RIP Terry Pratchett

It’s strange to grieve for a person you haven’t met. I’ve never gone in for celebrity culture, so have never mourned from a distance, but today I lost one of my heroes, and I feel oddly bereft.

 

I was about 8 when I read my first Terry Pratchett. We were on holiday in France, and my voracious appetite for books was unsatisfied by the number I’d brought. I did attempt to keep myself going by reading the Wolves of Willoughby Chase over and over, but in the end my dad was forced to give me one of his – Guards Guards. As soon as we got home I began working my way through his Discworld collection, and have since done so more times than I’d like to say. One of the first things I did when I moved out of my parents’ home was buy my own set of Pratchetts, and I’ve religiously added to it as every new book came out. He’s the only author I allow myself to buy in hardback, because I’ll be damned if I’ll wait for the paperback to come out.

 

As I grew up, the series seemed to grow up with me. What started as funny adventures morphed into sharp socio-political commentaries, and the more I learned about the world and its literature, the more I understood just how clever this man really was. Every book is packed full of references, and I’ve never tired of that ‘ha!’ moment you get when you recognise a caricature or twisted quote. You can usually trust a fellow fan to share a certain irreverent sense of humour, not to mention a love of a good Pune, or Play on Words, so I suppose it’s unsurprising that so many of my friends number among them. I met a woman seven years ago, and we had completely dismissed each other until she quoted Pratchett and I finished the line. He has a mention in the speech I’m giving at her wedding next month.

 

Such a brilliantly corkscrewed mind should never have been struck by anything as mentally debilitating as Alzheimers. Sad as I am that the world has been deprived of his genius, I’m glad he went before it had a chance to reduce him to something he wouldn’t have wanted to be. I just wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Death came to collect him.

 

I'll be raising a glass of scumble to Sir Terry tonight. It's ok, it's made of apples. Well......mostly apples.

2014 bucket update

I achieved a lot from the bucket list last year. In part due to my trip to Iceland, and in part due to the amazing 30th birthday celebration my friends organised, where I spent the day completing set tasks from the list, and being rewarded with other items from the list, all followed by an amazing party. It was one of the best days of my entire life.

So here's the round up:

3. See the Aurora Borealis - Cor blimey, what a show!
5. See a glacier - also part of the Iceland trip. Those babies are cold.
8. Give 50 pounds to a busker - The cash for this was one of my birthday rewards. I gave it to a man who busks at Victoria station, who I've walked past at least once a week for a long time. He plays the guitar and always has a friendly smile.
27. Send a message in a bottle - Another birthday reward was a pretty bottle and some writing paper. The message was thrown into San Francisco bay.
49. Have a food fight - This was one of my favourites from my birthday. I thought we were done for the day, and D and I were heading home through the park to get ready for the party, when we came upon a small group of friends with what looked like a picnic. I was confused.....we didn't have that much time before the party, where there was going to be food, so why a picnic? Then the first cake was thrown, and I twigged. So much mess, so much fun!
71. Learn to play poker - Yep, I know my straights from my flushes from my full houses. Now if I could just stop looking so darned pleased when I draw a good hand, I'd be fine.
80. Give somebody flowers for no reason - Yet another birthday task. I picked out a random lady on the street, and presented a bouquet. She was chuffed to bits. I really think we made her day.
81. Go to Iceland - Well duh.
94. Put on pyjamas, get into a show bed in a shop and see how long it takes to get chucked out - a long time, it turns out. Longer, in fact, than we were prepared to wait. Kudos to Debenhams staff for being completely unfazed by two girls in onesies messing up their displays.
95. Busk - This was the only challenge from my birthday that I came close to refusing to do, but I womaned up and stood on a street corner in Camden and told a story. I didn't make a whole lot of dosh.

And of the ten things my friends voted on:
Every morning for a year look in the mirror and tell myself "Meg, you are beautiful. You have many people who love you, and I love you too" - I think this was supposed to boost my self-confidence, but there wasn't a single day when I didn't feel like a dick doing it, particularly those days when I was sharing a bathroom or otherwise audible to other people.
Run through a field naked - This was surprisingly fun. I picked the last day of a weekend-long wedding celebration for some friends on a farm. The intention was to just discretely run around the little cluster of tents belonging to some of my closer friends, but as soon as they started whooping at me, everyone turned round, they started whooping too and it was all very public. Strangely liberating though. It felt good.
Go a week without wearing make up - I spoke about this here. No. Just no.
Eat a food I’ve been afraid of trying - Softshell crab. Creepy, crunchy, innard-filled spider-like things. Yeurch. They taste bloody great though, it turns out.

Try a new cheese every week for the year - My favourite. I'll dig out the list o' cheeses at some point and post it up. 52 cheeses is not too many cheeses.