Month: February 2011

Whispering pigs

I felt slightly off my game for most of today. I’m not really sure I know what my game is, to be perfectly honest, but I know I felt slightly off it. It was an unexciting Tuesday all around.

I neglected to mention yesterday’s bit of Forgotten English, which is a shame, because it’s particularly nice. It’s “pig’s whisper,” meaning “a very short space of time.” One of the quotes is from Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers, in which he wrote, “You’ll find yourself in bed in something less than a pig’s whisper.”

Won’t one, though?

Busy(ish) Monday

Today, I:

  • went to the doctor;
  • called a local glass place about replacing my suddenly cracked windshield and set up an appointment for Friday;
  • grabbed a quick breakfast;
  • thoroughly failed to get a haircut;
  • went to the library, returning some books and picking up some more;
  • went to the post office, picking up some books I’d purchased from Nightshade Books, during their recent half-price sale;
  • watched a couple of episodes of Red Dwarf. I had completely forgotten that Kryten, in his first appearance, was played by a different actor;
  • read Shaun Tan’s beautiful graphic novel The Arrival. It still counts as reading if there are no words, right? and;
  • donated blood at a drive at my old elementary school.

This last wasn’t so weird — I’ve donated blood lots of times before, and been back to the school on occasion — but it seemed like it was being run largely by students of the school, plus one somewhat exasperated woman who kept telling reminding them of what they had to do. Like instruct people where they were supposed to go, or sit. Thankfully the kids were just walkers and administrative helpers, not actually the ones sticking needles in anyone’s arms. It was just a little comical watching them try to figure out what they were supposed to be doing. Asking fourth and fifth graders to remember multiple instructions, much less explain them to anyone else, may be asking too much. They seemed inordinately pleased when they discovered a task — like handing out donation stickers — that offered no ambiguity.

So that, basically, was my day. It’s back to work with me tomorrow.