The other day Ursula Vernon was talking on Twitter about what she learnt about history in school, which I found quite interesting, given that the history curriculum is different here.

It got me thinking ‐‐ I can clearly remember what eras of history were covered in which year and what most of my assignments were about. There are also specific ( Read more... )

Experiences I did not expect (nor foresee): attending an abruptly-rescheduled wedding as one of two witnesses.

I have mentally planned out things to write. But life has been exceptionally busy and exhausting -- my thoughts have become outdated before I’ve sat down to write them. Circumstances have changed so quickly and dramatically: the news, the ( Read more... )

I fell down a romance rabbit hole again. After a day which had involved panicking (needlessly, it turned out) and also hours listening to my current audiobook, which is tense and serious and set largely in the aftermath of WWII, it was a relief to throw myself into something more light-hearted.

This is how I read three four books by Penny Reid.

( Read more... )

I’ve realised something that should perhaps have been obvious to me earlier: my readiness to rewatch a film (or TV series) depends a lot on how aesthetically pleasing I find it ( Read more... )

After work the other day, I overheard a moment of a conversation between an adult and a child: “I’ll be an Elf... and you can be Samwell Baggins.”

Later that night, my mother and I were discussing names (specifically, names for pets). She said, “Vladimir”. I stared at her blankly, so she offered clarification: “Boromir and his brother!”

There are ( Read more... )

I had thoughts, they went in some sort of order. I think ( Read more... )

I haven’t written up my final posts for 2018 yet, or put away all my clean washing -- but I have set up this year’s diary, made a dentist appointment, been to the library, tidied the shelf where I’d had my Christmas cards, discovered where a particular bottle of shoe polish was hiding and tidied my desk drawer. I am feeling rather productive.

From ( Read more... )

All the chapters titles in one of the books I’m reading start with the word “making”. Making Deals or Making Small Talk. Making Small Talk or Making Waves.

I read some comments discussing other people who had negative reactions to the latest instalment of a story. A retelling. There were comments that seemed to be arguing people shouldn’t be upset ( Read more... )

An important question: why isn’t there an audiobook for The Silmarillion?

No, wait, Google can find one on Audible but I can only view the page in cached mode, so either it’s whatever the audiobook equivalent of “out of print” is or it’s just not available in my region. Sigh. Whichever it is, my library doesn’t have an audiobook of The ( Read more... )

“I do not like this news,” [Gildor] said at last. “That Gandalf should be late, does not bode well. But it is said: Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. The choice is yours: to go or to wait.”
“And it is also said,” answered Frodo: “Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.”
- ( Read more... )