Famous people I have (almost) known..

I have taken so long reading other people's Blogs today that I feel rather depleted. It's amazing - there is so much talent out there, and it's so varied. People's lives are so very interesting and so very different. 'Umble is 'ow I feel.

Today I didn't see Daughter as I would normally, because the Boyfriend stayed over. Grandson went to Nursery and they went into town to do some Christmas shopping, which is something I can't begin to think about yet. I know it's not far away, but until the Flat Sale is further forward and we have some dates, I can't seem to concentrate on anything else. I usually get into the Christmas spirit quite early, because I can visualize our family festivities, and I love the whole Christmas thing. This year I'm not quite sure what we'll be doing, or even where we will be.
(I guess I'll also have to get used to not seeing Daughter most days, because she just won't be here.) It's going to be a last-minute Christmas, and a very different New Year.

Two pieces of very sad and bad news last week. My lovely BBF's lovely Mother died last Thursday, which was expected, but was nevertheless dreadfully sad. She was the dearest lady - a lovely Mum who adored her (grown-up) children and was always there
for them. I can't quite believe it, so can imagine how hopeless it is for my BBF. We sat at the Meeting Place yesterday afternoon with cups of tea, just talking and trying to come to terms with it all. We sat and sat, until we were frozen and the sun was setting. It still didn't seem any more acceptable..

The other bad news came from an old friend who is gay and lives in London. He married his partner last year and they have been very happy, but he has now had not one, but two Brain Tumours diagnosed. Apparently they are too deep to operate, so he is going to have chemotherapy to try and shrink them. He is going into Guy's Hospital for three weeks, and I'm sure it will be a difficult and painful time for them both. I will go and visit him - I know how awful it is when people disappear into the woodwork - but will probably wait until we see how he responds to the treatment. I was lucky in that my tumour was operable, and that I didn't have to have chemo. (Lucky!) Everything is relative, and when he needs me, I'll be there.

It seems that Kenneth Clarke (does he have an 'e'?) agrees with me that the blame for our present economical ills rests firmly at Golden Brown's door, since he was so recently Chancellor of the Exchequer. On the radio yesterday morning, he also agreed that too much information about all of us is being collected by the Government. Graham Le Saux (an intelligent footballer) put it very succinctly "It's a Trust issue. We (the British people) are losing Trust in the Government." This issue, that the Government is collecting more and more information about us, and sadly can't be trusted to keep that information safe, is something that should concern us all. What is the Inland Revenue doing with all that data anyway? (Apart from losing it.) I dread to think.

Dear old Terry Wogan set me off down memory lane again this morning, when he mentioned Brut and 'Enry Cooper. In my previous existence as a Copywriter, one of the jobs I had was with Faberge's London Agency. Every year they held a great star-studded Jamboree where all their famous "Directors" came to publicise and support Faberge. As well as Henry Cooper, who was charming, Cary Grant was there. I had always adored Cary Grant - or his image on screen, but was in for a shock. He looked the part, of course, in fact he was completely breathtaking in the flesh. But he was so rude and obnoxious to the 'workers' (and so superficially charming to the VIPs), that we all kept our distance. Perhaps that was what he wanted, but all the other glittering stars were just lovely to us minions. As my Mum used to say, breeding will out..