helloooo...

It's been a rather long time since I was on here last. Not that much has actually happened in that period. I have a new nephew, which is pretty cool. Haven't seen him yet as he lives in Malaysia, but he'll be back for Christmas - yay! Big family Christmas... first summer holidays that I'm going to have to work over. I'm not looking forward to that.

Rest assured that time has not decreased my love for U2 - nor for Jane Austen. The more I read books at university or anywhere else, the more I appreciate Austen for making her writing so enjoyable. I've been hiding a dark secret from the world for a while, but have decided to come clean on it: I don't like Dickens. I think his writing is extremely hard to read; I would never manage to read a book of his more than once; a lot of his characters are ridiculously overblown and I could never imagine meeting them in real life - Miss Havisham for example. I think he's only so well-known as an author of classics because people are too scared to admit they find him boring; like the Emperor's new clothes, if you will. I'm sure I have a totally biased viewpoint, but there is something satisfying about unloading your spleen on the internet.

Jane Austen, on the other hand... how could she write books that were so set in their times but so characteristic of people of any time? I think she tapped into some essential part of us when she created characters like Mr Collins, like Mrs Norris, like Sir Walter Elliot, like Mrs Elton. I love them so much. Every time I read them they astound me even more. The detail, the thought...

On the other side of the coin, I have really come to respect Bono. I didn't realise how many people hate it when celebrities start trying to be humanitarian. Someone told me the other day, "what do they know about it? They're just an actor/a singer!" True enough, in most cases. But Bono knows a lot about it. He's not afraid to lose some element of coolness, or being accused of publicity-seeking, or whatever, in fighting for the cause he's taken most to heart. I really, really admire him for that.