had a decent night out last night, delicious pinot, mild, ume liqueur - good thing i have taken up drinking for lent. this weekend i will hopefully go to archway for dinner, to the movies tomorrow and in between i might well manage to study a little and worry about sport. also, summer holiday plan is up in the air and i need a new sense of direction, but i guess ive got no sense at all.

finally, a quick link for matthew.

i am quite tired this week, ground down by repetition and the cycles of the year. study day today will probably be dominated by examining my writing style and the formalities that attend the production of formal reports. or the purchase of shoes. or sleeping. matt's blog is noteworthy at present. i would like to get a macaroon, but i know that whatever happens today will be unsatisfactory.

go, now. buy monocle. it is wonderful. i think i might do nothing today other than study it's charms. with time i may grow to love kitakoga more than the main magazine. or maybe not.

went for a walk in grantchester today - just as lovely as i remember with a massive sky and some suspect dogs. cambridge is a nice place and i have spent a nice weekend there eating, drinking and (bizarrely) playing squash for about 10 minutes. i am mighty shattered now, and am glad i turned down the opportunity to remember crawley. thinking about it, the effect of cambridge was deeply domestic: i talked about buying a house and my most anxious moments concerned how well cooked a merangue was.

talking of domestic, i need to go and buy some food and have a bath and wash my clothes. also, should prepare for my talk on thursday, do some study and draft a letter for tomorrow morning. probably will just go straight to bed when i get home.

right, OK, this is serious. my favourite picture of all time (probably) is up for sale. can someone lend me some money to buy it (ref FT weekend, W9)? on reflection i suppose that i would probably fail to afford the requisite insurance premiums, let alone the servicing of any loan. still, it would make a lovely birthday present. goodness me.

the weekend looks bleak apart from perhaps some fun tonight. to be honest it all looks a bit bleak until mid-april save next weekend in cambridge and maybe a trip to cheltenham for dinner. and tyler brule's "replacement" should be sacked for being boring. i dont give a damn about your poxy university/charity/tax-regime. when will someone brief me in on w)taps related developments at davos and the new ANA uniforms? hopefully in only 10 short days.