Friday - Trois Couleurs Blanc

http://youtu.be/DTLlk6FIP3I

I watched Trois Couleurs Blanc - this one is about "equality"; the white in the French flag. WHile I enjoyed it, I can't work my TV properly so the subtitles disappear off the bottom of the screen. While this is fine for the French part about Karol, a hairdresser who gets thrown out by his horrible French wife and left with nothing, there's a long segment where the protaganist is forced back to Poland, so when he got beaten up for the second time, I thought I'd leave it there....

Thursday; The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church

It was so long ago that I bought a ticket (the last one, I think before it sold out) for Daniel Kitson's show at the Corn Exchange, that I almost forgot to go.

And it's no wonder the Corn Exchange was packed. Kitson is a genius. Speaking at the speed of light, his 90 minute show felt like incredible value for money. From the outset, describing the failed purchase of a house with a "fake loft" where he discovers a suicide note along with 30,000 more letters, he tells us that what follows is not true. HOwever, it's so well-written, funny and unbelieveably touching that it wasn't until I left the building that I realised just what an established playwright Kitson is.

I also found him immensely likeable. How often have I (also a person who is easily distracted - I actually made a cup of tea in between these parentheses) wanted to tell someone to shut up when they're rustling "crackly wrappers" or wanted to admonish someone for texting through a play or stand-up routine.

"It's illuminating your face and just serving to prove your disinterest", he said to one audience member.

Like Kitson, I always have a fascination with glimpsed lives. I buy antique books at boot sales sometimes because I'm so taken with the handwritten dedications at the beginning and I have a 1957 hardback copy of a Jennings book by Anthony Buckeridge from a father to a son that I don't know but brings me great joy.

So Kitson's show is a beautifully-written glimpse into the life of Mr G Church who decided to kill himself in the early 80s. With a noose hanging over his head, he decides to write 57 letters. So why is it that Kitson finds a suicide note in 2007, 24 years later? Quoting wonderful extracts of correspondence, and performed without props, it's hilarious, life-affirming and one of the most touching bits of theatre that I've seen for a long time.

I am tempted to see it again and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Wednesday

Treated to lunch at the Three Horseshoes again, but this time, sat outside in the sunshine!

Tuesday

I went on the trail of Delboy and Rodney today and went to Margate for work, of course finding time to be shouted at quite a lot by the good people of Margate and also fitting in a very quick visit to the new Turner Contemporary Gallery.

Monday

The cultural capital that is Canterbury - of course, I didn't visit the cathedral, the old city walls, or Chaucer's Canterbury Tales storytelling centre or anythng like that, but I did go to a branch of where I work and then to a cook shop!

Came here by accident; lovely view from Bluebell Hill.....

Friday - P1 Powerboat

Today, I mostly spent at the launch of a new powerboat in Southampton Marina! Pictures will follow, but what an exciting day! Powerboat P1 is introducing a new boat and one-make class of racing into the SuperStock Championship. This means that the sport will be more affordable, accessible and enthralling!

The P1 Panther 28SS boat made its debut this morning and we were lucky enough to accompany journalists trying it out with former champion Neil Holmes, approaching speeds of up to 70mph. With the ferry passing sedately and the background of Southampton, it could not have made a more impressive entrance. The boat is sleek, powerful and incredibly quiet. Everyone got off the boat with a huge smile on their faces, so good news!

The pictures speak for themselves, so I'll add those shortly!

www.p1superstock.com

Thursday

I was in Woking today for work, so new thing was checking out some of the shops in the town centre while buying this week's local newspapers. I've bounced through the town very quickly a few times in the last few years and always seem to approach it from different directions. I do recall that one of my friends lived here when we were teenagers so we spent time going to the theatre here and hanging out in Burger King...how we have both moved on....haha!

Wednesday

I have lived in Newbury for six years on and off, so am thoroughly ashamed that I'd never set foot inside Shaw House, which is a beautiful Elizabethan mansion in the town.

I was there because there was a free talk about the River Lambourn given by the council's historical records officer (last time she and I met, she shouted at me because I got too enthusiastic about an archeological find in the town - I suppressed any such excitement tonight).

