Saturday, January 31, 2004
ملوخية [mlukhiya]
the first time I tried this dish I really hated it. but then again I was about 10 and any spinach-based dish looks and tastes weird to a child. now I really like it but I couldn't find the spinach powder in england (ok - I haven't really looked for it). I bought some today and next week I'll be able to cook it. so any reader friend feeling like trying it is more than welcome to pop in for a sample meal! Here comes the recipe, just in case you can get hold of the ingredients (and are not freaked out by the quantity of oil required - mind you, this is the diet version!):
mix 100g of spinach powder with one bowl of cooking oil, stirring over a small flame. add the diced 500g of lamb and cook for about 5 minutes. then add half a litre (a pint) of boiling water. add one finely chopped onion, some spicy chilli, salt, laurel and a small clove of garlic (whole). simmer for about 3 hours, stirring regularly. when the oil floats back to the surface, add 2 crushed cloves of garlic and one tablespoon of طبل قروية (I am told this is basically half coriander / half carvi but I don't know the english name of the latter, I'll check later...)
the first time I tried this dish I really hated it. but then again I was about 10 and any spinach-based dish looks and tastes weird to a child. now I really like it but I couldn't find the spinach powder in england (ok - I haven't really looked for it). I bought some today and next week I'll be able to cook it. so any reader friend feeling like trying it is more than welcome to pop in for a sample meal! Here comes the recipe, just in case you can get hold of the ingredients (and are not freaked out by the quantity of oil required - mind you, this is the diet version!):
mix 100g of spinach powder with one bowl of cooking oil, stirring over a small flame. add the diced 500g of lamb and cook for about 5 minutes. then add half a litre (a pint) of boiling water. add one finely chopped onion, some spicy chilli, salt, laurel and a small clove of garlic (whole). simmer for about 3 hours, stirring regularly. when the oil floats back to the surface, add 2 crushed cloves of garlic and one tablespoon of طبل قروية (I am told this is basically half coriander / half carvi but I don't know the english name of the latter, I'll check later...)
ancestors
while talking with my mum today, I finally managed to understand who was who in her family, at what point my ancestors emigrated from sicily to tunisia, and when they emigrated again, this time to france. turns out all my maternal great-great-grandparents (all 8 of them) left sicily around 1900, from different towns in sicily. they presumably lived in some kind of sicilian ghetto around tunis, which explains while they all ended up marrying fellow sicilians. and they were hardly powerful maffiosi I'm afraid... apart from one obscure local nobleman of albanian extraction, they were very simple people. they probably left sicily in search of work, not because they were wanted by the police... still, it beats my paternal grand-mother's side where the same surnames keep cropping up in various combinations as far back as we managed to go (18th century). inbreeding... h-e-l-l-o!
while talking with my mum today, I finally managed to understand who was who in her family, at what point my ancestors emigrated from sicily to tunisia, and when they emigrated again, this time to france. turns out all my maternal great-great-grandparents (all 8 of them) left sicily around 1900, from different towns in sicily. they presumably lived in some kind of sicilian ghetto around tunis, which explains while they all ended up marrying fellow sicilians. and they were hardly powerful maffiosi I'm afraid... apart from one obscure local nobleman of albanian extraction, they were very simple people. they probably left sicily in search of work, not because they were wanted by the police... still, it beats my paternal grand-mother's side where the same surnames keep cropping up in various combinations as far back as we managed to go (18th century). inbreeding... h-e-l-l-o!
symbolic borders
I was chatting with レンちゃん the other day in the kitchen and he was telling me how shocked he was initially to see europeans place food directly on the table, i.e. not on a plate, or see them dice and chop food on it. I thought about that again a few days later, and I realised that I am just as surprised to see him leave 'unclean' things (such as the cat's brush) on the table. and that's when it hit me - we basically view the table in a very different way. for me (and maybe for other europeans too?) the kitchen table is primarily a food area, therefore a 'clean' place, essentially a symbolic extension of the plate. for him (and for other japanese people?), the table is 'unclean' and naturally food should not to be placed directly on it. of course this is still just a theory, I'll ask him what he thinks when I get back.
in the same train of thought, while for most french families it is polite to take your shoes off when you visit someone's house, for italians it is the other way round. it is perceived as taking too many liberties, acting as if the place was yours. (is a british bank going to use this for an advert I wonder?)
