Meetings Galore

[Anne Brooke]

Groan. The time of year has rolled round once again for getting my car MOT & service done – as I have to renew my tax disc by the end of June. Honestly, I have no idea why they give you only a bare two weeks to get this sorted out – don’t they know people have busy lives and have to book things months ahead just in order to fit them in these days?? Last year, we really pushed it to the wire. And some. Anyway, Lord H has nobly said he’d book the service etc at a garage near him, so I’m hoping it will be done fairly soon. And at the same time he can add huge numbers of Husband Points to his already pretty full slate. Hurrah!
Not much going on at work this morning really, though I did have a nice walk around campus at lunchtime. And I’ve even remembered to post a birthday present to a friend in time for their birthday next week. Have cheated once more though, and simply given him a copy of A Stranger’s Table (http://www.poetrymonthly.com), as I’d really like to shift more copies before the autumn is upon us, with or without filthy lucre changing hands. Sigh! I must make a mental note that for my next poetry collection (anticipated c2009, I think), I will have to make a big splash of donating all the proceeds to charity; it’s what I did for my 2004 poetry collection (Tidal) and that sold like the proverbial hot-cakes. People are evidently happy to pay £4 to a good cause, but not for good poetry. Ah well. A lesson for us all indeed.

Oh and it looks like our new Mentoring Handbook is ready to print. Hurrah! It’s been a heck of a long time coming, but will be worth it, I think, for next year’s intake of mentors. And it looks so good too – Carol & I are quite proud of our A5 binding expertise – and in colour too, hurrah!

This afternoon, we had the Student Affairs Committee, so I had to put my secretarial hat on and look efficient. Ho ho. Nice to have a meeting that isn’t cancelled before I can get there for once. Suspect it’s the June flurry of meetings before everyone flees to the hills for July and August. Ah well, welcome to the academic life.

Tonight, we have a Goldenford (http://www.goldenford.co.uk) meeting, which I shall again have to minute. To be honest, I hope it won’t go on too long, even though I know next week sees the launch of Jay Margrave’s marvellous historical thriller, The Gawain Quest – which is hot hot hot, and you must at least check it out, preferably buy it – just click on the Goldenford URL above for more information. Anyway, I’d like to get back home fairly early, as my next real night in is Friday, and it’s therefore a long, hard social trawl to the weekend. God, but I love being at home …

And one of my old uni friends has emailed me to say that the reason why two others of the old group haven't answered my not-so-recent-now communication about how things have been over the last year is that they didn't know how to respond to someone with depression. Well, bollocks to that, I say. Large ones. It ain't no effing excuse, m'dears. If someone had been as honest and open, and put myself as much on the line, with me as I'd been with them, even if I didn't have a bloody, bollocky, fucking clue how to respond, I would have least have tried. Either by email, phone or letter. As far as I'm concerned, they can take their so-called "friendship" and stuff it up their arses. Where it obviously belongs. Because I'm just not interested in that kind of friendship. At all. Lordy, lordy but when did things get to be so shallow? So. I have now crossed out their names from my address books, and we all move on. Deep breath, eh ...

Today’s nice things:

1. Lunchtime walk
2. Being efficient with birthday presents
3. Lord H’s husband points!

Anne Brooke
http://www.annebrooke.com
http://www.pinkchampagneandapplejuice.com