Some people complain on Facebook about how their housemates do not clean the bathroom. One friend describes it in such graphic detail that I am compelled to remark that what she probably needs to remedy the situation is a soapy hot-water pressure hose. We are playing. We are joshing with each other. She replies that... Continue Reading →
Mushrooms, unicorns and little green apples
Who knew that mushroom caps could be depressed? Well, if you did, then you will have no trouble at all acknowledging that grapevine leaves can be blistered. That was a shameless plug for the ample ampelography section of the Vine to Wine Circle, the most fascinating part of which for me was the morphology of... Continue Reading →
Zombified
Having given this piece the title "Zombified", I was compelled to check my suspicions about the etymology of the suffix of this word. I thought it must come from the latin facere - to do, or make. So, "zombified" signifies (to me, anyway) "made into a zombie", or "made like a zombie". Even though my... Continue Reading →
It was the marshmallows wot did it
My earliest memory of surreptitiously satisfying my sweet tooth relates to my six-year-old self climbing onto the kitchen counter to gain access to a big round biscuit tin about four inches deep placed on top of the fridge by my mother. That in itself was supposed to be a secret place but, as you know,... Continue Reading →
Sanity in the balance
I thought it was time for some passive appreciation, so headed off to see what the lovely Savage Chickens had been up to. It is precisely because it is such defining moment in Macbeth, where Shakespeare so deftly portrays someone slipping over the edge into the realms of insanity - and consciously so - that... Continue Reading →
Beethoven’s Fifth
I have been most remiss in sharing my monthly indulgence in Doug Savage's delightful Savage Chickens. You may contend that there is more to life than chickens, savage or otherwise. And you would be quite right. With all the recent furore over horses galloping into ready-made lasagna, I thought it best to keep my head... Continue Reading →
Tablets and birthday cards
After we had had coffee at the café nearby, a friend came to my apartment for the first time yesterday in what has been a series of serendipitous encounters. I had worked rapidly all morning to meet her at lunchtime. Just before I left I was frantically trying to find some itsy-bitsy little thing which falls... Continue Reading →
A messy business
We like nonsense rhymes precisely because they make no sense. They allow the rhymer lee-way to exercise (in this case) his wit. They allow listeners to hold their breath in anticipation of the next amusing thing. The first few lines of Edward Lear's The Owl and the Pussy Cat are a case in point: The Owl... Continue Reading →
The greatest gift
As a teenager I had a friend whose entire sex education talk received from her father (since her mother preferred to give the impression that she never engaged in such nonsense) encompassed one sentence: Sex is God's greatest gift to man (sic), and the most abused. It dawned on me shortly thereafter that all gifts... Continue Reading →
Savage day!
I love the ambivalence elicited in me when I saw today's cartoon from Savage Chickens. Yes, excellent resolution to adopt! Notice favourite chicken's speed of execution. Notice how clean chicken's desk is, having scarpered off good and proper. Can I really pull a stunt like this off?Can you? I may have to schedule a couple... Continue Reading →
That elusive pair of jeans 