A sullen St David’s Day with a grudging attempt at forced sunshine late in the afternoon.
The day was also enlivened by a visit to the supermarket for supplies – an idea apparently shared by the rest of the population of Castelldefels. The queues at the cashiers stretched well into the produce aisles and the interminable wait was only enlivened by the attempts of the eternally optimistic to worm their way into the queue. I am proud to relate people obviously noted the homicidal gleam in my eyes and avoided any attempt to insinuate their trolleys in front of me and were thus allowed to enjoy the rest of the day rather than lying in bloody chunks at my feet.
There were the usual people in front of us. In spite of the fact that the queue was stretching well into the next town they behaved as if they were alone in the store and were the only people the cashier had to deal with. With a blithe disregard for an electrically resentful line of people whose sheer pulsing waves of detestation could have ignited matches languid conversations took place over items whose price was disputed.
The usual single parent with hyperactive child brought the line to a grinding halt as the cashier had to pack the items for the mother as she dealt with the small person. Eventually the mum was able to help as she pinioned the small person firmly between her clenched calves and rightly ignored the piteous mewlings from the self centred object of delay at her feet. Whatever ‘sufferings’ the small person was experiencing as she was prevented from hindering our egress from that large shop of horrors, it was a damn sight less than any one of the furious shoppers behind her would have meted out given half a chance!
The rest of the day has been spent enjoyably re-reading Mark Haddon’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ which is being studied by the equivalent of my Year 8 and reading for the first time ‘The 22nd Pan Book of Horror Stories.’
The stories (selected by Herbert Van Thal) are the usual heterogeneous bunch with a particularly nasty one by Ian McEwan called ‘Pornography.’ The definition of ‘horror’ in this collection is a fairly wide one ranging from an almost conventional supernatural example of the genre like ‘The girl with the violet eyes’ by Elsie Karbacz; through distasteful (literally!) humour in ‘Dante’s Bistro’ by Carolyn L. Bird to a version of slapstick in ‘Incident in Cairo’ by Bessie Bird to a version of Armageddon in ‘The trump card’ by Jane Louie. A most enjoyable, if unsettling read!
Although borrowed from the school cupboard, I cannot imagine the class with which I would use any one of them!
Meanwhile back to triple homonyms and the construction of elegant sentences which leave out the key word and encourage students to supply it. This is a particular and cruel form of torment for those learning English and if I can find a fiendish example I will encourage my reader to try it.
Meanwhile an internet search to ensure that I do not re-invent the wheel!
The day was also enlivened by a visit to the supermarket for supplies – an idea apparently shared by the rest of the population of Castelldefels. The queues at the cashiers stretched well into the produce aisles and the interminable wait was only enlivened by the attempts of the eternally optimistic to worm their way into the queue. I am proud to relate people obviously noted the homicidal gleam in my eyes and avoided any attempt to insinuate their trolleys in front of me and were thus allowed to enjoy the rest of the day rather than lying in bloody chunks at my feet.
There were the usual people in front of us. In spite of the fact that the queue was stretching well into the next town they behaved as if they were alone in the store and were the only people the cashier had to deal with. With a blithe disregard for an electrically resentful line of people whose sheer pulsing waves of detestation could have ignited matches languid conversations took place over items whose price was disputed.
The usual single parent with hyperactive child brought the line to a grinding halt as the cashier had to pack the items for the mother as she dealt with the small person. Eventually the mum was able to help as she pinioned the small person firmly between her clenched calves and rightly ignored the piteous mewlings from the self centred object of delay at her feet. Whatever ‘sufferings’ the small person was experiencing as she was prevented from hindering our egress from that large shop of horrors, it was a damn sight less than any one of the furious shoppers behind her would have meted out given half a chance!
The rest of the day has been spent enjoyably re-reading Mark Haddon’s ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ which is being studied by the equivalent of my Year 8 and reading for the first time ‘The 22nd Pan Book of Horror Stories.’
The stories (selected by Herbert Van Thal) are the usual heterogeneous bunch with a particularly nasty one by Ian McEwan called ‘Pornography.’ The definition of ‘horror’ in this collection is a fairly wide one ranging from an almost conventional supernatural example of the genre like ‘The girl with the violet eyes’ by Elsie Karbacz; through distasteful (literally!) humour in ‘Dante’s Bistro’ by Carolyn L. Bird to a version of slapstick in ‘Incident in Cairo’ by Bessie Bird to a version of Armageddon in ‘The trump card’ by Jane Louie. A most enjoyable, if unsettling read!
Although borrowed from the school cupboard, I cannot imagine the class with which I would use any one of them!
Meanwhile back to triple homonyms and the construction of elegant sentences which leave out the key word and encourage students to supply it. This is a particular and cruel form of torment for those learning English and if I can find a fiendish example I will encourage my reader to try it.
Meanwhile an internet search to ensure that I do not re-invent the wheel!
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