All Purls. No Swine.
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired And gobble up… Continue reading On Men and Women, Both Growing Old
A few years ago, I wrote a post about the book many still refer to as the "Great American Novel." Gone With the Wind was published eighty-nine years ago today, on June 30, 1936. Its author, Margaret Mitchell, was a reporter for the Atlanta Journal who'd been sidelined from her job while she recovered from… Continue reading June 30, 1936: Gone…Gone With the Wind
Crimenutely. The date is almost upon us. Come tomorrow, March 21, 2025, Disney's latest iteration of Snow White hits US theaters. I've done my best, during what must be one of the most drawn-out, screwed-up, infelicitous run ups to a premiere in movie history, to keep my dear readers up to speed with developments over… Continue reading Sometimes It’s Not Real, and It’s Not Even True: Disney’s Latest Snow White Staggers To the Finish Line
A bit of a repost from almost exactly a year ago. Like Angela herself, I think it's aged pretty well. The same can't be said for Strictly Come Dancing, once a hugely popular BBC program. ("Dancing with the Stars" is the US copycat edition.) Ever since the Fall of 2023, "Strictly" has been mired in… Continue reading Happy 80th Birthday, Angela Rippon!
Apologies to A.A. Milne: But now I’m six, I'm as clever as clever. So I think I'll be six now, forever and ever! I guess this was really just the sixty-fourth anniversary of my turning six. (For God's sake, check the math; it was never my strong point). And I'm deliriously happy with the result. … Continue reading Now I Am Seventy
The year was 1995, and the late Mr. Right and I had just been to see one of the very few movies I've ever designated as "perfect." By that time, we'd been living on our small farm in the country for nine years, and the movie was Babe. (Not the 1992 movie about the baseball… Continue reading A Perfect Little Movie: “That’ll, do, Pig.” And its Wallace Statue Counterpoint in Stirling, Scotland
One of the most delightful parts of my weekend is opening my email (yes, really, I know how sad that sounds) on Sunday sometime and discovering Douglas Murray’s latest “Things Worth Remembering” installment for The Free Press. I’m a basic (paid) subscriber to the site, so I get all the links and can read the… Continue reading For I Will Consider Christopher Smart, Who Died 253 Years Ago Today. And, Also, Our Penny
"Oh, my giddy aunt," as darling Auntie Pat used to say. If there ever were a story pointing to the occasional perils associated with modern technology, especially as we try to stay "with it," and "relevant" into our dotage, this is it. Bless her heart. Apparently, several months ago, Dame Judi’s daughter suggested that her… Continue reading Dame Judi Dench, Nude in the Bathtub
Crimenutely. I’m not much of a fan of this woman, if for no other reason than of that bloody Titanic song that (just like the movie), went “on and on,” seemingly without end and forever. But I cannot have other than heart for her. Just a year ago, she announced that she'd been diagnosed with an… Continue reading Reset: Celine Dion
It's self-pity. We are (at least recently) consumed by it. They are not. I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself--D.H. Lawrence, Self-Pity First, let's get something out of the way: I'm not a great fan of… Continue reading The Difference Between Humans and Animals, According to DH Lawrence