War Horse:
Just got back from the film - everything I thought it might be - cliched, sentimental and essentially a children's film. Not bad, not great. Only one sequence stood out - when the horse, Joey, runs through no man's land and gets caught on the barbed wire. Otherwise not worth seeing - wait for it to come round on TV.

Tom and Viv

Trying to listen this morning to a strong play by Michael Hastings about T.S. Eliot and his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood, on BBC Radio 4, but am constantly interrupted by the central heating repair man, an Armenian who doesn't speak great Greek nor English. Bless him he has pitched out on Sunday morning, because the system has started a tympani of loud rhythmic banging each time it comes on. Probably needs bleeding for air or water, but we have no key and he can't find where his wife,   put his in his work van. She usually comes with him,a Chinese lady who is his working sidekick. So he and Costas keep tramping in and out with heavy sighs and manly grunts.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g3ycd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Haigh-Wood_Eliothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot

Give me the radio anytime over the television - I spend too much time looking for something to watch, only to give up and settle for a re-run of comedy classics or the Good Food channel.
Radio 4 is a rich source of drama, arts, comedy, current affairs and factual programmes. It is my lifesaver.

Now for the less than happy news

It was also a year of sadness.

My darling father died in May, a dear friend, John Dyson, died in October and in December a close friend of Costas' since university, Michalis Mousxoudis, died. I don't have a picture of Michalis, but I do have of Father and John.
Lovely men who will be very much missed.

Away too long

It's been a momentous year for me - Sophie had the beautiful Alex in April and in October, Allan & Michelle did the big wedding thing here in Cyprus.
Now I am finally back to some serious writing and am in the middle of a novel writing course, which means I do have 'a work in progress' (WIP) which I am loving. My only question is why do I do my best thinking in the shower where it is really difficult to write the stuff down? The appearance of my dashing downstairs wrapped in towels and soap running down my legs is frightening the dogs. However, it is such a successful place for me to think that everytime I hit a snag - which is several times in any given day - I consider the shower and the inspirational power of a head full of shampoo.
I am starting another course, in tandem with this current one, in February, on 'Empowering Characters' Emotions' or something. I'm told by a trusted writer friend, the woman who runs these courses - http://www.margielawson.com/  - is well worth the effort as she loads you with work. But hey, at $40US it's a snip.