Black bag, brown shoe

It shouldn't bother me but it does, black bag and brown shoe. They don't go together but for the purposes of the drawing and since there is no colour, there they are. It's a bit of a rushed drawing, things haven't quite settled down yet. I had a very unhappy teenager last month - Paul - as the computer that he had bought in separate components and put together had no less than three faulty parts. Each had to be painstakingly tested by taking them to a friend who has a similarly built computer to find out where the problems were. Finally, after sending them back one by one, the computer is up and running. This month it seems to be Alex's turn. On Monday, someone followed him off the tram and tried to take his iPod as he was waiting for a bus to come home. (Seems a bit of a silly thing for this boy to do as Alex saw him on the tram the following day and knows what school he goes to.) Now his new Xbox has broken and needs repairing or replacing but to him it's like the end of the world. He's shown me loads of videos of people smashing up their Xbox 360's on YouTube. Seems like this product should never have been released, it's so bad.

I feel for him but at the same time Mark and I are just bemused at how kids (and adults) rely so much on these things. I'd certainly miss the computer if it broke down but then it is my primary means of communication. But I can pick up a pencil and paper or read a book or do some cooking and I'm happy. Now happiness seems to come from a screen and by the sounds of it, millions of people can't live happily without them.

Speaking of cooking, did I mention that I love, love, love Jamie Oliver? Well, his books anyway! I've seen his pots and pans and other things for sale here but I was delighted to see yesterday that he has a range of foods available too. I mentioned before that we only have two major supermarkets here and the range is not very extensive so it's great to see something new and particularly Jamie's. Marks & Spencer opened a store here last year and that's nearly ten years after they opened in Dubai. We used to have to cut the labels off when we brought there clothes back from the UK as it is originally a Jewish company. Seems the Swiss were even more resistant so seeing Jamie Oliver breaking into the food market, a brash young man from Essex, is brilliant! Well, got to go, I'm making some pastry for his 'baked ricotta and mascarpone tart with chocolate and orange' now! Toodle pip!