{"id":7924,"date":"2016-10-20T20:33:54","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T19:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=7924"},"modified":"2016-10-20T20:41:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T19:41:56","slug":"my-birthday-evening-aspects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=7924","title":{"rendered":"My Birthday – Evening Aspects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday 18th October 2016<\/p>\n

So there was Genevieve Suzy with the Dancing Master sitting in her bay window in Hastings having my birthday tea without me. Her coiffure was raised to new heights but all other parts except her coiffure were shrieking at her composition. She had composed the whole event. I brought in my outfits in bags: I was planning my biscuit and powder blue stand-by for the evening restaurant dinner. ‘It’s not that kind of place,’ she said. I was to go as I was. But first we had cheese straws (luxury) and champagne and an old episode of ‘The Good Life’ – the one where they can’t bring themselves to kill a chicken. \u00a0The Dancing Master’s card was a bespoke miracle of memories from 1957: songs of the year, Andy Williams, Frankie Vaughan. No Frank Ifield, though. Even a DVD was included. It was a three-piece fold-out. The detail!<\/p>\n

Then we advanced on Maggie’s – over the shingle in fact. Maggie the person was long ago marginalised by Gays but her name lives on. Gays took over her fish and chip hut – the ones who own The Old Glass Walking-Stick, Hastings’ loveliest boutique B&B, where you fight for your life beneath the weight of bed decor such as cushions, tassels and throws. They gay-fied Maggie’s while getting rid of her (Littlehampton beckoned, I think) and her marvellous old photos of fisher life pasted to the walls.<\/p>\n

So it was a fantastic fish and chip menu with battered prawn starter, cod main and Knickerbocker Glory for the sweet finish. Wine was from Borough Market in London. We just glowed there at the difference of it all: when you think that Genevieve Suzy of Dainty Lady TV\u00a0<\/em>is the nearest you’re going to get to Anna Wintour in this life. The Polish co-owner, the only other diner with his family – did he have any idea?<\/p>\n

Then Genevieve said, ‘We’re going to my club.’ We approached a structure on stilts practically in the sea: the East Hastings Sea Angling Association. ‘You’ve come through the wrong door,’ the hostess said. We had to pay our \u00a32.50 entry to the large youth by the other door. The area where we sat was designated ‘No work clothes’. ‘We’re here,’ said Genevieve firmly as if there might be doubt about it. The club was in darkness, subsumed by a live band. The roof, I noticed, was like an upturned boat and varnished to perfection. Ship-shape, I think, is the word. I was a little stunned, though, I must admit. But then I began to notice the ladies: all over 70, and bopping, such spangly shoes and grace, and their clothes! So well-fitting, such astonishing absence of any lapses of taste. Are ladies in the fishing world retaining a bella figura<\/em> in later life because of their trade? Unlikely. It was a miracle, anyway. Genevieve actually spoke to some of them; she apologised for her humble nautical top. Can you imagine? Anna Wintour had come amongst them and they knew her not.<\/p>\n

We were thinking of a piece for Dainty Lady TV<\/em>\u00a0: there must be many such places were the elderly bop on a Saturday night in a kind of twilight not thought worth a mention; where grace and elegance reign, but a distinct throb of sex is not concealed. This generation of over 70s must be the first to have bopped and disco-ed in their youth, rather than swaying to the Big Band.<\/p>\n

Eventually we retired, waving off a clutch of ladies who departed in a taxi: no men but they were undaunted and arranging to return the next week. Back at the house, Genevieve and the Dancing Master sat up all night establishing a rapport with a guest house in Bangkok. In the morning, Genevieve texted from her bedroom. I did wonder if she’d returned to New York but she hadn’t.<\/p>\n

\"Penelope

Penelope Keith: in her Day. The Good Life was part of My Birthday Treat<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Maggie's

Maggie’s Gay-ified: Farrow and Ball Walls?<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Maggie's:

Maggie’s: the Prawn Starter<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Maggie's:

Maggie’s: Cod Main<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Maggie's

Maggie’s the Knickerbocker Glory<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The East Hastings Sea Angling Association Club House: Interior<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The

The East Hastings Sea-Angling Association Club House: Exterior<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday 18th October 2016 So there was Genevieve Suzy with the Dancing Master sitting in her bay window in Hastings having my birthday tea without me. Her coiffure was raised to new heights but all other parts except her coiffure were shrieking at her composition. She had composed the whole event. I brought in my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adrain-edge"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7924"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7935,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7924\/revisions\/7935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}