My (Possible) Next New Hobby

I'm far from being bored, as I'm still in touch with my students by e-mail (which takes even more time than "just" being in class), I've got some spring cleaning and DIY stuff to do in my flat, and I've got an invasion of plot bunnies at home (yes - even more than usual!). I've got a dress to hem and a new portrait to start, too.

I'm busy and unbored.

And yet, something new-ish is making its way into my head. In fact, there are two things I'd like: I'd like to try pottery again (the last time, I was in primary school, but I loved it - in spite of the bullying teacher who didn't allow us to create what we really wanted; she expected obedient sheeple), but, alas, I have no access to a kiln, so I'll have to store that idea for the moment and... I'd like to try sculpture.

We have sculptors in the family (artists and monumental masons) and I'd really like to try.

I could order stuff online, but I don't want to burden my post officer with trifles, so I'll go shopping when we're allowed to go back to arts stores.

Maybe I won't like it.

Maybe I'll be rubbish at it.

I'll give it a try, for fun - and because I'm curious to see if there might be some marble in my DNA...

Good or bad, I'll keep you posted.

Shopping in the Time of Coronavirus - the Easter Island Edition

Since my work schedule is utterly demented, I have been staying home since March 11th and went shopping once last week. 

Today, I went back to the supermarket that's right in front of my building not to go too far.

First of all, most bipeds don't know what a metre looks like (and I'm not the only one noticing the issue apparently: there were floor markings by the checkouts!). There was even this arrogant bloke who walked as he pleased: the others were in charge of avoiding his path (I say arrogant because I saw something deeply unpleasant in his eyes, as in "I'm more important than you").

And then... some aisles were 99% to 100% empty.

No more sliced bread? Okay, I can go queue at the baker's.

No more white vinegar? Okay, everybody wants to clean their windows; mine can wait...

No more wipes? Fine, but if my cat is sick again, things are going to be "eurgh!!!".

No more kitchen gloves? Uhoh... Dear bipeds, if I have to do the dishes without gloves, I'm not going to be a happy bunny. Just saying... *starts praying to the kitchen gods that my one pair of gloves won't die on me*

No more kitty litter? 100% empty shelves. All brands missing, even the bad ones? That is making me want to bite someone. I can find alternatives for my food, but my cat needs litter and wet food for cats (he's never eaten anything for humans - probably because of some trauma before I rescued him).

Some things are really beginning to be utterly ridiculous - and I'll have to go to another store, hoping that the stocks will be better for my poor cat there.

{Friendly warning: you may hear me howl if I can't find any kitty litter in my district...}

Movie, please! -> Charade

Just in case you'd like something swell to watch, here's Charade, a 1963 film with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant (the rest of the cast is splendid, too).
Enjoy!

Shopping in the Time of Coronavirus

I remember my nan, who'd been through two world wars, telling me to stockpile flour, pasta, rice, and tins of various kinds of food during the Gulf War because she was afraid that the conflict would spread and she didn't want our family to be as hungry as she'd been as a child, and then as a mother.

Back then, I remember some people panicking, but - Flurching Inferno! - it never was as bad as what I saw this morning...

Why did I go shopping on a Sunday morning, you ask, dear Readers? "Is Dru afraid?" you wonder.

Well, no. But I am lazy, and since I was out to go vote in our mayoral elections (funny that the politicos didn't report that one... as if someone thinks that Parisians are going to stay away from polling stations! There was a massive queue at 9 AM!!!), I decided to go do my regular, normal shopping today as that would allow me to stay home (my college has been ordered to close) until round 2 of the elections next Sunday.

It turns out that I was far from being the only one at my usual supermarket and there was a tad of "panic" shopping (I was the only one with cat food, frozen cauliflower, and a bag of onions).

The rice and pasta aisle was 99.9% empty.

The toilet paper aisle was 75% empty (Covid-19 symptoms have nothing to do with the cholera, so I'm a tad at sea on this one).

The eggs were all gone, but the rest of the store was okay - except the prices.

