2009 — 23 November: Monday
Monday again? Good heavens... Tonight's picture of Christa is one of the set taken of her by Brynja back in August 2006, three months before I finished at IBM:
She and I were both looking forward to that :-)
I've just spent a couple of hours watching a BFI DVD of a series of short films from what used to be known as the "GPO", starting with the famous 1936 film "Night Mail" and ending with a 1986 update of it that was made for Channel 4 by TVS — remember them? Absolutely fascinating; lovely glimpses of an apparently simpler, vanished world — exactly the sort of stuff Christa and I enjoyed watching at the Harbour Lights cinema down in Ocean Village.
Oh well, there's a fresh batch of plums stewed (with added blackcurrants, yum) and the next batch of crockpot ingredients all ready to set a'stewing in a few hours. (I've been studying the "slow cooker" book that Mike gave me for my birthday. It's a versatile system, I have to say.) Then I have a lunch date with Len. So first, time (00:44) for some sleep. G'night.
A fine...
... rainy start to the day. How nice is that? Now, about that crockpot. Whip crack away, David. Only then should I finish reading the 36 arguments (and flaws) here. Otherwise, no nice hot evening meal tonight. But I like the sound of Spinoza's God!
Now I can listen to the words of Mollie Panter-Downes (a sort of inverse Alistair Cooke) from David Kynaston's "Family Britain", or read Professor Barash once again. Easy choice. Listen with an ear, read with an eye. Source and snippet:
Right-wing pro-marriage advocates are correct: Monogamy is definitely under siege. But not from uncloseted polyamorists, adolescent "hook-up" advocates, radical feminists, Godless communists or some vast homosexual conspiracy. The culprit is our own biology...
For some, findings of this sort may mitigate a bit of the outrage visited on the current and future crop of adulterers du jour, recently including but assuredly not limited to Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford, John Ensign and John Edwards. For others, it simply shows that men are clueless, irresponsible oafs. The scientific realty [sic], however, is more nuanced, and more interesting, especially for those looking to their own matrimonial future.
It's taken a while (10:50) but a bright shiny thing up in the sky is almost putting in an appearance, and it's no longer actually raining. Good.
Update is as update does...
While I (somewhat) sympathise with the author...
I've lost count of the times my machine's desire to keep up with the latest fashions in software patches has prevented me doing what I want do with it, either by slowing everything down to the speed of glue, or by simply switching itself off for whatever is the silicon equivalent of a Kit Kat. I don't even know why I call it "my" computer anymore.
... not many of the people leaving comments did. It's amazing what we can get used to, I guess.
Lunch is now a fading pleasant memory and the rain has been intermittently bucketing down yet again. No-soggy-vember. Still, at least my latest batch of viewing has found its way through my venetian blinds, not too soggily, though none too speedily either:
Oops. Time to switch away from the "Archers". Then, before I know it, it's now 16:30 and very nearly dark out there. I suspect it's pretty cool too, as I've not felt the faintest urge this afternoon to take off my sweater. Or perhaps I've left a window open — my son accuses me of never shutting any windows.
What (pray tell) is a convicted murderess doing serving her time in an "open" prison? (Source.)
I am working on...
... a cunning plan, while the crockpot chills down. Mostly because I am frankly getting fed up with seemingly endless house contents tidying, sorting, sifting, assessing, and (occasionally) managing to do some chucking of the "out" sort. So far, said plan involves relocating1 and replumbing the desktop HP MPC (as opposed to the mini-sized one that's now my Linux box), going out for tea or lunch with my main co-pilot tomorrow, going for a mud-dodging walk with Mike on Wednesday unless the rain is too atrocious, going out for lunch with Graham B on Thursday for a dash of "catch-up", and ditto with Iris on Friday, in two venues new to me.
How's that for a plan? After all, I'm retired you know!