Little fluffy clouds

Yes, I know, I'm a bit late reading this one cos everyone else has already ready it (?), but this is my train read of the moment. The cover on the left is the UK cover, and the one on the right is from the US. I think I prefer the UK version, although the US one is also nice. Anyway, I haven't finished it yet - I'm just about right in the middle. I'm enjoying it. I bought it a long time ago, but had put off reading it, because I was a bit intimidated by it, to be honest. I really only bought it because of the hype (yes, I admit it!), and because I liked the cover. It's nice and shiny in real life. Each story is interesting in its own right, but I am kept reading by my desire to know what happens in the end of each one, and how the bigger picture unfolds. The devices he uses are clever - and have the desired effect of making you want to read on. The use of different writing styles and forms of language are also clever, but some can be an effort to read, especially the middle section. The little mysteries are important, as they keep the reader wanting to read, when otherwise they might be tempted to give up. This isn't a very profound review of a book that gives off such an air of profundity, but I haven't finished it (the book) yet. Also, I am never sure whether I like books where the author uses so many devices. They make me suspicious that the author is trying to get everyone to see how clever he is, but only because that's the kind of thing I would do if I was an author.

Why is it that actors can be big fat and flabby, but actresses can't? And why aren't actresses called actresses anymore? Do people think that 'actor' sounds more like a serious profession, is it a weird attempt at equality - or what?

It's so cold here. Really bitter now, with a sharp wind for good measure. Even the short walk from the station to home was enough today. Apparantly it's supposed to get worse over the weekend! We have had a few frosts this week - I almost slipped on some frosty bits on the way to the station. The potential for slipping is one of the things I don't like about winter, in fact it's probably the thing I like least about it. I do like sunny winter days though.

We had Staff Development again today at work. It was all about effective communication again, but this time about how knowing yourself can be an aid to effective communication. We studied three psychological theories to do with the ways people communicate: Eric Berne's Transational Analysis (TA), Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Emotional Intelligence (EI/EQ). In the TA self analysis bit I came out as equal adult and child modes and slightly less parent-y (scores of 12, 12 and 10 respectively). As the person leading the session said, I need to have a much lower child score if I am in a supervisory role. I could definitely see that I am in a kind of constant battle between my adult and child modes, and I need to make sure that it's the adult who 'wins' more often. I think one reason I came out with such a high 'internal child' score was that I don't like making decisions, which in turn comes from lack of confidence. The session leader said later that I am actually a logical person (=internal adult=good manager/communicator) but my failures as a supervisor come from lack of confidence, and I agree. It has always been a problem for me, and I must try and use some of the techniques I'm learning now to try to overcome it, and bring the 'internal adult' to the fore.