The old me:

The new me:


I got my new glasses!

Pity the photo is a bit rubbish - they look much better in real life, and my nose looks smaller. They're ideal for the new 40 year old me!

The 24 year old

The 24 year old stayed over last night, although it had taken nearly all week to decide whether or not I wanted him to. What caused the indecision? Two things:

1. When I was in Barcelona I found it very difficult to explain him to people. I wasn't being reluctant or secretive, because that me is gone, I'm happy to talk about stuff if people think to ask! No, it was more that every time I started to say something it just made no sense. I know life is complicated and doesn't have to make sense, but I prefer it when it does!

2. Barry texted me yesterday: "Curry tonight. Interested?" By that point I'd booked a table at the Indian restaurant and my first thought was, "oh my God, they can't meet!" And no Barry, it's not you and Jan that I'm tying to hide, and it has nothing to do with the fact that you're ginger! I just simply couldn't risk anyone meeting the 24 year old in case their reaction was, "what's that all about!"

But he's persuasive and I'd had a dreadful week so I agreed to let him come over, although I'd decided that it would be the last of the sleepovers and in future we'd do normal sociable things that friends do. So I started the evening a little grumpily but once the wine was open and I remembered how much I like him my resolve failed and I very much doubt that was the last sleepover!

We went for a meal at the local Indian restaurant, which was nice although I'd starting to feel like all the mild curries are exactly the same and perhaps it's time for me to liven things up a bit. Then back to watch Hairspray the musical, which is of course funny and fab and I really must go and see it on stage soon!

He left this morning on an 8 o'clock train because he has to work and although we made no firm plans to meet soon I'm sure we will. Life's strange!

I was going to go out tonight to see The Reader but I had a really trying day and I thought Kate Winslet as a Nazi might just annoy me rather than entertain me so I stayed home and tidied. I know how to have a good time! It's all for the 24 year old, who is staying over tonight, despite severe reservations earlier in the week. But more of that after he's visited!

Mother's Day

Sunday was Mother's Day but of course I was out of the country. I worked out that it was probably the first time I'd missed Mother's Day in forty years. There's two ways of looking at it: 1) my absence was long overdue, so well done me; 2) I was messing with forty years of precedent and the only outcome would be tears and disaster.

Clearly I was overthinking it because Mum was absolutely fine about it! Although there was a tricky moment before I went when I asked her if there was anything particular she'd like as a gift. "I don't really want anything, it's about spending time together." I think she was trying to explain to me the general point of the day, not having a dig, but there's no way of knowing.

Calendar Girls

On Monday evening Ema & I went to see Calendar Girls, the play of the film, which has been touring the country on its way to the West End, getting excellent reviews along the way.

I can see why - it was a fab night in the theatre! If you don't remember the story let me remind you: a group of women from the Women's Institute decide to make a nude calendar to raise money after one of their member's husband dies of leukemia. It becomes far more popular than they could ever imagine and instead of buying the sofa they'd originally hoped they're able to provide a whole wing for a hospital.

It's a feel-good story, funny and at times very, very sad - more than once I found myself blinking back tears as they talked about death, then laughing heartily. The whole nudity thing is dealt with cleverly and tastefully, but well done all of them for standing on stage night after night and flashing even just a little bit of flesh!

The cast was rather magnificent, all the main characters were played by people instantly recognisable from TV, including Sian Phillips who was in I Claudius and also popped up on the last Rufus Wainwright album - she's 75 and fabulous! To be honest they all are, and the whole thing is so much better than the "Vagina Monologues for menopausal women" description it's been given.

Chris Moyles is a big, fat c*nt

I'm sure you're still thanking Mr Moyles for alerting the nation to the juvenile habit of using the word "gay" to describe crap things. Well you'll be pleased to hear he's been at it again, although as I don't listen to his shit show I only heard about it now he's been reprimanded about it. To congratulate Will Young on his birthday earlier in the year he changed the lyrics to one of his songs:

"It's my birthday today, gonna wear my new dress tonight. And I smell nice. I've had a shower and I've shaved my legs. Going out later, might go to Nobu for dinner. Oooh Will Young here, mmmh. I'm here, it's Will's birthday and as the years go by I get more very gay."

Astonishingly the BBC said he was not being ridiculed because of his sexuality,and that it wasn't meant to be hostile or derogatory. F*ck off! Tell me which part of that isn't about being gay? And which bit is meant nicely? My license fee paid for that shit - I want it back!

Here's a little bit of Will to enjoy:

The mountain of ironing is done and I'm full of pizza so now's the time to sit down and catch up with the weekend:

Thursday

I got to Barcelona Thursday evening, twenty minutes ahead of schedule - thank you Easyjet! Sarah met me in town, then once we'd collected her boyfriend, the lovely David, we headed to a bar. One mojito later and we went in search of food, ending up in a Mexican, then round the corner to a bar for a few drinks. A good start to the weekend!

