Exit Sandman

Grrr.  Mr Sandman is not my fiend right now...  I can't remember when I last had a good night's sleep without waking up every 5 mins.  If it's not kittens prodding me in the face for hours, it's random cramp attacks in both legs (they do shifts through the night), fractious anxiety dreams that wake me up or just general uncomfortableness.  Pah.  Combined with the growing onset of brainlessness...  I'm becoming increasingly unfit for purpose at work.  I'm afraid tomorrow I might just sit and drool at my desk.
  
On a nicer note, I must mention that my massage at Browns on Friday was DIVINE.  It lasted 75 mins and I really didn't want it to end.   I had something called the Mellow Mama treatment, which is a full body massage for ladies with aliens.  Once I got over the inhibition of a strange lady rubbing oil into my boobs (they meant it when they said "full body") it was all rather rosy.  As several of you had suggested, I was given a paper thong to wear, but spent the time wrapped up in fluffy towels with just one body part at a time being unpackaged for attention - and the environment was so warm and cosy and low-lit that it was very conducive to relaxation.  The masseur was a lovely lady with a calm manner and warm hands and I quickly stopped worrying about what she might make of my bits and slipped into a near-sleep state.  The goops smelled so gorgeous that I ended up bringing home a tub of anti-stretch-mark potion.  That and afternoon tea - what a way to spend an afternoon.  I felt like a lady who lunches.  (Weirdly though, I was so exhausted when I got home and didn't even have the energy to watch TV...   not sure if that is the intended effect.)  Fingers crossed now for my friend Jane (winolj) who is due to have her second "alien experience" 2 weeks from now!
    
Yesterday I went to the Stitch and Craft Show at Olympia with tvted.   This is a gigantic emporium of crafty tat for people who are into sewing, knitting and other crafts.  Fab in principle, but I'm afraid we didn't last long...   good god, the place was rammed.  I really can't stand crowds at the best of times - but the heaving quota of grim-faced battleaxes with handbags designed for barging was more than I could handle.  We stayed just long enough to bag some bargaintastic yarn and fabric goodies and then fled.
    
I spent a calmer evening reinstating Mama Hazan's kitchen in Twickenham.  We had pan-roasted bream with beautiful new-season greens and another platter of that spectacular-looking fan of potatoes roasted with onions and tomatoes and sage.  (The only down side to Marcella-style cooking is that it always seems to take hours - def something for the weekend.)  But tonight I am going to revert to some tried and trusted Sicilian tuna meatballs with spaghetti, which is bastardised from a Jamie Oliver recipe and involves cinnamon and pine nuts and other delicious, aromatic things.
     
Eeeehhhhh!  The Killing!  It's the big finale next week and I can't wait...  it's the TV event of the year.  (Please don't post any spoiler comments to this post, as one of my f-list is still catching up on recent episodes.)  But suffice to say - major developments last night!  I think this has toppled Misfits into number two position on my list of bestest telly progs in recent history.
    

Humbug

Good grief...  amid my fangirl raving about The Killing, our tellybox has just been momentarily subjected to something that lives at the polar opposite end of the TV quality spectrum...    I refer to another episode of the 24-Hour Panel People bollocks that David Walliams did for Comic Relief.  (For those not in the know - he did 24-hours of non-stop "comedy" panel shows).
  
I am meh'd out by panel shows at the best of times, but this Walliams thing has been collossally shit from beginning to end.  For one thing, David Walliams himself is just really, really creepy, like a strange automaton from the 1950s ...and then combining him with people like Jedward is more than I can handle.  What is it with this WILFUL lack of intelligence on British popular TV?  Is it meant to be ironic?  I have no problem with stupidity if it is also funny (I give you exhibit You've Been Framed).  But really...   miserable cow I may be, I am yet to crack a smile at anything comic relief has thrown at the screen this year.
   
Still, I did watch the Through the Keyhole episode which resulted in me having a Harry Potter revelation that I'm sure everyone else managed to work out long ago...  this being that Dolores Umbridge is based on Anne Widdecombe!  They went into Widdi's house and everything was flowery but with swords hanging on the walls, and books about Thatcher, and her kitchen was FULL of ornamental plates with kittens on them!  Really the whole thing was Umbridgetastic - I'm amazed I didn't see it before.  :-)
  
Well... it's almost 4pm and I have managed to get out of my dressing gown, but could do with a nap.  Am really not firing on all cylinders today...