05:00 I get up early and leave Lois to "sleep in"
ha ha - today is my next-to-next-to last chance to get an early start, because
our daughter Alison, along with Ed and their 3 children, are coming on a 3 day
visit on Friday, and they are bringing their Danish dog, Sika.
I will have to miss out on my early mornings during the
visit. I do not want to wake Sika up, because then hell will break
loose, which is not an attractive prospect, to put it mildly - damn!
Alison and her family
The family's Danish dog Sika - a recent
portrait
I take a little look online and I see that my cousin,
Lyndon [Philip Lyndon Reynolds], last month received the “Haskins Medal”, in a
ceremony in the city of Philadelphia - in recognition of his recent book,
"How Marriage Became One of the Sacraments" .
Good grief, what madness !!!! However, the book seems a
bit specialised, and it doesn't look like it would be a good bedtime book, but
I’m going to let that one slide.
I'm very happy for Lyndon's success, however - it's a bit of a
shame that I haven't seen him or talked to him for over 40 years - oh dear!
I send an email to my sister Gill in Cambridge to tell her
about the news. She comments that the
book was published by Cambridge University Press, where Gill's husband Peter, a
part-time Catholic priest, once worked as one of the publishing house's many
editors, responsible for their religious books. But Peter left this job a few
years ago and so didn't get the chance to edit Lyndon's book, which is a bit of
a shame to put it mildly.
07:00 I continue to surf the web. The French Cathedral,
Notre Dame, has hit the headlines this week, because of the huge fire that
broke out and destroyed many parts of the building. And this kind of major and
unusual event always excites the members of the Lois's Protestant sect because
they are always eager to find out what a given big event means, and how it fits
into God's plans for the world.
I have access to a chat room that members use, so I can
keep up with their interest in the story. Some members tend to construct detailed theories
about certain news stories, and try to decide whether they are a sign that we are
living in the last days, and whether Jesus is coming back to earth soon or not.
The sect's most influential local member, Andy, has said
that the cathedral's name "Notre dame", in addition to referring to
Mary, Jesus's mother, also refers back to Semiramis, Nimrod's wife, who became
queen in approx. 700 BC when Nimrod died after a hunting accident. Semiramis was then worshipped by the people as a goddess – in what Andy calls a
false religion.
He suggests that the fire in the French cathedral is a
kind of warning that the Catholic "religion" will soon be destroyed
by the return of Jesus - good grief, what madness !!! His whole theory is a
little too complicated for me - I am "a bear of very little brain," I fear.
Flashback to about 700 BC: Nimrod
and Semiramis in happier times ha ha
09:00 Lois and I drive over to the local Sainsbury’s
supermarket to go food shopping. Today is the first day of a two-day race
festival at the nearby racecourse, so we are eager to go shopping and get home before the usual traffic jams start. We
need a little more food than usual because of the upcoming visit by our
daughter Alison and her family.
10:15 We come back and relax with a cup of coffee on the
couch. Afterwards, I start reading two more pages of Anna Grue’s crime novel,
"The Further You Fall", which is our U3A Danish group's current
project. I have decided that I have to read 2 pages a day to keep up the
momentum I am going to need.
"The Further You Fall" by Anna
Grue, our U3A Danish group's current project
Anna Grue and dog
12:00 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a
gigantic afternoon nap. Lois comes up to the bedroom at about 3.30pm and shortly
afterwards we go in the shower.
We have the habit of taking a shower 3 times a week and we have planned to do
it again Friday morning early, and again on Monday, so we can leave the shower
cubicle to our 5 guests for the rest of the weekend, because we only have the one
bathroom.
It's a bit of a shame that Alison's family are only coming here for 3 days. It always takes me 2-3 days to convert myself from being
a 1000% introvert to an 80% introvert + 20% extrovert – oh dear !!!!
The weather girl says it's going to be sunny and
relatively warm at the weekend, which is nice.
18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening
watching some television. The first episode of the latest season of "First
Dates" is on.
This show is mine and Lois's favourite dating show - participants go on a date and eat at a special
restaurant with a potential partner that the TV channel has chosen for them.
