Roland Garros Predictions

I don't usually make my Grand Slam predictions this early in the tournament. I'm fleetingly more accurate around the last sixteen, but as I just packed my Lacoste gear in preparation for heading to Paris for the tennis tomorrow, I'll give it an early go.

Continuing with my trend of not choosing Federer to win, because it's just too easy of a prediction. But I truly don't think he'll crack the clay this year - the tournament is Nadal's to lose, so I'm backing him. Watch out for Baghdatis and Canas though, they're both playing well.

As for the women, I think Justine Henin will defend her title (which is too bad, simply because I dislike her). If Sharapova wasn't still dealing with her injured shoulder, she'd be in with a good chance, but I think she'll have a better tournament at Wimbledon. Dark horse is Serena Williams; she could surprise here at the French Open...again. Will be smelling the clay on Saturday.

Things I Currently Love v.5

• This past Friday night was all about Jack Daniels and dancing and cheap Chinese food. It was a much needed break from work monotony and I managed to allow myself a full day of recovery (because I'm old now, apparently) without feeling guilty about all the work I should have been doing instead. My new favourite quote was also born during this night out when my good friend said, "Sarah, most people find our personalities abhorrent. I choose to celebrate them."

• At the British Library, there are staff members who walk up and down the aisles of desks checking for banned materials or improper use of the collections. I am currently writing about fetishism and photography, so my desk was covered in books and photographs of pornography. Every time a staff member walked by my desk, they sloooowed down. Snicker.

• I think I was the last person on earth to see The Lives of Others. I'm not averse to seeing films by myself in the theatre, I do it all the time. But I kind of wanted a night out with wine and a good flick and interesting conversation. What to do? Ask who wanted to see it on my Facebook status, of course. I couldn't stop laughing that I was arranging my social life via Facebook - what a terrible cliché. But alas, it worked and the film (as you can see from the sidebar) was tremendous.

• It finally feels like summer is gearing up! I'm booking tickets to summer theatre runs, soon it will be time for tennis and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, fresh strawberries will be at the Borough Market and fruit pies will be offered in the bakery, and it will be time for Pimms on the patio.

Cygnets in the City

How about some cuteness today? I took this video a couple of days ago as I walking through Hyde Park, on my way home from the library. After a day of filling my head with academic nonsense, spotting these cygnets with very protective parents (only slight alarm when mum came out of the water towards me...have you ever seen a swan attack?) was such a treat.

Reading Stack

Boing Boing pointed out this cool Flickr group called Reading Stack. Here's my first one.

Place: Bedside table in Toronto loft

Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje. New book by my favourite writer. Reading it very slowly.
Lonely Planet Cambodia. Researching for potential trip. Travel reading excites me, but also makes me sleepy, and isn't a huge intellectual investment. Great for bedtime reading.
Complete Plays by Sarah Kane. I saw Crave over the weekend and was re-reading it before the performance.
On Photography by Susan Sontag. Still reading it and using her ideas for my thesis.
Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill. I picked this up a couple of days before I left London - it was my transatlantic airplane reading. Short stories are good for this.
Mothers and Sons by Colm Toibin. A signed copy was waiting for me in my loft when I walked in from the airport. A gift from a friend. Except that it is signed to both of us, so it's a shared custody kind of situation.

The Best Of Both Surfaces

They called it The Battle of Surfaces. A tennis court made of half grass and half clay to host the world's best grass courter and clay courter. It was played today with Nadal just beating Federer, in what looked like a very cool match.

I just love that this was played - it's one of those moments where someone must have thought: Wouldn't it be cool if we did this? And then this fun concept was actually turned into reality. It has also heightened my excitement for this summer's tennis. For the first time I'll be playing my own version of Battle of the Surfaces, as I'm attending both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Such different atmospheres at these tournaments - it will be interesting to do them just weeks apart. Predictions to come, as usual.