We ordered cereal bowls from Kellogg’s at the request of the children. Our old friends, Snap, Crackle and Pop arrived a couple of weeks ago but there was no sign of the figure whom Messrs Kelloggs refer to as “Cornelius the Cockerel”. Michael was becoming increasingly agitated on this point but, today, it arrived. “Cornelius the Cockroach!” he cried happily clutching it to his bosom.
Archives for October 2011
Obviously the Cool People Were Waiting for us to Leave
Look, the NY Times loves Brussels .
Husband’s email on being sent this link:
Brussels “is definitely not a city where everything is obvious, announced and organized,†explains Dimitri Jeurissen, the Belgian creative director of BaseDesign.
True.
Unnerving
Princess: What does virgin mean?
Me [cravenly]: Um, it’s a woman who hasn’t had a baby.
Pause.
Princess: I mean in the context of olive oil.
Reading
Granta 114
I borrowed this from a cooler friend. Really, who subscribes to Granta? Honestly. But it was a feminist issue and I am interested in feminism. And it was excellent and very easy going [not to be confused with easygoing, which it wasn’t]. Who would have thought?
“The Female Eunuch” by Germaine Greer [New Year’s Resolution]
This is Mr. Waffle’s edition. I’ve never read it before. It was interesting in places, still, alas, current in some, very dated in others. Her chapter on work is of historical interest only. Her chapter on romance could not be more relevant. Except she has a dig at Georgette Heyer, which I resent while acknowledging the fairness of her argument. I don’t think I’ll be able to look at advertising in quite the same way in future. She has completed for me a process begun by women laughing alone with salad. On the other hand, I think she is fundamentally wrong about violence against women; largely wrong about children; and mistaken about marriage. I wonder what she thinks now?
“9th and 13th” by Jonathan Coe [New Year’s Resolution]
Very short book of 4 short stories. Jonathan Coe is always worth reading but this is slight in every sense.
Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx [New Year’s Resolution]
A history of the new world told through the travels of an accordion (or possibly several, I got a bit confused). Beautifully written and engaging enough but each individual vignette stood on its own and the overarching theme of immigration to America and accordions did not turn it into a novel.
“The Factory of Facts” by Luc Sante [New Year’s Resolution]
This was a present on one of the many occasions when I left Belgium definitively. It’s a memoir by a Belgian/American and has an insider/outsider view of Belgium. It’s interesting enough in its own right, I suppose, but for someone who lived in Belgium for many years, it’s very appealing. I have pressed Mr. Waffle to read it, but I’m not entirely sure that I would press it on everyone.
“Green Lantern: Rebirth” by Geoff Johns, illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver
I include this for the sake of completeness. I know you care. Daniel spent all of our holiday in France reading and re-reading it. As we took it out of the library, I felt a twinge of guilt as the librarian said, “You know that this is an adult graphic novel.” Eventually, in France a combination of a shortage of books and mild interest in what my then 5 year old was consuming made me turn to this. I am fond of science fiction and I like to think of myself as able to follow a plot, but I had no idea what on earth this was about and had to turn to Daniel for advice and guidance which he very willingly gave. I was pleased to note, however, that unlike the X-men graphic novels which he has also been perusing with interest, there were no scantily clad women; this was somewhat offset by the random violence, of course. Not recommended.
Derring-do
We were out the other night. We left the children in the hands of our very competent middle-aged child minder. When we returned, she had a tale of adventure to relate.
The cat had brought in a small mouse between her iron jaws [an event which, alas, is only too common] and the child minder had squealed and looked away. The commotion brought the Princess downstairs. Leaving the child minder quivering in a chair, the Princess got out the dustpan and brush, reproved the [v. peeved] cat, swept up the corpse and covered it in tissues for safe disposal by the child minder. She then sailed back to bed having spread peace in her dominions.
In the morning, when complimented on her daring, she said, “It was only a small mouse; and it was dead.”
Bad News/Good News
My bike, my beautiful expensive bike with a child seat on the back, was stolen.
I’d taken the lights off though.
