Wednesday 28 January 2015

Waiting

Lately I've become something of an expert in waiting. Waiting for deliveries, waiting for answers to queries, waiting for the go-ahead on work projects, waiting in queues at the bank. Yesterday I waited nearly an hour for my optician appointment. “Thank you for being patient” he said when he finally saw to me. Have you noticed that they always say that - “thank you” - but never actually apologise or explain? No matter, there was a copy of Tatler to look through, several times, which I found so appalling that it was entertaining and after perusing its photos of the aristocracy, I'm still smiling at the sight of Countess Spencer's voluminous hair.


So after the horrible eye test I've been coerced into spending a disproportionate amount of my income on new glasses. Using one of those two-for-one offers which is never really as good value as it sounds, I've a black frame and a turquoise frame on order. I may regret the turquoise... When I got home I couldn't remember what they even looked like so I searched for them online; I found the black ones and then noticed the website's sales blurb that accompanied them:

'Resonant with smouldering embers and charcoal matt black, making this the perfect frame for the unassuming type who is ready to let loose'

I wonder who writes this stuff?  I'm looking forward to letting loose, though!

~~~

We couldn't resist playing some Aphrodite's Child on hearing about the death of Demis Roussos.


Aphrodite's Child: Magic Mirror

Dear Demis was undoubtedly groovy at one time although, as a fond friend remarked, in our minds he will always be linked to Abigail's Party.


By the way these are not my new glasses...


Mike Leigh's play is of course a masterpiece in uncomfortable but compelling viewing. I suppose it taps into the curiosity we generally have about what goes on behind the scenes in relationships and the strange gratification that comes from discovering that things are rarely as straightforward as they might seem.

That was resonant to me last week when I met someone I haven't seen in 8 or 9 years and we were trying to catch up in the time it takes to have a quick coffee. In the course of our general chit-chat she announced that her life had changed, most dramatically, on one particular day in April 2009. “But I won't bore you with all the sordid details...” she said. “No, of course..,” I replied gently, but the voice in my head was going, “Oh do! DO! Tell me everything, the more sordid and detailed the better!” and as I sipped the rest of my coffee I waited for her to drop me some little morsels that I could catch hungrily like a dog jumping at its owner's feet for titbits.  I'm still waiting...

~~~

Tomorrow I may have to wait in all day for a courier to collect some artwork, as I'm told he could come any time between 9am and 7pm.  I will not be reading fucking Tatler.

19 comments:

  1. Mike Leigh's early TV were all brilliant if you have not seen Nuts in May or The Young Ones....beg steal or borrow....I have also seen Abigail's Party on Stage but you can'not beat the original

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    1. Yes indeed Old Pa - I love all the Mike Leigh TV plays - Nuts In May is especially good, isn't it? I haven't seen any stage versions though, mind you I suspect it'd be hard to beat Alison Steadman's portrayal.

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  2. 'the perfect frame for the unassuming type who is ready to let loose'... a special kind of brilliance.

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    1. Isn't it? Think of the fun to be had in being an advertising copywriter... I bet they laugh about this stuff.

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  3. I thought that hair was photoshopped! What a hair-hopper. Funnily enough a few days ago I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in 9yrs too. We didn't really share the kind of situation you mention, it was more vague scraping of memory banks, "do you remember so-and-so... is that couple still together... whatever happened to whatisname" etc.

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    1. Actually it does look photoshopped in that pic - like someone's taken pasted in the hair from a bigger version - but I think it's real judging by the others I've seen. Mad!
      I know the kind of 'scraping of memory banks' (great description!) you mean. It's funny when it makes you realise you've forgotten how much you've forgotten...

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  4. Love the tunage - is it me or does Demis look uncannily like Jack Black on that cover? As for waiting....im still waiting for an electrician who told me he'd be here before Christmas, should have checked which one...

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    1. Hehe, I hadn't thought of Jack Black before but now you come to mention it!
      Good luck with the sparky - sounds like he's overloaded and needs to get switched on... Aarghhh...

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  5. C,
    I know there have been times when I've said something similar to 'I won't bore you with the details.' The truth is that I'm thinking that my friend might consider me self-absorbed and my story tiresome; secretly, though, I'm hoping that she'll be interested enough to encourage me to talk about it anyway. ;-)

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    1. Thanks Marie, yes I do see what you mean - I appreciate your wise words. She may have wanted me to prompt some more, I don't know, but perhaps because she is not so much a friend as an acquaintance, I was concerned about seeming nosy or tactless. So we were both probably quietly worrying about how much to say! Oh! I will probably bump into her again and then maybe I'll be able to sense something - I'll certainly bear in mind what you've said. Thank you :-)

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  6. Waiting. Waiting. Yes, always seem to be waiting, even though technology is supposed to speed things up. Have you noticed how it very often takes longer to pay for stuff at a supermarket check-out than it did when the till just went 'cer-ching!' in a kind of 'Open All Hours' way? Just one of my hang-ups. They key, I expect, is make use of the wait to get into some serious mindfulness.

    That bloody woman's hair deserves a reality show of its own or something.

    Thanks for reminding us that Demis was not always massive kaftans and Abigail's Party.

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    1. I don't mind waiting most of the time, as long as I'm warm and reasonably comfortable, if there's nothing I can do about it then so be it. It's when you're out in the freezing cold and wet waiting for a bus that you don't know is going to come that it's hardest, I've had plenty of practice at that! What got me yesterday (and in similar situations) is *why* we have to wait so long. Presumably they messed up their scheduling. An apology and explanation would have been nice.

      Love the idea of The Only Way Is Rayne's Hair (with a cameo appearance from one of Demis' kaftans?)

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  7. I could never work in advertising... Black Frames - take it or leave it...

    Abigail's Party - my daughter studied this for her media studies at school. She does the best impression of Abigail ever now!

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    1. 'Take it or leave it'. Brilliant.
      And how times have changed - studying Abigail's Party at school! That must've been fun.

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  8. Two massive coincidences. On Tuesday I too had an opticians appointment (though it sounds far more efficient than yours), after which I caught up with a mate who's life has changed extremely dramatically in the few months since I last saw him. He didn't spare me the details though.
    After hearing his tales of domestic woe, I'm glad I lead a quiet boring life!
    As for waiting, what was it Charlie Watts said about the Rolling Stones at the time of their 25th anniversary? 'Five years of work and twenty years of waiting about', or words to that effect.

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    1. Oh, that's weird! I hope your optician's appointment went well. Did you have to do the 'Peripheral Vision' test which was like a computer game with an American voice telling you throughout, "you're doing fine!" and "we're nearly done!" etc.?!
      I agree about the quiet boring life. So many people I know have the opposite of it.. but, sadly, rarely in a good way...
      Yep, Charlie Watts sums things up perfectly!

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  9. I just want to make it clear that I am not responding to the this post because the author has done us dirty...just as dirty as her friend (wether this friend is real or just a device used to torture us we'll never know), by dangling the possibility of juicy gossip without any possibility of delivering.

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  10. An optician with a black eye? Now there's irony. Actually he wasn't very nice... a condescending type... it makes sense now that he would "never apologise, never explain" for exactly that reason.

    I'm meeting up with the acquaintance again soon as I'm doing a piece of work for her. It'll be interesting to see if I gain any more info this time!

    And yes.. who could ever forget Keith and Candice Marie...wonderful.

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