The couple who bought these two drawings sent me a picture of how they look on their wall. It's so nice to see them framed.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Monday, May 26, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Random notes from today's train ride to Norwich
On the train to Norwich. At Stratford, I wandered around, pressing my Oyster card against any Oyster presser thing, but getting no reaction, and at last wandered up to platform 10a where the train to Norwich was about to depart, but I didn’t have a ticket, nor were there any ticket machines. A lady train worker poked her head out of the last door of the train, but the second she saw me, she disappeared and when I got to the door a few seconds later, there was no trace of her. If she’d been a cat, I’d have whistled and thrown some fresh fish at her (assuming I had some in my purse).
Anyway, I gave up on that train and went back down, where a male train worker made the mistake of giving me a second glance, so I asked him where can I buy a ticket to Norwich? He said, platform 8. I went up some stairs to platform 8, where I saw my Norwich train pull away from afar, and I wandered the entire length of the platform, until I found the sole ticket machine at the very far end.
I tried to entered Norwich as my destination, but only got as far as “N” since the touch screen wouldn’t accept “O”. I kept hitting the “O”, until I gave up and then found the down arrow, which was especially smudgy, so I could tell a lot of people like me only started using it after getting really angry with the “O”.
So I scrolled through all the N options until I got to the most expensive one, Norwich — over £50 for a standard off-peak fare. I about decided to just give up on Norwich, since I wouldn’t get there until 2:30 PM — the next train was in an hour. But then, I decided, I’ve been yammering on about Norwich for ages now, so I best just go see it and then get home in time for Eurovision.
The scenery is worth — well, not £50, especially as I’m sitting backwards, but it’s very pretty. Undulating green meadows and all that. In the last town, there were nothing but brown brick houses, all identical, except for one, the top of which was painted pink. About ten houses down, another brown house had pink curtains. So, maybe it was like a mutation and the pink curtain house only got one copy of it.
No more undulating — the landscape here is flat. Whenever I used to be somewhere flat, I got depressed, because it reminded me of Illinois, but now it reminds me of the Netherlands, which makes me feel well-traveled.
Those yokels should either be quiet or at least speak in turn, so I can understand what they’re saying. Now they’re just making weird, football fan type noises and laughing.
Haha. We’re in Diss now.
The man sitting a couple rows down — I can see him through the seats when I lean to the right — looks like an actor from that Endeavour show, the one who plays Endeavour’s boss. He’s paging through a newspaper. I’ve leaned over a couple times and assumed a thoughtful expression, but he’s as interested as that lady train driver.
Now he’s picking his ear and looking at his finger, so I’m not going to lean over anymore.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
"My cat went up the chimney."
Let me bid you adieu. I just got off the phone with a hysterical cat woman, who said she was coming over to my apartment right now.
"Uh, but I'm at work.”
"You're at work and your cat is missing??”
"My aunt said she's probably just hiding. I shouldn't have called you and said she went up the chimney, because my aunt says that's highly unlikely.”
"I don't care what your aunt says. Does your fireplace have a chute?”
"I don't know.”
"Is it closed?”
"Uh…."
"That cat could be run over. Do you realise that? Do you realise how stressed she is?”
I think the woman started crying at this point, because she made some weird noises and then she said, "I'm sorry if I sound stressed, but this really bothers me. Where did you keep her last night?”
I think the woman started crying at this point, because she made some weird noises and then she said, "I'm sorry if I sound stressed, but this really bothers me. Where did you keep her last night?”
"Well, I had her in the bathroom, but I left the door open, because the other woman said I should do that, so she could wander out when she got the nerve.”
"Who told you that? I want her name! That is wrong!”
She wouldn't let me explain that the cat came out of the bathroom around 5 PM. And now I've gotten someone in trouble, because apparently I was supposed to keep the cat in a small room until it was old enough for college.
Thing is, I could swear it was this woman on the phone who told me that.
I kept trying to say the cat was purring and seemed happy, and that around 3 AM, she suddenly got all playful (I wasn't, of course).
"That is not true. All my cats sleep during the night. If that cat was awake, it was because she was frightened.”
She didn't seem frightened when she was pouncing on my toes every time I moved them.
Anyway, my cat was really cute. She disappeared somehow after 3:30 AM -- no open windows, no open cupboards. Just the chimney. And now the cat lady is coming over to tear me to pieces. Maybe I should call Wendy over -- she's taking care of her brother's German Shepherd, and he could come in handy.
HAPPY ENDING: Right after the cat lady arrived, and just as we sat down, Charlie wandered over, jumped on my lap and fell right asleep. It turned out she’d been hiding under the Lazy Boy.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
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Saturday, May 3, 2014
How A University Achieves Status (Graham Campbell)
How A University Achieves Status(Graham Campbell)
A fascinating article by my dad, a retired professor of computer science, on the different ways universities, especially relatively new ones, have of achieving recognition.
A fascinating article by my dad, a retired professor of computer science, on the different ways universities, especially relatively new ones, have of achieving recognition.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
"Man with lots of pride but no boots" Julei
Yesterday on the plane, the bare feet of my neighbour led me to ponder the bare feet of my ancestor, “Proud Man with No Boots” Julei.
Growing up, my mom told me that we had an ancestor who’d gone AWOL from Napoleon’s army during the Russian invasion and wound up in Bukovina. I always felt this made me exotic. It also indicated a certain familial hardiness, which I hoped men would find attractive.
A few years ago, a fellow Julie told me he’d done the genealogy and there really was a Julei who appeared in Danila, Romania (where my grandpa came from) around 1812 and that the locals called him, “Man with Lots of Pride but No Boots.”
I’d always pictured him as attractive, though incomplete in his outfit. But then, right as my neighbour had his feet splayed up against the flip tray, I read in my Prussia book about the Napoleonic soldiers who survived the Russian campaign:
“The noblest figures had been bent and shrunken by frost and hunger. They were covered with blue bruises and white frost-sores. Whole limbs were frozen off and rotting. They gave off a pestilential stench. Their clothing consisted of rags, straw mats, old women’s clothing, sheepskins, or whatever else they could lay their hands on. None had proper headgear; instead, they bound their heads with old cloth or pieces of shirt; instead of shoes and leggings, their feet were wrapped with straw, fur or rag.”
And I was like, my ancestor!
The book went on to say the peasants murdered a lot of these wretches. But, somehow my ancestor survived and made it all the way to Danila. And his pride was as noticeable as his lack of footwear. He became part of the community and had lots of descendants.
And we’re doing quite well, thank you.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Pencil Sketch of Rob Ford
I am not a Rob Ford fan, but just felt like doing his portrait for some reason. The nostrils were a bit of a challenge.
I will go back to drawing cats now.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
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