Funny thing this blogging lark. Yesterday afternoon I met my third ever blogging correspondent in person. It's Senor Brian Cutts (see above) and I also had the privilege of meeting his lovely wife Sylvia and their pleasant and rather intelligent children - Andrew and Amanda (See below)
Here in England we often think about the people who come to our shores as immigrants but far less often do we find ourselves thinking about those English people who have left our shores to embrace different cultures as emigrants. Brian is one of those people. At forty seven, he has spent more years living in Catalonia than he ever spent in South Yorkshire where his parents still reside. He is to all intents and purposes a fully fledged Catalonian who is 100% behind the drive for Catalonian independence. He has even lost his Barnsley accent and now speaks like a Catalonian who happens to be fluent in English.
As I say, it's a funny thing this blogging lark. At one level you might say that until yesterday Brian and I were complete strangers - except that we already knew quite a lot about each other and had known the intimacy of the written word. I gave Brian's children pencils and he gave me a book about Catalonia's drive for independence - a cause which seems to have far more historical substance than Scotland's delicately balanced and less well argued parallel claims.
Here you will find Brian's blog - Tannu Tuva
And here you will find his Twitter account.
And if you are reading this Brian - it was lovely to meet you, Senora Sylvia and your delightful children. Free Catalonia! Free The People!
Looks like my comment has not come through. Can I be bothered to type it all again?
ReplyDelete*sigh*
So far, I have managed to meet precious few of my fellow bloggers in person, but through what I have read about them on their blogs I feel as we know each other quite well. It is very nice that you and Brian and his family had the chance to meet up.
I was nervous about meeting him but all went well. It was comfortable. We spent a pleasant hour in the Millennium Gallery Cafe in the centre of Sheffield and next time he's over in England I would be happy to meet up again.
DeleteI hope they were new pencils. I know how careful Yorkshire folk can be.
ReplyDeleteNew? Don't be ridiculous! They were pencil stubs from a polling booth. I didn't want anybody voting for N. Clegg. The children received them with open mouths - such was their delight.
DeleteThere is so much to learn about different peoples and their homelands. I have only occasionally wandered over to Brian's area of Blogland but I shall wander over some more.
ReplyDeleteBrian often leads us to music but if you sift through his blog you will find several interesting posts that speak of his life in Catalonia.
DeleteI am so glad you got to meet Brian and put a face to our Brian. I really enjoy the music he shares on his blog. Hi Brian!
ReplyDeleteI think that you and I are Brian's top blogging pals. Like you he seems well up on his music. I am not sure he will have the opportunity to read this post till he gets back to Tortosa. They were off into the wilds of Lincolnshire today to see his brother.
DeleteI've only had the opportunity to meet two blogging friends but it was a very positive experience both times and I am pleased to say we remain in regular contact. It is a bit scarey though isn't ? You wonder what the person will be like face to face when you think you know them after years of almost daily communication. Glad it went well.
ReplyDeleteP S. We'll drop in for a visit one day I hope !
Helen it will be nice to meet you I am sure but Tony might punch me on the nose for all my mischief! I shall have to wear a cricket helmet just in case.
DeleteHi!! Surprise, I didn't expect to be online again till after our internet-free hols in Sunny England, but a kind and generous family member has let us have a go on his computer - being from Yorkshire, there's a slot for 10p pieces on the side. I've just put one in and will type till the credit runs out... yes, I agree, it was a great experience for us too and I'm so glad we finally decided to fix up a meeting. So far we've met a handful of "internet friends" and only have good words about it - met no serial killers or dodgy characters yet (my parents, being Daily Mail readers, were quite worried about the dangers of meeting an internet contact "make sure it's a public place"!). So, thanks so much for meeting us - and these kind words you've posted... looking forward to the next time!
ReplyDeleteAdeu! *bye