The Long Goodbye

Sometimes I wonder if Vraie Fiction should not be renamed Crime Fiction. Anyway, I recently finished a novel which I wanted to recommend to my readers: The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. His longest novel, his most autobiographical, maybe the most literary, maybe also the most existentialist.It was also the one Chandler considered to be his best. In it, private eye Philip Marlowe befriends Terry Lennox, alcoholic married to the daughter of a media mogul and reluctantly helps failed writer Roger Wade, also alcoholic. Both plots intertwine and merges seamlessly, death and violence abound, in the end the dead have little to envy the living, who manage to survive but at a heavy price. They are wounded, scarred, both emotionally and physically. It's more than four hundred pages, but it never feels like it, in fact you would wish the story to last a little longer, so as not to say goodbye too early.

Le soleil et les heures printannières

Photo prise au Cardiff Castle et je la télécharge ici parce qu'elle sert mon propos. J'ai récemment blogué sur le soleil, j'ai aussi blogué sur les heures diurnes qui rallongent. Tant le matin qui est de plus en plus matinal qu'en soirée, lorsque le soir ne tombe plus vraiment vite. Le printemps est donc pas mal ici. Plus décourageant encore: on va passer à l'heure avancée en Amérique du Nord pas plus tard que cette fin de semaine. Je déteste ça (oui, oui, je déteste les jours qui rallongent), parce qu'on perd une heure de sommeil, qui est déjà assez léger pour moi en temps normal, et parce que je n'aime pas les journées trop longues. Pas que je n'aime pas le soleil, mais je l'aime à doses modérées.

Tea for Easter

You will forgive me if I blog again about teas. I do it often these days. Easter is on its way and that means businesses are getting their Easter themed stuff to sell. This is the case for David's Tea: they have a new Easter Collection. Among the accessories this year there is a cool design of rabbits. I always prefer their autumn collection, which for me is always so perfect for both the season and the teas, but I have to say, these mugs are very, very cute and I would happily add one extra mug to my collection. I think I could even convince my wife. Even though she does not like tea, she often likes the designs from David's Tea and sometimes even uses the mugs for her coffees. As for Wolfie, he adores the mugs we already have and love rabbits. But sadly, I am a bit far away to make a purchase.

Snickers aux amandes (et autres)

Bon ben ça va mal: j'avais acheté durant mon séjour au Québec deux barres de Snickers aux amandes (yum, yum), j'ai fini par les manger toutes les deux. Celle sur cette photo était la dernière. (Et oui, ça peut sembler cave, mais il m'arrive de photographier un truc aussi bête qu'une barre de chocolat quand je veux faire de ma food porn.) Je ne retrouve plus de Snickers aux noisettes nulle part ici, qui était encore meilleure que la Snickers aux amandes. Je ne trouve pas non plus de barre Mars aux amandes, que je n'ai pas mangée depuis des années, mais qui a l'avantage comme les autres susmentionnées de mélanger chocolat et noix et donc de me donner un petit boost d'énergie et d'endorphines quand j'en ai besoin. Faudra me trouver autre chose, de la Snickers aux banals arachides sans doute, mais la Snickers aux amandes ça avait de la gueule.

Mornings and evenings

First signs of springtime I noticed: the sun rises earlier everyday sun goes down later and later every evening, enough so I do not leave work when it is pitch black. It is March after all and thus the days are getting longer as we are getting nearer the equinox And I am not sure (at all) if I like the longer days. It generally means less time to sleep in the morning and I find it far less relaxing. I know this is strange, but I can't help it.

"En Califournie"

Je pense à la Californie ces temps-ci et je ne vous dirai pas pourquoi afin de ne pas vendre la mèche, mais j'ai une anecdote anodine et assez bête sur le sujet. Dans un cours de français de secondaire 5, ma classe avait dû lire une nouvelle de Félix Leclerc qui justement parlait de Californie: deux frères en revenaient avec des oranges et ils se disaient y avoir ait fortune. Et le prof disait, "Califournie" À l'époque, ça m'avait fait tiquer. Un prof de français. Ça ne m'a pas autant agacé que "vangance" et "squolettes", mais tout de même un tantinet.

