I’ve just watched the Belgian

I’ve just watched the Belgian Grand Prix. The Belgian race is always one of the most exciting, but at one point it became terrifying when Eddie Irvine collided with Luciano Burti. Burti went in a straight line at about 180mph into the tyre wall, which collapsed onto his car. Thankfully, and miraculously, he was conscious and able to speak as rescuers, Irvine among them, pulled him out and rushed him to hospital. Whilst his car was completely destroyed, the shell around the cockpit appeared to be pretty much intact – something which no doubt saved his life.

Lunch yesterday in the company

Lunch yesterday in the company of Sarah, enjoying splendid organic welsh rarebit in the sun-drenched garden of St Martin’s Tea Rooms.
Later, we headed off to Cocking (there’s a place name that’ll get me some dodgy search referrals) to a birthday party for an old friend (I mean she has been a friend for a while, not that she is old!), Adrienne. Sarah and I took along some food and wine (lovely salad and champers from Sarah, whilst I had sweetcorn and some veggie kebabs smothered in Crazy Charlie’s Cajun Sauce, which turned out to be rather more fiery than expected, but certainly delicious) and joined Kate (who had brought mackerel and cake), William (Adrienne’s two-year-old son, who brought entertainment for the rest of us) and Adrienne’s neighbours, Pete and Mark. It was an excellent evening, very relaxed – and especially good to see Adrienne looking cheerful and relaxed.
It was good to catch up with Kate too. Kate and I lived together a few years ago – she was a great influence on me, and although she isn’t a million miles away and we do exchange emails every now and then, I miss having her around. Proof that when a relationship breaks up, you can continue to be good friends.

Went to Waterstones this morning

Went to Waterstones this morning and got three Banana Yoshimoto books in the 3-for-2 sale – Amrita, Kitchen and N.P. Now to decide which to read first. And this will really help me concentrate on my marketing books – not.

hmm. Beer tonight with Aris,

hmm. Beer tonight with Aris, Julie, Simon, DA, Paul C, Arron, Paul F, Sarah, Ian and Sacha.
Tonight, two people stressed me out.
The first stressed me out by being stressed, making that clear to everyone else, and then wandering off without making clear to that person’s closest friends that they were ok or otherwise. The friends (which I like to think includes myself) were left more than slightly worried and agitated, and totally powerless. Unanswered mobiles do not help. Advice: good friends are too valuable, as I know from experience this year, to mess around or stress out. They’ll stand by you and support you, but a brief word will keep them happy and help them support you in your troubles. Sometimes, friends try to help, but at times we don’t know what help to give. Sorry.
The second stressed me out by refusing to accept well-intentioned advice, particularly as that advice was a reflection of something that that person had decided when sober, but was clearly unable to carry through when the wrong side of ten beers. And, yes, I lost my rag, which didn’t help. Advice: you are not alone in dealing with your problems at the moment, but you may find that you are unless you accept that other people are trying to help you, not harm you or hold you back. Being self-destructive will have only one outcome – destruction.
It hurts so much to see the people you love (and trust and want to be around and care for) hurting themselves in ways that you are powerless to do anything about. Especially when those people have done so much for me in the not-too-distant past, and I feel a debt of gratitude towards them.
I’ve got my own troubles too – there are things on my mind that are bothering me, and I’m less than jolly as I sit here at my PC. But I’m too tired and stressed to really give them much consideration, and sometimes they seem fairly feeble compared to other people’s troubles.
I hope your Friday night was good. Mine was mostly good until things went wrong at the end of the evening. I’m sad that I missed seeing Brenda and Greg, who were out early in the evening, but departed before I got to Woodies. I’m sad that the support and help that I give to people is not always received or understood. I try my best, but I am only human.