I was chatting with レンちゃん the other day in the kitchen and he was telling me how shocked he was initially to see europeans place food directly on the table, i.e. not on a plate, or see them dice and chop food on it. I thought about that again a few days later, and I realised that I am just as surprised to see him leave 'unclean' things (such as the cat's brush) on the table. and that's when it hit me - we basically view the table in a very different way. for me (and maybe for other europeans too?) the kitchen table is primarily a food area, therefore a 'clean' place, essentially a symbolic extension of the plate. for him (and for other japanese people?), the table is 'unclean' and naturally food should not to be placed directly on it. of course this is still just a theory, I'll ask him what he thinks when I get back.
in the same train of thought, while for most french families it is polite to take your shoes off when you visit someone's house, for italians it is the other way round. it is perceived as taking too many liberties, acting as if the place was yours. (is a british bank going to use this for an advert I wonder?)
konzentrat
been blogging a bit but it's only today that I have been able to connect to the net. so here is an update...
been blogging a bit but it's only today that I have been able to connect to the net. so here is an update...
going 'home'
going back to stay with your parents after a 15 year plus absence can only be fraught with tension and reawakened teenage angst... right? unless you've been distanced for so long maybe. somehow, all the little things that used to drive me up the wall leave me strangely unaffected. I even find a lot of the stuff around me strangely alien. different ways of doing things, different smells... there are numerous objects I recognise and which look awfully familiar, but because the house itself is a place I've never lived in, they lack the original setting and look somehow out of place, just like me. so going 'home' is not really going 'home' at all.
having been away for so long, there are so many things I see now which I had never realised before. the cleanliness for one, it is all so very clean. it would without any doubt get the monica seal of approval, and maybe even give her a tiny orgasm. I can feel a lot of neurotic activity around me - but now I can see it's a double neurosis, a neurosis in two parts which mirror and feed off each other. everything in this house has its place, its time, and I know that any slight alteration of this fragile equilibrium would lead to an immediate meltdown. so I am keeping calm, reminding myself why I am here and keeping a low profile.
an old-time blog
was slightly freaked to discover that every telephone call is carefully logged in, as the caller is speaking (my sister's call unwittingly helped me see the process at work). I read that my annoyed phone call from london yesterday was duly logged in and crypted as follows: "nous nous entendons sur certaines choses"...
more blogs!
I thought I had seen it all, but turns out it was only the tip of the iceberg. there is another little book in which all expenses are carefully logged in, and even a third one, where bus trips are recorded. I am not sure what is logged in beside the date and time, and I was too afraid to ask. looks like in my 15 years absence, without the presence of relatively normal kids to keep all this logging activity in check, unbridled neuroses have taken over this small universe. I dread to think where all this is going and to what realms it may have extended...
going back to stay with your parents after a 15 year plus absence can only be fraught with tension and reawakened teenage angst... right? unless you've been distanced for so long maybe. somehow, all the little things that used to drive me up the wall leave me strangely unaffected. I even find a lot of the stuff around me strangely alien. different ways of doing things, different smells... there are numerous objects I recognise and which look awfully familiar, but because the house itself is a place I've never lived in, they lack the original setting and look somehow out of place, just like me. so going 'home' is not really going 'home' at all.
having been away for so long, there are so many things I see now which I had never realised before. the cleanliness for one, it is all so very clean. it would without any doubt get the monica seal of approval, and maybe even give her a tiny orgasm. I can feel a lot of neurotic activity around me - but now I can see it's a double neurosis, a neurosis in two parts which mirror and feed off each other. everything in this house has its place, its time, and I know that any slight alteration of this fragile equilibrium would lead to an immediate meltdown. so I am keeping calm, reminding myself why I am here and keeping a low profile.
an old-time blog
was slightly freaked to discover that every telephone call is carefully logged in, as the caller is speaking (my sister's call unwittingly helped me see the process at work). I read that my annoyed phone call from london yesterday was duly logged in and crypted as follows: "nous nous entendons sur certaines choses"...
more blogs!
I thought I had seen it all, but turns out it was only the tip of the iceberg. there is another little book in which all expenses are carefully logged in, and even a third one, where bus trips are recorded. I am not sure what is logged in beside the date and time, and I was too afraid to ask. looks like in my 15 years absence, without the presence of relatively normal kids to keep all this logging activity in check, unbridled neuroses have taken over this small universe. I dread to think where all this is going and to what realms it may have extended...