Master Wolfie

Here is a charming little British tradition I discovered since I became a father: they use the word Master as a form of address for young boys. In the Wikipedia entry, they say that it is used for male heirs of a large estate, which is not the case for our son. It is a bit restrictive, however: when we got him prescribed medication, "Master" was on the form before his name. For doctors, dentists and others, he us therefore Master Wolfie. Which makes sense: he kind of rules the household sometimes, or tries to, and wherever he goes behaves like a ruler. So Master as a form of address is our word of the day. And it might become one of Wolfie's sweet names.

Un tronc d'arbre

J'ai pris cette photo dans le parc situé près de mon lieu de travail. J'aime vraiment m'y promener lors de ma pause en après-midi, je trouve ça relaxant et ça me donne une dose nécessaire d'oxygène. Mais enfin bref, qui dit parc dit arbres, dont certains sont très imposants. Même lorsque, comme pour celui-ci, on a coupé les branches et qu'il ne reste plus que le tronc, toujours enraciné. Je le trouve tout de même un peu triste sans ses branches. Je ne sais pas trop ce qu'il est non plus. Quelqu'un peut l'identifier, rien qu'en regardant l'écorce? Enfin bref, cette photo peut vous sembler un peu morne, mais je le trouve joli ce tronc d'arbre.

About secret passages

This is the classic board of Clue (or Cluedo as it was originally known in the UK) which is one of my favourite board games. there are two sets of secret passages: one between the kitchen and the studio and one between the conservatory and the lounge. As I blogged before, I always loved the mansion in the game. For many reasons, but one of them being the presence of these secret passages. Secret passages might be cheap tropes in whodunits an detective fiction, so gratuitous in fact that they were heavily criticized early on, but they were also a common element in my make belief games as a child. My brothers and I used them as plot points, sometimes as atmospheric settings themselves (and not merely part of the setting) or even as MacGuffin. We even had a few "real ones" to use sometimes (read my post here). And it never completely left me: I still love the idea of secret passages in fiction, if used properly.

Trouvez la pie

Petit jeu pour commencer la journée: ma femme a pris une photo d'une pie dans un arbre, trouvez-la. Bon, c'est assez facile, surtout que ces temps-ci, ce n'est pas encore très vert dehors. Il y a bien des pies ici en Angleterre, ou magpies comme on les appelle. Leur  plumage de blanc, noir et bleu est assez distinctif et leur présence m'avait frappé la première fois que je suis arrivé ici. Je les aime bien et j'espère partager d'autres photos de pies où elles seront plus visibles.

Darjeeling and Earl Grey mix

The teas from Tea Pigs are fairly popular in the region where we are, as an upmarket brand of tea. I don't often think of buying them, but I enjoy them from time to time. Last week, we went to a tea room in a nearby town, and they had their products, including a Darjeeling and Earl Grey mix. It was delicious, a delicate tea with just enough caffeine to give the bit of extra energy to keep you alert for the rest of an afternoon. After this discovery, I think I should explore the products of this brand a bit more.

Le soleil et le temps

Photo prise au Totnes Museum et elle sert mon propos, c'est pourquoi je la partage ici. Enfin, la routine habituelle quoi. La neige est partie aussi subitement qu'elle est venue. Il fait moins froid, mais gris. Nous sommes en mars. Le soir tombe plus tard. L'équinoxe est pour bientôt, le changement d'heures aussi. Le printemps serait-il donc sournoisement arrivé? Je dis sournoisement, parce que le soleil se fait discret. Je ne me rappelle même plus de la dernière journée ensoleillée. Mais justement, le printemps n'est pas toujours joli et plein de lumière. Dans tous les cas, même si le soleil se cache, il poursuit sa course et le temps passe, assez pour dire, en mars, que le printemps est arrivé.

