I'm all up for alternative medicines - I have a great homeopathic/aromatherapy reflexologist I can recommend - but the magic words today are - Cranial Osteopathy. Luckily, immediately after my sneezing mishap on Monday, I remembered there was an osteopath a few doors down from me, so I called them - "I can't move and it really hurts - what do I do?". Last time I did my back in, I was lucky enough to be working for big multinational who had a medical team on-site - so I was pretty much dealt with (by a rather vicious chiropractor) - this time I was on my own, and all I knew was that osteopaths had sorted my mum's back out 10 years ago. "We'll see you by 12, stick an ice pack on it", were the reassuring words. The first visit was pretty painful - I couldn't walk or sit or anything - with the swollen muscles pressing on the sciatic nerve - so although the treatment was pretty long, it was v. gentle and eased some of the pain at least. I was walking like a duck still, with (seemingly) one leg shorter than the other - these back muscles were pretty whacked out. Lying on the floor with your knees in the air gets pretty boring after 2 days...

Well, today was my second visit and boy, does it feel better. But incredibly freakily so. The osteopath (Nik, v. good - highly recommended) barely moved his hands on my lower back. Then it was time for some manipulation at the base of my skull - "Ouch", said I, feeling a twinge in my lower back. What?!And now I feel miles better - despite (normal) initial soreness, it's like a magic wand.. marvellous. Apparently cranial osteopathy is also really good for migraines and things - wish I'd known earlier, I could have done with this.

How does it work? It's probably better if you read from the links at the start of this blog, but very simply - the body not only has all those breathing rhythms and blood circulation, it also has another rhythm - about 8-18 times a minute the bones etc. in your body imperceptably move; when this goes out of whack (when you sit badly or pull an important muscle etc), your whole body suffers. Hence using the treatment to solve migraine problems and not just bad backs. So whilst osteopathy concentrates on restoring the rhythm in the body via gentle manipulation, cranial osteopathy concentrates on restoring the balance in the skull bones - which will in turn solve the problems elsewhere. Hence the twinge in my back having imperceptably been poked at the base of the skull. Freaky, maybe, but incredibly effective.

So, I have another session on Saturday - meanwhile, I am back to work tomorrow, and although I have to get up to walk around every 15 minutes (my boss is just going to love me!), I can't wait to get back to normal - thanks to something that you can barely feel but performs absolute miracles. Wow. Now I must get up again before I seize up and undo all that hard work..

Can't blog much - have put lower back out whilst bending down and sneezing (no, don't laugh) so can't sit down (and type), climb stairs (to the computer), or walk (to anywhere that has a puter). Gah. On enforced bed-rest til Thursday earliest. BORED!

A problem with this blog is that I never know who reads it. I'm aware of a few of my close friends that do, but I know there are others who won't admit to reading it. This makes it very difficult to write a few things that either I want to get off my chest, or extend into dialogue or musings. There's a great deal going on in my head right now that I can't write down and it's driving me mad.... am considering going back to those most primitive of instruments; pen and paper. The problem is I never keep it up - a digital diary is a Catch22 vehicle to force me to write, and has succeeded where most of my physical diaries have failed. Perversely, it's the thought that people may read this that keeps me writing, despite the fact it curtails much of what I want to write. I'm nearly up to a year on this blog, which is mildly terrifying. I do want to keep it up, especially when I am travelling; one of my largest regrets when travelling previously is that the diary never lasts further than day 2. I want this blog to allow me to extend this across the whole of my further travels; partly as a mechanism to jog my memory, and partly as a way of communicating with those people who are 'left behind'. In the instance that I leave, I sense that this blog will change radically, from a diary to an open letter to my friends and family.

I do have several 'analogue' diaries; as a child, my sister and I were made to write a paragraph a day, and draw a picture. These illustrate our holidays in Canada from the age of 6 - 10, and are funny and refreshing. "When I was a child, I spake as a child.... now I have put away such childish things.." (Corinthians??). I also have one diary I kept when I was at senior school; it makes very interesting reading - at least for me. Much of it illustrates the vastly different priorities and distractions that one feels are so important when one is young. "She said this", "he did this". It also acts as a virtual cattle prod - I tend to blank out memories I don't like, so this is a (somewhat) gentle reminder of things that happened and feelings felt. When people say that childhood is the happiest time of one's life, 90% of this is bull - they were obviously born on Mars. Having said that, my sister and I did conclude that we had a very lucky childhood in some ways (where we lived, places we experienced) - it was just spoilt by some of the people in it.

