Poet Laureate and Kindred Spirits

Well, congratulations to Carol Ann Duffy who has been appointed the first woman Poet Laureate in the UK. Not before time as the post of Poet Laureate has been going a mere 341 years. Oh, and apparently it seems Ms Duffy was passed over ten years ago (it is a ten year appointment thing) because she was in a lesbian relationship. So what? Ah, seems Tony Blair wasn't too sure how the middle classes would respond to that. Deary me. Anyway good one Carol. Because if I was you, I would be more tempted to tell the British establishment where to stick their exalted Poet Laureateship - but the truth is you are doing more for women and lesbians by accepting the post. I wish you a happy and successful ten years. ...................................... Now, in reading up about Ms Duffy, I happened across the Telegraph web site. While the technical standard of journalism on the Telegraph (as a newspaper) used to have a good reputation - short, concise, and to the point - i have to say that I am not a fan of the politics it espouses. Still, easy enough to cut through that and read the actual news. At the top of the piece about Ms Duffy was a link to Kindred Spirits. This is the Telegraph's dating section. Well, they are unlikely to be my kindred spirits but I couldn't resist a look. I shouldn't have been surprised should I? What did I find? Endless middle-aged men from late 40s to early 60s, who ALL wanted attractive - or very attractive - younger slim women who were intelligent (in which case they would be unlikely to be looking at these tossers), invariably shorter than them, and who just needed to fit into an exact specific mould. If they tolerated an older woman, it was invariably one who was a year older - but the age span they were looking at included women nearly 20 years younger. Vomit. It wasn't any better when I looked at the women's profiles. They invariably wanted older, taller, richer, men. I wonder why. Oh, and all the men seemed to have conservative/right wing politics. Hardly unexpected I suppose. Oddly, very few of them claimed to smoke. Regardless of the political socio-economic issues, what really got up my nose was the idea that fat middle-aged men with a bit of money seemed to consider it their right to advertise for a younger, slimmer, slightly shorter, intelligent woman to do exactly what they were told. Oh, and attractive or very attractive of course - because women are only worth judging on their looks, aren't they? Kindred spirits my arse.