blowing away the cobwebs

is exactly what we did on friday. no radio show (dan had two stage performances in rocky horror show in bromley to be getting on with) so the Strawberry Blonde and I got in the car and drove down to Broadstairs for a brisk clifftop walk. The town was pretty deserted, except for a vintage cloting shop, a cafe called Continental Corner (yup, you guessed it, it's on a corner) and Morelli's, a 50's ice cream parlour on the seafront. So after a nose round the vintage shop ( the SB bought a gorgeous 60's Aquascutum wool giant dogtooth check swing coat in shades of cream, tan & brown) a look at Charles Dickens' house and a mooch round the seafront, we had a reviving collation of tea & scones at Continental Corner. Then we drove to Whitstable for a mini pub crawl (well, it wasn't that crawly for me 'cause I was driving) and then the SB treated me to dinner at the Whitstable Oyster Fishery restaurant, where I had potted shrimp and - my favourite- squid. She had smoked eel, then half a lobster and potato salad, all washed down with a spot of Sancerre.

Spent most of yesterday cleaning out the room we share as our "office" that doubles as the guest room, because we have a guest coming to stay. We don't know the guest, so I didn't want her to think we are unhygenic. With friends, it's fine! Anyway, it is General Synod this week (a big meeting of people who pretend to make a difference in the Church of England) and as we live near Church House, we were asked if we could offer food & shelter to some lonesome Christian coming down from the north of England. So being the nice gals we are we said yes. Oh, and we get some cash for it as well. So I'm making an effort- bought some bagels for breakfast, and I'm now roasting a chicken and baking a carrot & mushroom loaf.


Duckie was good last night- had my favourite boys, the Cabearet Bearlesque troupe, doing bear-aunautics on a harness attached to the ceiling of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern- v. risque when you think of their girth! We put together a Bay City Rollers jigsaw puzzle on the activity island, and everybody seemed in great spirits.

Pancakes Akimbo!

The past few days have been spent making and eating pancakes. They take FOREVER to cook, and they are oh-so-easy to eat. Quite a volatile addiction, n'est-ce pas? Had a Pancake Party on Tuesday eve with a fine selection of friends (and pancakes) Savoury fillings included stilton & roast red pepper chutney; shittake and sherry ragout; smoked duck, chipotle mayonnaise, spring onion & watercress; smokes salmon, shrimp, creme fraiche and dill; ricotta, roasted red pepper and pesto. The sweet filling in chocolate pancakes was tawny marmalade with orange chocolate fudge sauce on top. And yes, it was all "from scratch". I don't have any photos to prove it though- I drank so much cava I forgot to take a few snaps. Why, in England, do we get pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, while in Brazil they get tits, teeth and seuins? It seems a bit unfair if you ask me.

Last night we did a photo shoot in my flat for the latest Duckie pics- for a club night we're doing in Birmingham in May,the 10th anniversary of the Fierce! festival. The theme is "childhood". I has to sneak into the kids nursery that's underneath our flat (it's a long story) and "borrow" some mini tables and chairs, dolls, giant lego, painting easel, etc etc. The Readers Wifes, Jay Cloth and myself all sat round the table drinking cider, smoking fags & eating crisps while fighting over baby dolls and painting rude things on the easel. I'll post the photos as soon as our Maitre d'Image, Bryon, sends 'em to me.

Art, tears and cheese

The SB and I went to Cambridge on Friday to see an amazing exhibition, WE the Moderns, at Kettle's Yard. Focused on the birth of Modern sculpture, the exhibition itself was like seeing old friends. We are Modernist obsessives and have been known to swoon at the sight of a Brancusi, Epstein or Modigliani. Didn't know much about Henri Gaudier-Brseska, though, nor did I know much about Kettle's Yard despite the SB's three years at Cambridge.

