tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34293552658055293792024-03-13T04:24:48.236+00:00HiatusMinge takes a breakMingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-844947913276254922007-07-26T15:49:00.000+01:002007-07-26T16:17:13.069+01:00Plans<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmdZao11OYFIEy2LpA4jvoLqXHfArujLpDqSbdwjU-thzqRXZHofHMXfFbqYJaZLnYbJ-l31I6Cv_N3hHVeu9H7mm-4ZiofLUE_Wfx7elmO9JSW9l7C6hPsq59ATncjnf7SG8ZgKPBM4N/s1600-h/mail.jpg"><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmdZao11OYFIEy2LpA4jvoLqXHfArujLpDqSbdwjU-thzqRXZHofHMXfFbqYJaZLnYbJ-l31I6Cv_N3hHVeu9H7mm-4ZiofLUE_Wfx7elmO9JSW9l7C6hPsq59ATncjnf7SG8ZgKPBM4N/s320/mail.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091518785163744770" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1389/906063442_d628767f48.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1389/906063442_d628767f48.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1035/905210707_825fd285ea.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1035/905210707_825fd285ea.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1346/905209333_4be3dd56c1.jpg?v=0"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1346/905209333_4be3dd56c1.jpg?v=0" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I haven't been stood up in years. Actually, not since the very early 1990s as I recall. But I was stood up today.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://moncriefspeaks.blogspot.com/">Brett's</a> pal <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSmdZao11OYFIEy2LpA4jvoLqXHfArujLpDqSbdwjU-thzqRXZHofHMXfFbqYJaZLnYbJ-l31I6Cv_N3hHVeu9H7mm-4ZiofLUE_Wfx7elmO9JSW9l7C6hPsq59ATncjnf7SG8ZgKPBM4N/s1600/mail.jpg">Andy</a> was to meet me at one o'clock in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh">Edinburgh</a> city centre, on Princes Street, right in front of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Monument">Scott Monument</a>, over the road from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenners">Jenners</a>. I waited for half an hour, called him, sent him a text. Nothing. No response. No show.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">And <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=1808">the weather</a>. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Kirkwood">Carol Kirkwood</a>, it would rain all day until three o'clock this afternoon and then dry up. As it happens, it was dry until three o'clock this afternoon. At which point, when I was alighting the bus for a ten minute walk up the road to my house, the heavens opened.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">All the clothes I was wearing are now in the washing machine. No umbrella on this earth could have kept me dry.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I'm depressed.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The day, so far, has gone really badly. We were contacted this morning by the proprietor of a hotel in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co_Kerry">Co Kerry</a>. Cutting a long story short, the lady had booked us in for one night instead of the three we'd requested back in March. The morning then consisted of a frantic search to find accommodation for Ian, the dogs and I for two nights at short notice at the height of the Irish holiday season.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Not an easy task, but nothing insurmountable either. We're now staying with someone whom <a href="http://ucallmemadam.blogspot.com/">Ian</a> describes as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fag_hag">fag hag</a> and mad about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_collie">Border Collies</a>.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">So all is well. Ish.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-5063426442709600842007-07-25T17:01:00.001+01:002007-07-25T17:05:06.218+01:00Bournemouth<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1413/896736052_b2f21e46f4_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1413/896736052_b2f21e46f4_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><br /></div><div>Bourne Free. Memories of <a href="http://bournefree.co.uk/">Pride</a>...</div><div><br /></div>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-19124615417657175872007-07-25T13:40:00.000+01:002007-07-25T13:45:13.594+01:00Limbo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1405/894539429_dab095907e_o.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1405/894539429_dab095907e_o.png" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">I found this passport style photograph of my sister and I whilst in Bournemouth.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">I'm back in Edinburgh now, a week early. The only real reason for my premature return being Ian's inability to get time off from work.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Friday will soon come around. We're off to Ireland.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">I was to meet up with one of <a href="http://moncriefspeaks.blogspot.com/">Brett</a>'s work colleagues this week. However, that looks increasingly unlikely. I've emailed him and called the mobile number I have for him but am yet to get a response.</span></div><div><br /></div>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-54654938936042183952007-07-18T15:44:00.000+01:002007-07-18T15:45:40.692+01:00670I've taken six hundred and seventy photographs while I've been in England. I can't possibly keep them all.Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-20415749879742581692007-07-18T15:43:00.000+01:002007-07-18T15:44:18.865+01:00Bingo<span style="font-family:arial;">I won forty quid at the bingo today!</span>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-62161291416782733252007-07-16T13:30:00.000+01:002007-07-16T13:37:30.310+01:00Pride 2<span style="font-family:arial;">See if you can spot me after clicking <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/image_galleries/bourne_free_2007_gallery.shtml?4">here</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/image_galleries/bourne_free_2007_gallery.shtml?5">here</a> or <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/image_galleries/bourne_free_2007_gallery.shtml?6">here</a>. Or even <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/image_galleries/bourne_free_2007_gallery.shtml?31">here</a>.</span>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-72117190194028986242007-07-16T13:20:00.000+01:002007-07-16T13:30:44.077+01:00Pride<span style="font-family:arial;">I attended <a href="http://www.bournefree.co.uk/">Gay Pride</a> on Saturday. It was fun; lots of drag queens and cute boys dressed as sailors - but not much else.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">I wonder what we've got to march about these days.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">I'm sure there's something.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">It was strange listening to comments from non-friends of Dorothy along the way...</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">"I think they're a bunch of homos."</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">"Which church do you represent?"</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">"Fancy, in front of the children."</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">"What?"</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">The best part of the day was the drag cabaret in the band stand in the gardens. The worst part was being there alone.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">I got there by bus. The driver was Polish. Not sure why now, but I became quite thoughtful on the bus. I think, actually, I was thinking about Hilter. Gays. Poles.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Horribly, 1930s Germany is as real and pertinent to today as it ever was.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-4397235816432347662007-07-10T12:01:00.000+01:002007-07-16T13:27:36.246+01:00Naked<span style="font-family:arial;">Naked. Nudism. Nudist beach.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Yes, I sat on the sand in the altogether. No photographs were taken.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">Ian came down to Bournemouth on a flying visit. As did my brother, his wife and child. Noise. Noise I cannot stand.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;">And Mum was in a dreadful mood. If looks could kill, we'd all be dead.</span>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-49626564540218748182007-06-29T15:49:00.000+01:002007-06-29T15:57:00.426+01:00Bingo<span style="font-family:arial;">My nephew and his girlfriend became parents on 25th June. Their new daughter is called Polly and is adorable.<br /><br />Today, at the bingo, my Mother showed the one hundred and eigthty eight photographs I'd taken to her friends.<br /><br />Two things I can't work out:<br /><br /></span> <ol style="font-family: arial;"> <li>Why would someone want to look at almost two hundred photographs of someone they don't know and have never met?</li> <li>How do people feel no shame in ruining photographs by wiping their greasy fingers all over my Mum's lustrous prints?</li> </ol> <span style="font-family:arial;">Some people make me feel physically sick.</span>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3429355265805529379.post-12755537104698744152007-06-25T13:09:00.000+01:002007-06-25T13:11:27.397+01:00Travelling<span style="font-family: arial;">On the way down to Bournemouth, I heard, on the radio, about the new EU treaty. I simply cannot believe a right wing German leader wants to protect the rights of the individual and a left wing British leader wants to opt out.<br /><br />The world is a topsy turvy place.<br /><br /></span>Mingehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16690119444596624935noreply@blogger.com1