The programme has a serious purpose to some extent, i.e,
to find possible compatible life partners for the participants. It's much
better than the “international” version that plays out in a hotel in Italy,
where participants spend the days sitting around the hotel swimming pool in
next to nothing, and then go to bed with their potential partners as soon as the
evening is over.
And it is much much better than the show's
"celebrity version", where we see B-list and reality show celebrities
taking part just with the idea of getting a bit more publicity and staying in the public eye as long as possible.
Tonight, 3 of the 4 dates go very well and there are
prospects of further dates in the future, if not weddings - yikes! The lesbian
couple, Georgia and Georga in particular, are a great success, and
can hardly keep their hands off each other, despite the fact that Georgia has
in the past had a one-night-stand with Georga’s niece – my god, what a crazy
world we live in !!!!
The lesbian couple, Georgia and Georga in particular are a great success,
despite the fact that Georgia has in the
past had a one-night-stand with Georga’s niece
- my god, what a crazy world we live in !!!!
Our favourite couple are Josh and Tash. Tash had a difficult
childhood because her parents moved to another city every 3 years or so, or
even to another country - this is something I also can relate to - I went to a total of 8 schools in
my childhood and youth. Poor me !!!!!!
Josh works for an insurance company, but is a musician in
his spare time, a member of a band called "Dead State". He has a
really good sense of humour, which is nice.
Danish
translation
05:00 Jeg står
tidligt op og overlader Lois til at ”sove længe” ha ha – i dag er min næstnæstsidste chance for at få
en tidlig start, fordi vores datter Alison, sammen med Ed og deres 3 børn,
kommer på 3 dages besøg på fredag, og de medbringer deres danske hund, Sika.
Jeg vil måtte gå glip af mine tidligere morgener under besøget, fordi jeg har
ikke lyst til at vække Sika, fordi så vil helvede bryde løs, hvilket er ikke en
attraktiv udsigt, for at sige mildt – pokkers!
Alison
og hendes familie
Familiens
danske hund Sika – et nyligt portræt
Jeg kigger
lidt på nettet, og jeg ser, at min fætter, Lyndon [Philip Lyndon Reynolds],
sidste måned modtog Haskins-medaljen i et ceremoni i byen Philadelphia – i
anerkendelse af sin nylige bog, ”How Marriage Became One of the Sacraments”.
Du godeste,
sikke et vanvid!!!! Bogen virker
imidlertid lidt specialiseret, og den ser ikke ud som om det ville være en god
sengetidbog, men det springer jeg over. Jeg er meget glad for Lyndons succes –
det er lidt af en skam, at jeg ikke har set ham eller talt med ham i over 40 år
– yikes!
Jeg sender en
email til min søster Gill i Cambridge, for at fortæller hende om nyheden. Hun
kommenterer, at bogen blev udgivet af Cambridge University Press, hvor Gills
mand Peter, en deltids katolsk præst,
engang arbejdede som en af forlagets mange redaktører, ansvarlig for deres
religiøse bøger. Men Peter forlod dette job for nogle år siden, og ikke fik
chancen for at redigere Lyndons bog, hvilket er lidt af en skam, for at sige
mildt.
07:00 Jeg
fortsætter med at surfe nettet. Den franske katedral, Notre Dame, har ramt
overskrifterne denne uge, på grund af den store brand, der brød ud og ødelagde
mange dele af bygningen. Og denne slags større
og usædvanlig begivenhed volder altid
begejstring blandt medlemmerne af Lois’ protestante sekt, fordi de altid
er ivrige efter at finde ud af, hvad en given store begivenhed ”betyder”, og
hvordan den passer ind i Guds planer om verden.
Jeg har adgang
til et chatroom, som medlemmerne bruger, så jeg kan følge med i den stigende
interesse. Nogle medlemmer har tendens til at konstruere detaljerede
forklaringer af nogle nyhedshistorier og beslutte, om de er et tegn på at vi
lever i de sidste dage, og om Jesus kommer snart tilbage til jorden, eller ej.
