10.18 p.m. Ah, Ah, Thelma and Louise Thelma and Louise is in is in there. there.
10.19 p.m.Thelma and Louise will not come out. will not come out.
10.21 p.m. Frenziedly press all b.u.t.tons. Ca.s.sette comes out and goes back in again. Frenziedly press all b.u.t.tons. Ca.s.sette comes out and goes back in again.
10.25 p.m. Have got new ca.s.sette in now. Right. Turn to "Recording". Have got new ca.s.sette in now. Right. Turn to "Recording".
"Recording will start when in Tuner Mode when any b.u.t.ton is pressed (apart from Mem)."What, though, is Tuner Mode? "When recording from a camcorder or similar press AV prog source 3 x during a bilingual transmission press 1/2 and hold for 3 seconds to make your choice of language."
Oh G.o.d. Stupid manual reminds me of Linguistics professor had at Bangor, who was so immersed in finer points of language that could not speak without veering off into a.n.a.lysis of each individual word: "This morning I would . . . now "would" you see, in 1570 . . . "
Aargh aargh. Newsnight Newsnight is starting. is starting.
10.31 p.m. OK. OK. Calm. Penny Husbands-Bosworth"s asbestos leukaemia item is not on yet. OK. OK. Calm. Penny Husbands-Bosworth"s asbestos leukaemia item is not on yet.
10.33 p. Yesss, yesss. RECORDING CURRENT PROGRAMME. Have done it!
Aaargh. All going mad. Ca.s.sette has started rewinding and now stopped and ejected. Why? s.h.i.t. s.h.i.t. Realize in excitement have sat on remote control.
10.35 p.m. Frantic now. Have rung Shazzer, Rebecca, Simon, Magda. n.o.body knows how to programme their videos. Only person I know who knows how to do it is Daniel. Frantic now. Have rung Shazzer, Rebecca, Simon, Magda. n.o.body knows how to programme their videos. Only person I know who knows how to do it is Daniel.
10.45 p.m. Oh G.o.d. Daniel fell about laughing when said I could not programme video. Said he would do it for me. Still, at least have done best for Mum. It is exciting and historic when one"s friends are on TV. Oh G.o.d. Daniel fell about laughing when said I could not programme video. Said he would do it for me. Still, at least have done best for Mum. It is exciting and historic when one"s friends are on TV.
11.15 p.m. Humph. Mum just rang. "Sorry, darling. It isn"t Humph. Mum just rang. "Sorry, darling. It isn"t Newsnight, Newsnight, it"s it"s Breakfast News Breakfast News tomorrow. Could you set it for seven o"clock tomorrow morning. BBC 1?" tomorrow. Could you set it for seven o"clock tomorrow morning. BBC 1?"
11.30 p.m. Daniel just called. "Er, sorry, Bridge. I"m not quite sure what went wrong. It"s recorded Barry Norman." Daniel just called. "Er, sorry, Bridge. I"m not quite sure what went wrong. It"s recorded Barry Norman."
Sunday 8 June
8st 12, alcohol units 3, cigarettes 17.
After sitting in semi-darkness for the third weekend running with Daniel"s hand down my bra, fiddling with my nipple as if it were a sort of worry bead and me occasionally feebly saying, "Was that a run?" I suddenly blurted out, "Why can"t we go on a mini-break? Why? can"t we go on a mini-break? Why? Why? Why?" Why? Why?"
"That"s a good idea," said Daniel, mildly, taking his hand out of my dress. "Why don"t you book somewhere for next weekend? Nice country house hotel. I"ll pay."
Wednesday 21 June
8st 11 (v.v.g.), alcohol units 1, cigarettes 2, Instants 2 (v.g.), minutes spent looking at mini-break brochures 237 (bad).
Daniel has refused to discuss the mini-break any more, or look at the brochure, and has forbidden me from mentioning it until we actually set off on Sat.u.r.day. How can he expect me not to be excited when I have been longing for this for so long? Why is it that men have not yet learnt to fantasize about holidays, choose them from brochures and plan and fantasize about them in the way that they (or some of them) have learnt to cook or sew? The singlehanded mini-break responsibility is hideous for me. Wovingham Hall seems ideal - tasteful without being over-formal, with four-poster beds, a lake and even a fitness centre (not to go in), but what if Daniel doesn"t like it?
Sunday 25 June
8st 11, alcohol units 7, cigarettes 2, calories 4587 (ooops).
Oh dear. Daniel decided the place was nouveau from the moment we arrived, because there were three Rolls-Royces parked outside, and one of them yellow. I was fighting a sinking realization that it was suddenly freezing cold and I had packed for 900 heat. This was my packing:
Swimsuits 2.
Bikinis 1.
Long floaty white dress 1.
Sundress 1.
Trailer-park-trash pink jelly mules 1 pair.
