It's slowly dawning on me that I like writing here more than I do over there. Hmm, what to do?

Somewhere out there, a couple of voyeurs are smiling to themselves knowingly. I don't even have to name them. Yeah yeah, OK OK.

Thing is: if I hadn't "evolved" to blogging like I do over there, then I wouldn't be reaping the various wonderful opportunities that have started coming my way. So it was never a case of "losing my way" as a bleurgher, but opting to walk down a different path (from the one which certain people seem adamant is The One True Path). If I just hide out here forevermore, then I'd be copping out, big time. Cosy, but ultimately a cop-out. # ·

VERY EXCITING MEETING yesterday with the Deputy Editor of the Evening Post, as brokered by OldEngland. Three things emerged:

1. I'm going to be interviewed for a feature about the blog, plobbubly to go in the Friday arts/ents supplement.

2. I've joined the gig reviewing team. First two gig reviews coming up next week: The Fallout Trust on Weds and Adult. (sic) on Thurs, both at The Social. Also put my name down for The Osmonds in March.

3. Something else potentially very interesting, but I need to do some serious strategic thinking around it. I'm going to phone a friend for a brainstorm session. Maybe after I finish writing this.

It's all happening this year, I'm telling you. Plus there's that dream assignment in May, which I haven't gone public about... # ·

Right then, last weekend. Dinner at the Coach & Horses in Fenny Bentley (or Fanny Batter, as K likes to call it), with "Bob" and Mrs "Bob" and NewEngland. Battered cod, chips and mushy peas, done just the way we like it. Very underrated pub, the Coach & Horses. In retrospect, we realised we were all a bit loud in the dining room - plobbubly the Marstons Pedigrees kicking in. (Only 4.5%, but there's something about a pint of Pedigree that goes straight to my head, and I know I'm not the only one.)

Back to the "Bob" house, where I excused myself just before 10pm to bugger off home and watch the finale of Celebrity Big Brother ("Sorry, but Reality beckons"), aka the Glorification of the Blessed Chantelle.

(My crashing snob of a grandfather's classic quote on TV gameshows: "The Glorification of the Common Man".)

Ancient 20-year old cathode ray telly now on last legs. Picture keeps shrinking to a narrow slit in the middle of the screen, at the most awkward moments. A good bash used to sort it... then multiple bashes... then acts of sustained physical violence... but by the end of the night when the bloody thing conked out on me ten mins before the end of Six Feet Under, nothing further could be done.

(Plus I was in danger of waking K up; the bedroom floor/sitting room ceiling is remarkably thin, and I could still hear his snores over the soundtrack.)

Saturday. Hmm, what happened Saturday daytime?

Oh yeah, the landscape artist at the top of the hill came round while I was in the bath; K kept him chatting until I put my face on. He came back a while later with a painting which we hoped would fill the awkward gap in the morning room. Gorgeous painting, but the wrong shape. So we took it back to Nottingham instead, where it turned out to fill the awkward gap in the sitting room perfectly.

The painting depicts the corner of the copse at the very top of the hill - even the landscape artist only lives halfway up, just before the buildings run out. K has been up there with his GPS before now, tracing the outline of the copse to see if it really was planted in the shape of a cross to mark Queen Victoria's Something-or-other Jubilee. (It sort of was, but a bit flattened and not properly perpendicular.) It will be good to have a permanent visual reminder of the village, sitting back in Nottingham.

We particularly like the thick black line down the right hand side.

Saturday night: Dymbel and Dymbellina's joint birthday party. From demure to debauched in three hours' flat. Danced to Madonna's "Hung Up", Amerie's "1 Thing", Hard-Fi's "Cash Machine". Talked about movies with a scriptwriter, art with an artist, and all sorts of things with a couple (him newly retired, her semi-retired)who split their time between Beeston and a nearby Derbyshire village.

Left at 1.30, but K was gagging to stay so I left him there... and then swung a detour past NG1, for a "just popping my head round the door" which lasted another three hours. Danced and talked excitable shite with Nomad and Buni. Came back to find K, um, rather the worse for wear. Gently put him to bed. It's been a while since he "released the tension" like that. Me too, for that matter. Moderation in all things... including moderation.

