Operation Cheer Up: in conclusion

I woke up feeling much less melancholy on Sunday. I’m still a bit disappointed, but hey, it doesn’t stop me writing does it?

Operation Cheer Up concluded with some self diagnosis:

• That I require a Sunday roast … so we went off to our local, The Londoner.
• That I need to watch Tootsie again. In the event, it was the thought of watching it that helped with the therapy.
• That this should be accompanied by chocolate. Okay, this one was more than just thought about. This one was literally executed!
• Following lunch I went with Husband for a foot massage at a place along our road. I had an hour’s foot massage, quite the best, most blissful one I’ve ever had, for the grand total of 100 Thai Baht/£1.60/$2.90 (plus tip.)

So I think that's it now: wallowing over. Thank you for your kind words and virtual hugs. They were very much appreciated.

Operation Cheer Up

On Saturday morning I went out as planned to Thaicraft as I thought it might cheer me up. It didn’t really so having bought two little Christmas tree decorations I set off for Starbucks a few sois further along Sukhumvit. I’d brought my book out (Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie) which unofficial Godless Daughter had recommended to Son and me back in the summer.

I took my grande English Breakfast tea upstairs and - okay, yes, and a muffin … I was still feeling sad, okay - and went to perch at the window. This was my view, so I didn’t come for that, did I?

However, if I looked through the window under the table down on to the pavement I got a really fascinating view of some of the street life in Bangkok. I’ve often noticed that there was a wide variety of people hanging around here but it was two years before I realised they weren’t all waiting for buses.

Yesterday there were two girls. The first one had the body of a teenager and the face and posture of a bad tempered, disappointed woman of indeterminate age. She was dressed cheaply in rubber flip flops, a pussy pelmet denim skirt and an orange spaghetti top which had an embroidered butterfly on it.

The second was her opposite. She was tall, beautiful and immaculately groomed. She worked really hard on her manner, smiling at all the guys that came past while she ran her hands coyly through straightened hair. She leaned on a lamp post (really) and hooked her gold sandaled foot up behind her. When one guy did come up to her they chatted for a while and then she squeezed his arm muscles playfully, before presenting him with her backside which he (equally) playfully smacked. All of a sudden her face changed – the flirtatious smile was gone – I think he must have told her he wasn’t interested because he moved off.

I’m not sure at what point I realised she really was the first girl’s opposite – she was a katoey - a ladyboy.

Give me a slap

I’m feeling pitifully sorry for myself today. I need a good slap because it’s not life and death but nonetheless I’m feeling wretched.

It started on Friday evening. Daughter was at a sleepover with four friends; Son was watching TV and Husband had braved the tropical rain storm to get home for his last phone meeting of the week.

Through the wall I could hear Husband on the conference call – him talking loudly as though to someone slightly stupid and the tinny voices of his colleagues from the speaker phone. I was finishing off Two Caravans when the email bleeped red on my Blackberry.

Every time the thought had entered my head that the writing course might be jeopardised by the political unrest here I gave it a firm whack away. It would be fine, I said, it’s in Koh Chang not in Bangkok.

Yesterday the news came: The Literary Consultancy has taken the decision to cancel the course. I’d tried so hard not to think this might happen but at the same time I understand. If I were in the UK thinking of coming to a country under a State of Emergency... well, I don't think I would.

Lovely Husband is telling me to go anyway… it's all in the diary, got everything in place at home - have a break, he says, but I don’t need a break – I need a writing course.

See, I just need a good slap for being a spoilt and selfish.

My new mantra

The last week – ten days has been a disaster writing wise. No time to do anything. Today I’ve got to take the artwork for the banners to MBK where they will … do something with their software to make them into banners and print them for us. Then I’ve got other errands to run. Tomorrow the children need picking up and dropping off and totally different time of day in different parts of Bangkok. I want to go to the Thaicraft fair in the middle of the day; Husband and Daughter have piano lessons in the afternoon and then on Sunday Husband’s off to India. It’s so busy.

I’ve really got out of the habit of 100 words a day, and need a big boot shoving up my backside. The part that I’m working on has turned into a ‘I simply can’t work this out’ kind of project so rather than open it, harrumph, close it again I have to take it a sentence at a time. I can do that: one sentence at a time.

I have earmarked next week to write (apart from Thursday). I have two weeks before my writing course on Koh Chang and I’m feeling an amateur, fraudulent and devoid of imagination; but also quite a bit excited.

