Wimmin's issues

So where do I find myself today? The Women's Library in Whitechapel that's where. And what would I be doing in the Women's Library in Whitechapel? Well, I did have to ask myself the same question as I sat amongst an audience of...how can I put this...women with strong feminist principles (and there's nothing wrong with that per se) listening to a lecture on the prevalence of venereal diseases, and especially syphilis, amongst the various classes of Victorian London. The subjects went on to include sex and sexuality, before a romp home on the back of the media 's obsession with Jack the Ripper. All good stuff. I came home with a headache and took Jude out to walk it off.


We watched The Libertine - it's the story of John Wilmot (played by Johnny Depp), a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work. It was syphilis all over again - as if I hadn't had enough VD for one day. Anyway, it's strange how things go - I wouldn't have known why Wilmot wears a silver 'nose' had I not learned that very morning that a symptom of syphilis is the collapse of the nose itself. So there you go - not a fashion accessory at all! Anyway, completely fantastic film - Depp as brilliant as ever. I recommend. And so to bed.