Sunday: rose later than I care to admit, even to myself. Faffed around trying to buy a new telly, but John Lewis have stopped se

WE INTERRUPT THIS BULLETIN TO BRING YOU NEWS THAT YES, I HAVE GOT THE GIG WITH THE FINANCIAL COMPANY IN CANARY WHARF. LONDON HERE I COME! IN JUST OVER TWO WEEKS' TIME! FOR 4 TO 6 WEEKS! PHEW!

lling cathode rays completely, in favour of over-priced and inferior-quality flat screens. Stomped around getting cross, before heading off...

...to the nearby Derbyshire village, for High Tea with the couple from last night's party. They have a view to die for. And she has a blog.

Back to the cottage, where I disappeared upstairs to write the Stylus singles blurbs while K secured the loan of a spare telly from "Bob" and Mrs "Bob". Pegged out in front of said telly: the Elizabeth I drama with her out of Shameless, followed by last week's Shameless on video. Not a drop of hard liquour passed my lips. Felt proud. Dragged through a hedge backwards, but still proud. # ·

Have they all gone away again?

Yeah, plobbubly.

So, it's just back to me... and the mysterious person who has subscribed to my RSS feed. Whom I shall pretend isn't really there. # ·

Ah f**k it, let's push the doors open and let 'em in... # ·

Early evening screening of Cock & Bull Story at Broadway, accompanied by Dymbel & Dymbellina. Loved it; laughed loud and long, from start to end. SO nice to see my CLOSE PERSONAL FRIEND Shirley Henderson again - on this occasion playing herself for much of the time. Which she did very well; she got the voice right and everything. Possibly the least "weird" role I've seen her in (after all, nobody Does Weird quite like Our Shirl).

Then onto French Living, for Dymbellina's birthday meal, where K joined us. DAMN that place is good - I keep forgetting how good.

Kir royales all round; the menu offering peach and blackberry flavours in addition to the traditional blackcurrant/Cassis. Sorry, but if your kir royale contains peach, then you do not have kir royale. (Cue K's "Niles Crane moment" re. kir royales from a few years back.) Lamb mille feuille for starters, followed by the most fantasic venison, in a dark unctuous sauce, with gratin dauphinoise and mixed veg. Finally, an apple thing "with a hint of prune" (!) in a creamy sauce; delcious, but I was a bit sozzled by then and can't quite remember what went in it. # ·

The phone interview went pretty well. Exactly an hour long - which I took to be a good sign, as none of the 70+ interviews I conducted in Hangzhou ever went on as long as that. Interesting to be back on the other side of the fence; karmic retribution for all the grief I doled out to my nervous Chinese candidates?

No - I think the karma flowed more positively than that. I spent a lot of time in Hangzhou putting candidates at ease, and I'm taking as my reward that fact that during yesterday's interview, I instinctively knew how to put both myself - and my two interviewers - at ease. We formed a comfortable rapport, and were even able to laugh and joke, and so this allowed me to "be myself". No need for bullshitting, talking up, bollocksy management wankspeak - it's clearly not that kind of environment - I sensed I was talking to Real People who just crack on and get the job done.

The technical questions were the scariest bit. I reckon I scored about 60%, but then I did tell them I was rusty, and it was clearly marked out as such on my CV. What reassures me is that the interview rolled on for another half-hour after that.

Fingers crossed. It feels like the sort of assignment that I'd be comfortable with; and I'd really like to spend a few weeks working in London. # ·

Digital Spy BB: Tracisms. Made me laugh...Plus a couple on Page 2 which are best left where they are.

Update: The Traci Bingham Soundboard. # ·

Public speaking... a recent e-mail, rescued from my Sent Items folder (and tidied up a bit; even on this place, I have my standards). # ·

Wikipedia has a category for Eurovision contestants. What bliss.

