all new poo

I spent a long time yesterday buying shampoo, or more precisely not buying shampoo - it's a minefield. In my childhood you had bought Vosene, Silverkrin, Head and Shoulders or something for nits - and as far as I can remember no one died of shampoo related angst.

Now you need a degree to pick you way through the shelves. Is my hair curly but wistful with just a hint of defiance, or fine and windswept with a longing for the perfumed vistas of the Hindu Kush - Am I in need of some kind of intense treatment? Isn't serum something the gave Roger Moore when he had been bitten by a black mamba?

It was bad enough owning up to being greasy, normal or dry - You can't be normal anymore, there isn't a bottle of shampoo for it.

I bought what was on offer because the bottles go with my bathroom, and decided if challenged that a life that believes it can be improved by choosing the right shampoo isn’t worth improving.

making history

About four times a year I and two others, Andrea and Mary Jane,
working with BBC Voices in Norwich, run a short course on how to write your memoirs, called Making History.

It's a great little package, usually running for four, three hour sessions. It's full of inspirational ideas, great tips and is totally free - not only does it get you in the mood to write and hopefully give you the tools and the confidence to explore your creativity but at the end we record the final piece, so there’s a chance your story will be on air.

If you're interested then ring 01603 617411 and ask for the Voices office or email www. norfolk@bbc.co.uk and in the subject line put Making History Enquiry/ Voices.

brains

Since hitting middle age my brain has become increasingly bored with the real world so this morning when I read, ' A380 to make UK commercial debut' it kindly culled the '0' so it became the A38. A trunk road debut?

The A38, I'm reliably informed by Wikipedia though formally known as the Exeter - Leeds Trunk Road, actually runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. At 292 miles (470 km) long it is the longest 'A' road entirely within England, and in the United Kingdom as a whole second only to the A1. It was formerly known as the Leeds - Exeter Trunk Road, when this description also included the A61.
What more reason could anyone possibly need to launch it as a brand?
So what'll it be then? A promo single? A line of teeshirts and mugs, grey wrist bands with a white line down the middle?
Given the right spin I can see the A38 proving as commercially popular as the much over exposed Route 66.

Meanwhile unnoticed a giant airplane will lumber into Heathrow today from Singapore.

morning

I don't know what it's like where you are but here it's raining and I'm supposed to be working. You too probably -

I'm busy - more truthfully not busy - writing what will eventually be a new novel called Keeping Mum. I'm about 70,000 words in, and at least in theory, am on the downhill home straight towards the finish line.

My name is Kate Lawson and I've written for as long as I can remember and been published for about fifteen years. If you want to know more about what I write and what I do then check out www. katelawson.co.uk.