Looking After Myself
19 October
I've been off work the past couple of days with some sort of fluey, head cold
type virus that has stripped me of most of my energy.
I know I have a tendency to look for the symbolic in everything. However, it
does strike me as interesting that this is exactly the same time as last year
when I had bought the house but couldn't yet move into it. It's like I've been
catching up on a bit of residency. One thing I can say is that I have enjoyed
being here on my own. And that's a useful thing to be able to say about your home.
I did a little work out in the back garden to tidy things up before the winter.
The mild weather prevails and so it's a good time for moving things around and
thinning things out. I also witnessed flights of dozens of geese passing
overhead, high and honking, making for their winter stop-over at Martin Meer,
just north of Southport.
One thing that I am sure I don't have though is anthrax poisoning, despite the
fact that the media would have us believe that the nation is in the grip of a
medical panic. Cynically, when you think about it, the perpetrators have been
very clever about this. They targeted a radio station and a newspaper in the
first instance. So, people in the news media are concerned and upset. This then
gets translated in a general nationwide scare.
I'm also not entirely sure that this is linked with Taleban terrorism either.
There seems to be too much of a coincidence wherein government sources are
warning of biological attacks, possibly using anthrax, and then, lo and behold,
three days later it happens. It's the same with the airline redundancies. All
too quick. Those lay-offs were going to happen anyway. 11 September became a
convenient excuse.
I've also been relaxing by listening to Bernard Cornwell's series of novels
about the Arthur legend (The Winter King, Enemy of God and
Excalibur). I last listened to these in February
1998 and I can say that I found them even more moving this time round. And
hats off to the narrator, Tim Pigott-Smith, whose performance is just
outstanding. By contrast, the latest novel, Harlequin, which I'm reading
in book form is good but much less well worked out.
In fact I've been buying a number of books recently. I visited
the bookshop in Crosby. I was taken by the youngman behind the counter who was
wearing a skimpy teeshirt which emphasised his pectoral development and rose to
reveal the waistband of his Calvin Klein Y fronts. I took these in at a glance but
was more struck by the legend on the teeshirt which went I <heart>
Prot (rhymes with goat).
So I asked. And was treated to a friendly disquisition concerning Gene Brewer's
novel K-Pax of which Prot is the hero. How nice it was to talk with
someone who knew their stock. So instead of spending a few quid on an audiobook,
I ended up spending a reasonable amount on a lot more - now that's marketing for you.
I also ended up buying books as a result of watching the film
Chocolat. I can honestly say that this has become one of my favourite films
of the year so far. I just loved the depth of humanity. And again, as I mentioned
when I was listening to The Barchester Chronicles by Anthony Trollope
earlier in the year, I love the fact that there
are no really bad characters - just ones who are mistaken or poorly advised.
And I like the fact that some things work out happily. And some things don't.
And I liked Johnny Depp's chest.
I should also note that I've seen The Gift which was a competent thriller
chiller...
... and Series 7: The Contenders which is a spoof of reality contest
games shows in which people have to kill each other to survive but which is too
like the original to feel funny.
Wednesday night Phil came to call
and that was a most pleasant interlude even if I did run out of energy by 9pm.
And shortly I'm off down to Londinium to see my beloved
Rossi for some well-earned tlc.
Finally...
If Muffin the Mule was the gigglesome sexual offense of my teenage years,
does anyone these days Bob the Builder? Similarly, I ask myself, should
I only ever employ Irish builders because I enjoy the crack so much.