The 10 UK Eurovision songs which have been previewed on Radio 2 are all rubbish. What frustration. # ·

Parochial points arising:

• Diamond Geezer hasn't said a single word about his Bloggie finalist status. How classy is that?
• I feel uncomfortable about linking to that horrible anti-fat rant on the POTW - but on the other hand, I feel sort-of obliged. Maybe I need to introduce a new rule: all nominations at Mike's discretion. Ooh, bit control-freaky. That's not really my style. On the other hand, what if somebody came along and nominated something truly vile?
• Been advising Gordon on the fine arts of public speaking... with all the wisdom and experience of ONE SINGLE SOLITARY LECTURE. Hah! I ought to paste my e-mail into this place, though.
• I was thinking of linking back from here to comments I've made on other people's blogs. That might be a bit wanky, though (didn't look right when Kottke attempted it) - but on the other hand, I've often felt I could do with a record of where I've been, so maybe here's the right place.
• For example: I left this comment (on Belle & Sebastian) at Symbolic Forest, who I think I used to read in a previous blogcarnation. (New Word! Well, almost.)

# ·

Good to have a quiet night in yesterday - there haven't been many in Nottingham for a long time. And booze-free as well! WHAT an achievement!

It was worryingly difficult though. My whole tongue was actually, physically tingling, in expectation of that extra-nice bottle of Rioja which K brought back from Sainsburys. But I deflected my urges with a smoothie and a cammomile tea instead.

Trouble was: I couldn't remember why I had decided it was so important to have two dry nights a week. Until my tongue started tingling, that is. If it's got that bad, maybe you need to start disciplining yourself.

The George Galloway exit interview on CBB was a bit of a damp squib - at least compared to my heightened expectations of it. He'll be wriggling and twisting all over the media for days and days, sowing seeds of reasonable doubt and spinning for all he's worth, oh it was all in the editing, but I did it for charity, C4 censored my views, yadda yadda. Plus ca change. # ·

Right load of ropey old toss they've given us to review for next week's Stylus Singles Jukebox. The only decent track out of the 15 is The Go! Team, which is about 18 months old anyway. Not sure what I think about the column's new "global" direction; I kind of liked the old focus on UK new releases, made me feel all with-it and au courant. # ·

Cramming for a phone interview this afternoon: chasing an placing with a new client. Trying to remember technical skills which I haven't used in 4.5 years... but it's slowly coming back, and God bless Google.

The placement would involve 4-6 full weeks initially spent on-site at Canary Wharf; I'd welcome that. It's a matter of continuing regret that I don't get the chance to see people I know in London as often as I'd like. # ·

I met Shirley Henderson last night, at an invitation-only preview for her new film! And was interviewed for Radio Nottingham about it! Oh, can my life GET any more glamourous!

(Another great thing about having a semi-private Place To Plonk: I can be as vacuously boastful as I like, because no-one's reading, so I'm only really boasting to myself, which is all right really and not annoyingly self-obsessed AT ALL.) # ·

I don't get all the Music Geek hate for the Arctic Monkeys. Crap album review on Stylus: 90% conspiracy theories to 10% music (if that). It's like: we didn't give our permission for this to happen, so it must be force-fed crap. Or it's like all those critics in the rock inkies of 1973-74 slagging off T.Rex/glam-rock for being derivative/reductive, heard it all before etc etc. I don't care what anyone says: the AMs were astonishing on Later last year. So sign me up with the other 50 Quid Blokes trying to keep down with the kidz... # ·

Dinner last night in The Dragon, with a pint of Adnams and my book: Stuart - A Life Backwards, by Alexander Masters. Proper city centre pub, which seems to have become my default option for self-feeding when K is out or away. Sure beats the burger joints or the takeaway - hey, maybe I've finally weaned myself off the occasionl Burger King and Macky D's for good. In fact, I know I have - as what used to be a "guilty pleasure" lost the "pleasure" part of the equation quite some time ago.

Late drink (post-CBT) at The Navigation with K and his Tech Director S - both surfing on booze-fuelled adrenalin after their London meeting with the Big Dog-Vet Cheeses From O'er The Pond. (Brasserie Roux, very nice. No, not jealous AT ALL.)

