The countdown has begun: 8 weeks and 5 days...

Is it nearly Monday again??

How do the weekends always go so fast? I've had a brilliant one but as usual very busy. Today my older sister and I spent a few hours digging up weeds on her newly acquired allotment. It's absolutely huge (probably about 10 square metres) so when we first saw it I felt like flaking out immediately! But we persisted and after some backbreaking determined routing out of evil weeds we clearly about a quarter of it. As you can see from the pics it was a pretty tough job and we were very pleased with ourselves when we'd finished! I was rewarded with some lovely smiles and giggles from my niece when we got back home :).

I met up with an old friend on Friday night for dinner which was really lovely - haven't seen her for probably 6 years ish but as with all good friends we just picked up where we left off :). She told me all about some really interesting work she's been doing with ex-offenders to help them turn their lives around in conjunction with Crisis, her children and grandchildren and I regaled her with tales of woe from my own life, ha! I spent Saturday evening with some friends and watched X Factor for the first time in probably about 8 years (I'm so out of the loop).

Training-wise I managed my first 30 miler along the canal on Saturday. The nice, clean gravel towpath gave way very quickly to grass and mud and stingers! I can't actually believe I'm saying this but I actually found myself thinking I'd like to do one of those 10k runs through assault courses and mud! I remember rolling down a massive hill when I was about 14 and getting absolutely covered in the freshly cut grass and dew. I was soaked by the end but it was loads of fun and I think all this time spent outdoors getting muddy and wet is bringing out the big child in me, happily so.

The canal route was surprisingly treacherous and in places I really did narrowly miss ending up in the canal itself. I'm not sure it'll be a good idea to take that course in the depths of winter, particularly if it's icy, but it's good to try out different routes. I think that's one of the great things about cycling actually, the scenery is constantly changing and makes a huge difference. I'm one of those people who finds it difficult to do fewer than 2 or 3 things at any one time and gets bored really quickly but I have never once felt that cycling, instead I just get totally lost in my own thoughts.

Anyway, today my legs and knees were definitely feeling the 30 mile cycle from yesterday and the effects of the workout I had on the allotment so I'm afraid I only managed about 10 miles tonight. Not great but I actually reckon I'm better off not over-tiring myself as it then takes a good week to get back to my peak, so I'm going to head out for a run tomorrow before work and then I'll have two exercise-free days as I'm off to Tory conference with work.

Better go and pack now - this blog post has really been about procrastinating!

Singing (and cycling) in the rain

So today it's 8 weeks and 6 days 'til I go....scary stuff!

I'm going off for my first 30 miler today - want to see if I can cope with a cycle to a station further down the line so that I can squeeze in more rides during the week.

I went out on Thursday night after returning from a few days away at party conferences and had, surprisingly, a really good run. I'd only had 1-2hrs sleep but I guess the advice I'd been given about nutrition is paying off as I felt really energetic and ready for action!

It started raining pretty hard while I was out and the rain itself was really cold. Normally that's the kind of thing that would put me off entirely but I have to say I absolutely loved it and was quite gutted when it stopped! It reminded me so much of a holiday years ago to Florida during the stormy season. Every day there was a huge thunderstorm in the afternoon for about an hour. One day my sister and I were waiting for our parents and younger siblings to get back to the car so we could drive back to our apartment and shelter. We were sitting in the car watching the windscreen being pummelled by the downpour when we heard 'Singing in the Rain' start playing! We couldn't resist getting out of the car and dancing around, kicking puddles at each other and letting the sheets of rain soak us through. It was so much fun! I relived that a little bit on my cycle the other day when I took my feet off the peddles and turned my face towards the sky. It was as much as I could do not to belt out a few lines of the song again (which begs the question I find myself constantly asking - why is it not more acceptable to sing randomly in public, you know when queueing at the shops, walking to work etc.?)

I hope it rains today!

Some inspiration on national poetry day

I heard it was national poetry day today so I've decided to put one of my favourite poems up on the blog. Apparently Nelson Mandela used to recite this to himself when he was imprisoned on Robben Island. If you've ever been there you can imagine just how powerful the mind needs to be to compensate for the sensory deprivation and hardship prisoners were subjected to, often for more than a decade. But powerful the mind is and this tells you how inspirational this poem is! 

I wanted to include a photo from my own visit to Robben Island but I'm afraid the 2,000+ photos I took in South Africa are all on discs and safely filed away in storage. So instead here's a pic from Cape Town I really love the sentiment of.

This poem really inspires me to keep persisting whenever I'm struggling to be happy - whether it means powering through lactic acid agony to make it all the way up the hill on a cycle or when life throws a bit of a curve ball at you to deal with. I hope it inspires others to persevere when times get tough.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. 

William Ernest Henley

Amnesty publishes report into Trafigura waste-dumping incident

Today Amnesty International released a report on the illegal dumping of toxic waste by Trafigura in 2006 in Cote d'Ivoire and called for a full inquiry into the matter. For those who haven't heard of Trafigura, it's a Dutch multinational which trades commodities and in this case had leased a ship to move waste to a legal processing facility in Amsterdam.

When the processing facility realised the waste was actually rather toxic they upped the price for taking it. Understandably wanting to pocket as much profit as possible, Trafigura decided to try elsewhere. The ship sailed from Amsterdam and made its way down the West African coast looking for a port to dump the waste but got rejected everywhere until it reached Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Trafigura made a deal with a newly formed waste processing company and here, rather than processing the waste, it was simply dumped. Since then over 100,000 have received medical treatment for illnesses attributed to the effects of the waste and 12 people are believed to have died as a result of exposure.

In 2007 Trafigura reached an out of court settlement with the government of Cote d'Ivoire which bought it immunity from further prosecution. Since then Trafigura has also taken out injunctions to prevent press reporting of the incident and to prevent the leaking of internal documents which acknowledge the known toxicity of the waste.

Amnesty International is calling for a full inquiry into the incident, for which no individual has been punished or made to answer for their actions. More information on the case and the full report published by Amnesty today is available here: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20342.

New things...

I'm supposed to be having an early night as I've been burning the candles a lot at both ends lately and that's set to continue with party conference season kicking off this weekend (it's one of the busiest points in my working year you see).

But having just looked at my blog for the first time in ages and realised quite how neglectful I've been I decided to do a quick post. I'm feeling very reflective at this point in the year, having been through a very turbulent, creative, sometimes difficult but often exhilirating 9 months of 2012 so far. So I thought I'd write a quick list of all the new things I've done as a result of taking on this challenge:

1. Talked to lots of people I never knew until this year and forged some great new friendships
2. Baked a hell of a lot of cake!
3. Learnt how to add a Paypal button my website (which does feel like a massive achievement to someone as technophobic as me)
4. Started a blog
5. Discovered I actually can cycle
6. Started drinking protein - who knew it came in liquid form for people who don't resemble Arnie?
7. Worn padded cycle leggings (and invited people to poke me in intimate places, only to discover there's 5 inches of padding between me and them)
8. Taught a whole class on piping techniques (still can't quite get over my graduation to teacher)
9. Sold my own photographs (see above)
10. Found a very effective new chat up line!

Ok, so the last one is not really valid point, but it does seem to work! I feel quite chuffed reading that list back. When I decided to take on the challenge I was emerging from basically a very crappy time in my life. I can't say this year has been the easiest one ever as there have been plenty of other challenges I've had to face, but I am really really glad I decided to do this as it's given me so many new strings to my bow. So at this point in time, despite having not yet actually completed the challenge myself, I'm throwing down the gauntlet to anyone else reading to say come and have a go! You honestly won't regret it.

And with that, goodnight!

If you think solitary confinement for 40 years would drive you crazy please take action

40 years of solitary confinement: where is the evidence?

  ACTION TYPE    FAX 

Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace entered Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, USA, in their twenties. Now in their sixties, both men have spent the last 40 years in solitary confinement. We see no evidence for their apparently indefinite incarceration in isolation: it must end immediately. Take action now

Despite more than 150 reviews of their case and numerous prison reports showing that they pose no danger to others or themselves, the Louisiana prison services continue to keep Albert and Herman in isolation, in cells measuring 2 x 3 metres – apparently indefinitely. We believe that Albert and Herman are being subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by Louisiana authorities.

In April this year, 40 years to the day since the pair were first placed in isolated incarceration, we attempted to hand over a petition containing the signatures of more than 67,000 people from 125 countries, all calling for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to immediately remove Albert and Herman from isolation. 

Governor Jindal refused to meet us or accept the petition. He referred the matter to his Secretary for Department of Public Safety and Corrections, James M. LeBlanc, who claimed that Albert and Herman’s continued solitary confinement is because the men are a danger to prison employees, inmates and visitors (in contrast to prison records – which state them being neither a danger to others nor themselves). LeBlanc also denied that their conditions are inhumane. We want to see evidence for these claims.

We will not stop campaigning for justice for Albert and Herman. Ask Secretary LeBlanc for this evidence, and appeal for the men’s release from isolation. 

Please note that emails to the Secretary's inbox are now bouncing back, so we have set this as an automatic fax action. Your message will be faxed directly to 00 (1) 225 342 3095 when you enter your details below.

Remember to chammy, that's my advice...

I keep threatening to start blogging again properly, you know like an actual blogger who keeps their content current and their posts regular, but alas I run out of time!

I'm having a bit of a lull with the whole fundraising thing at the moment - it's getting to be seriously hard work now trying to winkle a quid out of anyone and I am wary of social isolation at work if I continue to hassle all my colleagues for money. They have been amazingly generous and account for a large proportion of the £1,110 I've scraped in so far and are proving to be a real life line. To be fair I am expanding all their waistlines for them in return by keeping them in a constant supply of cake, as well as recently branching out to curry, bread, oatcakes, chutney and so on.

I have also been a bit distracted with various other things - I became an aunty for the first time ever two weeks ago tomorrow which is so far a fantastic experience! So I've been trying to make myself available to be mother's helper/baby cuddler as often as possible in my spare time. When I haven't been busy with that I've been quite busy getting to grips with my new job which is equally exciting. Plus life in general...

I've been scratching around for new ideas to boost the fundraising efforts having started to get slightly panicky the whole thing could come to nothing. I was thinking about doing a retro school sports day and getting a bit nostalgic for that, and then someone I was talking to just in passing mentioned that a friend of his packed bags a la Scout at their local supermarket and bingo - I have a new idea that has actual LEGS!

I think I've also successfully twisted my brother's arm to come and do a sponsored car wash with me this weekend tagged onto a family celebration. I washed my own car at the weekend (it only gets a bath once every 6 mths) and I was chuffed to bits with my handiwork. My little Missy, which is really not much more than a bashed up old banger these days, looked all shiny and new. It was only when I was driving back from my sister's house on Sunday evening, inwardly chirping to myself, that I realised the watermarks all over my windscreen had reduce visibility to less than in a torrential downpour! I must remember to chammy next time!