When old friends become famous

My parents have lived in the same town for more than 40 years, so when I visit, it’s hard to go anywhere without bumping into a memory.

My first school, middle school, secondary school, bus stop, sweet shop, houses where friends lived, even the field where I met DH (don’t ask!) all still exist. But although the places are still here, the people are not. Most moved on years ago, with the exception of a few who I know through social media are still in the vicinity somewhere.

I think I spotted one at the station the other day, but what do you do? Can you go bounding up to a total stranger and say: “Hello, we did Biology together 30 years ago! Blimey, look how much older you’ve got!” (Like you tell children how much bigger they’ve got.)?

Looking up old friends is much more fun than googling symptoms, which never ends well

Searching for old friends is much more fun than googling symptoms, which never ends well

Far better to go home and look them up on Facebook, or Google – and get the low-down in just a few clicks. More fun is doing this with a mutual pal, especially after a couple of glasses of vino.

At Café Rouge last night, while nibbling on a salad Paysanne and fries, a good friend and I caught up. We covered all the usual topics (kids, schools, work, holiday activities); had a few ‘remember when’ moments; and then moved on to ‘Do you remember x? Whatever happened to y? And did you keep in touch with z?’

Not in a gossipy way, you understand, but with a healthy curiosity – and an internet connection.

And that’s when you find out that some of your old friends went on to much bigger and greater things than you were ever encouraged to aspire to in Home Economics.

I looked up S, an old schoolmate, and found her on Facebook. Except hers isn’t exactly an ordinary Facebook page. It’s her international model page, and it’s peppered with gorgeous fashion photos. Her bee-stung lips and exotic beauty radiating glamorously across the internet.

On a roll, we googled a university peer, L – now a famous model and writer (of Richard Gere former girlfriend ilk). “Look, she’s got her own Wikipedia entry,” I exclaimed. Along with a famous film producer husband and her own jewellery label.

Of course, I had to take this a little further and ‘Like’ the lovely S’s Facebook page (she might ‘Like’ Circles in the Sand back!). Which meant that this morning, as I ate cornflakes and listened to my children attacking each other viciously, I received her latest update:

“About to go on set to shoot the party scene with Hollywood actors Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for the American series Episodes.”

Jealous? Moi? Not in the slightest. Although I might have to post a few more pics of us standing on the Burj al-Arab’s helipad.

Dear Google, Thanks for the hits!

Bloggers reading this will know that it can be fun to keep an eye on your ‘blog stats’ – not in an obsessive-compulsive fashion, but to see where traffic is coming from.

Special thanks to readers in North America, the UK and the UAE!

I love the new feature that WordPress.com recently installed – a world map on the stats page that means I can see where you live! Not your house or anything, but the country in which you reside. It’s fascinating to see which corners of the world are actually visiting little old me via the blogosphere!

I also love seeing how visitors stumble across my blog. The stats page lists the search terms that Internet users around the globe have typed into search engines such as Google – leading people, usually by accident, to Circles in the Sand.

Some of the terms searched for are hilarious – here are a few recent examples:

‘Mum screaming’ Can’t think how this led to my blog!

‘Expats gone bad’ Ditto

‘Dubai women seeking house-cleaning naked male for job’ Sorry, next time search for Chippendales in Dubai – or try an agency

‘Toilet sign styles in Dubai’ Do I look like a lavatory? (BB’s toilet talk the culprit, me thinks)

‘Exotic hair shears’ Mmm, don’t own any of those

‘Sugar mommies in Dubai’ You’ve come to the wrong place, hon!

‘My housemaid in tape’ Eeee-uw!

Postscript: Dear Australia, I’m terribly sorry, but you disappeared when I downloaded the map. I don’t know why! It has just been pointed out to me that I have a reader in Sydney (yay!) so thanks to Aus too…