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
books read this month
* nothomb, amélie (2002) stupeur et tremblements
* vera, hernán & gordon, andrew (2003) screen saviors: hollywood fictions of whiteness
* humphrey, caroline (2002) the unmaking of soviet life: everyday economies after socialism
* morris, desmond (1986) catwatching: the essential guide to cat behaviour
* nothomb, amélie (2002) stupeur et tremblements
* vera, hernán & gordon, andrew (2003) screen saviors: hollywood fictions of whiteness
* humphrey, caroline (2002) the unmaking of soviet life: everyday economies after socialism
* morris, desmond (1986) catwatching: the essential guide to cat behaviour
Monday, January 26, 2004
meatrix
レンちゃん alerted me to this website today and I thought it was pretty funny so I thought I'd share it... and there's another matrix-inspired website worth looking into: this one, which was actually a flash mob, long before the phenomenon reached london and the rest of europe. incidentally, I was at the first london flashmob, and I can't say I was overly impressed. the idea was ok but the place badly chosen. I would have much preferred to do something a bit weirder, like getting everyone to stop on oxford street at the very same second, looking up, freaking out the tourists...
レンちゃん alerted me to this website today and I thought it was pretty funny so I thought I'd share it... and there's another matrix-inspired website worth looking into: this one, which was actually a flash mob, long before the phenomenon reached london and the rest of europe. incidentally, I was at the first london flashmob, and I can't say I was overly impressed. the idea was ok but the place badly chosen. I would have much preferred to do something a bit weirder, like getting everyone to stop on oxford street at the very same second, looking up, freaking out the tourists...
Sunday, January 25, 2004
dancing twins
went to this place called sanctuary on greek street last night. a guy was playing at the piano and he was pretty good. the punters were singing along and vale thought it was very much like ally mcbeal's bar. and since vale's faux-twin was there, it even had the dancing twins! I'm not sure which character I was playing. I want to say renée, but I think I was more a john cage tonight...
went to this place called sanctuary on greek street last night. a guy was playing at the piano and he was pretty good. the punters were singing along and vale thought it was very much like ally mcbeal's bar. and since vale's faux-twin was there, it even had the dancing twins! I'm not sure which character I was playing. I want to say renée, but I think I was more a john cage tonight...
Saturday, January 24, 2004
монгол хэл
finally... I have finally found a mongolian teacher. and he's a very nice guy too! I am starting as of monday, and I am planning to do 2 hours a week. very exciting :-)
finally... I have finally found a mongolian teacher. and he's a very nice guy too! I am starting as of monday, and I am planning to do 2 hours a week. very exciting :-)
Friday, January 23, 2004
carrot report
this is my first carrot report. the now-famous vegetable was transplanted this afternoon into its own new pot and is enjoying fresh soil. I will regularly upload a new picture as it grows. this may well become the most popular feature of this blog...
Thursday, January 22, 2004
lost in boredom
I was not planning to use this blog as a movie review but I thought I needed to warn anyone who may be tempted to go and see lost in translation. this may well be one of the worst and most boring movies - ever. I have two main complaints. the first one is that I (and the three friends who saw it with me) got incredibly bored, which is not a good sign. the second one is that it is little more than a big caricature of japanese culture. racial stereotypes are constantly reinforced with the most 'exotic' that japan has to offer and japanese people are portrayed as positively weird and alienating. the two main actors are bored throughout (or maybe merely blasé?) and it is pretty difficult to empathize with them. if you have seen this movie and liked it, please leave a comment. I may be wrong in thinking it is the product of a celebrity's child with a lot of money and nothing to say...
I was not planning to use this blog as a movie review but I thought I needed to warn anyone who may be tempted to go and see lost in translation. this may well be one of the worst and most boring movies - ever. I have two main complaints. the first one is that I (and the three friends who saw it with me) got incredibly bored, which is not a good sign. the second one is that it is little more than a big caricature of japanese culture. racial stereotypes are constantly reinforced with the most 'exotic' that japan has to offer and japanese people are portrayed as positively weird and alienating. the two main actors are bored throughout (or maybe merely blasé?) and it is pretty difficult to empathize with them. if you have seen this movie and liked it, please leave a comment. I may be wrong in thinking it is the product of a celebrity's child with a lot of money and nothing to say...
