Important reminders

I'm blipping early because I am trying to crack on with the marking which means cracking on with the displacement activities which include sorting a blip. You'll note that this is an indoor blip because the weather is horridable but rather than a quick and easy blip you'll also note that it uses a remote flash, i.e. it wasn't the work of a moment but involved untangling cables and faffing around with connections and then sorting diffusion and all the other good stuff needed for a really satisfying displacement activity. I've not yet sunk to getting the vacuum cleaner out or the ironing board but I have plenty of marking and thus plenty of displacement to find.

And now the reminders. The first and most important is to remind everyone that Blip needs you! If Blip is to continue we need to make the community buy-out work and to do that we need people to pledge to buy shares or to make a donation. The BlipFuture site has all the details.

The other is a reminder to take care of yourself. As you know I love each and every one of you - even the dodgy looking bloke at the back who reminds me very much of a guy I knew in HMP Belmarsh - and I take my responsibilities to you very seriously. Many have just had a week or so off enjoying the festive period with fruit-laden pastries and puds and you may still have half a turkey in the freezer. Suddenly, this week, it's the whole "back to normal" thing which might mean getting up early for commutes or to wave off loved (or tolerated) ones. Rather than eating well it'll be the packed lunch and a cup of instant. By the way, don't make the same mistake I made. It seems that chai tea isn't an Oriental exercise regime - how foolish do I feel? Back to the thrust of this blip, I hope I'm okay using such direct language, which is to remind you all to make sure that you look after all your dietary needs at this time. It's too easy to fall into a habit of eating less healthily. Some people start thinking that a salad is a proper meal rather than a nice garnish for a steak. It's also easy to miss out on the vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy lifestyle. Two such are chocolate and vitamin C so I'm here to remind you that a Terry's chocolate orange is an important addition to your January nosebag to help you through the bleak mid-winter. If these delicate sweetmeats are not available a useful supplement is Quality Street or Celebrations or a fresh Toblerone. Make sure that you eat chocolate - you know it makes sense!  

Back to the marking................