I have been pretty slack at blogging recently, I can't bear to look at a computer to be honest - head hurts too much. Going back to work on friday was an unwelcome shock, but it made a change from staring at the walls. I got a load done too, which was nice. I've been doing about 6 months worth of paperwork - it just builds up and you don't notice until a phone bill grabs you by the ankle as you try and get into bed. I did find a £10 note that had fallen between 2 issues of Q magazine, which was nice! I am doing my best to sort things out and pack up my room well ahead of my 7th December vanishing date - yes, I've now paid the balance on the plane ticket, and I'm off! A nine day holiday in the South Island of New Zealand will break the rather horrendous 2 zillion hour flight via Los Angeles and Auckland. Can't wait !

I am actually writing this in a bagel cafe on Charing Cross Road; I was early meeting up with people for a gig (Andy White at the 12 Bar Club). It's the first time I've been out for more than a week - cabin fever was most definitely beginning to set in and I am glad to be out, despite the fact all I want to do is curl up in bed and sleep!

[cinnamon bagel and peppermint tea interlude]

I must admit I was pretty surprised to see the words 'bagel' and 'ADSL' in the same sign; London is truly a 24hour Wired city, where you can get almost anything anywhere. I was on the tube about 20 minutes ago wishing I was Chris in Tokyo; I guess 24hr consumerism has indeed spread.

Well I think this will run out of credit in a minute, so from the heart of London (a stone's throw from Leicester Square), goodnight and have a lovely weekend!

[sounds of bagel being munched and peppermint tea consumed]

I am considering signing up for NaNoWriMo, knowing full well that I have neither the patience or the time to do so. I can see you holding your head in your hands, so no, I don't have a very good style on this blog, so why should I bother? Well, I am ashamed of the quality of this blog, but it's not a creative outlet - it's a diary so that scatterbrained old me doesn't forget what I did last tuesday. If you choose to read it - well, more fool you! I don't mind, but don't promise any brilliantly written pieces that Rodney seems to churn out so brilliantly and (seemingly) effortlessly. Novels, on the other hand, I am interested in. When I was at school, I used to write - stories that were spoofs of other stories (Topsy and Tim go to Glastonbury, for one), and other such delights. When I was at university, I could write an essay in 2 hours that was so brilliantly constructed and put together that not one tutor could see through it. For this I must thank my GCSE Biology teacher - a 2-week intensive hothousing in essay-writing brought my grades from a miserable 18/30 to a respectable (and damn good) 28/30 average. Once you have the framework, it all slots into place. Prior to this revelation, my essays and stories were like tents with no poles - they flapped around like wet fish, not getting anywhere fast and with no purpose. My blog suffers in this respect - I often don't think about what I am about to write, and it all comes out in a rush of subconcious drivel. A report card would say "try harder" - yes, I will, Miss. So whether or not I sign up, as with everyone - I know there is a novel in me, I'm just not sure that a) it would be any good and b) that anyone would like to read it. Having said that, my mum said that if I wrote a book about my life, 99% of people would take it as a work of fiction - they do say, write what you know.

Other news - still lurgified (anyone doubting the efficacies of germ warfare, just come round, I have a particularly virulent and dangerous weapon) but well dosed up on hot whisky, warm cats, the Paramount Comedy Channel, and sleep. I think I may just go to work tomorrow. There's only so much daytime tv and sleep that I can cope with, without feeling my brain turn to mush and drip out through my ears. I did get a chance to read a load of my current book (Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible), which although was brilliant, was somewhat depressing - though I have learnt a great deal about the 'Independence' of Zaire.

