Witching Hour?

As I write, I am sitting in the dark with rain lashing outside my window and thunder bellowing.

"And the rain is brain-coloured.

And the thunder sounds like something remembering something." STAN RICE

Reaching page 106 of 'The Witching Hour' by Anne Rice, the only thing making me put this fantastic book down is the size of the text, so small I am straining my eyes to read, which is spoiling the reading experience. So, I went on a hunt to find this book in a larger print version (hardback or Kindle).

Starting my hunt at Amazon, as I invariably do, I was disappointed to find there was no Kindle version. Clicking the link to tell the publisher you'd like to read this book on Kindle, I took a cyber-stroll down to Ebay.

Before I continue, which is unfortunately always inevitable, I feel it important to affirm my open mindedness. Rarely judging people by the expressed opinions of others, I prefer to make my own judgements based on my experiences, which often earns me the 'I think you are mad, but I'm not going to say it, because mad people are unpredictable.' look from people.

My Ebay search turned out to be much more interesting than I had expected...

There were several different formats of The Witching Hour, but shortly after browsing the search results, I had forgotten that I was there to find a book. I had been distracted by these:

Having spent many of my teenage years being bitter and cross, ready to take revenge on the world, I am now surprisingly calm and understanding, believing that "everything happens for a reason" and "when one door closes another one opens." So I find it hard to empathise with anyone who would buy a spell for breaking up a marriage or make someone obsess over them. Why would you want someone to fall in love with you, knowing they didn't really love you? It makes me sad that people are desperate enough to want to do it.

Curious, I wondered what sort of feedback buyers left; whether they were happy or disatisfied with their purchases. After reading these, I really wasn't convinced.

I am more inclined to believe the results are from a change in the buyer's thinking- i.e. If you have taken action, you feel more positive about it.

But, assuming for a moment that it did work, I considered what spell I would buy...

This one is tempting...

and as a Twilight & True Blood fan, I quite fancy trying this one...

possibly combined with this one...

(if you are an Eric fan, you will appreciate this!)

But I finally decided, after wasting spending some time deliberating, that this one would be the best one for me...

I won't be trying any spells. The control freak in me says no to anything I don't understand (including politics and blue food), but before I had finished on Ebay I was yet again distracted by the sponsored links...

For My Father in Law (Just nod & smile politely!)

And just who is responsible for making that law?!

Anyway...

It is official.

Teachers can leap tall buildings with single strides. (Oh, except during the holidays when we are too busy getting paid to have six weeks off. hee hee!).

Here is the video used for Teachers' 'Leaping Buildings' CPD (continued professional development). Enjoy...

What? None of this makes any sense? Congratulations. You have just passed the sanity test!

Where to start?

As I sit in my living room, surrounded by parts of the dismantled Christmas tree, boxes usefully marked 'Xmas Stuff' and decorations which have not yet made it to the living room floor, but still hang from the ceiling by the same precarious strip of tape they were attached by in December, I don't really know where to start. Being a teacher, I often have this problem; there is so much to do, how do I know which to do first?

Yes, I know the decorations should have been down by the 6th and that it is bad luck if they are still up after that. Actually, I have a theory about that...

The start of the year is an opportunity for a fresh start. In fact every day is an opportunity for a fresh start, but this seems to escape many people's notice, as they prefer only to do the 'fresh start' when it is marked on the calendar, which sort of defeats the object of starting fresh and being motivated, if you are waiting for someone else to tell you when to do it, but that aside, Many people like to start afresh on 1st January and so, I think the 'get your decorations down by the 6th' superstition is linked to that, the idea being that to move forward in the right frame of mind, you must pack away the Christmas paraphernalia. It's a way of accepting that Christmas is over for this year.

I, you will be unsurprised to hear, think differently. It is good to keep the decorations up, because those first few days back to work in January can be gloomy. We feel tired after the excitement and hustle and bustle of Christmas and could do with another week off. The house looks bare after the tinsel and garland are packed away. It is somewhat depressing putting all those little tree ornaments back into tissue line shoe boxes. I hate that feeling. Keeping the house looking sparkly lets us hold on to that feeling of fun for a little while longer. We have had a great couple of weeks, putting the Christmas lights on when we know it is not really Christmas any more.

Unfortunately, Larry decided it was time to put it all away. He got the boxes out of the loft and deposited them in the middle of the living room. Now, that I can't live with. I tried to ignore them, but after a week, they are really in the way, so I'm afraid, Christmas really is over in our house now.

Will it still feel so depressing after taking the remaining decorations down and packing them all away? Who knows. It will feel tidy again, though, which I guess is something. Now, where shall I start...?

My Word!

And so I find myself spending more time at home pondering what it means when someone gives you 'their word' and allowing my creativity to run free with Windows Live Movie Maker...

Imagine if...

Out for my daily brisk walk with my Ipod, I like to use the time to lose myself in thought. So a few days ago while out walking, having already reflected on the week's events, and feeling pretty good about myself for doing lots of exercise and for having lost 17lb so far, I started to have a bit of fun with my imagination (a bit dangerous if you are me!). I started to compile a list in my head:

Imagine if...

... while walking along this busy road full of rush hour traffic, I started singing along loudly to my Ipod and dancing along the road to weaving in and out of the cars.

... I squeezed the bum of that guy who pretended not to see me as I walked past him.

... I walked into one of these big posh houses, went into the living room, put on the TV, kicked off my shoes and sat down with my feet up on the sofa.

And so the list goes on. I'm sure I must have been grinning to myself as I walked along thinking these mad things. I am also sure other people have these ideas too. So, if you have something to add to my ' imagine if...' list, please leave a comment.

UPDATE: JANUARY 2011

I recently spoke to a psychotherapist about these thoughts. She said everyone has crazy thoughts that then make them think, "Where did that thought come from." So, I now don't feel so crazy after all and will continue to have fun with imagination! Hmmm..... I wonder what would happen if....