Quiz champions

Last Saturday was momentous not only for the run, but also for a brilliant success at the Stonor Cricket Club quiz night. Ok, perhaps I should've built the tension a little more, but it was just so exciting to win, I couldn't keep it in for another 2 - 3 paragraphs.

The tension on the night was a lot more real, however - as we came from behind in the last round to beat - by 1 point!! - the single team from the rival club. Phew! Especially because that meant that my mortifying mistake in a cricket-related question didn't put us out of contention. (what happened? as the scribe for our 6-person team, I was responsible for filling out the answer sheets, obviously with team input. And for the cricket-related questions, I clearly know NOTHING, so was writing whatever I was told. So how I ended up writing 'Keith Gillespie' [the incorrect answer] instead of 'Jason Gillespie' [the correct answer] I will never know. Did I learn nothing from all of those years of watching Jeopardy!? Answer last names only, don't mess around with the first unless specifically asked! All I do know is if we lost by 1 point, my team would have killed me.)

Luckily however, my team (including Ashley, and friends Olly & Lee, and Duncan & Sabine) worked very well together and we were able to answer such diverse questions as:

• Who directed the documentary 'When the Levees Broke', about Hurricane Katrina?
• Which writer was recently exposed as having been a member of the Nazi party?
• Is Barry Bonds a Giant, a Padre, or a Dodger [ok, we had a bit of an advantage here!]
• What Siberian Lake holds 20% of the earth's fresh water?

Oh, and a bunch of other cricket-related questions, which fortunately I managed to write down correctly.

So, yay us, and we already look forward to being back next year to defend!

Record-breaking day

Forget the 4-minute mile... a far more important barrier has just been broken, by yours truly. Ok, the importance is strictly personal, but I'm still extremely excited to report I FINALLY broke a 30-minute 5k. 29:48, in fact - a feat that caused such emotion when I crossed the finish line & looked at my watch that I burst into tears! A bit of an over-reaction, I agree, but still, can't argue with the response...

Why was I running at all on a fine Saturday morning (23rd of September, 2006, by the way, not that I'm memorialising this day toooo much)? In aid of Trees for Cities - yes, another charity run, the Tree-athlon, to be exact. I didn't hit anyone up for money this time, figured my entry fee had to count for something.

It's really just a step along the way to the Nike Run, which is now only 2 weeks away. I've not been training nearly as much as I'd like, and as I swore to do, but I have been going out a couple of times a week, which, combined with dancing once a week (have I blogged about that yet? Don't think so... topic for another day) - has I guess raised my fitness a tiny degree. Let's hope that sustains me through 10k on the Oct 8th. Watch this space!

very dangerous...

Eek - I just discovered that CyberCandy, a store selling American candy like peanut butter M&Ms, sweettarts, and other delights has just moved from a side street I could never find, to a very-out-in-the-open location, that's far too easy to find!

I'm just hoping immersion therapy (that is, getting sick from all the candy I'm suddenly gorging on!) will be the best cure... (says she, popping yet another liquorice Jelly Belly)

I confess...

Ok, I give in. As much as I try to deny it, I am indeed media-celebrity obsessed. Z-list? No matter. My proof? Last night I was out to dinner, and who did I spot? Big Brother winner Pete. Yeah. Practically George Clooney and Madonna together in terms of stardom. This week at least. Kind of. Well, as far as Heat Magazine is concerned.

And what did I do? Dither for 20 minutes to everyone else at dinner about why I was too chicken to take his picture. And THEN I walked by him for a completely legitimate reason, on the way to our table. And I oh-so-slyly had my mobile out, nonchalantly 'checking my texts' while oh-so-surreptitiously angling my camera. And then I flaked. And just smiled and said hi to him, and he said hi back, and probably thought I took his picture anyway, and I DIDN'T. So the grand result was nothing, nada, zilch. Except my feeling of slight embarrassment for caring so much. And in front of colleagues as well.

Ah well - I should just embrace it. Maybe I should be a paparazzo. Except I need to remember to actually take the picture next time.

Magical Mystery Tour - part II

When last we saw Stefanie & Ashley, they were trapped on the Hastings Pier, being forced to eat jellied eels and play crazy golf in the rain... did they escape to go on to new adventures the next day???

Of course we did - and without the eels or golf.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny, how lucky were WE?! So I packed up my shiny new backpack (except mine is red), and off we went. Up the Hastings East Hill - you could walk, but we took the railway, to get some great views of the town (it looks a lot better with some distance!)


Then, off we strode to Rye, some 11 or so miles away. The first few miles were quite steep (think cinque terre) but then after about mile 4 or 5 it leveled out, and we had a lovely stroll in the sunshine, through fields, by canals, hill & dale, over the river and through the wood... We stopped in Winchelsea for a late lunch - with a pyschological advantage of it being about 3/4 of the way through the walk, so the last bit was easy-peasy.
Winchelsea was "soooo cuuute" - really, it was, and we ate at a charming classic pub, the New Inn, for some hearty walkers' fare. My big question, however, is how to pronounce Winchelsea. Is it Win'chel-sea', or Win'-Chel'sea. I think the former, but have heard more people say the latter. And the oracle that is google had no light to shed.

The walk ended in the old town of Rye, "medieval gem", doncha know. Where we wandered around for a few hours, saw the castle, and also the home of Henry James, and had tea at a cool boutiquey hotel, where yes I did feel a tad out of place in my tee-shirt & backpack, despite its shiny newness.

Sadly, the weekend had to come to an end; Monday bank holiday we slept in, but did have to check out & head back to London. At least it rained again, so made going back to work a little more palatable!