So much has happened in the last few weeks!
My first baby time (for at-risk mothers!)
My first round of booktalking (summer reading program!)
First roomate (a good friend and no more living/drinking alone! Kidding!)
First funky old apartment (as opposed to simply old/ugly/neutral).
First time having an ocean view from my BED (small glimpse of water).
True love.
Oh yes, and my first webcam! The last two go hand in hand. Don't get the wrong idea.
Amidst all this happy fuss, I needed to unwind with something, familiar - I tend to revisit authors when there's too much going on. I laughed my way through Sue Townsend's Number 10 Downing Street a few years ago...I do love British humour, but particularly when entwined with news headlines, which she does perfectly! I recall reading about the life of the adult Adrian Mole, a somewhat pathetic anal man whose life is constantly spiraling out of control ... As a woman who in the last few weeks managed to break a toe jumping a fence in the middle of the night, and who also recently fell up a unmoving escalator, and who upon moving managed to forward my mail to the wrong address...I identify, slightly. The last little while I have enjoyed reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole.
Old classics dating back to the early eighties, they never failed to produce an uproar with the older classes as I booktalked and read excerpts. Two teachers muttered in disgust afterwards that they had hoped to learn about brand new materials at the booktalks. WELL. I was in clear listening distance. Let's clarify that the books were a hit. I had kids coming up afterwards to try and take them away. These teachers just wanted a shortcut for selecting read aloud materials. I was a teacher, been there, done that. But lets not forget that good literature transcends time and is new for each generation. Shall we toss Peter Rabbit? Gosh, I was a toddler when Sue Townsend wrote these books. Ah well, I leave you with some pleasing excerpts from the Growing Pains of Adrian Mole.
Sunday October 24th
The dog went bezerk and ripped the Sunday papers up today. It had no explanation for its bizarre behavior.
The hall was covered with pieces of newsprint saying "Ken Livingstone today defended" ... "Falklands upkeep rockets to 700 million" ... "Israeli soldiers watched helpless as" ... "trouser zips enquiry" ... "Fireman will accept 7 1/2 % but mood is explosive"...
I swept up the pieces and put them in the dustbin and put the lid on the outside world.
Wednesday November 10th
My mother has gone mad cleaning the house from top to bottom. She has taken all the curtains and nets down. Now anybody passing in the street can look in and see our most intimate moments.
I was examining my spots in the living-room mirror tonight, when O'Leary shouted from the street: "There's a fine pimple on the back of your neck, don't miss that boy."
It's taken me fifteen years to appreciate the part that curtains have played in civilized English life.
Monday June 7th
My mother
Clair Neilson's cat
Mitzi
What have the above all got in common?
The fact that they are all expecting babies, kittens or puppies. The fecundity of this suburb is just amazing. You can't walk down the street without bumping into pregnant women and it has all happened since the council put flouride in the water.
By the way, there are actually Adrian Mole computer games (old school!) hence today's graphic!
True love.
Oh yes, and my first webcam! The last two go hand in hand. Don't get the wrong idea.
Amidst all this happy fuss, I needed to unwind with something, familiar - I tend to revisit authors when there's too much going on. I laughed my way through Sue Townsend's Number 10 Downing Street a few years ago...I do love British humour, but particularly when entwined with news headlines, which she does perfectly! I recall reading about the life of the adult Adrian Mole, a somewhat pathetic anal man whose life is constantly spiraling out of control ... As a woman who in the last few weeks managed to break a toe jumping a fence in the middle of the night, and who also recently fell up a unmoving escalator, and who upon moving managed to forward my mail to the wrong address...I identify, slightly. The last little while I have enjoyed reading The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole.
Old classics dating back to the early eighties, they never failed to produce an uproar with the older classes as I booktalked and read excerpts. Two teachers muttered in disgust afterwards that they had hoped to learn about brand new materials at the booktalks. WELL. I was in clear listening distance. Let's clarify that the books were a hit. I had kids coming up afterwards to try and take them away. These teachers just wanted a shortcut for selecting read aloud materials. I was a teacher, been there, done that. But lets not forget that good literature transcends time and is new for each generation. Shall we toss Peter Rabbit? Gosh, I was a toddler when Sue Townsend wrote these books. Ah well, I leave you with some pleasing excerpts from the Growing Pains of Adrian Mole.
Sunday October 24th
The dog went bezerk and ripped the Sunday papers up today. It had no explanation for its bizarre behavior.
The hall was covered with pieces of newsprint saying "Ken Livingstone today defended" ... "Falklands upkeep rockets to 700 million" ... "Israeli soldiers watched helpless as" ... "trouser zips enquiry" ... "Fireman will accept 7 1/2 % but mood is explosive"...
I swept up the pieces and put them in the dustbin and put the lid on the outside world.
Wednesday November 10th
My mother has gone mad cleaning the house from top to bottom. She has taken all the curtains and nets down. Now anybody passing in the street can look in and see our most intimate moments.
I was examining my spots in the living-room mirror tonight, when O'Leary shouted from the street: "There's a fine pimple on the back of your neck, don't miss that boy."
It's taken me fifteen years to appreciate the part that curtains have played in civilized English life.
Monday June 7th
My mother
Clair Neilson's cat
Mitzi
What have the above all got in common?
The fact that they are all expecting babies, kittens or puppies. The fecundity of this suburb is just amazing. You can't walk down the street without bumping into pregnant women and it has all happened since the council put flouride in the water.
By the way, there are actually Adrian Mole computer games (old school!) hence today's graphic!
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