Kind of a Good News/Bad News week which has given me pause for thought and made me believe strongly in the power of karma and the unrelenting power of family genes.
Good News
- I’ve been asked to be a regular contributor to a dating site as a kind of “Relationship & Dating Expert”. The content editor wouldn’t believe me when I said “I’m not an expert, I’m a moron”
- A lifestyle blog have asked me to be a regular contributor to their site following a test piece I sent to them. Not too shabby I think and I have the talented Lotte Lane to thank for putting me onto that one. My first piece is to be published shortly. You can check out the site below.
- I went to the Theatre twice…unintentionally, but it was great fun as I don’t often go to the theatre. More on that below.
Bad News
- I’m going bald.
- My back hurts
So let’s start with the good bits of the week!
Theatres
Following a comic double booking cock up (not my cock up for once which was a surprise to me) I managed to book a last minute deal with a friend to see a new play at the Soho Theatre called “Never Try This At Home”.
We wished they’d never tried it at the theatre.
It’s not that it was bad…it was just…well…pretty bad. My unintentional revenge against my friend’s cock up was completed when I told her about the play she could have seen with me if she hadn’t double booked herself. And it was one she really wanted to see.
It was “Handbagged” a play about the Queen and Margaret Thatcher’s weekly audiences when Thatcher was Prime Minister.
It was quite clever and very funny in places…though I did doze off in the first half at a few points…I was tired! Second half was
better.
Toyboys
So if you clicked through to the dating site link you probably smiled as it is a site for older women to date younger men. I smiled too when I first looked at it, but it is a sign of how big online dating has become and for me a good opportunity to get more of my writing out there…not to mention my own ridiculous dating adventures. As it was dating that inspired my first book, being able to share my own experiences with other people in a similar situation is great. I’d like to think people will draw positive inspiration from the posts, but only time will tell. This probably won’t help too much with the fantasy novel I’m writing…but then again you never know…
Cocktails – The Cocktail Hour
“Honesty above all”
That’s the motto for this lifestyle site edited by Eleanor Wood – a writer who’s appeared in Elle and The Face – and Ruth Chalmers – a Psychology graduate and former Personal Shopper. So you can kind of get a feel for the type of stories they’re looking for. As I was checking the site out, I noticed that all their contributors were female. Not really surprising, but me being me, and noticing that their motto is “Honesty above all”, I sent off a brutally honest spec article and it was accepted. I’ll post the link out when it’s live. Nice.
But I suppose I have to also address the bad news…
I’m getting older
It all began with an innocent enough observation from a friend.
“Oh my god…did you know that you have a small bald patch on the top of your head?”
The flash makes it looks worse then it is apparently
Yes I did suspect it the last time I was at the hairdressers and she showed me the back of my head after the haircut. When I queried “Am I going bald?” she said “No John! Trust me I’d tell you if you were.” I’ve known her for years so figured she wouldn’t lie to me. Then again I was paying her to cut my hair…
In any case my friend’s innocent observation made me take a couple of photos of the top of my bonce and the evidence is undeniable. I am thinning on the crown. I went through the 5 stages of grief;
- DENIAL – “Bullshit I’m not going bald! I’ve always had a full head of hair!”
- ANGER – “Damn my Mum’s side of the family having sodding male pattern baldness running in it! How could this happen to me? Why could I not inherit my Dad’s hair entirely? I mean I’m already missing my God damn right eye? Was that not enough to keep the mighty hair Gods sated?”
- BARGAINING – “So if I follow the Shane Warne treatment I might be able to avert hair disaster and look sporty and cool and play cricket? I mean I don’t really want to play cricket…I mean I don’t even like cricket… but hell I’ll play and do anything it if it means more hair! Why the hell did no one tell me this sooner? I could have done something! Maybe I could have bum hair transfers done like Wayne Rooney. As long as I don’t end up looking like him what’s the downside?”
- DEPRESSION – “I’m telling you Mike, it’s all over! That’s it. No woman is going to want to go out with the bald freckled one-eyed pirate, let alone marry the poor fucker!”
- ACCEPTANCE – “Well two of my best friends are bald. One’s a writer, happily married and a father and the other’s a high powered building exec settling into the 5th month of a new relationship. Plus my Uncle went bald when he was 18 and it never stopped him from becoming an Artistic Director and meeting and settling down with his sort of wife in Scotland. I’ve lived with no depth perception since I was 1 so I’m sure I can live with going bald. And hey Patrick Stewart’s bald and he’s just married a hot 25 year old! Women dig old bald guys!”
So that was the baldness issue resolved within a 24 hour period. My back hurts too, but that’s down to overworking and too much bombing around like a nutter I think. Besides I can’t stay mad after the promising things that have happened this week writing wise.
Though, I am still going to have a chat with my hairdresser…lying cow.
THIS WEEKS FUN FREEBIE –
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