Oh, my giddy aunt.

This is quite the amusing phrase which has recently entered my linguistic consciousness. Not that I have giddy aunts; my aunts are all quite sensible and well-grounded, although they do have excellent senses of humour appreciaTION. This statement is uttered in moments when one is either a) shocked or b) vexed. It reminds me of Daddy's phrase, 'Heavens to Betsy'!

Today it has poured rain, between spells of the most gorgeous weather ever :) My laundry has disappointingly failed to dry, although one of my white socks with blue trim is now a different colour blue where it used to be white due to its sneaking into the initial washing of the blue bedskirt. Laundry should be rainy fabulous fresh eventually. On rainy days, I am particularly happy to have my Dr. Martens due to their superior rubber sole quality that is supposed to prevent slippage. However, even the algae on Welsh pavement stones is giving them a run for their money. Wet leaves make this even more precarious. My umbrella seems to have gone missing.

Today was Thursday. Today still is Thursday. But Thursday is about to pass for yet another week. It is quite annoying to think that we are on about the 40th or so Thursday of 2006. Oh, my giddy aunt!

On Thursdays, I have my seminar groups. Today, we did phonetic transcription. Since this was one my favourite things last year, it was terribly fun and the kids probably thought I was a bit bonkers. There are certain vowels in British English that I simply do not have the ability to pronounce. An example of this is the vowel in bird or word.

Relative to the beginning of classes, it seems a good time to provide commentary on this year's fashion trends. Last year, you may recall that legwarmers and large metallic belts took us back to the 80s. Well, a few sad souls are still under the impression that these items make them look sexy. It is really unfortunate. One 'fortunate' thing is that many undergrads seems to have moved on from approx. 1987 to approx 1993. I even believe that I recall similar outfits in my own repertoire, and the fact that this style has returned makes me feel a bit ancient. Trends feeling eerily familar involve primarily a lot of black and denim. No plaid shirts yet... One main alteration is that dancer cut-off leggings are frequently worn instead of tights and with the stupidest little ballerina slippers coated in a plethora of sequins. A contradiction here is that most of these dancer-wanna-bes look completely NOT dancers because a) it might actually involve movement of the non-carb consuming sort or b) the anemic twigs might happen to fracture something were they to attempt anything more exerting than first position. Other amusing additions to today's scenery were canary yellow opaque tights and brilliant orange glitter eyeshadow. Fortunately these travesties were not committed on the same person. Nor were they in my classroom.

A further tangent to the new students is recent commentary on the massive population explosion of the tattoo, particularly on the lower back of the female of the species. Over the past few months, intensive research has been undertaken (including discussion with older generational representatives) and it has been hypothesised that this phenomenon is a result of the several prior generations' lack of epidermal ink. It is reported that tattoos were quite popular a few decades ago; this resulted in subsequent spawn seeing the effects of aging on the art and declining to follow the labeling process. Since there are not frequent examples of granny tats, it is our opinion that this has led to the current boom. It's going to be rawther alarming to see grannies with 'Bad Tart' or 'Naughty' tattooed over their waistbands. One opinion is that it is really thoughtful of people to be so courteous as to go ahead and label themselves so's you know what to expect.

E cooked magnif dinner of breaded plaice, new potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower with basil and parsley white sauce. B provided Turkish Delight (I have never had this - quite lovely), the episode of South Park where Al Gore fights against the ManBearPig (half man, half bear and half pig -- well, he did invent the internet. what else do you want from the man?) and noone takes him serial, and an invitation to see the new Borat movie next week. I think we shall go. The government of Khazakstan has threatened to sue Sacha Coen. He reminds me of a much more in-your-face Groucho.

Why is there a Cardiff City Bus with a big sign in the window that says 'Tesco Free Bus'? Some smarty-pants people say that this is because it is the free bus that goes to Tesco. My question was intended to be semi-rhetorical. It shall be investigated and reported on at a future time.