What I liked immediately about Henri G-B is the fact that the second bit of his hyphenated name is his wife's surname.
Kettle's Yard itself was founded by H.S "Jim" Ede, former curator of the Tate (Britain- the original, natch) which put him in a unique position to acquire an incredible amount of quality 20th century painting, sculpture, drawings, ceramics, etc and put them in his house, which he then opened to students. The house itself is a collection of cottages knocked together and full of light and life. Ede left his entire home and art collection to the University of Cambridge which now looks after it, and I cannot stress what a delightful experience of discovery it is to visit the house and gallery. Please go. And make sure the house is open when you plan your visit. www.kettlesyard.co.uk. I swear you'll never want to buy another thing from Ikea.

So after that we went for a drink in The Free Press, one of the SB's old drinking haunts from her days on the Cam, and she told me she's fed up of my moping around and general miserablist mood (ok, i have been feeling a bit depressed of late). So I started to cry which is not a good thing in a crowded pub on a Friday night. We were going to have dinner at Midsummer Common, a glorious two-michelin starred restaurant in Cambridge, but instead we had a row on the Common, got sushi from the M&S Simply Food at the station, and came home.

Saturday was a write-off. I have a bad cold, and have been feeling sorry for myself (see SB's proclamation above) so I spent most of the day drinking lemsip on the sofa. Went to Duckie, and we had two great acts on which lifted my spirits- Hannah & Susannah, and arty duo who gave us a glimpse into the sordid twilight world of the heterosexual, and Donald Spark, a young Chinese hula-hoopist with a tutu and a mohawk. Cute!!!

Sunday I made my signature fish pie for friend David & bf Robert who came over for lunch, then David said he couldn't eat smoked things and there's smoked haddock in my signature fish pie so had to rustle something up from a few slices of cold roast beef and mashed potato for him. Not really my style of doing things, but needs must as they say. Highlight of my day was seeing my article published in the Observer Magazine special on Ultimate Travel- look here, kids!
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2007/feb/18/cruises




Only a few days to go until Lent begins. I was going to give up cheese, but the SB thinks it's a stupid idea. She says I should take up something instead of giving up something. So I have decided to see a spiritual advisor for Lent. No, not a spiritualist, but rather someone with whom I can openly discuss issues of faith, and why, for example, I feel my blood pressure rise uncontrollably when I attend church. Some might say, "well, don't go then." If only it were that easy for me. So I'm going to check out this place- the London Centre for Spirituality. www.spiritualitycentre.org

I hate February.

I feel like my life has been pretty ho-hum for the past week or so, that's why I haven't posted. I pompommed myself out!

So this is what i've been up to. I've been spending a lot of time preparing for things that (fingers crossed) will happen later this year. Like going to Malaysia on assignment for the Times in April - well, they have commissioned me to write a travel article, all about Malaysian food/cooking/markets. But I have to do a lot of research and planning, and I have a big meeting with the head of the Malaysian Tourist Board on Monday, and I have to beg them to get the Strawberry Blonde a free flight too. I also heard this week that my show, "Amy Lamé's Mama Cass Family Singers", will be going to Australia, with me of course. Never been to Oz! The SB doesn't want to come- she's got something against Australia, but I don't know why as she's never been either. Mind you she really doesn't like America, but she's been with me for 13 yrs so what does that mean!? Anyway, I've got dates booked in for Brisbane, and will hopefully do some shows in Melbourne as well.
Sonny, my web wunderkid, is designing my new site and I've been to-ing and fro-ing on the phone with him. Knitting is coming along really well- though I had to pop into I Knit London on thurs eve for a bit of remedial help. I'm knitting a pink ribbed scarf for Dan and want to have it finished before winter is over. This week coming involves said meeting with Mr. Malaysia& radio show, and a public panel discussion & screening at Channel 4 on My Big Gay Prom- I mentored a group of gay and lesbian teeneages for the programme which comes out later this month. Wednesday the SB is cooking me dinner for VD (it's the only night of the year she cooks). In an unfortunate circumstance, the 14th is also our anniversary, but we've decided to defer it because I just can't take all that hearts and flowers shit.