In my life, I must have heard thousands of jokes. Hundreds of which were good, even great jokes. So why is it, when a dinner table turns to swapping their favourite old chestnuts, I reach into my mind…and pull out some pathetically painful, laboured shaggy-dog pun or something worryingly sexual involving Smurfs? It’s all too, … Continue reading »
I recently noticed, whilst out for dinner with friends, that I appear to prefer women with slightly ridiculous laughs, very much like my own. Big braying laughs which – when loosed in unison – genuinely frighten other diners, sometimes on entirely different floors of the restaurant. Laughs that can be used as identifying markers in … Continue reading »
It’s the kind of thing you dream of, as a busy mom. Imagine coming home to a balanced, well-cooked meal each night without having to shop or plan or cook? It happened to us last month, courtesy of iHeath meals. Perfect timing, as my husband was working nights, and I’m pretty overwhelmed by my new … Continue reading »
The best thing about winter is that I get to haul out my knitting bag. Every year, my sons and I decide on the colour and style of a hand-knitted jersey for each of ‘em… and sometimes I actually produce a whole one. (Although last year, I was way too into knitting in front of … Continue reading »
Andreas and I got into a crowded lift together yesterday, where I found myself forced up against a mirror. I’m not a big mirror person, so this was not a happy-making moment for me. “Good grief!” I said to the woman standing next to me. “Are those my nipples? They are all over the place! … Continue reading »
As a naturally unstylish person, I try not to make fun of hipsters… I think it shows me up almost as badly as it does them. The world gets to be made up of folks of different shapes, sizes and creeds, does it not? And if I revile trendy people who understand bleeding-edge shoe styling, … Continue reading »
Remember the golden Age of Bumper Stickers? I was in primary school around the time the suburban SA mother started emblazoning her station wagon with the sticky announcement that this was “Mom’s Taxi.” It was a heady time. If I sat on my satchel, I could be entertained by such corkers as “No knocking if it’s … Continue reading »
Andreas and I are book people. Which is a luck, because we are not clothes or decor or stuff people… and having lots of bookshelves crammed with books all over the house is a great way to pre-empt anyone from saying, “Why has that broken lava lamp been on the mantelpiece for 10 years?” This year, … Continue reading »
I tried gymming recently. This is new for me, as I’m not an exerciser. I’m more of a lounge-arounder, a hobby I’ve poured a great deal of single-minded lethargy into over the years. Quite how central this laziness was to my personality was recently revealed to me by my 10-year-old son Benjamin, who prepared an … Continue reading »
I love downloading. It’s my favourite thing. I am especially good at trawling the Apple store for free content. A Kurt Vonnegut story in the iBook Store? Yes, please. And, ooh… a Maya Angelou podcast. Let’s get that too. Japanese fairy tales? Gosh, I’ve never even thought about Japanese fairy tales, but I can fix … Continue reading »
