Rosamundi's ramblings

The extra-special, eyes-squeezed-shut-and-hands-squinched-together sort, please, for me and for someone else, so that we both find the right words to say the right thing at the right moment.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, enkindle in us the fire of Your love.
Send forth Your spirit and we shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray:

O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in Your consolations. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Rosamummy and I generally try and go to the ballet every year, at Christmas time or thereabouts.

This year it is the English National Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker, which I booked in mid-October.

I have just spent a very pleasant half an hour on hold to their ticketing department (pleasant because their hold music is various snippets of opera, performed by the English National Opera), waiting to tell them that the tickets have not yet arrived.

“We did send them, madam,” said the lovely helpful man. “We’ll issue you some replacements, you can come and pick them up whenever you’re passing.”

“The card that paid for them was eaten by a cash machine a couple of weeks ago.”

“Not a problem, just bring your passport.”

Bless.

Hopefully, my tickets are just lost in the black hole that is my local sorting office, and there won’t be a Scene becase we get there and find naughty people already occupying our seats…

I have a cold, and am thus incapable of original or profound thought.
Bold is for done, italics is for “Would like to do.”

1. Started my own blog – two, in fact. I need a life.
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band – nobody with any musical ability would let me near their band; I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world – if Disneyland Paris counts
8. Climbed a mountain – several.
9. Held a praying mantis – it tickled
10. Sung a solo – see above regarding my lack of musical ability
11. Bungee jumped – apparently, if I did, I’d be risking going blind.
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch – Calligraphy
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty – it was shut when I was in New York
18. Grown my own vegetables – chillies on the windowsill still count, right?
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France – it’s tiny!
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb – and a baby Arabian oryx
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice – I’m not sure about this one. We did go to Venice when I was very young and I can’t remember any of it.
29. Seen a total eclipse – from atop Brown Willy, no less.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run – I was behind the door when sporting prowess was handed out.
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language – although I am going to learn Spanish. Soon. Not that I’ve been saying that for the last three years or anything.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied – money is only useful for what you can do with it, it isn’t an end in and of itself.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke – my singing voice is not something that should be inflicted on anyone, drunk or sober.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business – there’s a small, half-formed thing buzzing about persistently in my brain.
58. Taken a martial arts class – and fencing lessons.
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies – not an English thing, this.
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma – must do so again soon.
65. Gone sky diving – parachute jump, which is nearly the same thing.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check – caused by my paycheque bouncing a day earlier. I was not a happy rosamundi.
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London – also arrived at Buckingham Palace for a job interview round about the time that the guard were changing, and the path to the gate was knee deep in hundreds of people. Fortunately, the average British policeman is a lovely helpful chap, adept at ploughing through large crowds (see post below on the Quantum of Solace premiere).
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating – I suppose I should, since I am a meat eater.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life – giving blood counts, right?
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit – and hopefully never will be
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Does anyone else think that William Hartnell bears a startling resemblance to Saint John Mary Vianney?

So, the BNP’s membership list for 2007 has been leaked, and is now on various places on the internet. (Note for foreign types, I am not talking about the Banque Nationale de Paris, but the British National Party,* a thoroughly unpleasant, right wing, racist party), and people have been using this information to make threats against the lives and jobs of people on the list.**

Now, whilst I can understand some peoples’ jobs being under threat, since it is illegal for a serving police officer or prison officer to be a member of the BNP and similar right-wing parties, because it is indicative that you may not be able to do your job with utter impartiality, for other people to be threatened with losing their employment in this manner is unacceptable in a liberal democracy (which we claim to be in the UK).

The publishing of this membership list was unequivocally wrong, especially as the details of children are on it. Being a member of the BNP is not illegal. Much as it pains me to say it, it is a duly-constituted political party in this country, and people have as much right to belong to it as they do to the Labour Party, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Monster Raving Loony Party, or any other party, and, therefore, unless you happen to work in one of the very few professions where it is illegal to be a member, then your job should not be under threat, unless your beliefs carry over to actions, and you start treating your colleagues differently based on the colour of their skin.

If you want to fight against the BNP, do it by standing against them at elections, refusing to vote for them, and pointing out why they are wrong, not by phoning up people on the list and saying “your life is in danger, we know where you live.”

I do find it beyond ironic that Nick Griffin is trying to use The Human Rights Act, a piece of legislation his party has pledged to repeal, as part of his attempts to prevent the publication of this list, but, the law is blind, and everyone should be able to claim the protection of the law as it currently stands.

Although, to those clergy on the list – I have a word from the Lord for you:

11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3: 11-12, New International Version).

And

27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:27-29, New International Version).

I confess I find it utterly incomprehensible that people who are enjoined to preach a gospel of love can belong to a party of hate. I genuinely don’t understand.

*Oh, blimey, my stats are going to throw up all sorts of weird stuff after this post, I just know they are).
**NB I have edited this post slightly, having messed up (a) the bank’s name and (b) the party’s name.

The Sun (I refuse to link to them directly and give them another hit on their stats), has started a petition calling for everyone involved in the tragic case of Baby P to be sacked, from the most junior social worker to the head of childrens’ services.

How will this sort of witch-hunt* fix things, exactly? Apart from anything else, given that Social Services are already grossly under-resourced, with a massive staff turnover (I heard 70% on one report, but I wouldn’t like to say how accurate that was), how will sacking staff and dumping their caseload on their already overworks colleagues prevent another tragedy?

*Oh, I’m sorry, editor of The Sun, you took such great pains to point out that it wasn’t a witch-hunt when you were interviewed on the radio, and here’s me mentioning the phrase three times in one post. Because of course you and your sister paper The News of the World have never started anything that’s got massively out of hand before, and you have absolute confidence that there won’t be howling, torch-lit mobs marching on Haringey’s council offices to burn the evil social workers. Don’t you?

Extremely fancy extension cable panel just purchased, one of those intellipanel things that stop you leaving things on standby (because he does that all the time and it drives me potty).

It also has an “always on” socket so that I can have the radio on without switching the TV on. It’s supposed to be for the SKY+ box and similar, but we don’t have one of those and I’m not getting one.

I was idly watching telly the other day when it went “pop!” very quietly and switched off.

“Meh,” I said, shrugging, as I switched on the radio.

Your TV’s broken,” I informed my housemate, since it’s his, and it seemed only right, so he logged onto Argos and bought a new one, at vast expense.

Meanwhile, I plugged the very old, much smaller TV into the same extension cord, and was idly watching it this evening when it went “pop!” very quietly and switched off.

So, do I tell my housemate that it appears that the problem is not with his TV, but is with my extension cord, or do I keep quiet, given that (a) he was going to buy a new TV anyway, (b) it’s being delivered at some point between 7am and 3pm on Saturday, and, since he’s away, I’m the one that has to be up at silly am in order to avoid greeting the delivery man in my dressing gown and slippers and (c) I’m going to very quietly buy a new extension cord tomorrow?

I’m sure you’re all deeply relieved to hear that the hideously manky toe’s mankiness is retreating under the onslaught of salt baths and antibiotics (don’t walk 17 miles in ill-fitting shoes, kids, you’ll lift half your toenail and get an infection under it), although I am less than fond of having to wear open-toed sandals in November, in the rain.

St Nicholas' Church, Brockenhurst

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

John McCrae, May 1915

Hurrah. The old link still works, but the “proper” address is now http://rosamundi.wibsite.com/.

I am not looking forward to transferring over all my wiblinks…