Stray thoughts, tamed.
Given the recent punishing work schedule I imposed on myself, I may be forgiven for thinking that I was hallucinating, but this e-mail actually did arrive in my spam folder. I appreciate that it is very difficult to achieve perfection of expression in one's own language, let alone a second one. I am not knocking... Continue Reading →
51 is the number of years of marriage my parents celebrated today. I skyped the happy couple in Australia from Portugal. Full of the joys of spring, they are. 5,000 is the number that ticked over on the counter today, which tells me how many visits there have been to this blog since I migrated... Continue Reading →
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 →
The BETA version of the Vine to Wine Circle portal was launched today. This portal contains the entire contents of the Vine Atlas of Spain and Portugal as translated from the German in 2011, plus a substantial amount of additional material translated last year from the Portuguese. Click on the logo below to go to... Continue Reading →
just shut up.. Well, here's a good example of an informal style, yet a well-structured article, and an incredibly coherent argument maintained throughout which gets its message across. Have the stamina to read it. You will be so glad you did! Allison
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 →
No, no, no. I am not falling for this Writing Challenge: New Year's Resolutions (Doomapocalypse Redux). There will be no bucket list for 2013 here, although obviously I have got goals not achieved carried forward from 2012, and some entirely new ones I have recently thought up. I do not care about the apocalypse, whether it... Continue Reading →
I now regret just a little the conversation held with the women at our local garage on the morning of the 24th. It was fun, actually. The convenience store where you pay for fuel has what all good Portuguese establishments have: a coffee machine. I paid for €15 petrol, bought cigarettes, and one or two... Continue Reading →
I have just done the rounds of the international TV news channels at the end of Christmas Day. In the process, I have been subjected to at least twenty similar, but different, definitions of what Christmas is all about, all of which gave me indigestion without eating anything. I'll cut to the chase, then. Christmas,... Continue Reading →
That elusive pair of jeans 