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In this blog is my memory. Part ecstasy, part torture. To explore, and to arrive at the start — and know the place for the first time. Here begins a new enlightenment " You are the music while the music lasts " T. S. Eliot

so... its begun the Age of the Blog. never thought id get swept up by this. Resistance was futile ? ok .. so i gotta blog now i gotta learn to blog good - no half measures now Here we go .. Enjoy the ride

Travel log - Last month i went on an Arctic Expedition. An Expedition around the Archipeligo island of Svalbard. (Spitsbergen to me and you) http://www.ocnwide.com/ocn.htm Why go there ? i was asked many times over. Many thought i was a lunatic and very very few thought it was fantastic. In fact those few (strangers) thought i had made their day by mentioning this fact. Were they wanting shot of me?? they had only just met me... hmmm i wonder now.... The truth of it was i wanted to find inner peace, a calmness, a happiness from within. I wanted to go there and feel one with the landscape. I would go alone. so did i find it ? did i find my Utopia ? The answer - NO! and i have only myself to blame for this - for I did far too much talking, far too much laughing, far too much merry making.... But its gotta be said .. it was one of the most enjoyable times of mylife. The landscape was absolutely jaw dropping. The majestic glaciers were unbelievable. So unashamedly and unbelievably BEAUTIF...

hello world @ blog

so... im out in town in Debenhams department stall http://www.debenhams.com/ , doing a bit off non productive shopping.... (as always) when the announcement happens: "Ladies and Gentlemen, in our stall today we are giving away a free sharp kitchen knife to our shoppers. Go immediately now to the 2nd floor, behind the esculator to collect your free, no obligation kitchen knife" ah yeah me thinks... free my a*se ! Then 2 secs later im swept up in the mad frenzy of bewildered shoppers making their way to the 2nd Floor. We the people we demand our free knives! A small gathering rabble of townsfolk now meets me on the 2nd floor . Young and old and many bald men ( for some reason) Nervous laughter. Wots he gonna try and sell us before we get the free knife ? How long will i have to endure the pain ? all in the quest to get a free knife "Are you here for your free knives ?" asks a very highly polished bald man to us " Yeah!" we sing But he then explains we will ...

This year is a very historical year for me. It marks 10 years of working in the telecoms/mobile internet industry. Yes 10 years. Can i believe it? No i cant. So to mark this monentuous landmark occasion i have turned into a Techno Ludite and brought myself a non push button, non memory store addressbook, non sms, non wap, non 3G, non music, non videostreaming fixed line manual dialling antique bakerlite telephone. Voila ! Very proud of this 1930s replica telephone set i am. So far i have dialled 5 wrong numbers and on average taken approximately 10-15 sec to dial any non local number. International numbers ?? heaven forbid. It really makes me think how we never grumbled, never tutted, never cursed in the "old" days or did we? On saturday i visited Mr Taylor. Mr Taylor is a 90 year old man who lives on his own and i pay him a social friendly visit evey now and again. My job is to just sit and have a chat with the very spritely 90 year old. Sometimes I talk too much, im sure i ...

Today as I was on the 7:10am London bound train to work. Bored to death. So I started thinking about Light. Pure and Simple Light. Im so facinated with how Light can transform a landscape and how drops of light can tanalisingly touch any object or surface and create a whole new world and feeling. Ive always been facinated how a master cameraman can capture the effect of light on their subjects. When the photograph is viewed its not the subject the jumps out and grabs your attention, but the beauty of the Dancing Light. It captivates and draws the observer deeper and deeper into the image. Often im lost in these gems of a photograph. Once I climbed Helvellyn http://www.walkingbritain.co.uk/walks/walks1/w156.shtml the 2nd largest mountain in England, one icy January. Not an easy climb through mist, fog and ice. But when I got to the top it was not the view (lack of ) that amazed me. Instead it was the small hole in the clouds where the suns rays broke through. A Heavenly Spotlight danc...

