Earth calling Sana

Miss rainstorm wishes to read this.

As, in fact, does anyone interested in the Diana Wynne Jones/Miyazaki collaboration soon to be arriving.

Calling All UK People

For goodness sake - don't forget to vote!

With the undoubtably incredibly low turnout, and the EU elections being largely Proportional Representation, your vote can count - get out there today and stand up for something you believe in!

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Up Arthur's Seat with Guy - he took this photo of me/Tara

and Tara

and Me

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I stood and counted while the thunder grumbled back and forth outside.

13 seconds from the initial crackle to the final distant murmur.

I love this kind of weather.

Damned if I'm going out though.

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Amusing places close to you - enter your postcode (UK people only) and it will give you amusing place names nearby.

Roll Out!

If the phrase "Robots in Disguise" sends a shiver down your spine then you really, really need to watch this.

It's quiet....too quiet...

Erin and Ed have gone off to Erin's place.
Lilian's not answering her phone.
I have the flat to myself (well, except for a cat).
If i wasn't tired I'd do something cool.  Instead, I suspect I'll go watch some Scrubs.

Warning! Politics!

Some people think that all politicians are evil and only out for themselves.
And yes, some politicians definitely take advantage.  And yes, in some less civilised parts of the world people may be in it just for the power, but by and large that's not the case in the UK.

PJ O'Rourke, who dislikes government in general and politicians in particular, once spent a day with a senator to see what they did.  He came away with a mixture of shock and awe at the sheer thankless work involved and the dedication of the politician (chosen, if I recall correctly, pretty much at random).

Also, this comment by the ever-cuddly bohemiancoast on the work she does with politicians and how by and large they're just ordinary people, like anyone else, trying to make a difference.

I don't like the Conservative party.  I'd never vote for them. By and large i don't agree with their moral take on the world.  But from what I've seen the majority of them seem to want to do the right thing - they just believe different things are right.

Now, as for those people who think that there's no difference between the major parties......

Women news

Six out of 10 women said they felt their work/life balance was the greatest obstacle to their happiness, while the emotion experienced on a daily basis by 56% of women was "frustration". More than half admitted their finances were "out of control", while six out of 10 found their social and sex lives "unfulfilling".

Of the 63% of women who worked full-time, nine out of 10 said they still undertook most of the household chores and eight out of 10 shouldered the burden of responsibility for their children. Tellingly, when a child falls ill, it is the mother who takes time off work (81%), not the father.

While 85% admitted they brooded about their size and shape every day, 92% declared they were unhappy with their bodies. Those surveyed recognised it was not necessarily men who caused this self-doubt: 77% felt "other women" were most likely to criticise their shape and looks.

Although 60% felt "life was easier for men", Prof Segal said that similar surveys showed many of their complaints were shared by men. Although 66% of women wanted to "quit the rat race", only one in five said they were prepared to take a pay cut to "downshift".

The survey also found that 72% of women did not think their "expectations of life are too high", which could suggest precisely the opposite.

Rest of it here.

So _that's_ where Stephen King gets his ideas from...

Tidying plates into the kitchen I realise that the cat hasn't had her last meal of the day.

I grab the box of food and rattle out ten grams onto the scales.  As they drop into the bowl there's the thunder of tiny feet a small black blur passes just under the visible part of my vision.

And I think "What if one day I did this and the blur turned out not to be the cat, but something else entirely..."