Tea-rose-pink suede mini dress 1.
Black silk teddy.
Bras, pants, stockings, suspenders (various).
There was a crack of thunder as I teetered, shivering, after Daniel to find the foyer stuffed with bridesmaids and men in cream suits and to discover that we were the only guests staying in the hotel who were not in the wedding party.
"Chuh! Isn"t it dreadful what"s happening in Srebrenica," I chattered maniacally to try to put out problems in proportion. "To be honest, I never feel I"ve quite pinned down pinned down what"s going on in Bosnia. I thought the Bosnians were the ones in Sarajevo and the Serbians were attacking them, so who are the Bosnian Serbs?" what"s going on in Bosnia. I thought the Bosnians were the ones in Sarajevo and the Serbians were attacking them, so who are the Bosnian Serbs?"
"Well, if you spent a bit less time reading brochures and more time reading the papers you might know," smirked Daniel.
"So what is going on?"
"G.o.d, look at that bridesmaid"s t.i.ts."
"And who are the Bosnian Muslims?"
"I cannot believe the size of that man"s lapels., Suddenly I had the unmistakable feeling that Daniel was trying to change the subject.
"Are the Bosnian Serbs the same lot who were attacking Sarajevo?" I asked.
Silence.
"Whose territory is Srebrenica in, then?"
"Srebrenica is a safe area," safe area," said Daniel in deeply patronizing tones. said Daniel in deeply patronizing tones.
"So how come the people from the safe area were attacking before?"
"Shut up."
"Just tell me if the Bosnians in Srebrenica are the same lot as the ones in Sarajevo."
"Muslims," said Daniel triumphantly.
"Serbian or Bosnian?"
"Look, will you shut up?"
"You don"t know what"s going on in Bosnia either."
"I do."
"You don"t."
"I do."
"You don" t don" t."
At this point the commissionaire, who was dressed in knickerbockers, white socks, patent leather buckled shoes, a frock coat and a powdered wig, leaned over and said, "I think you"ll find the former inhabitants of Srebrenica and of Sarajevo are Bosnian Muslims, sir." Adding pointedly, "Will you be requiring a newspaper in the morning at all, sir?"
I thought Daniel was going to hit him. I found myself stroking his arm murmuring, "OK now, easy, easy," as if he were a racehorse that had been frightened by a van.
5.30 p.m. Brrr. Instead of lying side by side with Daniel in hot sun at the side of the lake wearing a long floaty dress, I ended up blue with cold in a rowing boat with one of the hotel bath towels wrapped round me. Eventually we gave up to retire to our room for a hot bath and Codis, discovering en route that another couple were to be sharing the non-wedding party dining room with us that evening, the female half of which was a girl called Eileen whom Daniel had slept with twice, inadvertently bitten dangerously hard on the breast and never spoken to since. Brrr. Instead of lying side by side with Daniel in hot sun at the side of the lake wearing a long floaty dress, I ended up blue with cold in a rowing boat with one of the hotel bath towels wrapped round me. Eventually we gave up to retire to our room for a hot bath and Codis, discovering en route that another couple were to be sharing the non-wedding party dining room with us that evening, the female half of which was a girl called Eileen whom Daniel had slept with twice, inadvertently bitten dangerously hard on the breast and never spoken to since.
As I emerged from my bath Daniel was lying on the bed giggling. "I"ve got a new diet for you," he said.
"So you do do think I"m fat." think I"m fat."
"OK, this is it. It"s very simple. All you do is not eat any food which you have to pay for. So at the start of the diet you"re a bit porky and no one asks you out to dinner. Then you lose weight and get a bit leggy and s.h.a.g-me hippy and people start taking you out for meals. So then you put a few pounds on, the invitations tail off and you start losing weight again."
"Daniel!" I exploded. "That"s the most appalling s.e.xist, fattist, cynical thing I"ve ever heard."
"Oh, don"t be like that, Bridge," he said. "It"s the logical extension of what you really think. I keep telling you n.o.body wants legs like a stick insect. They want a bottom they can park a bike in and balance a pint of beer on."
I was torn between a gross image of myself with a bicycle parked in my bottom and a pint of beer balanced on it, fury at Daniel for his blatantly provocative s.e.xism and suddenly wondering if he might be right about my concept of my body in relation- to men, and, in which case, whether I should have something delicious to eat straight away and what that might be.
"I"ll just pop the telly on," said Daniel, taking advantage of my temporary speechlessness to press the remote-control b.u.t.ton, and moving towards the curtains, which were those thick hotel ones with blackout lining. Seconds later the room was in complete darkness apart from the flickering light of the cricket. Daniel had lit a f.a.g and was calling down to room service for six cans of Fosters.
"Do you want anything, Bridge?" he said, smirking. "Cream tea, maybe? I"ll pay."
JULY