Nina's Blog - Sunday 8th March 2026
Sunday 8th March 2026, 21:12
As usual for Sunday there are no scenery pictures because I didn't go out.
As usual for Sunday there are no scenery pictures because I didn't go out.
61-69, T
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ninalanyon · 61-69, T
Sunday 8th March 2026, 23:35
I wonder if I should try to create a sort of commonplace book here on SW. I sometimes stumble upon pictures or pieces of writing that strike me as meaningful or at least that strike a chord. But if I don't record them somewhere they will get lost. In fact even if I do they usually get lost, perhaps that is as it should be.
Anyway, regardless of whether I create such a thing here is a snippet of what I stumbled upon just now:
It resonates with me, He goes on to say:
I wonder if I should try to create a sort of commonplace book here on SW. I sometimes stumble upon pictures or pieces of writing that strike me as meaningful or at least that strike a chord. But if I don't record them somewhere they will get lost. In fact even if I do they usually get lost, perhaps that is as it should be.
Anyway, regardless of whether I create such a thing here is a snippet of what I stumbled upon just now:
Alan Bennett’s diary of his 90th year
1 March
It is absurd to say that I feel I am not yet grown up. I am not laying claim to perpetual youth (though 89 is something of a surprise), and youth I was never much aware of when I had it. What I mean is, there has never come a time when I could be thought to have acquired dignity, common sense, still less worldly wisdom, qualities that supposedly come with age and get lost with age, too. One doesn’t look for common sense from someone over 90.
1 March
It is absurd to say that I feel I am not yet grown up. I am not laying claim to perpetual youth (though 89 is something of a surprise), and youth I was never much aware of when I had it. What I mean is, there has never come a time when I could be thought to have acquired dignity, common sense, still less worldly wisdom, qualities that supposedly come with age and get lost with age, too. One doesn’t look for common sense from someone over 90.
It resonates with me, He goes on to say:
I was most conscious of this feeling when I was briefly appointed a trustee of the National Gallery. (When I asked why, I was told it was because I was the man in the street.) My fellow trustees were all distinguished in their fields – commerce, art, public service. I liked pictures but looking round the table I could see I was there under false pretences. I’ve never had to chair a meeting or sit round and persuade otherwise-minded people to my point of view. I was in my 50s but I was not a grownup. Thirty years and more have passed but that conviction has never left me. I have a partner, a house and some standing in the community but none of it counts. When I enter a room full of people (these days a rarity) I am 16. Except in the even more rare occasion of entering a room of 16-year-olds, when I am 90. I have the credentials but I don’t seem to have the baggage. Once upon a time, I think I imagined age itself as an eminence, years were a plinth, it had prospects even if the end was clouded in mist.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/mar/08/enough-said-alan-bennett-new-diaries-exclusive-extract-90th-year