Dawn

Dawn

Monday, October 24, 2011

Walking through the woods with my younger daughter this evening, the question arose:- What word do Americans use when we Brits use 'autumnal'? Answer appreciated.

Shopping with said daughter this evening, I whiled away some time by checking the Spanish wines on offer. Which was more challenging than expected as the reds were (finally) to be found in the American section and the whites in the South African section. Meaning they didn't - unlike the Italians - even make the Other European section. Which is odd.

It's tough staying with a child of a baby boomer. To say there are no habits of thrift would be a gross understatement. Kettles are overfilled with gay abandon, lights are left on as if we were an integral part of Blackpool Illuminations, and no thought is given to a sensible central heating regime. In short, there's absolutely no evidence of the disciplines drummed into us baby boomers by parents of the austere war and post-war period. Or perhaps I'm the odd one. Whatever, I need to learn to keep my mouth shut and accept it's not my money.

As of tonight, the news is that there might be some slow progress being made at the European summit. Which is a nice intro into a Wall St. Journal article entitled " Why Europe Dithers". As the writer concludes:- Some things change slowly and national culture is one of them. It was never likely the rest of Europe would choose to become more like Germany, or Germany choose to become more like rest of Europe, on a schedule that would allow the euro to work. And that's what we're finding out. Or perhaps we're not and the miracle can be brought off. Let's hope so anyway.

One or two readers have suggested Ricky Gervais might have been misunderstood. So here's the article in which the writer takes issue with what she calls his feeble-minded approach to the furore created by his referring to Down Syndrome kids as 'mongs'.

Finally . . . Some free advice: Avoid staying in places with a cat. If you must do this, don't leave your suitcase open on the floor. Especially not in a place where someone (say, your daughter) has neglected the litter tray for so long, the cat is compelled to find somewhere less unhygienic in which to urinate . . .

Postscript supplied by said daughter just now . . . Pupil's comment on MacBeth:- He leaves his wife out of the plans to kill Banquo and Macduff's family. This makes him roofless and cunning. . . 

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