Basingstoke is Beautiful

If you can ignore the faintly misogynistic overtones and occasional poor taste in humour, then The Daily Basingstoke is a good, light-hearted news update for all the goings on around town.
I particularly like the photos of 'Beautiful Basingstoke'. About a year ago I decided that Basingstoke needs a 'Basingstoke is Beautiful' campaign to counter those cruel 'Basingrad' taunts, so here it is: the launch of Basingstoke is Beautiful. I will try to upload some of my own pictures, as well as linking to others but all submissions are welcome.
And yes. Basingstoke IS beautiful.

Taken by Xirius

Quote of the Day

“Among the gods, there is a dispute as to which one of them originally thought of Christianity; or, as they call it, the Great Leg Pull. Apollo has the best claim, but a sizeable minority support Pluto, ex-God of the Dead, on the grounds that he has a really sick sense of humour.

How would it be, suggested the unidentified god, if first we tell them all to love their neighbour, pack in the killing and thieving, and be nice to each other. Then we let them start burning heretics.”

― Tom Holt, Ye Gods

Do as I say, not as I do...

There are few things more frustrating than seeing hypocrisy in action. While everyone is guilty of it from time to time, there are some instances where it really should be avoided.

Parents should at least attempt to lead by example, rather than issuing strict dictats which they then proceed to ignore.

When managers criticise a team for failing to adhere to departmental procedures, they should make damn sure that they themselves are sticking to those procedures...

*sigh*

Any other hypocrisies that should be avoided?!

Buddy the cat

Introducing Buddy, our wonderful cat!

Buddy is very lovely, if a little prone to mistaking hands/ankles/fingers/feet for prey...!

But he does try to apologise by leaving us regular gifts of headless mice at the bottom of the stairs. And once he even tried painting us a picture using paws, floor tiles and vole-blood. We were very impressed by his creativity. We're lucky to have such an intelligent cat.

Now if only he'd stop eating his food so quickly he makes himself sick...

2010 - been and gone

So, not a single post in 2010. Whoops! Well, let's see, what has happened?!

Llyando and I got engaged after Christmas 2009 - extremely romantic! In April I finally got a job, which was a relief... We also moved into our new house at the beginning of April and spent some time redecorating (and having a great housewarming party!)

In the summer we visited Llyando's relatives in the US. On our return we got a cat (a rescue cat called Buddy - photos to follow!).

We also started wedding planning and I continued with my Open University History course. Llyando's walked Hadrian's Wall with some friends. And we both came down with flu before going to Dorset for Christmas 2010. New year was spent at a black tie and tiaras event in a wonderful restaurant near home.

I'm sure I've forgotten loads of important events from last year, but that's a start. Now that I have discovered blogging from the iPhone I hopefully will be posting a little more frequently!

Blatant advertising

I know, I should be ashamed. But a friend of mine has started a new blog and, although it is still in it's early stages, I think it'll be a good'un. Find the Big Book of Nonsense here!

Easier blogging

Oooh a blogging app on my iPhone! This is going to make thinks much easier - hooray!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Christmas Cheer

For the first time ever I am spending part of Christmas day (and Christmas Eve) away from my family. Terrible, you might think, but I'm actually spending it with Llyando's family before heading to my family for the second half of the day. So it is definitely not terrible!

And with all the lovely snow and ice I'm feeling very Christmassy...

I love Christmas - people in the street are extra-friendly, families forget their little squabbles (excepting, of course, the traditional barney over the turkey/game of Monopoly) and small children run around with huge grins on their faces.

So I'm particularly lucky. This year I will have not one, but two lots of family and lots of Christmas cheer.

Hope you all have an equally wonderful Christmas!

My name is...

Anonymity. It's quite important to me. Not because I think anything I write is particularly controversial, or that anyone would be interested in stalking me, but because I don't like the idea of instantly linked with what I've blogged.

What I write is truly what I think. But its not always appropriate to voice your opinions loudly regardless of the situation or company you're in. For example, I probably wouldn't launch into a rant about American politics, or cotton wool culture to everyone I met. I wouldn't talk about sex education with someone I didn't know very well. Nor would I be likely to discuss my religious views at work. Or death.

So having a barrier between the real 'me' and the Mylissa who blogs is important. I can (and do) tell my friends where to find my blog. But I don't include the link in the countless job applications that I'm sending out. you get my point.

So the recent ruling regarding the 'outing' of the award-winning Night Jack blogger has come as a bit of a shock. Of course, his situation is rather different. Blogging identifiable details about ongoing police cases was unjustifiably stupid. But the whole thing does beg the question, how easy would it be for someone to track down who I really am? (And no, that's not a challenge...)

Summer is here!

It is official. Summer is definitely here. Not only was it the Summer Solstice yesterday, but Wimbledon has started. Cue the strawberries and cream, the jugs of Pimms and the harsh shrieks and grunts as tennis balls connect with rackets.

Excitingly, there are British hopes this year. Not just the talented, but occasionally inarticulate Andy Murray, but the young Laura Robson. Hopefully they'll both do well. Fingers crossed I get a job and am unable to watch every match...

Update: Bad luck Laura...