Hot To Trot…Maybe Not

Well, here we are at the 10th of April already, we have just enjoyed two weeks of glorious weather here in Ol’ Blighty and there’s been a whole lot of blue skies, sunshine, short sleeves and bare legs around.

Sitting at my front window watching my washing drying happily (bet you didn’t know washing could be happy) and listening to the birds singing and the bees bouncing (there is a massive hairy bee trying to get in through my closed window – right next to the open door – he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, this bee), I wondered how my kith and kin were faring on the under other side of the world.  Facebook updates of late have not been full of sunshine to say the least.

Upon investigation (it’s Sunday and I am avoiding ironing by finding such things as this to keep me ‘busy’), I have discovered that Melbourne (where I hail from) is looking forward to drizzle and a top temperature of 17C…it is April and my home-town is about halfway through its Autumnal segue into Winter so this is not unexpected.

But London’s temperatures have soared (okay so I use the term a little loosely) into the 20s this week and this unexpected burst of ‘hot’ weather not only upset my ‘what-to-wear-to-work’ planning (summer-y items get packed away for the Winter – much like a family of bears – in a suitcase or in the ironing – not the bears you understand, they are probably in a cave somewhere) but also played havoc with yesterday’s Grand National field at Aintree

Today we are set to reach 19C (and 21C tomorrow)…

– which is more than Melbourne…and Adelaide…and Canberra! And is alarmingly close to Sydney’s 22C…

Truly a moment for we Aussies (from those southern states anyway) to savour…

Until it all comes to a screeching halt on Tuesday with a forecast top of 12C…hmmm perhaps I’ll wait a little longer to unpack/iron those summer threads.

Games People Play…

I have always been amazed at the number of games on Facebook and the number of invitations I get to indulge in Mafia Wars on Treasure Isle or join the Farmville Sorority.  I have also been quite selective – choosing only 1 or 2 to indulge in – and loyal – when everyone shipped off to Farmville I stayed resolutely with Lil Farm Life and just dipped into my Lil Green Patch every now and then.

But this weekend I’ve been suckered into 2 new worlds – Social City and Cafe World – and I’m hooked…

…and it’s those two sisters of mine that have done it!  They just looked like they were having so much fun so I surrendered to their call…and now I find myself wondering how many cheeseburgers I’ve served and whether I can afford to complete the rest of my Cafe refurb. or assessing whether I have enough leisure activities for all my little Social City peeps to do.
As if I didn’t have enough to do!

What’s that?  Grubs up…oh best get back to the kitchen…

I Am Blogger…Hear Me Now???

In this brave new world of blogging I find myself in, reading the mental meanderings of those I’ve never actually met (and some that I have!!) passes many an idle hour on the commute to and from work.  One of my faves is ad broad, an ‘age-less’, ad-industry female who claims to be the oldest working writer in advertising – her pithy comments and pointed rantings make me smile…and question…and wonder…and smile again…

Anyhow, I read one of her posts recently – no status update = new status symbol – and it did make me wonder about this societal addiction that has emerged.  Letting everyone know what you are doing at random moments on every available medium and presuming that the ‘world out there’ will be fascinated by this.  

Isn’t this just the ultimate in attention-seeking, diva behaviour? 

There has been this absolute transformation from the parental edict ‘seen and not heard’ that I remember to this kind of cyber-showing off – this urge to have something to say, and be heard, all of the time. 

I wonder about the backlash against this that she blogs about.  Some of my friends have emailed me saying they have closed their Facebook accounts and I’m still wondering about the whole Twitter thing myself (I have a twitter-toe dipped in the water though – you can find me – sporadically – under giddayfromtheuk) but I don’t see this surge to social media and the more, quicker, better race for status-updating technologies that surrounds it abating anytime soon.

I’m not sure where my feelings really lie.  I like Facebook and love blogging and if there are no comments in response to my updates and posts for a period of time, I feel slightly bereft.  And some of my fellow bloggers are thought-provoking, funny, irreverent, inspiring and completely generous in allowing me to peek into their worlds. But I worry a bit about the ‘behaviour’ social media seems to generate – the constant ‘I have something to say/Hear me now!’. 

After all, it’s a big world out there – and who REALLY cares?