Jill Mansell - May 2009

Spring 2007 | Summer 2007 | New Year 2008 | Book Tour 2008 | May 2009 | February 2010

OK, I’m officially very ashamed of myself – I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since my last diary entry. My excuse is, I’d always rather write a few more pages of the latest book than yabber on about myself, but clearly the time has come to do it. So I shall! And this time I’m going to be talking about my likes and dislikes.

Mowing the lawn – I hate it! As I’m typing this, I’m looking out of the window at the knee-high grass and feel so tempted to decimate the entire lawn with weedkiller and bleach. Astroturf would be perfect – I really must investigate how much it costs. And it sparkles in the sun – what could be prettier! Would it be hideously naff?

Gogol Bordello – How much do I love them? Oh so much! They’re a gypsy punk band and they’re just brilliant. Here’s a YouTube clip that never fails to cheer me up:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V8984mDgOg
 
Go on, turn the volume right up and dance along. Then go and buy their music. The lead singer is called Eugene Hutz and I have a weird kind of crush on him...

Mustard – the most disgusting condiment on the planet! Should be banned forthwith. My other half hates that I always want to taste whatever food he’s eating, so he’s been known to secretly smear mustard underneath it, in order to teach me a lesson. He also made me eat a snail once in a restaurant, by telling me it was a fried mushroom. I have no idea why we’re still together.

Ricky Gervais – I used to have a big crush on him too, but it’s worn off now. (Sorry, Ricky). You see, I liked Ricky Gervais before anyone else knew who he was, when he was doing a tiny five-minute spot on The 11 O’clock Show. I felt as if he was mine, then. But once he got famous and successful, that exclusivity was spoiled. Ditto Russell Brand.

Moulin Rouge – one of my all-time favourite films! In fact I watched it too many times and have had to give myself a rest from it, but give me another few months and I’ll be trying again. Baz Luhrmann is a stupendous director. It’s all in the tiny detail...

The Beatles – never liked them. Apart from Live and Let Die by Wings, I’ve never loved any of their music. Isn’t that strange?

Mamma Mia! – another of my top five films! I love the fact that the men can’t sing – it makes the film better and more real. During our last holiday (another cruise) I watched it again in the ship’s cinema because it was so lovely to hear those people in the audience who hadn’t seen it before, enjoying it for the first time.

Jane Austen – I don’t like her books! Oh, the shame of it! Can’t get on with her style of writing at all. Sorry!

Gavin and Stacey – love, love, love them! Again, I feel as if I discovered them, as I watched the first episode online before it was ever aired on TV. Immediately afterwards, I watched it again. So perfect and so clever. James Corden and Ruth Jones are stars and I just want them to write new episodes for the next twenty years and never do anything else. Well, they can eat occasionally. And sleep a bit. But that’s all. My need is greater than theirs.

Right, time for another clip now. This one makes me cry every time because I love it so much, and when I die I want this song played at my funeral. (Obviously it’s an ironic title for a funeral song, but that can’t be helped...)
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC_u_q-iND0

And if you like this, here’s another link to a much more recent and equally amazing version with Jennifer Holliday and Jennifer Hudson singing the song together. It’s being filmed by a man so overcome with emotion that he’s just yelling, “Oh my GOD...oh my GOD...” through much of it, but that just makes it better!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtDFHXjJ7SU
 
(Interestingly, Jennifer Holliday looks far younger in the second clip than she does in the first, despite it having been filmed over twenty five years later...)

Films I dislike – sci-fi. All sci-fi. It causes me actual physical pain to have to sit and watch it. So I don’t and I won’t. Ever.

Venice – I adore Venice! I could definitely move there. One of my happiest memories is of my son, aged nine, standing in St Mark’s Square, completely covered in pigeons. I wouldn’t enjoy it myself, but it made his day. And no, by some miracle not a single pigeon did a poo on him...

This one’s a love and hate thing. No one loves X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent more than I do. BUT...the moment anyone finishes their performance and does that pleading, pick-up-the-phone-and-vote-for-me mime, that’s it, I absolutely WILL NOT VOTE FOR THEM. I want to vote because I’ve chosen to vote, not because someone’s begged me to do it. And I can’t be the only one who is repulsed and put off by this gesture, so my advice to you if you’re tempted to enter one of these shows, is don’t ever do the phone mime. Because if you do, it means I’ll never ever vote for you. And millions of other people might not either. So there.

And finally, to end on a happy note, my all-time favourite ice cream. Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey. Who could ask for more?

Right, I’ve finished now. You all know more about me than you did five minutes ago. I just hope I haven’t managed to put you off me!

Happy summer, everyone!

Love