In which I rescind my criticism of Northanger Abbey

Oh god. Oh god. I just ate more chocolate cake than I should have. Why?? Why didn't I stop?

Mistaaaaaaaaake!

Yesterday I finished reading Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen, for the first time since university. I wasn't overly fond of it back then, and may have said some rude things about it, but on a second look, I really enjoyed the wryness of her phrasing. It's completely different than her other books, and though it reminds me of a first novel, it's a REALLY GOOD first novel. Poor Catherine's complete naivete and absolute honesty keeps her going through events as the only one who doesn't know what's really going on. Bless her. But perhaps my enjoyment was enhanced by the adaptation I saw a couple of months ago (BBC, starring Felicity Jones: go see it), because they really took the gothic sensibilities to town and had fun with it. Also the character of Isabella Thorpe really reminds me of someone I once knew...

But enough about that.

I've gotten back into knitting, after being taught a while ago by a lovely and talented knitter, and thought I'd put my idle hours to use by make some booties for a cousin of mine who is expecting. If I say so myself, they turned out pretty well, and I'm fairly happy with the job. Using slightly bigger needles will hopefully prevent these booties from being too small as soon as the kid is two minutes old. We'll see.

Today I was on my way home, consoling myself after a recent job interview (this just in: I AM bad at interviews) with a thrifty amount of groceries (these days comfort food is found in apple juice and pasta) when I saw a little black puppy (why is all my news about dogs? Am I becoming a "dog person" in the same way that people become "cat people"?) being slowly chased after by a small child. Small Child's mother said they were trying to catch it so they could see the phone number on the dog tag. Having also just bought some ham at the grocery store I lured the unsuspecting dog close enough to take gentle hold of its collar and call its owner. Having thus restored the poor little bugger to its own yard I felt pretty good about myself.

Obviously, it doesn't take much.

I've been craving junk food recently, which is a very bad sign, since I think my willpower has been eroded slightly in the last few months. It's neck and neck as to whether I gain back the 26 kilos I lost since I last allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted. Oh god. The vicious cycle. If I didn't hate throwing up so much I'd be in danger of becoming bulemic. (Not really. Don't do it, kids!) It's enough to make you hyperventilate. Why isn't lettuce as good at calming an anxiety attack as chocolate? Seems like a massive design flaw, if you ask me.

Lettuce. It's just not the same.