Happiness is being too busy to be sad.

I really thought this post wouldn't happen for quite some time. It's inevitable every year, but I thought I still had a few weeks left, at least. Doing the shopping today, I was surprised to find Halloween goodies decorating the entrance to the store. Orange and black was the main theme throughout and I suddenly realised that yes, it is October already. Pushing my trolley through the wonderland, with children …

Credit where credit is due, Michael Schumacher drove a great race today. It's hard to hide disappointment in the fact that he completed the first lap down about 15th and finishes the race in second, but if it was anyone else but Schumi, we'd think he was a star, so I guess he should have a well done. An interesting point to note - they didn't push Alonso back on …

You know all those people that are flitting off to Spain and Australia to start a new life in the sun? (You'll know what I mean, there are about a hundred programmes following their fortunes on the television!) I have one word for them - crazy. I stepped outside today for a moment and almost melted. It's almost winter time and where the hell is the Autumn? It's September and …

Okay, I have been proclaiming several things as rubbish the past couple of days and every time I have been proved wrong. The most important one is the new comedy Green Wing which has just begun on Channel 4 and stars a whole host of comedians. The adverts didn't really get me chuckling and I was determined that it was going to be rubbish, but when we sat down to …

The Marathon Wrecker - It's the same guy that ran on the track at the British Grand Prix. Last time they locked him up for trespassing, but this time they can't really do anything, it was a road, public property. But seriously, the guy should be locked away where he can't get at anyone.

We went to a country fete today, and it's very heart-warming to know that people do still leave their houses for things other than football, the pub or shopping. Some parachutists flung themselves out of a plane, and I got a headache from straining my neck towards the sun so long as we watched them descend. There were also Morris Dancers, but let's not get on to that subject, eh? …

I've had a much better day today, although I'm still annoyed at the lack of anything decent to watch on TV. However, in the meantime, there are only 18 days left until The Sims 2 comes out and I can hardly wait. And I'd just like to say, even though I don't watch Eastenders anymore, having Martin cheat on Sonia just weeks after they've got married is not on and …

I made an iMix but half the songs aren't in the music store. I've been bitten a million times - AGAIN - and it itches and it hurts and I hate it. I started watching Nip/Tuck, but didn't think it was very good. I watched the first ten minutes of Ny-Lon but thought that was rubbish too. Where's all the good TV gone?

Mmm, haven't had a Crunchie for ages. I'm trying really hard to learn this database stuff and I am getting somewhere, but I always end up feeling so stupid because I understand how all the stuff works. I can see how the code makes what happens happen, but I can't begin to construct my own code, my brain just isn't logical enough for that, I guess. It's really frustrating, because …

What a great day! The sun is out and it's beautiful! I got up this morning and the first thing I did was fling all the windows open to let a non-existent breeze in. I didn't get a lie-in today, I woke up early which was a bit annoying. It did mean that I was up in time to watch Ministry of Mayhem though - my new favourite kids show! …

Lots to say so I'll just get on with it. I've been buying games by the truckload, even though I wasn't really done with the ones I had before. Have now got The Simpsons Hit & Run (very funny), Pirates of The Caribbean game (a little hard to control but I've not given up yet!) and Zoo Tycoon Marine Mania, which is really fun and adds dolphins and jellyfish and …

Anyway... website update - 101 Words will have its own site very soon. I apologise for the delay but learning PHP and MySql is bound to take more than a day and it happens that I keep getting distracted by iTunes and Prince of Persia! And on the subject of iTunes, please note the new iMix section, I just discovered playlists and will probably be up till the early hours …

It's been a mad few days and if I wrote any of it down here, you'd never believe it, so I won't bother. What I actually want to talk about is the computer stuff I've managed to get done today. On Thursday when I was setting up all websites and such, I got a little annoyed when everything I was trying so hard to fix wasn't working and I ended …

I've got a couple of days off and I'm being quite productive with them for a change. Instead of just sitting around and doing nothing, I'm sitting around and getting things done! It's great. I just set up Thunderbird with all my mailboxes and things. I've been sorting out my websites and getting them sorted out on this new system, and also setting up Apache to be able to do …

I had such a good post planned. I was thinking it up the whole time I was doing the ironing (which spanned the listening of all of my newly downloaded The Calling album - yes, there were that many clothes). I had it all perfectly written in my head and had just sat down to post it... when what happens? Mr C happens. I don't want to complain, but when …

I've never wanted a day to go so fast in my whole life. And did it? Nope. But now I'll push the never-ending day from my mind and concentrate on the good stuff. For my birthday (a rather belated present, but TOTALLY worth the wait), I got a new computer. A brand spanking new computer with a marvellous graphics card and a super duper silver screen. It's just the best …

...wisdom teeth hurt! Mine take it in turns to grow a tiny bit at a time, sporadically over three years (so far). It's probably the most painful way they could have chosen to do it and I just know they're not done yet. I've come home at lunch to grab some paracetamol to last me through the day. I sure as hell don't remember teeth hurting so much when I …

The end of June already. I can't believe it. A quick note to those who don't believe I can read fifty books in a year... I'm on my 41st. So there. Henman's out. The English suck at every single sport possible. ~~Except curling~~. Apparently that was Scotland.

