Have you ever seen a Blue Peter Presenter with a tattoo?

So according to Nathan and the boys at Urban Elite, spring is here. As per usual, in a masterstroke of marketing prowess, they have attempted to manipulate the ladies of London into wearing less clothing when they attend ‘Switch It Up’ (at Ruby Lo, this Friday!!). Once again, they have taken a random event in the calendar (this month…spring) and tried to persuade us that this is a reason to forgo the advice of our fathers and to leave our thermals at home. In the autumn, they asked us to celebrate the ‘end of the summer’…..by wearing less clothes. In the winter, they asked us to ignore the constraints of the icy weather and liberate ourselves…..by wearing less clothes. And today, on a morning where I could still see my breath in the air as I ran (walked limply) for my train, I received an email from Nathan announcing that it is in fact SPRING, and in celebration of that fact, I should come along to ‘Switch It Up’ (at Ruby Lo, this Friday!!)….wearing less clothes.

Obviously I’m gonna do it.

Now. I feel like I have been a little remiss and have not been updating you properly on the comings and goings in my life. People have been asking after Bookshop Man, Big Tone etc after I introduced them to your lives. So I’ll take the opportunity to fill you in.

Bookshop man has moved bookshops. He is now only in my local branch a couple of days a week. And no amount of stalking can detect a distinct pattern. The purchase of my iPhone has also totally disturbed my reading habits. I quite literally haven’t read a book since I got it. I used to read a book every couple of weeks. Instead, I have been filling my time playing Scrabble, checking my Facebook profile and playing the single most addictive, yet pointless game known to man – ‘Doodlejump’. ‘Doodlejump’ entails tipping ones iPhone from side to side aid the ‘doodle’ in jumping from platform to platform. It doesn’t appear to have any levels (although I could be really rubbish at it). The ‘doodle’ simply jumps up and up until it falls down. And then you start again. Hours. Of. My. Life.

Meanwhile, my Bookshop Man worship has been further disturbed by my love life. I have spent the last 6 months vaguely dating a man who has what can only accurately be described as ‘periods’. Once a month, he dumps me, in a fit of self-doubt and confusion on the seriousness of the whole affair. I am getting seriously tired of his periods (I don’t know how you men put up with them). But I quite like him. Damnit.

Big Tone is fine, thank you very much. He announced at the weekend that he had a ‘spy’ reading my blog and checking that I wasn’t doing him a disservice. Thirty seconds of detective work, revealed that this ‘spy’ was in fact my step-mum Liz (hi Liz!). To be honest, I don’t think anything I’ve written would really offend him. He’s not really that touchy and rarely seems to be surprised by anything I do. A couple of weeks ago, for example, I got a new tattoo on my wrist. You can’t miss it. It’s right there on my arm. But Tone didn’t seem to mind. In fact, when I sheepishly showed it to him the day after I had it done, after checking that I would definitely need a skin graft to get it removed, I could see him genuinely scratching around in this head for something positive to say about it. ‘It’s good’, he kept saying. ‘It’s good’.

In the meantime, I have been having my reservations about it. I love it. It’s exactly what I wanted. But it occurred to me on the train this morning, that I might have unwittingly sabotaged my dream to become a Blue Peter Presenter. This is a serious concern. Might have to look into those skin grafts..

Stuff I liked this week

My new favourite singer. Saw her twice last week, at Ronnie Scotts and at the Soho Theatre. Incredible soulful voice and a wicked sense of humour on stage: www.myspace.com/krystlewarren / www.facebook.com/krystlewarren

Courtesy of my friend Mitton, the latest (scary) internet craze: http://www.chatroulette.com/

1987-1996 = The Glory years: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/bluepeter/