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Happy Mondays! Okay, so it's easy for me to say that, what with having the week off work and all, but in the spirit of last week's blog, this week I am keeping things simple. Things have been going pretty well with the whole writing thing at Shelly Berry Towers - my dabble at writing a script for a short film is progressing nicely (watch this space), as is my stab at journalism, what with a couple of juicy pieces for the Waltham Forest Echo working themselves out of the woodwork (again, keep your eyes peeled). Edit of novel number two is getting closer to completion too, despite my wavering confidence in the project. The problem is, it is all starting to feel a bit manic, and, having committed to a college course starting in September, it is going to get worse. Or is it? Maybe I just need to do what I keep telling myself to do; keep it simple. Stop putting pressure on myself to get things done that can wait and enjoy those little pleasures in life, like cooking and reading. I've been trying to read Iris Murdoch's The Sea The Sea for weeks now, but keep finding myself distracted by things I ought to do, rather than settling down with a good book and a nice cup of tea. And, rather than cooking the food I really want to eat, I end up churning out the same old thing night after night, rather than taking an extra 15 minutes to experiment and try something new - something that a recent meal out and a weekend with friends has made me determined to do.  Here's one I made earlier. Ahem... So, when I get my train home tomorrow, I shall read my book. And when I go shopping, I will buy ingredients to make Moroccan Lamb and Aubergine with pomegranate and tabouleh salad, just like I had at The Bell in the Stow, and even more aubergine to make Simone's Melanzane parmingiana. And, before my next batch of leave, I will make a cake to take into work - I have a heap of cream cheese icing in the freezer that desperately needs using up, and quite a few colleagues who I really owe a slice of my grandma's carrot cake for one reason or another. And, hell, I like baking. So that is what I am going to do. Emptying the loft, cleaning the bathroom and redecorating the kitchen can wait. I am on a new kind of mission, my friend...
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Hello everyone! I hope you are all well? Had a nice weekend? In good health? It’s nice when people ask after your well-being, isn’t it? Okay, so maybe we can’t have in-depth conversations with everyone we come into contact with about their ailments and gripes, but isn’t it nice when people show you a little bit of courtesy? Are polite? Talk to you like a human being? I’ve come to accept that, in London especially, a lot of (but not all) people are often too busy getting on with their own lives in their own worlds to bother smiling on the tube, say excuse me when they push past you with their trolley case (and trip you over with it in the process) or to apologise if they step on the back of your heel as they rush to the office. But when it comes to one-to-one interactions, I am getting quite tired of people not showing a little courtesy. When I speak to a member of the public when I’m at work, I don’t except them to shout and swear before they hang up on me, even when I am saying no to their (often unrealistic, sometimes ridiculous) requests. And when I complain in a pub about the service that I receive, I expect the management to respond to that complaint, not to complain about my complaint (true story!). And another thing – when did it become okay to email your colleagues without starting with the once-customary “Dear,” or even a “Hi” or “Hello?” I’m sorry but I don’t get it. And when you say you’re going to get back to someone by the end of the day about an interview they have just sat through, surely a phone call isn’t too much to ask – especially when an email is met with an “out of office” message?  How you doing, Mr Frog? Okay, so I don’t get the worst of it. At the Green Gym on Friday (which I have an article about in the latest edition of the Waltham Forest Echo J) I chatted to a chap about the pitfalls of working in a supermarket – something I have done before and he is about to start doing. My experience is that, just because you’re in an unskilled job, people think it’s okay to talk to you like you’re an idiot. I for one make an effort to say hello to the guys in my local Co-Op and ask them how they are - at the end of the day, if they weren’t here, where you I get my midnight pint of milk from? We all contribute to society (yes, even people who don’t work Mr Cameron), and all deserve to be treated with a bit of respect.
So this week, a plea; can we all start being a bit nicer to each other? I ain’t a religious person, but I’m a big fan of that “do unto others what you would have done unto you” stuff. Some people call it Karma. But whatever it is, can we have a bit more of it please? I did say please. Thank you J So... how was you week? Mine was pretty cool. I chilled out with the Artists Who... 
... wrote the follow up to my debut at the Waltham Forest Echo... 
... finished the first edit of novel number two on my way to meet the lovely Lexi - who just happened to be wearing the snood I made her for Christmas... 
... and pottered about in my lovely flat, newly furnished with a few more bits from my favourite furniture shop in Walthamstow, the British Heart Foundation. 
Want to read more? Well, check out my latest Overground Underground blog - and keep your eyes open for my latest newsletter which you can sign up to here...
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THE JUICEHere you will find my latest news, including what I have been up to and what I have been writing (and making). Hopefully you'll like what I have to say - and perhaps I will motivate you to get creative too... Archives
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