I was mega happy this afternoon after watching Tim Henman win his match - it had everything you could ever want, a Brit, some diving and some swearing, and a sulky Delta Goodrem, she's famous you know! There was also a little bit of tennis going on as well... Now, I will talk to you about iTunes. I want to recommend it to each and every one of you. I …

I was cajoled into downloading Firefox for the Mac and I moaned quite a lot about doing this (mostly because it was heading towards midnight and I was flagging in the energy stakes) and I was grumpy and said it was "okay". I now, however, want to say "Strike that, reverse it" a la Gene Wilder, because it is actually a really good browser. Get yours here and spread the …

We went to the pub to the watch the footie - something I have never done before. I'd always been a bit nervous of the idea of hundreds of people yelling at the television. But where we went was surprisingly empty, a group came in at half time with their faces painted, and we sampled lots of nice beer, so I learnt that it can be fun. Of course, I'm …

Although it is simultaneously amusing and heart-warming to emerge from a shop and find a sea of England Flags filling the car park, please could everyone make sure they are attached properly. I was driving behind someone who's flag fell off (I'm still not sure how that can happen - aren't they attached to the windows or something?) and as it flew up and over my roof, it gave me …

Don't assume, because you are going to a pool full of water, that you won't be thirsty when you get out. Chlorine is not thirst-quenching. Don't wear your most precious jewellery to the leisure centre as the heart attack that ensues when you can't find it, even though you know you stuffed it right into the toe of your trainers, is not fun. If you find that the person before …

The end of Friends - I'm stocked up with Doritos and tissues, just in case. I was driving home and it's been a mega stressful day, there was nothing on the radio so I was flicking through all the stations. I have pre-programmed all of the available slots in my car, despite the fact that I never listen to them. So, I picked a completely random station and lo and …

Although not a day to be curled up inside, I felt like watching some films. I thought instead of wasting the weather, I could manoeuvre the television and sit in the sunlight. Now, you should all know that I'm quite a big Queen fan, if not you obviously haven't been reading this journal for very long. I was recommended to watch Highlander, the film which 'Who Wants To Live Forever', …

Well, that's the plan anyway, swimming is my new favourite hobby. I thought I'd forgotten how to do it, but yesterday, I actually started to feel like I knew what I was doing. I'm a little annoyed though because he egged me on, saying "Of course you can open your eyes underwater, there's nothing wrong with it, your eyes will get used to it." And, I can't fault his truthfulness, …

I woke up early yesterday morning with a sudden thought that I couldn't figure out the answer to. You know Coronation Street? (If you don't watch it, stick with me, because it's a universal soap question really). The character of Bethany (a little girl of about three) is played by twins, so that it's not too stressful for them, all the long hours and such. But what happens if the …

I'm sure you remember a couple of posts back, I was commenting on the silliness of the people taking part in the London Marathon. And while I still uphold that view - 26 miles is just insanity! - somehow I have taken up running. I thought that by suggesting a walk, it would be a nice casual stroll with Mr C. Um, no. Somewhere along the line, the devil stole …

Today, I almost managed to finish reading the whole of The Economist. I'm getting closer and closer every week, but my worry is that I won't ever actually reach my goal. This week's edition had no surveys in it and had only the basic sections, two special reports, stories from different countries plus business and finance. If I couldn't read it when it's at its smallest, when will I ever …

Three adverts have caught my attention and not for good reasons... Firstly, the second instalment of the Yakult Bacteria guy. I actually quite appreciate the idea of the advert and think it's really nice that the girl is sticking up for her geeky friend. BUT... those Yakult bottles are so expensive, you just WOULD NOT give one away like that. Not even to a friend! And especially not to two …

So, I'm watching the crazy people running the London Marathon, I do not understand how anyone can manage to run that far... I have trouble running to my car when it's raining! I think it's great though, all those people raising money for charities and coming together to do something worthy like that. Even Iain Duncan Smith's running!

