Bitz

• Looby Loo played laser tag at a party yesterday, against a bunch of boys, and won. Her score was 15,000 points better than the lad in second place. That's my girl. (I would, of course, have disowned her if she hadn't slaughtered the lot of them and stomped on their entrailswon in an appropriately ladylike manner.)
• I'm reading the second book in a row whose cover features bloodstains and whose plot includes the murder of a cat as part of the inexorable slide into the strange and possibly horrific. Also, they both contain academics.
• Ballet didn't hurt on Monday. Nor yesterday. Nor today. Looby Loo has kindly agreed that what I attempt at the barre can be classified as hemi-demi-semi-pliés. This is the only way in which she is being kind; mainly she just laughs at the mere thought of the ravens in a tutu.
• Yesterday's wait for a bus on a route with buses at allegedly ten-minute intervals was half an hour. This was followed by a delay of ten minutes in the queue behind the bus which was failing to sink the rising bollards (and had to be helped through by another bus). The return journey involved a delay whilst a white van blocked Hobson Street waiting for gates to be opened. This was swiftly followed by the bus driver turning the wrong way down Jesus Lane much to the consternation of his sardined-together passengers. We went round the block and then continued in the right direction. (In total, I spent 2 1/2 hours doing the pick up from school. Citi 3: less a bus journey, more a circle of hell.)
• I finally asked in the charity shop that often sells yarn if they had knitting needles too. They did, but they didn't have time to sort them. I got to rootle around and have found a few, slightly longer than currently available dpns and some very fine, short steel needles all old sizes. Also a set of sock needles. I shall go back and root around some more.
• I feel as if I've acquired  new computer, it's working with such improved speed and efficiency. Yes, on Monday I upgraded Opera. (I did also get round to installing the new version of Firefox today, but that's less of a stunning improvement.)