Feeling woozy and a bit achy this morning, but I don’t think it’s flu: I think it’s the antibiotics I’m on for a UT infection. I’m about to have my hair cut, so monitoring the effects of that should be interesting. Our hairdresser Linda, normally blonde, has arrived with startling red hair, so I shall have to keep my eye on her. The weather has turned much milder, but there’s been a fair bit of rain, with the usual flooding in the Tas valley.
The recycling stuff hasn’t been collected since before Christmas, so yesterday Dot and I went to the tip and were strangely exhilarated by getting rid of a carload. Later, and coincidentally, a council guy came round and explained the new system; happily, he also noticed the mounds of uncollected rubbish in the street and made inquiries. He was told it had been collected, which must be one of the least convincing lies ever told.
The week began, as I mentioned last time, with Dot and Barbara doing a philosophy session at Dulwich College prep school: very good result – both of them extremely impressed with the school and hoping for a return match. In the evening I got a good result myself, winning quite a good game against a player ranked higher than me. It was in fact the return match of our club A and B teams, and the B team won 2½-1½. (Burrows ½, Moore 1, Tuffin 0, Lenton 1)
Apart from my annoying UT infection, Dot managed to injure her back and was incapacitated for a couple of days. She’s still pretty stiff. Both feeling our age for a while, but no doubt it will pass, though of course there will come a time when it doesn’t. Meanwhile I’ve been landed with the job of DCC treasurer, at least on a temporary basis, and am going for a clarification session with our current treasurer, Vicky, next week. Vicky has recently given birth to George, who isn’t quite ready to take the job over yet.
As I was in the city a couple of days ago and feeling rather below par I decided to go and see the Art of Faith exhibition at the Castle Museum. It occurred to me that if I was getting flu (for example) it would be closed before I recovered. Dot obviously wants to see it too, but she was happy that I went. Sometimes you miss things simply because you can’t co-ordinate as a couple. Still, we did get together to go to the cinema last night for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the latest Narnia film, in 3D. Pretty spectacular and nicely done, I thought, justifying its good reviews. The exhibition was also good, though I don’t get as blown away as some people by artefacts and the guesses as to their functions. Some nice artwork, though, and interesting links to the Paston period, including Oxburgh Hall. I did enjoy the exhibition film Something Understood, which cut the practising of different faiths with shots of the Norfolk countryside; and a stunning painting by a Baha’i artist.
On leaving, and after buying the catalogue book for Dot, I was accosted by a woman doing market research about my museum experience and was reminded how useless such research is (How many times have you been to a museum in the last year? I have no idea; let’s say four.) The woman was interesting, though: on hearing I was a writer, she revealed that she’s written a book called I’m a Street Girl Now which, in case you were wondering, is about her market research experiences. Not often you come across a marker research person with a sense of humour.
I’ve just finished Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen – a quite long American novel given to me (together with four others) by David Coomes. I quite enjoyed it: it was witty and you got involved with the characters, though you never really liked any of them. At least, I didn’t. It did have some striking things to say – by implication– on the nature of freedom, though you did wonder if it would all have worked out so nicely if one of the main characters hadn’t been killed in a road accident.
OK, I’ve had my haircut now and am reminded of some lines from once-Poet Laureate Alfred Austin on the medical condition of the King at the time: Across the wires the electric message came / He is no better, he is much the same.