the irregular verbs of death:

• today, 13 iraqi people have died after the US opened fire on protestors.


• three weeks ago, deserting iraqi troops were murdered by the republican guard, who shot them in the back.


• in new york on 9/11 innocent civilians were massacred by terrorists.

curious.

build a man a fire
and he'll be warm for a day.
set a man on fire,
and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

terry pratchett

well, i'm 31 now. all downhill from here etc., but the good news is that according to my bone doctors i've grown 2cm in the past 18 months. or is that bad news, given that i don't really want to be growing at the age of 31? or is it simply cack-handedness from the woman who measured me...

we're in the run up to the scottish election. i was actually canvassed tonight, by a young lib dem. the way he looked at me you'd have thought i'd shagged him in the past and not recognised him, but i'm pretty sure i hadn't. anyway, he wasn't very inspired.

just back from a visit to my parents over easter/birthday time, after which i managed to drive 250 miles before noticing that i had left my jacket, with my house keys, work keys, gym keys (!), chequebook, ... you get the picture. still, all is sorted now, thanks to TNT overnight delivery.

i keep almost cleaning the kitchen, which i think is indicative of deep psychological trauma. on tuesday night i got a new steam-cleaning attachment for my wallpaper stripper and used that on the hob (note to self: steam cleaner attachments to wallpaper strippers are surprisingly cheap for a very good reason). once i'd done the hob and wiped down the surfaces i looked around and couldn't be bothered to do the rest. this evening i have just cleared the table and generally tidied the floor area, but then looked at the sweepings on the floor and couldn't bring myself to do anything about that either, or the larder. by the time i get round to finishing it the hob will need doing again. where does it end?