LOOKING AT LIFE THROUGH ROSE TINTED SPECTACLES

9:43pm Tuesday 26th February 2008

Two weeks ago on a family skiing holiday while travelling up the mountain in a chairlift with Apprentice Man, he pointed out to me the snow blowing from the top with the sun behind. He declared it to be a magnificent sight, remarking how it looked like fire and continued in glowing terms about what he believed to resemble orange flames. Mystified, I could only see white powder against a blue sky. Then it dawned and I asked if the tint on the lens of his goggles could have anything to do with it. Instantly, his illusions were shattered.

ON CHESIL BEACH

10:33pm Tuesday 5th February 2008

I'm a great believer in the Pareto principle, you know the 80:20 rule, whereby 80% of effects are attributable to 20% of causes and which can be extended to apply to day to day activities. So I admit that I wear 20% of my wardrobe (the boring black suits and white blouses) 80% of the time; 80% of the dictation that I do at work is undertaken in 20% of my time in the office; 80% of the really enjoyable things that I do in my life (excluding arranging divorces for people) is done in 20% of my waking hours.

THE PARETO PRINCIPLE

10:26pm Tuesday 5th February 2008

I'm a great believer in the Pareto principle, you know the 80:20 rule, whereby 80% of effects are attributable to 20% of causes and which can be extended to apply to day to day activities. So I admit that I wear 20% of my wardrobe (the boring black suits and white blouses) 80% of the time; 80% of the dictation that I do at work is undertaken in 20% of my time in the office; 80% of the really enjoyable things that I do in my life (excluding arranging divorces for people) is done in 20% of my waking hours.

HAUNTED

8:16pm Sunday 27th January 2008

Last Wednesday in the company of fellow members of our local business club, I enjoyed a tour behind the scenes at Darlington's Civic Theatre. As well as getting to stand on the stage, we peeped at areas the audience never gets to see whilst the manager entertained us with ghost stories. It seems that Flyman Jim treads the rafters; Signor Pepi, the original owner, occasionally comes through from his private quarters to observe the odd ballet and an unnamed gent in top hat and tails rocks on a seat in the dress circle. All three are purportedly trapped between this world and the next, condemned to revisit old haunts in perpetuity.

	ONLY WORDS
	9:28pm Wed 16 Jan 08
	I have been talking to Little Girl's English teacher this evening, and was treated to a discussion about the written word by someone who loves her subject. I was also handed the school newsletter in which the Head Teacher quoted something he had heard on a news programme about the forthcoming Presidential elections in the USA, when it was said that "we campaign in poetry and govern in prose."

	THE LURE OF YEAST
	10:05pm Mon 14 Jan 08
	It was announced last week that 600,000 jars of marmite laced with champagne and sporting a romantic message on the label are to be released in readiness for Valentine's Day. Just one problem, who, apart from my very own Outdoor Man, eats the stuff? If there are others, do their partners share my abhorrence of the taste and smell?

GLOBAL DISHARMONY

9:23pm Friday 4th January 2008

It seems that there has been an influx of global tales of marital disharmony this week.

	HAPPY NEW YEAR
	2:36pm Tue 1 Jan 08
	Happy New Year and my best wishes to everyone for 2008. This year I have resolved to enhance my understanding of global cultures. My family and I have just returned from a Christmas spent travelling in South West India where we have been forced to acknowledge the enormous gaps in our knowledge. I hope you will bear with me as I indulge this blog with our experiences.

CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

3:20pm Thursday 20th December 2007

The old jokes are always the best and none more so than the ones that come out of Christmas crackers. Is it just co-incidence or is there a line in crackers for those with relationship difficulties? I'm thinking particularly of: When a woman steals your husband, there is no better revenge than to let her keep him; or I haven't spoken to my wife for 18 months; I don't like to interrupt her.

PANTO TIME

5:59pm Sunday 9th December 2007

Yes the pantomime season is here again and in keeping with tradition I saw Snow White at the Civic Theatre last night. It adhered to the traditional fairytale and, as I have no wish to spoil the ending for you, I'll simply say that the prince and princess married and then left the stage to live happily ever after.

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