Begin At The Beginning And Go On Till You Come To The End: Then Stop.

I have had a wonderful weekend, which rounded off my stressful week alone very nicely. Catching up with old friends is always wonderful. After a quiet few at a bar, we returned to my abode and discussed literature… and sometimes I consider actually talking like that all the time, because it amuses me. Basically, I’ve just finished reading “Apathy and Other Small Victories” by Paul Neilan – what an amazing book! It only took me a day, because I literally could not put it down. Laughing out loud most of the way through at Neilan’s fantastic dry, sarcastic sense of humour, this was probably the best book I’ve read in a very long time. The beginning of the book starts with the end… the protagonist is arrested by two police detectives, and then we jump back to a few months previous as the story unwinds. This began a discussion about the type of authors that use this technique. It was put forward that only bad books do this, because it means they can be lazier with the plot. Whilst I can agree with this in theory, I totally disagree with the notion that it applies to all books with this layout. I can’t actually name any others – but I’m sure they can’t all be awful? Films are an entirely different kettle of fish, so I guess you can’t really tar everything with flashbacks in with the same brush. Either way, Neilan doesn’t use them conventionally, as the book is all written in first person, in present tense. Although it has a fairly slow pace, it fits with the tone in which it has been written. I don’t want to say too much, because I wouldn’t want to ruin it for anyone – I urge you all to read this book; even those of you who don’t like reading. It isn’t hard to read, it is pure hilarity and I promise you will laugh.

After late night book group, early rise the next morning for a cooked breakfast. Any local folk will know, Sherborne is the place to go for cafés. With the most impressive breakfast menu, The Three Wishes was hastily decided upon. Food was ordered, and when it came, it was amazing. I had scrambled eggs on toast with bacon – not on the menu, because I’m an awkward kind of person but they were happy to oblige. I honestly think that those scrambled eggs were the best I have ever had – and I will just pray that my mum doesn’t see this. I spent two years at sixth fom in Sherborne, and I think that every time I even considered popping in for lunch the place had been full, so I’m glad that finally, I have had the chance to experience the reasons for their popularity.

After breakfast, a spontaneous trip to the beach. I cannot think of a better way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. The traffic going into West Bay was queued back for about 3 miles, so we took a slight detour to Eype. For those of you that prefer your beaches to be less crowded, Eype is the place to be. Dogs are allowed on the beach, but most people are considerate enough to remember that other people like to enjoy the area, even if they don’t enjoy dogs so much. It was so hot, we decided to have a little bit of a nap, and now I have a fluorescent chest. I look like a beacon, and it is very, very sore. But constantly warm, so I guess you have to take the negatives with the positives. It was then decided to walk to West Bay, along the beach. Less than a mile, so not too strenuous, even in the heat. I took another panoramic shot with my camera as well, and I still need to figure out how to get the stitching perfect – but I’m pretty pleased with the results regardless. As you can probably see, its mainly the part of the middle section that appears darker than the rest which I’m not entirely happy with, but I’m sure after a bit more practice I’ll sort myself out. After a lovely ice cream at West Bay, we had to walk back to get the car. This time, we decided to walk up the hill. That was a lot more like hard work, and definitely felt longer than a mile. The beautiful views totally made up for that though. The sea actually looks like it might be nice and warm. It wasn’t, we are definitely still in the UK. After Eype and West Bay, fish and chips in Weymouth were decided upon. I have missed the beach so much in the Midlands, it is so nice to be 45 minutes away again. And for my first day at the beach all year, I don’t think I’ve done too badly. It was practically a coastal tour. Tired now though, and after a 6am start today, I’m going back to bed. And if anybody can tell me where the quote that is the title of this post is from (without having to use Google) I will love you forever.