Small things I am happy that a friend has planted mint underneath her garden tap in the middle of California. I love chatting on Skype with my cousin; we are serious and silly in perfect proportions. I can review my VAT records without grunting or swearing. My first Saturday afternoon sleep in ages felt decadent and... Continue Reading →
A bowl of cherries
Or, in my case, as I write, a bowl of dried figs, removed from the freezer and cut in half to facilitate chomping. I am definitely a proponent of the "no crumbs in my keyboard" philosophy which fellow translator Emma Goldsmith introduced in the recent video discussion while being interviewed by fellow translator and agency... 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 →
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 →
Savage talk and TED
Yay! Today is Savage Chickens day! In tribute to this excellent cartoonist who manages to fit drawings and words onto a yellow Post-it®, I slavishly follow Doug Savage's copyright rules which state that as one of the other 7 billion-odd people in the world, I am permitted to copy one of his images every thirty days. How wonderful it... Continue Reading →
Living in the now
Yay! Today is Savage Chickens day - in my world, anyway. In tribute to this excellent cartoonist who manages to fit drawings and words onto a yellow Post-it®, I slavishly follow Doug Savage's copyright rules which state that as one of the other 7 billion-odd people in the world, I am permitted to copy one... Continue Reading →
Scrabs
Scrabs is not in the dictionary. That is what the Scrabble® (excluding U.S. and Canada) application on Facebook will tell you. I say Scrabs simply to avoid inserting the registered trademark symbol every time I type it. It's a cheap shot, I know. I like playing online. It beats playing on one's own! I play... Continue Reading →
Simon, Garfunkel and Yoda
It all started when a fellow translator posted an image of Yoda, of Star Wars fame, on her Facebook wall. The speech balloon said, "OOYL", which, of course, is short for "Only once, you live". Despite obvious pronunciation difficulties, I prefer Yoda's rendition to the now ubiquitous YOLO. "My favourite, he is", I commented. "Ha!",... Continue Reading →
That elusive pair of jeans 