I love learning history through reading part-fiction - A Star Called Henry was in my opinion a fine introduction to the Troubles in Ireland, and I have read several other books which have illustrated a moment in history so clearly, that make any dull and dry textbook I encountered at school seem pointless. Mind you, thanks to the English education system, I 'gave up' History at age 13, so my knowledge of (other than of the Romans and Greeks) historical and world changing events is ashamedly patchy. I wouldn't know where to start, for a lot of information is just expected to be known - for a historical heathen such as myself, bringing oneself up to speed on past events is an arduous task, and not through lack of trying. My reading of "classics" in English literature is also pretty much luck of the draw - personality clashes with past tutors didn't instill much of a love of some works (belying my virtual residence in the local library from the age of 5 to 10), and the absence of Shakespeare in our curriculum still upsets me to the point of anger. Mind you, I had read every Nevil Shute novel by the age of 8, so something was going right.

Thank god for sites like Book-A-Minute (kindly blogged by Luke), which means I can at least sound like I know what I'm talking about. Sometimes. Now, if someone could write a similar site for 'Great Events in History', I'd really appreciate it. Then perhaps I could get a Yellow piece of pie in Trivial Pursuit, to join my hard-fought Brown pie and absurdly-easily-won Blue and Green pie. I draw the line on the Pink and Orange pie - unless they change the Pink questions to cover the Paramount Comedy Channel, that is. Then I'd be laughing..

No, I haven't blogged for a while. This is due to a) having a rather good friday night, b) being a 24hr Heathrow Taxi Service, and c) having the flu. Yes, in that order. So, I elaborate...

8.49pm Friday night - a quick meal, before heading off to see a friends band play. I've gone and watched these guys more times than I can remember over the last 2.5 years, and enjoyed every show. This had special poignancy - the last before I head off to Oz. As the bass player lives in Barcelona now, they don't get to play as often as they (and I) like. It was an excellent gig - despite not going on til midnight, and having a very pissed crowd who'd been warmed up on Sonique and Kylie (don't ask), everyone was well up for it. Think Aerosmith plays Crowded House - a unique and brilliant performance. It's been a great couple of years, and I was very sad to say goodbye.

2.20am Saturday morning - after dropping off some friends to catch the nightbus @ Trafalgar Square, my cousin and I arrive home, and crash straight into bed.
4am - cat jumps onto bed wringing wet, jump up to wrap said cat in towel, drop back to sleep.
5am - woken by horrific nightmare.
5.30am - woken by alarm. Climb sleepily into shower, even more sleepily into car.
6am - Car won't start. Cousin freaks at prospect of calling her mum at this time of the morning. Put car into Park, try again, car starts. Look sheepish. Drive.
6.30am - Arrive Heathrow Term. 3, wait 30 minutes for Uncle. Drive Uncle home.
8.30am - go back to sleep.
11am - wake up. Make lunch. Sit and read paper. Install mySQL, Apache, Linux on my machine, scope out new project.
4pm- take Uncle and cousin to station. Look at wallets in the shops on the way home. Think about trying on trousers, but another girl gets there first. Drive home.
6.30pm - pop into shop, buy wallet, fend off salesman (I came in again to buy a wallet...), pick up old flatmate from station, eat dinner in Pizza Express - mmmm!
8pm - drop flatmate off at station, drive home.
8.30pm - drive to Heathrow Terminal 3. SMS my mum to ask her to tell me when she's leaving the airport. "Where are you?" she says. "At home", I lie.
9.30pm - Mum emerges from Customs, I tap her on the shoulder - I think she is pleased to see me.
10.30pm - having dropped her friend off @ Ladbroke Grove, I fall asleep.

Sunday - mostly be sitting on the sofa with several hot toddies (real whisky), sniffing.
Monday - today, I will mostly be lying in bed/on sofa, using up my newly bought supply of soft tissues.
5pm - reinstalling ADSL drivers for my mothers office.
6pm - desperately searching whisky..... and another rainforest-worth of tissues. Loo-roll is so scratchy.

I just can't think where I got this germ from...

