Brandy sings my soul.
What I have been reading recently

In December I finished Saturday by Ian McEwan, and was at a lost as to what I should follow it with. After reading such a great book, I struggled to settle on my next read. I tried reading Flush by Virginia Woolf (having already read all her other novels with the exception of Night and Day as part of my degree), but I failed to get into it… one for another day I think.
I went through a week without reading anything, then it was Christmas time and I went home to my parents’ house. My salvation came in the form of five great books that I really wanted to read amongst my presents on Christmas morning. I started Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis on Boxing Day and had devoured it by the following day. I wrote my dissertation on Ellis in the Autumn of 2009, and when Imperial Bedrooms came out last summer I knew I wanted to read it (it had originally been scheduled for release whilst I was writing my diss. which had concerned me a lot) but having spent so much time with his works, I need time away from him… I have to say I was mildly disappointed by Imperial Bedrooms. It was amusing and surprisingly streamlined given the sizes of Glamorama and Lunar Park, but I felt like Clay no longer sounded like Clay… he sounded like the fictitious version of Bret himself from Lunar Park. A minor quibble about was a great and challenging piece of literature, but I’m still concerned that Ellis is starting to become unable to create a voice that does not sound like his own.
When I returned to Wolverhampton (and to work), I started to read Mr Norris Changes Trains by Christopher Isherwood and loved it to pieces. I read A Single Man last year and was impressed, but I almost feel that Mr Norris… is a stronger piece. Well maybe not, but I loved it all the same. Arthur Norris is a wonderful creation, and Isherwood presents a vivid image of 1930s Berlin. I thoroughly encourage all to READ READ READ.
What next? I’m not sure. Maybe I should return to my fiance’s list of political theory books (yay… *cough*), or maybe I should read another of Joseph Hanson’s great detective books… hmm…
Heather Watson is so gutsy.
We apologise for the delay to your journey…
When I hear an automated voice announce the above at a train station it makes my blood boil. Are you really sorry? I seriously doubt it. At Birmingham New Street station I have serious reservations about whether they care about providing a decent service at all let alone whether they mind delayed trains considering they have so many of them daily.
Every train I have tried to catch this week from New Street has been delayed by at least 15 minutes. On Monday my train was delayed by 25 minutes, on Tuesday I got on a train that was delayed because it could not leave until a different delayed train had left (I had just got off said train and run across the station to catch what I had presumed would be an earlier leaving train. It was not), on Wednesday my train was delayed for 15 minutes and yesterday set an all time low for my New Street experiences.
I was allowed to leave work early and arrived at New Street at 18:17. There was a delayed train to Manchester scheduled to leave at that time (perhaps the first sign that I shouldn’t try and catch it), so I rushed down and managed to get on it and even find a seat. 10 minutes passed and then we were told that the driver had yet to arrive… another 8 minutes and we were advised to catch different trains… I had passed on three other trains that would have got me home by committing to the delayed train. I should have changed trains as soon as they announced the absence of a driver, but I foolishly believed that they had meant he would be arriving shortly, and was still smarting from what had happened on Tuesday. I did get on a train that was also delayed, but only by 3 minutes…
In the new year I shall have to pay more money for this overcrowded, incompetant service… I’m sorry what?
In defence of pushy London behaviour
On the train home from Birmingham the other day, I overheard a man complaining about home people on the tube in London push and shove. I had to restrain myself from turning around and telling him that I preferred aggressive behaviour to the dawdling and down right stupidity that goes on in the streets and public transport in Birmingham.
In a hurry? Need to run down an escalator or flight of steps to make your train home? Rarely possible at Birmingham New Street Station. People there are content to stand side by side on escalators and not allow anyone passed. A woman recently decided not to take the lift down to the platform, but to try to wheel her pram down the steps - there was no child in it, just her mountain of stuff. There is a ramp that leads up into the Pallasades shopping centre (through which I get to New Street Station) and there are signs on it saying ‘Keep Left’, and there is a big yellow line down the middle of the ramp. Very few people follow this advice. Meandering in large, slow moving groups is way more fun.
This kind of behaviour would not fly in London. People who don’t stand on the right of escalators are shouted at, shoved out of the way and generally made to feel like the morons they are. A group of people with large cases once decided that right at the bottom of an escalator was the perfect place to stop. During the morning rush hour. They were soon made to see the errors of their way. Plus, they were a health hazard as they were preventing people getting off of the escalator.
So I would happily take the hostile London attitude over the lazy Birmingham one because at least it means I would get where I was going in a timely manner… or that I could at least glare at the person who prevented me from doing so.
The Final Judgement?
Yesterday I was on the bus home from work when a shifty guy sat down behind me. I must stress that I work in a very deprived part of Birmingham, which has high crime levels etc etc. I was on my i-phone and immediately regretted having it out. The guy was making strange sounds behind me, and I was convinced he was going to mug me either whilst I was still on the bus, or as soon as I got off it…
I was wrong.
Whilst rushing to get off the bus I had manage to drop my Network West Midlands pass, and who picked up and returned it to me? My potential mugger. I had stereotyped the guy based on his ethnicity, his appearance and where he was travelling from. Does this mean I should stop being so judgemental? Maybe a little less, but I’m not sure that it’s something I can stick to…
Warning: Rant Alert!
I appreciate that it’s cold outside (actually it’s incredibly cold outside at the moment), and that everyone gets a bit under the weather sometimes, but that doesn’t excuse three things: excessive coughing, sniffing and throat clearing on public transport. And I shall explain why…
1. Coughing - OK so it’s an uncontrollable reaction, but seriously at least put your hand over your mouth, and if it’s so bad that you can’t stop doing it for 30 mins then perhaps you should be in bed or at least have a glass or water.
2. Sniffing - Blow. Your. Nose.
3. Throat Clearing - Perhaps the most annoying of all. Do I need to explain why?
OK I’m calm again now. Maybe I have been a little harsh, as let’s face it when I’m sick (which will inevitably happen sometime in the next six months) I will expect everyone to be sympathetic and excuse my sniffing/coughing/sneezing… though I will at least carry a big pack of tissues with me…
Apology + Blogs = Cliche?
If I were to hazard a guess, I would estimate that over 50% of blogs written by a blogger who seriously intends on maintaining it contain a post apologising for not posting for weeks/ months. After noticing the gap of almost a week between posts from earlier in the month, I felt compelled to apologise and grovel and promise to write more regularly… But, I have decided that I wont.
Maybe it’s an English thing, but I spend half my life apologising for things, even when I’m not at fault - someone isn’t looking where they are going, they bump into me, and I say sorry. The apology has lost all sincerity through overuse… but that’s another issue for another post, what I want to explain is why I wont apologise for not writing in my blog (if anyone has foolishly continued reading up to this point).
In my mind a blog is somewhere where you can express your opinions, somewhere you can process what is going on in your mind, and somewhere you can share pretty pictures/ interesting articles/ fun videos. However it is not an obligation. Although of course the point of having a blog is to write posts for it, if we have nothing that we want to share then there is no point blogging about nothing… let’s face it we have all posted something for the sake of posting something and perhaps been mildly disappointed that we had to resort to it.
My reason for not posting (if I need an excuse, which I of course don’t yet still feel compelled to give…) is that I have been busy with work. I have had time to post, but not the energy. I have kept a list of ideas for posts (lots of tennis related ideas, which I suddenly realised last week was something I had intended to post about a lot), and hopefully I will get round to them in a speedy fashion, if not then don’t hold your breath for an apology… [I’m sorry if this came across as rude…]