ok, so i got a brand new adreno junkie fix now ... i wanna be an Ice climber!! Yep this new pastime is another in the bag like skydiving!, 3 peaks challenges! peak bagging! 10K running and tapestry making (Not ) It all began a month ago. I decided my new job was pretty boring. Hey who was i kidding ? like i actually thought work could be interesting huh? So come one dinner hour Andy Megadeath says "hey lets go ice climbing" Theres a place in Covent Garden it has an indoor 40foot ice wall. http://www.vertical-chill.com/ . We went. We loved it. We were belayed. We were hooked!!! Me and Megadeath made a pact from then on. We would climb the great Rongbuk Glacier one day. http://www.caingram.info/Nepalpeaks/everest3.htm . No seriously we decided it many months before. This was all just part of the prep. But one night after watching Touching the Void. ( A true story) We agreed to take more rope than was humanly possible and more sherpas than were necessary. So let the Adventure b...

Yep thats exactly wot Rock Climber Aron Ralston did to suvive after he got his right arm trapped by a big chockstone in Blue Canyon Utah. Im reading his book Between a rock and Hard Place . Using a pocketknife, Ralston cut off his right arm below the elbow and applied a tourniquet and administered first aid. He then rigged anchors, fixed a rope and rappelled 60 feet to the canyon floor. I am really amazed that amputation of his arm was one of the first options he thought of when he became trapped. I really really dont think I could have amputated my own arm and besides I would have fainted @ the first sight of blood. Had i been trapped my first and last option would have been to SCREAM!!!!! and fat lot of good that would have done.... but im sure i woulda felt alot better. So Aron you are one hell of a brave dude! His Book is very graphic and not to be read first thing afer breakfast as i have found out.

Yes I love this time of year. Its so beautiful. The reds, the yellows and the orange hues all around me.... Its such a wonderful time. I took a walk down a local park this weekend and it was fantastic. Here are a few happy snaps i took.

Yeah I wish I believed it. Really I did. This week has been so odd. Last week was brill!! It started with seeing the "Demons of Rock" Motorhead play live. Awesome stuff. Rock never Dies.!! I headbanged like I was 18 again :) Happy Happy me. Althou my neck was sore the next few days. Then this week has been so weird. Two things have happened to me. 1. I got to be around grumpy people 2. I went to yoga classes in my dinner hour. So lets do 1 first. I consider myself a happy go lucky girl. Always looking on the bright sidea life. Always ready to be friendly to any person I meet. So when I have the misfortune to meet with grumpy grumpy and im talking real grumpy people, I just wanna kill them!! I just dont get it. Whats their problem? Why cant they just go home and be grumpy there instead of inflicting it on the general public. I sometimes give them about 2 sec of my life. I say "Loser" to myself and that's it. But some how they are still annoying me just by being i...

Me and my computer are both ill. We both have Viruses. Computer caught it bad last week. He was really ill that Dr Norton had to come round with a potion to put him right. Hes in recovery @ the moment, taking life easy nothing to strenuous. I caught my virus this week. sneeze... cough... splutter ... ARRRAAAGHHH!!!

Rubi Red would like to apologise for the slight disruption to normal service. Our Alchemists and Technical teams are currently working on the problem. Normal service will be restored as soon as possible.

HELLO WORLD ! HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!! Weee.... Yeahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Horror! Horror most fowl!! I have been attacked. Attacked by a He Chicken. A cockerel. A nasty piece of work. Public enemy Number 1 One fresh blowy Sunday afternoon I visited a nearby Organic farm shop/working farm. I have always prided myself in being an eco -friendly human, bordering on could-be Eco Warrior but havent the time nor conviction. But I feel good in these places. Eco friendly, Organic, enviromentally friendly and all round good. What could be better? I feel I am doing my bit for Mankind. No idea what that is. So I wander round the organic shop, with only a pot of honey in my basket. Pay up then head for the farm yard. Lets see the friendly animals. Will it be like Animal Farm? Will the pigs take over? Imagine how it was, a Towny, excited by the mere sight of animals that are almost free. The yard was full. There were pigs, big and smelly... oink oink. There were goats...... baahhh bahhhh. There were ducks.... quack quack. There were cockerels.... cockadoodledoo cookadoodl...

