End of an EAra

Ah yes - I told you that I had some news. Then I forgot to tell you what the news is!

Well, I'm finally leaving my job! It's been a long time coming, this redundancy, and I couldn't be happier. I feel like the time is right for a bit of a break and pastures new.

Tomorrow (yes, tomorrow!) is my last day, and it all feels a bit odd, after six and a half years of working in the glass palace that is EA Chertsey. Everyone is moving out as the company is relocating to Guildford, but I'm more emotional about leaving the building than leaving my job - I'm not sure what that says...

So, what next? Well, for the time being - nothing. I've fallen just short of qualifying for my 7-week paid sabbatical, so I'm taking it anyway - to have a complete break from anything work-related - then I'll start thinking about what to do next. I'm lucky that I'm in the position that I can take a few months off, and I really want to take full advantage to de-stress and get some perspective back.

And... relax.

Very nearly an armful

I got an award today. It's nice to get an award.

I got a bronze award from the National Blood Service, as today I gave my tenth blood donation. That's more than a whole person-full of blood!

I find it a pleasant way to spend half an hour, in the company of friendly ladies who are always happy to see you. They look after you, let you have a lie down, and then give you orange squash and a biscuit when you're finished. And the warm feeling of having done a good thing is a nice bonus.

Weekend Weepies

It's been a glorious weekend, weather-wise. I finally got round to having a tidy up in my garden. A number of my pots broke over the winter, and the whole lot has been looking shabby for months, so I had a good clear up, threw away everything that was broken or dead, and bought new. I even did a bit of digging and weeding for good measure.

I decided to grow a few herbs, so I bought a herb-ish pot and some, er, herbs. I also decided to give up trying to grow anything in the bit of ground right next to my back door - I have a small trellis there and every year try to grow something to climb up it. But the ground's too dry and it never works, so I bought a big square planter to go under the trellis, and will see if I can have some success with sweet peas for the first time ever this year.

I also made the monumental decision to knock down my coal bunker. I've never had coal in it, and it's very ugly, but it provides very good frost protection for the pots that huddle next to it. Every year I pretend that putting lots of colourful plants on top of it will make it look nice, but who am I kidding? I've even thought about painting it, but that'd just result in a different coloured ugly lump of concrete. If I get rid of it, I'll have a nice little space on which I can put a table and chairs, so it's a no-brainer really. Just the question now of how to go about breaking up and disposing of a load of reinforced concrete...

So, that was my Saturday daytime. Then I spent much of the evening in tears! Without much on the TV, resorted to watching "100 Greatest Tearjerkers". As I may have mentioned before, I'll cry at anything so the results were pretty predictable... Some of the clips left even me cold - particularly anything football related - but a few of my 'favourites' were in there. (I'm not sure that something that makes me sob uncontrollably should be termed 'favourite', but I suppose I must love a good cry, as I sat up until nearly 1.30am watching! And I guess it's no surprise that I love these list-based programmes, list-lover that I am. Here comes another...)

Dead Poets Society - I haven't watched this film for years, simply because I cry literally from beginning to end. It's something about the sentiment of the film, the whole 'Carpe Diem' thing, that gets me.

Beaches - I know it's totally contrived to pull on the tear ducts, but it works. In fact, I don't even have to see the film, just a whisper of 'Wind Beneath My Wings' and I'm off!

The Champ - This is the first film that made me totally lose it. Little Ricky Schroder all snotty, telling his dead dad to get up. Oops - sorry if I ruined the ending for you...

Four Weddings and a Funeral - The funeral, of course. W H Auden. It almost makes up for Andie MacDowell's terrible acting. Almost.

E.T. - When I went to see it the second time, I gave a loud sob of relief when the flower came back to life and Elliott knew he wasn't dead. Despite the fact that I already knew what was going to happen.

And here are some that weren't on the list:

Brokeback Mountain - Forget the gay cowboy angle, and recognise it as a powerful film about forbidden love. Heath Ledger's incredible performance was profoundly touching. I won't be able to watch this film again for a while yet...

