare is a friend of a friend. And I loved it MORE because it was so different to my experiences and I was still captivated by it.

Can't wait for book 2 Clare!"

Support your fellow blogger!

the saddest thing in the world..

2006-04-14T21:12:00.000+01:00

..last night I heard this story about a woman, who escaped domestic violence to move into rented accommodation who died and was not found for about three years. I don't know if it was just that I was tired but it really knocked me sideways - I couldn't sleep for ages.

And when I came online tonight to find a link I discovered another story, in a different place but a similar tale.

How can no-one have noticed? I'm not a great neighbour, having live in assistants means that I really value any time alone I get (which usually means someone else is around in another room) and am not inclined to chat at length with neighbours. But perhaps its time I started.

passing it along...

2006-04-11T14:42:00.000+01:00

I've certainly mentioned in passing before that the word chav really frustrates me. It frustrates me because it purports to be about people who dress or act a certain way, but in fact is a way of dismissing poor people and laughing at the life situations some find themselves in.

Its been something I've wanted to blog about for some time. It seems to me that perhaps society has realised that its not acceptable to laugh at black people, or disabled people, or women in a discriminatory way but rather than just develop more sophisticated humour, or to laugh at themselves a new weakest group is identified for ridicule.

I don't know much about class; I understand the basic principles behind it and it makes me uncomfortable. Uncomfortable because it seems that its about wealthy people exploiting poorer people. Guess what? Just like everything else.

And as I try to formulate a blog post some bloke in the Guardian gets there first. I like this piece a lot - it goes to show that its further reaching than I thought.

a taxing business...

2006-04-05T21:10:00.000+01:00

...amazingly it took a review of social care for older people to point out that charging for care - ie the ability to pop to the loo, or eat, or get dressed was wrong.

Now we need to spend an equivalent amount of money to show that charging disabled people is wrong too...

Charging for care, is immoral. Going to the toilet is a Basic Human Right. At present, if you are under 65 you only get financial assistance with care if you have less than about £22,000 in savings. Now I know that's a fair whack - but if you can't work, generating savings is hard going. And for those of us in our 30's savings for retirement become something of a concern...

This is probably one of my biggest bugbears about rights for disabled people. However far we have got towards job equality, even if we are meandering towards civil rights, if we live in a society where you have to pay to pee, to get help to clean your teeth and wipe your bum equality is a long way off.

a gentle nudge....

2006-04-05T20:33:00.000+01:00

...apparently the Breast Cancer site is short of clicks. So click people, click!

in the spirit of blogging sisterhood...

2006-04-01T22:41:00.000+01:00

.. you probably already know that Clare Sudbery - an uber blogger has a book out. And despite selling millions of copies, her publisher has gone out of business, so she has to sell them herself.

I haven't read it yet, but Zinnia has - mine is on the way at present - but do spread the word. Independent creativity is something the world needs more of!

the soft shell shuffle....

2006-03-31T12:09:00.000+01:00

... apparently I'm the only person who doesn't know that soft shell crab soup contains, erm, a whole soft shell crab. Swimming around. 'Oh look', said the Dr, as he crunched away at it 'a rockpool......'

It really isn't any weirder than eating prawns or something I know. But I'm never keen when my dinner looks back at me.....

Doing the right professional thing...

2006-03-29T11:03:00.000+01:00

.... I've always thought Leo Hickman was a bit of a hero. For those not in the know he is a Guardian columnist writing about the challenges of living ethically. I have to say it seems like a good idea....

I remember at a team building day at work a few years ago gathering my reserves in order to suggest we could perhaps make a few changes - fair trade coffee, recycled paper and no-one was more surprised than me that they leapt to the challenge. I don't think we're perfect, but I do believe that small changes are worth the bother.

And again me and Leo seem to have the same idea....

Managing to cut my shopping bill....

2006-03-21T19:10:00.000Z

....by never going to The Body Shop again.... I cannot believe that they have sold out to L'Oreal! Even if they have stopped animal testing (which to my knowledge isn't verified) L'Oreal is owned by Nestle. And you know how I feel about that...

Am utterly lost for words. Where am I going to buy shower gel now? I realise I could be considered odd in this regard, but I really don't like Lush....

you're unbelievable....

2006-03-20T22:17:00.000Z

...I was incredulous to read in the Guardian this morning that 14% of British people have no interest in politics. No interest in politics! How does that work? Rightly or wrongly, politics impinges on every aspect of our lives, and to be disinterested astounds me. I can imagine choosing not to engage with it, I can understand having a fairly minimal interest as you believe your vote doesn't really count. But to not be interested? How does that work?

In the run up to the last election there was much postulating about getting people to vote and it seems like an almost impossible task. But all I can think is that while someone may feel it doesn't make a difference, you never know and it might do - to me a chance worth taking.

words....

2006-03-16T22:13:00.000Z

..the new hairdresser (the saga continues) called sweetheart about twenty times during my hair cut. My EXCELLENT haircut. I think she calls everyone that - or I'd be offended. I can't quite bring myself to focus on whether or not that's true...

...in the lift at John Lewis while gurgling at an adorable baby her mother says 'look poppet - a lady in a BIG buggy'... but she'd been very pleasent about squashing in the lift with me. And I reached the floor I was heading for so couldn't think of what to say to point out to her that its Not The Same Thing. If the child had said it, or the child had been of an age to understand (baby was well under 1) I might not have prickled so much......

happiness..

