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

Yup the tickets are dated. They're really good about making changes to the booking and it would all be fine - if only I hadn't left my switch card at home.

I'm going to stop making train bookings when I'm actually on the phone, because I tend to get them wrong!

Sorry you're not feeling well.


*offers orange Juice and Zinc tablets

Ach, it is just coughs and aches, nothing dramatic.

I've found a hotel with free parking, which is an underground train-ride away from the city centre. The last trains run at about 23.10, so it'll enourage us not to be too late on the Friday night, but we'll need to be sparky on the Saturday morning. I haven't phoned them yet, but am about to.

's dead luxurious, this one!



B

Morning babe.

B

Morning

Busy day trying to sort out the end of placement paperwork, needless to say nearly everyone I need to sign things is on holiday.

Did you watch C4 last night? I checked out their website today. Hadn't realised he was a Turner Prize-winner.

It was a seriously good programme. Much much better than I was expecting.

B

It was wasn't it? really really interesting thoughts about gender and what it means to be male.

I was fascinated by his comment that bikers like to dress up too; which is so-o-o-o-o true. In fact in 'England their England' (you won't have read it), the author points out that the English love to dress up. Think of Pearly Kings and Queens, Lord Mayors and Morris Dancers. Interested in the way he drew parallels with the 18th C Exquisites, the glam-rock-inspired blokes of the 1970s and the Goths today.

Also interested when he was accusing the TS of being really blokey in how she was going about things.

My landlady was barging around the kitchen at that point, and though I shut the door it was still pretty noisy and distracting. I didn't want to say "do you mind making less noise, I want to watch this because..." but I am peeved I didn't think to tape it.

The http://www.channel4.com/life has some interesting sites to it, but they are pop-up hell. I hate to think what someone would think if they examined my history files here, and guess what I cannot delete?

What I was interested in, but he barely touched upon, was the difference between the TS guys who dress as women (the long-haired one on the beach for example) and the drag queens who dress as transsexuals.

I was also interested in the idea that inside every TS is a lovely elegent lady wanting to get out. When women feel like that they are called self-deluded fat cows of course.

B

MMm I was interested in him accusing the TS approach to it.

I am starting to firmly believe that behaviour is learnt rather than than inbuilt. If you are brought up as male you are likely to act male in your way of going about things, because that's how it works. I'm certainly a lot more assertive now.

As I demonstrated when I went up to my tutor today and said 'can you operate on the 17th of June' and he got his diary out and wrote it down.

(Waiting list? )

Incidently I've sent you an e mail that may interest you.. to your yahoo accuont, about a conference on the above topic in Manchester.

I thought that it was fairly conclusively demonstrated that it was, at best, a mix of nature and nurture?

What was the name of the Dr in the US who said it was 100% nurture? There was a very well documented case of a pair of twin boys who were circumcised in Canada in the early 1960s using some kind of laser or heat scalpel. Nasty story. One of them was effectively emasculated. Anyways, the parents did not know whether to raise him as a girl or a boy and they ended up under the influence of the Dr who said '100% nurture - raise him as a girl, she'll be fine'. Of course he wasn't. I think he committed suicide a few years ago. Hardly surprising.

Personally I think that behaviour is a product of physical processes. It's more complex than that because physical processes are also products of behaviour. Long and short, my personal belief is that most of our minute-by-minute behaviour is a manifestation of our chemical and hormonal make-up.

Perhaps one way to consider it is that there are several ways of storing music - digitally, on analogue tape, on vinyl, or as a written score, but they are all manifestations or representations of the music. This is a crap analogy, but I need to go to the opticians in about a picominute.

I'll pick up the email either tonight or at the w/e. Noticed some interesting links off the C4 site (I already mentioned?).

B

I'm not saying *all* behaviour,but some behaviours you adopt because they've worked for you in the past.. my way of getting cheap train tickets for instance.

There's also several other less well reported cases of children who have had their sex of rearing changed for the same reason, and have ended up being successfully female, or male or whatever. And it was John Money..

I'm busy making notes on miscarriage, so I'll have to check out the links later.

I knew you knew.

Looks like I spoke too soon about the cold. I have just spent 2 hours wrestling with Specsavers. I'd have been better off going for VisionExpress - I could have made up for the extra money in billable hours.

Ignore me. I am just crabby, 'cos my hours have been f**ked this week. I am going to struggle to do 30, let alone 35.

I think I am going to go home.

B

That is really annoying..

Well, I amn't that busy at the mo, so I don't really mind.

And I've got some goss too. But I must go or I will keel over.

Talk later?

B

Ooh yes!!!

Gosss!

I'm revising all evening, so call when you're free!

Home now.

See you later.

B

*checks National rail enquires..*

**

Sleep well pet..

All went to plan at the 's and I am now in possession of a shiny new referal letter.

Thanks again for an utterly marvellous weekend..

*smirks*

I enjoyed it too, you know.

The site's lovely Productrice has got me hyperventilating. I know I shouldn't... I know she takes it personally... I know it is like bullying a hamster... (oohhh... pretty snow outside...), I know it is mean and nasty and horrible of me to do it when she is so scared of nasty, awkward, bloody-minded us. But... ...what I want to know is since when did being unhappy when people shout at you become a qualification for having a job which involves taking the f**king heat?

What upsets me is that I *know* that the community and the site are suffering under this regime, and I *know* that they either don't care, or refuse to take responsibility for what they are doing.

Calm me down sweetheart. Patronise me soothingly, and distract me with talk about nice pretty shiny things.

Glad you had a good weekend.

I ought to get dressed and drive up to West Yorkshire, oughtn't I?

B