The benefits of tiring one's self out

knackered [from knacker*] adj (British slang):
tired, dead tired, worn out, “I’m bloody knackered”, also broken beyond repair, “that car’s knackered”

A handy word indeed. Commuting to Paris everyday in overcrowded tin cans and sitting for 8 hours in front of a PC trying to cram a lot of knowledge into my little brain in a short time is taking its toll, but I won't bore you with the state of things (i.e. moi) here.
The good side to all of this is that I'm learning a lot (Adobe Illustrator this week, yay!!), and that I have an hour all to myself at lunch time to wander around Paris! I don't spend much of the time eating either- I just grab a sandwich or something and walk around shopping or window shopping. I haven't done this in years and I'd forgotten how many people do this on their lunch break. Okay, it's bad for digestion and I can hear you say: "no wonder she's too tired to update her blog these days!", but it's a rare treat for me to have an hour to myself in Paris. No kids, and nobody saying 'but I don't wanna go here or there' :o) Yesterday I went here and then I went back to one of the Japanese book shops I mentioned the other day, and bought this little Wachifield book! I fell in love with Akiko Ikeda's wonderful illustrations when I visited Japan about 12 years ago. I still have this Wachifield illustration of Dayan cat waiting with his suitcase in poster form on my bedroom wall. (I wish I now that I had bought other Wachifield things while I was there.) My poster reminds me of my trip and of all the adventurous cats I used to share my life with. This image is the first page of a neat little Flash animation presentation of the wonderful world of Wachifield by the way. Watch it!

*knacker n : buyer of old horses for slaughter.