Lovely, lovely laptop

I have a computer of my own once more! Hoorah, phew, etc. It's a lovely shiny Toshiba, with no crumbs or dust in the keyboard, no smudges on the screen, and no bumps or scratches anywhere else. No-one is allowed within a yard of it when carrying food or drink. Shouldn't take too long to get my email address book and favourites list back together; all I've got to do then is get new folders organised for documents and photos.

Not much news - went to see "The Cherry Orchard" in Sheffield last week. Loved the set - steps from below stage level up to the house, stage front, then the house itself constructed of flimsy slatted see-through walls, giving a great sense of impermanence. Joanna Lumley and Tom Mannion were excellent, but the play itself seemed rather slow. Maybe that's the nature of Chekhov - Liz told me a story about the man himself describing the play as "Act 1, the cherry orchard is going to be sold, Act 2, the cherry orchard is being sold, Act 3, the cherry orchard has been sold". Most "action", i.e. the selling of the cherry orchard and the breaking up of the estate, happens elsewhere while the characters talk about it. The talking is, of course, quite wonderful, this is Chekhov after all, but I longed for someone to DO something. At least in "The Seagull" Konstantin puts a play on and shoots himself instead of just talking about it.

Jonathan Miller, who directed it (returning to direct on the British stage for the first time in ten years) was sitting a few rows behind us - turning out to be a good year for seeing grand old men of the theatre in Sheffield. Mind you, there may not be many more chances. I'm not sure if that will be my last visit to the main house before it closes, or not.

To London tomorrow for the weekend - 2 NPA workshops, a London Book Fair masterclass, some theatre, and meeting up with friends. Culture and mates, what more could a girl want?