Wednesday

Proofreading is a big part of my job. It's something I've always had a bit of an aptitude for - it probably started when I used to get 10/10 on primary school spelling tests, then get furious with myself if I ever got 9/10. It comes naturally to people who get angry with themselves for being wrong, but more so to people, like me, who get more angry when other people are wrong. I have always had a bit of a passion for correcting people - which does my relationship with K no favours whatsoever, especially when she plays fast and loose with your and you're - as well as, in my head, helping people to be correct. At uni, I became the person who would happily read your essay for you - contentedly making corrections to spelling, grammar, syntax and possibly even suggesting a completely different word you might like to have used instead of the one you did. My CV is impeccable - from a form point of view - and I believe my ability to correctly and fluently compose a letter has got me most of the jobs I've ever had.

It certainly got me this one, as did passing the interview exam, which involved proofreading a long list of blurbs for upcoming books - removing the Americanisms and correcting the rushed fluffs. It can be very satisfying, completing a whole catalogue full of flawless copy; but fuck me is it tedious.

This week, you might be able to tell, has mostly involved proofing catalogues. We have to write these things very quickly in the first instance meaning that, while we're all very capable writers, there are inevitably typos and factual inaccuracies. Today, I manage to get around two thirds of the way through a catalogue containing blurbs for around 250 books. It's mind-numbing, and looking down at the pages in an increasingly hot office it's so, so tempting to drift off to sleep. If I need distraction, I can spend a couple of minutes scraping fluff and bits of Monster Munch out of my keyboard. But that just delays the drudgery of proofing. I think it's safe to say I love it (because I'm fucking great at it) and hate it with comparable fervour.

Eventually, though, it's time to go home - and I rush back to grab a quick dinner before getting on the tube and heading to Putney to record a Football Basement podcast. It's been ages since we did one, and since Seb - the Basementer who happens to work for ITV Sport - is jammily off to South Africa on Saturday, we thought it best to squeeze in a World Cup preview now.

As it turns out, only four of us are able to make it - but this makes for a nice compact chat as we go through the recently announced 23-man England squad and pick out our favourites for the tournament. We also spend a long time getting ourselves (over)excited about the World Cup in general, and the recording time runs to well over 90 minutes. It could be a bit of a bastard to edit, but heading home at around 10.30 I'm glad we did it and completely enthused about the tournament. Only 9 days to go...