2010 has been something of a mixed year for me. In January I developed an unexplained pain in my right elbow. By mid-July I could barely walk. After undergoing a number of tests, I was eventually diagnosed with a bone disorder and started treatment, a bad reaction to which resulted in my being bundled off to hospital in an ambulance!

Thankfully, the necessary adjustments were swiftly made and, despite falling and badly spraining my ankle when first venturing out to celebrate my returning mobility (eye-rollingly ironic, I know, but sadly grace and poise have never been among my strongest suits!), I am now on the road to recovery. It has, however, been a period of time that I am in no hurry to repeat, being mainly painful, depressing, exhausting and, whilst waiting for a diagnosis, at times rather frightening.


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Five unexpected events that have occurred since last I blogged:

1) A Barba Do Tio Alonso arrived in the post - Uncle Alonzo is a fully-fledged Brazilian at last! Now all I need is someone who speaks Portuguese to translate for me...

2) Following a generous gift of fresh-from-the-tree damsons from a lovely neighbour, I have successfully cooked two different damson-related desserts from scratch! Recipes to come in later posts.

3) I have started driving lessons again. No fiddling about with manual cars for me this time, though; it's automatic all the way! I have decided that I possess neither the patience nor the robust mental disposition necessary to cope with a manual car. Yes, I've heard all the arguments - 'What if you have to drive someone else to hospital in their car?' being one of the most popular. Frankly, if my control of a manually operated automobile is all that stands between the critically ill individual in question and certain death, then they might as well start picking out hymns... ;-)


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Like Alien vs Predator (though with slightly less gore and rather more swearing), the saga of Emma vs Technology continues.

I may have mentioned this before but, in the present circumstances, I feel it bears repeating: Technology Hates Me. It truly does. From the computer I still think of as 'new' that now insists on blue-screening with increasing regularity, to the mobile broadband that only lives up to half of its name (Mobile? Well, yes. Broadband? Not so much), the technological trappings of the modern world seem to be conspiring against me.

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I spent the weekend at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival and, once again, had a fantastic time. The weather was gorgeous, the location (Christ Church college) both beautiful and convenient, and attendance at nine events, shoe-horned into a little less than forty-eight hours, saw the setting of a new personal record!

The highlights included an extremely entertaining debate between children’s writers Helena Pielichaty and Penny Dolan (Penny arguing in favour of fantasy in children’s books, whilst Helena championed reality), a wonderful talk by former Children’s Laureate, Michael Morpurgo, and a moving presentation by ex-Royal Marine, Pen Farthing, who not only managed to rescue a large number of mistreated dogs while serving in Afghanistan, but has also now set up the charity Nowzad Dogs to continue the good work. You can read more about Pen's experiences (and help the dogs by doing so) in his brilliant book, One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Helmand.


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To celebrate my father's birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday, Dad!) we went to see The 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus.

With a mere four actors playing 139 characters in 100 minutes, the show promised to be funny, fast and furious. And, happily, it kept that promise. Inventive, clever, entertaining, amusing - in many places, laugh-out-loud comical and jaw-droppingly creative - there are an absurd number of adjectives that I could use to describe this production, but I shall attempt to restrain myself!


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Many thanks indeed to the pupils and staff of the Virgo Fidelis Preparatory School, who made me so welcome when I went to spend their School Book Day with them yesterday.

In the morning I visited three separate classes - the Nursery, Reception and Year 1 - all of whom were delightful and very generous with their lovely hugs! After reading Uncle Alonzo’s Beard, I conducted a short quiz on the book. Each correct answer, of which there were many, won an Alonzo badge. Following the quiz, the children were able to turn the tables on me and ask any questions that they wanted to. I then finished the session by introducing them to one of Alonzo’s relatives, My Scandalous Sister Sophia – a terribly badly behaved little girl, who I am certain had little in common with the angelic nippers of Virgo Fidelis! ;-)


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As previously discussed, I am more than a little 'challenged' in the technological knowledge department. (We're on to Web 2.0 already? Really??) Forgive me, therefore, if you've already heard about any or all of the following websites and software, or if I fail to do them justice with my brief explanations of what they are and what you can do with them. I was just so impressed - and in a few cases delighted - when I came across them in my recent bout of web-wandering that I wanted to spread the word. I hope that others out there may be just as pleasantly surprised by them as I was.


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Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! It is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken...

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Having finally worked out how to transfer photos from my phone to the computer, I have unfortunately (but possibly, for those who know me, unsurprisingly) misplaced the USB cable that would allow me to do so. Happily, however, I took the camera rather than the phone with me on my walk today...


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Well, today is officially the last day on which you can wish a 'Happy New Year' to someone you haven't seen in a long time. By February all hope is lost - it'll either be a happy year or it won't, but either way there's no turning back.

2009 has already been something of a mixed bag for me. Positive highlights include attending a very interesting and informative 'Get Started in Voice Overs' workshop at Shining Management, confirming two school visits for March and starting work on my first playscript. On the negative side, my mother had to go into hospital for 8 days, the playwriting course I wanted to do was cancelled at the last minute and I've also found myself plagued by strange dreams about people I haven't seen in years - very odd!


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