annanotbob2's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lucky lucky lucky It's been a funny old day. Usually Mondays are busy with acupuncture and writing group but acupuncture is tomorrow this week and writing group is off for the school Easter holidays, leaving me at too much of a loose end to even call anyone. I mooched about for ages, then listened to the recording of my last therapy session which made me feel worse as it was mostly me talking about the big episode of awfulness that brought me into the world of psychiatric services. However, I knew I'd feel worse if I let another day go by without leaving the house, so set off with my little dog to the patch of woodland where I often go with M. It's on the edge of a village and parking is by a tiny industrial estate. As I pulled in I noticed that one of the units had a big sign saying Auto Glazing, so worth asking if they could fix the passenger window that's jammed open, covered with polythene and parcel tape, making visibility well dodgy. Probably the mechanism's gone, likely to be about £200, price of VW parts. Ah well, I can't spend that but thanks anyway. Bring it up, let me have a look. So I do and he starts ripping all the plastic off, making me panic about how cold I'll be on the drive home, then he grabs two big suction pads linked together with a handle, and pulls the window closed! Amazing! No charge, just big grins and thanks. It always pays to be polite and friendly, though I don't do it with that in mind, it's just how I seem to go without thinking about it. That perked me right up - I'd been tempted not to drive that far but stuck to the plan and then this happened and hooray I don't have to find another car just yet, I can keep on till the next disaster. Though I should probably get a car while I have a bit of extra cash as I came home and bought tickets for me and Daughter to go to three different shows at the open air theatre this summer. One stand up comedy and two Shakespeare. Othello, which is the one 'big' text that I just don't know - I mean I know the gist of it and the characters' names - how do I know that much about a play I've never seen or read? Maybe because there's been controversy about white actors playing Othello, and Desdemona is a pretty amazing, memorable name. Then Julius Caesar, which I taught to lower set Year 9s back in the day. Not very bright fourteen year olds. In the end we agreed it's fantastic up to Mark Anthony's big speech 'I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him' and then it goes downhill. I always imagine Shakespeare writing for a Queen Elizabeth that's like Queenie in Blackadder; he thinks a conspiracy to get rid of her would be a brilliant idea, which he can't state clearly, but it sneaks through in the language - the earlier parts being chock-a-block with delicious, awesome phrases. I took the class to see the worst Shakespeare production ever, just dreary and flat - it was a set text for the NCTs so all kinds of versions were touring and this was the one that came near us. They loved it! Honestly, to see their usually sullen faces all lit up with the thrill of going to an actual theatre (first time for all of them) and seeing fucking Shakespeare and knowing what it was about, brilliant. Makes me wish I could be a teacher again. Also the woods were lush - awash with white wood anemones, loads of primroses still, a flush of green on the branches and the first bluebells just unfurling. And June Brown died, she who played Dot Cotton all those years in Eastenders. I don't feel sad when someone dies aged 95, especially when they smoked their way to the end, setting ridiculous hopes for some of us (once) keen smokers, but I salute her and wish her good speed on the next part of her journey. Or not, whatever - that just flew out of my fingers on the keyboard though I have no idea if I believe it. I used to be scared that I was like her character, who had a nasty son who stole and hit and lied and cheated but she always said he was a good boy really. There was an interview with her shown on TV tonight where she said that she was very close to the actor who played her son. After he left Eastenders he toured a lot with stage shows and would often get someone to take a photo of him outside a launderette (her character worked in one on the show) and send it to her with a message, in character as the baddie. Was that me with Son, I used to wonder, when he was going off the rails? How to hold out hope and belief in better choices without enabling the bad ones? But I wasn't Dot and Son isn't Nick and he walked away from All That. 1:04 a.m. - 05.04.22 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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