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
mother nature
amazing... did you know that if you slice a layer about one-inch thick off the top of a carrot and place it in a saucer with water it will actually grow? when my lovely flatmate レンちゃん did that the other day, I didn't think for one second that it could actually work. but - lo and behold! - in the space of a few days it has! the lucky carrot-to-be will now be transplanted onto real soil and into a real pot (both legally obtained from the garden centre down the road) and hopefully the miracle of nature will continue. I will try and document this green adventure with pictures, or maybe I should connect a webcam and provide 24 hour access? pay-per-view of course. Big Muther sounds appropriate...
amazing... did you know that if you slice a layer about one-inch thick off the top of a carrot and place it in a saucer with water it will actually grow? when my lovely flatmate レンちゃん did that the other day, I didn't think for one second that it could actually work. but - lo and behold! - in the space of a few days it has! the lucky carrot-to-be will now be transplanted onto real soil and into a real pot (both legally obtained from the garden centre down the road) and hopefully the miracle of nature will continue. I will try and document this green adventure with pictures, or maybe I should connect a webcam and provide 24 hour access? pay-per-view of course. Big Muther sounds appropriate...
pc vs. mac
vale kindly informed me last week that while my blog looks superb when viewed with a mac, with a pc the links are all over the place, the formatting is all wrong, basically it's pretty much a mess... should I access this blog from a pc to try and rectify? unlikely...
vale kindly informed me last week that while my blog looks superb when viewed with a mac, with a pc the links are all over the place, the formatting is all wrong, basically it's pretty much a mess... should I access this blog from a pc to try and rectify? unlikely...
wasting time
for some reason, these days I am very ineffectual. maybe it's the lack of deadlines and pressure... I have little to do: sort out my funding applications for my phd in cambridge (unless a generous soul out there is willing to transfer £36,000 into my bank account, in which case I won't have to bother), try and make a little video for cornelio, sort out my two-month trip to budapest initially planned for march (but now francesca and claudia are coming over for easter, so maybe it will have to be april...), and yet, nothing happens... ok, last week I was working pretty hard, but this week?
for some reason, these days I am very ineffectual. maybe it's the lack of deadlines and pressure... I have little to do: sort out my funding applications for my phd in cambridge (unless a generous soul out there is willing to transfer £36,000 into my bank account, in which case I won't have to bother), try and make a little video for cornelio, sort out my two-month trip to budapest initially planned for march (but now francesca and claudia are coming over for easter, so maybe it will have to be april...), and yet, nothing happens... ok, last week I was working pretty hard, but this week?
mind the bullets
I couldn't help smiling the other day when bbc news ran the following story: a sudanese man travelling from the usa was arrested at heathrow, detained under the terrorism act and interviewed by anti-terror detectives when he was found to be carrying bullets in his pockets.
three questions came to my mind as ditzy natasha (I really can't stand the woman) read the news. 1) would the bullet-carrier have been arrested and detained if it had been a white christian woman? 2) as the guy had completely the journey already, surely he was not intending to blow up the plane? and 3) how much damage can you do with bullets without a gun? you'd have to throw pretty fast to do any damage... if the authorities are worried about a breach of security, then arrest the guys who screwed up, not the guy who forgot he had bullets in his pocket...
I couldn't help smiling the other day when bbc news ran the following story: a sudanese man travelling from the usa was arrested at heathrow, detained under the terrorism act and interviewed by anti-terror detectives when he was found to be carrying bullets in his pockets.
three questions came to my mind as ditzy natasha (I really can't stand the woman) read the news. 1) would the bullet-carrier have been arrested and detained if it had been a white christian woman? 2) as the guy had completely the journey already, surely he was not intending to blow up the plane? and 3) how much damage can you do with bullets without a gun? you'd have to throw pretty fast to do any damage... if the authorities are worried about a breach of security, then arrest the guys who screwed up, not the guy who forgot he had bullets in his pocket...
