Feb
27
2008
0

Larry Norman April 8, 1947

Larry Norman Larry Norman is one of my favourite musicians of all time. He came to Guernsey when I was about 14 (I think) and I remember hearing him perform, along with a guy called Norman Barratt, in the leisure centre and thinking that I had never, ever heard music quite so loud.

I was completely in love with his music and amazed that Christian music could actually be exciting. Without really realising it at the time his music was incredibly influential for me when I was a teenager, and a few years ago I bought some of my favourite albums of his on CD so that I could listen in the car. I still think his lyrics were amazingly honest and forward-thinking and I wish that I could have seen him perform at Greenbelt, I think that would have been one of the most amazing gigs!!

Sadly missed, but his legend will live on in his music. So, in the words of one of his songs…

“Let this good life be the life I lead
Let my faith grow like a mustard seed
And let your love be all the love I need
To carry me all the way home.”

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
27
2008
1

Grrrrrr

I am knackered. I was called to court today to give evidence in a Child Protection hearing. I am pretty hacked off about the whole day to be honest. First of all they phoned me on Friday to see if I could go in at 12 noon which was an hour earlier that originally planned. So, I arrived with plenty of time at 11.20am and then I sit there watching the clock, until at 12.50pm they adjourn for lunch. Finally I got called at 2pm and I was on the stand for over two hours.

What has royally pissed me off though is there were two clients involved in the case; one I work with, and one that I previously worked with but who is now worked with by one of my colleagues. I work hard to ensure that my clinical notes are up to date (and spelt right, with the right punctuation etc.) and I try to ensure that every piece of work I produce is professional, particularly things that are going to other professionals. So, what wound me up the most that that the file of the client I was working with was perfect and my reports were accurate. However, the other person’s file was a disgrace. Reports were inaccurate, drug screening results were not reported properly, or were missing from the file and the spelling was atrocious. The file is a legal document, surely it is not too much to ask for someone to use a spell-check before submitting an entry? So, I ended up getting grilled on the incompetence of my colleague. Nice.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
27
2008
0

RC Part 12 – Glamour by Louise Bagshawe

Glamour OK, time for an extremely trashy book, Glamour by Louise Bagshawe.

This book is about three rich girls who meet at school, all of whom subsequently lose their fortunes and their attempts to make themselves in the world of business. It is a totally unbelievable story but I really enjoyed it and it only took me a few hours to read. It wasn’t exactly War and Peace but it kept me entertained for a whilst I was travelling to and waiting to go into court.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
26
2008
0

Where’s Bergerac when you need him?

Well sadly the Channel Islands are in the news for all the wrong reasons. Jersey is currently in the media after the skeleton of a child was found buried in concrete in what is now a youth hostel, but was an orphanage, school and home for children with special needs in the past. There has been a child abuse investigation going on the the last couple of years, but this is a really sad development in the story. To then add to speculation the States of Jersey (their government) has now been accused of covering up any problems. Growing up on Guernsey in the Channel Islands was a pleasure and a privilege and I am really sad to hear stories like this. I am so aware that I had a charmed childhood, and remembering that other children did not is hard sometimes. I hope there will be a resolution to this dreadful story and that justice will be done for the child, and any others who are discovered in the future.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
25
2008
0

RC Part 11 – The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon

The Rose of Sebastopol Next on my reading list this month was The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon. The story is about Mariella Lingwood, a demure (and a bit wet) young woman and her feisty, headstrong cousin Rosa Burr. Rosa heads off to Russia to work as a nurse in the Crimean War and the story follows Mariella and her determination to find her cousin when they lose contact with her.

I really struggled to get into this book, and it probably took me about 10 chapters before I wanted to pick it up and find out what happened next. However, I found that the characters grew on me, along with my fascination of the details of the Crimea. I will admit that at the beginning I found Mariella really irritating… she was just so wet and willing to be walked over by everyone but as the story grew so did my fondness for her. She developed some of the feistiness that took her cousin Rosa off to the Crimea and she faced some of her deepest fears.

This is not the sort of novel that I would usually pick up but it was on The Richard and Judy Book Club list this year. I ended up really enjoying it and I found the medical details and descriptions of the war gruesome but fascinating. If you like a good historical novel then I am certain you’ll enjoy this one!

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
25
2008
2

The not-very-cross-trainer

I was at the gym tonight on the cross trainer watching Richard and Judy when they started talking to Dara O’Briain. Let’s just say that I struggled not to fall off the machine because I was laughing so much. Very embarrassing when you have headphones on and are trying to exercise in the middle of a busy gym.

Also on Richard and Judy’s show I saw a buggy for your cat so that you can take them out with you. I think Delilah and I might need one.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
24
2008
4

Flowers

Although it might sound a bit weird I took some lovely photos of the flowers at Gran’s funeral. They were so gorgeous it seemed a shame not to have a record of them. Instead of each family buying flowers we bought one big display to go the length of the coffin. All the different families added their separate cards. It seems to me that there was something really fitting in having just one wreath which had lots of different expressions of love entwined with such beautiful flowers. Grandma would have thoroughly approved I think.

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Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
22
2008
1

Juno

Tonight I went with my friend James to see the film Juno. It’s a lovely, sweet and funny film and well worth going to see. However, when the lights came up James and I realised that we were the oldest people in the cinema by quite some margin. Then we went out for dinner and spent most of the time commenting on the fact that young people cannot behave in the cinema these days. I was all ready to go and tell a bunch of kids to shut up, but I decided to spare James the embarrassment. Are we really that old?

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
20
2008
1

RC Part 10 – Sure of You by Armistead Maupin

Sure of YouAhhhh I have just had a proper blast from the past. I have just finished reading Sure of You by Armistead Maupin. This is the sixth book in the Tales of the City Series and I love these books. I read several of the previous books about 7 years ago and I haven’t touched them since.

Armistead Maupin writes beautiful and convincing characters and this series of books is set in San Francisco. The first novel story starts in the mid-seventies and is based around the characters of Michael Tolliver (Mouse), Mary Ann Singleton and and their cannabis growing landlady Anna Madrigal. I think what I love most about these books is that Maupin’s characters are so lovely and likeable, but he shows their failings time and time again. He covers issues such as sexuality, transgender and the HIV and AIDS crisis with real humour and depth. When I first read these books I loved the fact that community is created between very different people and sometimes I relate to that with the community that I have around me.

Reading this book was like coming across old friends that I haven’t seen for many years and now I need to go back and re-read the other books to find out what has been happening. It is a brilliant series and the books are an easy, funny and thought-provoking read.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |
Feb
19
2008
0

Some people!

Yesterday I went to a training session entitled ‘What’s sexuality got to do with it?’ and right now I have mixed feelings about it. The training itself was OK, although it wasn’t exactly anything I didn’t know (in fact I could probably have taken the session myself). However what really, really pissed me off was the attitude and comments of some of the people there. In particular there was one guy, who I know through work, who asked some of the most inappropriate comments and questions. For example, one of the facilitators was a lesbian who has also been a service user and he asked her whether it is true that gay men are more promiscuous than gay women and why she thought that was. I mean, I am sure people think about those sorts of questions, but actually asking them in a training session is a bit bizarre. I have to admit though, nothing this guy says surprises me. I think he is a complete and utter tosser.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized |

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