Friday

Sarah had to work so David and I went in search of Art. We wandered the streets, stopping for beer and gossiping until we got to the gallery. But it wasn't like the galleries we have at home, no big wide open doors, instead it looked like an office and the door was locked and there was a buzzer. Both of us were afraid to press the buzzer so we went for another beer!

Then I spent the afternoon with Jan, and her new baby, who was so well behaved you hardly knew he was there! Josh came home with their daughter and I stayed for lunch, then went for a walk to the park. It was lovely to see you all! xxx

I headed back to Sarah's and went out for an Indian, where Julie joined us. We ended up in a strange bar that looked like a working men's club so Julie could admire the barman while Sarah got drunk and tried to bite her!

Saturday

We headed up a mountain, although unlike the previous weekends trip to Wales this one didn't nearly kill me! I wouldn't go on the cable car - sorry Julie! - so we walked up to the castle, where we had a picnic watching the ships and cranes in the port.

Then on the way down we nipped into a big cemetery. It's not the kind of cemetery we have at home, with gravestones in a grassy churchyard, but a big concrete place with tombs piled on top of each other. At first it was really interesting, seeing how other people deal with death but pretty quickly it just felt overwhelming and to be honest I've had enough death and don't really need it on holiday! Unfortunately by that point we were lost! It was huge and we'd wandered into the centre of it without really knowing where we were going! About an hour later we stumbled out of the other side, wandered under a dual carriageway - oh the glamour! - and found a bus!

The last part of the cemetery was quite beautiful with bigger tombs. I know it's bad manners to take pictures of graves, and there were signs up forbidding it, but there were a couple that caught me eye:

I wonder what my chances are of getting something similar for myself when I die?

After that we wandered along the waterfront and went for tapas, which was nice, then I left them all behind and went to see The Killers, which of course I've told you about already.

After the gig Jan & Jules took me to a bar called Marmalade where one of their friends was having birthday drinks. I knew a few of the people there, most of whom seemed to have been in Josh's play in November. I stayed for two drinks, even ordering the second round myself in my basic Spanish, before heading off into the night armed only with vague, drunken directions from the girls, but impressively I got home in one piece!

Sunday

I had a lazy start on the sofa with a book whilst Sarah took David for his bus, then we headed to the beach. Yes, that's right, it was warm enough for the beach! We sat in the sand watching some windsurfers, who were very very impressive! Some of them seemed like they were powered by rockets! It really was a lovely end to the weekend!

I had a fab time, thank you everyone I saw who made it so great! xxx

I'm back!

Barcelona was fantastic! Of course you knew it would be! These Barcelona blogs are turning out to be predictably gushing, but I can't help myself, I had a lovely weekend! Full story later, but for now here's the highlight:

The Killers

The whole reason for the trip was to see The Killers. Jan, Josh & Sarah gave me the ticket for my birthday, which turned out to be the perfect gift!

The Killers and I have previous: two years ago they played Glastonbury, but it was on the Saturday, the day the weather was so bad we saw no bands, although we did watch them on a tiny black and white TV in Jan & Barry's caravan - does that count? Later that summer they played the V Festival and inevitably it rained and four songs into their set Trish & Janet looked like they wanted to die so we left. So I was desperate to see them properly!

Jan should have been going as well but wasn't well so instead I went with her friends Jules and Jan, two lovely if slightly scary women who I've met enough times to be very comfortable with.

The venue was an Olympic basketball court, a decent sized venue but not unmanageably huge. We queued for ages to get in, the once inside it was a bit of a free for all - none of the seats were allocated, you could sit where you like! Of course no one wanted to sit in the seats furthest from the stage so they stood on the stairs and the security let them - the Spanish have a different attitude to Health & Safety, and it's just best not to think about it! They also allow smoking in venues too, which was a shock, although when everyone got their lighters out for one song it made perfect sense.

The Killers were amazing! They came on stage and the audience just starting jumping, clapping, screaming and singing and didn't stop until they finished - every song was greeted like it was an encore, and quite rightly so as they big, anthemic songs build for stadiums. The singer, the delicious Brandon Flowers, was born to perform - he makes the big stage look too small for him, and he can get away with wearing jackets with feathers on the shoulders - could he be the new Freddie Mercury? Are they the new Queen? And yet he almost managed to make me cry when in the middle of one song he started talking about love. He's lovely, I want to stand him in a corner and look at him all day! And lick him on special occasions.

As for the songs, well it was all the hits and all the best album songs - I knew them all, but not as well as most of the audience who were screaming along to them. Highlights? Well, not so much highlights as my favourite songs: Somebody told me ("you had a boyfriend/who looked a girlfriend/that I had in February etc"), All these things that I've done ("I've got soul but I'm not a soldier") and Spaceman, which I'll leave you with: