1. Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez
2. G by John Berger
3. In a Free State by V.S.Naipaul
4. Q&A by Vikras Swarup
5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
6. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
7. Professional Skateboarder by Tony Hawk
8. Nada by Carmen Laforet (Spanish language)
9. Nada by Carmen Laforet (English language)
10. Rut by Scott Phillips
11. Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh
12. Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani
13. Just Kids by Patti Smith
14. Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis
15. Nickel & Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
16. Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood
17. Freakanomics by Levitt & Dubner
18. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
19. Queen of the Elephants by Mark Shand
20. Freedom by Jonatahn Franzen
21. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
22. FU Penguin by Matthew Gasteier
23. So Much to Tell You by John Marsden
24. El Secreto de Lena by Michael Ende
25. Talking to Addison by Jenny Colgan
26. Supervivencia en la Montana by Edward Packard

1. Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? - Morgan Spurlock
2. Morvern Callar by Alan Warner
3. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
4. The Optimist by Laurence Shorter
5. The Electric Michaelangelo by Sarah Hall
6. Crazy in Love by Chrissie Manby
7. Our Tragic Universe by Scarlet Thomas
8. The Cat Who Saw Stars by Lillian Jackson Braun
9. The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden
10. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
11. Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
12. The Crimson Petal & The White by Michael Faber
13. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
14. The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
15. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyers
16. The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
17. Unbeaten by Kim Woodburn
18. Anita and Me by Meera Syal
19. Winne the Pooh by AA Milne
20. Half they Sky by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl Wudunn
21. The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden

As I have some rare and luxurious internet time with a real computer and proper wifi, I thought I'd check in with everyone at LiveJournal. I confess, that I gave up reading the Friends List entries as most of them consisted of stern warnings and pleas in relation to this cross posting and linked accounts malarkey. There is nothing like massed high dudgeon to make me want to leave the room, even if it is a virtual one.

Work is boring me witless but as we are in the middle of an office move, that is jazzing things up a little to be sure. It has to be said, I don't enjoy packing and crating my desk to have it hauled across the road but, hey, with the extra rounds of redundancies occuring in the banking industry at the moment, I'm very lucky to have an office move to whinge about it seems.

Loaded up on chemicals today as I had most of my innoculations for the November holiday in Zanzibar. Who knew ten days in equatorial Africa would be so life threatening. Alongside Typhoid, Hep A, Dyptheria and Tetanus shots, recommedations were made for Hep B and Yellow Fever vaccinations plus warnings about Rabbies and Cholera. So much for a relaxing stint on the beach...

Did I mention the course of anti-malarials?

Where am I spending my online time when I'm not on Twitter.com? I'm enjoying my time with Goodreads.com; finding it a great way to get my reading on. I'm finding it exactly the right kind of motivation I need to keep the pages turning. Still find it a tad overwhelming that everyone in the free world reads faster than I do and the regular friends updates from that site reinforce that a bit.

I'm also still enjoying a love affaiar with Estorbo. I forgheen lorf heem.

I've been uploading dozens of old photos I brought back from Australia as not only would I like to get them online to share with the various suspects in them, I also wanted to present the other aspects of my life to the people I've met since I've been on the road and those I've met primarily online. It's been quite an emotional journey as like everyone, I've changed a lot over the years. Internally more than externally.

The weather is really dragging me down at the moment. I'm not yet prepared for the end of summer and the cold, grey, damp drizzle which has set in. It makes life more of a chore than it needs to be and allows the cat to tramp mud through the house in my absence.

Most of my online time is now spent at Twitter which is exactly the sort of short, sharp witty banter I need on the massive commutes I'm currently undertaking and is easy enough to play with on the iPhone. I still haven't caved in to a wireless internet dongle for home although I've come close lately. The longer I can hold off on that the better I'll be as any of the spare time I now spend reading, gardening or knitting will be consumed with 'dicking around online'.

Big summer BBQ and camp out happened a couple of weekends ago. It was nice to catch up with all of those people I met there last year and even nicer because I craftily positioned myself to be in the area and brought the boat down rather than set the tent up! I drove my house to a party, beat that land lubbers.

