Welcome to "Ask Dorothy" on www.thisisUll.com a place where you can ask Dorothy for advice or answers to anything that's bothering you. Email your problem questions to Dorothy at dorothy@thisisull.com More Problems   Home Page    Page 1.    Page 2.    Page 3.

Dear Dorothy, This is the 3rd time writing this - I don't know where to start. OK, I met someone nearly 2 years ago we have happy and bad times but for the past 4 months its getting worse - the fighting and everything. I've been trying to get her off smoking pot but to no avail. She is a different person when stoned, happy and loving but the rest of the time she hits me (don't laugh) orders me about, tells me what to do. It's getting us both depressed. I love her with all my heart and soul but the way she treats me sometimes is like a mum to a kid. What should I do? Help!

Dorothy replies My, my, my, what a to-do! Your life to me sounds hectic and chaotic...... it sounds to me like your lady friend is obviously trying to relax. You sound uptight and it is time, young man, to get your own life in order. Letting a woman beat you? I've never heard of such a thing. If you are being treated like a child then just try behaving like one. Get up late in the morning, stay out late, play some music really loud. I recommend some nice Perry Como LP's. I always play them to annoy my next door neighbour when I've had a night out at the bingo. If this antagonizes her even more, then make yourself one of those pot cigarettes and do some relaxing yourself - but know this.... I do not approve of smoking in any shape or form. If all this fails and it gets too much then all I can really suggest is to give up on the ladies for a while and join the navy. It'll take your mind off things for a short while like 10 years and will toughen you up and that's for sure. Good luck sonny.

Dear Dorothy, Gnome sweet gnome? Please help me. I recently met someone through a lonely hearts ad entitled 'Small but Perfectly Formed'. When he arrived at my house I found to my dismay that he was a garden gnome. What can I do? He has taken root next to my pond and refuses to budge unless I agree to marry him. Signed 'Worried' from Hull
Dorothy replies Dearest worried, can I first say to you this, did he come with any guarantee? Some gnomes are very cheap and a little nasty. Tell him he must return from where ever he came from and under no circumstances will you marry him. If the blighter doesn't budge either set the dog on him or ring the environmental health. The number is in your local directory. May I also add that in the future if you ever get lonely again then go down to your nearest pet shop and purchase a perfect companion a budgie. I wouldn't be without mine. Not since my Harry past away. Good luck with the expulsion of your squatting gnome-love Dorothy.

Dear Dorothy, I am a 45 year old man (balding slightly) and have been with my wife for 18 years with 3 kids and a mortgage to worry about. Frankly, I am sick of the whole thing. I feel apart from our family life, used simply as a taxi with a wallet attached. What's to stop me from breaking away from this madness and finding my own life? Signed A fed-up husband

Dorothy replies Calm down, fed-up husband - you are not the only one. 18 years? Give yourself a pat on the back, that's a long time, sonny! You need to 'chill out' and ask yourself one thing - Do you love her, sweetie? If you don't, it's time to let go - and you know why. But if you do, it's shake-up time. You take the lead, change whatever, then you take your wife, catch your taxi and spend some good money on the both of you. Find each other and do something amazing! Now then, fed-up husband, go do as I say and the best of luck to you both.

Dear Dorothy, I have read that love is a chemical thing that happens between two people - something that just can't be stopped, whatever the circumstance. I fell in love, too. Tell me, why is it so painful?

Dorothy replies Well, you sound like a nice young man! Pain is a very painful thing and it hurts even more when you are lonely, good looking and very sensitive. I am so sorry, young man, but it's time to toughen up. Get strong! Sign up for some kick boxing lessons and get a grip. The sort of love portrayed in Catherine Cookson novels is nonsense (and STOP reading your mothers books!). Go out and buy some new clobber, go to a nightclub and read the Sunday Sport after a very memorable Saturday night. Get arrested if you have to! Then, and only then will you feel experienced and grown up enough to meet a young lady and have 2 kids and a mortgage. That's what love is all about.

Dear Dorothy, It's wonderful to see you appearing on www.thisisUll.com but tell me please, why a 98 year old lady, such as yourself, would want to write a column on a website. Signed Editor.

Dorothy replies Well, young man, I am still not quite sure what a website is, but I think a problem is a problem, no matter where it manifests itself. Look here, I've been a Hull lass all my life and have experienced two generations of Hull people and their problems. Also, I read 'Hello' Magazine and I listen to Radio Humberside. Although I am not the proud owner of the latest PC (whatever that is) I do rely on my home help to read the questions and write for me. I do understand lovey, I really do, and if you want to sit yourself down and pour your little heart out, I am a good listener and will always try to understand your state of mind.

