I happily unpacked my new box of Jean Renoir Dvds. Roy, suspiciously, "What have you bought now?" Me, "When I was an undergraduate at Somerville, late one night, after studying, I went alone to the Phoenix at Walton Street, and saw Jean … [Continue reading]
The Style of Philip Roth
When Roth "talks about getting a story right he does so, like any craftsman, with a practical understanding of the materials he uses and the techniques needed to get the job done. In The Ghost Writer, the ageing writer, EI Lonoff, tells 23-year-old … [Continue reading]
Our Judgement “Binds” People to Act in the Scripts Developed by our Low Opinion of Them
I've had a cleaner since early 2008, a cheerful African woman, older than me, bossy, a Christian. However, I always feel she is criticizing my house-keeping (hey, which leaves MUCH to be desired). Increasingly less so, but still critical words and … [Continue reading]
Domestic Salvation–Cleaning Ladies and housekeepers
As my old Zimbabawean cleaner got too old, and too busy for the rigours of cleaning our busy household and keeping it going, she passed on her Kenyan friend Grace to us. After several years of an African cleaner , I have learned how to work with … [Continue reading]
In No Strange Land by Francis Thompson
In No Strange Land … [Continue reading]
Kenneth Clarke’s Civilization: On the Irish Mystics that Preached to Seals
A totally blessed, lazy day. Church, G and D's ice-cream for lunch, a nap, reading, blogging, a good dinner I didn't cook, and Kenneth Clarke's brilliant "Civilization" on DVD. The Irish hermits preached to seals, he said. Hey, I could be a mystic … [Continue reading]
Irene and the Oxford High School Fete
Irene and friends ran an eccentric stall at the school fete yesterday that only could have been thought of by Irene-- & it was! Irene is still on a high after all the wild and wacky games she devised for her school fete stall worked. Retrieve … [Continue reading]
Birdsong and Tagore
I lay in bed this morning listening to an absolutely beautiful and rhapsodic chorus of birdsong. And thought how God is just, how his best gifts are given freely to rich and poor, clever and challenged, talented and not-so-talented alike. I … [Continue reading]
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