We went to Lockwoods today and apart from my blue Superfeet I got myself an Icebreaker Chakra Zip top (although it’s going back because I’ve just found it online in a different colour for 50% less).

Me: Hey, merino wool! I’ve been thinking about getting one of these for a while…
Him (looking at blurb on box): Mmm, no stink. Very good. *beatific grin*
Me: And what’s that supposed to mean?
Him (blatantly ignoring indignation): Do they have it in an XS? Ah, good, yes. Here you go. Extra stinky.
Me: !!!

I’ve been sneezing a lot lately, which I imagine must be due to hayfever. Not that you’d expect that with the kind of weather we’ve been having lately, but hey ho.

I am convinced that I must be sneezing a bit of brain out with every sneeze, though. Otherwise I will have to find some other cogent explanation for my increasing lack of mental faculties. I’m told this is due to ’summer fatigue’, but I KNOW BETTER.

I found this on ickleoriental’s blog (and I hope she won’t mind me posting it here too given that I don’t know her from Adam)

I can see why people would find it adorable but frankly, it horrifies me. It makes me want to string all of them (bar the kid, who can’t be expected to know any better) up by their toes and poke them with a sharp stick. Or something.

Mind you, they’re probably going to get their comeuppance when the comedy kid becomes a gobby brat.

Courtesy of bouncybaby:

The mosquito was heard to complain:
“A chemist has ruined my brain.
The cause of my sorrow is paradichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.”

In between searching for papers and trying to construct a literature review today (have somehow gotten roped into writing an academic paper, which is very interesting but requires much more sustained and concentrated brain activity than I have been used to in recent weeks/months/years), I went Googling for shoes.

The Salomon XA Pro 3D XCR was already on my shortlist and I tried a pair on yesterday afternoon while at Go, but this review has sealed the deal and I shall be gleefully making a purchase next weekend*. Performance aside I also think it’s very good-looking, as far as shoes go.

See?

I’m less decided about new rock shoes. I was very impressed yesterday afternoon with the fit of the new Mad Rock Mugen:

In my normal athletic shoe size these are incredibly tight, with no significant dead space in the heel or instep, yet not so excruciatingly snug that they’d cripple you in no time flat. I am concerned, however, about various opinions I’ve read that cast aspersions on the stickiness of the rubber and the split sole (and to a lesser extent the whiffiness of the shoes). Illusions aside, I’m far from being an illustrious climber - I average an F6a/6a+ at the wall and have only just tasted an E1 5b outdoors - so ultra performance shouldn’t be that much of an issue. My RC Spirits still seem to be holding up pretty well, notwithstanding general lack of snugness everywhere apart from the toe area (but especially in the heel), but it just feels like it’s time for a change. Plus I’m hoping to get outdoors a lot more and relacing shoes between climbs is annoying.

Or then again, maybe I just want to buy shoes. Like these Havaianas:

And these, which I got yesterday to match that evening gown I mentioned a while back:

At this point I am forcibly putting a stop on my (mostly) virtual spending and getting back to writing about the elite academic brain drain.

*Edit on 26 June: Boooo. Went to Go today and bought them, but have now tried them on properly in various insole and sock permutations and I get heel lift and weird pressure points on the top of my feet. So back they go, and back I go to the drawing board.

TWENTY-EIGHT DAYS TO THE LAKES

I just killed a spider.

Inadvertently, you understand. As usual (oblivious to Him nagging me to stop being so unhouseproud), this morning I left my cup on my desk after finishing my apple juice.

The poor devil went in for a wander, got stuck and ripped his own legs off while trying to escape.

I am currently entertaining the radical new prospect that there must be a job out there that is fun, exciting and still pays good money. I probably need to start playing the lottery.

The week hasn’t been all bad, though. Saturday and Sunday were absolutely brilliant - weekend in the Peaks, getting my first proper taste of real rock after the longest time climbing only at the indoor wall. We spent Saturday at the Roaches (met Doug Moller!), camped overnight, and then Sunday at Stanage Popular End. It is a thoroughly beautiful part of the world.

I never enjoyed team sports at school - it was always the solitary pursuit, competing with yourself, that got me going. Being on the crag is one of the best feelings in the world. Well, it is for me, anyway. There I am complete, free, accomplished. On the crag it is silence; you and the rock.

Routes climbed (top-roping/seconding with beta):

Roaches: Chicken Run, Heather Slab, Right Route, Black Velvet
Stanage: Black Hawk Hell Crack, Gargoyle Buttress, Narrow Buttress, Easter Rib

The only problem with satisfying time spent outdoors is that every time I come back with more things that I want to buy. At the moment the list reads as follows:

- Blue Superfeet
- New rock shoes (Velcro ones! If anyone knows of a pair that will be as good as my Red Chilli Spirits have been, pray tell - need a very narrow/low-volume heel, low instep and a relatively wide forefoot. Have tried Evolv Elektras but they fit funny)
- Sleeping bag (currently eyeing up the North Face Cat’s Meow)
- Approach shoes (have real problems trying to find something suitable - it took me ages to find a boot in which heel lift wasn’t a problem (Raichle Mt Trail GTX, which are excellent), but sadly Raichle shoes have a completely different fit. Currently musing over a few pairs that are actually trail runners, though I’m not sure they’re suitable for what I want them for (approaching crags and summer hiking))
- Havaianas (ok, not exactly outdoor gear)
- Trekking poles (for the dodgy knees on steep descents - possibly Mountain King ones)

Which I suppose kind of gets us back to playing the lottery.

I like sour mangoes, and I want to eat a heaping big bowl of spinach.

I have been so ABOMINABLY stupid today it beggars belief. And I can’t comfort myself with the consolation that no one else really noticed because at least eight people (eight! eight people! AH HA HA HA!) were witness to my stupidity. Come to think of it, the rest of this past week hasn’t been much better.

I did think about whether I wanted to immortalise my incompetence but decided I’m in sufficiently self-flagellating mode.

Ah well. Such is life. In other news, The Name of the Rose is an absolutely cracking story; after three years I am wondering why I didn’t seem to be able to get into The Lord of the Rings trilogy; I am wobbly; I am working at a snail’s pace; I am counting down to my Lakes holiday; I have to get an evening gown made to measure because nothing in the stores fits (am a blooming size four, albeit an unacceptably wobbly one); and I want to eat konnyaku jelly but am ingredient-less.

Dear Diary,

Today I was quite useless. But tomorrow will be a better day.