Bit and Bobs, This and That; Geriatric Ramblings.

    Funny old week. Saw my beloved Derby County. They won 5-1. They were brilliant, superb, outstanding, excellent, terrific. (You get the impression they were good!) So why not every week? The frailty of the human condition. Then I saw a performance of the BBC 'Proms' from the Royal Albert Hall on television. Amazingly good, such skilful musicians, wonderful. breathtaking, unforgettable. How clever humans can be, how good life is at times. (As a family we are also in the middle of problems, some close. Serious illness, domestic problems of friends close to us, the effects of unemployment and recession, all are present.) My aging, sometimes less than adequate mind takes it all in, often in the dark, night hours. I have no doubt many of what is left of my readers have exactly the same or similar problems. (Regarding readers I am sure 'blogging' is an ephemeral pastime so I am somewhat philosophical.) But yet again I am left with the old 'What's it all about' syndrome.

    It's over a year since Francois, my wife's mother died. It hit the family badly, she was much loved. I came across Paulette's prayer book she was given at her communion. It is dated 23rd June 1961. The funeral service was the 23rd June 2012. Coincidence, presumably. We brought back to Derby the summer house much loved by Francois. It sits in our garden, a constant, comforting reminder. And the rainbow that appeared one day? you tell me! We all like the thought of 'something else' besides this life, strange and mystifying though it is at times. I confess I find it beyond my limited comprehension.

    Max Bygraves died this week. If there is 'something else', perhaps he's singing away somewhere, always the entertainer!

    Next week, the first day of the rest of my life. On Wednesday I am to appear on the local radio station (Radio Derby) to talk about my e-book. (A Childhood Revisited); presumably my Andy Warhol 'fifteen minutes of fame!

Fame is But a Fleeting Thing

I suspect deep in us all is the desire for fame of a kind. Perhaps even some of us would relish the fame Judith O'Reilly has achieved, quite rightly with her excellent blog 'Wife in the North.' Is this not part of the reason we blog, to gain attention, to be liked and admired, however tiny our audience when compared to the seasoned professionals. John Dewey, the American philosopher wrote of 'the desire to be important', Sigmund Freud talked of 'the desire to be great'. If I remember right Legs Diamond, the American gangster once said all he wanted from life was to be liked. And surely we wouldn't be blogging, in public if we weren't attention seeking. (I appreciate for some it is therapy, a type of release, which is slightly different.)

It's a funny thing, fame. Andy Warhol is perhaps best known for his statement 'In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.' My fifteen minutes seems to be a long time coming.

Surely there must be things in my longish life that are exceptions to the rather mundane (I hasten to add I enjoy my life) happenings that are the norm in a working class existence.

I've got Len Shackleton's autograph, plus Nat Lofthouse's and Wilf Mannion's. Super heroes of the past. I once saw Wee Georgie Wood on the street in London, albeit fleetingly. Plus Princess Margaret in Lincoln, back view only. William Roach comes from Derbyshire, plus Arthur Lowe and Alan Bates, only I never met any of them. Mike Brearley, ex England cricket captain is a distant cousin, or so I'm told. I've never met him either! We don't shout the odds in Derbyshire, we consider it somewhat vulgar. Our football team Derby County scored the lowest points ever in a season in the Premier League and our county cricket team is probably the worst of them all. (High hopes for both in the future.) So no need for bellicose belligerence there. (The Derbyshire motto is said to be 'Derbyshire born, Derbyshire bred, strong in the arm and weak in the head'.)

I have difficulty in naming three three famous people with Derbyshire connections. Florence Nightingale was a Derbyshire lady. Joseph Wright the painter was Derby born and the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed came from near Derby, my home town. Then I'd start to struggle.

As a schoolteacher of some considerable years fame eluded me in the main. True I was known for my ability to mirror write. (Almost certainly connected with the fact that I am left handed.) Plus I was the only teacher who boomeranged and flew kites with pupils in dinner hours. No mean feat on a playing fields containing awesome electricity pylons. Kites, boomerangs and pylons are poor bed fellows.

The oldest pupils I taught will now be around fifty years of age; a mind boggling thought. But the thing that thrills me most is when ex-pupils still come up to me in the street and say 'Hello sir, how are you?' Absolutely brilliant, a tiny example of 'fame' that fills me with pride even after all these years.

If I am to become really famous it has yet to come. I suspect everyone has had moments or longer when 'fame' has landed on their shoulder. Dare we suggest that some may be 'infamous', perish the thought!

So besides writing the best blog since fried bread have you had your moment of fame. What are you famous for?