January 04, 2009
Poetry 1
How long ago Hector took off his plume,
Not wanting that his little son should cry,
Then kissed his sad Andromache goodbye &ndash
And now we three in Euston waiting-room.
Posted by matt at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2009
Bailiwick
First activity of the year, then -- other than the travesty of NYE itself, which I may relate at some point when I am no longer fuming about it -- has been visiting Ian's sister and her family in Guernsey. The defining characteristics of this event, which continues until tomorrow night, have so far been (i) the yelling and screaming of small children, and (ii) the general fucking freezingness of the wretched place. I'm not, frankly, expecting either thing to change significantly before we go.
I don't understand why the island should seem so much colder than it really is -- the pond in the park is free of ice, for example, so I presume we're above zero -- perhaps it's the humidity and/or the breeze from the sea -- but it really is bitter. Multiple fleeces, a heavy coat, scarf, hat and gloves seem powerless to keep the chill at bay. Guernsey itself is picturesque in a slightly twee way, but the conditions aren't ideal to appreciate it.
As for the screaming, the kids are probably not that badly behaved by objective standards, but the twins are at a difficult age and together with their elder brother constitute quite a handful. As ever, I am reminded what a luxury it is to be able to enjoy brief visits with other people's children and then get the fuck away. Raising one's own and being stuck with the bastards for good is just my idea of hell.
Posted by matt at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)
January 01, 2009
Revival
Well, here we are again. After five months of idling in the form of wt2 I'm feeling the urge to get things back on a bloggier footing around here. Perhaps it is just a passing year-turn fancy, but I find I've missed having somewhere to rant and ramble in that familiar way. So let's start with a nice simple:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And then see where we get to from there...
Posted by matt at 05:03 PM | Comments (3)