More scenarios

here I go again with stories that will not see the light of day

a) the 3 days waiting for a wired cheque in San Diego in the Summer of 78. Start with sex with Jan Knowles, then on the street in downtown. Staying at the YMCA, going to religious group, being picked up by a black guy wanting to taste a white man, smoking dope on the street corner with an Australian college lecturer. Finally taking the greyhound to NYC

b) 24 hours in the Educational weekend school where the ideas for a GCSE in sex are being tested on mainly teachers. Effectively a farce with lots of overlapping stories

c) Girl goes to university and falls for the son of her father's former girlfriend. The overlapping emotions as the older characters relive their romance alongside their children's emerging emotions.

inspiring film

I went to see 500 days of summer last night and maybe because I saw it with Louisa, I really enjoyed it. I identified with the male lead. There were some interesting parallels with me
It got me thinking of episodes in my life and commitments.. and whether they stand up as decent stories. One which shows the most promise is my trip to the States when I was 21. I’d just finished my second year at Nottingham. My friendship with Michele was a distant –ish memory. I’d met Jan and knew it had the makings of a very enjoyable friendship, but I was a travellin’ man. I went to Italy after making some money. There I met Dan Jacobs and we explored Naples, visited Roman ruins and generally had a great time. He invited me to Harvard where he was studying. So later that summer I grabbed a cheap flight to New York, caught a Mink Deville concert at the Bottom Line, got a parking ticket and tipped up in Boston. It was a holiday of great characters and better experiences. Jed Corman was one of Dan’s room mates, Jed’s sister, Polly was a couple of years older than me and livelier. I watched ‘soccer’, saw Polly act, attended a tutorial about Yeats, generally intrigued and irritated people in equal measure. Got a lift back to NYC with an actor who was pals with Imelda Staunton ( by strange coincidence she ended up in Nottingham later that year)

When I got back to Nottingham, I met up with Jan and the rest is history. So what changed? What made a difference to my attitude?

It's not obvious in the name

I realise that it's 2 months since I last blogged, well I've been on holiday for some of that time. And one place we visited was Orange in Provence or if we try it in French Auraunje in Provonsse
Which brings me onto something which I find more than a little amusing, well I have an odd sense of humour
The name Orange as in the City has given its name to innumerable institutions because the Duchy of Orange was a title which was taken by some of the more active medieval protagonists. So William of Orange who became William III of England etc. The Netherlands have their House of Orange. In fact so important is the name that the Ulster Orangemen and the Dutch football team use the colour orange extensively. Which is why the origin of the City's name is important... it has nothing to do with the colour or the fruit!
Orange (the City) or in its provencal/languedocien version is Aurenjo takes its name from the roman which in turn takes its name from the celtic auresio which actually is the name of the celtic River god. So forget the colour or the fruit which is sanskrit (narenja) in origin it's a celtic deity. Even funnier given its Ulster connection