I think I knew before we went, that the replacement wouldn't live up to the outstanding performances of my favourite Tony Vincent. But I like to think that I was willing to go in there with an open mind and give him a fair shot. And he pretty much blew it. I just think his voice wasn't clear enough to pull off the songs and I didn't notice but Mr …

Seriously, what does it take for someone other than Schumacher to have a little luck? He's already got a gazillion titles and trophies, surely it's someone else's turn? But... I have to say, I'm not sure that I didn't just dream that whole qualifying, because I thought that I saw Ralf Schumacher driving last (he's usually rubbish!) and before that, Sato beating Button?? That's not right at all...

It's only been a week but it seems forever. I hope everyone had a great St Patrick's day, plenty of Guinness was flowing, I hope. The very last Sex & The City was on Channel 4 last night and it was brilliant. Everything happened just as it should and I thought the ending, when she just sort of melted into the crowd was brilliant. It tied up all the loose …

Did anyone else watch If the lights go out? I thought it was going to be really good, eye opening, scare us all into doing something about the use of all our power sources. But it actually did nothing of the sort. First of all, they didn't show that we were using a ton more electricity than now. The girl was playing a video game. Er, we do that now …

I wanted to go in today, but it was kinda insisted that I stay in bed. Of course, I got itchy feet and was up a few minutes after the house was empty. But I guess it was right, it's probably best that I'm at home today, I'm still a bit poorly and I'll definitely go back tomorrow, and there'll probably be lots of work to do, always a plus. …

Well, I'm snuggled under a duvet, with a mug of hot orange squash (was anyone else brought up with that as the staple hot drink to recover from a cold?), and half watching my favourite James Bond movie. I know, I know, I should be in bed, but sleep rarely finds me in the middle of the day and if I go there, I'm only going to lie down and …

Rant No. 1 I do not understand birthdays at work. If it's your birthday, at many offices you have to go out and buy some cakes or donuts or cookies, or a selection of all three. Everyone very graciously wishes you happy birthday and thanks you for the sweet treats. It's all nice and pleasant. But my birthday means nothing to me, I'd rather the day just went by like …

I wanted to watch Unbreakable last night because I just knew any film with Bruce in it was going to be worth watching... I was wrong. I suddenly realised it was over and I'd not been touched by it at all. Both actors were good, the settings and scenes were all mysterious but they didn't stitch together properly. It spent so long trying to persuade Willis' character that he's unbreakable …

I've just returned from the most magical of shops, a new discovery of mine - Hobbycraft. The adverts on the TV are typically annoying but they obviously worked on me because I hotfooted it over there and could have spent hours and hours in that store. Unfortunately, I managed to only stay there for an hour because I (very sadly) wanted to catch the end of the Coronation Street omnibus. …

There's some very interesting work going on at Pixar: The Incredibles looks very good, and the cute lamb in Boundin' is especially sweet. I'm glad that Pixar are splitting from Disney after the next couple of films, because it seems completely unfair that Disney get to do whatever they like - as long as they pay the right money. The right to make sequel after sequel even if Pixar don't …

I have such a sore throat, it's not fair, there's no sniffles or cough or anything, it's just my throat is so sore. It feels like I've been swallowing knives although the last time I checked, I hadn't joined the circus.

I bought a new toothbrush just recently and although a mundane thing like that shouldn't warrant a mention in this place, I thought I had to comment on the amount of choice there is these days. Now, I haven't bought a new toothbrush for a while, and the last one was purchased for me simply because it was purple (my favourite colour). So, I was dazzled by the array of …

Both Mr C and the receptionist at work said that one of the lights on my car was out today but when I got home and checked, they both seemed to be working... weird.

I fell asleep kinda early last night but I was listening to Radio 2 and I managed to listen to it all night, it was great! But at about 7am this morning they started doing religious stuff, so I fell back asleep again.

So, today's the day. I'm sorting out my website again, once and for all. I've decided that it needs updating and I have a whole weekend on my own with no distractions to get it done. Except that really good book that I started yesterday. And the television. And the trip to town and the supermarket I have to fit in. But yes, best get started!

We've been inspired by educational TV again, this time it was Days That Shook The World on the BBC. So far I have learnt about the plane that came down in Scotland, and also about the Chernobyl disaster. This was before my TV decided to stop working though. Sound is no problem, but there's no picture. I was trying to "watch" Coronation Street yesterday, but it was like trying to …

The calendar that sits on my desk at work has pictures of Britain on it, it's very pretty. However, I was bored and flicking through it and came across August, and a picture of that hill in Shaftesbury. The calendar informed me that it was a picture of the pretty Dorset village of Goldhill that was used in the Hovis adverts. Hovis - correct. Dorset - correct. The rest is …

Friday was an okay day at work. Saturday, I read a lot of The Economist. Sunday, I discovered all the groovy games at the BBC, which I have much fun playing and more importantly, they work on the Mac. But I don't want to go on about the BBC too much because they lost all my Celebdaq shares just because I forgot my password and needed a new one. Not …