(no subject)

Daniel came over this morning to launch the poetry box at the Town Hall. My mother took him up to the Mayor's Parlour where we met Michelle, Jan and Matt the photographer, then we all went downstairs to the foyer, where the box, and a noticeboard saying 'Poetry Corner' had already been placed, and Julia was waiting for us. My mother introduced Daniel, he read out his specially-composed launch poem and said a few words about his poetry box scheme, then he, my mother and I posed for photos in front of the box. Daniel took some pics of his own, then finally I had to be photographed posting a poem in the box. Except I haven't actually written a new one for nearly a year, so I was photographed pushing a blank piece of paper a little way into the slot.

Alec, a family friend, was in the foyer so we all stopped to say hello. With him was Dot the nonagenarian fund-raiser, who demanded a kiss from me again. Stalker. Our group, with Julia, returned to the Mayor's Parlour for tea/coffee, biscuits and a chat, then Jan and Julia went about their business and my mother gave Daniel a guided tour of the town hall. She introduced him to loads of the staff, telling them about the poetry box scheme and joking that all public complaints would now have to be submitted in verse! When we got to the office Chris works in, Daniel engaged one of the ladies in a lengthy conversation while Chris and I talked football. He's a Portsmouth fan, but keeps an eye on Hawks' fortunes in the paper; he was going to go to the Millwall match but then they scheduled a meeting of a committee he's on for next Monday, so he's in the same boat as me. Later in the tour Daniel got on famously with a lady called Sue when they discovered a shared love of heritage walks. Back at the Mayor's Parlour, he left a pack of his Island Trust souvenir cards for her.

My mother invited Daniel, Michelle and me to lunch at 'Peppers' cafe next to the boating lake. Michelle made a great deal of not having any marshmallows, whipped cream or other trimmings on her hot chocolate. "You're not dieting, are you?" I said, genuinely surprised. She admitted she was and I told her she didn't need to - "you're catwalk slim". She wasn't convinced. I had a quarter-pounder, with delicious relish, and chips. Daniel asked which dishes were vegetarian; the waiter said everything with cheese was, and pointed out to us that some cheese isn't veggie as it has animal fat in. Daniel chose a Mediterranean vegetable and cheese panini; he still stuck with his choice when the waiter told him he couldn't guarantee that the bread didn't have animal fat in. Over lunch we talked mostly about foreign travel.

Afterwards Michelle went back to work. I had to go to the bank, so walked up there while my mother and Daniel fetched their bags from the town hall. We said we'd meet at the library entrance, but when I got back from the bank I stood in the library foyer - and waited and waited. John came out to the town hall side entrance - and said they'd gone to the bank looking for me. I rang Daniel's mobile and we finally rendezvoused back at the town hall foyer. It turned out they hadn't seen me because of the library foyer's opaque blue windows.

In the evening me ma and I were guests at the Gosport Amateur Operatic Society's performance of Carousel at Ferneham Hall. The story wasn't quite my cup of tea but all the cast performed superbly, especially Gavin Ebsworth as Billy and Natalie Quantick as Carrie. At the interval Tessa, the society president, led us and some other guests through to a table in the restaurant area and served us our complimentary drinks (in the absence of real ale I went for a Magners). As Tessa and I talked, it turned out we'd been to the same university (though not at the same time! - she's quite some way older than me) and both studied Medieval and Modern History. My mother won a clock in the raffle.

Back into the Mayoral car for the drive home with the Carling Cup penalty shoot-outs on the radio.