The Churchills were famously terrible employers — Winston's wandering around naked didn’t help. Many a cook and kitchen maid left in tears; one reputedly went mad
THE TROUBLE WITH LOCKDOWNS: People are more likely to contract COVID-19 at home, study finds.
The Sincerity of a Single Fresh Flower – Quadrant Online
In this cemetery was a section set aside for the graves of children. There was here a little grave of a child aged two who had died nearly fifty years before. On this grave was a vase with a single fresh flower in it; and two years later, when I visited again, the vase was still there, and still with a fresh flower.
What a wealth of grief and suffering this simple sign suggested, that (I surmise) of a hopeful newlywed couple who perhaps had no further children to comfort them in what must now have been their old age! How small were my daily irritations compared with their grief! What impressed me also was the dignified lack of exhibitionism, that is to say the sincerity, of the gesture, very different from, say, the sensibility (or lack of it) shown in the immediate aftermath of Princess Diana’s death, when extremity of expression was mistaken for depth of feeling.
Artist Seamus Wray is painting a series of self-portraits of himself painting previous self-portraits, Inception-style. Here’s the first painting:
And then the most recent one (cats are increasingly involved):
You can see the full progression so far on his Instagram. The influence of MC Escher is obvious here, but the two things that sprung to mind more immediately for me were Annie Wong’s “time-tunnel artwork” (she takes periodic photographs of her and her son with the previous photograph in the background) and Macaulay Culkin wearing a t-shirt of Ryan Gosling wearing a t-shirt of Macaulay Culkin. Oh, and the Droste effect.
Twelve Things to Remember.
1) Talk to yourself. There are times you need expert advice.
2) ‘In Style’ are the clothes that still fit.
3) You don't need anger management. You need people to stop pissing you off.
4) Your people skills are just fine. It's your tolerance for idiots that needs work.
5) The biggest lie you tell yourself is, “I don't need to write that down. I'll remember it.”
6) ‘On time’ is when you get there.
7) Even duct tape can't fix stupid, but it sure does muffle the sound.
8) It would be wonderful if we could put ourselves in the dryer for ten minutes, then come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller?
9) Lately, you've noticed people your age are so much older than you.
10) Growing old should have taken longer.
11) Ageing has slowed you down, but it hasn't shut you up.
12) You still haven't learned to act your age and hope you never will.
And one more:
“One for the road” means peeing before you leave the house.
UNITED WE STAND!!!
