Christmas has come and gone and a new year
has just begun. My greatest disappointment was that I lost the Christmas day limerick
writing competition. I thought my effort was quite good, but it did not attract
even one vote from the other competitors, not one. Later I heard that tactical
voting had been employed. Either way we will not be playing that game again
next year. Here's my entry, which you can judge for yourself.
There once were some
gangsters from Buckingham
Who stole children's sweets
and liked sucking 'um
To stop this shebang
They arrested the gang
And transported the lot of
'um to Birmingham
I also did badly in the quiz (I foolishly
chose my topic as Spain, the others had the good sense to select a more limited
subject) and even worse at the poetry reading. It's not all about winning
though: the drink, the food, the karaoke and the magic was good.
The build up to Christmas was good too: an
excellent carol concert in a central Oxford Church, carol singing in the street
with other guides to raise money for a hospice (then off to the pub), a
wonderful party to celebrate Geraldine's 90th birthday, a walk through a storm
with a good friend followed by many beers in a pub with a log fire, and a
nativity play in which my grandson played Joseph.
Looking further back, 2013 was a good year
for travel with visits to Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia. Not forgetting
Spain, of course, where work on my caseta took a bit of a leap forward with
completion of two ceilings, a roof and the terrace. I also completed my sci-fi
book (3D Futures) and launched it on
Kindle where it picked up a couple of good reviews. I've also read some great
books. Outstanding for me were:
- The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes - about the colonization of Australia.
- Stoner: a novel by John Williams.
- The Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama.
- American Rust: a novel by Philipp Mayer.
- Dorothy Hodgkin A Life By Georgina Ferry - Dorothy discovered the structure of insulin, etc.
- Sick Notes by Dr Tony Copperfield - a medical doctor's account of modern day practice.
- Walking the Lions: a novel by Stephen Burgen.
I finished the last book at two in the morning today, the first day
of 2014 - after dancing and singing Auld Lang Syne at a local pub. It was excellent;
I really could not put this book down even though I had to buy it as a paper
book rather than reading it on my Kindle. It tells a complex story based in
Barcelona and around. It contains: sex, violence, blackmail, betrayal,
corruption, manipulation, love, intrigue, and an excellent explanation of the
Spanish reticence with regard to the civil war. It's one of those books that
you cannot stop reading, yet are disappointed when it ends because you want to
go on even though the ending is perfectly satisfying. Thanks Sue and John for commending
it to me.
Now I need to start writing. I've dithered for too long between commencing
the second book of 3D Futures and carrying
on with my Margaret Thatcher in conversation with Dorothy Hodgkin thing. I've
decided to do the latter first - bit scary though.
Glad you liked the book. And I liked the limerick, though to be fair it's hard to judge without seeing the winner too! Anyway, happy new year to you both and good luck with the book.
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