keris stainton

Potter's tiger*

2009-07-14T09:44:31+01:00

Harry has never wanted to have his face painted. I've tried to encourage him because I thought he'd look cute, but he's always flat out refused. Last week, we were at a party and all the kids were getting their faces done. I was talking to another mum and said, "I wish Harry would have his done, but he's not interested." We walked to the other end of the room and there was Harry, just standing up from having a tiger done!

A couple of days later, there was another party. "Will there be face painting?" Harry asked. There was. And that time he went for a zebra. Clearly, he's a face painting convert.

And I haven't painted his face lately, but here's a cute picture of Joe:

* One of my absolute favourite things about Phoenix Nights was that they left Young Kenny's tiger face on in subsequent episodes. Genius. (If you've never seen Phoenix Nights, you must. Start here.)

Good Enough

2009-07-12T13:32:32+01:00

The Way I See It #17, originally uploaded by Wonderlane.

A couple of months ago, me and David went to stay at the Midland Hotel in Morecambe. It was quite expensive and, when we walked into the room, I was disappointed. I was expecting a wow factor for the money we were spending and I didn't get one.

My first thought was to complain, but then I almost talked myself out of it. It was "only" £150, I reasoned. Maybe this is what you get for £150? And then I became aware of feeling that I should be grateful to be staying there at all. And we'd paid £150!

What, I asked David, is the opposite of a sense of entitlement? It was a bit of, as Oprah says, an "A-ha moment". Why did I feel like this sub-standard room was all I deserved? I have friends (Hi, Jo!) who would not hesitate to complain about better hotel rooms than this one. Why did I think I should just put up and shut up?

I've thought about it a few times over the past couple of months - Oh, by the way, I complained and we got upgraded to an amazing suite, which definitely had the wow factor, but I was left feeling a little bit like we'd got away with something! - but then this morning, I read a quote from Sheila Hancock in The Observer:

Everything happened late to me because I thought I should keep my place. I thought you had to be immensely educated to be a writer, and as I left school at 15 I didn't think I was permitted. Now I don't care.

I've always hated the thought of keeping or knowing your place. I would never have thought I felt that way about myself, but reading the above set bells ringing.

As a teenager, I wanted to be a journalist, but didn't think it was something I could do. I didn't have the confidence, the education, the contacts. Later, I wanted to try freelance writing, but I read that you had to have worked on magazines first and so I discounted it.

Even later, I remember reading a book about writing that said something along the lines of if, when you ask yourself what you want to do, you answer "be a writer" rather than "write", you're a phony. You want the lifestyle, to be Carrie Bradshaw with a laptop in a coffee shop (this was before SATC, but that was the drift), you don't really want to write. And I'd answered "be a writer" so I took it to heart.

When I worked in Legal & Business Affairs in London Records, I really wanted to work in Press, but I never said. Just before I left the company, I mentioned it to Juliette, Head of Press and she said she would have LOVED to have me in Press, I would've been GREAT at it. She was shocked: Why had I never said? I didn't really know. But I know now. Because I didn't think I was good enough. I thought I was a secretary, an administrator. I thought I'd found my place and that was as a PA, not as a "creative". I know now that I was wrong. Now, I think Juliette was right. I would have been GREAT in press.

I know that this feeling is still with me. I didn't feel good enough to write some of the articles I wanted to write. I didn't feel good enough to write for some of the magazines I wanted to write for. I know I'm good at fiction, but I haven't really let myself get excited about my books, because I haven't let myself believe it's going to happen. Because being a published author isn't really my place, is it? Except that I think it just might be.

What the woof?

2009-07-09T10:54:38+01:00

David ripped this out of the paper years ago because the expression on the dog's face is so hilarious. I found it the other day and Harry spotted it, laughed his head off, said, "Look at that doggie's face!", and now wants it on his bedroom wall.

The strangest thing I've ever seen

2009-07-08T10:54:38+01:00

I thought I should probably write something about yesterday's Michael Jackson memorial "show", but I don't think I've quite recovered from it yet.

I watched it online via a live feed from the Washington Post website while, in another window, tweeting about it along with practically every other Twitter user (or so it seemed).

I found the whole thing sad, fascinating, and utterly disturbing. I guess that's kind of an appropriate send-off, since I'd say the same about the way Michael Jackson lived his life, particularly in later years.

But it was uncomfortable viewing. I couldn't help wondering when many of the people giving tearful eulogies last saw him. I suspected that some saw it as an opportunity to further their careers. I thought it was completely wrong that his children were there, their faces uncovered, when he'd gone to such lengths to protect their privacy while he was alive (and, yes, I appreciate this may have been their decision). I resented it every single time anyone gave their condolences to Michael's gum-chewing father, Joseph, who was sitting on the front row with the rest of the family. I wasn't wild-about the Christ imagery of many of the photographs shown on the big screen and everyone getting up on stage to sing We Are the World was just so wrong. As author Jojo Moyes said on Twitter, "Please, Lord, tell me who thought it would be a good idea to make Jackson's children sing and dance in front of his casket."

