Brain fug
I am trying to learn how to read profit and loss accounts, balance sheets and cash flows. And it's not even directly for college. I just want to know. And as I am not an accountant, I am finding it a bit befuddling.

I am almost prepared for the interview on Monday - cross your fingers for me at 18:00 GMT. And I never did find a black trouser suit...

The Subways at Fibbers, York
Topic: Gig review
So 4 of us piled in Mr Chamberlain's car and toddled off to York to Fibbers last night. Fibbers is an excellent venue - a tiny pub with a stage at one end. Terrible acoustics, terrible visual lines, but a fantastic atmosphere. And they trust you to drink lager from a real glass! About 250 bods in there I think.

First band were already on when we arrived and I must admit I have no idea who they were and they didn't make too much of an impression. Sorry, whoever you were.

Then we were treated to Black Night Crash. They RAWK. Not as in, 'I loved them', but as in they actually RAWK. Think Led Zeppelin, the Music, a bit of Lenny Kravitz with a sprinkling of Guns n Roses. Not my cup of tea really, but Mr LMG was tapping his foot enthusiastically. I think they are still unsigned, and they appear to be only gigging in York, but they have that 'je ne sais quoi'...

And then on to what are billed as 'THE NEXT BIG THING' - The Subways. I loved these guys. Bags of energy. Lead singer isn't much to look at, so they have managed to get what M descibed as a 'very hot' female bass player. She isn't exactly Kim Deal, but wasn't afraid of getting a bit sweaty and jumping around with the boys. Think a blonde Avril Levigne (oops - I think Avril succumbed to the bleach bottle, but you know what I mean). The first single 'Oh Yeah' is absolutely fab, and they were quite adamant that they weren't going to be media whores and re-release it. Gotta love that rock and roll attitude.

A great night out.

Still no suit...
Another 3 hour session (in Leeds - I wasn't quite mad enough to try Trafford Centre) and still no suit. Found a gorgeous Christian LaCroix jacket for #899, but
a) is beyond the budget
b) unsuitable for interview
c) isn't a suit
There are hundreds of linen suits out there, and I only tried on one, as I had dismissed them from the enquiry, so to speak. Do I go back and find one that fits and risk the crumpled look, go for the slightly tight pin stripe from Next or the very tedious boring mumsy suit from Wallis?
I could of course make the trip to Trafford Centre any night this week, but I have a 3000 word assignment to finish tonight, research for the interview to do and an essay for economics to draft. Plus I'm trying to stay interested in work, eat fairly healthily, try to get some exercise in, catch up on all the tv I have recorded, and my back hurts. Whinge, whinge, whinge. Just shoot me now.

Busy busy bee...
Oh dear, too much to do, not enough time. I tried shopping for a suit on Saturday. 4 hours later, no suit (but 4 new cd's as compensation). Rather disturbingly, I have decided to go to the Trafford Centre on a Bank Holiday Monday. As I type this, I'm wondering what kind of fool I am. Perhaps I missed the perfect suit in Leeds. Perhaps I should go back and check all the shops again just in case? There is a plethora of linen suits out there. Linen and I do NOT get on. I have trouble enough looking groomed and professional without tossing the fabric that creases as soon as you touch it into the mix. All I want is a smart black suit that fits. Preferably one that flatters. How hard can it be? And then I need shoes. And a coat. Jewellry at this stage is a bonus. Gak. I may be some time...

Let m go home...
... I want to be knitting. Have just spent my lunch hour surfing for the perfect knitting site and found it. See links to the side. Last night I knit the back of this pattern:

And now I have to interpret the instructions to shape the arms. Can't wait to finish it. But I have to work. And then go to a silly networking event. Boo.

When I finish the sweater I am going to try to knit the stars on the site with the videos. They look fun and portable. I've never done knitting in the round before. I wonder if I knit enough, can I patchwork them?

Feeble cough...
I is ill. Scratchy throat, slightly dizzy, but not ill enough to stay in bed. Boo. Might skive off work and go shopping. I need some new jewellery (big pendant, maybe?), a black mac for wearing over a suit, a new suit (black trouser suit, yet again? Or a tweedy one? Hmmm) and a crisp white shirt which will button up. Bravissimo do both suits and shirts for the amply blessed, but I don't know what time they are open till.

I am unusally productive today and have sent 8 emails querying a design. Yay for me. Will spend the afternoon concocting some BD literature telling the world how fantastic we are, just in case I don't leave, and to stop the folks here thinking that I might. Now what can this poorly poppet eat for lunch?

'Puters, Jobs and Wine
Thanks for the various recommendations re: Typepad and WordPress. I've had a little play on Typepad and still need to have a trial on Wordpress. But until the new 'puter arrives, I'm not trying to do anything too ambitious as this 'puter is very ill indeed and keeps losing connection, freezing, crashing etc.

Just come back from a lovely 4 mile dander across Ilkley Moor. Weather was gorgeous and we finished up with some nice homemade soup in a cafe. Tonight I am cooking up a storm with Jamie Olivers Monkfish wrapped in Parma Ham and Basil and Dried Tomato pesto, served with baked potatoes and Sophie Grigson's Jerusalem Artichokes with pancetta and breadcrumbs. Can you tell I have an assignment due? Yesterday I cooked up a vat of chicken stock and then went mountain boarding with AIF and soon to be MrAIF. Well, they boarded, I watched. So a great big fat zero on the assignment.

My problem with this particular assignment is that it asks me to examine the relationships within my current company. I spent Friday bitching with my boss about how crap it is, and his view is that we should just get on and do our own thing. This isn't good enough. I want an interdependent firm, where what one office does complements what another does, and we don't have to keep reinventing the wheel. Argghhhh! Luckily I have an interview with G on 9th May (this time the formal one), so I am reading



Mainly so I can start to formulate what it really is that I want out of my next job move. I want to make the leap from do-er to orchestrator (why else would I be doing the MBA) and I don't want to cock it all up with a crap interview.

With this in mind, I need to flatten the stomach and buy a hot new suit. I did well last couple of weeks with weights and the long steady state cardio, but food and especially alcohol has been atrocious. This week I have a day long seminar on Tuesday and an evening buffet on Thursday, then an afternoon gig on Sunday. That pretty much accounts for my 20% - the other 80% I shall endeavour to be good.

Good to remember that 20% is roughly 1.5 days or if you have 3 main meals a day, 4-5 meals a week. If you have 5 meals a day, that ends up being 7. If you look at it another way, if you are sticking to say 1600 calories a day, then that's 2240 calories a week. In wine and cheese (175ml red wine and 25g gouda at 213 calories) that's 10 occasions a week. Which if you follow Food Doctor's principle of no more than 2 glasses of wine a day, and no two days in a row, then actually, you end up with a maximum of 8 glasses of wine a week (950 cals) and about 1000 left over for cheese and chocolate. I can see I am beginning formulating a plan...

Really must do some work on this assignment...

Look what you find whilst procrastinating online...
http://www.sephora-uk.co.uk/

The excitement! Sephora soon to be online in the UK. Then I can get me some Lip Fusion!

Thou shalt not covet...

Have found the best jewellery website ever - click on the pic for a link...