sputter, sputter, cough, cough

Ups and downs, ups and downs! It's amazing how much a cup of coffee can swing you up! Good ole caffeine...

Here are some things that have brought me up lately:

• A visit from cousin Toby and his lovely sidekick Anna May, aged 8 years. Highlights include lovely baby clam pasta, a game of I Spy wherein "Tube" does not count for "something beginning with a T" as it apparently starts with a "TCH" (damn you, England!), a fox crossing the road, many good laughs and perhaps too many pints...
• A trip to the countryside, thanks to my surrogate family, the Meeks, complete with beautiful japanese influenced garden (good that something green rather than nuclear meltdown comes to mind when thinking of Japan, if only briefly), a stunning white horse, and a five hundred year old tree
• A haircut! Yes, my thick matted frizz is gone... quite a shock to see six inches of your hair felled in one swoop. But I feel so free! My hair is soft and healthy! I can wash and dry it in minutes! No more obsessively looking for split ends!

On the other hand, my room is a total tip, I still haven't purged my laptop of its raging virus, I haven't exercised outside of walking to work in months, I got rejected from Oxford, I was thoroughly bored by the last two men I tried to date, grad school in October 2012 feels miles away, I haven't gotten laid in more than half a year, I miss my friends and I really miss a decent IPA... GAK!

I am a tad worried that I am in the danger zone of a mild depression, but the Easter Holiday is coming up soon which should include exercise, family, and a few trips around the British Isles, including a week in Cork with my favourite branch of the White family, the Simmonds of Ireland... so I am hoping to recharge the sputtering batteries soon enough.

And am getting hooked on Boardwalk Empire... always loved you, Steve Buscemi!