redfiona99

I'm just getting out a depressive episodelet caused by the possibility of my PhD falling flat on it's face. It probably still might and I'm going to get the lecture of a lifetime out of my boss, but right now I'm on the upswing and might just call his bluff if he does his 'you're going to fail, fail I tell you' speech, which I've have in three monthly intervals for the past year and a half.

Other than that, life has been good.

Went to London to see Jed Thian commentate live - http://www.arcrugby.co.nz/

Warning: not safe for children, grandparents, the easily offended, Australians and Shalke Burger

There, I warned you. He isn't actually as bad as all that, he just swears like a sailor. He's also fantastically, well not unbiased, but he believes in good rugby, which, as he's a New Zealander, happens to correlate quite closely to my own views. He's also hilariously funny, and I will never be able to watch a Scotland match with a straight face ever again.

Came back, fenced for 4 hours on Sunday (legs still aching like woah), then watched the second half of Sharpe's Peril, which was much better than the first half ( Spoilers )

Second half was better because they seemed to remember a little levity, however gallows-esque, was required. And I love Patrick Harper.

Finished reading HMS Surprise (review here - http://www.librarything.com/work/14479/details/38043376). LibraryThing suggestions are mostly filled with more O'Brian stuff and books by other people about the Aubrey and Maturin books, something about the Navy in the Napoleonic Era, a Flashman book and Sherlock Holmes. A goodly set of suggestions I find.

The Unsuggestions are a mixed bag - The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks, Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin, Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella, Bookends: A Novel by Jane Green, Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married by Marian Keyes, PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern and The Complete Anne of Green Gables Boxed Set (Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Po) by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

The only one of those I've heard of is Anne of Green Gables so I don't think it's a bad set, either.

( Saw the second part of Sharpe's Challenge )

I had fun.

Less fun was opening up Eurosport and hearing rumours of Zidane's retirement. That would mean him, Bergkamp and Maldini, all gone at the end of the year. I don't think I want to be part of this brave new world.