Grains Moyens

Le couscous permet la réalisation de nombreuses recettes simples et savoureuses.

get up so I can kill you and cuss you

All the neighbours seemed to have walked to the back of their gardens to cough, on that mid-summer evening seasoned with screams from the ferris wheel.

Odd that, screams from a ferris wheel.

Danger

he was following a train of thought - a second train hurtled down the track and slammed into his back

5 summer questions

Why isn't my uncle in the Jackson Five?
Would I enjoy knutselen?
Would I refuse foie gras?
Will a lizard shed part of its tail to escape what it perceives as danger?
How long should a blog entry be to achieve a ruminative quality and at what point does it escape the character of a Twitter message?
What do the children impart to adults on holiday?
Can words have umami?
Which of these questions qualify as 'summer questions'?

Inexplicable absence

I have been inexplicably absent from this weblog for a couple of weeks.

Roofvogel

Are roofvogels strong? Willem asked me.
They certainly are. I am a roofvogel. The English word is 'bird of prey'. Say it. No, not prey bird, 'bird of prey'.
Bird of prey.

John Dory

I finally plucked up the courage to look up the English translation of zonnevis. It is John Dory, a deep sea fish that feeds on other fish. Judging by its white flesh and the gentle Dutch name, I had no idea it was such an ugly fish. Also, John Dory sounds placid and good-natured.

John Dory looks like a curmudgeonly fish, spiteful and opinionated. And yet, might he not reveal himself to be possessed of warmth, irony and empathy?

Wonder Pets come to the rescue of a skunk.
A child buys a lolly shaped like a dummy or a butt-plug.

Can I learn some German by reading Rilke in translation? I need some very fine chocolate.