2008 — 3 Feb: Sunday's restful day?
Pretty restful so far. It's now 01:54 and I've only just begun the new day's diary jotting. So slothful! Last night I pigged out on the contents of those two ramekins (I must say, food shopping for a single chap is horribly uneconomic at times) namely, apple, sultana, and honey pies with a cinnamon sugared puff pastry top. They were indeed delicious even though I ate the second one cold, several hours after the first. If you're reading this, Christa, I did have a "proper" meal in between! And plenty of fresh fruit and even some fresh veg.
I was going to say I also pigged out mentally, on TV but, in fact, re-watching The Matrix merely reminded me what an entertaining film it was. And the BBC documentary on the late Tony Wilson and the story of Factory Records and Manchester's Hacienda Club was utterly mesmerising, even though (Lord knows) I was no more a fan of The Smiths or Joy Division than I was of Happy Mondays. In truth, punk and its close relatives largely bypassed this old hippy.
Hang on! I meant to post this little charmer after my Keyhaven visit on Friday:
My son just rang (17:30 or so) and said how much he liked my swan's head. Good!
How things change. I was on the point of closing down the PC last night and had just (as usual) run "CCleaner" to get rid of any Windows junk malingering around. It identified just over 20 MB to delete and took less than two seconds to wipe things — my first two home PC systems both started life with a mere 20 MB of hard disk space each. The Amstrad PCW CP/M 80 machine in 1985 (to which I added a 20 MB drive that seemed so big, I actually partitioned it into four 5 MB logical drives) and the Acorn A440 RISC machine in 1989 with its then massive 4 MB of RAM and an ST506 (code for "slow") interface to an integral 20 MB drive. "When I were a lad..." indeed.
My long-term fruity policy
What on earth is "beta carotene"?
Certain nutrients, too, are thought to be protective. The antioxidants in fruits and vegetables have been linked to improved cognitive function; berries, for instance, seem especially beneficial in keeping brains spry. "Old neurons, like a lot of old married couples, don't talk to each other anymore," says James Joseph, director of the neuroscience lab at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. "We have found that the berry fruits improve neuronal communication." In November, Harvard researchers announced that men who took a beta carotene supplement for 18 years had slightly better cognitive function than those who didn't — their memory scores matched those of people about one year younger. However, men who took supplements for only one year showed no improvement, and several other studies have found no link between antioxidants and mental performance. The Alzheimer's Association recommends a diet high in dark-colored veggies, like kale, spinach, beets, and eggplant; colorful fruits like berries, raisins, prunes, oranges, and red grapes; plus fish like salmon or trout high in heart-healthful omega-3 fatty acids.
Her article is hedged about with "mights" and "maybes" but also mentions the damaging effect of high prolonged stress hormone levels on the hippocampus, which is important for (I forget what, exactly!) memory, perhaps? Getting out and about and interacting with people all helps, it seems. I'm doing what I can, Christa, but where did you keep the can of beta carotene? If I start now, by the time I'm 74 I could be a year ahead of the declining curve!
Wonderful sea-cable picture
Courtesy of the Guardian and under the heading "How one clumsy ship cut off the web for 75 million people".
Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?... dept.
Click the pic to be able to read the answer. Or just read the title instead!
I packed a picnic and set off down the motorway, complete with a further smidgen of Christa's ashes, an atlas open at a strategic page, the sat nav merely displaying a rolling map (shades of the one they faked in the 007 film "Goldfinger") and the means to acquire (in Borders) precisely one new title for the recently somewhat-neglected1 Mounce library:
When I saw the spine, my first thought was that it was a book offering further insights into the Master's fascinating life, perhaps by Cole Lesley. The fact that the "Cole" is Cole Porter is, as it were, pure extra gravy. These two men wrote some of the very best musical lyrics2 of the last century. The fact that Christa had reached (and been enjoying) page 218 of Coward's Autobiography while in the General (before she wasn't able to read any more during her last few days of life) also played a small part in my buying decision.
Right! Time to placate the inner man. Again. Then a nice, hot bath. Potter around, and remember the lunch date with young Len tomorrow. And listen to the intermittent rain on the skylight in my study. I'm thinking of an earlyish night for a change, too. (It's 23:29 as I type.)