"Unagi is a state of total awareness..."

"...Only by achieving true unagi can you be prepared for any danger that may befall you..."

Today I am in a semi-unagific state. I am hitting the job search from a different angle today.

Unagi

CBC

xx

New month. New challenges

Hello www! As it's the first of March today it's a great day to post and reflect on the previous month and the month to come.First of all, I just wanted to tell you about the latest manifestation of my Japanese interest: Wasabi flavoured Pringles! I know this sounds crazy and slightly disgusting but if you are a fan of Japanese flavours like myself, you will find this a welcome snack.While plodding around my nearest Tesco store on my lunch break on Saturday, I stumbled wearily across a new offer on new Pringle flavours for 99p. On closer inspection, there was one labelled 'Fiery Wasabi'. Crazy CBC grabbed a tin and headed back to the bookshop. Once you've scoffed quite a few in succession and give your lips a lick, the crisps do taste remarkably like wasabi and really do pack that mad wasabi punch! My new crisp love...

As I have started on a wasabi note, I might as well talk about my dismay to waking up one morning and finding seaweed scraps strewn all over the kitchen floor. On looking into my sushi supplies, I find that three of four of my packs of 10 seaweed sheets had been ripped open and crushed. For some reason which I cannot comprehend, my 'father' has ripped open three identical packs because he was looking for something to eat. He knows that this is one of the few things that keeps me happy but he destroys them all even when he did not even know what they were in the first place. Intelligence personified!

The month of February has been a bit of a rubbish one when it comes to making progress with job applications. Everyone I have chased up has either been out to lunch, away from the office or sick. No one has bothered to get back to me. I've been so close to giving up. I feel like I'm in a vicious cycle of applications and rejections or blatant disregard for the fact that the name on the application which probably took the sender HOURS to complete is an ACTUAL person. I just can't wait to get out of this rut. I really want to do something to help people who had gone through a similar thing as myself in the future. It just makes you think that as a reasonably educated individual, if you aren't capable of getting a response to an application then would you really have wanted to work for such a company in the first place? I do however appreciate that where there are thousands of applicants for very few positions, it is sometimes difficult to respond to all of them. In this case I think firms/companies should have some form of automated 'receipt of application' process in place so that they need not waste time sending responses out but every application sent receives an automated email. That way, you don't end up with a generation of depressed, demotivated and unemployed young people who have given up on life simply because they waste their time on job applications which don't get acknowledged (that is not to say that every application should be a successful one- that'd breed complacency). Just my two (sometimes over-emotional) cents...

So onto March, there are a few positions I have applied for for which I am remaining optimistic though I am seriously considering Mc Donalds as a short term solution. In all seriousness I'm still remaining upbeat and keeping the apps going.

Off to get some dinner and rest my eyes. Last night I somehow managed to read a book in about 2 hours. Tonight may not be as productive...

CBC

xoxo

Cakes and Mistakes

Hello Readers!

I trust that you are all well, whatever part of the world you are in...

I'm having a quiet, stay-at-home day today where I don't plan on leaving the house and probably not my bedroom either. I feel a little withdrawn and unsociable today so I will be doing just that. I've just been pottering around my room, watching YouTube make-up tutorials and haven't done much job hunting for the day (yet). When I eventually snap out of it, I'll probably do a little cooking and tidying up and probably a little ironing too. I just don't feel in the mood for much today. Didn't have that great a night's sleep last night either...maybe it's because I couldn't get to sleep thinking about a certain someone/situation for some UKNOWN reason. And I don't mean my mother either...I really don't understand why.

LEO

Maybe it's because we exchanged friendly, catch up emails before Christmas about where we are with our lives, careers etc and then when, at the start of the New Year, I replied to the conversation thread (on good old FACEBOOK...grr) he deletes his account and disappears off the radar. Nice (one) I'm not saying that's the reason, but I guess it has been playing on my mind to some extent...

(Edit) And now, as I type this, I've got some random off the street person in the place where I live (I won't call it home), changing my more-than-capable father's DIRTY bed linen (while he sits and watches and plays helpless). Nice. (two)

I apologise if this is too much information www, I just had to get it off my chest.

