I am, since you ask, doing splendidly at the moment. My beleaguered body must be almost free of chemo drugs by now, and the good doctor’s news about my legs has had an astonishing effect. I still use a walking stick (a new metallic purple one, the silver bling model having been left in Newcastle), but I feel I could walk unaided once I regain my confidence, which is – forgive the pun – a real step forward.
The weather is a letdown though. There are lots of pluses to living next to the sea, but one major negative is the sea fret, a dense, chilly mist that swirls in from the sea under certain conditions, which I must Google. Anyway, it’s been fretting for three days now, which means that while the rest of the country is sweating and sweltering, we shore-dwellers are subjected to a booming foghorn and can barely make out the trees at the bottom of the garden.
Plenty of time for lady of leezure activities like watching DVDs. My total fave at the moment is Notes on a Scandal, in which Judi Dench plays a blinder as a close-to-retirement teacher who stumbles on a colleague’s indiscretion and emerges as a sinister and vindictive harridan. I loved the novel by Zoe Heller, and with a screenplay by Patrick Marber, and Dame Judi, Cate Blanchett and master of loucheness Bill Nighy acting their socks off, what’s not to like?
I’m determined not to get hooked on Big Brother, as I have in previous series, though from the bits I’ve dipped into, I’m not impressed by that Charley character whose default mode seems to be a permanent state of aggressive finger-jabbing. She’s a perfect example of a BOBFOC: Body Off Baywatch, Face Off Crimewatch, and her self-absorption and lack of empathy mean she’ll never win, but I hope she won’t be evicted early either. But I won’t get hooked, remember? Life’s too short.
Speaking of which, people have reacted to my life-expectancy prognosis in different ways, possibly the most pragmatic being, ‘So let me get this straight. We buy you Christmas cards as usual, but hang fire on the birthday cards?’ As an aide memoire it's hard to beat!
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6 comments:
You never cease to amaze me girl! have you chosen "always look on the bright side"? I'll promise to sing it for you and that will give you a few more months, just trying to avoid it. Me falsetto is not what it was.
Take care me ducks, love from Helen
Body off Baywatch, Face of Crimewatch. It's utterly chavstastic! Great Blog Chrissie. Keep it up - I need something interesting to read, the Guardian can be so worthy.
Lots of Love
Richard (Bliss)
Hi Chrissie,
Lovely way to catch up with what's going on and as always a really terrific and funny read. The planning your funeral music reminded me of Rowena - are you being influenced by her choices (!)? Speaking of Rowena, I gave her (and you) a mention on Open Book the other week when I was asked to talk about Geordie teenagers in fiction and their general misbehaviour.. It was all inspired by this new book Apples by Richard Milward a young guy from Middlesbrough - I think you'd like the book - let me know if you'd like me to send you a copy - if anything it will help to mediate your Big Brother viewing habits! We're trying not to get sucked in in the office... haven't yet but it's still early days as they say.. Lots and lots of love from me and all the girls in the NWN office - Clairexxx
If we're talking funeral music, Chrissie, I hope there's going to be some Dusty in there. I so loved the story you performed the night we did It Started With A Song. I was reminded of it last year at York Lesbian Arts Festival when we found ourselves drawn into a fabulous group conversation which touched on everything from the semiotics of pubic hair to Dusty's favourite flower. Turned out, by one of those bizarre coincidences, that our group of wildly assorted women included two of Dusty's exes; I couldn't help thinking of your story and of course, it being you, I couldn't keep the smile off my face.
Lovely to see you in Scarborough, chuck. And thinking of you.
xxx
Hi Chrissie, I'm trying again because I don't really know how to work this bloody thing.
Dave from over the street is coming up the garden path right now to make contact between us. Aren't we the lucky ones? Me and Paul are thinking of you and send our love. So does Sam. And you know how big and sexy he is.
Love Barry
Hi Chrissie,
all our family hols were a week in Scarborough, oh the glamour of fish and chips in the dark, Peaseholm Park, and model ships sinking each other in the lake, we made our own entertainment in them days I tell yer. And posters about someone called Max Jaffa, as if it could be real. Hope you can see through the fog now pet, thinking of you, (and loving the bobfoc acronym), your critiquing chum Valerie xxxx
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