Things to look forward to? Winter sun holiday to Zanzibar in the works and the second Eastern European ski trip is on the cards (Slovakia this time). So little time, so many holidays etc.

I've been to Australia and back since my last update, isn't that crazy. Anyway, home with the family was pretty wonderful. Attending the first birthday party of my great niece was even more wonderful. I covered some ground while at home this time too. Heading up to the Red Centre, climbing Kings Canyon and even a roadtrip to Byron Bay. Lots of good proper countryside views around Bathurst as well.

Life has been rolling along just so. I've either been hella busy or wholly lazy. I could probably find balance by having moderately busy weeks/ends with planned relaxation time but that simply isn't my stile. Life is all or nothing for me.

Lola has made her first proper kill and managed to drag an entire moorhen onboard but thankfully not through the vent acting as a cat flap. The bird was about as big as she was and I was torn between pride and horror. I believe we have also decimated the entire shrew population at Rickmansworth as she has stopped bringing their carcasses home.

I'm currently about as far west as I'm going to go this summer before I turn tail and head back toward Central London for the winter. I've hovered out in the outskirts a little longer this year as I've had a wedding, a couple of parties and the big summer BBQ and campaganza at Blackjacks to attend. I will miss the countrysideishness of these far flung moorings.

I'm in a rhythm with the long commutes, wake up, sleepwalk to the train, read for an hour and a half before arriving at work to shower and get on with the earning of the money. I usually fall asleep for a portion of the return journey, more due to stuffy heat than anything I think. I get a couple of hours to laze about and make something to eat in the evenings and it has been a really nice summer this year for evenings.

I voted tonight, for the first time since I've lived in Briatin - about ten years now. I don't know why I didn't vote in the last election or any local elections to date but I'm guessing it has something to do with the subconcious belief that I've only ever been here temporarily, just travelling through. The longer I stay, the harder that is for even me to believe. This year, this election felt very different and the world is a different place. I believe we're at the beginning of a period of massive global change which will be difficult and challenging for most of us to live through but will become but a paragraph in a text book hundreds of years from now.

I've voted tactically for the first time in my life as well. A satisfactory outcome for me would be the hung parliament scenario, which once I understood I embraced and am yearning for. Something about helping to bring that scenario about makes me feel like I've been destructive/anarchistic while at the same time constructive as the hung parliament model is really true democracy in action. We'll see whether I wake up in my ideal world tomorrow eh?

I survived my Spanish oral exam - just barely - as the class partner I'd been working with and spent many hours on Skype and in person practicing with called in sick on the day and I had to hand the teacher our script and have her read it out. No pressure there then! I have one more lesson before the written and listening exam and I really need to pull my study pencil out if I have a half a chance of understanding even a small portion of that.

Lola's new collars arrived today. They are vivid fuscia and have I LIVE ON A BOAT printed on them along with my phone number. She is out and about rampaging without the great medallion I forced her to wear last week after she lost her collar with the normal sized information disc attached to it. The Flava Flav sytle disc dangling from her neck was the kitten equivalent of specs and callipers so you can imagine the joie de vivre with which she's galloping about right now.

I will miss the build up and the back and forth of this election. Spending my nights online with the Twitteratti during the Leaders Debates and musing over each scandalous and scurrilous turn of events has entertained me no end. I guess I won't really have long to lick my wounds over the results as it's all hands on deck to prepare for this years big Australia trip at the end of May.



Wham, bam, thank you mam!

My goodness there is nothing like having exams looming to drive one to LiveJournal is there? Since taking and uploading this photo, Lola (who the eccentric posh bloke I'm moored next to calls 'La La')has even had enough of me noodling about and has stalked off out back to sleep on the pile of fresh towels where she can stare out of the window at dogs. I still have the Twitter tab open though and have now cranked up the radio to enjoy Lady Gaga at volumes an almost middle aged woman shoud definitely not be playing pop music at...

