h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yeah, I vaguely recall there was a reason why we couldn't have just h2g2 on its own when the page was originally set up, but at least the update didn't break the links on our merchandise page A87943396

The new Lulu search is really funny - I just went to search for your books to see what the link to your author page looked like, and it keeps saying 'Activate Explicit Content' I know the h2g2 Hooverville book accidentally got marked as explicit, but there aren't any 18+ on your page Anyway, mission accomplished - that is an improvement that the author spotlight appears on the book pages and vice-versa.

Yes, it is a challenge to write blurbs at the best of times, never mind having to worry about line breaks as well... Yes, your books that are wide enough for the title to fit on the spine look very good

That's also challenging about booking for things these days - glad you managed to get one slot, but that is amazing that the whole month is booked up already. Good luck with finding another slot soonish

I've been doing some spring cleaning this week as it is a couple of years (or so ) since some places around the house had been dusted. Impressive what I found, especially on the ceiling around the computer desk

That's funny about Lulu - I think that 'The Nativities are Restless' has been classed as explicit, which I don't think it is but I'd agree isn't really suitable for everyone so I won't dispute. I'm still annoyed that 'Bank Wars' is available to buy on Amazon as that was supposed to be 'direct link only', and correctly Lulu don't sell it. I wonder how long it'll take before Amazon sell 'Legacy of Eve Eel'?

This week I renewed my Running Club membership - it cost a whole pound for a year. I also bought new running shoes and as a member of Eastleigh Running Club I'm entitled to a discount and got £12 off. Good value, methinks. I went for a 14.5-mile run with my work colleague Chris yesterday, running along the river from Winchester following the river.

One unusual occurrence this week concerns a band called 'Larkin Poe'. My friend Daniel, who I went to school with, messaged to let me know that for a birthday he has bought us tickets to see them in Southampton next April. I'd never heard of them before, so I've been trying to listen to their music on the grounds that if I'm going to see them next year, the more I know of their music the more likely I am to appreciate the experience rather than being there thinking 'I don't know any of their songs' to myself non-stop...

Hope you've survived all the cleaning

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That is seriously weird that Bank Wars is not public on Lulu but it is public on Amazon... Amazon is a mystery to me - h2g2 wasn't allowed to publish the book about Space because 'computer said no' even though we submitted the proof of copyright, yet they publish your work after you said 'no', even though they don't own the copyright

Glad you got good value for money in relation to your running

How are you getting on with the music of Larkin Poe? I can't say I've heard of them before, either. I hope what you have heard so far is helping you to look forward to the show

Yes, the cleaning went well Strangely, I didn't find that washer that disappeared when I reconfigured the wheelchair, though I went over some rough concrete yesterday and managed to lose two more washers and the nuts that went with them, so my wheelchair footplate bolts are now being held on by sellotape... Hopefully I will be able to get replacements...

Apart from that, I went to the supermarket where I had a meltdown over the bread this time last year, and again didn't enjoy the experience, although it wasn't quite that bad... The fire alarm went off, and a member of staff just carried on working, so I asked if I needed to evacuate, but it turned out it was just testing... Didn't do me much good, trying to shop with all the noise that was on and off for about half an hour but I managed to get through it...

Much more refreshing when I got out and about at the coast A88019300 although it was very cold, windy, and sunny with spells of hail again. I hope the weather was just what you needed for your run (ie fresh with no hail)

You're not having any luck at all with those footplates!

Who knows about Amazon - they're a law to themselves and pretty much the real winner of Lockdown...

I get the impression that Larkin Poe are a niche group that have a few dedicated followers. I'm enjoying what I've heard of them so far, very country & western style music with just the two sisters who both play a guitar and their vocals - and they're distant relatives of Edgar Allan Poe (the name Larkin Poe comes from their grandfather, apparently).

Hopefully now that more shops are able to be open supermarkets will be less busy? I must confess popped into town today to have a look around a secondhand shop for the first time this year

Saturday wasn't too bad in the end - there was some brief light spitting but nothing too serious, although my friend had an ankle injury which I'm hoping will heal soon (no pun on ankle/heal intended).

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Yeah, if it’s not one thing, it’s another but at least the wheelchair is still functional so it’s ok...

“ they're a law to themselves and pretty much the real winner of Lockdown...”

