To be sung to the tune of 'My Favourite Things' in homage to I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue...
By the time you read this, we will still probably be in lockdown, with all the implications of what this means for our physical and psychological wellbeing. However, in the spirit of the late, great Ian Dury, there are reasons to be cheerful during this period, and here a few of my favourite things that I prize:
1. Jane Austen. An obsessive Austen fan from the age of eight, I return to her oeuvre again and again, having read Pride and Prejudice at least 25 times. What would l do without the consolation of her wit, wisdom and the devastating Mr Darcy? Without her, life would not be as bearable and, heaven forfend, Colin Firth would have been known as a mildly interesting, quite posh character actor, as opposed to the mega-star he is today. Can we imagine now a life without that lake scene in the 1995 adaptation?
2. Tsundoku. I only found this wonderful concept on a Facebook Book Club last year. This is the practice of buying more books than you will probably ever read, and the infinite joy of this. I have been, unknowingly, a practitioner of this art since early adulthood, when I finally had enough money to buy books on a whim, without having to save up carefully beforehand to purchase them lovingly and carefully, one at a time. These days, most of this tsukondu for me takes place on Kindle and iBooks, as, having moved to a new house relatively recently, I have not yet had my dream bookshelves installed and there is no room on my current shelves for any IRL books. Flicking through these ebooks yesterday, I was amazed at some of the titles I have downloaded but not yet read, and perhaps never will. My ‘favourites’ include a book on the history of Saudi Arabia and a biography of Eric Cantona…
3. Eighties pop music. I am a quintessential child of the 80s, with the entire decade being my rite of passage from primary school to university. Anything by Wham! is guaranteed to perk me up, and A-Ha’s ‘Take on Me’ casts my mind fondly back to a time when backcombed perms were de rigeur and my hair reeked of Coconut Hair Gel from the Body Shop.
4. Pandas. Pandas are notoriously lazy and seem to have an aversion to the propagation of their own species. However, they are undeniably endearing and, apparently, watching them is very good for calming nerves. This is certainly what CNN believes; it has a thirty-second interlude between programmes called 30 Seconds of Calm, and my favourite is one of pandas chomping on bamboo and falling over each other, in an adorably unself-conscious way.
5. Trainers and other flat shoes. Being a girl of the 80s- see above- it is without shame that I freely admit to possessing vertiginous white stilettos in my time, plus a very fetching pair of pastel pink ones. They have long gone, but I still own dozens of pairs of heels plus wedges, kitten heels and platforms. However, in lockdown, I am very happy to eschew all such vanities, especially as trainers are, according to The Sunday Times, the height of fashion: even Chanel and Dior are now making trainers that are a sell out with the beau monde.
Therefore, across the globe, female feet are sighing with collective relief, and bunion specialists are losing trade quicker than one can say Jimmy Choo. Every day is an Open Day at Durham High School. Call 0191 384 3226 or email enquiries@dhsfg.org.uk to find out more or arrange a visit.