2006-03-13T21:30:00.000Z

..yes newborn babies smell simply yummy, and certainly world peace would be a Good Thing. Dealing with drought - well that'd certainly put a skip in my step.

But in terms of feeling real glee - a top moment for me was getting 104 for ONE WORD in Scrabble. I'm never playing it again. Its unbeatable, for me, anyway.

Its cold, its still winter, lets hear some gleeful moments....

meandering wonders...

2006-03-08T18:28:00.000Z

..happy international women's day everyone! I can't say I've been exceptionally active in the field of feminism today - but I did go on a diversity course - not gender related. It was a good course - lots of practical info - but what interested me is that it seems that the word 'diversity' is used to mean race - rather than the range of human experiences which make up society. And of all the identities mentioned - race, faith, disability and so on - gender wasn't mentioned. Now women's rights have improved - but there is still some way to go.

I'm quite enjoying writing these two minute posts - but normal service looms.

And yes I know - too many hyphens....

waste not...

2006-03-06T18:18:00.001Z

..still busy busy busy this end with sorting out for the move and extra freelance work - but first a question - what to do with textiles for recycling? I tried Wastepoint which suggested giving them to a charity shop which isn't going to work as they are knackered. Or putting them in the bin.

I know that reusing them is the best solution but its beyond that and I'm not sure how to proceed - The Doctor uses his old pants for cleaning and so on but I can't quite bring myself to do that. It just doesn't seem very, erm, nice..

Am I beyond hope?

...nothing to see here...

2006-03-02T19:30:00.000Z

.. have been Busy Busy Busy. But its easing off now....

In other news - bought some locally grown daffs today - they are fab! I love flowers and the air miles, land use and worker rights issues were beginning to wear me down. But not these ones.

Hoorah!

a healthy snackette...

2006-02-24T18:20:00.000Z

..not loads of spare time round here but this article from the Guardian made me laugh - how is it news that kebabs are the least healthy food? I almost never eat meat, and when I do its happy free range organic meat, but there's nothing about a kebab that looks nutritious to me. Or appetising for that matter - so is that really news?

On the other hand, whenever I can't resist a choux bun, or more likely a lavish slice of rocky road cake *pauses to wipe dribble from keyboard* I can always remind myself that it is, at least healthier than a kebab.....

oh rss...

2006-02-22T20:49:00.000Z

...apparently my RSS is, to quote Pewari, borked.

Any ideas of how to fix it? I suspect that blogger has stopped doing it...

web accessibility...

2006-02-21T21:29:00.000Z

.. I am not a real techie - but have on my to do list trying to make the blog as accessible as possible - after all some research suggests that 81% of websites are inaccessible to visually impaired web users. And I need all the readers I can get...

So if you're not a huge techie, but like to get your arm up the back of a website, WebAIM is a good place to start - and these two pages about making CSS accessible are interesting looking and well laid out. I'll be having a rummage around on them over the next few weeks.....

to google, or not to google

2006-02-19T14:55:00.000Z

..is it Bad Manners to Google a person? Is it an invasion of their privacy or a reasonable thing to do in getting to know a person?

I've only Googled people I knew well, usually when they are there (always seems like a good thing to do after a few glasses....) and its always interesting. I'm sometimes tempted to Google people as I'm fairly nosy at heart (and me a blogger? amazing)....

Ex ex ex ex...

2006-02-17T14:28:00.000Z

..changes (with apologies to Monsieur Bowie).. we have exchanged on our house purchase.

Yippeeeeeeeeeeeee!

We complete in early March and should move in May. I will be sad to leave Chirp Mansions but roll on the Aviary! Woohoo!

Now I just need to refer back to Starbucks list to get organised so I know I won't have forgotten anything.

...chip and pin...

2006-02-15T21:57:00.000Z

... gaah - its not just me who can't be doing with it. I now know how to detach the key pads - so that I can reach them - in every shop in Birdyville. And while I can type in my number, I can't do it so that no-one else can see. I may get a chip and sign card, I'll see how it goes. But when I last visited the shop where I get my wheelchair 'seen to' - a place they get a lot of older customers - they reported the following conversation on a daily basis:

Shop Assistant: Do you know your pin number?

Older customer: Yes, its 9 4 5....

Shop Assistant: Please don't tell me!....

Not entirely what's intended....

things I have pondered about..

2006-02-13T13:11:00.000Z

..blogging about, but which none of make an interesting post...

The Doctor is back - hoorah - bearing a ginormous bar of swiss chocolate and a dark chocolate toblerone the size of a childs arm.... And has become a TV sports watcher. Just winter sports, fortunately....

I Do Not Like books by Tony Parsons. Everyone (my sister) keeps telling me how good they are, and they aren't. A bloke complaining about how hard it was for him to cheat on his perfectly normal partner/child is not comedy. And then pity is expected. Yes, humans make mistakes etc but I think we are meant to feel pity for this bloke for the fact he cannot act like a normal human being....

I have a cold. It is VERY annoying - particularly the coughing, shivering, snottiness and the whinging. Welcome home oh Doctor... Plus I really can't talk - which is a Bad Thing in terms of my job....

Can't believe the ID card vote has come around already - am against them but hadn't really got round to doing more than signing the odd online petition. I guess at least this vote is saying new legislation is needed, rather than just romping ahead but to me ID cards are wrong, wrongity wrong wrong wrong. We already have adequate ID in this country and a simply CHAMPION way of reducing terrorism is, of course, simply stopping crapping all over other countries.