a shorty

if it's true that the road to hell is paved with good intentions then I'm a long way down it. I haven't blogged this week. I'm going to make this fairly short and write more tomorrow. I've been chuckling over a joke I heard during a play by Mark Taverner on BBC7.(MT writes really witty plays like in the Red, )'The lord said; Come forth and I came fifth and won a fruit cake.'This really amused me.Now I hope it's not read at Mass because if I get the giggles it's hard to stop.
Last night finished reading 'Grievance' Marguerite Alexander's first novel. She is a lecturer on the Birkbeck extra mural certificate/diploma course. (Anyone who can get to london, all the lecturers with Birkbeck are so good). Her passion is Irish Literature about which I did know very little but now have learned so much more from this campus novel. Apart from the literary eferences this is an interesting tale of a girl growing up in N. Ireland in a vey strange family. The disfunction really begins with the birth of a son who is Downs. Neither parent can accept this and it is left to the sister to look after him.Just before Xmas I had a new little cousin arrive and Vanessa is Downs so I was interested in this aspect of the book. Father is a man,who is always right, mother a cipher.The heroine and stupidly I can't recall her name eventually has had enough and goes to Uni in London.The book tells her life there but every other chapter tells us about her childhood and growing up.This isn't a light read but it is full of nuances and things to ponder.To tell more would spoil the story but do read this particularly if you are interested in Irish Literature.
Had a wonderful present yesterday. The penguin classics box full of audio CDs. There's 'Great Expectations,'Crime and Punishment' and several others.I feel so lucky to have this. I listen to books when i can't sleep so always have a story tape upstairs. That one is about Anne Boleyn at the moment. Downstairs while I do chores like ironing I listen to books I probably wouldn't read.At present this is 'Poppyday' by Anne Murray. These audios are very good at stopping my haywire thoughts when I'm unipolar. I'd even say they nip the descent in the bud.