Sunday, 19 May 2013

Me, me, me


I just found this rare photo of me, aged 21. H.I. says that I look like I am hardly there at all, and I think that she is probably right.

I avoided having my photo taken at all in those days, which is why this one is so rare. When I went to get a picture taken for a passport, it was in a proper studio, as it had to be then. The photographer kept taking it and re-taking it, because I refused to smile. I was very similar to the Ayatollah Khomeini in that respect - he also thought that having a stupid and meaningless grin on your face in public was undignified and disrespectful. These days, of course, the UK Passport Office will reject any photo with a hint of a smile, so I was way ahead of my time.

It takes some people absolutely ages to properly come into this world, and I think that I was one of those. It took Green-Eyes about 4 years to be properly born, but now she is here, she is here fully-formed and she is here to stay.

Having completely arrived sometime around middle-age, I have spent the rest of the time trying to escape. This explains the drink, drugs and obsession with Harry Potter films. Some people are understandably a little frightened of the world, and I probably fall into that category as well. I don't think that this is an altogether bad thing, because anyone who I have ever met who is not frightened at all is either unjustifiably confident and unselfconscious, or a little stupid.

It took me years to understand that - on occasion - I can be a bit intimidating when trying to defend myself against what I perceive to be external threats, but that realisation was just another part of 'getting here'. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I am completely harmless - except for my big mouth. Green-Eyes worked this out years ago, when she was about 6.

I hardly resemble this picture at all these days, but a little while ago, drunk woman on the street stopped me and said, "You're Brian May aren't you?!" I told her that my name was Germaine Greer.

Germaine Greer

Brian May
M.. M.. Me!
Miriam Margoyles
at

29 comments:

  1. Jacqueline @ HOME19 May 2013 at 04:52

    Dear Germaine,
    I have to say that my first reaction to the photograph was ' Brian May ' !!
    ..... and the fact that you have SO MUCH hair !!.....but, apart from all that, very handsome..... I'm sure that you didn't have any trouble in the girlfriend department, even though you might have been a little 'mellow' a lot of the time !
    I think that I'm still trying to properly come into this world ..... I don't think that we ever do, fully. XXXX

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 05:00

      The thing is that when that woman said that, I had short hair! I still have a lot of white hair, but I never let it get that long, for fear of really being mistaken for Germaine Greer (which is how I was referred to on someone's Facebook page, and it stuck).

      Just so long as we can properly escape this world when the time comes...

      Delete
  2. Cro Magnon19 May 2013 at 04:57

    I have a good picture of you, standing with Lady M on a concrete staircase thingy at college. I'd have a job to find it though!

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 05:03

      I do have a vague recollection of you making a photographic record of your old mates before buggering off to Brighton/France.

      Delete
  3. John Going Gently19 May 2013 at 05:29

    Add a couple of pounds and you'd be a dead ringer for miriam Margolyes

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 05:34

      Keep 'em coming. I can take it.

      Delete
    2. Cro Magnon19 May 2013 at 05:41

      I go for Brian Greer.

      Delete
    3. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 06:10

      Didn't he play football for Manchester United?

      Delete
    4. Jacqueline @ HOME19 May 2013 at 06:13

      In a few years, I'd like to see you grow your hair again and grow a long beard ..... then you will look like Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore .... paying homage to your love of Harry Potter !!!! XXXX

      Delete
    5. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 06:36

      No, I would look like Gary Glitter does now.

      Delete
    6. Jacqueline @ HOME19 May 2013 at 06:37

      ....... also, you've worn a lot better than Brian May. XXXX

      Delete
    7. Jacqueline @ HOME19 May 2013 at 06:39

      Gary Glitter ? ..... That would not be a good look.

      Delete
    8. John Going Gently19 May 2013 at 11:35

      Glad you liked the Miriam margolyes comment....
      One of my very best me thinks

      Delete
    9. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 11:43

      I hope you liked the 'ouch' too - one of your very best, I think.

      Delete
  4. Britta19 May 2013 at 06:26

    Zeitgeist. Reminds me of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjFTm4sQBh0 , the pictures speak for themselves :-)

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 06:41

      It looks like there might have been a bit of LSD in that Afri-Cola. Schrecklich!

      Delete
    2. A Heron's View20 May 2013 at 08:20

      I reckon your right Tom !

      Delete
  5. The Weaver of Grass19 May 2013 at 07:28

    If that bottom photograph is you Tom then all I can say is that you are far better looking and look much more sexy in that panama than you do with that immense mop of hair. Those were the days eg?

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 11:22

      They certainly were, egg.

      Delete
    2. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 11:26

      P.S. - That Panama is the real thing, by Dunn and Co. I will not tolerate reproductions!

      Delete
    3. Tom Stephenson19 May 2013 at 11:29

      P.P.S. Those are genuine Wayfarer Rayban shades as well. Like I say...

      Delete
  6. Britta19 May 2013 at 08:41

    I like them both.

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  7. A Heron's View20 May 2013 at 08:24

    I recognise the gansey you are wearing. I donated one like it to Oxfam years ago.....

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Broad20 May 2013 at 08:40

    The first picture is very very pretty and the last one is just "very, very"! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Donna OShaughnessy20 May 2013 at 21:21

    I just had this vision where you pull off your hat and all that hair SPRINGS back to life out from under it! I'm still smiling.

    ReplyDelete

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