The Old Patagonian Express, published in 1979, describes Paul Theroux’s trip, mainly by train, from Boston to the southern part of South America, so he could write a book about it. He was already an experienced traveller and writer of fiction and nonfiction, and spoke Spanish quite well. The book is not your typical travel…
I don’t like writing book reviews. I like reading books and telling you I’ve read them, and maybe giving a thumbs up or down. Reviewing them requires mental effort that is better spent starting a new one. Nevertheless, I need to earn my little piece of blog space, so I will write something. The Emperor…
On a flight not long ago I watched The Way with Martin Sheen. It was a moderately good movie about a middle-aged American who walks the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain, in honour of his son who had just died. I’ve had an interest in doing some or all of the Camino for quite a while. More…
In June 1942, Anne and Ray got married. She was almost 20 and he was 22. The most popular songs of 1942 included The White Cliffs of Dover by Vera Lynn. They were married for almost 65 years, until death did them part in 2007. I cannot explain my own marriage, so I won’t attempt to describe…
The title of this post could be the name of my blog! What do you think? Movie recommendation coming up… On the flight to Montreal (5 hours) I watched 2 movies: Goin’ Down the Road (1970) – “Produced for $27,000… among the last great flowerings of what might be called NFB downer naturalism.” (Isn’t that…
I am packing for a 4-day trip to Montreal. Don’t need any of my usual fashion items, since I’ll be there for a meeting of a bunch of engineers, and they will NOT expect any style from me. Except maybe the usual “urban utilitarian” as my friend Sue labelled it. (She is famous for Florida-retirement-villa capris.) I’ll be…
Some of you know how close I am to the fashion world. And those people will know the extent of the gap! However, I do have some claims to fashion fame – starting with Barbara Tfank , who has become justly famous for dressing Michelle Obama very elegantly and now Adele. Last year I put…
I’ve told you about poor Emma Bailey, my great great grandmother who had an illegitimate son (my great grandfather) in 1860 and then died in 1863. We never knew why she died at the age of 25 until my sister requested a copy of her death certificate, which arrived recently. I apologize for the poor…
Seeing Clarely 