Recent Reads: The Dark is Rising

I have read THE DARK IS RISING many, many times in my life, far more than I can count (I mean, it’s probably a countable number, but it’s not like I have been counting!). It is, perhaps, not quite my favorite of the sequence (I have a soft spot for GREENWITCH, which was the first of them I read, and which features Jane quite heavily, which, I mean, like, y’know, female protagonist, so…), but I’m fairly willing to concede it’s the best of the series, arguably by a long shot.…

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A Melodrama In Sligo

The scene: I am arriving back in Sligo after a couple of days in Dublin. The setting: Sligo Train Station The performers: Myself; my father; a random older woman sitting next to Dad in the train station as he awaits me Dad, rising from his seat, hands extended to capture mine: Catie, Catie, *Catie*! Oh, my darling! Let me *look* at you! Oh, *honey*! Let me look at you, let me look at you! Me, embracing him: Oh, *Daddy*! Dad: It’s been so long! My darling girl! Older woman: -happy…

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Adventures in glasses-wearing

So a little bit ago my dad, who is notorious for leaving his glasses lying around, was looking for them. We looked in the kitchen. We looked in the library, and I checked the bathroom while he went up to check his room. Then I went into the living room and called, “I found your glasses, Dad!” And I HAD found them. On MY FACE. *MY* glasses were lying on the coffee table, because I, too, have developed a terrible habit of leaving my glasses lying around (only since my…

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several THINGS

Thing One: Ruth Negga is performing the title role in Hamlet in Dublin this fall AND I HAVE TICKETS FOR OPENING NIGHT. I am trying to convince myself I shouldn’t also buy tickets for closing night, to see how the performance has matured. I really want to. But they’re more expensive. :( Indy said, “Tickets for HAMLET? Is that like HAMILTON!?!?!?!?!” and was very disappointed to hear that no, it was not, and also that it wasn’t appropriate for 8 year olds. :) Thing Two: I got the return address…

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A Brief Lesson on Feminism & Queen Elizabeth I, by Me

On the way home from school, Indy asked about King Henry, and I said there had been several of them, from about 1200 to about 1550 (I was wrong, they started in 1100, but close enough). I said Henry VIII was the last one, and that after him his son Edward had been king, and then his daughter Mary had been queen, and then finally his daughter Elizabeth had been queen for a long time, and she’d never married or had any children. Why not, queried my child, and I…

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