More than a week of 2013 has gone by already. Yet why do I feel as if the world’s moving backwards instead of forwards? It’s as if we’ve gone back beyond the Dark Ages; as if we’re in the year 1013. Belfast is ablaze night after night because two branches of the same religion can’t agree about a flag. I know that’s perhaps over-simplifying and that there are history and politics in play here and not just religion but as someone who’s spiritual but not religious I can’t understand this for the life of me.
Neither can I understand the Afghan police officer, described as a “very religious man” by those who knew him who killed a British soldier and seriously wounded six others yesterday. What kind of religion tells people to massacre others?
Nor the so-called mother who beat her seven year-old son to death for not learning passages of the Koran from memory.
In India we have the appalling case of the young medical student who was gang raped and murdered on a bus. On. A. Bus.
And in Saudi Arabia, the FIFTEEN year-old who locked herself in her bedroom after being married off to a NINETY year-old man.
We are going backwards instead of forwards and I’m getting to the point where I just don’t want to listen to the news or read a paper.
Stop the world I want to get off!
On a lighter note, it’s only 9th January and I’m sick and tired of seeing diets and weightloss plans advertised anywhere and everywhere. I laughed out loud at Patsy Kensit “getting back my confidence” after losing a stone.
DIETS DON’T WORK! If they did, Weight Watchers and all the others would have gone out of business years ago beause everyone would go on a diet once, lose the weight and never have to go on a diet again. But, as Eileen came to realise in What’s Eating Me, unless you address the reasons why you run to the food, you’ll never keep the weight off! So you might lose a stone, or even five or six if you need to, but unless you’re prepared to look at WHY you over-eat you’ll have to starve yourself for the rest of your life to avoid putting it all back on again. And life shouldn’t be about punishing yourself.
And speaking of food – I keep finding myself singing “I did not live until today. How can I live if we are parted?” to my slow cooker. (Sad? Who? Me?) Wow! I am in love with it! Chicken and sweet potato Provencal yesterday. Yum yum! The whole house was full of the most wonderful aroma for most of the day and the end product was like something off Master Chef. And after having a delicious dinner, I went to see Quartet, with the Sister and a Friend. I was a very happy bunny because as it was Cheapo Tuesday, tickets were only a fiver and then because we got Premier Club cards, it reduced yet again to three pounds seventy-five pence! Wonderful value. And what a film! Tom Courtenay is still really quite dishy at seventy-something and the acting from the whole cast is just wonderful. There’s glorious music throughout and the home itself is a star of the film as well. I’ve never liked Billy Connelly as a stand-up comedian – too much swearing for my liking – but what a fine actor he is! Loved it, loved it, loved it! And we’re going back next week with our discount cards to see Les Mis!
Had a text from the Daughter late on Monday night to say that she and the Fella had landed in Mexico safely and that the resort was amazing. I’m glad. She’d looked on the Tui website and while the vast majority of the 300 or so comments were extremely positive, giving the resort four or five stars, there were a couple – notably “Anonymous from Essex” – who slated it and said it wasn’t even a three star yet alone a five star. But Daughter is very happy and having a wonderful holiday which she richly deserves as she works so hard. So that makes me happy, too.
And the creative juices have been flowing, I’m pleased to report, and although I’ve had to stop writing for a day or so to do a little more research, Singles in India is coming along nicely. But the tele’s on the blink and I’m watching my programmes on my laptop, Not very satisfactory as the sound makes my ears hurt. Need to start saving the pennies for a new tele and a new laptop, methinks!