To stay in or to go out?

The snow that recently fell has now mostly melted and it looks very dreary and grey outside. The kind of time when you would rather stay in, if only because it's so depressing when you look outside the window. And it's not like there is no chores to do here, in fact there are plenty. However, the snow falls and "severe" weather warnings had forced us to stay in as much as possible all week and thus we tend to feel very much cabin feverish, my wife, little Wolfie and I. And just staying in all day on a Saturday, it's just as depressing. We live for the weekend and want to make the most of it. So we compromised and went out for a little bit more than an hour, after spending a lot of time inside. It felt good, in spite of the very miserable look of the outside world after the lovely snow. I wonder what we will decide to do tomorrow.

"Tu es si petit, c'est si grand le monde..."

Il fut un temps où j'étais un avide spectateur de Samedi jeunes, qui passait à tous les samedis matin. J'ai notamment souvent regardé Nils Holgersson (que j'ai par après lu). Ce n'était pas ma série préférée, mais j'ai beaucoup aimé malgré tout, notamment la musique du générique final. Maintenant que je suis papa, je me la rechante souvent et je la chante à mon fils et les paroles prennent vraiment tout leur sens. Alors j'ai décidé de la partager avec vous ce soir, pour tous les parents et futurs parents notamment.

A cat in the snow

So it has been snowing these last few days and my wife took a few pictures of our life in this last blast of winter. It has been hellish in many ways, with public transport disturbed and roads messed up, but at least some members of this household seem to be enjoying it. Little Wolfie for one (see my previous post) and Domino, who surprisingly spent a lot of time outside. Remember in December last year, our cat was hesitant about it. Not this time: he really enjoys walking around. And I always wanted to share a picture of Domino in the snow, so now it is done.

Premiers pas dans la neige

Les récentes bordées de neige (enfin bordées, le mot est fort) ont permis de faire redécouvrir à notre fils cet élément et ce, de beaucoup plus près. Il a donc fait jeudi dernier ses premiers pas dans la neige, grâce à des bottes que ma femme a trouvées dans nos vêtements de seconde main. Ses pas sont encore incertains, il est beaucoup plus hésitant que lorsqu'il marche sur le vrai sol, mais il adore ça et n'est guère pressé de rentrer.

A (future) visit to the bookshop

I missed World Book Day yesterday, or at least could not blog about it in time, too busy with other things. But I read as usual, so nothing was lost. And, more importantly, for me every day is World Book Day. And I will celebrate it belatedly by going to the local bookshop and buying a few books. The local bookshop, or another one, for instance the Wallingford Bookshop, which I have not visited in a long while. I have been wanting to correct this. Like the local one, it is an independent bookshop and I always find something new and unexpected there that I want. If it wasn't for the bookshop we have in our town, we would be visiting Wallingford more often.

Le parc sous la neige

 Il semblerait que l'hiver veuille s'attarder ici: il a neigé beaucoup depuis quelques jours, en tout cas pour les standards anglais. Un gros centimètre environ, là où on est, ce qui crée des routes bloquées et du chaos partout. Cela dit, ça crée des paysages saisissants, par exemple le parc près du travail. Je me suis promené là hier et c'était vraiment magnifique.

Griff the Dragon

Today is the first of March, which means Saint David's Day, which is also the national day of Wales, as he is their patron saint. I have one very specific memory of the day, which I told here. But to commemorate this year, I have decided to present on this blog another member of my son's plush menagerie. This is Griff the Dragon, who is very Welsh, as we bought him during our stay in Cardiff. Wolfie was quite fond of him when we bought Griff. He cuddles him a bit less nowadays, maybe because Griff is a bit small. But Griff is out of the teddies' bag today and ready to celebrate his homeland's national day with little Wolfie.

Question existentielle (322)

Nous sommes le premier mars, alors une question existentielle sur le mois, qui rejoint un peu mon état d'esprit ces jours-ci:

-Idéalement, devrait-on prendre des vacances en mars?