TOIL

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I've taken TOIL today - to do two things - get Oisin and then to clean the house. And i WILL clean the feckin house. I actually went for a run when i got home. It being day 3 of my curse, it was much more imaginable doing that. I long for the days when i went no matter what. Running, that is. But i have decided that i'm not drinking till i get to Singapore. Then i shall get a nice bottle of bubbly at Duty Free and enjoy myself when i get to the swimming pool.

Or see friends. Whatever comes first. This has been my first alcohol free weekend in ages and it felt really really nice. It felt... great.

I must try and kick coffee as well. Tea i can give up, coffee... harder, the SMELL...

But running around the house again felt good. Actually it felt awful. That hill in Stormont is a killer. And i'm at a state of fitness that i'm not quite sure if i am fit or not at all. I mean i complete the runs but i feel shit. I think that joining health clubs is a waste of time. I was far more fit when i was running in Lagan Valley everyday come rain or shine. It was just a question of discipline really.

It is so beautiful today running. The blossoms have given way to the new green - and everything is humming. I saw three jays flying past on the dual carriageway - i have never seen so many before. And i'm pretty sure i saw a family of jackdaws... the young ones looking gormless and the parents all protective, the way skinhead parents look protective, you know. Somehow with jackdaws you're never quite sure if they are about to mob you. They seem to be perfectly capable of it. With their beady wee eyes and their sharp stabbing beaks, i'd not be surprised if they come up to me and said, Lu kwa semeek? (Hokkien for those who know.)

I also thought, feck it's time i started on my novel and decide that i will do this now. I'll blog it, but it will be a secret blog until i'm ready to show it to people. But what did i think i'd write about? Well, i have two novel ideas... one about a female assasin... i know it sounds like Girl in Dragon Tattoo, but i don't care. I have never read girl in dragon tattoo and anyway there have been female assasins since god knows when - think about Judith and Holfernes. Um, not pretty. Another one is about doing stories from 'minor' female characters points of view. Like Ophelia, or Solveig in Peer Gynt, or Codelia or you get the idea... Sita even. You know... and then there is a third one... about a gardener who never sees his landlord, but one day wakes up and he is a house by the sea and does not know how he gets there.

Anywa, there's plenty to think about. And i will start today after i clean the house. Or maybe i could do one about a bhuddist nun who watches the goings on in the monastery she is living in - and she see as all the hypocrisy that goes on there...

That should be fun...

Time to get Oisin and do the weekly show i think.

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