Monday, October 30, 2006

Caring for the elderly...

M is 30 at the end of this week. Naturally, with insecurity gripping her every breath as old age creeps up big style, she is turning the big 3-0 into a drama worthy of the stage. I have, apparently, and on top of all of my usual and many compliments, to tell her two nice things about herself at the end of every day in the run-up to the celebrations. Yesterday, in a fit of "I don't really want to play this game can't you say nice things to me instead?", I told her that she cooked like a female Jamie Oliver and amused me no end. Apparently, telling someone they're a good cook and that they amuse you no end is not about them at all but about me, me, me. Which is, I stress, just the kind of effect I wanted. It's just after midday, so I've got 12 hours to think of two for tonight.
M also insists that she "must do a guest blog before I'm 30". She has her own blog. This is mine. She'll have to fight me for her chance to take to the keyboard. And, as the birthday looms, M is upping her amazing House fanfic output (for the uninitiated, that's Fan Fiction, and based on the US hit Hugh Laurie-starring hospital drama, which is then posted on the website fanfiction.net under some peculiar pen name. It is, apparently, both a writing exercise, to rid M of all of the nonsense swirling about her head and also a way of dealing with her futile obsession with the slightly better looking, straight-nosed half of Fry & Laurie.) and, by way of a birthday treat, receiving a ridiculous amounts of hits by similarly House-obsessed fanfic readers. I think it's fair to say that, as the birthday gets closer, M's near-insanity will intensify.

Feel the need to say something about the one-off episode of The Royle Family. When I heard about this I thought it was a pointless exercise. But, as it was, messrs Aherne and Cash proved they've still got it, delivered an outstanding piece of work and gave a lesson in realism to the likes of the creators of the "tries far too hard" Lead Balloon. In one of the most realistic depictions of death ever, poor old Nana died. Poor Liz Smith, destined to see out her career playing many a dying elderly relative. None will match this swansong, I shouldn't think.

1 comment:

Bazza said...

I'm in bad books with wifey because I was given the responsibility of recording this, and not the rubbish on ITV which i did record, and now you start on about how good it was. Good job she doesn't come here.