Crepeys/Hagsnet - come to the candlelight!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

As the last thread is now full...

sounds really interesting. I am always fascinated by who we are and the narratives that surround us. I wonder how my brothers children (white father, Indian mother) will negotiate their lives and how that is potentially both a rich and complex place to be.

My friend is trying to write a book and met a literary agent - she says now they put together somebody with good story ideas and somebody with good grammar and knock a book together like that. Very disillusioned - I hope real writers still exist. mother I'd be interested in your comments on this. I mean surely if you have a story idea you are an ideas person not a writer - the trick is being able to put something together in a certain style.

Woke up this morning after sleeping on my left side by accident. My face was, quite literally folded in half all night I think. My nose to mouth crease is still there, 2 and half hours after getting up.

Sorry to lower tone of thread so early in day.

Hatty - that's interesting. I've always wanted to write a b ook, but have been devoid of ideas. I'm pretty good on the old 'writing' bit, however. Though I say so myself. (Trying out this 'positive thinking' malarky!)

I don't agree, though, that there is a discrepancy between ideas - not narrative ideas - and writing. And writing is far more than 'good grammar'. (Actually I think writing is the only thing that matters, really, the words on the page, but am prepared to concede there may be a life out there that exists separately.) Yes, there are some writers (like Val McDermid, for instance) whose writing style is a bit hackneyed. But on the other hand she writes for a living, always did (was big tabloid hack before writing fiction full-time).

Phew - glad it's not just me then. I think narrative style and original ideas should form the basis of a good novel. I can see how the other formula exists for churning out novels by the likes of Katie Price. On TV the credits always say "written by based on an original idea by" so the writer essentially gets the credit.

thenight I have before now noticed pillow lines down my face at 9.30 to 10 am!

bigTillyMint - am glad that your dd's appmt went reasonably well yesterday. I do hope the physio etc do the trick. Shame about Cruella, though.

I'll be the buying The Guardian this w/e then, MI. :)

Thanks Strop! It turns out that Blu's DS has the same consultant - she gave me lots of juicy gossip on her

Went to see the GP this morning - my iron levels are still low, 18 instead of 100. She said they had improved and I was no longer anaemic, but back on the bloody iron tablets again - constipation and black poos, here I come!
And I convinced her that I need HRT, so she has given me a prescription for a low dose one, so I am praying that they do the job - can't stand the black moods, etc any more.

Does anyone know what causes iron levels to drop? I eat a healthy diet - lots of leafy greens though not alot of red meat!

Are you drinking a lot of tea? That can deplete iron stocks. I do think red meat is a very good source if you do eat it - leafy greens are pretty low by comparison, I think. Steak. Red wine. Dark chocolate. You know it makes sense

And make sure you're combining iron tablets/liquid with vitamin C, to maximise your absorption.

Oh dear MI. I drink gallons of tea

Do you mean eating fruit with the iron tablets? I eat alot of fruit, but not at the same moment as taking the tablet!

Wash it down with orange juice. Or tomato juice.

Or blood, obviously....

Sadly, I can't drink red wine after a particularly horrendous night! But I will be ordering steak when out now!

Have to be orange juice. Or a kiwi - they are very high in vitC aren't they?

Believe so. I don't know how much vit C you need, but it does apparently help.

Steak and salad and chocolate it is, then.

Mmmm, sounds good

Buck up hags! We've slipped to page two...

Re iron - maybe I'm a bit deficient also. Drink gallons of tea, and feel permanently jaded. On the health front, I also keep getting stomach ache, particularly when hungry, and have the squits a lot. Thought it was a bug, or anxiety, but it's back. I saw a sign on the back of a bus detailing the symptoms of bowel cancer, and now I'm too scared to go to the doctor.

Latest parenting mistake: letting DS play with the Bomtempi organ. MY EARS.

Herbs, go. Or better still, do a symptom chart noting any bloating or anything else, and then go after a month. It may be all sorts of things. Or nothing.

I have swum. But appear to be a half stone over where I should be.

Herbs go, it most probably will be a simple problem that the GP can sort out easily.

And if you take iron tablets, you will not get the squits

I feel permanently jaded atm, but I find does wonders Sadly, the weight is piling on - mainly because I keep eating in the hopes of some energy.

Just wait till your DS takes up the cornet at school!

I just read something quite touching (a story I am turning into a script for a cartoon for a Spanish company - mostly I dream up my own stories [posts passim]) and I starting doing those deep powerful sobs that are wrenched from the very soul whether it's justified to have them or not.

I felt so emotional I ate 5 biscuits which is hardly any for me I now have mild sugar fuelled rapid heart beat and that 'I sobbed a lot recently' feeling.

Today could go either way 1) I get down to it and start the script. 2) I take flight and do a lengthy mooch round TK Maxxx, which i could just about get away with.

Is it alright to take senna while on iron pills? I'd be inclined to give that a whirl I think. Dried apricots good too.

Go for option 2 I am soooooo bored having spent the morning doing paperwork!

I'm not sure about laxatives - wouldn't that just flush out all the goodness/iron?

I get bloated, but have come to the conclusion it is rubbish bread that causes it. Although I do worry about bowel cancer (my mum had it).
If we are swapping useful health stuff, I do know grapefruit juice is good if your colestral is a bit high (but don't drink it if you are taking the tablets...)
I have to attend an Alumni Dinner tonight - what on earth made me think that was a good idea
Ds hammers the piano which isn't too bad (dp put his foot down at the violin - he is a Viola player himself and knows what it entails....)

Oh bigTillyMint, thank you for choosing option 2. I will have to go now because you said so.

Anyone else got sports days this week? Ours are supposed to be tomorrow and Friday pm. Will be horribly squelchy at best.

MI hope you're heading upwards from the gloom. Status report?

Linseed is what you need. A generous spoonful is usually enough to jolly up a sluggish gut and goes well on porridge or in yoghurt. Dried apricots good also for iron and are full of fibre.

Just back for STRONG coffee after a long morning of invigilation. Am now off back for what promises to be an even longer afternoon. Ho hum. Still, makes a change from the home office.