Wednesday 11th July; Siri Men and Thespians

As this week moves towards the end of its natural tenure so too do I.  What I mean by that is I’m finding fewer things to write about as the week progresses. Nothing interesting seems to happen while I’m out.  I’m not saying nothing ever happens when I go out; the world doesn’t suddenly stop when I step out of my front door, like in some zombie disaster film.  That’s not what I mean at all: it’s just that as someone who likes to observe the world around him (some things are worth writing down for future story ideas) nothing of much interest ever occurs.  Last week must have been an exception because I was telling my Mum today about the guy sitting a few seats behind me on the bus last week; he had obviously bought an iPhone recently and wanted to show his girlfriend its clever siri function (she was with him at the time!).  So, in the course of showing her how it worked he thought it highly amusing to ask it silly things (or should that be ‘Siri’ things) such as; ‘Siri, am I a man?’ ‘From the tone of your voice I would say yes’, ‘Siri, do you have a girlfriend?’ ‘No, I am incapable of love’, and the silliest of the three had to be ‘Siri, do I have genital warts?’ Obviously it came back with a suggestion; to find a clinic ‘in your local area’.  On a puerile level this seems quite funny and yet I still found myself mumbling the words ‘what a dick!’ No sooner had this happened then he and his girlfriend got off the bus.

As mentioned before (two weeks to be precise) my ex-creative writing tutor (who now leads the writing group I am involved with) set the group the challenge of writing a page a day. Putting down some of my day’s thoughts and conversations while at work gave me plenty to write about. Alas, now that I am on holiday I have less to scribe about: not that I don’t have anyone to converse with, quite the opposite in fact; my brother who I live with has always got something to say (I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense), and I think we are both good at orating, and have opinions on a range of subjects.  That’s not to say we think we are right by any means but is it not better to have an opinion than to stay silent and appear not to take an interest in the world around us? 

That reminds me, we were watching the BBC adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard II last night.  I admit to not being much of a theatre goer but as a writer I find the History plays a fascinating prospect; the ways in which Shakespeare uses rhythm is quite unique. I’m not sure I could write with such grace and poetic poise, but then I’m not him, and the language has changed since his day.  As for the cast, they are exceptional: Ben Wishaw as Richard and Rory Kinnear as Bolingbroke were extremely watchable.  It’s only now that I can truly appreciate this play, that’s growing up for you!