So, I've been pretty busy lately, which is why I haven't updated Twist of Lemon in a while. But the precis goes like this:

- Went to Womad last weekend, had an absolute blast
- Working like stink at the moment because I'm going to Cornwall next week
- I'll be back in Swansea for the week thereafter, when yet more work awaits
- And then to South Africa for a week.

And apropos of nothing, this is amazing. There's video too, here.

New at explodingdog: i'll be gone for three days, someone is giving me the evil eye, i never expected THIS!

Bullet-time table tennis. (Thanks, Rory)

Ooh! Ooh! John Hegley's coming to Abergavenny in September! [gimbo]

Oh, and to Cardiff too, in November.

Oh dear, I've been a bad girl. Very little water yesterday, none today, no cranberry juice
(as advised by the Doc), too much coffee yesterday, a few glasses of wine last night, not much sleep in the last 24 hours (deadlines) and hey presto! The kidney thang is knocking on my door. :-/

On the upside, I'm curled up on the couch sipping reviving fluids through a stripy straw and watching Fifteen to One, soon to be followed by Countdown. Yay... perfect snoozing programming. :)

The Internet is shit. [listless]

Excellent - my most recent purchase should reach me next Wednesday. :-)

And this looks like fun (albeit time-consuming): Gnod.net is a cool way to discover new music, books, movies and websites based on what you already like. [rites].

It took the names of three bands I like (I entered the first three which came to mind; The Cure, Lemonjelly and Leonard Cohen) and it recommended Nick Drake. Never heard of him, and haven't yet d/l'd any of his stuff, so there's no telling yet how effective it is. Will keep y'all posted.

Today's timesink: The Movie Cliches List [hivemind]

I wish I was a stronger person than this; here I am, having spent hours in front of my machine (at my gleaming new desk - woohoo!) and precisely how much work have I done?

Still, it's not a total loss - my Hotmail is now happily residing in one application, on one computer, in one location. I call that progress. Also, my new Feng Shui software informs me that we're in the middle of the Chinese hour known as Hai, or the Hour of the Pig, and advises me thusly: Do not abandon your Ideas, but pursue them with Energy.

Guess it's time for a cup of coffee, then. ;-)

I just filled in an online survey, and my usual routine of checking the 18-24 box under 'Age' was suddenly disrupted when I realised that - bloody hell - I'm now lumped in with the 25-34 year olds. This aging thing takes some getting used to. *grumble* :-)

Classic Get Fuzzy: You shouldn't have stopped my duel with the ferret.

This is amusing: American arrogance vs African obstinance.

Wow - just read this at MarketingWeb:

Brainstorm editor moves on
The editor of ITWeb’s monthly IT magazine Brainstorm, Branko Brkic has resigned from the publication to pursue other plans in the publishing industry.

It's amazing - my reaction to hearing about this from a third party was almost akin to the shock which I assume one would feel if one were to find out of a family member's death in the papers. Weird, huh? Well, good luck Branko, hope things work out well.

In other news, yesterday, I put on a jacket I hadn't worn in weeks, and when I put my hand in my pocket, I found £7. Free money! w00t! :)

Yet another reason to worship at the altar of 20twenty. My 20one card expires at the end of this month, so today, when I logged on to the 20twenty site, I was presented with a reminder that I should renew my card. Clicking 'OK' took me through the process (which was quick and simple) and wonder of wonders, I was able to stipulate an international delivery of said card. Of course, there'll be a charge for that, but it would have been free if I was still in SA.

When my Standard Bank Mastercard expired sometime last year, they sent the replacement card to my post office in SA - without telling me. I only later received a letter (forwarded by my dear mother) saying that if I hadn't picked it up by a particular date it would be destroyed, and I'd have to formally apply for a renewed credit card. Of course, it had been destroyed by the time I read the letter.

The only way I managed to get it done at all is because I'd had the personal e-mail address of someone within my branch (Randburg - bank with them at your peril!) and I basically just kept hakking at them to do it in a way that - shock! horror! - was not exactly by the book, but which fulfilled the needs of the customer. And after all that, they couldn't provide me with a PIN unless I applied in person, at the branch, or something ridiculous like that (20twenty allows me to set my own PIN). The card has since expired, again, and I've just turned a blind eye - some things are just not worth the effort.

Hmm... just recalling all the shite I've put up with in my time with Standard Bank Randburg, and I think that when I'm out in SA later this year (arriving 17 August, departing 23 August), I will do something about it and move my account to a branch which is slightly more capable. I hear good things about Hyde Park and Cresta - any other suggestions? :-)

Anyway, just another little reminder of how much I love 20twenty, and how fervently I hope they'll get out of this Curatorship thing ASAFP.

Business card origami! Here and here.

Medical status: Recovering.

It turns out the fever was the direct result of the confrontation between the forces of good (antibiotics) and evil (nasty kidney lurgy) battling it out in my body. There were no side-effects to the medication, and no, my doctor does not think I'm a hypochondriac. ;)

So, I saw Amelie last night, at long last, and truly, it was as good as everyone has said it is. Really happy soundtrack too. Wish I could say more, but dammit, I just don't have the energy.

Ouch. My head hurts, and so do my joints and my lower back. The last 24 hours has not been pretty at all. I went to the doctor yesterday morning with what I thought was a minor complaint. She thinks it could be a kidney infection, so she puts me on a superduper course of antibiotics which I later discover, has the side effect of sending my core temperature sky high. So yesterday was spent shivering in bed, feeling like I was never going to warm up while at the same time feeling like I would explode if I got even 1 degree hotter. The accompanying migraine topped it off, and the less said about that, the better. :-/

I had a similar but less powerful reaction last night, which meant that I overslept this morning and missed the Open Surgery hours in which I could have gone back to the clinic to explain my situation, and beg, nay plead for less powerful antibiotics. So here I am, sipping Lucozade, popping Nurofen like Smarties and feeling like my eyes are going to splurge out of my head at any moment.

But hey, at least I had a good weekend - a braai at the home of one of the lecturers in the Computer Science department, and the weather was positively glorious - hot and clear for most of the day. In fact, I dare say it was too hot, but then, what can you do, right? Apart from get in out of the heat, but that wasn't really an option. I got a bit of a tan, including V-shaped ones on my feet. :)

Argh. So anyway. I'm going to do something distracting now.