It’s been a busy week lads. We were out not once but twice for dinner. The second time was last night with friends from Brussels who we have seen over the years but not as much as we would like as they are that wonderful thing: a couple where both of us like both partners. Hard to find. They’re on a three week holiday in Ireland with their dog. I hope the rain holds off for them but I doubt it. They’re starting in Donegal and working their way down the west coast. They had just been in England for their daughter’s graduation. My strongest memory of her is of a short haired forceful toddler so seeing the photos of the graduation gave me a land as Cissie who used to mind me when I was little would say. They are the nicest couple and it was really lovely to see them.
Today, overwhelmed by the hype I bought myself the last ticket to see the Odyssey in the IMAX at 11.30. The woman who took my ticket told me that it has sold out every showing. It’s quite long. Not bad or anything but I probably wouldn’t have gone were it not for the hype and I would have been right. Though it did give me some mild extra insights into James Joyce’s version of the same story so there’s that. And I found myself reflecting again on my friend’s daughter who has a perfectly normal name but had a narrow escape from her mother’s early determination to call her Calypso; ultimately she was saved by her father. If you like Christopher Nolan and swords and sandals, go for it. Even hardhearted me shed a tear when he finally made it back to Ithaca.
And also, the painter has been here all week painting the railings and the front door and the upstairs bathroom. It’s trying, there’s no two ways about it though he does an excellent job. His personality is gloomy and with me working from home a couple of days we saw quite a bit of each other; I’m not sure either of us was delighted by this development. But I am delighted by my newly painted front door, so there’s that.
My wife decided we needed to have the house painted. Inside and out. It is a large barn. The outside was relatively painless and was a blessing because I was never going to get round to it. We are on week three of the inside and it is fairly chaotic. Not helped by one of the painters having to get stents fitted in his kidneys, poor chap. Looks like three weeks to go. No real drama apart for losing the internet in half the house when they turned off the signal booster…We also choose a paint that is as close to the old shade as possible so it is sometimes difficult to work out where they have painted, but I am too polite to comment.
Speaking of Calypso my father had a dinghy when we lived in Alabama. The boat was actually a javelin and my father named it Calypso after the nymph. He was classically educated and his exams to get into Oxford were, Latin, Greek and biblical Greek. He read law for a year, joined up in WW2 and never went back, a narrow escape as he like soldiering more than being a country solicitor.
My wife decided we needed to have the house painted. Inside and out. It is a large barn. The outside was relatively painless and was a blessing because I was never going to get round to it. We are on week three of the inside and it is fairly chaotic. Not helped by one of the painters having to get stents fitted in his kidneys, poor chap. Looks like three weeks to go. No real drama apart for losing the internet in half the house when they turned off the signal booster…We also choose a paint that is as close to the old shade as possible so it is sometimes difficult to work out where they have painted, but I am too polite to comment.
Speaking of Calypso my father had a dinghy when we lived in Alabama. The boat was actually a javelin and my father named it Calypso after the nymph. He was classically educated and his exams to get into Oxford were, Latin, Greek and biblical Greek. He read law for a year, joined up in WW2 and never went back, a narrow escape as he liked soldiering more than being a country solicitor.
We too chose the same colour but it was so battered that I had no difficulty in seeing where it was redone. It’s finally finished mercifully.
Speaking of your father’s classical education reminds me of my friend who got chucked out of the seminary (disobedience- he’s quite stubborn – but now happily married with 4 kids so in my view, if not his, a mercy). He was doing his Hebrew exam and the lecturer was pacing the room. When he came to my friend, he put his hand on his paper and gently rotated it by 180 degrees. Love that story.
Hebrew is a law unto itself. Reads right to left, originated from scratching on rocks and clay, vowels and after thought….
Accepting this as true, I still feel my friend could have tried harder.