Sektens mest
indflydelserige lokale medlem, Andy, har sagt at katedralens navn ”Notre dame”,
udover at referere til Mary, Jesus’ mor, refererer tilbage også til Semiramis,
Nimrods kone, der blev dronning i ca. 700 f.Kr, da Nimrod døde efter en
jagtulykke, og Semiramis blev tilbedt af folket som en gudinde – hvad Andy
kalder en falsk religion. Han tror, at branden i den franske katedral er en
slags varsel, at den katoliske ”religion” snart bliver ødelagt af Jesu genkomst
– du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!! Hele teorien er lidt for kompliceret for mit
vedkommende – jeg er ”en bjørn med meget lille hjerne”, frygter jeg.
Tilbageblik til ca 700 f.Kr: Nimrod og Semiramis i lykkeligere tider ha
ha
09:00 Lois og
jeg kører over til det lokale Sainsburys supermarked for at gå madindkøb. I dag
er den 1. dag af en to-dages væddeløbsfestival på den nærliggende
væddeløbsbane, så vi er ivrige efter at gå madindkøb og køre hjem, før de
sædvanlige trafikpropper starter. Vi har brug for lidt mere fødevarer, end
normalt på grund af det kommende besøg af vores datter Alison og hendes
familie.
10:15 Vi
kommer tilbage og slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen. Bagefter går jeg i gang
med at læse endnu to sider af Anna Grues krimiroman, ”Dybt at falde”, der er
vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt. Jeg har besluttet at jeg er nødt
til at læse 2 sider om dagen for at holde momentummet.
”Dybt
at falde” af Anna Grue, vores U3A danske gruppes nuværende projekt
Anna Grue og hund
12:00 Vi
spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tag en gigantisk
eftermiddagslur. Loi kommer op på værelset kl 15:30 og vi går ind i
brusekabinen. Vi har for vane at tage et brusebad 3 gange om ugen og vi har
planlagt at gøre det igen fredag morgen tidligt og igen på mandag, så vi kan
overlade brusekabinen til vores 5 gæster i resten af weekenden, fordi vi kun
har ét badeværelse.
Det er lidt af
en skam af Alisons familie bare kommer i 3 dage. Det tager mig altid 2-3 dage
for at konvertere mig selv fra en 1000% introvert til en 80% introvert, og 20%
ekstrovert – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!
Vejrpigen
siger, at det kommer til at blive solrigt og forholdsvis varmt i weekenden,
hvilket er rart.
18:00 Vi spiser
aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser det
første afsnit i den seneste sæson af ”First Dates”.
Dette show er
Lois’ og min yndlings-datingshow, hvor deltagere går ud på en date og spiser på
en special restaurant med en potentiel partner, som tv-kanalen har valgt til
dem.
Programmet har
i en vis grad et seriøst formål, dvs at finde mulige kompatible livspartnere
til deltagerne. Det er meget bedre, end versionen, der spiller sig ud i et hotel
i Italien, hvor deltagere bruger dagene på at sidde omkring hotellets
swimmingpool i næsten ingenting, og går i seng med deres potentielle partnere,
så snart aftenen er forbi.
Og det er
meget meget bedre, end showets ”kendis-version”, hvor vi ser B-liste og reality
show-kendisser deltager med det formål at få publicitet og at forblive i det
offentlige øje.
I aften går 3
af de 4 dates meget godt, og der er udsigt til yderligere dates i fremtiden,
hvis ikke bryllupper – yikes! Det lesbiske par, Georgia og ”George” i sær er en
stor succes, på trods af, at Georgia før i tiden har haft et engangsknald med
Georges niece – du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!
Det lesbiske par, Georgia og ”George” i sær er en stor succes, på trods af,
at
Georgia før i tiden har haft et engangsknald med Georges niece
– du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i
!!!!
Vores
yndlingspar er Josh og Tash. Tash havde en vanskelig barndom, fordi hendes
forældre hver 3. år eller deromkring flyttede til en anden by eller endda et
andet land, hvilket jeg også kan relatere til – jeg gik i 8 forskkelige skoler
i løbet af min barndom og ungdom.
Josh arbejder
for et forsikringsfirma, men er musiker i sin fritid, et medlem af en band, der
hedder ”Dead State”. Han har en rigtig god sans for humor, hvilket er rart.
22:00 Vi går i
seng – zzzzzzzzz!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment