Normal service about to be resumed...
Well – thank goodness it’s all over! Not wanting to compete with Scrooge in the bah-humbug department – and actually, I LOVE Christmas – but the whole holiday just GOES ON TOO LONG….
I had eight people and three dogs in my small cottage for Christmas. Considering the close proximity in which we all had to operate, we did pretty well. No adult confrontations or difficulties, which isn’t bad, considering my son’s ex-wife was meeting his new girlfriend for the first time, and that is clearly a soap opera writer’s idea of total drama heaven. But we disappointed on that front: everyone was pleasant and festive, and no screaming matches or attempted murders took place. The only slight fly in the Yuletide ointment took the form of two teenage girls (grand daughters) – one mouthy and argumentative, one withdrawn and monosyllabic. But even they had moments of smiling and conversation, and they even dragged themselves away from phones/i-Pods etc. to play silly party games with the rest of us.
New Years Eve meant a party in Bradbury, at Iris Johnson’s cottage. It was okay, but I’m not great at New Years Eve. Too many unfulfilled dreams and ambitions to contemplate, I suppose. But Iris handed us all a form to fill in, which I reproduce here. No doubt next year I’ll be horrified to re-read it, but here goes….
Best memory: flying over the snow-covered Rockies
Best music: discovering Michael Bublé
Best film: Bright Star
Best theatre: Douglas Hodge in La Cage Aux Folles
Best book: Letters of Noel Coward
Best radio item: PD James interviewing the BBC’s Director General and demolishing him (Radio 4)
Best place visited: Las Vegas
New best friend: My dog
Best meal: Brancaster mussels at the Black Boys pub
Best tv programme: The Wire
Best purchase: New flatscreen tv!
New Year’s Resolution: No longer to make resolutions – they only lead to self-flagellation by July….
Howard Runciman from The Old Bell, where we had the New Years Eve party last year, had recorded our resolutions for 2009, and read them out to an embarrassed gathering. Apparently mine was "to assassinate all female power ballad singers". I think that must have been brought on by an overdose of the dreadful Alexandra Burke murdering Leonard Cohen’s "Hallelujah" last Christmas. Coupled with the ghastly Leona Lewis bellowing something equally loud, joyless and heartless the previous year. Hooray for Rage Against the Machine!
Anyway, it’s a new year and I will do my best to sound bright and optimistic, as is required at this time…And I will resolve to keep the professional moaning down to a minimum throughout the year. A Happy New Year to all my readers! (If there are any…)
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
