The Woman From The Web
I had a secret meeting with Thea Newcomb this afternoon. Well, it was meant to be secret because Thea presents a programme on another radio station and some station managers get a bit sniffy if their presenters are seen coming in to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã. It turns out, however, that Thea had already blabbed to her boss about the meeting and that he was cool.
Thea moved to Scotland fourteen years ago from her home in sunny California and made her name with the launch of a website called which was recently quoted by the alongside Friends Reunited and other well-know sites. She told me it was inspired by her own experiences with broken relationships. More recently she has launched another site called doyouwannago.com . This is for people looking for groups of friends to attend events or try new sports.
Thea told me that this was also inspired by her own experience as a single woman, because so many of her existing friends have grown a little older, got married and have to look after children. This rang true with me because I know any time I want to go out with Mrz Z we have to weigh up the availabilty of reliable babysitters. Otherwise, of course, we'd both be out there attending rave parties every night.
So Thea also got to talking about her experiences as an American in Scotland and how people sometimes hold her personally responsible for the foreign policies of President Bush. She says that, despite living here for most of her adult life, people still treat her as a visitor.
"Are you planning to go home to California?" is the question she is asked most often and, indeed, I had asked her this myself. I only now realise how rude it sounds but, as I explained to Thea, when you look at the rain pouring down in Glasgow, it's no wonder.