I have the worst kind of hangover - the orangeandlemonadeallnight hangover. Because the venue last night was close as the crow flies (but a bugger by public transport), I drove there. A parking space directly opposite was gratefully grabbed, and I headed inside to say hello to the boys. It was a fantastic gig - I could shut my eyes and imagine myself at a huge festival (V, Glastonbury), with fdH headlining. They rocked! But due to the 3 large orangeandlemonadeimdrivingthankyou's, I didn't settle to sleep til about 2, and woke up with my bedcovers akimbo, the rug in the hallway and the sheepskin halfway down the stairs. I reckon I was partaking in a bit of sleepwalking - though there's no one in the house that can confirm it (the cat's can't talk). Seems to be a common affliction. I woke up incredibly groggy, and am still a cup short of the first tea of the day - it's currently being made by a colleague, and the anticipation is almost too much to bear.

Today brings more debugging, and a nice new song to listen to - the official release of 'Blue Swans of Winter', from Goldenboy. I have the CDR cut by Shon earlier this year, but I don't have this new track, intriguingly named "Kittens of Lust". Post-watershed listening for cool cats? We shall have to see. Goldenboy are live in LA tomorrow, October 20th, (Fais Do Do, Los Angeles, CA w/ The Devics). Catch them if you can - one of the most entertaining bands I've seen. Think SoCal's version of Belle and Sebastian.

Ah. Tea's arrived. 2-minute brewed Earl Grey with a dash of milk. You'll have to excuse me...

"now i'm not ok with the kittens of lust
but you've gotta do what you've gotta do
must as you must
now i'm ok without a girlfriend
but i'm not ok without you
you came just as i was going home"

Kittens of Lust - Goldenboy

I've not posted much as I've been working on baby Abbie's website, adding an email form and more (cute) photos. I've realised that though it's exceedingly cool, wireless networking (in this case with Apple Airport technology) leads to severe sleep deprivation. There is a reason that the computer used to stay upstairs - although there is a lot to be said for laptops, desktop megaliths do accentuate the home/work divide quite nicely (i.e. they are too heavy to rest on your duvet). At least, most of the time....

I also discovered that a fizzy Vitamin C still works as a kick-ass hangover cure; so long as you take it the night before. I am feeling considerably chirpy, despite the bottle of wine (half red, half white) consumed last night with a good friend.

Tonight's plan is to chill out to the sound of a live band; four day Hombre, to be precise. If you're in the area, come down to West One Four on North End Crescent (near West Kensington tube), they're onstage around 9.30pm.

This entry is brought to you via AIM, courtesy of Bloggerbot (http://www.fibiger.org/bloggerbot/). Rather groovy, in fact.

Mo, Graybo and the gals just introduced me to CD Roulette, by whose piece of luck lead me to listen to Robyn Hitchcock's latest album, Jewels for Sophia, for the first time in AGES. Great album, and the title track is beautiful. He's not to everybody's taste, but live he's amazing, and I love Robyn's albums - my favourite being Moss Elixir - the latter brings back memories of listening to it in a huge old house in Connecticut in early 1996, singing along in the kitchen, making dinner as an ice storm raged outside. I can smell the chicken in the oven even now.

Luke's been reminiscing about music too. Do you have any songs that take you back?

Update on the computer situation - yes it is a PC, Nico. And it's well and truly dead. I spent this morning with the most deathly computer support personnel, patronising me as per usual (as I'm a woman, I presume) until I finally lost my temper and said "How DARE you speak to me in that way. I know what I am talking about, check the attitude and speak to me on a level above that of a 3 yr old". Suddenly all was sweetness and light, I get a new power cable (mine mysteriously died between friday and this morning), a new hard drive, and I get to keep the old one (not standard procedure, apparently). And they are going to get the engineer to fix my squeaky fan. And he's going to reinstall Windows (apparently not required in the service contract). Thank god for 3 year warranty is all I can say. And they're going to support it if I head out to Australia. Bad news is that the data I thought was backed up @ work, isn't - the backup failed that day. Darn. So I've definitely lost it all. That's one surefire way to clean up the **** on your hard drive... ;) It's more the inconvenience that's bugging me - the emails with login information - and the rigmarole I went through to get the photopass for Neil's tour. I do have film-camera pictures, but not as many. That'll teach me to sit on my butt and not get the pictures online more quickly!

Three words. Back Up Now. You will regret it if you don't............ a Zip drive is your friend.