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
no atkins for legushka
I think I broke the silliness barrier again... the atkins diet definitely doesn't agree with me. OK, the coffee thing was a good idea, I'm quite pleased I am not addicted to the stuff any more. friday was quite tough, I had a headache most of the day, but considering it was the first day in what, 17 years?, that I was not taking any caffeine, I expcted much worse.
no, the silly part was the atkins diet consisting in eating loads of fat in various forms and eschewing all vegs and fruit. no bread, no pasta, no rice, no milk in my (now fake) coffee... I thought I could take it for a couple of weeks and watch the extra pounds melt off me, but my body gave up before my mind did. I started suffering from a nasty backache, which apparently - so my nutritionist sister and my doctor step-father-in-law [is this getting complicated?] tell me - is not really a backache but my kidneys screaming from this sudden deluge of proteines. I realised my silliness had once again had the better of me so I immediately stopped the diet and the first thing I did was to pour milk into my fake coffee. couldn't go the gym on sunday because of the pain and yesterday I found myself wincing so much at the gym I had to give up after 15 minutes and go back home. so there I am, not a single pound lost and 3 gym days lost (I don't think I can make it today either). Aah...
I think I broke the silliness barrier again... the atkins diet definitely doesn't agree with me. OK, the coffee thing was a good idea, I'm quite pleased I am not addicted to the stuff any more. friday was quite tough, I had a headache most of the day, but considering it was the first day in what, 17 years?, that I was not taking any caffeine, I expcted much worse.
no, the silly part was the atkins diet consisting in eating loads of fat in various forms and eschewing all vegs and fruit. no bread, no pasta, no rice, no milk in my (now fake) coffee... I thought I could take it for a couple of weeks and watch the extra pounds melt off me, but my body gave up before my mind did. I started suffering from a nasty backache, which apparently - so my nutritionist sister and my doctor step-father-in-law [is this getting complicated?] tell me - is not really a backache but my kidneys screaming from this sudden deluge of proteines. I realised my silliness had once again had the better of me so I immediately stopped the diet and the first thing I did was to pour milk into my fake coffee. couldn't go the gym on sunday because of the pain and yesterday I found myself wincing so much at the gym I had to give up after 15 minutes and go back home. so there I am, not a single pound lost and 3 gym days lost (I don't think I can make it today either). Aah...
Friday, January 16, 2004
coffee
I decided to follow the atkins diet for a while to shed the extra 6 or 7 kilos that I carry and today is day #2. things are going ok except for the very strong caffeine withdrawal symptoms. I have switched to decaf and planning to stick to that from now on. at least I should be happy that I can still enjoy the taste of coffee...
and of course in such a state I couldn't make it to the gym this morning....
I decided to follow the atkins diet for a while to shed the extra 6 or 7 kilos that I carry and today is day #2. things are going ok except for the very strong caffeine withdrawal symptoms. I have switched to decaf and planning to stick to that from now on. at least I should be happy that I can still enjoy the taste of coffee...
and of course in such a state I couldn't make it to the gym this morning....
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
gym resolutions
been to the gym very early this morning. I was back home at 9:30, i.e. earlier than I usually get up, and I'm going to try doing this every day now. feel free to encourage me!
been to the gym very early this morning. I was back home at 9:30, i.e. earlier than I usually get up, and I'm going to try doing this every day now. feel free to encourage me!
geektown & homelands
if I had the time and the money, I'd love to go to академгородок (lit. little academic town), a utopian town created by the soviet government in western siberia in the 50s and to which a great part of the soviet scientific community relocated. I think an ethnography of the place would have been amazing at the time. but it would also be interesting to see what/who is left there now - so many soviet scholars having emigrated abroad... I'd also love to go to биробиджан, another soviet grand creation: a jewish new homeland created in the early 20th century in eastern siberia. there again, a substantial part of the russian jewish community tried to establish new roots there, but because the new homeland was (1) in the middle of nowhere (2) mosquito-infested and unsuited for human life, most of them have left now. now, why do I get interested in all these failed social experiments?
if I had the time and the money, I'd love to go to академгородок (lit. little academic town), a utopian town created by the soviet government in western siberia in the 50s and to which a great part of the soviet scientific community relocated. I think an ethnography of the place would have been amazing at the time. but it would also be interesting to see what/who is left there now - so many soviet scholars having emigrated abroad... I'd also love to go to биробиджан, another soviet grand creation: a jewish new homeland created in the early 20th century in eastern siberia. there again, a substantial part of the russian jewish community tried to establish new roots there, but because the new homeland was (1) in the middle of nowhere (2) mosquito-infested and unsuited for human life, most of them have left now. now, why do I get interested in all these failed social experiments?