And then, of course, there was poor Paris's tribute to her father. I hope she wanted to do it and she wasn't pushed into it by the family, but it broke my heart.

Get Gilbert*

2009-07-06T10:04:52+01:00

My lovely friend Zoe posted this in our writers' group and I love it. It's from Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the amazing Eat, Pray, Love.

As for discipline – it’s important, but sort of over-rated. The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you. You will make vows: “I’m going to write for an hour every day,” and then you won’t do it. You will think: “I suck, I’m such a failure. I’m washed-up.” Continuing to write after that heartache of disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness (which comes from a place of kind and encouraging and motherly love).

The other thing to realize is that all writers think they suck. When I was writing “Eat, Pray, Love”, I had just as a strong a mantra of THIS SUCKS ringing through my head as anyone does when they write anything. But I had a clarion moment of truth during the process of that book. One day, when I was agonizing over how utterly bad my writing felt, I realized: “That’s actually not my problem.” The point I realized was this – I never promised the universe that I would write brilliantly; I only promised the universe that I would write.

* Anyone - apart from Suzi, Sarah and my sister - remember this?

On the other Lovely Blogs this week...

2009-07-04T10:18:00+01:00

I still haven't ordered any WindowSox (but I will) {Bloom}

Check out Ktjean's gorgeous custom wedding dress {Bridal Express}

Win a copy of the second book in the Wags' World series {Chicklish}

Has anyone read Jay McInerney's The Good Life? {Five Minutes Peace}

Swoon over Laura Ashley's lace memo board {Hygge Nook}

Watch author Jenny Colgan chat about her working day (with baby!) {Novelicious}

Celebrate Susan Hayward's birthday {Pretty Vintage}

Oh, what a circus!

2009-07-03T12:09:52+01:00

Just realised that I haven't blogged about the That (or "This'n'That", as my aunty calls them!).

Last Saturday, me and my sister (who bought my ticket for my birthday) went to Manchester to see Take That. It was a hot day and I was worried about getting charred, but - wouldn't you know it? - we'd been at Old Trafford cricket ground for about five minutes when it started to pour down. Ever paranoid, I'd taken a mac and Leanne had an umbrella so we weren't too bad, but we saw a quite ridiculous amount of underwear (where people's clothes had gone transparent) and gooseflesh (particularly the man nearby who took his shirt off to protect it from the rain!).

But once the boys men came on stage all that was forgotten. It really is an incredible show. You've probably seen the elephant in the paper and that was amazing, but the thing that most fascinated me was the women on trapezes (is that the plural of trapeze?) swinging in front of the giant screens. I just couldn't get used to it. Not only did it seem like an animation, it also highlighted the phenomenal scale of the stage set.

Because I am a doof, I haven't got round to buying the latest album and so didn't know quite a lot of the songs. I still enjoyed them, but for me the highlights were, unsurprisingly, the songs I did know. Never Forget was amazing (and is, as Leanne pointed out, their arms-aloft Radio GaGa) and the finale - Rule the World - was magical.

It was a great night, topped off with a portion of chips and David collecting us in the car (the transport situation was ridiculous) and bringing us a cup of tea each. You can't buy that kind of service!

Up

2009-07-01T22:22:26+01:00

This morning we were driving to school and we spotted a hot air balloon in the distance.

"Look!" Harry shouted. "A flying house!"

(Although he's stopped pronouncing his aitches, so he actually said, "A flying 'ouse!")

We watched it for the rest of the journey and it just made me so happy. It really is the simple things.

(I can't wait to see this film, btw, it looks amazing and the house is gorgeous!)

Kids are fun

2009-06-30T12:12:20+01:00

You get to go to Disneyland...

... and you also get to draw on their faces to make yourself (and your friends - it was Ms Mac's idea!) laugh:

Disneyfied

2009-06-29T13:46:40+01:00

Harry and the rat from Ratatouille. One thing I was disappointed by was that there were hardly any new rides since I first went there, 15 years ago (the year it opened). Just Buzz Lightyear's Lazer Blast, in fact.

The newer films were hardly represented at all. No Bugs Life, no WALL-e, no Monsters Inc, no Ratatouille or The Incredibles. Not even Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Mulan, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Hercules, Tarzan, Hunchback of Notre Dame...

There was one Nemo ride and one Cars ride, but they were both in Disney Studios Park (and we couldn't get on the Nemo ride because the queue was never less than 90 minutes and there was no Fast Pass).

Anyway, that's enough complaining. Some more pics: