Well, as the title says, it is my birthday today. I am 48. It seems that my forties are going so quickly. Each birthday feels like coming faster than the previous one. Only two years, and I am in another decade. On the plus side, I am a father, I will have a nice birthday with my close family, especially Wolfie, who always make it fun. Getting older has its perks, as long as you don't celebrate alone.
Happy Easter everyone! I will celebrate quietly, as I am back from York, but that doesn't mean that there will be no rejoicing in this household. As it is a tradition for me, I do Easter in music, specifically Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Christ of music. I always listen to some of the Great Mass in C Minor . Here's a bit of it, sung by Lisette Oropesa, one of my favourite.
Demain c'est Pâques. Tout sera fermé ici, ou à peu près. Et comme on revient de voyage, il n'y a pas grand-chose à manger dans la maison, à part du chocolat. Enfin, on peut se consoler, ça pourrait être pire et on pourra se sucrer le bec. Au Québec, vous pouvex consulter ce bref article de la grosse Presse, un entrefilet, qui vous dira ce qui est ouvert (ou pas) demain et lundi. Ne me remerciez pas.
My wife, Wolfie and me were walking a few days ago and we crossed two police officers in uniform discussing. One was explaining something to the other and was saying: "So we are about to execute a sting operation..." We were surprised at hearing like this a police officer discussion strategy in the street. Although we didn't hear more details about it. As you may know sting operation is a deceptive operation using undercover police officers to lure suspects into incriminating themselves. It's often used in crime fiction, and I hope that this brief and accidental eavesdropping will inspire my own writing. In any case, this is the word of the day.
We're in that difficult time of year for the cold weather lover that I am: it gets cold then hot then cold within a day. I prefer when it's cold, or at least cool, round the clock. It also means I must learn to wear layers of clothes, which I can shed as the day goes on. It's not great, but at least it's not always hot. Am I normal for longing for cold days?
Parce que Pâques arrive, une question existentielle:
-Quand devraient commencer les vacances de Pâques?
One of the things I like about reading Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, is that I end up learning a lot of trivial things. McBain is really good at giving inocuous details that may not be relevant to the plot, but just give layers to the characters and their life. So in The Mugger, the protagonist's (who in this novel is Bert Kling) romantic interest is fond of cognac. So she gives him a crash course that is short but enthusiastic and I am now more knowledgeable thanks to it. I don't think I ever drank cognac, except maybe in cocktails, but even then that's a big maybe. I am now curious about it.
We are going on a fairly long train journey soon, for a short holiday. Which made Wolfie enthusiastic. He seems to be just as much a railway enthusiast as I am. Like me, he seems to have understood that the journey is as much as holiday as the time spent away. That's my impression anyway. I would even say that he is planning the journey as a sort of game: he already told me what he wants to eat, what he wants to wear, oh and he added that he wants the time spent there to be part of our War Game. I'm actually amazed: I used to do the exact same thing at his age.
Nous sommes aujourd'hui le Dimanche des Rameaux. Même si je ne suis plus catholique (pas que j'aie été très pratiquant du temps que je l'étais), il n'en est pas moins que ça représente pour moi la dernière ligne droite avant Pâques. C'est un dimanche qui peut parfois me paraître interminable, encore aujourd'hui.
As I mentioned not long ago, I associate Easter with Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, both their myths and their history. So when Easter comes, I watch and read a lot of sword and sandal stuff. I recently finished the Roman Empire docu-drama series on Netflix, narrated by Sean Bean. It's often rigged with inaccuracies (Claudius is depicted as rather handsome and with no stutter or physical ailment whatsoever for instance) and it gets ridiculously melodramatic at a time, but no more than your usual peplum. And there are historians commenting and giving some proper perspective. But I'd enjoy it just for Sean Bean's voice. In any case, watching it has been great fun and it's perfect for Easter.
Je reviens sur la production de Don Giovanni de Mozart par Opéra du Royaume, qui bat son plein en ce moment. Dernière représentation demain, piur ceux qui peuvent. Je voulais aussi dire quue vous pouvez lire sur le site d'Opéra du Royaume une courte biographie de Lorenzo da Ponte, le librettiste de l'opéra. Je savais pas mal tout ça, à part un détail ou deux. Mais dans tous les cas, c'est un bon résumé de la vie du plus grand librettistes (à mon humble avis) de l'histoire de l'opéra. En fait, da Ponte est un grand dramaturge, point.
It happens from time to time (read this post from 2022), a strange and, frankly, baffling phenomenon: I always appear short of bookmarks. Ironic, since I kind of collect them. Every time I stop at the local bookshop and buy a book, I receive a free one. I buy bookmarks whenever I see them in libraries, or in in souvenirs shops when I travel. Or indeed wherever I can find one. I receive them as presents sometimes. I should therefore have more bookmarks than books. Apparently not. Apart from the favourite ones I have which are already assigned to specific books, the others seem to disappear. Or the same monster who eats socks is eating bookmarks too. Who knows. But whatever the reason, every time I need one, I cannot find any. Am I the only one with the same problem?
