Saturday, November 17, 2007

Those Early Years

As my grandmother used to say, "Life is hell on earth", as these pictures of the young Geoffrey testify.

Miserable in my pram...



Miserable in the company of others...



For a while I was brainwashed by racist propaganda and life was brainlessly "fun"...



But soon real life kicked in and misery ruled...



School and the proximity of other children only made me feel more deeply the futility of being...




Give me the child until he is ten, and I'll show you the man.

22 comments:

  1. Pic 2 is original wet blanket!

    Mustn't grumble, though Geoff.

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  2. They don't make prams like that any more.
    It was having to look at their parents all the time that made kids so miserable.

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  3. Murph - Are you sure? Those look like industrial strength pantaloons to me. I never moan. ("Not much!" - Betty). But a picture tells a thousand words.

    Kaz - There was plenty of room for growth in that pram. Which was just as well because I was in it for another five years.

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  4. In the last pic, you've got a facial impression that suggest you've just been sent to bed without having your tea.
    Wonderful post.

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  5. Dammit, where were these pics when I was holding my Most Miserable, erm, Cutest Baby Compo?

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  6. That's quite a load in those nappies.

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  7. Istvanski - Thank you. I was wearing the itchy jumper I hated just because it was a posh school photo.

    MJ - I only got them scanned on Friday - I never realised before I could do them at Boots. That's no load, that's helium. My cousin's holding me down.

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  8. Re: that last photo. You're either a) imitating the sound of flatulence or b) attempting, albeit in a half-arsed manner, a Joey Deacon impression.

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  9. We'd never heard of Joey Deacon in our day. And I was too shy to do farty noises.

    No, it's all down to the mixture of school and that bloody jumper.

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  10. Come on geoff give us a smile, it may never happen, there's kids starving in Africa etc. etc.

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  11. It may happen and there are kids starving in Africa.

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  12. That jumper looks very itchy.

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  13. That last one looks pensive.

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  14. Billy - Tell me about it!

    Llewtrah - I should be resting my chin on my fist, shouldn't I?

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  15. Am I going to be the only one to say it? Cute baby!

    My mom collected labels off the marmalade jar and sent off for a gollywog brooch. I loved it at the time.

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  16. My mum did the same.

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  17. I imagine that the subsequent years at the Eeyore Academy did little to diminish your joie de vivre.

    I do not envy the needless suffering and torment that you must have endured at the hands of the austere, harsh, British Educational System. Stiff upper lip and all that.

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  18. A caning a day kept the doctor away.

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  19. Great post Geoffster. I love the half-grimace-pleasedon'thitme-I giveup-smile. I remember a boy called John Fox in my primary school wearing that jumper - I clearly remember the stripes around the v-neck.

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  20. John Fox is a great name.

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  21. looking at that last photo I can see why Betty's such a Val Doonican fan!

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  22. That ol' rockin' chair's got me!

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