I Have Seen the Future of Drag

...and its name is Taylor Mac. Who isn't black. Not really sure why i said he was. But he is incredibly talented nonetheless. He sings, he acts, he tells stories, he is funny, he gets dressed and undressed on stage in front of you. And he plays the ukelele. Very well. If you get a chance to see him then do go. Out with Denise for a drink to the cast bar at the Palace afterwards where we bumped into a star or 2... J x

You Have To Go And See...

...Dublin By Lamplight. Unfortunately that means tonight if you're in Manchester as its the last night but I bet there are still tickets available. If you live in Newcastle (any of my readers in Newcastle?) then its on next week there. What a stunning theatrical experience. I can't remember when I last enjoyed a night at the theatre so much. Prior to that out for a drink to celebrate Pete's recommendation for promotion (well done you). Off the The Lowry again tonight to see Taylor Mac - a 6ft, black American drag queen. Should be interesting... J x

Busy Day

To Christies for 1015 but not seen until 1130 (although the lovely lovely Debbie did make a point of stopping by and chatting beforehand). Didn't see Sean initially as they were pretty backed up and saw Indu instead. She is nice too though so that wasn't a problem. Asked to see Sean anyway and got to see him about 1200. Asked him about Erbutix (I think) which is a drug that is licensed in this country but not permitted by NICE. Apparently its only used in conjunction with radiotherapy and as an alternative to radiotherapy with chemotherapy. Its as effective as the latter but with fewer side effects. Since I had radio and chemo therapies anyway I would have just had fewer side effects with the drug rather than any better chances of survival. So I'm not too bothered (with hindsight that is, I'm sure if you'd have asked me at the time I'd have cared which I was having!) that I didn't get the drug. Also asked whether he knew any back specialists among his consultant chums (since my back isn't getting any better(despite wearing this silly wristband that my mother bought me) and I need to get something sorted. Incidentally my mother has now had unprescribed drugs from abraod sent to me to see if they help. The woman is virtually a dealer... Anyway, Sean didn't know anyone in particular but will ask around for me.

Also arranged to have my tube out since I don't use it anymore. But apparently there is a waiting list of 8 weeks for this to happen. No idea why since all they do is cut the tube, throw away what's left on the outside, put a dressing on the hole and allow nature to takes its course with what's left on the inside. Watch this space (or perhaps don't...!).

Saw the hospital dentist in the afternoon to get my stents. These are just covers for my teeth which I need to wear for 20 minutes a day with a fluoride gel in them to strengthen my teeth which are at risk because of my dry mouth (no saliva). Got to see him again in 3 months to check how I'm getting on.

Then went to drop off a prescription request at the GPs and then to see my designers. Cleared up a few misunderstandings about what I want to do to the flat. They're going to call round next Thursday so we can have a further chat.

Then went to meet Denise and Cath for a drink in Dimitris. Phew. I'm exhausteed just typing all this! Got an appointment at the eye hospital this afternoon just to check that my "eyelash dandruff" has cleared up. And then its the weekend. I'll be glad of the rest. J x

P.S. Nanny, if you're reading this can you let me know what the book club blog is called again please? I seem to have mislaid it!

Turfed Out

Back in Manchester a day early after being thrown out by my parents. Honestly, you go down to visit, drive your father hither and thither, do all the hoovering (upstairs and downstairs!) and then they throw you out on the stret and say never darken our doorway again. OK, so I'm being a little over-dramatic here. And maybe it had something to do with the fact that the weather forecaast for tomorrow is so horrendous that it would have been dangerous driving home. But honestly! Thrown out! (actually I think the nearnesss of the Eurovision Song Contest on telly tonight had more to do with it that the weather but they'll never admit that).

