You've Recognised A Fundamental Feature Of An

For All Of My Life It Was The Size Of My Rear That Caused Me The Most Hand-wringing, But In This Nearly-50 Zone It Is My Stomach That Is The Problem. It Seems To Have Broken Free From Its Moorings And There Is No Knowing How Far It Will Roam.

I Wished There Was Some Kind Of Switch On My Brain. That I Could Turn It Off In The Same Way That I Could Turn Off The Television. Just Click It Off And Immediately Empty My Mind Of All These Images And Worrying Thoughts. And Simply Leave A Blank Screen. Or If I Could Just Remove My Head And Put It On The Bedside Table And Forget About It Until Morning. And Then Attach It Again When I Needed It.

I Sighed. "what Is Life But Fleeting Moments Of Happiness Strung Together On Necklace Of Despair?

... I Am More Of An Ambler. I Once Overheard My Old Boss In Dublin Describe Me As Very "hello Trees, Hello Flowers." It Was Intended As An Insult And It Fulfilled Its Brief; I Was Insulted. I Had Little Interest In Greeting Trees And Flowers But Nor Did I Treat Life As A Treadmill, On Which It Was Vital To Keep Fleeing Forward In Order To Avoid Being Sucked Off The Back And Out Of The Game.

The Feel Of Them (books) And The Smell Of Them. A Bookshop Was Like An Aladdin's Cave For Me. Entire Worlds And Lives Can Be Found Just Behind That Glossy Cover. All You Had To Do Was Look." Claire (watermelon)