Star student
I hope you are coping better than I am with this rain. I’ve been braving my way into London on the train to work, which is fine, but it’s the getting to and from the car to the train and then the station to work that’s the tricky one for us women.
It’s too windy for brollies and too wet for nice shoes and boots; I’m afraid that the only things ideal for this weather are a trusted pair of wellies and a rain-mate. Do you remember them? A plastic hood you stuck on your head and tied under your chin. Do they still make them? My mum and her sisters all had one in their pockets, but I haven’t seen one for years. I think I’m going to try out for Dragon’s Den with a new, updated version of the rain-mate, after all fashion always comes around again and now is definitely the time for a re-launch.
Anyway, with a bit more curl and frizz to my hair than usual, I made it to the Graham Norton show with the wonderful band, London Grammar, who I’m working with at the moment. I love being backstage at shows like these because of the calibre of the guests. I managed to see them all in the corridor and thought Toni Collette looked beautiful.
However, I wasn’t very impressed with Gary Oldman. I couldn’t believe my ears when he said, “I’m the highest grossing actor in cinema history”. You can go off people. I just had to try the famous sofa during rehearsal but don’t worry, I took off my wellies first!
Did you ladies get Valentine’s cards and flowers or are your husbands/boyfriends like my husband who would prefer to send flowers on any other day or eat out when the prices are not over-inflated?
That’s the whole point though! It’s like buying Christmas presents on Boxing Day, somehow the moment has passed. Mind you it’s the thought that counts and I would prefer one rose on the day to a dozen the week after. It’s all about being surprised, I guess.
When you have been married a long time like we have, I’m sure you have some funny Valentine’s memories. It either seems to go really well or it’s a complete disaster. I’ve seen Gordon and I walking around looking at over-priced restaurants with poncey menus, ending up getting annoyed and heading home to eat.
However, our funniest memory was arriving at a hotel in Palm Springs, California, going down for Valentine’s dinner and realising I was the only woman there because it was a hotel popular with gay men! It was a great evening with fabulous people though, so I rest my case, it’s all about the surprise.
Back to my day job, and I hope you Aberdonians were listening to The Voice on BBC One last week. Yes, will.i.am DID say “Fit like?” to lovely Fiona from Cults.
For those of you who don’t know already, I have been teaching Will Doric for the past year. To begin with I think he thought he was learning Scottish and I kept having to remind him that only Aberdonians would understand it, and that he couldn’t use it in Edinburgh or Glasgow.
So imagine my delight when my star student used it perfectly in context. When Fiona said she was from Aberdeen, he asked “Fit like?” then said “I speak Aberdeen”. My next challenge is to get will.i.am to come up to the Granite City and see if he can understand a word; I think he would struggle. I need to find an old recording of Scotland The What and see what he makes of that! I’m very proud of the Doric and so that was a great moment for me.
See you next week.
Yvie xx