The road I won't be taking

France is opening the tallest road bridge in the world. Reaching a height of 343 metres (1,125 ft) it carries cars over the river Tarn at 270 metres (835 ft). It was built to bypass a bottleneck at the town of Millau on the road from Paris to the Mediterranean. It sits just above the clouds on most days.

And I hope to never take it. I wonder if sometimes we overreach.

The roads I will be taking get me from London to San Francisco via San Diego and Palm Springs for the holidays.

Time goes by ...

How can it possibly be only 19 days to Christmas and 10 days before I leave for the US? I once heard there is a chemical in the brain that speeds the perception of time as one gets older, so that time 'goes by faster the older one gets'. Can anyone verify?

Went to see Akram Khan with Tim last week. I loved it. Dancing, Sufi singing and percussion, interesting little stories. The rest of the group seemed blase, but I enjoyed it. Except that I really had to pee and the amplified drumming was like a vice on my bladder ...

Watched both Kill Bill volumes 1 + 2 this weekend. I hadn't expected to like it, but I enjoyed the first one so much I went back to the video store to get the second volume. Also watched King Arthur which I thought much better than the reviews it got.

Reading Melvyn Bragg's The adventure of English. Part of me wishes I was listening to him read it out aloud in his famous BBC voice.

Kirsten and Andrew have put their house up for sale and will move to Perth, Australia if it sells. I'm not happy.