Anyway, you'll be glad to know that The Foot is looking good and much less painful than it was. The house is now clean (well at least the carpets are...). And we're not buying a new car. Went to have a look at the new Volvo C30 but Mum couldn't get out of the back of it without a hoist so its a non-starter. Also went looking at lap tops in PC World. What a waste of time that was. Some pre-teen girl with greasy ginger hair attemptedd to tell us about lap tops but patently knew less than I did and did her cause no good whatsoever. I certainly won't be shopping there again.


And that's about all the news I think. Seeing Sean on Thursday and back to the eye hospital on Friday. And busy busy busy in work as per. Had a lovely card from Linda (in Crawley). Thank you Linda. And that's yer lot for now. Hope the Harvey Nicks book group went OK and look forward to hearing what we're doing next (have nearly finished Primo Levi - what a fantastic book). J x

Off Again

Another busy weekend. Gardening Saturday morning followed by Jekyll & Hyde the (amateur) musical on Saturday night. What a fantastic show! Had been dreading it because, you know, it was amateur and it was one of my not favourite musicals. But what a great job the company had done. The sets were really good and professional looking (hardly any wobble), the principal singers had great voices and the tunes weren't as bad as I remembered them. Thouroughly enjoyed myself. Also got to see loads of people I hadn't seen for ages. Sunday was a brief trip to the gym with Denise followed by B & Q (hurrah, another bank holiday and another B & Q trip) plus a visit to some god-forsaken furniture store with some of the worst sofas ever created (if Sue Poulton is reading this they were even worse than the horse-head sofas!). Monday was housework (boo) followed by a drink with, you guessed it, Ms Drury at, you guessed it, Dimitris. Then back to work Tuesday for a very very busy day. Off to Swansea this morning and back to Manchester on Sunday. The Foot is progressing well and is being seen by the nurse this morning. Watch this space for an update. The tragedy of this timing of this visit to Swansea is that a) I get to miss the book group discussing The Devil Wears Prada in Harvey Nichols and b) the fact that Eurovision night will be spent in Swansea rather than at some fabulous party thrown by my friend Cath. Greater love hath no man than that he give up a Eurovisin party to spend time with the Aged Ps! Toodle pip for now. J x

Goodbye Caroline

Caroline Bryceson was a woman I worked with in Crawley office and one of the nicest people I ever met. She died this week from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. The world is a poorer place without her. RIP sweetie. J x

Satyagraha - I Kid You Not

That is the name of the opera I saw last night (I added the "I kid you not" bit). Its sanskrit for (I think) nonviolence. There is a very interesting little piece in the programme notes on nonviolence and the fact that there is no word in any language (sanskrit apart apparently) for nonviolence. Discuss (and the answer, by the way, is not "peace" or some such since pacifism apparently is the act of not doing anything whereas nonviolence is an active noun like "war").

Anyway, the whole opera was in sanskrit and was about Ghandi's time in South Africa. God knows how the performers learned their lines. And for all we knew they didn't and just made it up as they went along. Who was there to tell them if they used the subjunctive rather than the pluperfect? I probably couldn't correct you in English on that point though...

Anyway, the opera was superb. The staging was like nothing else you'll see on a stage (apart from the Lion King funnily enough since there was a heavy use of puppets). The Lion King of course doesn't have the music of Philip Glass but rather that of Elton John. Trust me, there's no comparison. Although having said that the Lion King does include quite a bit that is sung in an African language although I'm not sure which one. Anyway, they're completely different. Satyagraha as I said is like nothing else you'll ever see or hear. The music is hypnotic and in places reminiscent of Laurie Andersen and O Superman (for those of you that remember that far back) and in fact the programme notes mention that Philip Glass worked with Ms Andersen. And Satyagraha was written in 1980.

It was also very long - over 3 hours although it was broken down into 3 Acts with 2 intervals. Although the staging to a large extent supported the "action" on stage neither I nor my Uncle nor my Aunt quite worked out the significance of the big ball of sellotape in Act 3. The chap playing Ghandi had a gorgeous voice. And there was one rather startling point where it appeared as though Brunhilde had blundered in from a Wagner opera being staged down the street but she didn't last long.

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

J x