A few days ago, we had an unusual guest while having lunch on the balcony. A robin perched right next to us with insect legs dangling from its bill, and watched us without moving for a while. I didn't move, either (I was sitting under the jasmine, next to the wall), and so we just faced each other for a few minutes. Eventually, it swallowed its ( Read more... )

Once upon a time there was a king who had been blessed with seven sons, one for each year of marriage. His wife was pregnant again, and his happiness could not have been greater. Eight sons! Soon, eight young men to send out as ambassadors, to go to war for him, marry princesses from distant kingdoms… The king liked to entertain visions of their ( Read more... )

On the bus, in mid-afternoon, two men in their early twenties:

'A hundred thousand? Man, it won't last. You have that money in your pocket, you spend it, that's just how it works. It's not so much. I knew this guy, he ended up with two hundred thousand, they were gone in a month. Partying, cars... You just have to spend it.' (don't know if they were ( Read more... )

Snow on Saturday, the sort that occurs here once in a decade: enough to cover stray bits of grass, blanket roads and blur vision. A whole morning of it, falling thick and fast. The usual dark green, bright blue and white of the countryside turned to pale blues and greys, with orange-yellow leaves from white oaks poking through, and the dark criss- ( Read more... )

I wasn't familiar with Thomas Adès's opera The Exterminating Angel, based on Luis Bunuel's film of the same name. Now I am, thanks to a live broadcast in our local cinema of a representation at the Met. Let's just say it was... educational.

I have no idea whether this is a good work or not. I know nothing about contemporary opera, save for the fact ( Read more... )

Just because I feel like it...

I remember you, Amanda,
In the street after the rain
Running towards the factory where Manuel worked
The grin on your face
The rain in your hair
And nothing else mattered
Now you could be with him a little
With him
Just for five minutes
Life is eternal in just five minutes
Here comes the siren
They are back to work
( Read more... )

Tuesdays are interesting this year. Six hours of teaching in a row (in two-hour sessions, no less) are something you approach with caution. Especially when your students are the enthusiastic-but-rambunctious variety. I am now home between my cat and a cup of tea; I've just considered sitting at the piano and singing a little, before my vocal folds ( Read more... )

A now-familiar sight in front of the train station: volunteers hand out foodstuffs to a crowd, queuing in the morning chill on Saturday mornings, on the square between the stairs leading to the station and the walls of my school. On week days, it's people coming out of the bus, dressed for work, getting started with their day as the sun finishes to ( Read more... )

I often wear skirts, including in winter, and so far I've been unable to find tights that lasted longer than a few weeks. Having to buy a few new pairs of tights every winter is aggravating enough, but what really bothers me is what to do with the old, worn-out ones. I try to make them last as long as I can, using nail polish to keeptiny holes from ( Read more... )

Last week I unexpectedly ended up live translating an interview with a contemporary author at my local bookshop. The talks were quite fascinating; Anna Hope has a great way of talking about her books and inspirations, and it was lovely to have her family in the audience chiming in with extra details every now and then. For a first-ever experience ( Read more... )