26th September 2005
Hi all,
When Lorraine and I finished decorating what will soon become a nursery we had the clear-up to contend with. Among these was a pile of books that have been earmarked to go to charity shops (probably the PDSA shop in Wishaw - hopefully my Mum is proud of me). I thought it would be interesting to take a look at a few of them:
Work Your Way Around the World by Susan Griffith
When I was young and sensible I had an idea to enjoy my youth, work my way around some more interesting countries and make the most of the freedom I had.
However instead of finding myself in the likes of America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand I ended up moving to Scotland. Instead of South California, Canberra, Calgary and Christchurch I moved to just outside of Carluke. Instead of sampling various sandy beaches and snowy slopes I've had to master side-stepping broken Buckfast bottles on the streets - happy days!
Needless to say I hadn't thought about this in years, and given the likely possibility of me ever doing this (i.e. slim or none) it is time for it to go. I don't see there being much likelihood of a follow-up being released called "Work Your Way Around The World With Your Family" and promoted as, "How to fit a baby's cot in your hand luggage!" I don't think they'll be much demand for that.
On the bright side one family I know has just packed up and moved to the States, so it can be done. Maybe one day I will be a Braves season-ticket holder (don't tell Lorraine, she'll shake her head so hard she'll hurt her neck).
The Complete Works of Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
One of my Mum's purchases that she thought I would find useful. Fact is I've never opened it. I tend to enjoy things as they are today, and that includes reading and the English language.
While I admit I enjoyed reading "Hamlet" for my A level English the disturbingly dull "Romeo and Juliet" experience from GCSE English still rankles. The general sense of dissatisfaction from a class full of fourteen year-olds led to our teacher (Miss Fisher, to whom I owe a great deal) leading us to vote.
"Right," she said. "Who wants to read Romeo and Juliet and pass GCSE English?" Cue most of the class putting their hands up. "Who doesn't want to read it and fail?" Only a few hands went up, including one of a good friend of mine. At the end of the day though given the choice of success or happiness most people chose success. I expect it is the choice most people would make. Instead though I admired the friend who went with the courage of his convictions.
(And the book was dull, I don't care what anyone says.)
The Serial Killers - A Study in the Psychology of Violence by Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman
Yikes, what a cheerful teenager I must have been! I don't know what my fascination was with serial killers that I wanted to read a serious book about them. What I would say is I've known people who have inferred, "I've got something in common with (famous criminal), and I don't want to be like them."
I haven't picked this book up for years, and don't think I will again if truth be told. If I feel the need to find out the history of a case now I'll check the internet, which provides a greater amount of information from a wider range of sources (the same as any other topic really).
On a more cheerful note one of the things which fell out of the book was a Volume One bookmark. Volume One was probably the major bookshop in Portsmouth when I was a teenager. It had a ground floor and first floor, a larger than usual sports section, an astounding amount of videos and they were happy to order items for you. I loved that place. Now of course I can take a walk in my lunch hour to Borders on Buchanan Street and wade through five floors of books, magazines, cds, dvds. If Volume One was next door I'd probably only go in every once in a while for a change, more's the pity.
Ally McBeal - The Official Guide by Tim Appelo
For the life of me I can't remember how I got hold of this book, I'm pretty sure it was given to me.
Two things appealed to me about the show at first. Firstly if you were single it seemed to perfectly capture how miserable life could be at times. Secondly during the first series Calista Flockhart was cute. The photo on the cover of the book is evidence of this.
By the time the second series came out Flockhart was frighteningly thin and I was with Lorraine, so the "we understand how single people feel" aspect wasn't relevant to me any longer. The comedy wasn't funny enough and there wasn't really enough of a hook to make it a must-watch show. I didn't really notice when the show drew to a close.
What I will say is that I don't think any other series has ever used music so cleverly. It always seemed to be a perfect choice for the episode in question. And as Bruce Forsyth would surely say about Vonda Shepherd, "Didn't she do well?" (Don't mention the Christmas album, that's a sore point with me.)
Until the next clear-out...
Have a good week!
Tony
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