Sunday, January 11, 2004
hollywood apartheid
one thing that is particularly apt at turning me into an angry individual is the racial divide constantly reinforced in american movies. I cannot remember a single hollywood movie where the white hero ever got a black girlfriend. the format is always the same: white hero gets white girlfriend while black secondary hero gets black girlfriend. everybody is happy at the end and the world makes perfect sense. once in a blue moon a 'politically correct' film is made about 'interracial relations' in which we do get a different setup, but ironically this means that the only time white/black relationships are visible they are discussed and problematised.
I got really mad again watching matrix 3 when at the end we see the black couple, liberated from the threat of the machines, holding each other. they are shot from above and they are looking up at the camera. the girl mutters something about neo, hoping he is safe, and the religious imagery is pretty strong. the imagery is confirmed in the next shot where we see neo in a christ-like position... the same evening I checked on the net for some book dealing with this issue. ordered screen saviors: hollywood fictions of whiteness which sounds really good. hasn't arrived yet... can't wait!
for once, just once, I wish we could see this reversed, the primary hero a black man, the secondary hero a white guy, maybe trying to get the sexy black girl but failing :-)
one thing that is particularly apt at turning me into an angry individual is the racial divide constantly reinforced in american movies. I cannot remember a single hollywood movie where the white hero ever got a black girlfriend. the format is always the same: white hero gets white girlfriend while black secondary hero gets black girlfriend. everybody is happy at the end and the world makes perfect sense. once in a blue moon a 'politically correct' film is made about 'interracial relations' in which we do get a different setup, but ironically this means that the only time white/black relationships are visible they are discussed and problematised.
I got really mad again watching matrix 3 when at the end we see the black couple, liberated from the threat of the machines, holding each other. they are shot from above and they are looking up at the camera. the girl mutters something about neo, hoping he is safe, and the religious imagery is pretty strong. the imagery is confirmed in the next shot where we see neo in a christ-like position... the same evening I checked on the net for some book dealing with this issue. ordered screen saviors: hollywood fictions of whiteness which sounds really good. hasn't arrived yet... can't wait!
for once, just once, I wish we could see this reversed, the primary hero a black man, the secondary hero a white guy, maybe trying to get the sexy black girl but failing :-)
Friday, January 09, 2004
movies
maybe it's time I try and put to film all the images I have in my head. I keep postponing doing it because I know I have neither the technical nor the artistic knowledge required. so the result is bound to look different from what I have in my head. but with time and patience, maybe I can do it. fortunately some friends seem to have more faith in me than I do: kornélius asked me to shoot a video for one of his songs, as I have some time on my hands I think I'll give it go... thank you mister k!
maybe it's time I try and put to film all the images I have in my head. I keep postponing doing it because I know I have neither the technical nor the artistic knowledge required. so the result is bound to look different from what I have in my head. but with time and patience, maybe I can do it. fortunately some friends seem to have more faith in me than I do: kornélius asked me to shoot a video for one of his songs, as I have some time on my hands I think I'll give it go... thank you mister k!
resolutions
linguistic resolutions: fluent italian (see previous post), near-fluent hungarian, functional japanese and basic mongolian. I am also going to adopt a more regular and healthier lifestyle, i.e. gym 3 times a week.
linguistic resolutions: fluent italian (see previous post), near-fluent hungarian, functional japanese and basic mongolian. I am also going to adopt a more regular and healthier lifestyle, i.e. gym 3 times a week.
language
I have decided that it was time to learn italian properly. so after having used a special home-brew of french and english with vale for over 7 years, the language of domestic communication has become italian. i'm having to fight all my natural instincts (and his) but it's getting easier!
I have decided that it was time to learn italian properly. so after having used a special home-brew of french and english with vale for over 7 years, the language of domestic communication has become italian. i'm having to fight all my natural instincts (and his) but it's getting easier!
Thursday, January 08, 2004
2004
my grand-mother passed away on the last evening of 2003. I had last seen her about 20 years ago but I did feel sorry for my mum who has been really affected. she told me on the phone "my father died, now my mother. I'm an orphan now". you don't usually think of your parents as children, but they are really only a couple of decades away...
my grand-mother passed away on the last evening of 2003. I had last seen her about 20 years ago but I did feel sorry for my mum who has been really affected. she told me on the phone "my father died, now my mother. I'm an orphan now". you don't usually think of your parents as children, but they are really only a couple of decades away...
