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Every week BARBARA FISHER looks at issues that affect us all – the issues that get you talking. You can join in by emailing bmailbarbara@gmail.com
I’M alarmed to discover I missed Don’t Step on a Bee Day and can only hope that enough of you chose not to tread on them in order to prevent extinction.
There really is a day to celebrate everything isn’t there?
Sunday was National Simplicity Day, which sounded inviting, and I would have celebrated it had I known it was happening.
Maybe keeping it simple entailed telling no one about it.
Today is National hot dog day and Friday is World Emoji Day.
Neither of these are causes dear to my heart – or stomach – although I can be tempted to a veggie hot dog on occasions.
Emojis – those little faces bearing a variety of expressions – can be useful, such as showing that an ambiguous statement is meant to be humorous – an alternative to an exclamation mark.
Unfortunately, the way we use grammar can unintentionally alter the meaning of what we’ve written. Hence Lynne Truss’s book Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
Depending on where you put the comma, it could be a thriller about a gunman who munches a burger, guns someone down, and escapes. If you remove the comma, Eats Shoots and Leaves, it sounds as though it’s a book about an animal that eats bamboo shoots and green leaves.
My Waterloo with punctuation was when I wrote a feature about a local dignitary. It was about her high-profile role in the community, but a bit of personal information always adds something so I asked how she met her husband.
She had been married to him for a long time, but willingly confessed that she and her husband hadn’t hit it off immediately.
Laughing at the memory, she added: “I hated him!’, clearly exaggerating for comic effect.
She saw me write it down, and I knew it would be a good way to lighten a serious article.
On publication day she rang very early – often a bad sign – to tell me in no uncertain terms that she was very upset about the piece. What on earth had I done wrong? I quickly read through the newly minted paper, which had just arrived on my desk, but could see nothing wrong.
Then I saw it. The exclamation mark had gone and the bold statement, ‘I hated him’, looked really aggressive. She was right.
If only my exclamation could have been replaced by a laughing emoji.
It’s interesting to hear how couples first met, some citing love at first sight.
Mr F and I met at a student party in Loughborough in the Swinging Sixties. We never even spoke, but the lack of a bolt from the blue may have had something to do with the fact that he had a girlfriend in tow. It was a few years before we became an item.
Still on our era, Mr F and I were interested to hear from the Hayes Town Partnership that a temporary mural of the Beatles has been installed at The Old Vinyl Factory, in Blyth Road, Hayes. In the early 60s, the boys’ records were made by EMI, the previous owners of the building.
The Gramophone and Typewriter Company, the precursor to EMI, constructed the first buildings in 1907 and from 1910 shellac records were pressed bearing the HMV label; vinyl from 1952. The Liverpool lads’ faces can be seen on the side of the Cabinet building, which is being renovated.
You will probably remember, mainly because I never miss a chance to mention it, that I saw the Beatles live at Birmingham Town Hall. And yes, I was a screaming schoolgirl.
More and more people are writing their life stories down for future generations and an exciting new project has been launched by Hillingdon borough’s culture teams.
They are working together to share anecdotes about our theatre and heritage sites and are also gathering vital stories from those living, studying or working in the borough.
These will be shared for posterity and hopefully inspire vital new art, writing, performance and exhibitions for the borough’s future. I reproduce what they’re asking for here – do consider joining in. I might even have a go myself.
This is Me: five pictures of five objects: toys, clothing, heirlooms, memorabilia – things you’ve treasured and cared for or the things you’d rather live without.
Memories: up to 300 words – your stories from the past, present or your future in Hillingdon. Your memory or the pictures of your collection (from the above section) will be submitted for use in exhibitions and may inspire new art, writing and performance.
Made of This: the team hope to share the stories gathered in this project with anyone up for creating a painting, play, poem, song or dance; anything residents could experience together one day, in the borough’s cultural spaces.
They want as many people as possible to get stuck in. If anyone needs help telling their story, email boxoffice@hgflorg.uk or call 01895 250615.