An ode to sushi

I don't have much to write about this week.


In my attempt to keep this blog largely impersonal (apart from the occasional entertaining photo) I don't have anything much to talk to you all about. Of course if this WAS a personal blog I might discuss my new JOB (Recovery Support worker for adults with mental health problems), or the lovely dinner I had last nights with some friends (souffled macaroni cheese, ala delia smith, try it, you will not regret it), or my current internal wrangling with what questions are and are not appropriate to ask ex-boyfriends.


BUT I don't write about that stuff here (mainly because my Mum might one day get hold of the address for this blog, if she hasn't already).


HOWEVER, I am being brutally pestered to come up with some new posts from my newest reader (reader spotlight: Dan, dear friend and fellow mocker of Harmer men, Dan you better say now if you don't want me to use your name on the blog, I can remove it). Some might ask how a new reader could be quite so impertinent as to demand such things, but hey, I'm a generous gal, and whatever Dan wants, I offer.


ANYWAY, as previously mentioned I am lacking inspiration for impersonal blog post ideas so I thought I would stoop to my favourite neutral topic. That of food.


And hence, to the beautiful, the succulent, the joyful,

SUSHI

As a kid I remember feeling sorry for the poor marooned men you'd hear of in the news and in myths and stories, forced to live in rubber dingys, or on desert islands, and drink their own urine and eat (horror of horrors) RAW FISH. Mercy me, that last point always sounded so dreadful. And yet I now know that they were totally milking the sympathy there. Admittedly they could have benefited from a little soy sauce and wasabi BUT they were still eating like kings the whole time. Raw fish is the way to go.


So, there you go, I love sushi. I love it from Itsu, I loved it on my birthday (as pictured above) and I loved it SO much when I had it at Rick Stein's place in Padstow. I even love it from Yo sushi. Yum yum yum. If I talked about personal things on this blog I would even mention that one of the main reasons I am happy to have a job is because I will be able to afford to eat sushi again. Bliss.

Well, wasn't that was an exciting view into my not-personal life? I look forward to many more posts like it. I could post about food every day of the week and not get bored, hope you won't get bored of it either.

So, who else here likes sushi?

Another reason to hate facebook

I hate facebook. Actually, as I said before, I don't really hate facebook. Well, I suppose in some ways I do. But anyway, regardless of whether I dislike it faintly, strongly, or down-right hate it, I have to say that this is yet another compelling reason not to have anything to do with it.

This guy was killed off (in cyber-space only, before you panic) by his friends "memorialising" his face-book page.

Now that I have spread this delightful idea, I hope you all have some fun finishing off some of your friends.

Worryingly, I know several people who would probably kill themselves at merely the thought of being locked out of facebook for more than 2 hours.

The anti look-how-gorgeous-I-am-in-every-photo-ever-taken-of-me post

In this age of self marketing, where we all try to show only our prettier sides to the world, I thought it might be refreshing to have an anti-facebook (anti-look at me and my beautiful friends/children/life) post and show you some fantastically, and entertainingly, terrible photos of myself. That's not to say that face-book and nice-photos are bad, i just think it's a shame that the bad ones get squirreled away and hidden, as they are really that much funnier!

In the above photo I am pulling my famed "llama" face, it's the one that sealed the deal between steve and I, as you can probably tell



This one is also delightful (you may wish to click to enlarge this for full horrendousness), as you can see. I think I look like an angry dog, jealously guarding my beloved bone (in this case, a carton of ribena)



Shiny shiny shiny



Didn't know I was one of twins huh? Yeah, my brother here got all the looks




Ok, I was just thinking that this is the most embarrassing one, as I truly look like I'm several months pregnant (don't get excited Mum/sis/female friends, this is definitely a food baby). Then I looked at darling Steve, and realised that at least his shorts, and eyes-closed pose do slightly detract from my seemingly immanent childbirth



This one's just funny. I particularly like the way you can see the action in this shot due to my blurry hands. In fact it reminds me of a ghost-sighting picture, but in which I am both the blurred-edged ghost AND the screaming lady



Awwww, thought I'd leave you with this one. Pretty as a flower. Steve doesn't appreciate face-book much either so I hope he'll join me with this protest

(sorry steve, if you're angry please note that i also posted the faux-pregnancy photo which I tried to make you delete because it's really that bad)



That was fantastic, no longer will these photos languish at the back of my hard drive never to be admired. Do you have any entertainingly bad photos of yourself you'd like to share? Or any more terrible ones of me? E-mail me them and I'll add them on!

Human Tetris

Great music, excellent video. One awesome idea.

