Details details details

In the absence of the background material I need I had thought I was all but finished writing up the "stories" - mad, sad, bad, funny - or at least the ones I could remember. Nada, that is clearly not how biography works. Ticking in the back of my mind was a comment made several weeks ago about how people, especially women, will be interested in the detail. What were the bathroom facilities like, how did you get tampons, shampoo, how did you wash your clothes? That is what I have been writing about today. There were very good reasons why our uniforms went from bright, fresh green to a dull, dusty grey. There are very good reasons why,when it comes to bathrooms, I have an extremely high tolerance for filth - in all its forms. Procuring tampons and shampoo is less mysterious. Sitting in my nice tidy room, clean clothes and a functioning bathroom I am writing about what it is like not to have those niceties. In these moments I can smell and taste it, sometimes, when I am deeply emersed in it I can feel the grime in my pores. Reading some of the Gulf War and Iraq bios it is those moments I really relate to - they are the hidden deprivations, the things that have us awed when we return to the real world. Now, suddenly, I am "us" - these are the things we have in common, regardless of gender or sexuality.