I don't keep my old receipts, but I'm convinced that the prices are slightly up. I mean, I literally thought that the store owner would have ended up with a shaved head if we were in 1945...

Things are really strange.

People Bipeds are really strange.

I'll admit that, having seen my usual store this morning, I'm a lil' bit tempted to stockpile... for my cat.

Plautus? Not Plautus!

I'm currently gathering data to write a play on a certain mythological topic.

I won't be the first to write on that, but I've decided to bring a new angle to it by focussing on the women in the story - instead of the men (as every [male] playwright before me).

It is quite interesting.

The very first author we have writing on this topic is Plautus (interesting approach, but I'm not a fan of his Latin).

As I was working on a twist in my plot, I finally realized that, since Plautus, the characters have been dealing with Roman gods and goddesses, but... the original story is in Greek.

I changed my characters' names to Greek ones and I'm keeping two Roman "guest stars".

I'm rather happy with what I'm plotting - and it helps me with some dry work as I'm also editing my PhD and a memoir/biography/art history manifesto that needs a lot of footnotes as the subject of this book knew each and every artist in all domains in the 19th century.

Lettre suivie internationale

Vous avez une lettre à envoyer à l'étranger, hors Europe, mais le Colissimo ou le recommandé coûtent un œil ? 

La solution peut être un autocollant de suivi international.

J'ai testé ça pour vous en décembre...

J'ai acheté une vignette de suivi "J+5", mais rien n'indiquait que ça pourrait être "J+25" si le "service" de douane de La Poste à Roissy s'asseyait dessus pendant les fêtes (La Poste vous dira que ce sont vraiment les douanes qui vérifient le courrier, mais une bonne partie des "vérifications" est faite par La Poste elle-même apparemment).

En gros, ils vous vendent un "J+5", mais ça, c'est seulement si votre lettre (ou colis) passe la "douane" en deux jours. Autrement, si votre envoi se retrouve coincé au "bureau d'échange", ça peut prendre jusqu'à vingt jours - s'ils ne perdent pas carrément le bidule ! 

Ce que j'avais envoyé aurait dû arriver le 21/12 - au plus tard le 23/12. Il est arrivé le 08/01.

En plus, si je n'étais pas allée sur le site du transporteur de l'autre côté, je ne saurais pas que ma lettre est arrivée.

Je comprends qu'il puisse y avoir des problèmes, mais un peu plus d'honnêteté quant au service qui peut effectivement être fourni, c'est tout ce que je demande. Je ne suis pas une truite - si on me dit "J+5", j'attends du "J+5". J'imagine qu'à une époque où certaines personnes s'attendent à du quasi instantané pour les livraisons, dire "J+5 à 25", ça ne fait pas très glamour.

C'est bête, hein, mais je préfère qu'on ne me mente pas.

A Jane Austen Question

Dear friends and lovely readers,

I've got a question from the Éditions Aikyō team: we're working on our version of Jane Austen's first edition of Sense&Sensibility and we're thinking about two possibilities.

One with every difference (punctuation and edits) between the first edition and the most recent editions:

Or one with just the edit differences:

Could you tell us which version you prefer?

I'm very tempted to send the full version with all the differences to the printer (aka my cousin Chris) so you can see how the text evolved from the first edition to the ones we have now, but it's nicer to ask you...

So???

Here's a Banned TV Christmas Advert

I'm not currently parked in a zone where I can shop at Iceland, but when I read on Twitter that their Christmas ad was banned, I wondered why - and I fail to understand why anyone would decide to ban this ad.

If we don't take better care of Mother Earth, most living creatures will die a horrible death all too soon.

If this was banned to not upset greedy bipeds who, from their desks, thousands of miles away from the places they order reaped apart, could object to being named and shamed (but they're not named and shamed in this ad; only the abject practice of destroying things to make more money is denounced), it just shows that some people are just spineless.

This ad could show some people - and children - how wrong most palm oil is.

There's nothing wrong with people caring and shopping responsibly.

I want to believe* that most bipeds can be better than greedy beasts (especially if properly educated)...

*: I'm probably way too optimistic...I know...

Another Portrait on Canvas

Here's a new one: