Talisman

Neither have I Never ever have I gone abseiling

Yes, more of the artificial stuff.

I have Never ever have I ridden a motorbike

Queen of Clubs - KC and the Sunshine Band

I have been through this with them already, and they say I have to wait until the next pay day, which is 26th April. In the meantime I have had to raid the savings account. The trouble is you can't keep doing that without putting the money back in.

Neither have I. Never ever have I been to a naturist beach

I hate it when that happens, which where I work seems to be most days. People don't seem to respect the right to silence anymore. I have had a fairly quiet month book wise so far, being about 75 percent through my second book of the month - Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil, this is mostly due to my employers having stuffed up my wages and consequently being expected to live on just £500 for a whole month. I have though just received a £15 amazon gift voucher so that means that I can go on a spending spree - yippee !

You can swap with me too if you like - I am fed up with miserable weather we have been getting. Apparently it will be warmer over the weekend, but I will believe that when I see it, and I probably won't seeing as it's my weekend to work. Having said that, I am not sure if I will be able to, as I have a particularly nasty bout of conjunctivitis, which is making my right eye extremely painful and sore. Have just heard from work to say that no, I will not be allowed to work, as it is like I thought highly contagious. I just hope that for one the weather men got it right - there is not much sign of it so far though, as its peeing down with rain.

Keep up the good work !

I have completed 83 out of 231 countries, which is not bad at all.

Ha, ha, I had forgotten all about that - in another lifetime. Queribus was one place I didn't get to - but Montsegur was good - even though it was pouring with rain !

There are loads of books out there on the Cathars - I wrote one myself (covering lots of other subjects as well), which is just about still in print (and also available Kindle). I visited both Carcassonne and Montsegur, among other places as part of the research and found both fascinating - especially their nearby caves. I would love to return some day. As for Labyrinth though - I tried to read it a few years ago, but found it just wasn't my cup of tea - maybe I have read too many non fiction books on the subject.

Finished another country after having had a break from this challenge for a while - American Samoa - Pago Pago Tango by John Enright. This is a small US owned island in the South Pacific with non US owned Samoa as its next door neighbour. It is one of those places that is very difficult to find a book that was written by someone actually born there. This author then was not born there, but did spend 26 years living around what the books blurb describes as the Pacific Islands. I would give it an average rating. The story itself (the usual island detectives) is not that brilliant, but the descriptions of the island are good, and there are a few snippets about the history of the place thrown in.

Lady Gaga

It's a beautiful day today on Box Hill, and I am enjoying three days off from work. Yesterday was food shopping day and a lazy afternoon in front of the telly, today has been more active with a walk down the White Cliff followed by lunch at our favourite café near Guildford. When I got home there was a letter waiting for me letting me know that I have just received a 50p an hour pay rise, which put a big smile on my face.

It depends how portable you want it to be as well - an Ipad is much bigger and heavier. I am not sure how an Ipad would work in bright light though, when reading outdoors. It depends I guess on what kind of reading you do.

Prince of Peace - Galliano

I got through 6 books in March which were as follows: Requiem - Lauren Oliver Viking 3: Kings Man - Tim Severin Viking 2: Sworn Brother - Tim Severin Viking 1: Odinn's Child - Tim Severin Human Remains - Elizabeth Haines Ways of Going Home - Alejandro Zambra

The only sport that I am at all interested is in cycling, mainly because of where I live (Box Hill was the main venue for last years Olympic road cycling races). We also had the Tour of Britain come through Dorking last autumn. The exact details for this years Tour are yet to be announced, but I know that the penultimate stage will be starting from nearby Epsom. There is a whisper as well that Surrey County Council are bidding to host a stage of the Tour de France, which is something I will definately want to watch. If that happens though, it will be at least a few years away.

brown rice with stir fried veg and black bean sauce.

No April Fools here either, but just another day at work. At least it was double time though.

That's not one I have heard of, although I have read a lot of Icelandic books. The Icelanders are a very literary bunch though, with an estimated 25 percent of the population being published in some way or another (so I read somewhere). I might have to look this one up then to add to my collection.

Icelandic folk songs.

I don't belong to one - I doubt if it would make a difference anyway.

You would have thought they would have worked out that if your IP is in the UK then you are likely to be living there, and not anywhere near America.