But hey-ho! Everyone has their quiet days right? Oooo! I completely forgot that I had the new Alexander McCall Smith book to read so I will be visiting Mma Ramotswe in Botswana sometime today also! Very much looking forward to that.

Yesterday I had a second attempt at my marshmallow and choc-chip muffins and they came out great! I think the mistake I made on my last attempt was that I had overbaked the muffins, though still in- keeping with the suggested time in the recipe. What I had not considered was that I have a fan oven and sometimes cooking in this type of oven requires less time...So I halved the time and hey presto! Moist, yummy muffins...The reason I have been cooking a lot of sweet treats lately is because I've never been great at preparing desserts or cakes in the past and always would prepare savoury things. However, on realising how easy and cheap cakes and sweet things are to make, I've become hooked. Also, at the bookshop, to raise some money for charity, we are planning to have a 'Cake Day' where one person bakes cakes or some other sweet treat and we have to give a donation before getting our greedy mitts on the goods! If it happens once a week or month, by the end of 2010, not only will be have raised some good money for charity but I'll also be the size of a small horse...all for charity's sake!

So I'm feeling considerably better now at the end of this post than I did at the beginning and I'm going to go to a few job searches and apps (ignoring the banging around going on in the next room) and then start seasoning and marinating my chicken wings for the roasting they're going to have this afternoon!

Till next entry,

Stay on the RIGHT side of the law (and off Solicitors from Hell !)

CBC

xx

"It was the most mournful pee I've ever had in my life..."

I'm watching Russell Brand's Ponderland on love and this fabulous title comes from a woman describing meeting the love of her life...you couldn't make it up.

I went to the Japan Centre again last week and to my delight, there are now TWO different stores: one for food and another for literature and culture. I was low on sushi ingredients and so went to stock up on rice, seasonings, wasabi and soy sauce. However, something shiny and sharp caught my attention. A thing of beauty. A Japanese knife! Now to some that might seem a little scary. I haven't suddenly turned homicidal. It's just that after a while of roughly cut sushi, having neat edges seems like a dream!

*sigh*

Additionally, I seem to be cooking a lot more in recent weeks. Like for example, a lovely friend at work made some chocolate fudge and shared this (a whole SKIP-LOAD) with me. After SERIOUSLY gorgeing on the fudge, I nabbed the recipe and last night, attempted to make some. For a first attempt, it didn't half turn out bad www! So I spent my Friday evening making fudge. In my pyjamas...I fear I may have aged 20 years for 2010! Good grief!

I must say I am embracing the "F**k it" philosophy this year. Eff it need not mean that things which need to be taken seriously aren't. It just means that insignificant things in relation to the 'grand scheme' aren't turned into bigger things than they need to be. Also moaning about any and every thing which are not in one's control will not be happening in CBCs world this year. (I will endeavour not to www...) So saying that, I must have a problem but I just do not get the current obsession of some of my peers with the opposite sex, dating etc. Now of course a lot of this blog has been about my romantic feelings towards certain people, unrequited feelings and just men in general. I do look after the 'Popular Psychology' section in the bookshop and also read a lot of relationship books out of interest. However, I am a bit annoyed with some people who can barely walk a few feet down a street without assessing which men in the vicinity are attractive, interested in them and with whom they see potential. Forgive me for not giving a flying fuck! Sheesh...

So enough of the ranting tonight, I am off looking for jobbies and keeping optimistic despite feeling utterly shafted by the bookshop. Tut...onwards and UPwards

CBC

xx

A Saturday Evening 'Quickie'

So, it's late and I am absolutely shattered. What an interesting day. I have been excited for a while to learn that Levi Roots was coming to the bookshop to sign copies of his new book. He did not disappoint. I guess I was a little disappointed that his publicist seemed to de-personalise the experience by constantly being at his side. Then again, it was her job so I cannot fault her for doing it... was just glad to have been able to assist in setting up for the 'event'. And hey, at least I got my book signed (by giving it to a smiley person in the queue with my name on a post-it for her to present to Levi for him to sign)

*sigh*

Past disappointment. Am over it already. I just wanted to do a quick post on some of my adventures of the last week...as in during the week.

On Wednesday 9th Sept, I took a trip down to Piccadilly Circus and to the Japan Centre. I was extremely excited and nervous for some reason. I was afraid that I'd feel a little out of place and that everything would be in Japanese. D'oh! It was not as I expected.