For those of you who have not already looked up Fuck You Penguin, my absolute favourite blog ever (after Ed's and Pete's, well, not really, it's much better) - check it, now, do it people. It's for your own good.

Well, the author of the blog is also the author of the slightly (I really mean slightly) more politely titled book FU Penguin which I have not bought. Yet. If I was my brother I would put it in an I-want-it post, but hey, my blog is far too educational and philosophical to stoop to posting The Friday Wish List. No, i know it's not. But hey.

AAAAaaaanyway, the point of this post was not to bash my brother (though it is one of my favourite all-american sports), and it is not exactly to plug the above-mentioned book or to add it to my public christmas list. In fact, that other stuff was setting the scence so that I could then encourage you to read this review of the aforementioned, above mentioned book, by a REAL LIFE PENGUIN.

I love that Amazon is so multi-species these days. It's a sign of the times people, a sign of the times.

You can read the review on amazon, but I'll also post it here. For your convenience, you understand, not because I know you're too lazy to actually click on the link and scroll down the the necessary part of the amazon page. Of course.



Amazon Exclusive: A Penguin Reviews F U, Penguin

Matthew Gasteier’s latest book is a humorous, if slightly vulgar, exploration of the human tendency to anthropomorphize animals and its effect on both parties. As an animal who is currently being anthropomorphized by Gasteier myself, I thought the message was a bit lost in all of the comedy and full-color photographs. However, the average human will find the book to be very funny.

Based on his hit blog of the same title (though fully spelled out on the anything-goes internet), F U, Penguin includes 100 posts, one-third of which are entirely new. With an introduction for the book, plus forewords for all five sections (which include penguins, pets, and ugly animals), and facts about each animal, the new material adds up to about half the book, making it a worthy purchase even for the long time human reader of the site.

Granted, I only learned how to read last year, but since becoming a book reviewer for Amazon I’ve read quite a few animal-related books, and this was one of the strongest. While many of the facts are shaky at best (e.g. I’ve known quite a few seals, and they are always careful to only go to parties to which they have been invited), they are interesting enough to keep coming back for more. Obviously, as a penguin I have some issues with the “cold hard truths about penguins.” These sidebars take long-disproved stereotypes about penguins and recite them for comedic effect. At one point, Gasteier says penguins purposefully invite you to their wedding just to get a present because they know you can’t afford to attend. Quite frankly, I was rather disappointed he didn’t come, and his handmade pottery was no consolation, believe me. The section does not ruin the experience, but it’s a rare but disappointing misstep in a book that otherwise tries to stay light-hearted and fun.

It might be surprising to some that a penguin would respond well to a book that is ostensibly so derogatory towards penguins. But it’s clear that the character Gasteier has created really loves the penguins deep down, and is struggling to deal with that vulnerability. I remember my first crush on a penguin. Her name was Suzie and she smelled like seaweed. I used to stare at her while we stood on the beach. Once, she came over to talk to me, but instead of telling her how much I liked her feathers, I mumbled something about her preponderance of blubber in front of my friends to show I was tough. It hurt me, perhaps even more than it hurt her, but I didn’t yet know how to love, so I was pushing her away. Gasteier’s humor is that same kind of coping mechanism. I choose not to condemn, but to sympathize--a strong lesson in these rough economic times.

Overall, F U, Penguin is an enjoyable irreverent jaunt through the animal kingdom. While perhaps not quite as funny as John Audubon’s satirical masterwork, The Birds of America, Gasteier’s work will have you begging for more. Highly recommended. --A Penguin

A temptation that would have surely been too much for Steve

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

And me.........

Sarah and Burkhard's wedding

Hallo!

I'm afraid this is another off-blog-subject post. I wanted to get some of the photos from Sarah and Burkhard's wedding on here. We all had such a wicked weekend - particularly the very smiley bride and groom.

We noticed a few differences between German and British weddings. During the ceremony, the priest even pulled out a guitar from behind the pulpit and sang the bride and groom a song! (although they assure us that this is unusual for them too!). At the reception, less emphasis was put on speeches and more placed upon games and presentations by the guests for the newlyweds - including songs, puzzles, photos and a big board upon which people were asked to paint a small square containing something that connects them to the couple (we brits painted tea, queues and fish&chips!). We also released helium balloons with postcards written by each of the guests and addressed to Sarah and Burkhard, in the hope that some will be found and mailed to them in the next few weeks. It was an awesome day!

We also enjoyed staying in the beautiful city of Bonn (if you haven't been - go!) and sightseeing in nearby Cologne. We even got to take Steve to the Haribo factory shop - I swear he was more excited than all the kids there!!! It was his idea of heaven (though possibly not his dentist's...)

Hope you like the pictures