Just before leaving, K brandished a fawn baseball cap which the Big Dog-Vet Cheeses had given to him, bearing their NASDAQ code on the front. Much speculation as to what K's company's NASDAQ code should be: I went with MUTT.

SHOCKED when K tottered most of the way home with the cap actually on his head - now I've seen everything. MAN, he was pissed. # ·

Good session with the CBT Guru last night - the first since China - which re-emphasised how well things have been going. HOWEVER, I can feel the onset of the old ways, and so need to take action now, before behavioural issues start to affect mood. Some very useful action points to take away. I'm having to cast him a little bit in a schoolteacher role, but that's an acceptable part of the process. Which reminds me: this afternoon's task is to draw up a matrix/timetable thingy, in order to plot certain key behavioural targets. # ·

Apparently Magenta (alt.gay.goth/industrial.nite) was a bit dull last Friday, mainly owing to lack of "entourage" - but music still good. Must issue three-line whip for next month, ie. Friday Feb 17th, ie. the night Siobhan comes to town (our city will be ON SHOW to slightly passé former-celeb (*) tranny-blogger, MUST IMPRESS), ie. my birthday.

(*) Pot, kettle? # ·

Slept funny - maybe subconscious guilt over last night's fag-breath, making me clench up and turn away lest the stink should gross him out? - and woke up with a sore neck/shoulder/upper back, on the left hand side. K rubbed in some, wotsit, Remegel - but it still hurts. Waah. # ·

Things I want for my birthday: a portable digital radio, an exercise bike for the spare room in Nottingham.

Really hope K gets that top-of-the-range digi-cam soon; the photoblogs have inspired him. Must show him a couple of the other Bloggie candidates; he'll cream his nicks. Think that digital photography could be an excellent leisure-time stress-buster for him, just as gardening can be. Can just see him tweaking and twiddling in Photoshop, FTP-ing his favourites to some sort of public webspace.

(NOT f**king Flickr though. Am I the only person who's underwhelmed? Hate the interface, REALLY hate the slowness.)

Good chat about this on yesterday's round-the-back-of-the-hill walk, striding through the fog, doing the walk "backwards" for once, for novelty's sake. Also chatted more about getting hitched - feel we might be verging towards consensus on how to approach the proceedings. # ·

God, this feels liberating. Back to basics blogging, tres Old Skool Spirit of 2001. NO PRESSURE. Well, it was this or start a LiveJournal, and I do have my standards.

Wonder how long it will take people to find this? Should I add comments? Should I link from the other place? Nah, leave it a while longer. # ·

Val S, walking up the lane as we were getting in the car, really late, around 8:45. "You boys, leaving it as late as possible to return to the Real World, stepping out of this little Village Bubble." Flashed a knowing smile at us, as she hit the nail right on the head. Nice little moment of unexpected communion. We should see more of her. # ·

K was all fingers and thumbs this morning, breaking a bottle of gunk in the bathroom, faffing about with the car-packing etc. Very uncharacteristic. Said it gave him a glimpse of the sort of vicious circle that I sometimes get myself into - very true - you start thinking you're clumsy, you get progressively clumsier. Useful for both of us to see it operating the other way round, to get an outside view as it were. # ·

Gert talks good, balanced sense on That Blogging Awards Doo-Dah. Reminds me of how I originally felt about them in January 2002, before getting long-listed "corrupted" me, and I had that e-mail chat with Tom Plastic about it all. The best attitude is to treat it all as fun, remember it's arbitrary and daft, don't go off on one - in either direction - celebrate the achievements of the people who deserve them. # ·

My Stylus reviews this week: too wordy. Need to get them down to c.100 words each. Pithier. Quicker. Can't keep spending hours and hours on them. Bad use of time. # ·

Parish news:
1. Good to see Meg blogging again more regularly. Quite like old times.
2. Nigel amBLOnGus is back.
3. So is Alan Oddverse (maybe). # ·

Troubled Diva Xtra. Because everybody needs a place to plonk. # ·