Me: Did you read that terrific article on procrastination in the NYT?
Him: No, I haven’t got around to it yet.
Reading
“The Kindness of Sisters: Annabella Milbanke and the Destruction of the Byrons” by by David Crane
If you were planning to read this book, it would be very important that you had an intimate knowledge of Byron and his love life. And no, reading a biography several years ago does not at all cut the mustard. This is for people who have Augusta’s middle name tattooed on their upper arms.
“Skippy Dies” by Paul Murray
This is terrific. It’s a school story set in a very recogniseable Dublin. It is hilariously funny at times, it has plot and it has character. I liked it a lot and I think that this is the first time ever that Eileen Battersby (literary editor of the Irish Times) and I have both enjoyed the same book. I liked the nod to the Dublin readership – the two spinsters in the staff room were Miss Birchall and Miss McSorley – named after two well known pubs across the road from each other in a Dublin suburb. If you want more analysis, try my esteemed sister-in-law.
“Carter Beats the Devil” by Glen David Gold
About a magician and a little too clever for its own good but quite entertaining in parts.
“Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide” by Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof
Very readable book about the oppression of women. The authors describe the kind of oppression that everyone can sign up to (women sold into slavery for sex) and deliberately doesn’t address the kind of oppression that might be arguably less clear cut (women driven to prostitution for economic reasons). The authors also suggest that there is merit in making the citizens of Western democracies intimately aware of issues in third world countries as that then has a huge multiplier effect even if it may lead to larger overheads on some occasions. They also ask what we thought Chinese workers were doing before they worked in sweatshops? This is, of course, not to justify appalling labour conditions but to point out that these workers, particularly women, weren’t having a terrific time back on the farm. Again and again they point to examples of the benefits of investing in women’s and how that money goes back into the family and, in particular, education. So, anyhow, in our bookclub, we decided to go off to one of the recommended websites and fund a female entrepreneur. We haven’t actually organised ourselves to do so yet so this is something of a mental bookmark.
“Skulduggery Pleasant Book 5 Mortal Coil” by Derek Landy
Skeleton dectective and sidekick. Book for teenagers set in Dublin. Very good. Yes, your point?
“The Hunger Games” (All three volumes) by Suzanne Collins
Tightly plotted and competently, if not brilliantly, written. Very moreish. Did you know that I had a weakness for teenage science fiction? Well, you do now.
“Unseen Academicals” by Terry Pratchett
Not a classic perhaps but a perfectly acceptable volume of adventures in Ankh-Morpork. Makes soccer palatable.
Written in the stars
Daniel: Mummy are we vegetarians?
Me: No, sweetie we eat meat.
Daniel: No, no, veg-et-tar-ians.
Me (moment of inspiration): Sagittarius?
Daniel: Yes!
Me: No.
Cooking with Children
The other day I made ginger nuts with the children. This is a very easy and, hitherto, failsafe recipe.
Because our kitchen is somewhat smaller than your kitchen table, I brought the bowls and ingredients into the other room and sat the children around the table to weigh them out. I left Daniel creaming in the butter while I went into the kitchen to get the golden syrup.
The texture was a bit odd when I added the golden syrup but I chucked the biscuits into the oven happily enough. That evening when my brother came around, I offered him one, “Are they undercooked or something?” he asked. I tried one myself, they were utterly vile.
Close cross-questioning of the children revealed that Daniel had eaten the butter.
Pressing Matters
On Saturday, I went to see number 10, Henrietta Street as part of the Open House weekend where all sorts of places are thrown open to the public. Number 10 is a beautiful former townhouse which has been a convent since the start of the 20th century. It was restored in 2003 and an architect involved in the restoration gave a fantastic tour.
I have fallen in love with Henrietta Street and want to live there. It is quite beautiful to look at with the King’s Inns forming the end of the street and very large early Georgian houses on either side. The area is very urban and edgy (what some people might call rough and dangerous) and the houses are beautiful, listed, huge and, in many cases derelict. As recently as 1974 they were tenements with 36 families living in one of the houses. Hassett and Fitzsimons has one for sale with the fantastically engaging description “unique refurbishment opportunity”. €1.85 million before you have at all begun your unique refurbishing. When I told Mr. Waffle all this with shining eyes on my return, he started to bang his head against the fridge. I suppose my only hope of moving there is either a) win the lottery or b) become a nun.
During the week my brother brought us up an enormous quantity of apples from my parents’ house in Cork. We took ourselves off to West Wicklow on Sunday morning where a look branch of the slow food movement were making an apple pressing machine available to those with plentiful apple crops. This was terrific. There were lots of children to play together while the grown ups made apple juice. Those attending ranged from bohemian couples with children with unlikely names to elderly protestant ladies. Although we were a bit outside the general demographic, it was great fun and I am contemplating shelling out some of my income to be notified of future events where I will be able to overhear more conversations along the lines of “I knew, just by looking at them that your children had to be homeschooled…” and “Have you met …, she’s a herbalist.” Also the Princess made a friend. They discovered that they were both from Dublin and arranged to meet at the Spire. I knew she had met a soulmate when the new friend said to her father, “Daddy, I am meeting my new friend at the Spire, when would be an appropriate time for us to meet.” [Emphasis added] To her great chagrin, her father replied “In about 6 years.”
Architecture 101
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