"Congratulations To Ruth Kelly!"

Cabinet Minister Ruth Kelly strikes me ( not a pretty thought!) as an earnest woman ( as in intensely serious) She surely mulls over every aspect of her life with reason and intellect.
She has usually rather irritated me. But I have to admit I admire her recent decision ( IF her reasons given ARE her true ones)
Kelly has a powerful job. Kelly also has 4 children, the eldest is 11. They're creeping up to teenagehood. This is a time when "children" still need their parents, some even more than they did. This is a time when children are testing the world and themselves. Wise parents are aware of this and stay caringly/quietly watchful behind dark glasses, so to speak.
It would be very hard to watch 4 teenagers in your dark glasses AND have one of the Top Jobs in the land.
Good on you, Ruth Kelly!!

OYEZ,YE BLOGGERS, OYEZ!

Chester Literature Festival was born 20 years ago when a small band of creative folk joined together and forged their dream.

Thanks initially to those caring and hardworking folk, it's now a well known and well respected Festival (led by an equally devoted team) and now attracting visitors from far and wide.

And this year should be no exception.

It's particularly exciting as the Festival gains a new element. The innovation for 2008 is a Performance W/End: Chester Oyez! ( And yes, we DO have a town crier... because we're a striking medieval city with river, Rows, Cathedral, Cross, Walls...all worth seeing!)

Chester Oyez ! takes place Saturday Oct 18th/Sunday 19th. It celebrates the spoken word in lots of ways, in lots of places tucked away throughout the city.

Places include the famous old Rows, a huge Storytelling tent set up on Cathedral Green and also various fascinating spooky black/white pubs (!)....

And there's Open Mic at the Bull and Stirrup, flash fiction for adults as well as stuff for children, there are poets who'll pop up and surprise you! (Adam Khan, Ben Crystal, amongst others) and drama and poetry workshops. One will be run by ex Cheshire Poet Laureate John Lindley in Alexander's Juice Bar, also regular home to Gill McEvoy's " Zest!" who have their own special session on the Sunday evening.

There's Shakespeare on Toast, Spell Binding Tales for Teens, Dead Good Poets Society ( fabled Liverpudlians) a showcase for Cinnamon Press, and there's Bangladeshi Poetry...I could go on, but best to look at www.chesterfestivals.co.uk/literature for a fuller picture.

But just to tempt you further: Participants for the w/end include Lemn Sissay, Luke Wright, Rose Lugosi, Mandy Coe, David Bateman...

And NB NB NB: ( as in oyez! oyez! oyez!) The main festival includes this year: Kate Long, Russell Bowes, Chris Patten, David Owen, Martin Bell, Esther Rantzen, Michael Morpurgo, Anne Stevenson, Ffion Hague...and more celebrities, plus welcome inclusion of local groups, Chester Poets and Chester Writers.

See the above link again for full details on both Programme/Booking.