Day 30

Decided to give my feet a rest today, stay home and recuperate.  Although it was a little cloudy, the sun was actually shining right in the window of my apartment for most of the day.  Spent a couple of glorious hours just sitting in a chair by the window, listening to Dave Brubeck, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane on my iPod while finishing my book.

The book – ‘Then we came to the end’ by Joshua Ferris – was a great read.  Set in a struggling Chicago advertising agency, it tells the story of office life through the eyes of its employees.  Funny, perceptive and wonderfully well written it was named one of the Best Books of 2007 by The New York Times and was ranked number 2 in Time Magazine’s Top 10 Books of the past decade.  A word of warning - it takes a little while to grab you (and to adjust to his writing style), but hang in there - I highly recommend it. 

Spoke with Jodie and Scott on Skype for a while.  Congratulated Scott on both the sale of his current house and the purchase of his new one in Kensington (which looks beautiful by the way).  He’s had a busy weekend!  Good to hear the girls (mum, Sophie and Jodie) had a successful day at the market yesterday. 

Finished watching the first season of The Wire.  I wouldn’t put it in the same league as some of my favourite shows – the dialogue, acting and storyline all a bit amateurish at times.  It took a while to get going, but by the end of the season I decided it wasn’t too bad.  I have another four seasons to watch so hopefully it only keeps getting better.

Started watching Dexter today which, in comparison to The Wire, only took one episode to get me interested.

Fried eggs on toast for lunch, blue cheese and crackers for afternoon tea followed by tea and biscuits.  Cooking up another batch of Pasta e Fasoi for dinner tonight. 

The snow, which has been ever present since my arrival a month ago, is quickly disappearing.  I actually saw my first patch of green grass the other day.  The street and footpath outside my window is almost completely snow-free, and I can see quite a few grass/dirt patches showing up in the park across the street. 

Bye bye winter...

It’s kind of sad to see the snow fading away – it created a kind of magical feeling and made even normally boring buildings etc look prettier.  During this in-between time, when the snow has melted but spring hasn’t quite arrived, things just seem a little bit grey and dull.