I've officially moved out of Southampton. It's been a great 15 months in the house on Highfield lane and I'm going to miss it. It's also a pain to have to move again for the seventh time in as many years. It would be great to be settled for a decent length of time and have my own place. It's going to be another few years yet. Last night was spent at another gig. Chatted to a guy in a second han bookshop and it turned out he plays Jackson C Frank in the Bent Brief on a Thursday night as part of the open mike night. Good fun but a bit shambolic after Derrin the previous evening.

So having taken two car loads bursting at the seams back to Oxford I have gone from this idyllic paradise:














To this chaotic mess:














Along with the other boxes of books lying in wait to receive a designated shelf, most of my stuff is still in storage where it will remain for the next two years when I go to China. I've still got to find some way of transporting my papers and clothes without slipping a disk.

On the book front, I've now finished 'The Interpreter of Maladies' by Jhumpa Lahiri. Having been left a little luke warm by the first few stories, it turns into a rather charming collection. Most of the stories don't feel like they have a particularly structured beginning or end but just tell a passage in one or two people's lives. Often the stories set themselves up for a twist which is never the obvious one and the last few pages of each one turns the passage from a simple narrative into a thought-provoking account. Having lived in three fairly different cultures, Lahiri's stories have interesting quirks that give a glimpse into each part of her upbringing.

Anyway, I will read it again some time soon to see if the first stories come to life with a little more thought. Next I'm going to read 'Immortality' by Kundera which I'm really looking forward to. Having enjoyed all of his books but 'Slowness' this one should be great.