women'sown.(Features)

women'sown LYNNEBARRETT-LEE So, just in case you didn't know, two notable items on the agenda this week, courtesy of www.somewebsiteorotherfortrawlingcolumnists.com. One is that back in 1915, on this day, the planet Pluto had its first ever official photo taken. Admittedly, they didn't actually know it was Pluto at the time - probably just thought it was some random asteroid, and, besides, they had to wait for Mr Disney to catch up. But there it was, in all its gnarly, far-distant glory, an outer suburb of that metropolis called Sun.

I rather liked that, of itself, because I like random factoids, but it was made even better by the news, down the page, that on this very day again in 1958, Madame Tussaud's Planetarium opened in London.

Now, I'm not one for taking that much notice of random coincidences, let alone attaching any deep significance to them. Indeed, as an aside (oh, how I love my asides) I could rant for Britain about that sort of nonsense, particularly those internet round-robins that tell you some inoffensive stuff about 'sisterhoods' and 'circles of friendship' and 'how-much-better-women-are-than-men-are' , and then ruin them by tagging an irritating bit on the end, that's usually in some bonkers cursive purple script, and says 'send this to 20 friends and something wonderful will happen Tuesday, but send to no-one and your thumb will drop off''. STOP IT! (I shout at the monitor.) WE'RE ALL GROWN UPS! NO SANE PERSON BELIEVES YOUR CHILDISH GUFF!

But that's different. And as random date coincidences go, I thought that whole Pluto/Planetarium thing was pretty neat.

Of course, it's true that it could have been planned that way, Madame Tussaud (yes, I know she was dead, but let's pretend) putting down the dripping wax-spoon and stray glass eye she was affixing, and saying: "Alors! Do you know what we should do? We should open the Planetarium the same date they first clocked Pluto, that way we're more likely to get a few column inches in the Express!" But, assuming it wasn't - and do let's - I think that's splendid.

They didn't actually And I'm sure you'll be even more excited when I tell you that I have now found a March 19 co-incidence of my own. 2003 it was, and it was spooky. know it was Pluto at the time - I'd started planning my fourth novel, Straight On Till Morning (the clue is in the title), and in furtherance of creating my heroine, Sally, who was an insomniac night-sky enthusiast (as am I), I made a purchase which has stood me in good stead for almost a decade, in the furtherance of droning to anyone who'll listen about all the wonder of the glorious spangled canopy above our heads.

probably just thought it And the main object of my interest at that time was the Pleiades, whose existence you can confirm only if you very slightly look away, which makes brilliant metaphor for a romantic novelist. was some random asteroid So I bought a Planisphere (such natty things), the better to pinpoint their location. And when it came, much excited, I e-mailed my bestest writing buddy. "Ooh," I said. "My Planisphere's arrived! Roll on darkness!" The date of the e-mail? Yup. March 19. Now forward this column to 47 random people, and I solemnly promise nothing will happen...

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