My notebook

next to my computer I keep scraps of paper and a notebook. Scraps for 'whatevers', the notebook for more serious things like qoutes and thoughts.

I came across this in an article about something I don't recall, but I jotted down the quote.

Verba Volant, Scripta Manent.

It was translated as :   Spoken words fly away, but the written ones stay.

I rather liked it.

A lttle royal ?

I was on Youtube looking for the names of some spectacular dancers I had just seen the other night dance the Don Q pas de deux on my arts channel.

I found them and in my search got intrigued by a video about Royal Jewels ( Kongelige Juveler ) which I had never seen before and since today is one of the rare and miserable grey days with rain and leaden skies that one was so used to living in Seattle, I decided to watch and I had a wonderful morning looking at sparklies and learning about their history.

The queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, when interviewed, said about the jewels
'we don't measure them in carats; we measure them in centuries '.

I guess she has a particular right to say that as her family has ruled Denmark for more than ten centuries.

And then I read some of the comments ( not always a good thing to do ) and found the usual complaints about royalty and their existence.

To this rant I can only ask why, if one feels this way about roaylty, would anyone watch an hour long video specifically dealing with royals and their jewels. Why ?

I loathe bullfight and I would no more seek out videos about this gory spectacle than I would go to one.  But they are there and one can only hope that they will die out for lack of interest.

In the meantime I had a lovely morning being a little royal.  And the dreary morning just sped by, and that was an added bonus.

Do People Read Me ?

I don't even know if people read me and, in the final analysis, it is only part of the joy of blogging.
I love writing;  I love clarifying my mostly muddy thoughts, and putting word down does just that...clarifies.

So here I am after a long while and I like being back.
Many thoughts and many posts.

I am here.

And so it is Xmas.  
Well, technically the big day is over, presents have been shared, disappointments hidden and now we take a deep breath and gird our loins and get ready for ......
New Year.

I don't much care for Xmas and I care even less for New Year, the time when most people get all snivelly and sentimental and drunk and live to regret it the next day.

I have been there and I would most likely be there again if I lived closer to civilization and not in a house on a hill in a wood many miles from any signs of life. Well not entirely true. There is the village at the bottom of my hill and the people there can be very noisy when called for. As I am sure they will be for New Year's celebration.

Bette Davies in the movie 'All About Eve' says, sitting in cab driving from a friend's house to the train station to get to New York for her performance that night, says that 'the house in the country' is one thing she will never understand.

to paraphrase her totally, I say that the need for noise, particularly around new year, is a thing I do not understand.....nor like.

And like Bette I roll my eyes and know, just know, that I am right and the rest of the world so utterly and definitely wrong.

It feels good to be right.

Not a bad way to start the new year......being right.

fecundity vs ferocity

I checked some plants I have growing in pots and I noticed that some insects had gotten to them and eaten part of their leaves.
Always they find the plants you treasure the most
and yet
it is rare that even bad leaf eating insect attacks will kill the plants. Mame them. yes. Disfigure them, yes. Kill them, not so much.
And that made me think that maybe Mother Nature has a plan that I have failed to see.
It made me wonder if there is some sort of master plan, that in climates like ours where things grow so easily, the fecundity ratio is balanced by the ferocity of the insects
A thought.
A silly thought perhaps, but still.

Anyway. My plants look like Cinderella before the ball.
Now I hope that after some time they will look like her at the ball all spiffy and lovely.

Six States of Drunkenness

On a site that I read frequently, devoted to the joy of words, I came across this little gem.
In includes two important things in my life.....the love of words and the occasional over-indulgence in spirits.

Six States of  Drunkenness

1.  Verbose

2.  Jocose

3.  Morose

4.  Lachrymose

5. Bellicose

6. Comatose

Pretty cool, No!

Once a year, if you live here in Mexico, you have to renew your visa, much like in the old days if you lived in the USA and you had a green card, you had to report your whereabouts once a year.

In the past the immigration service was a very personal thing here, a fiefdom ruled--when I became aware of it--by Alicia.  All the expats knew who Alicia was, and most of them feared her.
In those days she, as head of the immigration service, had unlimited power. If she liked you, you were fine. If not, you might find that your application for a visa had been inexplicably denied.
And then things changed.   Suddenly it was more transparent and Alicia, after heaven only knows how many years in the service, retired and like a retired Washington politician, she became a purveyor of visas to all the people who used to shiver at the mention of her name.

And so here we are, many years later and of a sudden the federal government decides to change the rules again. All for the better, we are told. To make things easier, we are told. To speed up the process, we are told.
HA.

I mistakenly thought that I could squeeze in on the old rules but missed by minutes, so I was sent home to apply again and present myself with the new application post haste.
Which I did.
And things were fine until I had to do the final steps and was informed that the forms needed for completing this procedure were not available. 

Please to check with the office.

 When I was told by email that the forms were ready I again appeared at the office only to be told  that--again--the forms were not available.   Please to check back in 2 weeks.

This simple and silly procedure which I have done for more years than I care to remember is now turning into a living nightmare. I have an upset stomach just writing about it.

That is not a way to live, particularly not for old geezers like me. We need gentle handling we do, we bruise so easily now, and the expiration date is closer and closer.

you see what I mean ?