F**k off 2016

2016. A year to forget. Celebrity death-fest. The year that so many things broke. The year we got stuck. What a frankly cr*p year. I was going to title this with a slightly more banal "farewell" - then George Michael died.

It was a very bad year to be a celebrity. Death seemed to stalk the famous this year. Not that a celebrity death is especially bad (one of my aunts passed away this year - now for me & my family that was really bad) but it seemed that for a while every time you turned the TV on there was another amazingly talented person gone too soon - David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Victoria Wood, Prince. We  had a brief hiatus then 2016's death count rose again and again  - Caroline Aherne, Carla Lane, Leonard Cohen, Gene Wilder, Alexis Arquette, Jimmy Young, Robert Vaughn, Pete Burns, Andrew Sachs, A.A.Gill, Zsa Zsa Gabor, George Michael, Carrie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds barely a day after her daughter. Enough already. In non celeb land, back in the summer, my mother was rushed to hospital with a pulmonary embolism and it was touch and go- thankfully she pulled through. But George died ... I have made my feelings about that one clear in the previous post.

And 2016 was also a year when big events impacted directly on our small FauxSurrey lives. We wanted to run away to our lovely Welsh Mill this year and start a brand new adventure. We did the due diligence, we checked the spreadsheet, we canvassed opinion from the experts and we decided that June was the time to sell up in Surrey and get going. We hadn't banked on the completely mad, bad and dangerous Brexit vote going completely the wrong way.

As a result of the lunatic vote, the housing market froze. And despite 2 price cuts and changing agents we are still sat in limbo, 7 months later with no sign of moving on .. but critical immoveable deadlines are moving ever closer to us! Like FSHubby has resigned and we will be unemployed with 2 houses in April if something
doesn't give soon!


And talking of employment I can safely say that 2016 has been the WORST year ever for work for me. Basically I didn't have any. And I had a great contract - a save the day kind of contract - cancelled at the very last minute. So have been relying on hubby and dipping into the spreadsheet - yep, great.

But all of these things are tiny - let's not forget 2016 has seen the world slowly collapse - Brexit, the election of Donald Trump to the White House, Syria / Aleppo, the refugee crisis, increasing terrorist attacks, increasing racial tension & for London commuters HIDEOUS rail strikes. At times 2016 felt like the 1970's.

So p*ss off 2016, I will not miss you - I will be glad to see the back of you. Roll on 2017. And roll on 28th Jan 2017 when the year of the naughty, disruptive, damaging Monkey gives way to the year of the Fire Rooster (or fire chicken as some websites would have it they believe it's a female bird this year!), a creature associated with trustworthiness, timeliness and responsibility. Fingers and toes crossed!!

Goodbye gorgeous George Michael. The world has lost a genius

Anyone who knows me even slightly will not be at all surprised to know that I have been bereft & heartbroken since the news broke on Christmas day that my idol, the amazing, talented, generous, fabulous George Michael had died aged just 53.

I have been a HUGE fan of George since he burst onto Top of the Pops in 1983 telling Andrew Ridgeley that "caution paid"!  I was hooked - I bought the big white t-shirt and I danced around my handbag to "Wake me up before you go-go"; I knew every word to "Everything she Wants", I swooned as he belted out "I'm Your Man" (Oh George you so were), and sipped cocktails to "Club Tropicana" but my adoration was sealed when he released "Faith". What an album.

An old friend & I scored front row - yup FRONT ROW!! - tickets to one of the Earls Court Faith gigs. And we were wowed. So much energy, so much talent, so much showmanship, so much love in the room. And we agree wholeheartedly, it was one of the best nights of our lives. Ever.

With another friend & partner in crime, despite the fact we were well into our 20's, we followed George around the country on his Cover to Cover tour - screaming his name loud at every venue so he knew we were there, adoring him as always! We covered our tracks well, lying to workmates, bosses and boyfriends telling each we had commitments to the other so no one thought it was odd we were out every night for a fortnight! Ah those were the days.

George made me happy, His songs cheered my soul. I listened to him through the worst times of my life and the best times of my life - he was there when the most important relationship I'd ever had collapsed (Too Funky"); he was there when I gathered 200 friends round to raise hell at my 40th birthday ("Flawless"), and he was always there to get Christmas going .. But Christmas 2016 would be his last.

Rest in peace gorgeous George. My heart is broken at your loss. I cannot tell you how much I will miss you.

Merry Christmas!!

And pray to your god that 2017 will be a significantly better year than the car crash that 2016 was!!