The building is stunning, and was built in 1581 by Newbury clothier Thomas Dolman. More recently, it was a school, until it was evacuated in the 1980s due to dears over the strength of the structure, but has been beautifully restored.

Monday

A new colleague at work, so a lunchtime visit to the Three Horseshoes Pub in Seer Green - newly refurbished, very nice...

Sunday

New thing was Andover to make a massive purchase. No money left now!!

Saturday

Reunion with all the peeps from my old job! (Including my husband!)

Friday

Trois Couleurs; Bleu. Not really Friday night, but a beautifully-filmed movie about Julie (played by the wonderful Juliette Binoche) who loses her child and husband in a car accident...

Thursday

New thing yesterday (blogged but post disappeared, most likely deemed too boring!) was going to Cafe Rouge with la petite soeur and mon neveu....

Thursday

Cafe Rouge with my lovely sis and nephew. Spoilt him with toys, babygros and clothes!

Wednesday

Went for a run and tried to take a short cut which took me round West Mills and eventually back to the canal. Perhaps I could have stopped at "went for a run" when describing my new thing today - ha!

Tuesday

New thing was a fabulous event which could have been designed with me in mind! I met Sinead at a networking event last week when she gave a hugely informative talk on social media and how to ensure it doesn't overwhelm your life! She put together this brilliant event last night at the Hub in Islington, a spacious location with great views over London!

http://islington.the-hub.net/public/

Hub Event: Well-being at Work Women
This is a guest post from Hubber Sinead Mac Manus. Sinead is founder of 8fold, a digital well-being company that helps busy people work better. She writes about mindful 21st century working at her blog From Apps to Zen. She is the author of From Apps to Zen: 26+ Ideas for Building a Business with Balance and a Fellow of the School for Social Entrepreneurs.

I think it’s fair to say we spend a good proportion of our day at work.

For many workers more than half of their waking hours are spent either working or commuting to work. For those of us lucky enough to work for ourselves, the picture is usually not any better. In fact most entrepreneurs I know work even longer hours than they did when they were employed.

So with all this time at work, it’s vital that we consider our well-being at work. However, work related stress in the UK is increasing and the Health and Safety Executive has found that 1 in 5 people say that they find their work either very or extremely stressful and over half a million people in the UK say that work-related stress has actually made them ill. A study by the University of Sussex in 2008 found that stress related illness is now the leading source of work absenteeism.

In the UK, employers have a duty of care to protect their employees from harm at work which includes stress. But more than this, research, and common sense, illustrates that happy and resilient employees are more productive and take less sick days – good for the employee and great for the bottom line.

The concept of workplace well-being has been mainstream in countries like The Netherlands for quite some time. During an EU funded learning exchange to The Hub Amsterdam, I saw first hand the more relaxed working culture and the emphasis on ‘wellness’ – the Dutch equivalent of well-being.

In the US, Google is a company leading the way in terms of employee well-being. Their ‘Jolly Good Fellow’, Chade-Meng Tan leads an 8 week course for employees on emotional resilience. Here in the UK, energy company Centrica have just announced that they are developing the UK’s first certified course on workplace wellbeing.

Well-being is a concept that UK employers are slowly getting to grips with as levels of work-based stress in their employees rocket due to longer working hours, increased workloads and our ‘always-on’ 24/7 connected culture of Blackberrys and iPhones.

Through my work at 8fold, I work with individuals and teams to help them work better in this digital and connected age. Combining this with my background as a yogi and my research and practice into mindfulness has led to the development of an innovative programme for employees and entrepreneurs called Mindful @ Work. I am privileged to be working with experts on stress, yoga and meditation on this programme which will help participants be happier and healthier at work.

The programme will launch at my next event for women at The Hub Islington on Tuesday 10 May. Well-being at Work Women will be a fantastic evening of networking, talks and workshops on how to improve your well-being at work.

Here is some of the wonderful things in store:

-Life coach and corporate communication trainer, Sarah Dawrant, will be doing a short and interactive workshop where you will learn easy and practical tools to increase your assertiveness in any situation. Read more about the full-length workshop at www.forwardbound.co.uk/assertivecommunication.

