Blah.

[deathcookie]

Yesterday, I visited London with fallensnowdrop. We met up with a friend of hers called Ian, who I was vaguely indifferent to until we went into Borders to look at CDs on sale and he exclaimed, "ooh! David Grey!" in the same manner I'd exclaim, "ooh! Chocolate!" after not eating for a week.

Comments

[not_on_fire]

The worst part of that route is having to go through Slough. Horrible place. Never want to go back there.

[deathcookie]

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!

No opinion on Slough is complete without quoting Betjeman. Sums it all up, really.

Still, I live in Reading. A recent poll said it was voted the most anonymous town in Britain.

[not_on_fire]

Ha, you should look at where I'm about to move to...

The Horror

I'm really going to miss South London.

[deathcookie]

My grandparents live in Parsons Green, and Hammersmith was where the nearest supermarkets and high street shops were. Consequently: the place to take 13 year-old me shopping to buy dresses in Bentalls. I still have nightmares of spitting teenagers in 'Spliffy' jackets, and smudged marble floors. I can't give an accurate account of what the place is like now, but it astounds me that something that near to some incredibly affluent bits of Fulham could be so chavvy. Actually, the incredibly affluent bits of Fulham are mostly home to footballers and coked-up Footballers Wives stars. That probably explains it.

It's not as bad as Bracknell or Plymouth, though. And at least the transport links are good.

[fallensnowdrop]

1. Hey, I said it was vaguely amusing, rather than profound, deep, life-altering material (though I admit, in retrospect, that half the amusement came from drawing comparisons with equally lame people we know).

2. Starbucks, the little stall, outside Liverpool Street Station is equally bad. Iced Americano tastes of plastic and charcoal. We still need to patent Coffrapputeano.

3. I used to live near Headingley! Though not quite so surprising, as we were only 5 mins walk away from the Uni. Ebour Mount was my first ever address in England, at the cute age of 3. Ahh.

4. I'm glad Iain wasn't too painful :P

Yay, Coffrapputeano!

[deathcookie]

I was just disappointed because the quotes I'd read made it seem like Jong-Fast was cynical and witty; reading it unfortunately just made me wonder if she'd have got a book deal without an agent and her mother's success. (The very subject matter told me not to expect anything profoundly philosophical, and I dislike reading books that force that down your throat anyway.) 'Little Girls in Pretty Boxes', however, is a very interesting read. It was written quite a few years ago, and I'm sure how what Ryan says would hold up in gymnastics today, but I'm still enjoying it. As much as you can enjoy a book with that subject matter anyway.

Heh, Iain (sorry I mis-spelled his name!) was fine. Apart from the David Grey. He didn't give me the urge to run and hide like most people do. :)

Re: Yay, Coffrapputeano!

[fallensnowdrop]

The trend seems to have been towards slightly healthier - in the book, it states that the 1992 gymnasts were on average 4'7. Carly Patterson was 5'0, but this Olympics she seemed quite average height. Also, despite BMI being vastly inaccurate for those under 5'0, almost all the gymnasts were in the healty range when you consider their age and height (let's ignore Khorkina). Karolyi changed his mind towards the end of the book's completion, whcih was quite influential. Google what he said abotu Khorkina, speaking about her spewing her guts out with sadness, rather than it being something he pressurised girls to do himself a decade or so ago...