| Hello again. It�s been some time since I last wrote to you, I�ve been busy, as I�m sure you are all aware. It�s at the start of every year that I like to review the 12 months past. As I am often so busy, I appreciate that it�s very hard for you all to keep track of my often very diverse range of activities. Why, I think the only two people on this earth who do know exactly where I am at any time are my two agents. Yet if they were to tell you where I am right now, they would have to kill you! No literally offcourse, it�s actually a phrase coined by Wes Craven during the filming of Nightmare on Elm Street: Part 3. It�s a very interesting story. Perhaps one that I�ll tell you at some time. But I do hope it illustrates the serious and secretive nature of our work. We�re not called Secret Agents for nothing! It�s been a busy year. 2001 was the year �Celia Says� came out into the public eye after 15 long years of underground workings. With the launch of the Euro, it�s just made life that little more hectic. So without further ado. Let�s get onto it. Nb. You must understand, that what is described below is just a very brief outline of just one or two of my activities each month. It would just be ridiculous to list every single celebrity meeting, charity gala, peace conference and Board of Trustees meeting that I�ve attended over the year! JANUARY: I started the year in my Bavarian retreat just outside of Paris. It had been a great Christmas, my first with the agents. My holiday officilly ended on the 10th and I then spent two weeks stuck in some tricky political dealings in South Africa and Tuscany. To finish of January, I flew to Wales to help build the new reptile house in Cardiff Zoo, that the CeliaSays Wildlife Fund had funded the year before. It�s a great building, designed by my good friend Jon Halberg. Its revolutionary design is sure to change the shape of the reptile house forever! The new reptile house boasts the largest array of green tailed lizards in the whole of Europe! The opening ceremony was held on the 29th, where my two agents joined me for the grand unveiling and naming of the building: �The CeliaSays Reptile Plaza�. It was a touching moment in more ways than one. FEBRUARY: The reason I love my job so much is because I get to mix goodwill work with politics and show business. It�s for that reason that when Jamie Theakston called to ask me to present the �Best male� award at the 2001 Brits, I embraced it with open arms. This was my second Brit awards that I had attended. My first was back in 97� where I met and gelled with the Spice Girls, in particular Geri. She often named me as her role model and major influence whilst growing up. It was a great to see Geri again at the awards complete with her new look. We caught up on old times. I was very very nervous when it came to presenting the award, but my two agents were with me, ad were pillars of support. Those Westlife boys took a shining to them I must say! MARCH: For many high school students around the world, March means the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival. Sheilah Winn is my alias. I established the festival back in my college years, and I�m proud to say that it�s been going strong ever since. Many don�t believe me that it is in fact my festival and that I am Sheilas Winn. Even the agents took some convincing when they were first told!I saw much new talent in this years entries. There were two witches who I believe to have a very bright future indeed. The only problem is that I have been trying to track them down ever since. I also spent some of March on location of the Harry Potter movie. I had heard rumours about it and gave Chris a call to see if I could pop along as I am a huge fan of the books. I had a great two weeks on the set. I even got to be an extra! If you look closely I�m sat behind Alan Rickman at the Quidditch match, I�m wearing a brown overcoat and striped scarf! APRIL: April means Easter. This year I launched my own range of Easter Eggs named �CeliasEggs�. They were only available within Europe and Korea, but demand was so high that they have been kept in production all year round. They�ve been a steady seller, beating the Mars bar in annual sales by 28.67%. In 2002 we are hoping to develop a full range of CeliaSays confectionary that will be available everywhere. I also kept up my annual tradition of attending the Oscars. Let�s just say it�s an ongoing favour to Hollywood going way back. This year I wore a gold Gucci number. The press labelled me �The Original Walking Talking Oscar!� I blushed greatly when Russell showed me that headline the next morning over coffee! MAY: In May I gained a new member to my family. A grey Shetland Pony called Darrilane-County. She resides in my Texas residence, under the care of the nanny, Marie. I believe Shetland ponies to be the perfect household pet! There is not much they can�t do, whist being compact enough to be stored underneath most household desks and tables. A bit like a Fitness Flyer, only without the 30 day money back guarantee. JUNE: In June I was asked to be guest editor for Cosmopolitan magazine. It was much harder than I had expected. I attended the opening of Sean Fitzpatrick�s new Golf Course in Melbourne. I always have my mid-year holiday in June at my Bavarian castle, Whilst skiing around the estate I came face to face with a moose, lost balance and broke my left thumb. I also slipped a disk! I look back and laugh, but at the time I was bedridden for a week. The agents were great and organised for my good friends Elton and Andie Spargo to come over and nurse me. JULY: July saw the establishment of the CeliaSays web-site. The agents had been telling me that the future was in the Internet and whilst I realised this, a web-site is a very time consuming thing. The agents enlisted the help of Edward DeBono to help construct a site that would interest and inform whilst still engaging the concept of all seven hats. 9/10 experts agree that we meet the criteria. I would like to tae this opportunity to thank my two agents for maintaining the site. I would love to do more, but as yo can see, I lead a very busy life. As you can see the counter is booming (it�s in thousands by the way) and the statistics show that we have a wide international following. Elton has the site set as his homepage! AUGUST: In August I bought a property in a small town called Wimbourne. Wimbourne is only known to roughly ten people in the world. Therefore it�s a great place for me to reside as the paparazzi will never find me! As Wimbourne is a very small village consisting of small properties, I demolished the house and built a new 16-bedroom cottage. Wimbourne boasts a model village and Pub! I also added a new I-Max theatre to my property in Berlin. SEPTEMBER: I launched my new book � Food in a Minute? Ha! More like Twenty! - Celia�s Tasty treats and Party ideas.� I spent much of September on my international book signing tour. I love to be able to interact wit the public, it�s something very important to me and something I keep telling my agents they should have more to do with. OCTOBER: The highlight of October was being asked to open the Thunderbirds museum in Stoke on Trent. The reason I was chosen was because back in the 60�s I was a good friend of Gerry Anderson. We used to visit the art galleries and quays together. When looking for inspiration for Lady Penelope the person who jumped into his mind was me! It�s always been one of my biggest prides and something I cherish to this very day. NOVEMBER: November was a quiet month. I attended the �Faces In Places� charity gala, and generally caught up on my paperwork. The problem with leading my type of lifestyle is that you are never in the office to do the everyday, mundane things that are necessary for the running of an international corporation. It�s a boring job, and even though my agents take care of most of that side of things, I can�t escape all of my duties! DECEMBER: Having done all of my paperwork I was now free to spend December the traditional way, and that�s the Christmas Party way. The invitations started to roll in around October. Co-ordinating which ones I�m going to go to can be quite a laborious process. There are often international date lines to be taken into account, and you just have to accept that you can�t possibly attend them all. Nevertheless, I tried my hardest and had a great time. My favourite party? It�s tough but Michael Palin�s party won. The ice sculptures were to die for. As for the cruise and the penguins! Wow. And then there was Christmas. I spent it traditionally at my Bavarian castle just outside of Paris with my agents and a close knit group of friends. It was lovely. And that was my year. Well, parts of it. This year looks to be just as busy. I shall try to write as often as I can, but I�m going to have to leave you in the trusty hands of my two agents. I would lie to thank them for all of there work this year. It was the first of hopefully many more to come. And I would also like to thank all 700,000 of you who have visited and follow the site for your loyalty to us. We aim to please. So until next time. A very happy new year to one and all Celia xxx |
| 2001: LETS GET RETROSPECTIVE WITH CELIA!!! -join Celia as she remembers the year that was. |