Posts

But what do you do....?

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  Being  rather introvert and reclusive, I try occasionally to push myself out of my comfort zone and actually go where I have to mix with and talk with real people. This not only involves getting out of my comfort zone, but also an effort of personal grooming that somehow seems to have eluded me increasingly  during the last 2 years. In a previous post I already outlined that leggings are the work of Satan, but having to actually brush my hair, get my face into some semblance of a healthy and functioning human being, and putting an outfit together that doesn't involve slippers or baggy denim shirts seems to be a skill that eludes me most days. Anyway, occasionally it's worth it. However, what is becoming increasingly noticeable is that, once I bring into the conversation that I am retired, I am met with a facial expression that ranges from envy to puzzlement, usually accompanied by the question "so what do you do with your time?". My initial reaction is "oh I kn

Of time, marker events and arriving at work on a lilo

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"Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once" -  ( attributed to either Mark Twain or Einstein but neither are well supported). As I slip easily into my 6th month of retirement I have found myself spending far too much "time"  thinking about time as a concept. My days are currently a mix of  time dragging (not helped by current lock down for COVID19),  time standing still - engaging in activities/occupations that enable me to lose all track of time and  time speeding by - not having segments imposed by other's timetables (teaching, meetings, meal times, getting up and going to bed etc means I have very few marker events in a day).  Therefore I'm finding that measuring time in retirement becomes a little different. Exploring further I fell down the rabbit hole on the space/time continuum. From The Big Bang to the Big Crunch theories. Einstein once stated that time is an illusion made up of human memories and that in fact everything does happen al

Of tall tales, strange characters and stirring up your bookshelves

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 I have always been fascinated by the notion that characters in books can mix with each other across stories and across bookshelves on certain nights of the year. No idea where that came from - it may even have been something I made up as a child (always had heaps of imagination, plenty of day dreams and a good dose of "fey"). In fact, 36 years ago (!!!!) I wrote a pantomime - helped by 2 of my colleagues and friends at that time - John McCran - who sadly is no longer with us, and Tony Hadley - not _the_ Tony Hadley, but a Welsh physio. The basic plotline was mine, John and Tony helped with details and with the script - which I seem to remember having to censor on many, _many_  occasions. The plot line followed something like this: 7 years after the Snow White/Prince Charming happily ever after and the 7 year itch was beginning to show cracks in the marriage. The wicked queen had heard that the Holy Grail can give immortal youth and beauty and she wanted some of that, so she

Of Christmas, rabbit holes and the Christmas Pickle

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Recently my niece expressed a wish to return to the more traditional focus of Christmas. But what might that mean? One that is not driven by commercialism, or by excess? Looking back at some of the previous eras, these excesses are very much tradition. The Elizabethans and the Georgians certainly celebrated to excess, the Victorians with the advent of mechanisation brought mass production and Dickens created a Christmas that we all still aspire to today that can often be fraught with false expectation of family unity, charity and repleteness – and not to mention snow!  We often glibly state that we know Christmas was pieced together from Celtic, pagan and other global traditions. Here in England we kind of know that it has “roots” in celtic/druid lore, possibly Saturnalia (Roman Times) and that Christianity took some of the tradition and amalgamated into their own celebrations and then Dickens came along during the Victorian era and re-invented the season.   But this is not necessaril

Of challenges, comfort reading and realisations...

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  Recently my brother set me a challenge. Sending me the article by Neil Gaiman  where he offers 5 comfort reads to turn to in difficult times. My brother challenged me for my 5. Easy peasy methinks - I'm an avid reader, have loads of books - how hard can it be??  Hmmm - not so. It would seem that I rarely read "one off" books preferring to be in it for the long haul with trilogies, or even more, in a series. I hadn't ever considered this - but clearly I want to really get to grips with the characters and their worlds and one book often won't often do this for me. I have of course read many of the "classics" - Austen, Dickens, Hardy, Brontes but would I offer any of these as a comfort read? As a book I go back to again and again for comfort in difficult times?  I would also not be offering a complete picture if I didn't admit to reading "chick-lit" especially the paperbacks sold at supermarkets with a Christmas theme on the cover - but agai

Of Freedom, Dame Maggie and knowing that leggings are the work of Satan

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  This week marks the one month anniversary since I retired - it feels both possible and impossible that one month has passed.  Lesson #1: I may be turning into Dame Maggie I am learning that I don't have to do everything all at once, I am definitely slowing my pace - which is a good thing. The days blend into one and I find I'm doing  the Senior Moment narrative of "what day is it"? From looking at a calendar/diary eleventy-two times a day to ensure I was where I should be at any given moment, I now find I forget to look and have had a couple of near misses with family birthdays - but caught them just in time- phew! I find I am becoming a bit Dame Maggie in Downton Abbey - "what is a weekend?" https://youtu.be/zhfpBW-nUWk Lesson #2: Once an OT always an OT/Never too old to learn new skills  I thought I would be a "lady who lunches" that I would be spending time visiting family in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Fra

24 films to watch during Advent

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  Here is my list of 24 films to watch during advent.... I make no apologies for any cheesy, classic or non christmassy entries.  I have linked trailers on You tube and where available the whole movie. However, things can change with copyright and posting on you tube so these may not always be available. The links all work at the time of writing. I would love to see your list - feel free to add in the comments below:                                         The Holiday                     https://youtu.be/BDi5zH18vxU  Home Alone                   https://youtu.be/jEDaVHmw7r4   Full movie:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3-QBAqTql0                               Holiday Inn https://youtu.be/dcU0o7N2vig                           Jingle all the Way https://youtu.be/jhJYMEzQA-Q                              Scrooge https://youtu.be/VZ3lr3urgDU             Die Hard https://youtu.be/jaJuwKCmJbY                         The Santa Clause https://youtu.be/Bx8FX7etF_8                      The Sn