Like I said somewhere else, I was dead set on meeting Limahl. I wrote him letters, especially birthday cards which became almost a ritual. My best friend and I had decided to go and see the Return of the Jedi but we needed money. There was flea market the town we lived in organised for kids where they could sell their old stuff. So we started trying to attract people like crazy but try as we might we never seemed to be able to raise the money. So we hit on the idea to have a prize draw. That seemed to work out alright until we realised we were running out of time. Shops closed early in Germany then and we needed to buy a birthday card mail it off and get tickets for the movie. Being eleven (me) and twelve respectively we couldn't go to a later show.

My mother took mercy/pity on us and offered to mind the stand while we trotted off to find the right card. That was a ritual in itself and then we couldn't just write it anywhere. Finally we dropped it into the mailbox and my friend started making this ritual out of it, like it was a holy offering ( I guess in a sense it was). Finally we went to see the movie which we turned into a deep philosophical analysis and told the 17 year-olds behind us off for laughing in inappropriate places <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> (I'm surprised we got out of there alive).

There was also the time when I was so desperate that I started calling people on the phone. I remember reading that Limahl's manager was Billy something. So I got the phone number from a London phone book. Problem was I didn't realise that Billy was short for William and looked under B (never mind the fact that there is no way his manager would be in the phone book in the first place. I did have enough snese to know Limahl wouldn't be in there but I was hoping his manager would). I must have tormented that poor family. I was always calling them up asking to speak to Limahl. The minute my parents were out of the house, I was on the phone. When I realised my mistake I felt really bad so I sent them a letter stating that I'd been going through some personal problems (God knows where I got the words from. You do seem to know quite a bit more than people expect though as a kid, don't you?)and telling them I was deeply sorry. Of course I didn't put my name or address there.

But the funniest thing was that an article in BRAVO said Limahl chewed 'bubblegum for vegetarians.' To this day I have no idea what they meant. (If someone has any ideas, please let me know). So of course we had to go and find it with my best friend. We never iintended to *buy* it, but then we walked into an organic store and there was this little old man in a white coat. We managed to get the words out in a fit of giggles and the next thing we know he goes, 'as a matter of fact, I *do* have some.' There were even two tastes. He also gave us samples of soy paste or God knows what. And two days later my friend became a vegetarian although she fancied Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo. Then again, he was a vegetarian too.

I really had to share that.