Scruffy Mummy

And, I always thought the chip on your shoulder was a woodchip - is it really like a chip in a tea cup or glass?

Ok, All together together now everyone - 'All ya need is love, dom, dom dom dom, All ya need is love, dom, dom dom dom, All ya need is Love, Love. Love is all you need!'

Seriously Dom - you are the next Dale Carnegie! I see a book tour and after dinner motivational speeches on the horizon for you!

Oohh... Dom - you are such the expert on winning friends and influencing people!

tee hee!

That is a good question Atila!! What I've done is make an effort to engage with issues and events and things that my lesbian and gay friends go to that are open to all. One thing you could do is go to the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival at the NFT which is happening at the end of the month. Everyone is welcome - gay, straight, bi, whatever. They have some great films and fab documentaries. And you'll meet lots of lesbian and gay people in the bar to chat to Here is the link! http://www.bfi.org.uk/llgff/

'I just wonder if by being exclusive does this feed peoples ignorance and set up divisions in society when we should be encouraging people to embrace our differences? Or should it be considered like a religion where people celebrate the same god in a different way and practice a similar moral code and then go out and kill each other?' Well, I'm sorry if I came across as patronizing but I did feel the need to point out - in a very straightforward way - to answer lozzyloz's point above that she made in her initial post!! As Cazz herself points out, she goes to lots of mainstream parent and baby activities so she is hardly segrating herself off from society!! She probably has to take on the role of educating curious straight people all the time and explaining the different issues or when it's the same so what's the problem with her having a group where she doesn't have to do this?

Hey Cazz - hope you get something together! A friend of mine is a lesbian parent to a son who is now in university and she too found that it was great to have some lesbian parent friends - as well as lots of het parent friends as it helped hime know he wasn't the only one with two mums! I think alot of people like Lollyloz aren't really homophobic - they just don't understand the particular needs of different communities. I recently went to see a play in the West End which was dealing with issues of sexuality and identity. I went with a bunch of lesbian and gay friends - and I invited a straight mum friend along. On the way back, she got really upset and said how out of it she felt, and uncomfortable and how she hadn't ever had a lesbian experience and felt like it was a different world. I was like, well, now you know what alot of gay people feel like! She's not homophobic - just heterosexist!! People like to slag off different communities getting together but that's often because when they go to groups and activities, they don't have to really deal with difference or different experiences. And, maybe the Lougue isn't the best place to post this as people like to have a good ole debate/slag off/wind up in here anyway! Posting something in Wanted and Recommended might reach more people anyway.

I think it's like anything - sometimes you just want to hang out with people who have the same experiences as you do. I know that lesbian and gay parents face particular issues and challenges that hetero parents don't and it's nice to meet other people in the same situation.

Hi there, There was a discussion about lesbian and gay parents groups in the area. If you go to this thread here http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?9,61438,76473#msg-76473 you can find all the information about the monthly group that meets at the East Dulwich Community Centre plus also you could pm some of the parents that have posted looking for other gay/lesbian parents to meet up with. Good luck!

And if you think you're going to move to some mystical haven in the country where youth crime doesn't exist get real. Youth in the countryside are even more disaffected as they have little to occupy them. And you as a target will stand out more in some little village than you do here - merging in with the rest of the great unwashed in London!

Pathetic. a) Youth Offending Teams tend to be engaged in a great deal of outreach and on-site work i.e. at courts, in youth centres etc. They quite senesibly don't sit around their offices expecting the young people to come to them. These offices is where the workers will be based and will do their admin. b) It is unlikely the youths if they come to visit their YOT worker will kick up a fuss right outside their offices. They will reluctantly come (if indeed they need to), have their meeting/training/whatever and head back to their home territory. c) YOT's are in every borough - doing stirling work to PREVENT youth offending. I'd much rather have them here on my doorstep sorting out youth offenders than outside the area frankly. d) If you think you aren't meeting young offenders already in the local area, more fool you.

Will they tackle the mouse problem sweeping ED?

Yeah, like YAWN Comparing having a fence round Goose Green to Colditz shows the pointless of this debate - soon he'll be mentioning the Holocaust and this thread will be well and truly over!! But explain to me the bit about our own self-interest? Like HOW would removing the fence serve anyone? Whose quality of life will it affect? Will it reduce global warming? Campaign on something like getting people in ED to reduce car user or getting the council to fund the Livsey.

me - and even worse when he was abit younger. The difference between the Green and the Rye is that it isn't large enough to have a non-fenced space - if you have a young child, it wouldn't take much for them to zoom off into the road or into the jaws of a nasty pit bull. Whenever it was designed as an open space, you didn't have the issue of car traffic nor nasty pit bull thingy's. Ban cars from the whole Goose Green area - I'd rather that thank you very much.

Keep the bloomin fence and give the money that would be spent on taking it down and then replacing it to the Livsey Museum.

Thanks for the sound advice Peckham Rose! My shockingly poor spelling and grammer mean that I always use a professional proofreader to check everything before sending it off!! A little investment goes a long way is my theory! I will update you when I hear something!

Just an update - I took everyone's wise advice and I decided to focus on other things this week and not pester the agent. She emailed me today and said that she had a family emergency last week and was out of the office but was keen to read through my proposal and she would be in touch this week! So more waiting......

All the Lib Dem counsellors held firm and with the Tories, they have agreed that the Livesey will lose it's funding and close of Feb 29 2008. They might consider a rescue plan but someone has to step in quick. PLEASE - there must be some city type out there in Dulwich who has just pocketed a million pound bonus who could spare ?140,000?? As a note of interst, on the facebook group, someone posted a reply they got from our esteemed counsellor Barber where he stated that 'The Livesey Museum is an under-used resource. What the Livesey Museum needs is a cafe.' For goodness sakes, a cafe??' Again, it proves my point that these counsellors are all about style not substance.

It is an absolute disgrace that the council are seeking to close this fantastic resource. The area of Southwark is extremely deprived - the Old Kent Road has very little resources now for young families, particularly since the closure of the library in the former Civic Centre. I would very happily give up any money to replace that stupid fence on Goose Green and give it to the Livesly!!! I mean - really, if it is a choice between replacing a fence (which admittedly isn't very beautiful but serves it's purpose) and a children's museum then the choice is obvisous. But then, I guess since the Lib Dems are in power in this area and not where the Livesely is, they would rather pump more money here to keep there seats.

Yeah your right Steve!

yes, this thought had crossed my mind! Oh, well. Will have to just sit it out and chill.

Yes I know! But I was thinking if she read it over the weekend and liked it, she'd get back to me straight away on Monday! So now I'm thinking she thought it was just 'meh...' (larry david speak for 'not so good')

So I had a meeting with a literary agent before x-mas about a (non-fiction) book proposal I sent her. She was interested but wanted me to write an extended book proposal as my first was a bit short. I did it and sent it off to her last week - she said she'll take it home over the weekend and get back to me this week. All day yesterday I checked my email a million times - nothing. I don't want to annoy her - it sounds a bit pathetic 'so what did you think about my proposal?' And either she'll say 'Oh I haven't read it' Or she'll be on the spot because she hated it and is just trying to think of a nice way to tell me gently. Agggghhhh.... What do you all think is going on? Does she hate it? or what???????????/

Doesn't anybody have some work that you should be doing?