Friday 31 August 2012

Full House

My mother said, to get things done, you'd better not mess with Major Tom.  My mother said to get things done, you'd better not mess with Major Tom.

In fact she said nothing of the sort, mainly because she was probably draped over the railings down by the 88 bus stop.  (Yes, unfortunately that is where we found her once, completely passed-out over the railings of a small park where the bus turned around.)

I have been feeling rather like an octopus in a jar of late.  This flat that I love, in this area that I love, is just too small.  It would be too small if I were 3ft 6.  My books, which are sort of like my blood, are stacked up in the wardrobe.  In the same way that other people dream of having fantastic kitchens or hot spa whirl pool things, I dream about having all my books on shelves and letting out a sigh.

Gent/Ghent is suggesting itself to me more and more.  I have realised where all those people were striding to, across the park where I sat on my first day in this job.  The Gare Centrale is about a twenty minute walk from my office, and Gent is a further half an hour.

In Gent, for what I pay here, I could rent an entire HOUSE.   

Yes.  An entire house.  Ashes to ashes; funk to funky.


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5 comments:

  1. Do you think they'll come a day when "girls" of our age will forget the Bowie lyrics that are etched on our brains.

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  2. Nope, I imagine we'll be drooling in care homes one day singing gently to ourselves "The jean genie lives on his back..."

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  3. I spent a great,very drunken night in Ghent once, about a million years ago, and then somehow got the train and night boat across to Blighty. And that's all I remember of it. I sometimes dream of going back there for a great time, but in reality it would be a disappointment I'm sure. And that's dreams innit.....past or future, we think if only something else,or somewhere else, and then it'll be complete. It usually isn't.
    More space is nice though.

    It's on Belgium's tortured brow, Janey C has grown up a c.....no, hang on.......

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  4. 'We think if only something else,or somewhere else, and then it'll be complete. It usually isn't.'

    Do we? No. I don't expect someone else, something else, or somewhere else to complete me. But having made already an almighty leap into another life, I want to fine-tune it. If you saw where I live, you might understand. It is a very nice place but approximately 35 square metres. With no shelving and no storage. I've been very very lucky to get this place but now that I've found a job that pays me adequately and that I enjoy, I can consider finding somewhere a little more spacious to stretch my tentacles. It isn't about searching for a non-existent sense of completion. So your dreams may be a source of disappointment for you; for me they are fine-tuning.

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  5. Yes, it's probably me I'm talking about.

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