The ugliest cat in the world

Call me inhumane but I just do not go all gooey and fuzzy at cute animal pictures. Especially not dogs and cats (penguins I think are the only exception to this rule). No, I do not think that cat has a whimsical "I can communicate with you on a level that transcends species" look in his eyes - I think he's probably got gas.

So I was pretty tickled when I came across this picture. May I present my rebellion against cute, fluffy, animal pictures. I think he is officially the most ugly cat in the whole world. And I applaud that.

The absurdity of dinner parties

Im currently reading “I capture the Castle” by Dodi Smith (recommended to me by my colleague after I wouldn’t stop going on and on an on about Pride & Prejudice). I’m halfway through at the moment and have just about started to find the protagonist endearing rather than annoyingly analytical.

I read the following passage at about 3:30 am. I should probably say that rather then the book being so engrossing that I was up till the wee hours absorbing it, the book was actually keeping me entertained and distracted from the most horrible cough I have at the moment which has kept me awake for the past 3 nights in a row (yes, I think I may actually be asleep whilst typing this). By the by, my cough also happens to be causing me a huge amount of embarrassment on the tubes and trains to and from work as I go purple in the face from coughing, coughing, cough cough coughing. The silver lining here is that it means a lovely amount of space appears around me as people attempt to get as far away from me and my lurgie as possible. So, faking illness could actually be a handy tip for getting yourself some space on public transport in London. Anyway, I’ve completely gone off the point. Ok, just re-read the first sentence of this paragraph and now remember that I was supposed to be sharing with you a passage from the book I’m reading which now seems utterly inappropriate and pointless but oh well, I’ve invested the effort now so I may as well continue. So here you are:

“It suddenly seemed astonishing that people should meet especially to eat together – because food goes into the mouth and talk comes out.”

I found this quite an amusing analysis of a dinner party. The absurdity of an event being about 2 things that work in direct conflict of each other - talking and eating. Why not just meet to talk? I guess because people would get hungry. Well then why not meet after dinner? I guess because people love to show off their cooking skills (I also presume that everyone fears the effect of having a drink or 2 on an empty stomach).

In reality, I find dinner parties such a pleasure. I think this is because a) I love food b) I love people watching, even if I don’t particularly like the person c) my mum always tried to make sure that as a family we ate dinner together as often as possible. My mum likes long dinners, with lots of conversation and she is the slowest eater I’ve ever known. I guess this is the Dane in her. My dad (an Englishman) on the other hand, will sit to eat then leave the table once finished. Dinner is less of an event and more of a necessity in his eyes. I prefer it my mum’s way. I guess that’s the Dane in me.

So at 3:30 am this morning I was sat upright in bed night dreaming whilst awake of long, cosy dinners in Denmark.

Ha! I saw a blog I wrote about a few months ago (The Uniform Project) in the December edition of Vogue yesterday. Do you know what? It feels great to be one step ahead of one of the biggest fashion power houses in the world for once. Yay!

My need for somewhere to vent has finally overtaken my laziness.

I’ve been absent for a while, you haven’t missed too much though. Oh, except for the decision I have made to move to Denmark. But that’s it really. So nothing major.

How? Why? When? I think of it really simply actually. It's something I've always wanted to do, I have no responsibilities or commitments tying me down here, and I think it will be a hugely challenging experience. I can't wait to explore my Danish roots, learn the language and generally just be Danish for a while!

All I know is that every time I leave Denmark I always wish I was staying. Simples.

I’ve since been devouring every piece of information I can find online about Denmark and Copenhagen. I recently came across a great website for expats (www.expat-blog.com) through which, when I’ve gathered up enough courage, I hope to meet some people living in CPH who have been through the same experience as me.

I started off reading a lot of the blogs that people on the site have written and then suddenly decided to stop because it was scaring me (nothing like burying your head in the sand!) and so have just decided to write my own thoughts down since they are already enough to scare me!

Clearly the most sensible thing to start with is a list of everything I need to do before I leave in just 9 short weeks.

1) Hand in my notice at work L.
2) Decide what to take and what to leave
3) Put the stuff I’m not taking into storage
4) Look into costs of putting stuff into storage
5) Figure out what to do about my bank account overdraft
6) Open a bank account in DK
7) Research which is the best bank account to open
8) Find a job in DK
9) Find somewhere to live in DK

I’m bored of this list already. I’m off to learn all the words to “Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen”.

Tra la la.