Some stuff...

That I've been meaning to read / post / etc

(I never understood, before, when people used to say to me, how do you have time to blog? And I used to say, I don't even understand the question. All my time was my own, and I'm a fast worker and I get stuff done, and it was no big deal to post like ten times a day. Now, with a baby and house and partner etc... juggling seems to be the new me, and the stuff I want to do somehow gets to the bottom of the list)

Malcolm Gladwell on overconfidence - must read this, despite being slightly underwhelmed by seeing him in person in November

Disappointed that Shiny Media seems to have gone into administration. I like to think I helped them on their way to fame and fortune, putting Chris Price on the Guardian Changing Media Summit 2006 blogging panel. Wish I'd had a slice of the alleged £4.5m funding. Wish them all the best of luck - although microblogging and the old ad revenue model: personally, still not convinced

In the Night Garden: I am down with Iggle Piggle and Macca Pacca (even if D says I don't know all the characters) - now a firm part of Zaphod's bedtime routine and totally worth the licence fee (and undoubtedly better if you're stoned)

Train: a board game about the holocaust

It Felt Like a Kiss at the Manchester Festival - dead sad we didn't get to see it, but delighted that it's coming to London, apparently, in the autumn. I love Punchdrunk, D loves Adam Curtis: it's our perfect evening out

Jay McInerny is looking a lot older than he used to (but then, aren't we all)

Obama's purple folder: if you know me well (or at all) you will know that purple is my theme colour, and I am delighted that I share this small characteristic with Barak / the leader of the free world

From the Golden Book of the JNF

From the Golden Book of the JNF
Originally uploaded by sashinka-uk

An inscription, I'm guessing from the fifties or sixties, in memory of my maternal great grandfather, Chaim Sugarman, made by my grandparents Hilda (Hinda) and Sam (Simcha). I've even seen the photo of my grandparents actually receiving it.

There's something very satisfying about knowing where you come from (in my case, the Old Country).

Levens Hall Leaded Window

Levens Hall Leaded Window
Originally uploaded by sashinka-uk

Excellent trip yesterday to Levens Hall (we're in Cumbria). After you've bought your (quite expensive ticket) and they've told you you can take the buggy in, turns out you can't, so I went round on my own while D and Zaphod took in the topiary garden.

And they don't tell you till you're inside that you can't take photos (not as information, but as a telling-off if you get your camera out). Apparently, the insurers don't like it. Like I'm casing the joint to refurnish my Kilburn home. Hardly.

But I couldn't help sneaking a couple of photos. Give me a challenge, blah blah blah...

Lavender Cupcakes

Lavender Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by sashinka-uk

I can't tell you how Nigella I felt making these. OK, in my childhood they were called fairycakes, but like everything nowadays they've been rebranded.

And not a Nigella recipe, a Hummingbird Cafe recipe, except I didn't think they're soaking the lavender in milk would work, so I heated it slightly to infuse properly to get the flavour.

Lavender courtesy of J's garden. Cakes eaten by F, W, J & E on their trip from NY. Where, of course, cupcakes are traditional fayre. Oh, the land of the free.