I did manage to speak to my dad - he's safe and well, though it's a bit nervewracking out there. He was out there during the Gulf War so it's pretty peaceful in comparison, despite the American planes overhead.

Rain didn't stop play in terms of development - Abigail now has pictures on her website. I just need to give the DNS wotsits a push and she'll have a content managed, dynamic PHP/MT site. Nice.

In the immortal words of Alanis Morrisette, "Isn't it ironic". I sat there, pressed the "On" button, and unwrapped a fresh pack of CDRs. It was Backup Day @ Jen-X Towers. 45Gb drive, about 10Gb data, not a mean task - but bearable over the weekend. All in preparation for shipping the baby out to Oz. Nice.

Suddenly - 'squeeeek-clunk'. "Invalid boot disk. Please insert a boot disk into A:\". My hard drive just died. Spectacularly. Nothing, nada, zilch. I rang my technically-minded friends (thank you Cal, Stu). "Doesn't sound good". This happened a year and a month ago - same thing. Without warning.

Data recovery - apparently probably not possible due to the ceramic and extremely f*cked up nature of the specific drive, and likely to cost in the region of £2000. Not the kind of change I find in my back pocket.

Warranty - well, it's just over a year old, so we will be having a shouting match on Monday. Why don't technical support open on weekends? Do computers take weekends? No!

Backing up more often. Sure, if you'd like to find a hole in the space-time continuum or want to do it for free, sure. Actually I had backed up my photos - half of them at least - @ work, but then as I am leaving, I did a big clean up and deleted them - anticipating backing them up this weekend. That's about 5 Gb of photos - 6 months of a month touring (nice pics of Johnny Marr !), my neice, travelling.. you name it. Oh, and 25 websites I was developing (mid-phase. Mmm. I did do some backups recently, but my CDwriter was playing silly buggers and didnt close the CDs properly, so that's why I was doing it again tonight.

And my tape-backup has been playing silly buggers recently. No luck there.

And you know what?

I am gutted. Really truly. I want to cry, I damn well hope I get another drive or I am more screwed, and I hope there is a chance I get at least the photos back - email can go. It's the wasted hours of work and programming and design that I'm more upset about, along with the photos.

But it's not important. Because I also heard tonight that my dad's office in the Middle East got bombed. He, luckily, was out at a meeting, so he's ok. But with that kind of stuff going on so close to home, a small box that squeaks is the least of my worries, and as I'm healthy and have a wonderful 2+ year trip ahead of me, and my friend has a new healthy (very cute) baby, and my neice is now giggling and sitting up by herself - those are the things that are important. I may not have the photos, but I have the memories, a roof over my head and 10 fingers and toes, and a full tummy.

[Aside: what I don't understand is the karma. I helped a lady free herself from a closed set of tube doors today, the train pulled off as she was half outside, no one did anything - so i did, and yelled at people to come help (bloody london). surely that should count for something for the computer-god?]

If all goes according to plan (a very cunning one, at that), I should be looking out at this view 2 months from now.

To think, all this time I've been failing at Step 2. I am an expert in this field, however. Scarily so.... Alternatively, I use that well known internet oracle, Davo(TM).

Congratulations to my friends Sarah and Dan, who had a baby girl last night, Abigail Aelwen Hunter. Awwww!

Happiness is a bowl of hot and sour soup, a few mini vegetarian spring rolls (to dip in), a few JellyBelly Sour Beans, and a cup of Chamomile and Lime tea.

Absolutely brilliant.

My friend Alex will be very pleased with this.

More wise words from John Simpson.

Ok; tuna survey. I am sitting here eating the most delicious tuna salad (recipe below). But Davo and Luke are convinced tinned tuna is a weird British thing (along with baked beans). What do you think? Please leave a comment - I am interested.

So, this tuna salad - it's very easy. You can take out the ingredients you dislike and replace with others that are in your fridge. If you're a vegetarian (or a weird antipodean who doesn't 'get' this tinned tuna thang ;p ), you can replace it with feta cheese cut into small squares. If you go ahead with the tuna option, please make sure it's dolphin friendly, Ok? This serves one hungry person.....

