November 2009 – MumblingNerd's Mumbling Blog

Sequentiality; everything must be parallel or sequent, or I will spontaneously combust.

The pleasure of lining up and straightening items on your desk; the harmony of a tin full of carefully arranged pencils or the joy of a drawer full of straight cutlery; the serenity induced by a scene of parallel railway lines or the contentment generated by the geometric regularities of buildings.

The delight in rearranging the legs of your sleeping cat from a haphazard pile to an orderly display (not easy, but very satisfying); the joy of methodically stacked shelves in a supermarket and the satisfaction when the coffee table finally lines up equidistantly and parallel with all the other furniture and the walls.

Hmm, just noticed these paragraphs are all agreeably and neatly ranged left (left justified, ragged right or lined up down the left hand edge). Wonderful.

Then there is the excitement of an orderly or consecutive sequence of numbers on a score board; although it’s a little annoying when you come across a good number sequence and it gets altered.

For example, you might be watching tennis, perhaps the French Open, and the display develops a good sequence of numbers, eg 1,2,4/1,2,4 then someone wins and completely ruins it!

Still, you can always find a good, regular, chronological public transport timetable, or the consecutive numbers on a bus or theatre ticket, or when the total on a restaurant bill or check is a logical progression, and… the thrill when the digital clock reads ’22:22’ or especially ’12:34’, and if you’re extremely fortunate ’12:34:56’!

Oh yes, and one of my favourite Tweets ever by @Hipchickadee on Sep 6th, 2009: ‘I have C.D.O. It’s like O.C.D. but all the letters are in alphabetical order as they should be’.

:^)

I put the original version of this description of Nottingham on ‘Where I’ve Been’, well, it’s more like an extended list than a description, which is down to my writing skills, lack of that is, but I love living in Nottingham. It’s an outstanding city.

Nottingham is a vibrant city, with first-class shopping attracting millions of people every year and consistently ranked in the top five UK shopping destinations. There are over 1,300 outlets; independent retailers, designer boutiques and high street favourites, with shoppers spending around £1.8 billion a year.

The city’s famous Old Market Square is the largest public square outside of London and is dominated by the 200 foot high dome of the Council House, the traditional centre for Nottingham City Council.

The left and right stone lions that guard the entrance to the Council House are a popular meeting place for local people.

There are cosy pubs, stylish bars and vibrant nightclubs, making Nottingham the regional capital for nightlife and live music.

The city has a huge variety of live music venues and a pioneering art and culture scene, there are contemporary and classical theatres, the Motorpoint Arena and art galleries such as the Nottingham Contemporary and New Art Exchange.

Nottingham Castle houses a museum and art gallery and has superb grounds with views across the city and over the Trent valley. There are also museums and spectacular parks at Wollaton Hall and Newstead Abbey, along with many other parks and gardens. The city’s Arboretum was the first designated public park in Nottingham and officially opened on 11 May 1852.

There are all sorts of places to visit and things to do. The fascinating Galleries of Justice Museum is based in Nottingham’s old courthouse and gaol, and takes you through the dark and disturbing past of crime and punishment. There is the award winning City of Caves visitor attraction, exploring the amazing sandstone caves beneath Nottingham city centre, the Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard, depicting the social history of Nottingham over the last 300 years and Green’s Windmill, a popular museum and science centre.

Nottingham has award winning and cosmopolitan cuisine; there are more than 300 cafes and restaurants just in the city centre, offering more international food outlets per square mile than anywhere else in the UK.

For anyone interested in sport there are first-rate facilities and entertainment at venues such as Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Forest’s City Ground and County’s Meadow Lane for football, the National Ice Centre, Nottingham Racecourse, the National Water Sports Centre and the Nottingham Tennis Centre.

Nottingham has two of the country’s foremost universities, Nottingham University and Trent University, and has the third largest student population in England, with more than 55,000 students at the universities alone.