That's the doggie at the go-karting range (if a winding stretch of asphalt can be considered a range): bored. Not even the sight of overgrown idiots fitting themselves into lawnmower-sized motorised vehicles travelling at eardrum-splitting frequency can rouse him. He has reached his state of Nirvana and there he is content to stay (til mealtime). I was the party pooper who did not deign to shuttle around a little circuit at an inch(!) off the ground. I mean, go-karting when you can drive around in air-conditioned comfort and wag your middle finger at the twat who's just cut your lane without signalling? Why bother?

The other night, after a downpour at dusk, I saw a g i a n t snail making its slow way up someone's boundary wall. The snail was so enormous and its shell - commensurately large - was weighed down so greatly by gravity that its mid-section was sagging to the point of distortion. Still, it made its way diagonally upwards. I can't make up my mind whether it's lovely to have an instantly accessible porta-home, or if it's a god-given / self-inflicted hassle.

As a kid I'd been fascinated with the idea of snails and their little take-away dwellings. I dreamed of travelling in caravans, and having all my worldly possessions with me as I went along. Now I no longer think that way. Where once I craved change; I value stability now.



Dilly, the monster of insatiable appetite, has recently developed a sweet tooth. Spot the odd one out: Cadbury Fruit & Nut chocolate, lemon barley drink, kitten kibble, and cranberry vodka. Which? Ah yes!, of course, it's the chocolate; it's got milk in it! Or, yes!, it's the cranberry vodka, for its 42% alcoholic content. Oh, it can't be the kibble, 'cos why? 'Cos that's just boring ol' cat food! "Why settle for less when there's chocolate and vodka readily available", the little kitten thinks, before drifting off into a state of chocolate-induced bliss.

What happened after the cranberry vodka? That's a story for another time.



The ella ella I bought when last in Hong Kong has been serving me well. It's only the second ella-ella I've owned that was solely mine. And I nearly lost it, when carelessly it was left in a rather fetching umbrella stand at some fancypants lifestyle goods shop in HK, after just four days. Typhoons can be such happy occasions sometimes: wellies (with fancy print), happy umbrellas, or being all cosied up at home and feeling safe. From being merely tolerable, stormy weather has become accepted and even embraced and looked forward to. By me.

Thanks to a vertically-unchallenged colleague, it's so pretty to see the ella-ella hanging out to dry in the pantry. Just wish, sometimes, that I was at home rather than at the office when the storms come. It'd be so nice, once in a while, to have a random holiday declared due to inclement weather in Singas.



So wrong, but so good: I can't stop staring at Shane, and not Beyonce.