Tuna Salad

One small tin tuna in oil
Sugarsnap peas (about 10)
Cucumber (about a third)
1/3 Red pepper (capsicum)
1/3 Yellow pepper
1 chicory (endive)
Handful of fresh basil
Handful of fresh oregano

For dressing:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
loads of black pepper (fresh)
pinch salt

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients, break up the tuna and mix in about 1/2 dressing (you can leave this overnight to marinade if you want). Chop all ingredients roughly, and mix into the tuna. Pour over remaining dressing. If it's a bit dry, pour a bit more olive oil over and stir. Break up the herbs with your hands, and mix them in too. Grind loads of fresh black pepper over, and sprinkle a bit of salt. Leave to stand for an hour if possible before eating. Serve with cold salami and/or bread rolls.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm !

I've been reading the second volume of John Simpson's autobiography, A Mad World, My Masters, and am pretty gutted I missed him on Panorama last night. There's an interesting article in the news regarding the Taleban. He's been there, done that, had the price put on his head - and keeps a level and balanced view of the situation. His articles (and book) are easy to read, yet not patronising, and give insight into the situation. I would be very surprised if he is not awarded a knighthood at the end of all this.

In other news - weekend was pretty standard - a trip to B&Q (giving a friend a helping hand), driving my mum to the airport, having my cousin and friend round to an impromptu dinner; watching an old schoolfriend, Georgina Sutcliffe, in a starring role on ITV (Anybody's Nightmare). It's been raining really hard - the ponds are overflowing - which means I don't need to water the garden for a while..

Tiny Windows Games [via tired lil brit girl]

Interactive Guides from The Guardian - excellent and informative Flash animations, providing concise and clear walk-throughs of current world situations and other subjects. Well worth a look.

Enigma was rather good, actually. Apart from a cameo appearance from the M4 and concrete railway sleepers (so not 1945), it was most enjoyable. Having been to Bletchley and heard the stories firsthand, it was interesting to see how the cinema treated the subject. Kate Winslet was rather convincing as the frumpy-but-smart housemate, and Jeremy Northam ("what's-his-name, Rodney, you know, that one") was superb as the cad. Apparently there was also a cameo from Mick Jagger, but I must have been asleep at that point.

Even better were the noodles eaten before the film, courtesy of Mo; no sushi was eaten but Katie did stare very hard at the sushi eaten @ the table next to us.

<irony> Oh god. I just realised - I went out last night with 2 whole bloggers (well technically 1, since Mo isn't blogging any more) - was this an impromptu blogmeet that no one else was invited to? How many bloggers are allowed to meet up socially before it becomes a "blogmeet"? Is there an official quota? More than two, and a Court circular needs to go out? More than 4 and the P.M. is advised; more than 6 and a national state of blogmergency is called? </irony>

Yeah, okay, so I'm just stirring...

So I wrote a bit more JenScript(TM) today. Applicable to anyone, but I did originally write it for my friend Matt.

function hug(x){

   action =  'wrap' 

   bodypart = 'arms'

   where = 'around'



 return (action + bodypart + where + x)

}

Call hug(matt) ;)

I know I haven't written for a while - it's all been a bit 'gah' here, so I didn't have anything constructive or positive to post. So I didn't. I also haven't done anything interesting (except going to Ikea to equip my cousin for her new flat; I rest my case!). I am off tonight to see Enigma with Rodney, Mo and Katie - should be good.

Davo's been asking me for help with Javascript window calls - god knows why, since I avoid it like the plague where at all possible. I am a javascript 'hacker' rather than a 'coder' - it's all out there somewhere and far easier to modify than write. Especially where Netscape is concerned. We did get into a rather silly conversation about a new coding language for indicisives - one that my colleague and I discussed a while back. For example..

Beverage drink

If decision(drink) != tea then {

 drink = coke

}else{

  drink = coffee

}orPerhaps{

  drink = ribena

} andMaybe {

  drink = G&T

}

or perhaps

Clothing dress

If (occasion(date) = = 'dishy' ) then {

  dress = 'tarty'

}else {

  dress = 'sexy'

} orPerhaps {

  dress = 'littleblackone'

} andMaybe {

  dress = 'negligable'

} orPanic {

  dress = 'cantbloodydecide'

}

What do you think ?