-Brand strategist, coach and yogi Claire Lowson fresh from a three month trip in India on Happiness at Work (http://www.clairelowson.co.uk/).

-Sandhya Kaffo from FoodDots on how to harness the power of raw foods to have more energy at work (http://fooddots.com/).

-Laura North from Speaking Out (http://speakingoutevents.com/) and Hannah Clements from the University of the Arts on Creative Communication: better speaking and networking skills for women.

-Tracy Karkut-Law from Limehouse Homeopathy with a practical workshop on Homeopathy for Stress (http://www.limehousehomeopathy.co.uk/).

-Travel expert Jaillan Yehia of SavoirThere.com talks about how to tap into that refreshed and productive feeling you have when you’ve just returned from holiday (without leaving your own postcode!) http://www.savoirthere.com/

-Debra Carter, life coach and stress management coach with a session on Learning to Relax about Work (http://www.lifeisforlivingcoaching.co.uk/).

-Frances Booth from Here Are Some Words with a fun workshop called ‘Cut the C*%p: how to write powerful messages that don’t waste time’ (http://www.herearesomewords.com)

-Lisa Tully, business woman and keen meditator will take participants through a simple meditation technique so they can experience the benefits of a rested and calm mind first hand (http://spiritualbackpackersindia.com).

Do come join me for this free evening event on the 10 May.

Sunday

Strictly speaking, this started yesterday, but as a new thing it's worth mentioning! My lovely friends got married on Thursday and invited us to their reception last night.

www.smithfest2011.com

Thanks to a road closure, I had real trouble finding the venue, but man it was worth it! What a great place for a gig! There were five superb bands; all completely different, but all totally original! A brilliant night!

Saturday

New thing today was Brimpton Village Hall for a retirement party...

Friday

New thing today was going into a treatment room at the doctors. Not sure he can do anything though!

Thursday

New thing today was Seer Green and Jordans train station which is a very handy train station near work that takes you straight into London! After work, I headed into London for a seminar on social media which confirmed my suspicions on how little I know on the subject!!

My problem with twitter is that, if you want to use it properly and use it to boost business, you have to be on there all the time! My five minutes every day isn't enough. I also find that it's full of useless junk, and I was pleased to see that I'm not alone, so there are techniques for cutting out the "noise"!

Wednesday

Had to register with GP where I live, so doctor's surgery was new thing today. MrM had his lunch at 10am so he could accompany me as he didn't trust me to do it as I AM NEVER ILL!!!

TUesday

Was in Banbury so lots of new things here!

Bank Holiday Monday

Crafty Craft race in Newbury so my new thing was getting inside the van that MrM had borrowed and helping him load and unload it with his presentations...

And I saw comedian Jo Brand....

Sunday

My new thing today was heading to Cattistock and being the female world champion at Dorset Knob Throwing for about an hour and a half! Then, nervously onto Yeovil where I went to the Houndstone Business PArk for the first time to get some paint and then fail to get an iPod adaptor!

Saturday

New thing today was the gift shop at Sherborne Castle where there was also a craft fair on AND I bumped into someone I went to school with!

Built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594 and the stately home of the Digby family since 1617, Sherborne Castle is a Historic House which reflects a glorious variety of decorative styles from over 400 years of English history. ‘Capability’ Brown created the 50-acre lake in 1753 and gave Sherborne the very latest in landscape gardening, with magnificent specimen trees, borders and sweeping lawns in one of his finest Lakeland landscapes. Come and visit the Castle’s rich interiors with its splendid collections of art, furniture and porcelain, together with Raleigh’s original kitchen, family artefacts and archaeological ‘finds’ from the old medieval castle on view in the castle cellars.

Explore 42 acres of beautiful gardens and grounds, and enjoy the beauty, peace and tranquillity of this perfect natural setting. Watch the abundant wildlife on the lake, feed the ducks, have a picnic and walk the dogs. Our Tea Room serves morning coffees, light lunches and delicious afternoon teas. The Gift Shop has a selection of gifts, souvenirs and our very own Sherborne Castle wines.

www.sherbornecastle.com