I don't think I can properly express how deeply I fell in love with Rachel Cusk's The Country Life. I always finish truly great novels melodramatically -- with a lot of tears and a despairing "how will I ever read again?" I finished this one as I finished The Amber Spyglass and The Night Watch, by sobbing for a while. I knew I had to make dinner, ( Read more... )

This just in:

Andy and I are engaged!

It's twilight here now, which to me is the very best part of the day to be outside and to think. I'm not outside, unfortunately, but I'm sitting in the downstairs bedroom with the window open into the garden, and that's almost as good ( Read more... )

Sometimes I think our awful singing gets out of hand. Can one of us say anything at all without the other one responding with an altered song? I'm not sure if it's worse to do it in conversation or just spontaneously. Going to the bath tonight, I couldn't stop myself from pestering Andy with a rendition of Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again (To The Bath ( Read more... )

So I'm watching the US Open in the complex's gym while walking on the treadmill, and I've got the place all to myself. Eventually I decide that they aren't going to show more highlights of Agassi or any new matches, so I begin to wind down, slowing my pace. About a minute and a half from the end of the program, a young woman waltzes right in and ( Read more... )

Airlines announced that they're allowing passengers to change their reservations free of charge, so Andy and I called Continental this morning and switched to a flight on Friday. He was going to leave tomorrow and I was going to leave Wednesday, but now we leave together, which should make the experience more tolerable. I think I would describe my ( Read more... )

Andy and I had a marvelous time at the Bolshoi's performance of Cinderella. I hadn't expected the production to be so innovative and clever, so stylish and delightful. As opposed to a traditional fairy tale theme, it veered in the direction of Le Petit Prince and early 20th-century glamour. It began with the storyteller sitting on top of a little ( Read more... )

For our anniversary yesterday, Andy and I had wine, dinner, and dessert at Tas Ev in Southwark. The restaurant was quiet and the Turkish food was splendid. Afterwards we walked to the South Bank, to the new cafe/bar behind the Royal Festival Hall. We each ordered a mojito and sat outside. I think we made a bit of a scene when Andy began talking ( Read more... )

A middle-aged man boarded the District Line this morning at Earl's Court, sat down a few seats away from me, and began yelling. "You fucking English, I'm sick of you all. You always complain about everything, always whining. You fucking bloody English, all of you, all of you! I can't take it anymore. This country! You don't even help an old lady ( Read more... )

Today on the tube: broken trains, a landslide, and a lightning strike. And where? On the only three lines we use to get to and from work. Bob is over an hour late already. I should feel fortunate that it only took me 90 minutes.

The lightning struck at the stop next to Kew Gardens station, where the NA is. A landslide and a lightning strike. Wow.