Morning everyone

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Wed, 2005-10-05 09:40

Morning everyone

I haven't just got up, honest, I've been up for ages doing housework.
Anyway, I was standing at the sink washing the dishes earlier, and daydreaming as you do. (Oh the joys of a mundane life where you can let the mind freely wander), when I started thinking about how appearances can be so deceptive. Dont judge a book by it's cover and all that, and it made me think of an incident a few weeks ago.

We'd gone to the Goodwood Revival on the motorbike, (for those of you who don't know about this, it's a motor racing circuit and each year they have a revival of the old days, where lots of people dress up in 40's and 50's clothes, and all the vehicles are of the same era.)

Well, my daughter collects autographs, and she also loves Mr Bean, so when I saw Rowan Atkinson, I thought I'd get his autograph for her. I couldn't get near him because all these people were pushing in front of me (I'm only little). He was surrounded by all these well dressed people in their 40's clothes, but I managed to squeeze in beside him.
All these 'posh' people were really rude, just shoving bits of paper under his nose to sign, then little me in my bike leathers said, "Mr Atkinson, may I have your autograph please". He happily obliged, and I don't know who was more suprised, him or the 'posh' people , at my politeness.

So the well dressed people were acting like savages, and the biker was really polite. It did make me smile, and yes never judge a book......

Wed, 2005-10-05 10:01

pepsoid

Reminds me of the days when ABC was full of such anecdotes... Listen to me, sounding like I've been here for years! I particular remember an ongoing thread about wasps nest and the like, a few months ago... Now who started that'un then...?? In ref to your post, Kat, you're so right! Although, taking the phrase literally (pardon the pun), I personally think the cover of an actual book does often say a lot about its contents - particularly, for example, those of Robert Rankin & similar... But maybe that's just me... "P"

The All New Pepsoid the Second!

Wed, 2005-10-05 10:26

Katerina

I agree to a degree..? All book covers say a bit about what's in them, but some give away more than others. Personally, I dont like to know too much, I'd rather find out myself. A real pet hate of mine by the way, is when they turn a book into a film. The characters never look as I have imagined them in my head, and I tend to think it spoils it then. I know it's only the film makers interpretation of the characters, but they never seem to cast the right people in my opinion. But that is the beauty of books, no two people would imagine the characters to look the same. I have written a whole book of amusing anecdotes, and all of them true. I have the sort of life, where if anything bizarre is going to happen, it happens to me, or when I am around. I am the sort of person who, when sitting on a bus or train, the nutter that gets on, sits next to me. I was on a train last year, and all the seats were empty, I was the only one on the train. This guy got on, and where did he sit? right next to me! There were hundreds of empty seats, but no, he sat beside me. So I got up and went to another carriage. Why does this happen? I am not ugly, nor beautiful. I don't have two heads or anything. This has happened the whole of my life. Still, it has provided some funny stories. Kat x

Kat x

Wed, 2005-10-05 10:58

pepsoid

I suspect that, being a writer, you notice the weird things that happen around you more than a 'normal' person would. The trick, I think, is in realising what is truly weird and what those 'normal' people would find interesting, funny or poignant! Personally I love the idea of seeing characters I have created on screen - I'm very curious about how a film-maker might re-interpret them! "P"

The All New Pepsoid the Second!

Wed, 2005-10-05 11:38

Foxy

Kat, I too am a nutter magnet, they'll head straight for me on any form of public transport... and I am far from beautiful or even nice looking, I would describe my appearance to be that of an international hit man, when I had long hair I was once mistaken for Billy Connelly so that should give you some idea of what I look like. And you would think that that would be enough to put anyone off talking to me, but no, the nutters seek me out. The difference between you and me though Kat is I talk to them. One time when I was on the tube in London a rather wild eyed smelly nutter got on the carriage I was in and you could feel the panic from all the other passengers and their relief when he sat next to me. Anyway I engaged the smelly git in conversation and the whole carriage got to hear about the family of hamsters that had taken up residence in his sofa. It was all very entertaining... And I couldn't agree more with what you say about turning books into films, they are always such a disappointment. When I saw the film version of Angela's Ashes... well, let's just say if I could have got hold of the producer and director I would have given them a very stern talking to...

Wed, 2005-10-05 18:19

Katerina

Ha ha Foxy, blimey you're brave aren't you. I've worked with enough nutters and the like to not want to talk to them when they sit next to me, so I just move. I wonder what it is about us that makes us a magnet for their attention then. It's nice to know it's not just me, that someone else suffers the same fate. If we got together, we could make a real funny book with all our anecdotes. Which reminds me to tell you of a particular funny thing involving cat sick, one day. Kat x

Kat x

Wed, 2005-10-05 18:57

Foxy

Oh now you've got me intrigued Kat, where could the humour lay in cat sick? And talking of cats and sick, a friend of mine got very drunk one night a while ago, she is an R.E. teacher btw, and when the cool night air hit her she staggered over to a tree, placed one hand against the trunk to steady herself and noisily emptied the contents of her stomach all over a cat that was curled up at the base of the tree. The cat jumped up with a startled look on its face and, being a cat, promptly started to lick itself clean... It's one of the funniest things I've seen for years... I was quite drunk at the time though :)

Thu, 2005-10-06 13:54

Katerina

My sister Maria and niece come to stay with us in the hols, and we are always doing stupid things and playing jokes. One night, my hubby went out late to collect our daughter from her friends house. My niece was asleep in bed, and Maria and I decided to go out in the dark, hide around the side of the house and jump out on my hubby and daughter when they got home. We didn't have a lot of time as we knew they'd be back soon, so we quickly sneaked out and hid. Maria had gone out with no shoes on her feet, and as we were hiding she said, "Yuck, I've just stood in something and it's all squidgy." I told her to be quiet, and wait and we would have a look in a mo'. "but it feels disgusting," she wailed. "Ssh they're coming back," I told her and with that, the car came pulled up on the drive. As hubby and daughter got out, we jumped out with a yell and frightened them. Then Maria said, "I need to see what I stood in," so I got the torch. I went back out and shone it on the ground, and there was a big pile of cat sick. Maria started jumping up and down saying "oh that is just so gross, I stood in cat sick in my bare feet." I couldn't do anything 'cos I was bent over absolutely wetting myself with laughter. If you could have seen the disgusted look on her face, knowing what she had stood in with bare feet, it was so funny. Kat x

Kat x

Thu, 2005-10-06 14:20

Foxy

LOL, I'd love to see something like that... there's nothing funnier than other peoples misfortunes, as long as they're not serious of course. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to find the cat, you've given me an idea...

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