Monthly Archives: May 2014

Cooking with puffins (Rousse)

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Dreamaticus

With a change of date for our annual Christmas party, TPR also altered the menu. He replaced the traditional crecy pies with homemade puffin meatballs. I wasn’t sure that many people would be tempted to try them. I for one … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bird, blue, brown, Christmas, cook, cooking, crecy, cute, delicacy, friendship, homemade, ignore, jumper, meatball, meatballs, menu, pie, pies, puffin, puffins, recipe, recipes, repair, supper, TPR, wool | Leave a comment

A life out of control (Rousse)

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Could it get much worse? LC had accidentally timetabled me to teach on Mondays (traditionally my research day); nine other people had moved into my (now filthy) office; and I had a class in 10 minutes for which nothing was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1989, Christmas, class, dating, daughter, degree, drain, graduate, HND, honours, house, Internet, irony, life, mess, middle-aged, Monday, office, parents, personal, replace, research, timetable, TPR, unprepared | Leave a comment

David Mitchell’s ancestors and Rabelais (Rousse)

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Dreamaticus

David Mitchell and I were meant to be studying, but we kept on catching one another’s eye across the library table. As I wondered what it must be like to be married to him (lucky Victoria Coren) I found it … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ancestor, ancestors, caravan, class, classes, concentrate, cruel, David Mitchell, deadline, dissertation, e-mail, email, grandfather, Isle of Skye, John Forbes, library, marry, parishioner, parishioners, Rabelais, reunion, reverend, sin, Skye, Sleat, study, sympathy, teach, term, University of Birmingham, Victoria Coren, Victoria Coren Mitchell, work | Leave a comment

James Corden, Johnny Vegas, and a couple of neglected twins (Rousse)

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Dreamaticus

James Corden – or was it Johnny Vegas? – was the father of my twin baby sons. In our unconventional family set-up he did his best to care for the children while I was at work, but never thought to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baby, care, children, condition, diagnose, eczema, exercise, family, father, game, James Corden, Johnny Vegas, juggle, kids, Michael Joseph Pennington, neglect, shrink, Stuart, tea saucer, treat, twin, twins, work | Leave a comment

Husband leaves wife of 27 years for 18 year old (Rousse)

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Dreamaticus

TPR had been behaving rather strangely of late, and now I knew why. He was leaving me for a slim, glossy dark-haired, 18 year-old sixth former. I tried to show the girl friendship, but in reality I was preparing to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18 year old, 50th, bait, birthday, candidate, celebrations, dark, friendship, girl, husband, kill, lies, love, own, party, replacement, sister, slim, teenage, teenager, TPR, wife, years | Leave a comment

All eyes on the designer – and not the bride (Rousse)

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Normally all eyes would be on the bride, but MSB looked so beautiful in her modest office outfit of vintage-style 1950s hyacinth blue satin underwear (a tape measure in her hand) that on wedding days crowds gathered at the studio … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1950s, award, blue stain, bride, client, clients, crowds, designer, eyes, modest, office, outfit, studio, tape measure, underwear, vintage, wedding, win, window | Leave a comment

Barber Bruce Forsyth (Rousse)

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Dreamaticus

Bruce Forsyth ran into the room brandishing a pair of barber’s scissors. “Would you mind washing your hair in another bathroom love?” he asked. “I’ve got a client in for a hair cut.” I said that would be fine, picked … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1970s, barber, bathroom, buffet, catchphrase, client, conveyor belt, cut, hair, room, run, scissors, shout, table, wash | Leave a comment

Kidnapped by acrobats (Rousse)

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Dreamaticus

DT, TPR, LA and I met in a crowded bar. DT’s orange messenger-style handbag slipped off the back of the chair onto the floor and I stretched down to pick it up for her. It was at that moment that … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged acrobat, acrobats, audience, back, bag, bar, beg, chair, conference, dirty, exercise, feet, floor, gloves, handbag, hillside, invisible. performance, invite, kidnap, mask, messenger, moneky, newspaper, professional, release, remember, rocky, rubber, running, scruffy, sleep, spectator, steep, talent, throw, tough, training, tricks, twon, wall | Leave a comment

Christmas plans 2014 (Rousse)

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Dreamaticus

It was Christmas Eve and all that I had bought for the next day’s celebrations was a frozen turkey. There wasn’t a single carrot or brussel sprout in the house. Tesco would be heaving, and I doubted that the little … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2014, brussel, carrot, celebrations, Christmas, Christmas Eve, foot, frozen, galley, house, Kenton Close, kitchen, leg, market, meal, parents, plans, road, sprout, Stockton-on-Tees, surface, tarmac, Tesco, turkey | Leave a comment

Brilliance and sweeties at a Nordic lecture (Rousse)

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Dreamaticus

I didn’t recognised the speaker when she took the stage. “Who’s that?” I asked GW. “MH” she replied. “We all used to be terrified of her brilliance, but now we’re quite used to her”. I settled into my seat to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academics, auditorium, brilliance, candy, colleague, lecture, Nordic, seat, speaker, stage, sweeties, sweets | Leave a comment