Don't start me...

I've been taking a break from blogging in the past few weeks. It's not that there's nothing to comment on - I'm Scottish, female and old - I've always got plenty to comment on. In fact, there's too much going on and almost all of it is annoying.

There's Christmas. You know: the December festival that started when Debenham's put a Christmas tree on display at the end of September. Before Guy Fawkes night, even before Hallowe'en, the ads were on the telly. Now there seem to be two TV stations showing non-stop Christmas movies and the chain stores are competing to see which one can produce the most sick-making advert. For the first time, I feel sorry for fairies and penguins. This fiasco will presumably go on for the next 45 days. If you're Christian, I'm guessing you've worked out a way to separate this kind of commercialism from your religion. But if you're one of the 42% of the population whose religious beliefs come under the heading 'other' or 'none', you may be at screaming point within a couple of weeks.

Then there are the poppies. Yes, I think our ex-service people should get every support we can give them. No, I don't think it should be left to charity. If we really care about looking after these people and their families, we should have a veterans' agency, properly funded by us - the taxpayers. And we should stop referring to the pathetic payments we make to the dependants of service people who died on our behalf as 'benefits' and making it look as if they are getting hand-outs or, worse, something for nothing. At least David Cameron has decided it's not not fair to cut people's 'benefits' if they remarry. That was a nasty policy that went on for years and years. And mostly punished women.

And there's the EU and the UK government's wish to pick and choose the bits of EU membership it wants. I loved the recent opinion poll that asked if people thought the British should be able to live and work anywhere they wanted in the EU. 76% wanted that right. Then they were asked if EU citizens should have the right to live and work in Britain. 28% - seriously, 28% - were in favour. Who says irony is dead? Just as bizarre is listening to Cameron telling British business people their businesses will not suffer if the UK leaves the European Union. Oddly, that didn't apply to Scotland leaving the UK. And it's nice to hear Cameron's advice to the CBI which is, basically, to button it.

And finally, there's Celtic Connections. I've already got tickets for two events: Ceol nam Feis (£12) and the Songs of Ewen McColl (£24).  Neither of these is the 'headline act': that's Van Morrison. I won't be chasing tickets to see Van. They're £55. The words rip and off come to mind. I'm disappointed Celtic Connections has gone down the road of chasing big names. Especially this big name, since his only celtic connection that I can see is that he was born in Northern Ireland.