Intermission

Me to X: "I think that I deserve extra time because it has taken me so long to work out what it's all about."
X - (who is about half my age): "That doesn't augur well for my lifespan then, does it?"

Being Equal

I don't quite know what people mean when they say that women and men are equal. It seems to imply that they are the same. 2=2. When they then proceed to talk about a female perspective, though, it suggests a difference, at odds with the word "equal".

Perhaps they mean that they are of equal value, or have equal rights.
I am unsure about the concept of human rights - these seem more to be gifts that people in a particular society give to each other, rather than an innate consequence of being human. But, if humans do have rights, a fundamental one in my value system is the right of women to raise their own children.

Of course, this right is rapidly disappearing in our society. Young women don't have a right to work: generally,they have an obligation to work.

I can see that I am not of equal value compared to, say, Marie Curie. Hillary Clinton yes, Marie Curie, no.

Restaurant Tofu

is how the restaurant critic Matthew Evans describes himself: absorbing all the tastes, smells, flavours and ambience of restaurants.
He explains how, although he may particularly dislike a certain food or dish, he has to be able to know what it should taste like, and discern the quality of the ingredients, flavours, cooking, and as, DG said, whether the chef has added something special to it or not. And then praise it or not, accordingly.

This seems to me to be analogous to what a literary critic or lecturer has to do.
Fortunately, I am not in those positions, so I can romp around among what gives me pleasure.

Alan Bradley

quotes Seneca.
"Hang on to your youthful enthusiasms. You'll be able to use them better when you are older."

Blog Block

Evidently January has been the month for this for many bloggers.

I have wallowed in reading. In the last two weeks I read:
As many Agatha Raisin or Hamish Mcbeth as I could get my hands on...short, light, amusing detective stories...(why are these called "mysteries"?)
Two by Ann Granger - but I won't be looking for more.
At Some Disputed Barricade - Anne Perry. Excellent.
Never Order Chicken on a Monday - Matthew Evans. Light and enjoyable
All Our Worldly Good - Irene Nemirovsky...will definitely read more.
Women of the Beat Generation - bits of, satisfies curiosity; fills in blanks from the autobio of Caralyn Cassady
Winter Close - Hugh Mackay. Engaging, with interesting insights.

Tuvalu - Andrew O'Connor
Smoke in the Room - Emily Maguire
These two, being about young people and contemporary young culture had limited interest for me.
I began "Deaf Sentence" byDavid Lodge. Excellent writing, but the story seemed to suggest that the protagonist was innocently being drawn into a disastrous situation, so I declined to read further. I will look for others by him.

Papaver

Oriental, opium, Iceland, Californian ....vivid, glowing, gay*. I don't wish to be a poppy chopper, but my post on "The Slap"suggests such. I blame it on the over the top back-cover hype: one can only react, "Well, it's not that good."
Poppies are not perennials in much of Australia.

*I am campaigning to reclaim this joyous word.