In honour of the census, I have prepared an important survey of my own. Do answer, as it will only take a minute or two, and will help dominicself.co.uk to plan our services appropriately in the coming years. Plus, failure to complete the readership census will be considered a statutory offence should I ever form an independent nation state.
After a rather whirlwind and unusual week or two I have a nice moment of calm this evening, plus the prospect of a bit of routine and reassuring normality coming up next week. I mean, I actually have a deadline to work to on Wednesday – a deadline! – which is a good feeling to have… simple, straightforward accomplishments to pursue, which are sometimes much needed. And more social events to liven them up with too, of course 
Don’t get me wrong: this weekend was lots of fun, and a decent excuse to return to blogging. On Friday I hopped up to Cambridge for an double-bill of CULES entertainment (that’s the Cambridge University Light Entertainment Society to you and me) and to marvel at Simon’s manifold acting and writing talents. And in all seriousness, both shows were actually… really really good. Not that I want to sound surprised, of course, but it was a case of pantomime being funny from being done right, rather than from being done not-so right, which is not always the case at these things. Also good was the after-party, particularly down to the exploits of one Mr. Butler, about which I will refrain from going further as I’m still hoping that he will remember me throughout his hotshot lawyer career if I ever need urgently defending in court. (George Galloway doesn’t still read this, right?) We got home at around 4, if memory serves me correctly, and the next morning I may have possibly [note: plausible deniability] enjoyed a rather decadent morning cocktail to boot. Hurray, post-student studenting!
Then on Saturday night it was Emily’s 18th birthday, which Grace and I attended [does that sound too nineteenth century?] and had an utterly charming evening [stop it] with lots of Pringle guzzling [better] and silly dancing with the likes of Saoirse, Tash K and Eleanor to the strident instructions of the Wii [hurrah]. (Once, and only once, I actually managed to win at bloody Just Dance. Clearly a fluke.) A very happy birthday to Emily!
Playing the religion level on Wii National Census 2011 game
Rather proud of this
Remember Clip Art?
Was barely the afternoon by the time I was sitting under a tree with Joshua in Queen’s Park, enjoying a beer and feeling happy. 
(This is a bit Tumblr, isn’t it? Sorry.)
Howdy y’all!
So I’m back from the States 
Now, thankfully, I’m not going to re-create my month on this blog because (a) it would probably take another month just to write it up and (b) I’ve already written it all in my little paper journal. (Yeah, about as retro as sending postcards!) But just to set the scene: I flew first to Boston to stay with Sophie, and then to San Diego in California for a journey up the Californian coast which also included Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Santa Rosa. And it was amazing, of course.
I have oodles of photos, which will shortly be finding their way onto Facebook for those so inclined. But I thought it would be nice to start with ten for this blog. They (mostly) don’t include photos of people, essentially because I was so well looked after by so many wonderful friends and relatives that they wouldn’t all fit into just ten photos! For the record, though, a massive thank you to: Sophie, Perry, David, Ginger, Alex, Geoffrey, Jackie, Jeff, Lori, Crystal, Daryl, Ermila, Glynis, Laura, Giampaolo, Niccolo, Tessa, Matteo, Robert, Robin, Tom, Emily, Daniel, Jamie, Sharon, Jonah, Staci, Sophia and Rachel. And anyone else I’ve missed out. And Virgin, because flying with them is quantitatively better than with anyone else. (Sorry, this is all a little bit Academy Awards, but I guess I’m just high on a drug called dominicself.co.uk…)
1. Boston’s (snowy) Freedom Trail
2. Kayaking amongst the tiger sharks and sea lions in San Diego
3. At the top of the world! Or thereabouts.
4. Jacuzzi. (Not pictured: champagne. But rest assured there was champagne.)
5. Peace and love at Santa Monica pier
6. Dancing with Robert
7. The Castro Theatre, San Francisco
8. American diner
9. Messing about at a rainy Golden Gate bridge
10. San Francisco
Eek: pre-travelling stress! An amorphous mass of ‘things’ have somehow (praise her holy hooves!) been miniatured and crammed into the backpack, but it’s anyone’s guess whether they will turn out to be remotely useful things, or whether I’ll ever be able to get them out again if they are, or whether if I do get them out again I’ll ever be able to cram them in again, or whether my American relatives will take one look at clothes that are composed largely of creases and disown me with disdain, and omg what on earth am I going to do with my coat when I reach California and grr I haven’t even chosen which books to take yet and crikey it might be a really good idea to check if I have any money in my account before leaving… stress.
All of which means I am unable to do justice to the SFX Weekender I’ve just come back from with Abbi, Paul and David – although luckily Abbi has already blogged in her usual masterly style. So you’ll never get to hear (at least not yet!) about mumbling lame words of star-struck gratitude to poor Steven Moffat, or the unique social history museum that is Pontin’s, or the wide range of films we enjoyed – from the laugh-out-loud terrible Skyline to the laugh-out-loud inspired Scott Pilgrim vs. the World to the really rather effective Monsters. But I will say just one thing. Until this weekend, I had never before left a party with a strange sense of being insufficiently geeky to properly fit in. If I wasn’t so busy, I expect this would trigger an identity crisis of sorts…
And for my first adventure, a trip back in time to the 1950s!
xxx
Linda Moffitt on Colombia: “Such a sweet memory of the four of you meeting up in Colombia!” Dec 2, 07:42
