I love this video, and the message it conveys is a very important one.
My mum’s life was probably saved by her mammogram. A few weeks before her 50th birthday in 2008, she booked herself in & got checked – ‘just in case’. There was nothing wrong, that you would notice, but it turned out she had a very agressive form of cancer. If it had been left undetected, it could have been too late by the time anything visible appeared. So please, if you’re nearing 50, don’t wait until you feel like there is something wrong – go and get a mammogram. I know they’re unpleasant, but they save lives – In the UK, the NHS screening program saves 1400 lives every year.
And don’t forget – I am taking part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life this year, in Bristol. Please sponsor me!
Mostly, I have been reading the Twilight series (again!). I’m sorry, but they’re addictive. At the moment, when I want to immerse myself in a book, these are the books I am turning to. I don’t even know why. However, I do know that I resisted reading them for ages because of all the ‘hype’ and teenage mania – if this is why you haven’t picked Twilight up yet & dug in, then I suggest you reconsider. It was humbling to be proven wrong, and it shows that preconceptions can be incorrect.
I’ve also just reread both Honeycote by Veronica Henry and Connections by Sheila O’Flanagan. Honeycote is a fairly fun read, with affairs, dramatic business problems, and touching slightly on serious issues like anorexia and abortion. Connections is a fun compilation of short stories based at a Caribbean hotel, interweaving with one another, telling the tales of different visitors to the hotel. This sort of book is great if you want to pick up something for a quick read.
… I have been watching lately
At the moment James & I are trying to keep up with Dancing on Ice1, Heroes, and Lark Rise to Candleford. I have to admit I also have Relocation, Relocation on my Sky+ schedule, because I do love seeing people nosing around strangers’ houses that I could never afford!
As well as all these shows, we just finished watching Got to Dance, Sky1’s attempt at a dancing version of X Factor. The final of Got to Dance was broadcast on Sunday, and it was great! A little boy called Akai won, and deservedly so – he’s a great little street dancer. Although I do have to say that I really liked almost all of the final performances, though none of them quite as much as the epic show Diversity put on during the second round of voting!
We are woefully behind with DOI - although they are all on our Sky+ box we’ve only managed to watch the first episode! I think this one may have to fall by the wayside in favour of the figure skating in the Winter Olympics instead! [↩]
Jumping onto an internet bandwagon, I have decided to create a landing page for people who are looking to find me on the internets. I know I’m a little late to this party, but I thought it would be useful. I did try out a few third-party solutions, but decided that I wanted to make my own so I could personalise it as much as I wanted.
It has links to my profiles on the various networks I am signed up to, a little bit about me, and my basic contact information. You can download a vcard to get most of the information in handy .vcf format.
I discovered iWebkit a few days ago, and so I figured I would have a go at making an iPhone version as well – I think I did ok! If you head to me.zoecorkhill.co.uk in MobileSafari, it should flip you automatically to the iPhone version.
After a little help from my husband, we made it so that it can email you my vcard – so that you can add my contact info to your iPhone address book. I had some fun playing with SimplePie as well, so that the ‘Combined RSS Feed’ page shows an output of the RSS feed from the last two weeks, as well as linking to the feed itself. My combined feed includes my blog entries, tumblr posts, flickr photos, twitpics, youtube videos & delicious bookmarks – it’s like a watered down version of my lifestream page (no twitter, foursquare or last.fm info).
This year, I am joining Hayley and taking part in the Race for Life in Bristol, on June the 12th. I will be blogging about my ‘training’ (I plan on taking the dog for lots of walks/jogs) as well as the race itself, and you can catch up on things here at my blog.
I am taking part in the race to celebrate my Mum being given the all clear… She was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2008, and underwent operations, chemotherapy & radiotherapy in her battle against it. She was given the day off from her treatment to take part in my wedding though, and thankfully has been ok since her treatment ended!
Cancer Research UK really is an amazing charity that does such great work; I’m really happy to be able to do something to help support them. If you would like to join in too, please get in touch – the more the merrier! Girls only though, I’m afraid.
Please sponsor me whatever you can afford (every pound makes a difference!) at my sponsorship page!
People of the world, do not believe what @hayles says. The slanket is amazing. It keeps me so toasty warm when I’m curled up on the sofa… I can use my hands and my shoulders stay warm, woo hoo! It’s perfect for using my laptop.
I won my slanket from Aussie, but if you want to make one on a budget, someone over at instructables has posted a great tutorial on how to make your own. The best thing about this is that you can make one with whatever amazing fleece material you can find.
And no, I’m not going to post a photo of me in my cream slanket. There are some things that even I won’t post on the internet. A photo of me in a shapeless blanket with sleeves is one of them. It’s great at keeping me warm, but it’s not the best looking or flattering outfit in the world!
Edited to add: I just have to add the response to this from @hayles:
I am 24 & a self confessed geek. I am a recently married self employed web designer, with a 9-5 desk job to help pay the bills. I love reading, puzzles, my iPhone (and everything else mac!), web design & blogging. I have a very sweet Norwich Terrier called Homily.
This year I am taking part in Race for Life, to celebrate my Mum getting the all clear after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008. The race is on June 12th, in Bristol. More info & details of how to sponsor me can be found at my sponsorship page.
Another bitchy headache Q on formspring. If you don't believe I'm telling the truth then don't hide behind anonymity, just tell me! Wuss. [zoecorkhill]
