My house has been invaded. There are cameras, tripods, mikes and cushioned bags all over the place. I chop onions with a cyclops lens focussed on my fingers. I put washing into the machine and hope the camera's not pointed at my bum. So how has it come about? My son picked up a flyer at his youth centre about a series on teenagers and parents. Ever since he was tiny, he's been attracted to cameras and indeed he is a natural performer. I was eventually persuaded. Or is it the case with a teenager, that I was eventually worn down into agreeing?
It has been interesting, fun, tiring and emotionally taxing. Interesting to see the process, particularly as we don't watch much tv - don't have it in the house - and to witness the mechanics of making a programme. We are the behind the scenes bit of it and I truly wonder how anyone could live with a crew for longer than a few days. The two women making the programme are lovely. Talented, professional, easy to get on with and sensitive. They are bright and they have clearly done a lot of thinking about this programme. So we couldn't wish for better people to do this, but it's still hard. I'm not used to being watched or to being interviewed, but the other thing is having to think about the relationship I have with him. Suddenly the way we live is under scrutiny and I am questioning everything. If I'm asked, who's your hero? and I don't have an answer, what does that say about me?
Most of it is positive, though. The self-reflection's inevitable and maybe I take it too seriously. The rest is about having fun and finding ways of showing what our life's like in a typical week. For a freelance there is no typical week. And it's also the easter holiday, so again, it's not entirely typical. But it's an insight and it will be interesting to see how they put it together.
Outside our mini big brother experiment I have some work at last and my seedlings are growing on the windowsill, in the propagator and under glass outside. There was a row showing on the allotment but since the rain I'd be willing to bet they've been decimated by slugs. I hardly dare look, but I'll be up there soon.
The cooker's broken, the laptop's still at the menders. I particularly loathe the fact that I paid a lot of money for the cooker (SMEG) and the laptop (MAC) and in five years I've had to have the cooker mended three times, which is beyond the pale, I reckon. The laptop's been into the service centre once already, had an entire erase and install and cost me days on the line to the helpdesk and it's ONLY SIX MONTHS OLD. That is outrageous, isn't it?
I'm freelance. I bought it because I need it for work and some patronising, arrogant little man says to me that he can't let it go until it's passed all the right tests and no, madam, I can't possibly tell you when you might have it back........I THOUGHT APPLE WAS MEANT TO BE THE EASY ALTERNATIVE TO PCs. Look at the adverts. I've used a Mac since the old Classics. I saw Eddie Shah create a newspaper on macs. I was an utter convert. But I'm wobbling big time. I'm tempted to graffiti all over the posters, actually, but I won't, I'll have to write some letters.
It has been interesting, fun, tiring and emotionally taxing. Interesting to see the process, particularly as we don't watch much tv - don't have it in the house - and to witness the mechanics of making a programme. We are the behind the scenes bit of it and I truly wonder how anyone could live with a crew for longer than a few days. The two women making the programme are lovely. Talented, professional, easy to get on with and sensitive. They are bright and they have clearly done a lot of thinking about this programme. So we couldn't wish for better people to do this, but it's still hard. I'm not used to being watched or to being interviewed, but the other thing is having to think about the relationship I have with him. Suddenly the way we live is under scrutiny and I am questioning everything. If I'm asked, who's your hero? and I don't have an answer, what does that say about me?
Most of it is positive, though. The self-reflection's inevitable and maybe I take it too seriously. The rest is about having fun and finding ways of showing what our life's like in a typical week. For a freelance there is no typical week. And it's also the easter holiday, so again, it's not entirely typical. But it's an insight and it will be interesting to see how they put it together.
Outside our mini big brother experiment I have some work at last and my seedlings are growing on the windowsill, in the propagator and under glass outside. There was a row showing on the allotment but since the rain I'd be willing to bet they've been decimated by slugs. I hardly dare look, but I'll be up there soon.
The cooker's broken, the laptop's still at the menders. I particularly loathe the fact that I paid a lot of money for the cooker (SMEG) and the laptop (MAC) and in five years I've had to have the cooker mended three times, which is beyond the pale, I reckon. The laptop's been into the service centre once already, had an entire erase and install and cost me days on the line to the helpdesk and it's ONLY SIX MONTHS OLD. That is outrageous, isn't it?
I'm freelance. I bought it because I need it for work and some patronising, arrogant little man says to me that he can't let it go until it's passed all the right tests and no, madam, I can't possibly tell you when you might have it back........I THOUGHT APPLE WAS MEANT TO BE THE EASY ALTERNATIVE TO PCs. Look at the adverts. I've used a Mac since the old Classics. I saw Eddie Shah create a newspaper on macs. I was an utter convert. But I'm wobbling big time. I'm tempted to graffiti all over the posters, actually, but I won't, I'll have to write some letters.
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