One sentence at a time is my new mantra…

A return to the trivial and daft

When we first came to Bangkok quite a lot of money was being spent to try to establish Thailand as a competitor in the international fashion arena. It didn’t really happen. Nonetheless every year I’ve trundled off to the Bangkok International Fashion Fair & Bangkok International Leather Fair, lustful as I am about handbags. This year, for the first time, I took Daughter.

The exhibition is split into different parts. Some of it is high end designer fashion; then there are companies making ordinary clothes so you can buy items for £1.50… There’s a leather goods section where they sell bags and/or shoes and there’s a leather industry bit … the tannery companies.

In this last section, we found a singing Thai cowboy:

Logged on at last

Thank you to everyone who dropped by to say that you hope we're all staying safe. That was exactly what I meant about friendship and bloggie friends and you all deserve yesterday's award. My apologies for not replying to the comments but I've been unable to log onto Blogger until now.

Nothing really changed yesterday. The announcement about the state of emergency came at 7am, and the children left for school twenty minutes earlier so they were off on their way to school before we even knew about the situation. School made the decision to stay open, but cancelled after-school activities so everyone got home at the same time.

I'd got a big group for Book Club expected yesterday morning, just around the corner in Bitter Brown on Asoke (road) so I texted everyone to let them know I would be there as normal. Everyone else turned up too. Lots of the Book Club members are seasoned expats that have seen ... well, volatile times in other countries so no-one was frightened to go out. (We had a good meeting discussing Tim Winton's Cloudstreet which I really wanted to like more than I did. I'm not sure I understood it all - I need a conversation with the writer about some of the themes! I struggled hugely with the Australian vernacular, despite many years of Neighbours while a student! It was beautifully written, and the characters wonderfully drawn. He writes women really well, and I was desperate to know more of their stories.)

I've never done politics on this blog, and I'm not about to start now, but it may interest you to know what's happening here for me as an expat. It was quiet around town. Public transport unions were threatening to stop in support of the demo and there was considerably less traffic on the roads than normal. None of us would go anywhere near to Government House where it's all happening but there's nothing to be seen where I live.

Thanks again to all of you for your good wishes.

Silly Blogger and something serious

Update: A state of emergency has been declared here because of the political violence during last night. We're all fine and I will keep you all informed.

Blogger was playing silly buggers yesterday and I couldn't log on, couldn't post and nor could I comment. I was bitterly disappointed because I've told you all before how much I LOVE opening up my new word document, labelling it with the new month's name and beginning the new month's postings. Anyway, I did all that in Word and then couldn't declare it to the world. I cut a sad and tragic figure, non?

But when I woke this morning a FULL FIVE MINUTES before my insultingly early alarm there was a lovely Friendship Award over at Angie's Write for me. It's very exciting and has cheered me up no end, because it says lots of stuff that I feel really strongly about when it comes to bloggie friends. Thank you Angie.

It says TEA, with it's pretty little teacups. I'm a firm believer in the restorative powers of Tea. And look, there's a receptacle here for everyone.

It says TRUST which is essential to any friendship but particularly among creative people. When we show you our creations we show you inside our metaphorical knicker drawer. Most times we haven't met but trusting is a good and positive thing.

It says KINDNESS and CARING. Roaming around cyberspace is tough. We don't all blog when we feel low or sad, or tired or uninspired. But individuals still reach out even through no news. I like that: it's real friendship.

HONESTY. This can be a tough one - particularly among writers, as many of us are here. Sometimes it's easier to say something banal, but we should strive for honesty with kindness and caring.

Angie was one of the first people I noticed coming to my blog who wasn't a Novel Racer. We nover racers had signed up to support each other and therefore I felt they kind of had to come and endorse me. Angie didn't have to come. 'Wooo hoooo,' I thought, 'she must come here because she wants to.' And that made me very excited.

Anyway, I'm to award it to five others too.

Lovely Leigh over at The Art of Subtle Procrastination because sometimes ... well ... you just know... even through cyberspace. And I'll never forget seeing her grinning face at the Manchester Novel Racer meet, not having the faintest clue who she was but knowing she was someone special.

Carola Crayon over at Only in Thailand because she's real. Because she tells me I've been stuck inside too long and makes me come out to play. And even though sometimes she hogs the will power we share.

Zinnia over at Real E Fun even though I'm not sure she does awards... but because she has integrity and she has kindness and caring in bucketloads for her fellow (wo)man.

Helen over at Redders Ramblings because she's another one where I just knew. Because she's all the things that this award stands for. She got me writing again when I thought I couldn't do it, she's read stuff for me, she's sent me things and because she's just lovely.

Finally, well you know what? I want to give it back to Angie too.