I swear I only juiced the generator up to get online so that I could listen to and model some Spanish conversations in the future conditional future tense as I have to meet my partner later this afternoon to pull together a conversation of sorts. It turns out, my whole system fights the studying process with gusto, which explains a lot about the mediocrity of my school and work life. My attention span is great when I'm staring into space or attempting to work out the nuances of a Reality TV programme but not so great when I need to learn.

Otherwise it's been a quiet week.

I directed someone to my boat yesterday by describing it as 'the one with the dead daffodils on the roof' and that led me to remember the daffs in all their glory only a few weeks back now. We had had such a long hard winter that the bulbs surged up quickly and aggressively. They were beautiful in their fury but their moment has definitely passed.

When I took this photo, I had grand designs on blogging about the winter and the hardships it brung but never got around to it for whatever reason.

I have just discovered that my iPhone works as a router with internet tethering to my laptop. I have no idea how much extra they'll bill me for this service but knowing that I'm already facing phone charge armeggdon for happily tweeting, uploading, phoning and texting all the way through my recent cross Europe adventure on rail and ferry, I figure what the hell right? I can't think of a better of marking 'what the hell' than finally getting around to updating my journal so here we are.

Lola was a year old last week. 12 months! My god they have flown. She's currently out and about terrorising other boaters, the wild life and joggers. She's getting quite the reputation amongst the community and I still adore her and am quite sure she doesn't give a flying monkey about me, but that's cats right?

Being the most spectacularly lucky person in Europe last week, I managed to get to Amsgterdam and back evading volcanic ash and being no more than an hour late for work on Monday. My flights were cancelled Thursday night so I set about lining up a rail and sail, ferry passage to attend the Bookcrossing Convention in Amstelveen near Amsterdam. It was quite the adventure and I enjoyed my short time in the city especially as I was able to catch up with some folk I haven't seen for a long time. Am now actively looking forward to the UK Uncovention in Swindon later this year.

Am gearing up for spring here onboard Del and some of my plants and flowers are already up. They came up early and aggressively after that ass kicking winter we all just endured. I still have a few bags of coal left from the panic bought stockpile I ordered and I'm still lighting a fire most nights as although the days are no longer cold, the nights could not yet be considered warm.

I must thank elhamisabel for the nudge she sent me way back when. I wasn't ignoring it/you, I just couldn't be bothered putting finger to keypad. I hope to be around more often (don't we all say that though?) and promise to keep you updated about life along the canal.

Currently reading and loving the worlds most atrocious peice of chick lit ever printed and looking forward to moving on to Scarlett Thomas' latest book very soon.

A friend of a friend through a party for those of us dangling around London on New Years Eve. I took along the very last of the Russian vodia aka 'the happiest vodka in the world' and a bottle of champagne for midnight. It was a really nice group and of course, at some point, the Cuban dance instructor bossed us all into merenge and salsa lessons. This made for hillarious viewing and participation.

New Years day I did a lot of sleeping and slothing. I eventually had some help starting my boat battery and after waiting and wrangling with the cat to get her back on board, I set off to do the chores (the loos were perillosly full and there was no way I was going to spend the first week of January wissing in a bucket). The cold came down fast and it was dark, cold and icy by the time I got back to the mooring spot.

I took myself to the pub for some soup and solace and bumped into a couple of other boaters. I was just finishing dinner and deciding whether to dig in for a couple of pints when my kitten marched through the beer garden, up the steps and pushed the door open. I had to interrupt the conversation and excuse myself when I heard the unmistakable sound of her bell jingle jangling through the pub. As I declared 'oh my god, my cat is in the pub', laugher errupted from everyone trying to digest the situation. I sat nursing a naughty kitten while the conversation wound down and then clambered on board to light a roaring fire and read me some book.

The weather is getting cold again and I am once more iced in. Snow, sleet and icy cold rain coupled with bitter winds are predicted until around February!

2009 was a tad average for me and I know it was a disturbingly bad year for some of my friends so join with me in iwshing only the best and brightest moments for everyone in 2010.