little rabbits

Me: I have so many friends who are pregnant right now.

B: Yes, there are going to be so many little rabbits.

Me: ..... (horrified and wondering if its a reference to the phrase 'breeding like ...')

B: chinese zodiac lah.

Me: OOOH ~face palm~

*

two couples in conversation

Wife: Yeah I guess when the baby comes, things will be different. Harder to find couple time.

Husband (who shall remain un-named): Oh we can just sedate the baby....

Other Guy : I was just thinking that!!

Wife + other girl at table: ....!!!!!

*

Re reading Howl's Moving Castle after watching the animated Hayao Miyazaki film :) I shall never get tired of DWJ, never.

Anything. I was a reader.

What did you like to read when you were growing up?

Anything. I was a reader. My parents would frisk me before family events. Before weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, and what have you. Because if they didn't, then the book would be hidden inside some pocket or other and as soon as whatever it was got under way I'd be found in a corner. That was who I was...that was what I did. I was the kid with the book. Now having said that, I tended to gravitate towards anything fantastical be it SF, be it fantasy, be it horror, be it ghost stories or anything in that territory. But I was definitely the kind of kid that read anything.

From a 1999 Neil Gaiman interview.

*

That was pretty much me from age 8 onwards to ... well, I kind of never stopped being the girl in the corner with a book. It's always nice to find kindred spirits. People who love the written word, stories that thrill and overwhelm you and teach you new ways of seeing the world. I don't think it even matters if you started on Harry Potter, Narnia or Dahl - the point is that a well written story will take a life of its own and pull you in.

The water is rising

We got to Hoi-An on Monday afternoon, in time to walk around town and marvel at how the river had swollen since the last time M was in town. The next morning, the water seemed to have risen slightly but it wasn't until after lunch that we realized that it was really going to inundate the town.

By nightfall, the water had claimed the street closest to the river and the air was charged with urgency: local shopkeepers hurrying to get their goods off the ground level, motorbikes whizzing about and a heightened level of noise and alarm generally.

The next morning, the field behind our hotel had turned into a swamp and very large parts of town were inaccessible. But the oddest thing was that it was a lovely day - dry and clear - not even a hint of rain. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel's veranda, overlooking the swamp and the lone fisherman toiling to set his fishing lines through it, then walked out to find the river greeting us within ten metres of leaving the hotel.

I've done some travelling, but this is the first time I've ever patted a friend on the back and thanked her for booking a hotel a few streets back from the river.

One

Just one paper left - the hardest of the lot though.

The parents are back from Europe with oodles of chocolate and the loveliest stack of CDs. I've swiped the Placido Domingo and the Vienna Boys Choir one :)

Listening to Ave Maria (both the Schubert AND Gounod), munching on some gorgeous chocolate wafer thing (kind of like Loacker) and feeling blissed out. It's nice coming home from evidence law exam to all kinds of good stuff.

So blessed to have friends who care - Thanks so much to Meg(who's been emailing me encouragement), the sister (who sent me a post card all the way from Cambridge), Eilonwy, who's been praying and Mr Grey; he bought me rum and raisin ice-cream!

(And it was the rummiest rum and raisin ice cream too... it's a wonder I could study after that)

Back to the books tomorrow - but for tonight, some rest and music.