It’s June, it’s getting hotter and stickier and my lolling students are melting all over their desks. “Hot” they murmer, “Sleepy… hungry…” they gasp, and that old favorite “I don’t know…” is often whimpered as their heads sink deskwards. None of this is said in English of course. No fear of that.

I’ve started growing stuff on my balcony, herbs and flowers and things. Right now I have a carnation, some chamomile, rosemary and an orange flowery thing I don’t know the name of but it took my fancy when I spotted it on the way home this afternoon. “Is it a present?” said the shop assistant. “Yes,” I said, “It’s a present for ME.”

Meanwhile, my friends have buggered off to Eigamura again today (see: http://mikeylambe.blogspot.com/2006/05/recent-larks.html) leaving me to enjoy a sunny Saturday on my tod. Well, fine. That’s no problem. Eigamura is a dreadful bore anyway. I’m going to do far more worthwhile stuff instead like erm… writing this blog and rereading Asimov’s “Prelude to Foundation” (for the first time since I was 13) or watching stuff on youtube while my brains rot out my ears. Chris Cotter was good enough to send me this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU4S2BIqoHY and I thought “That’s brilliant! What’s this Black Books thing then? I must find out!” and so I ended up watching more stuff like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-UaOc8_J-Q&search=black%20books and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OdCdcEuUAo&search=black%20books which was also brilliant (and brought to mind a Nigel I once knew). And then I mentioned it to my friend Rik and he said “I love Black Books! It has Bill Bailey in it!” And I said “Who’s Bill Bailey?” and I ended up watching stuff like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U5xwIYzs9Y&search=bill%20bailey. Youtube is eating my life!

Oh, and I’ve bought a webcam and a speaker, so if you get onto Messenger you can actually SEE me and if you have the right stuff too, I can see YOU and even SPEAK with you, like I did with my good buddy Dave Rogers in Canada, the other night. Why, it’s almost as if we’re living in the 21st century. Now where’s my flying car?