Hidden under a handy cut, for your convenience. I think you’ll be able to work out just why I’m still so exhausted though!
Having a brief conversation with the lovely Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE
Jo Grant steals Four’s scarf!
I stole my friend Andrew’s Lord Vetinari costume after he became too warm to wear it. He was soon shouting at me to give it back!
I stole Andrew’s inflatable guitar, too!
Crossing the fandoms! Me wearing my Jayne hat and sharing my Fourth Doctor scarf with Mister Tribble
Proof that I survived meeting DEATH and his grand-daughter, Susan Sto Helit. The man behind DEATH is actually very pleasant
The Gunpowder green tea and mint in this gorgeous Chinese tea set was delicious
I blame the Convention for my new addiction to Chinese tea, and for the aquisition of this gorgeous tea set and five new Chinese teas to try!
My name is Missus Tribble. I am epileptic, crippled, slightly famous in the world of Epilepsy Awareness and I can still party provided it’s not very often.
Never let anything stop you; everything is possible.
And if you accidentally overdo it? Wait a few weeks and try again.
I am now going to brine some more Nasturtium “capers”, as my plants will not stop producing them!
Wonderful photos! It looks like you had a great time. I love your Jayne hat!
Thanks! A friend knitted the Jayne hat for me. She was offering to knit anything that her friends requested as long as they gave something to charity – so I donated to Cancer Research
Sweet!
Dear Missus Tribble,
The boots look FANTASTIC.
Love Dotty xxx
Dear Dotty,
I’m glad you like the boots. Husband-shape and I spent quite some time customising them!
Love, Missus Tribble xxx
Just been watching new series of doctor who brilliant opening episode
I actually wasn’t keen… but I always watch a second time so I might change my mind tomorrow
my other favourites the weeping angels are back in a few weeks but tonights dalek twist made me think of The handmaidens tale i dont know if it was just her name or the fact she refused to become what they wanted her to
I’m wondering how the Doctor is supposed to “save” her. Does he have to go back in time to before she was turned into a Dalek? Does he have to drop her off again at that same point in time so that she can become a Dalek and erase the Doctor from the Dalek’s hive memory? That would be really sad
I’m not going to get what I *really* want in a companion anyway – for Rory to stay and for Donna to survive getting her memory back and return to the TARDIS (I miss bolshy, brilliant Donna) – so I’ll take whatever comes.
But the whole reason that Amy is leaving Rory… were we watching Doctor Who or did it morph in to Twilight, with Amy saying it’s her fault because she’s supposed to be more of a woman than she is? I call bullshit and sexism on that one!
making me reply in wrong place grrrr but I have to be honest if I were amy Rory would have been history long ago far too clingy would love to see a real beefcake as an assistant but that wont happen lol my ultimate would be to see captain Jack join the doctor for a while as his assistant
I’d love to see Jack in the TARDIS again! I think he’d play off Matt Smith’s Doctor just brilliantly
All power to you girl!!
Thanks
It looks like great fun! Glad to see you enjoyed yourself.
We had a great time. As always though, it was exhausting – I was even too tired last night to make much sense out of Doctor Who!
I’ll be watching Dr Who tonight. I hear it was great.
I had to rewatch last night due to tiredness and not taking everything in properly, but it was absolutely wonderful!
Those boots ROCK!!!
How did they EVER go out of fashion?
Wow, you met Terry Pratchett! How was he? In good shape, I hope?
He’s doing quite well, I think; still happy to speak to his fans although everybody’s careful not to overwhelm him these days.
I never get to speak to him for long when I see him, but he’s always very pleasant and will chat away for as long as he can
You’ve met him several times! OMG!!!
Anyway, I’m glad he’s doing well. I was so sad after I saw that documentary. You never know with Alzheimer’s… it could get bad quite quickly…
I’ve worked with Alzheimer patients and it’s so sad how rapidly they can go downhill. As a result I fully support his campaign for the right to die; I would be absolutely devastated if I had a mind as rich and amazing as his, only to be told it was going to be taken away from me piece by piece.
Yes, it would be awful, and I also support his campaign. Here in Finland the attitudes are starting to turn more positive towards euthanasia. It has its supporters and its opposers, but just the other day one doctor appeared in the paper, saying that he used to be firmly against euthanasia but he has now witnessed a few really difficult deaths where no amount of medication was enough to ease the passing, and he said he has realised there’s no reason to make anyone go through such horrors when there is no hope of survival. Not sure how he would feel about Alzheimer’s patients wanting to die, as they’re not in physical pain, but it was still a major concession from an ex-opposer.
Then, on the other hand, I think Terry Pratchett had a sort of comforting insight on his disease. In the documentary he said he had realised that it’s only bad in the beginning. Once it’s past a certain stage, he’ll no longer know what’s going on, so he won’t suffer for it. Then, only his family and friends will hurt, and he didn’t want to prolongue their pain either.
And… well… I hate to say it but that “happy” scenario wasn’t true for my gran. It wasn’t blissful ignorance for her. She grew really anxious towards the end, with fearful hallucinations and the angst of being at a loss, finding herself an old frail woman in some unfamiliar institution, with no idea what was going on in the past 50 years.
I’m still young enough to think that I would want to live as long as possible, even if I didn’t have my wits about me. But I wouldn’t want to be institutionalised and I hope by that time there will be medication for Alzheimers. Maybe not a cure, but at least something that would effectively prevent the brain damage or at least stop the bad hallucinations and the angst. Failing that, I would like to have the chance to opt out of the misery.
Unfortunately Terry is somewhat misguided if he believes that he won’t know what’s happening to him – because he will. He will occasionally become lucid enough to see the real world around him and become upset and confused; he will know if he has to wear continence pads and he will eventually have to suffer the indignity of being fed by a carer. He’ll still occasionally remember his brilliance and all the wonderful books he’s written and he will mourn everything he has lost. He may also find himself in constant pain from an accident which occurs due to an Alzheimers-induced accident.
I spent a little over two years working with elderly people with Alzheimers. There were some truly wonderful moments and I loved the job, but some of the things I’ve seen… they would make anybody with an ounce of compassion wish that assisted suicide were legal.
That’s horrible! I was hoping for his sake that he had got it right, and he wouldn’t understand his own condition by the time it would become unbearable. But from what I saw of my grandmother, I had my suspicions. She wasn’t blissfully out of it. She was painfully bewildered, and that was on a good moment. The bad moments were just like you described. The only thing worse than the lucid moments were possibly the flashbacks of war, making her experience her brothers’ deaths over and over again. I guess it’s not that bad for someone who hasn’t had to live through such horrors. But who knows what traumas the brain will throw out? Things that have been long buried under layers of defences, and when those defences are gone, you’re at the mercy of your worst nightmares, without even the ability to tell what’s real and what’s not.
For some it actually is as Terry described, but those are the lucky ones. One of my favourite residents was a delightful Scottish lady who truly believed that her family had put her up in a swanky hotel – and kept asking how to get out so she could go shopping! Another lady was so zen that it was enviable (but only with me for some reason) and once wandered into the dining room because she could hear Blue Danube on the radio. After giving me a kiss on the cheek she said “I love you” and swept me up into a waltz – the nurse on duty couldn’t believe what she was seeing!
For Sir Terry’s sake I hope that he will enter a similarly blissful state, but he really would be in the minority.
Well, that’s a small comfort at least! That there’s at least a chance it could go like that.