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You are viewing the most recent 20 entries November 19th, 200906:40 am: Emotional shocks, sleepless nights, and travelling to Glasgow
Yesterday at work I had a big emotional rock thrown through my window (metaphorically speaking). So I slept badly last night. Also, while sleeping badly, I didn't notice that Bob was outside until I woke up this morning and it occurred to me that she wasn't there. Also I have to go to Glasgow this morning for a 10:30 meeting, which is not unfortunately in the dead centre of Glasgow where I could reach it within 10 minutes walk, or I would plan on getting the 9:15 train that gets me at 10:06 and costs my project £11.50. No: it's just over a mile away, which is doable in 20 minutes if I walk briskly, but a route I don't know and an address I haven't been to before, and I had rather plan on getting there early than late. :-( I'm an Edinbugger: we're good at getting lost in Glasgow. Anyway, so, I figured I should probably plan instead on getting the 8:30 train (makes no difference: any train before the 9:15 one will cost my project £18.80) and get there at 9:21 and have loads of time to wander over. This doesn't interest you, I know: it's boring. I promised myself I would make it to a transgender day of remembrance ceremony this weekend (since the MCC is doing one of their determinedly-not-too-religious ones on Saturday) but Jo Clifford is running two, lunchtime and early evening, at GOMA, today: so I thought I'd go there at lunchtime. I like Jo. (I've never been into dresses. But this is definitely a Dude, where's my jetpack? dress. It's a shame that apparently no one's ever worn it. "A woman can never be too fine when she is all in white." Then she lights up the room.... H/t: Avedon.)      I hope Bob shows up before I have to leave. *frets* (The front door downstairs is open: the glass inner door is closed: I let Wolf out. This is usually a good way of getting Bob in, assuming she's not curled up in a neighbour's house right now.) [Update, 7:45 - Bob trots back in, complaining that she's been OUT ALL NIGHT. Yes, lovecat, that tends to happen if you insist on going out in the late evening when I'm TIRED.] Current Mood:  awake , glasgow, insomnia, weird stuff
November 17th, 200910:23 pm: Recipe: daal
Buy daal. (They sell it in big bags at any local South Indian shop.) In a slow cooker, add two cups daal, seven cups boiling water, and a teaspoon of salt. (Properly speaking you should also add a tablespoon of turmeric, but I didn't have any: I'd forgotten that before I went to Montreal, I threw all my old herbs/spices out.) Put the slow cooker on High for a couple of hours. Stir sporadically. The daal will be a thick porridge. (Rather pale, since I had no turmeric. I added a vegie stock cube instead.) Classically daal is flavoured with garlic and fresh coriander cooked together and swirled through the daal once it's porridge. I chopped a lot of garlic, a lot of fresh ginger, and two tomatoes. I fried it all in butter with a teaspoonful of coriander and a tablespoon of curry powder. When cooked, I swirled the mix through the daal, which by this time was really pretty thick. Switched off the slow cooker and left it to soak up the flavours (though I did try it fresh and it was pretty good even then). Current Mood: full , curry, garlic, recipe, slow cooker, tomato
November 15th, 200908:00 pm: Fridge defrost
...wow, iceberg in back. Current Mood: accomplished November 12th, 200908:59 pm: NHS in Northern Ireland petition
Okay. So, this is weird but you need to bear with me. Northern Ireland is part of the UK. It's not "mainland UK", but it is UK. If you live in Northern Ireland, you have the NHS like everyone else, and you pay taxes for the NHS like everyone else. ...except for abortion. The 1967 Act that made abortion legal in England, Scotland, and Wales with the signatures of two doctors (normally not a problem to get unless you live in the middle of nowhere with only one pro-life GP, or if you are young and don't have the nous to know that you can change your GP just like that if they won't refer you to have an abortion) did not absolutely mandate that abortions should be available on the NHS, and it's a bit of a postcode lottery as to whether they are: I am told that some doctors who perform abortions will just bluntly tell the woman that if she goes private, she can have the abortion right away, whereas if she insists on having it on the NHS, she will have to wait weeks at a point where every week may make it a more significant operation. I am told that some doctors will only agree to perform abortions on the NHS when it's their opinion the abortion was "necessary" - not when in their view the abortion is being asked for by a silly slut who foolishly had unprotected sex. Still. Though some things have not changed - politicians still think that they can get up and make silly noises about abortion and it will do them nothing but good: though the religious and tabloid enforcers are still powerful enough to ensure that the abortion rate in the UK is unacceptably high by discouraging contraceptive use: still, women no longer die of backstreet abortions, and more and more, over the decades, it has become easier for a woman who does not want to be pregnant to get an abortion, and to have it on the NHS. (And all female contraception is free on prescription, and condoms can be got free most towns and cities: it's education that's in general the problem, not so much access.) The big exception to this is Northern Ireland. A woman in Northern Ireland who needs an abortion cannot get one in Northern Ireland unless the doctor is willing to stake his career and his freedom on the belief that the woman will die if she doesn't terminate. Mere risk to her health, or to her mental health: that's shrugged off. They can afford to do this, of course, without the societal consequences other countries face, because a woman in Northern Ireland can travel to mainland UK, without even the potential difficulties that a woman from the Republic of Ireland might face. But a woman from Northern Ireland can't get an abortion on the NHS. NHS hospitals and doctors are required to turn her away and point her at a private clinic. She's required to pay the same taxes as anyone anywhere else in the UK: but she's not allowed the same benefits. Not where she lives, because the NI government at Stormont knows they can keep abortion illegal while women go to the mainland to have abortions there: not on the mainland, because the Westminister government draws its skirts aside and murmurs delicately that abortion is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland, it's not for them to interfere. If you are a UK citizen, please sign this petition: petitions.number10.gov.uk/AbortioninNI. It's a petition to the Prime Minister (whoever he may be by October 2010...) to ask for fair treatment for women from Northern Ireland. The Westminister government is not allowed to override Stormont and make abortion legal in Northern Ireland: all right. But by damn, a woman who already has to spend two days travelling to the mainland at her own expense, ought not to have to pay for an abortion in private clinic on top of that. It's not fair, quite apart from anything else - she pays for the NHS, she should get to use the NHS. If you are not a UK citizen, please pass the link on! The Family Planning Association have put the petition forward and have more information here. Current Mood: angry , i am an angry feminist
November 11th, 200911:42 am: I'm not really a comics fan...
...but I shall miss ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif) scans_daily. I was sorry Peter David decided to shut down Scans Daily on Livejournal for his own petty pleasure. I was delighted that this meant I get to browse through daily scans and SD commentary on IJ. I'm ... kinda mis that SD is now chuntering off to bloody Denise Paolucci's pet site, but: It's a lovely community of people and they pick joyous comic-book pics. If I were capable of becoming a comics fan, scans_daily would make me into one. *waves goodbye*      Current Mood: sad 08:46 am: Today: a fantasy to-do list
1. By the time I get into work, the server will be working again. By 11am or so. 2. I will be able to correct our database and print out the labels. Yes, corrected. 3. And contact our designer re the comet thing. Yes, phoned. 4. And e-mail the people working at the Event about early trains.5. I will also be able to compile and send the newsletter. 6. And the Event volunteer will be able to update the registration list.7. I will finish everything by 6pm and be able to go to a party at 7pm. I suppose 5 out of 7 isn't bad....  Current Mood: hopeful , work
November 9th, 200908:42 am: Before we set sail to the seas where there is no Monday
I found Avon! My slim black MP3 player, apparently none the worse of its adventures. Now, we're on our way to Gdansk from Mumbai: and sailing past Copenhagen and Elsinore on the way. I have heard rumours crew are planning a slashy version of Hamlet to be performed on deck while we pass by Denmark: if only we can agree on what the slash pairing is.  Current Mood: awake , running away to sea, shakespeare
November 8th, 200904:14 pm: Words
These are words ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) whatho associates with me. (None of them are omelettes.) If you want words, say "Words!" in comments. ( China, soup, Edinburgh, activism, Mulcahy ) Current Mood: quixotic , edinburgh, m*a*s*h, meme, slow cooker, soup, travel
November 7th, 200905:37 pm: Emma Thompson comes back from the dark side
...thanks to a 19-year-old student who talked to her face-to-face about what her support for letting a rapist get away with it looked like. (I wrote a letter to her agent: On striving to think the best of people, 1st November.) Caitlin Hayward-Tapp, a student at Exeter University: well done her. (I tried to post a comment at the Independent website re the shameful meiosis of referring to Polanski's rape of a 13-year-old girl as "unlawful sex", but it turns out they've signed on to Livejournal to process their comments, and as I'm suspended... I'm not allowed to comment there.) Current Mood: okay , lj abuse did what???
November 2nd, 200901:14 pm: Must accomplish something...
"Any day on which you've had dental work and have also accomplished anything else may be classified as a win." I discovered that the person who picked up my shiny black MP3 player (named Avon, by the way) from the Teviot, where I lost it Saturday at a pre-Nanowrimo getogether, evidently thought "Cool! Free MP3 player!" and not "Oh, someone lost an MP3 player, let me hand it in to lost property". I don't think that counts as an accomplishment. I also lost my day ticket, but I don't think that counts as an accomplishment either. Perhaps I'll pay my phone bill. I had two fillings. The dentist asked me twice if I was OK. I spent 40 minutes or so remembering to breathe, trying not to shake, and working out prime numbers - I didn't even get as far as 97: I was still trying to work out 91 in my head when he told me we were done. Tags: dentist panic, lost mp3 player
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