Lazy, lazy, lazy... and a birthday!
First things first:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY dwarfy_drm - I wish you a wonderful new year in your life! :-)
These last days I've been very busy doing - nothing. Not a thing. Nothing at all. I've cultivated the art of laziness to a degree I never thought possible. An invitation for dinner aside, it was watching telly and DVDs, marathon-cuddling the cats, vegging out on the sofa and reading. By now, I've probably seen "Love, actually" fifty times (why was I never allowed to play a lobster at my school's nativity play? I was doomed to be an angel. I don't get it.); then there was the new Wallace and Grommit (first time I liked a poodle), the Doctor Who special (no sci-fi show without its own Borg Queen!), Nicholas Nickleby (tuned in, realised it's not the James D'Arcy version, watched the DVD instead), and and and.
I finished the TVthon yesterday with "Commrade Don Camillo" (in Italian), and was surprised how much I really understood. I also cringed when I realised how much Giovanni Guareschi's writing (He Who Created Don Camillo and Peppone) influenced my own style when it comes to dialogue. It's sort of confusing to find similarities between the speech patterns of a communist mayor in 1950s/60s Italy and a lieutenant of the Royal Navy in the 18th century...!
I've also been showered by presents, and I'd really like to thank all of you for your amazing gifts. The list of "books to review" has now reached the length of the Gotthard tunnel!
kiera_the_thief and SO sent me "Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775 - 1815" by Nathan Miller. Can't wait to start with that one! I'm now also proud owner of "The Royal Navy Officer's Pcoket-Book - 1944" - great for comparison. Leafing through it I can already tell that things haven't changed all that much in 200 years...! Whee!
alex_beecroft is responsible for future experimental cookery in this household. She sent me "Lobscouse & Spotted Dog" by Anne Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman Thomas. A gastronomic companion to the Aubrey/Maturin novels - huh boy, I can't wait to try some of these meals! I so know who'll get steamed boar! Amazing, thanks so much!
I also got a book about nautical instruments (in German) which I found to be extremely helpful. I will need a dictionary of sorts to translate the specific terms, but it's a big help to have a guide which tells me what thingy was used for what purpose. I'm a hopeless landlubber! Then I've been given "Tim and the Picaros" (Tintin et Milou), the one Tim-book I've lost, which is one of my favourite ones. I find the portrayal of a coup in some fictional South American banana republic absolutely hilarious and spot on. Last but not least, I'm now the proud owner of "Gallow Speeches from Eighteenth-century Ireland" by James Kelly. Looks like somebody wants to see one of my characters getting hanged in style and leave with a little speech! Well, it can be done. ;-)
In other words: I've been spoiled rotten! Thanks so much, everybody! And - jaiden_s ? I think the whereabouts of your card (and the cards of other people) has been found. For whatever reasons, the postman put some of the mail, including a small parcel, in the mailbox of the atelier, rather than my mailbox. Problem is: I have no key to that one, and have to find a way to fish letters and parcel out first. My bets are that your card is in there as well. :-) No worries, it's only a matter of time before I find a blowtorch...
Another invitation today (this time for tea - yay! Fortnum + Mason's clotted cream butter cookies and Christmas tea!) and then I'll tackle some work tasks. Maybe. If I feel like it. :-)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY dwarfy_drm - I wish you a wonderful new year in your life! :-)
These last days I've been very busy doing - nothing. Not a thing. Nothing at all. I've cultivated the art of laziness to a degree I never thought possible. An invitation for dinner aside, it was watching telly and DVDs, marathon-cuddling the cats, vegging out on the sofa and reading. By now, I've probably seen "Love, actually" fifty times (why was I never allowed to play a lobster at my school's nativity play? I was doomed to be an angel. I don't get it.); then there was the new Wallace and Grommit (first time I liked a poodle), the Doctor Who special (no sci-fi show without its own Borg Queen!), Nicholas Nickleby (tuned in, realised it's not the James D'Arcy version, watched the DVD instead), and and and.
I finished the TVthon yesterday with "Commrade Don Camillo" (in Italian), and was surprised how much I really understood. I also cringed when I realised how much Giovanni Guareschi's writing (He Who Created Don Camillo and Peppone) influenced my own style when it comes to dialogue. It's sort of confusing to find similarities between the speech patterns of a communist mayor in 1950s/60s Italy and a lieutenant of the Royal Navy in the 18th century...!
I've also been showered by presents, and I'd really like to thank all of you for your amazing gifts. The list of "books to review" has now reached the length of the Gotthard tunnel!
kiera_the_thief and SO sent me "Broadsides: The Age of Fighting Sail, 1775 - 1815" by Nathan Miller. Can't wait to start with that one! I'm now also proud owner of "The Royal Navy Officer's Pcoket-Book - 1944" - great for comparison. Leafing through it I can already tell that things haven't changed all that much in 200 years...! Whee!
alex_beecroft is responsible for future experimental cookery in this household. She sent me "Lobscouse & Spotted Dog" by Anne Chotzinoff Grossman and Lisa Grossman Thomas. A gastronomic companion to the Aubrey/Maturin novels - huh boy, I can't wait to try some of these meals! I so know who'll get steamed boar! Amazing, thanks so much!
I also got a book about nautical instruments (in German) which I found to be extremely helpful. I will need a dictionary of sorts to translate the specific terms, but it's a big help to have a guide which tells me what thingy was used for what purpose. I'm a hopeless landlubber! Then I've been given "Tim and the Picaros" (Tintin et Milou), the one Tim-book I've lost, which is one of my favourite ones. I find the portrayal of a coup in some fictional South American banana republic absolutely hilarious and spot on. Last but not least, I'm now the proud owner of "Gallow Speeches from Eighteenth-century Ireland" by James Kelly. Looks like somebody wants to see one of my characters getting hanged in style and leave with a little speech! Well, it can be done. ;-)
In other words: I've been spoiled rotten! Thanks so much, everybody! And - jaiden_s ? I think the whereabouts of your card (and the cards of other people) has been found. For whatever reasons, the postman put some of the mail, including a small parcel, in the mailbox of the atelier, rather than my mailbox. Problem is: I have no key to that one, and have to find a way to fish letters and parcel out first. My bets are that your card is in there as well. :-) No worries, it's only a matter of time before I find a blowtorch...
Another invitation today (this time for tea - yay! Fortnum + Mason's clotted cream butter cookies and Christmas tea!) and then I'll tackle some work tasks. Maybe. If I feel like it. :-)