Because they AAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH! Today is National/World (I forget which) Talk Like a Pirate Day, and I feel a bit bad for not letting you know sooner… This post is also my TWO HUNDREDTH post on this blog, so that’s a nice milestone too. It’s going to be a pretty random post, though, as there are lots of different things to put on today. There should be lots of pretty photos but my connection’s dodgy so they’re not uploading. I will keep trying, but for now you’ll have to use your imaginations 😉

Firstly, I promised some photographic evidence of my Mini adventure the weekend before last…
[GRRRRRR IT WON’T UPLOAD!]
This is me and Rachael in the back as we drove down the motorway, with the wind through our hair. Well, through Rachael’s hair, and over my bald pate. Exhilarating!

On Wednesday I went to see (the) Requiems, and they did rock. Here’s my cousin Robin throwing one of his many rock poses…
[GRRRRRR IT WON’T UPLOAD!]

On Thursday I had the final daunorubicin of the phase… Did I tell you that it turns my wee red? I was a bit worried when going to the loo in pubs that someone might catch a glimpse and call a doctor, but fortunately nobody did! I also caught up with my overachieving friend, Charlotte, which was lovely, and stayed with her sister Nicola. Hurrah!

At some point over the past few weeks I saw this cartoon in one of the 37 different free newspapers now available in London (though ‘news’papers does stretch it a bit). It made me laugh.
[GRRRRRR IT WON’T UPLOAD!]

On Friday I stayed at Tomandalice’s – I was their first guest in their new Sandhurst lodgings. Tom was out on exercise all night, though his group were having a quiet moment, so he popped home for a cup of tea and to say hello at about 11pm… He then returned at 8:15am to have a bath, breakfast and get changed into clean kit, before heading back to work. Mad! I asked the not-unreasonable question, “Do you work all day every day?” Apparently not usually.

I’ve been reading ‘The Book of Lost Books’, which is proving to be fascinating. It is an incomplete history of books that have been lost, were not completed, ended up very different to how they were going to be, or were planned but never written at all. From the great Greek authors right up to the 20th century, it is a very entertaining look at what could have been. It is frustrating to think of all those potentially brilliant works that we will never see! I can’t currently remember what I read before that: I’m hopeless at remembering when I read what, so sometimes I even find myself reading a book for the second time, and only realise when I suddenly get to a point where I know what’s about to happen…

On Saturday I had a wonderful day at my friend Hannah (L)’s wedding. Hannah was my best friend when we were living in Naples, and was marrying an army chap she’s been with for several years now. It was a fab day, and I made some lovely new friends by throwing a few shapes on the dancefloor (hehe), as well as catching up with Hannah and family, and my oldest friend, Andrew. It is a bit bizarre to think that Hannah’s now married, though… Anyway, best of luck for her! She’s off to live in Germany, where it’ll probably be easier to visit her than when she was down in rural Devon.

Sunday was a lunatic evening, as my entire immediate family were at home, with assorted appendages (Alice, Sue and Laura), celebrating Freddie’s departure for Rome on Wednesday. My siblings and father can be a bit silly at the best of times, so throw all of us together and you end up with a very jolly evening of bad jokes, worse singing and much merriment.

Last night I had an interesting chat and realised that my ‘I don’t want to be defined by my leukaemia’ post was probably slightly off the mark in at least one sense. Harriet and I, and Harriet’s friend Heidi, went to Big Phil’s for a lovely meal, and I was telling them how I’d like to see whether I can get any freelance journalism work, come November. I added that, having had leukaemia, hopefully I’d have a different angle: something extra to write about or to colour my views. And I realised that I do not feel that leukaemia is a burden – it is not something I will seek to detach myself from when it’s over. It has been part of my life experience; it has formed my character; it IS an important part of my life. That is not, of course, to say that I will define myself by it; but it does mean I will not ignore that part of my life. On the contrary, I will try to use the lessons learnt in a positive way.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) I’m going to Tomandalice’s again, this time with Harriet, and then on to St George’s for Chemo Thursday. Cyclophosphamide this time! Woooooo! I don’t think I’ve had that yet. On Saturday I’ll probably become an inpatient…

7 thoughts on “Why are pirates so cool?

  1. beh…per quanto riguarda la prima foto ho quasi l impressione di averla proprio davanti ai miei occhi…o tu hai descritto perfettamente la scena o io ho le allucinazioni o….;-)

    un post davvero variegato…c’è un pò di tutto…difficile capire da dove iniziare….beh,mi fa piacere sapere che tu sia arrivato ad una precisa consapevolezza in merito al post precedente:-)e la penso come te…

    manda un bacio a tomandalice..anzi facciamo cosi

    Famiglia Norton:un abbraccio circolare a tutti…!!!!ad eccezione di fred…;-)noi ci vediamo presto a roma;-)

    bacio

    Mc

  2. George,

    I knew I could rely on you not to forget ‘talk like a pirate’ day.

    You seem to be quite the party animal at the moment, which is lovely to hear, and I look forward to seeing the pictures when you can get them to work!

    h xx

  3. A very nice chatty 200th, congratulations. What a hectic social life is happening. Looking forward to the photos when you manage to load them. Hi to Freddie and wish him well for this Italian adventure.
    Love to all
    Melanie
    xxx

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