AD 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977

Me 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

John's hypertextual youth Why? Who? How? Really? Leave this self-indulgent tangle! My first date was a failure. I'd received coaching from Martyn, and I think I can say with confidence that I did put my arm around the girl at the right moment. This, Martyn had assured me, was the difficult bit. He couldn't have been more wrong. We went to see the film "All Creatures Great and Small", a veterinary soap-opera later made into a successful TV series. It's not a good film, especially not for a date. On the way we made stilted conversation, on my part recycling other people's repartee I'd saved for the occasion. The way home was even worse. We did like each other - that was confirmed a year later - but I, at least, didn't know how to turn my romantic fantasies into reality.