Day 172 - Puuuuddddiiiiinnnnggg

Denmark at its best.

This has to be brief - I fly to Denmark (home of The Killing) at the crack of dawn tomorrow and I have to be up at 4.30. That leaves too few hours for sleep for me to write a thesis right now.


Today was gentler than I'd imagined. Playing for work all day was fun. I have other interesting things to do for work too: come up with some juicy ideas for a game, edit this copy translated from Spanish (very enjoyable) and look at lots of diagrams of the human body. I even get to do a little bit of factual research (mainly for my own pleasure - if I was doing it to earn money fast, I wouldn't bother, but I'm genuinely interested). Also, just weeks ago I was asking around for information about studying anatomy and physiology in Spanish, in order to do some yoga training in that language. Well, that's not happening now because of dates (I'm away doing an exciting job right in the middle of what would have been my yoga training time), but the info is here. Maybe I'll do the course next year or actually take a holiday. And I get to research the author Anne Tyler and a particular literary festival, for a different job. I'm sure in three days' time, with deadlines looming and work still to be done, I'll be throwing up my hands, but today I feel blessed with the richness of what I get to do. 

Anne Tyler. She writes books.

I loved the woman I sat next to on the train on the way back to London. She had dyed orangey-red hair and designer glasses, a mini Merlot off the plane and a massive pasty (Sandison!). She responded warmly when I told her I was jealous of her for it. Then we sat and listened to a strident Australian female voice spout corporate shit down the phone. She was strident and ugly in her tone. At one point, my lady turned to me and said something along the lines of 'Stop being so stuck up'. And that was it. We started to chat. 


She worked in oncology, a dietician for people with throat and mouth cancer who are unable to eat solids. She helps them choose wise nutrition (albeit through a tube) to help them get stronger, then helps them get back to eating solid food through their mouth once the cancer is cured. Unlike the phone lady, she was not in the least bit up herself . She was very down to earth and very interesting. I liked her. We chatted on and off until she got off at Didcot Parkway. Then I worked. She did help me with the odd standard term, confirming that it's 'facial cavities' rather than 'face cavities'. Thank you, lady. You were a pleasure to sit next to. 

Pudding

Lovely to see beloved Pudding. I have missed her. She is still a rich mix of funny, direct, warm and pragmatic. She has been such a gift and I feel I neglect our relationship sometimes, just by being absent a lot of the time. We had a delicious dinner of posho fish cakes and salad, strawberries and yoghurt... then we watched The Apprentice. Although I don't have the habit, I can really see the appeal. Now I'm wrapped in a duvet on her sofa, about to partake of some serious 'get to sleep quick' action. See you.