08:00 I get up and leave Lois reading in bed again. She's really got into Alison Lurie's book "The War Between the Tates", set in the 1960's and all about the wife, Erica, of a college lecturer Brian Tate, who has got Wendy, one of his young students, pregnant.
Brian, however, simply wants to resume his former life with Erica - he doesn't want to marry Wendy, who's of course much younger than he is. But Erica doesn't want him back - she has been put off by his lying and other shenanigans: he's fallen from the pedestal she once put him on - she's seen his feet of clay.
Oh dear, what a mess!!!!
And she quickly started coming up with ideas to improve life for New Yorkers.
the writer Alison Lurie in the 1960's when she wrote
"The War Between the Tates"
Lois keeps me up to date with the action, and it's nice that she's discovered another author she really enjoys: the possible downside is that she hasn't been getting up till 10:30 or 11 am this week, which knocks out most of the morning, especially after we've done our daily Danish lesson together haha!
11:30 Lois's back is still a bit out of whack, so she just goes for a walk in the back garden, while I go up to the bedroom and do the new exercises that my NHS physiotherapist has scheduled for me today.
13:00 Lunch and then back up to bed for a nap, and then we set everything up for our U3A Danish group's fortnightly meeting on Skype.
14:30 The meeting begins, and everybody is here, even Scilla, the group's Old Norse expert, who, with the IT help and advice of her son Tom, is joining us today live from Tom's house in Frome, Somerset. We have lots of fun and both the audio and video quality is good for once.
When the meeting ends, however, we have to leave undecided the date of the next meeting. It would normally be on Thursday April 22nd, but that's the date that Scilla has been invited to get her second coronavirus jab - she has to go to Brighton for it, unfortunately, because that was where she had her first jab - that was when she was staying with her other son, Ben.
What madness!
However, we agree to leave the date of the next meeting open for now. None of our members have very much in their diaries at the moment - no surprise there! Scilla will probably be spending a few days in Brighton, possibly staying till the weekend, so we'll have to see.
It's lucky that the question of vaccines came up, because we can see that Scilla is worried about having the jab after reading all the stories in the media about the risk of blood clots etc. We are able to reassure her that the miniscule risk is all associated with the first jab, not with the second one. Also that this particular risk doesn't really apply to older people.
This leads to a general discussion about the risks that women face throughout their lives: for a start contraceptive pills - which carry a much greater risk of blood clots than the coronavirus vaccine. Also about the risks of HRT, for instance, which is supposed to be linked with an increased risk of cancer. It turns out that none of the female group members resorted to HRT. They all seem to be in agreement that, all in all, it's better to be a man - my god!
As usual, during the meeting, there's a good discussion generated, and of course completely in English - it's a wonder we ever get any time to do any Danish I always feel, but in a lockdown it's probably more important for group members to use the opportunity to socialise, I tend to think. My god, we certainly take full advantage of that haha!
18:00 Lois and I are completely exhausted, as always after a "Danish" day, so we settle for a Cook meal tonight - halloumi and arrabbiata: yum yum!
20:00 We settle down on the couch to watch TV, the latest programme in the series Comedy Legends. Tonight's programme is all about actress Lily Tomlin.
It's well-known what a versatile and funny actress Lily Tomlin was. Less well-known perhaps is what an original thinker she was, a real "ideas-lady", who could think outside the box.
She came from Detroit where she honed her skills as an actress, before eventually moving to New York, where she quickly felt at home.
She had a wonderful imagination, and seemingly able to visualise all sorts of ideas that would make the world a better place for us all to live in.
She was also a genuinely original thinker, who worried about the world's problems, thought deeply about issues, and was ready to question "received wisdom" on all sorts of fronts.
What a mind Tomlin had! If only we could get her to come to the UK she would make a first-rate adviser to Boris, especially now that he's lost Dominic!
21:00 We switch off the TV and listen to the radio, the last part of Melbourne-born comedian, Barry "Dame Edna" Humphries's series on "Forgotten Musical Masterpieces" - which entertains us with songs from the first half of the 20th century - a programme we like to go to bed on.
Another nostalgic programme, with a spotlight on Oscar Levant. And it's a delight to hear Bing's brother Bob with the Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra singing "Blame it on my Youth", one of the least-well-known "greatest ever songs", with music by Levant, and words by Edward Heyman.
Bob's was the song's first recording, from 1934, but it's since been recorded by many other artists, including, more recently, Jamie Cullum and Barry Manilow.
If I expected love when first we kissed
Blame it on my youth
If only just for you I did exist
Blame it on my youth
I believed in everything
Like a child at three
You meant more than everything
All the world to me
If you were on my mind all night and day
Blame it on my youth
If I forgot to eat and sleep and pray
Blame it on my youth
If I cried a little bit
When first I learned the truth
Don't blame it on my heart
Blame it on my youth
Oh they don't write them like that any more, that's for sure!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz!!!!!
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