Yes indeed...

That’s good that you’re enjoying the music - fascinating link to Poe, and excellent that they both play and sing. Sounds a bit like the type of performers who were booked to do lunchtime concerts at the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts that I used to go to - good times

Yes, let’s hope supermarkets improve now that other shops are open. Glad you got to enjoy a browse My spring cleaning unearthed a little game I bought for you all last year - it is on its way to you with some other random things just for fun.

Glad you didn’t get caught in any hail showers. Yes, hopefully your friend’s ankle heals so the running can continue with no problems.

I assume you've still got at least one of the previous chairs in case of emergencies...?

I've not been to the venue they're playing at - the Engine Rooms apparently can hold up to 800 in normal times and was once a roller-disco. Still I've got a year in which to become familiar with their music (by which time they may well have written whole new albums' worth ) and the good news is that it isn't the same day as my much-postponed marathon attempt.

I'm intrigued by the spring cleaning game....?

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Yes, definitely important to have a spare wheelchair, like a spare pair of shoes, so I was ok when the wheelchair had to be sent away for repairs for a couple of weeks in February and I’ll be ok if the footplate problem gets worse.

That is good news that the two events aren’t on the same day - could have been, as it is funny how events can bunch up like buses

I see I actually bought the game in 2018 - your children may or may not like it, even though they are older now, but anyway... you can see what you think and hopefully have a bit of fun with it and then pass it on to a charity shop when you’ve finished with it

I know - I was pleasantly surprised, but there's time for event-bunching to take place between now and then

My draft of 'Legacy of Eve Eel' has arrived and it looks good, so that's another 100-page on sale now, starting from when the two girls are visited by the lawyers. It looks good but there's something slightly annoying in that the light blue looks grey. When I noticed this before in the lockdown books it seemed that things I coloured in with Sky Blue looked grey but mirrors, windows etc I'd coloured in with 'light blue' looked blue. So I thought I'd stop using sky blue and always use light blue instead to ensure everything looks grey - but no, things coloured in light blue are now still turning out grey. Darker blues show as blue though....

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Yes

Congratulations on adding a new book to your portfolio!

That is strange about the colours, though... Reminds me of the story about the Orion women in Star Trek, where the film processors thought it was a problem with the film that had turned the actors' skin green, so they 'fixed' it

Yep, though there was only one Orion woman and it was the pilot episode of 'Star Trek' There's a similar, but more malicious, story of how something similar happened with the first main black character (as opposed to superhero ) - Gabe Jones - in a Marvel comics being automatically adjusted to the same skin colour as everyone else...

I finally went to the charity shop in Southampton on Tuesday, and bought 5 CDs. Apparently this week charity shops have had a 190% increase on donations on this time 2 years ago, as so many people have had clearouts and spring cleans over lockdown and are now donating like mad, so this really is the time to go.

Still, hope you have a good weekend - I'm not expecting to be up to much. Catch you later

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Ah, I'd not heard about Gabe Jones... I did read about how cameras and lighting often aren't calibrated properly for making portraits of Black people, so photos don't turn out as well as they should, and the modern phenomenon of Black people being covered by the backgrounds in videoconferencing. I'm fortunate that I haven't seen anybody's face disappear in the software we use, but I do find it distracting when people's arms disappear, or their hair flickers in and out...

Good to hear you had a productive session in the charity shop I noticed a lot of stuff being dumped on the doorstep of a charity shop while it was closed over the last few months, so I'm not sure what happened to all of that, but yes lockdown clearouts will boost the stock of the charity shops now

I plan to get my Leicester City merchandise out and take some photos, and hopefully take some photos of birds as well I hope you all have a good weekend

On a similar theme I'm not convinced that my using Crayola's 'Colours of the World' colouring pencils is working particularly well. Maybe it is because my drawings are too small for them to work, but the darker the skin colour the less visible details such as eyes, eyebrows and lips are - which are needed to be seen to convey expression - yet you can't try to compensate by making eyes and lips a bit bigger as that is a racist stereotype. So I think I'm back at square one, having failed with noble intentions until I can think of a way to make it work...

Anyway, we received a parcel over the weekend, so a huge thank you for that . Yes, two DVDs for me to look forward to watching and toys that the enjoyed tapping around as soon as the was opened. And a shirt too which hopefully will fit my son if I can persuade him to try it on (I gave it a go - it fits around my belly perfectly, is a little tight across the upper chest but no chance around my neck. I think I must have a wider than normal neck as every shirt that fits my neck is massive everywhere else...)

So did you have a good weekend?

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That's a shame that the Crayola pencils aren't working as well as you had hoped. It is a challenge to provide enough detail at small scale, and important to avoid negative stereotypes indeed. I have been watching a few programmes recently, and noted that people find skin tones challenging even on larger scales. http://www.google.com/search?q=floella+benjamin+portrait+artist+of+the+year&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB910GB910&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjm_qNoo3wAhXL-6QKHWy1CSMQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1280&bih=552

Glad your arrived safely That's funny that adopted the Kinder Eggs I hope you are keeping the contents of the eggs safe from , though - the pieces are mostly large, but one or two might be swallowable...

Interesting about the shirt and the collar size - that's something else you and I have in common, that shirts fitting our necks are massive everywhere else Reminds me of when I first ordered a tailored shirt - I put my measurements in the online form, and got a message saying, 'Are you sure? Collar size X is associated with chest size much larger than Y on average", but I wouldn't have been ordering a tailored shirt if I wanted a shirt with average measurements... Also reminds me of a time I was putting my school tie on, I sneezed and catapulted the school shirt collar button across the room

I did have a good weekend, yes - the supermarket was much quieter, for various reasons, so that made a pleasant change, and then the weather was good for birdwatching on the Sunday, so I added another bird (Great Crested Grebe) to my list I sent my photo to the Artists, too

Fascinatingly, on 10 May last year, a Queen wasp appeared and then disappeared in my kitchen. Equally fascinatingly, the same thing happened today! I wonder if it is the same wasp...

At least there weren’t any smaller wasps appearing since last year, so if it is a nest on top of my boiler cupboard, it’s not a very productive one...

Hopefully just having a look around before concluding 'this is unsuitable'

ANother quiet weekend here but this week has been hectic at work in the hateful new role.

It was the round containers that the was playing with, tapping them so they rolled off the edge, rather than the contents of the toys themselves. Just like with children always playing with the box, not the present

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Success! The wasp appeared again yesterday afternoon and kindly sat still on the window, so it was able to be ejected with no trouble Phew!

"Just like with children always playing with the box, not the present"

Glad there was something in the box for as well as

Sorry the new role continues to be hateful Good luck with it all

Thinking about colour, I like the effect you have produced in this one A88019346 where the shade of the door contrasts well against the outline of Ann's face.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing at the weekend, but it would be good if I could get to a charity shop or two, as it has been a while... In winter I made some bobble hats for drinks bottles on behalf of AgeUK and haven't had chance to deliver them yet! I hope you all have as good a weekend as possible

I must confess that disappeared beneath the sofa cushion almost instantly. My daughter has a way of making everything she touches disappear instantly beneath the sofa cushion just like

Good luck delivering the bottle bobble hats if you do, and the browsing. One of the CDs I got last week was 'The Game' which was a very satisfying purchase. Talking of which, have you been buying s lately? I just went online and saw that someone has.

My weekend plans involve going for a run with a friend, and possibly buying running shorts to replace the ones I have that are disintegrating - I don't think you can really get some online.

Did I say that last weekend I had a haircut? I'd expected the barbers to be really busy and had taken a book to read when queuing, only to be ushered straight into the chair without a single second's wait.

Take care and catch you later

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“My daughter has a way of making everything she touches disappear instantly beneath the sofa cushion just like “



Excellent - glad you found a new Queen CD for your collection. My sister paid a surprise visit, so I didn’t do any charity shopping today but did have an excellent afternoon . Et in Arcadia ego, yes - I’ve been online shopping instead of charity shopping I like the page listing your other works - great idea . I haven’t read much of it yet, but what I have read is very impressive

Good luck with your running shorts shopping - I hope you find what you’re looking for. Lovely weather today so I’m sure you will have had a good run

Congratulations on getting a haircut without having to wait The place I go to is booking only, and the earliest available day is 1 May... I managed to keep the Cousin Itt impression at bay, anyway, thanks to my clippers and the YouTube video my sister sent me, so May will be fine.