Going Down - Hull Mela Festival Sunday 31st July 2005 by Jane Foster
	This year saw Hull's first ever Mela festival held at Pearson Park. A Mela is a traditional festival which originates from India. A welcome event (especially as there was no Grassroots festival this year), it brought together and celebrated the diverse communities of Hull. It was a successful day, well attended and enjoyed by both the public and the performers. Read more...

Going Down - Ella Street Festival Saturday 9th July 2005 by Jane Foster
	As a resident of Ella Street I was pleased as punch to hear that this year we would be holding our very own festival, open to everyone. A group of residents had got together and organised this - well done to them all. About a week ago the banner and bright bunting went up, and the street held its breath waiting for this very special event... Read more...

Going Down - Cycling into Poverty History Monday 27th June 2005 By Martin Deane
	"Don't tell the other towns, but Hull was the best reception we ever got!" Bright and early, by some measures - ok, 9am - 24 cyclists from Hull gathered by the café and then made their way over the Humber Bridge. The River Humber, she what drains a fifth of the country and puts more freshwater into the North Sea than any other, looked absolutely Read more...

Going Down - The Make Poverty History March, in Retrospect By Bill Linton
	Well, the G8 season seems to have kicked off to a good start this year with Live 8 concerts internationally. Predictably, the Hyde Park concert gained almost wall to wall coverage on television and in the news, although media interest in the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh was somewhat less Read more...

Going Down - Make Poverty History Demonstration in Edinburgh 2nd July 2005 by Rich Mills
	Having been a political activist for many years now, when the Make Poverty History demonstration came around, we just had to do something about it. The result being that with a lot of work from Martin Deane collecting money in, we managed to send a hundred people up to Edinburgh for the day. Along with another hundred or so who made their own way up to Scotland, Hull was well represented. Read more...

Going Down - G8 2005 Demonstration in Edinburgh by Mike Rose
	On Saturday 2nd July we joined what turned out to be the biggest political demonstration in Scottish history. I've been on G8 demos before (Prague 2000 - Genoa 2001) but this one was the most diverse I have ever witnessed. The response from the churches was stunning. We had socialists, environmentalists, Christians, students, pensioners, and babies! Read more...

Going Down - Make Poverty History March In Edinburgh By Sarah Golightley
	There is nothing I loathe more than the sound of one of those wretched free ring tones on my mobile twanging away at 5 o'clock in the morning; especially when 5 o' clock is only three hours after I went to sleep following a night of clubbing at Fuel and accidentally locking my friends out of their own house. And then trying to let them in Read more...

Going Down - Make Poverty History Demonstration in Edinburgh 2nd July 2005 By Mo
	Martin Deane invited me along with 2 full coach loads of people from Hull to the Make Poverty History Demonstration in Edinburgh on the 2nd July 2005. It was an early start, 6am, because we had a long 6 hour trip up to Scotland (and another 6 hours back which I tried to forget) as we hopped aboard that drizzly morning. I'd packed my sandwiches, water etc and had a flask of hot coffee prepared for me by Cilla Read more...

Going Down - World Music Day at Queens Gardens Saturday 18th June 2005 By Mo
	This year's Hull World Music Day saw another impressive array of artists from across the globe. A warm sunny day was the perfect setting for various performances. These included the Shyani Ngcobo Band from South Africa, Persian band Flame, the Zeela Women's Choir from Liberia, Allah Lake Afro Mandinka from the Gambia, Shantha Rao of the Annapurna Indian Dance Company, Hako from Kurdistan Read more...

Going Down - Overnight Investigation of the Paranormal with The Spiritual Renaissance Group By Blair Ashworth Photos by Mo
	Insomnia must be a real advantage when you're investigating the paranormal. At least, it would have been if the night at Holmpton had passed slowly - but for me, and for Mo, it was an amazing and unforgettable experience, and I for one intend repeating it as soon as the opportunity next arises. So, there we were, the car drawing up to the guardhouse of the Holmpton bunker near Withernsea. Read more...

Going Down - Isn't 'Ull Brilliant! Hull Aid Tsunami Benefit Event By Cilla, 11 page Photo Gallery by Darren Rogers.
	After the unbelievable response to the Hull Aid Tsunami Benefit Event, where hundreds of you turned up to be entertained by some of the fabulous talent from in and around Hull, we can announce the current total donated by YOU! Together with collections at Yo-Yo Read more...