Bobby Simone's death in NYPD Blue - After picking up an infection that damages his heart, Bobby's (played by Jimmy Smits) only chance is a transplant. A nasty lowlife, suspected of killing his own mother, attempts suicide in the interview room and is found by Sipowicz, who considers letting him die so Bobby can have his heart. But in the nick of time(!), an off-duty cop is shot in the head and his widow agrees to the donation. The operation appears to be a success, but just as he's about to go home, Bobby takes a turn for the worst, and the whole precinct gathers around his bed to say goodbye. It takes 5 emotional and exhausting episodes for Bobby to finally die. Even my dad cried, but don't tell him I told you! He had something in his eye... Mark Green's death in ER followed a similar formula, though I think it was stretched out even more.

The last episode of Friends - I know, but I couldn't help myself.

Strictly Come Dancing - OK, I've gone too far. But, really, I'm still not over Gethin...

So, one more word on my weekend and crying. I've just been to see Juno. I enjoyed it a lot, but anything involving babies makes me weep, and this was no exception.

For openers

I've never seriously thought that I could write a novel. I don't think my thoughts are organised or thorough enough for a start, and I've never had a good idea for a story.

But, when my brain isn't occupied with anything else, it will mull over what the first line of my novel would be, should I write one. I think it's hoping that one day it will hit on the perfect sentence that will be full of the promise of literary greatness. I'm not holding out too much hope...

I wonder if the opening line of a novel is important. Is it ever the 'clincher' that makes you buy the book? I never read the beginning of a book before I buy it - I go purely from the blurb on the back - but I'm sure there must be plenty of famous first lines. The only one I can think of is "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" and I'd love to know how much thought Daphne du Maurier put into this. Did she write it down and think "Oh, that'll do", or did she start with "I had a dream last night that I was back at the house" and go from there?

I'm inspired to head over to my bookshelves and pick out 10 of my favourites. Have you any idea what they are from the first sentence or two...?

Updated with clues for the trickier ones...
1 - "The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home." (Starting with an easy one...)

2 - "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day."
Written by a Bronte and featuring a secret mad wife.

3 - "The Boulevard du Cange was a broad, quiet street that marked the eastern flank of the city of Amiens."
Set in the First World War and quite the most evocative book of that time I've ever read.

4 - "My suffering left me sad and gloomy."
A Booker Prize winner, it's the story of a boy, a tiger, a zebra, a hyena and an orang-utan. In a boat.

5 - "Mary Ann Singleton was twenty-five years old when she saw San Francisco for the first time."

6 - "The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years - if it ever did end - began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain."

7 - "When Farmer Oak smiled, the corners of his mouth spread till they were within an unimportant distance of his ears, his eyes were reduced to chinks, and diverging wrinkles appeared around them, extending upon his countenance like the rays in a rudimentary sketch of the rising sun."
Terence Stamp and Julie Christie starred in the movie version, and it features every shepherd's worst nightmare!

8 - "It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days."
A heart-rending tale of unrequited love. Made into a Oscar-nominated movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.

9 - "There were four of us - George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmorency."
10 - "Mrs Ferrars died on the night of the 16th-17th September - a Thursday. I was sent for at eight o'clock on the morning of Friday the 17th. There was nothing to be done. She had been dead some hours."
In my opinion, the best novel from the queen of crime. I'm sure Columbo was inspired by this book...

No prizes for correct answers, except the respect of your peers. And feel free to reciprocate!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

I know you've been missing me, but I've been going through a little bit of turmoil of late, so I've been struggling for inspiration for blogging subjects.

Fortunately, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. And it turns out it's a very short tunnel, so the light's very close. Tomorrow I will hopefully have some good news, which I'll share with you.

In the meantime, here are the top 5 things that have been annoying me lately (which will give you an insight into my recent frame of mind):

1. The paper towels have been put in the dispenser upside down in the ladies loos at work. So they're a bit tricky to get out.
2. My hair is a little bit too long.
3. Sky Customer Services (ha!) and their automated-email-answering robot (wholly justified, this one...).
4. Anyone who asks me to do anything at work.
5. Dancing On Ice - especially the fact that I can't not watch it. It's Holly Willoughby mostly that's the problem, but Tim Vincent doesn't help.