I first browsed the ground floor which consisted of food and homewares. There I was able to get my sushi supplies like Seaweed Sheets, Rice, Wasabi and Rice Vinegar/ Seasoning for Sushi. I also bought some Jasmine tea bags, a bamboo mat for rolling the sushi and a tea cup. I did consider purchasing a good Japanese knife as there were really good ones there for about £6.99 but decided against it for that day and planned to buy it on another trip I would make there.

I then browsed on the basement floor which was the book section, filled with Magazines, Books and Japanese artefacts for sale. There was even a pair of 'geisha slippers' made of wood, for sale (sorry, I forgot the special name given to this type of shoe). I wanted a sushi book to give me some more ideas and inspiration for fillings, techniques and different types of sushi. (I will edit this post to include photos and links another day when I have photographed things!) I found one...I also wanted a good beginners Japanese book in addition to the one I already have and I found the staff to be very helpful and friendly and I eventually settled on a Textbook/CD combo called 'Japanese for Busy People' and is a romanised version so that the Japanese words are written phonetically to aid pronunciation. Fantastic! This will keep me occupied as I no longer have any studying to do (in the near future!)

SO I'm definately going to go back pretty soon...well when I can afford to!

I then walked from Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square Tube Station and to a second hand bookshop on Charing Cross Road where I remembered purchasing a second hand 1800 book for Leo's birthday nearly 2 years ago.

(Such a big deal was made of this book at the time; I merely thought it was pretty and that it would be well received...which it was. It was an interesting find. However, as I hadn't really been "dating" Leo for long, this present was supposedly too thoughtful and an indication of my undying love and devotion to him forever...

*rolls eyes*

G.O.Y.** It only cost me £6! Pah!)

I love the antiquarian bookshops there and love a good bargain so ended up buying two books for £4, both of which are related to African History/ Slavery. Very interesting reading and I'll ALSO be going back there pretty soon to browse for a bit longer (by this point, the sushi rice was weighing me down a bit and it was BOILING hot on the underground)

On the walk from Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square, I came across NUMEROUS Croatian football fans in their shirts all singing and chanting and generally looking very excited about what I now learn is the England-Croatia match which took place on that day! At the time I can remember being a little worried about the chanting and wondering what the crowds were protesting about!

All in all it was a good day and I think I will be taking a little walk and browse there after payday, which is next week!

SO that is all dear readers, I felt compelled to write this down, just in case I forgot because I really had an enjoyable day that day and made up some avocado, cucumber and red pepper sushi rolls that very evening...yumm!

Surprisingly, despite the fact that this is a long-ish post, it did not take me very long to write but I shall stop for now as I am growing increasingly weary and I have to wake up early for work in the morning...

Good Night all!

CBC

xx



** G.O.Y. = GET OVER YOURSELF!!
(It wasn't my fault that I was a good present buyer...)

Text messages as evidence in French divorce

I'm watching 'Caribbean Food Made Easy' on catch up television and just reminiscing about good times/childhood in the Caribbean. Jerk up that chicken Mr Roots!

I also am reading yesterday evening's Evening Standard (which I was too tired to read on the train last night) and came across a very interesting little snippet on page 20. The article was entitled, ' Le text d'amour...messages of love that prove adultery'. It follows a ruling by the Supreme Court that text messages can now be used as evidence in a divorce in France. The article went on to say that the ruling would mean that it is easier for people to get a divorce as French people often had to wait for extended periods of time if they could not prove that their spouses were mistreating them. I don't profess to know anything about French law but this ruling sounds like it will be both a positive and both a negative. Negative in the sense that drunken, incoherent texts often float around and if the basis for a divorce is on these messages, then we all need to be on our best behaviour and not drink and text (as many of us, not mentioning any names, have done after a 'good' night out).

The article also stated that emails are also accepted as evidence in trials. It really didn't clarify whether this was just in France but if anyone who practices Family Law knows whether texts and emails are accepted as evidence in England and Wales, I'd love to hear about it.

Interestingly enough, the article ended with the following,

"The decision overturned a 2007 ruling by a Lyon court, which had declared that using phone exchanges in court was a breach of privacy."