ME!!!!! oh yes oh yes oh yes :) - I am the 2p slot Machine Queen! Lucky for me, I live 5 miles from the sea. So last friday we head off to the Amusement Arcade. Oh the joy of putting your 2ps into the slot. One, then another, then another, then another x20 and then it drops...... kerching ching ching ching. Oh the exhilaration, oh the money. Was it 26 2ps? I know not. But God was I happy. 2 minutes before the end I go for the big one. Yes the Keyring placed perilously close to the drop. It has my name on it. Its looking at me. Win me, win me. Only 2p more, that will do it. First 2p...slot, drop, nothing. Second 2p.. slot, drop, nothing. Third 2p.. slot, drop, nothing. Fourteenth 2p, slot, drop........YEAY!!!! I'm a Winner!!!  

Oh yes. Where are they? This question really struck a chord with me when I heard Steve Wright (off Radio 2 and Steve Wright in the afternoon) say it the other day on the TV. He was explaining how when he joined the Top of the Pops show back in the early 80s everyone had a frightfully posh BBC accent. All he could say was " Hey but this is a Music show. Where are all the cool people?" Yes where are they Steve? I certainly dont get to be around them most of the time. I always get to meet the uncool and unhip set. The set that could bore the pants of me. Sentences that ramble on about something so uninteresting. Sucking the lifeblood from me. I have usually stopped listening halfway through anyway. I politely smile and laugh in sympathy. Whatever. Hey I hope that these uncool people dont think i am their friend now ? Yikes! Ive been hanging round them too long. Correction theyve been hanging round me too long. Have I been indoctrinated into the Uncool set? Oh lord I may need a...

Oh my. I have become Aunty for the 2nd time now. Mr Arran Dobson Esq was born 2am this morning. I have to spoil him rotten with free tickets to Megadeath and Meatloaf gigs now . Hes gorra know about his hip, cool and happening Aunty Rubi Red. Hes gonna be so cool. I know it. Its in the genes see.

You know I often read blogs and I always wonder where the blogger is whilst composing their masterpiece. I think of the room, the surroundings. I always imagine them to be in some upstairs bedroom, but hey we have wireless, we have pocket pcs, we have 3G. So they could be anywhere. They could be @ base camp. I know for sure they have internet there. Is there anywhere that doesn't? Oh I know. The most northerly internet stop and loo stop in the world before you lose communication and fingers to type is Ny Alesund. I went there last summer. http://www.svalbard-images.com/photos/webcam-svalbard-003-2-e.php Well why dont I share my room with a view with you? Yes I look out onto trees. Lovely trees. I watch the seasons closely from the blogger window and see the trees change from black haunting silhouettes to majestic green glowing giants. Lord! I think Im getting old - First sign: love nature. second sign : get poetical. Third sign: get philosophical. Guilty! as charged.

07:38 train to London. Girl sits across the isle to me. Munching on a danish pasterie. Chomp Chomp. Finished. Throws danish pasterie paper bag onto the floor under the seat. I look across at her horrified. No manners 2:00 Work. Gather round a collegues desk to present gifts on the news of his new baby. With gratitude and humility he accepts the small token. It was a small informal service; very beautiful, very moving, but tinged with sadness, as collegues child is thousands of miles away from him in India. With dignity he accepts the gift and spoke of his longing to go out to India to see his wife and child. I wanted to cry buckets. 5:00 train to Norwich. Man in front seat of me continually picks at spots on neck for one hour. No Manners The woman behind leans too close to me. She has bad breath. No Manners 5:10 I stare up at a passing cloud. Escapism. All is calm.