Androgynes, Enemas & E-Books

Some things just don't make a lot of sense.  Today a FB friend of mine posted a clip from Dead or Alive, with a comment that today is the lead singer's birthday.  I think the androgynous one is 52.  I shouldn't care about this, and to be honest, I don't.  But they had a mainstream hit in the mid-80s with 'You Spin Me Right Round'.  Now, I have an innate loathing of just about all things 80s, and this dude encapsulates the bulk of them, particularly the 80s androgynous fad.  As you can imagine, Boy George and Marilyn had me worrying about the fate of mankind, too.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind androgynes as a rule, and I like a singing androgyne when the music is actually listenable (case in point: David Bowie).  Being a lover of glam rock, heavy rock, most-types-of-rock, I was a bit puzzled when I went to a nightclub in 1986 with my cousin and a friend, and this number came on.  My companions danced like their feet couldn't stop, and to my amazement, I joined in.  I should not have liked this song.  But I did.  This is an aberration; something that is so not me.

Did something new today - learned how to care for a quadriplegic man.  When I'm not writing, I'm a community carer.  He has limited movement, but of course having suffered a spinal injury needs help with some personal things.  Clue: he has to have enemas.  I didn't have to do that today, but I did shower and assist with drying and dressing.  This meant I had to learn how to use his battery operated hoist, as I'm not allowed to lift.  There's so much technology available these days, and one of the things that must be a boon to spinal injury patients with limited movement is the e-book.  My own books have been converted to e-book format, as well as paperback.  E-book is cheaper, and there's no freight charge, so that's handy for overseas buyers, too.  That thud you all heard was the hint I've just dropped.  I haven't told this guy about my writing yet.  Today was the first time I've met him, and I was busy learning how to do his care.  When I'm on my own with him and we have a convo, I might tell him then.

Meanwhile, my novels are an adult satire, 'Calumny while reading Irvine Welsh' (http://www.zeus-publications.com/calumny_while_reading_irvine_welsh...) which tells of a young woman arrested for a crime she may or may not have committed.  It focuses on the silly way the media carry on.  One of my influences was 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' (great book; shit film.  Avoid the film like you would a rabid Doberman). 

My other is young adult, but oldies should like it, too.  Actually, later today I had to deliver some ready made meals to pensioners, and I was at this block of units when two of the other residents (one of whom I had known previously) told me they loved 'Abernethy' (http://www.zeus-publications.com/abernethy.htm).  It's te story of a lonely fourteen year old boy who meets a beagle, who is able to communicate with him, and who becomes a Jiminy Cricket type figure.  One of the women told me she loved my first one, too.  Well, it cheered me to hear that.  The past few days have been shit.  My uncle died.  I was involved in a minor car bingle (only minor, but it was upsetting).  My uncle's funeral was yesterday.  And today I got told that one of the elderly gentleman for him I used to care (getting his meals and medications, or taking him for drives) has recently passed away.

If things are this sucky, they can only get better, right?