As if airing your marital laundry in court wasn't breach of your ex partner's privacy enough. (sorry if that made NO grammatical sense whatsoever)

Obviously, I haven't been married (yet?) so will never really be able to fully understand what divorce must be like. Heck, I've never even been in love...and I digress...

Night all!

CBC

xx

A 'Good' Shake

I can't remember where I read this. It may have been in one of my favourite books, Little Women. I don't believe in corporal punishment (per se) but reading about someone administering a 'good shake' to a defiant child (and please don't think I'm condoning this especially with the controversies surrounding 'shaken baby syndrome') made me think about this. I'm using it as a substitute for the proverbial 'kick up the backside' and not to mean abuse.

I believe that sometimes everyone needs a 'kick up the backside' or a good firm shake by the shoulders. A wake up and smell the coffee kick. A 'get a grip' kick. A 'chin up' Scottie kick. A reality-check kick.

Recently, I've gotten these hypothetical 'kicks' when I check my bank balance or look at the BIG picture in relation to my life. One way or another though, we all get them. It keeps us grounded and makes us stronger.

Think that's enough philosophy for one day. I'm planning on macaroni and cheese and peri-peri wings for dinner so I'm going to roll my sleeves up and get cooking!

Om nom nom

CBC

xx

p.s. Bend over!

Easy on the bacon sandwiches...

So apparently, swine flu is on the rampage. I must be honest and say that this has put me right off my bacon sandwich this morning. Whilst I suppose I should try to rationalise things and say that it is probably unlikely to have infected my bacon; for now I will watch this develop on the news.

Some say scaremongering...I don't know
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6175993.ece

CBC

xx

Recurring headaches...

I may have to face up to the fact that I may one day have to wear glasses. I never considered that these headaches might be connected to my eyesight.

Hmm...bacon sandwiches or spinach and ricotta pasta for dinner?

CBC

xx

P.s. how much lemon cake can one woman eat and why am I still thinking about Mr Literary? Is an indicator as to whether a man likes you whether he thinks it appropriate to speak about his toilet habits to you? Och.

Poor Heston Blumenthal...not looking good for the Fat Duck is it? Quackitty Quack!

Rhubarb and Custard...

...is what is currently lodged in my mouth as I type (of the boiled sweet variety). I'd like to say it reminds me of my childhood but it couldn't be further away from the truth. In reality, growing up in the Caribbean would have meant that treats for me would be yummy fresh fruits, Tamarind balls, guava cheese and my favourite treat of all. FUDGE!!! Mmmmm.

In a bit of a reminiscent mood today.

Should really be studying at the moment but I find my thoughts being drawn to all things West Indian (or Caribbean...as people these days like to call it much to my dismay. Same Difference)

I love listening to the radio. You know? Not those music stations necessarily...I particularly like the discussion programmes. At the moment LBC 97.3 is my favourite. In the Caribbean there used to be a programme called ' Jook Bois' conducted almost entirely in Creole. A French/ English fusion. Funny, funny man. If only I understood it more. Sometimes I feel like there's a French person inside of me waiting to jump out! Alors!

Reminds me a bit of a date I went on with Leo. I think it was the first. On the Tube on the way back home...Bakerloo line I think it was. Both a little fecked after a few (me more than him because let's face it; I'm a lightweight) and were engaging in a little playful word foreplay in French.

Vous voulez du cafe monsieur? Ou est la gare? La gare est pres du boulangerie madame.

(you get the picture. cute.)

We thought we were so cool taking the Michael Barrymore out of the French accent until a couple sat opposite us started talking in French!! Shit! Haha. Both realised at the same time. Shuffled into the empty seats nearby, away from their disapproving French glances avec grande vitesse!

(That was the same night I nearly had an accident when I thought he was going to kiss me on the busy Tube. Turned out to be a kiss on the cheek! Good times :D)

Why am I so shy? PDA scares me a bit. All that saliva; especially of the stringy sort. Yeuch! Recipe for disaster really. Though I did kinda do it. Does that make me a hypocrite? Haha. I bloody love(d) it really. Really should get over being so self-conscious though.

Miss his cute little 'blushing face' sometimes. Back to the fishing gear it seems!


CBC

xx