Wasted far too much time on Quizilla which was mentioned on Spanglemonkey, but maybe not, as it has provided a well-timed insight. The answer to 'Which Movie Should You Be Living In?' was 'Cinderella'!!!! OMG, how horribly true that is. Not only have I lived Cinderella's life for years - based in the kitchen, cooking, cleaning, washing etc. to make other people's lives smooth and happy - but I even have her mindset. 'I don't have to bother to make a big effort to change things because one day someone will appear out of the blue and take over and turn me back into the selfish princess I was when I was younger'. Much time has passed and there is no sign of the prince or, obviously better, the Fairy Godmother. Perhaps I should write a re-working of the story where Cinderella finds that the Fairy Godmother is actually inside herself and makes all her wishes come true by getting out of the kitchen and doing something positive for once.


Through life I have found that the 'If you want something too much you may get it' saying has applied on many occasions. These have usually been sparked by scenes in a book or film. For example, as an only child, I was particularly struck by 'The Bell Family' books by leoN dleiftaertS where a huge cheerful family lived in genteel poverty in a rambling Vicarage with amusing Cockney cleaners, Nannies etc. Later on I lived in genteel poverty in a rambling old Vicarage with a huge cheerful family that I hated sharing the house with us and a shifty local girl as Nanny who sniffed glue and stole my stuff compulsively and a surly cleaner who did nothing and charged ludicrous amounts of money for mythical 'hours' put in. (Once I had been away for a week and she presented a bill for £120.00. The house looked identical to when I left including toffee papers all over the carpet. When I rang to query the amount, she said menacingly, 'Are you calling me a liar?'). I couldn't get rid of them because not only was there no one to replace them but everybody for miles was related, usually incestuously, and by mad chance these two were both friendly with the local burglars which is why our house was never touched.

Another time I was in the garden in pouring summer rain, wearing a raincoat and bare feet, dead-heading the roses and pondering suicide because I was so mentally lonely and my husband constantly f@cked off to London mysteriously and left me to cope with everything. When, I remembered watching the film 'Accident' and the scene where Dirk Bogarde drove out to his colleague's country house to look for their mutual mistress. He arrives in pouring rain to find the beautiful abandoned wife deadheading the roses in a raincoat and bare feet. Without taking in the implications I had thought, (Why?), that she looked really romantic and cool and I longed for a garden like that and to be discovered like that. Then I had totally forgotten until the moment of re-creation - when of course apart from getting sopping and muddy, no one came round that day.

Last one (for now). I used to be a big fan of a long running drama series about masters and servants set around 1900. For some reason I really took to the 'Lady of the House' and at one point my mind suddenly said to me 'I wish MY mother was more like that. In fact I wish SHE was my mother'. I absolutely horrified myself because I really loved my mother although she was not as perfect as Lady Thing. Many years later the family that I hated who were renting from us moved their mother in for a long stay, without asking. As we shared the kitchen this was a massive bore. Especially as she was lazy , demanding and a total bitch. Yes - she was the actress who had played Lady Thing.

- posted by Iris @ 12/11/2003 01:01:00 PM comment