idle persiflage

It has been a while since I posted. I could blame this sad omission on age and decrepitude, but perhaps, I think hopefully, I could blame the increasing waste of time spent on managing passwords...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2017/04/passwords-and-other-ways-of-frittering.html

There is no point trying to get to sleep so far tonight. The pop music in the party in the house across the lane will keep going thump, thump, thump loudly enough to a) keep me awake, and b) mak...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2017/02/there-is-party-across-lane.html

Christmas was spent away, in my birth city, with family. It is a large family and the two children who live there are very far apart, so it takes more than an hour to get from one to the other. ...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2017/01/after-christmas.html

There has arisen in me a strange reluctance to write Christmas cards, and time is whizzing past, and is being squandered in crocheting, book sorting and rearranging, general tidying up, and tryi...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2016/12/avoidance-strategies.html

Today is Melbourne Cup Day, a public holiday in Victoria, but not in my state. However I did watch the race, and listened to a lot of the commentary. Unlike my darling, talented horse-mad daught...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2016/11/bracing-for-racing.html

Tomorrow is our federal election. The general expectation is that the government will be re-elected albeit with a reduced majority. It is a double dissolution. Changes were made to the voting sy...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2016/07/election-day.html

It is quite difficult to keep off your feet. It is about a month since I suffered this minor fracture and it seems that bones heal slowly. It is not nearly as painful, but has modified whatever ...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2016/06/hobbling-with-intent.html

It seems there is ample opportunity for self-reproach. Mine occurs, with a slight sense of indignation. Simply, I fell over.  Walking along briskly, with a fellow chorister, to our pre-concer...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2016/05/probably-should-not-be-allowed-out.html

In the last few months I have occasionally opened this page and contemplated posting, but inspiration always seemed to vanish before the screen. However, if one is not within reach of the screen...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2016/04/long-time-no-write.html

Evil flourishes. Killings abound. The wicked persist in shedding innocent blood. How can we bear such evil? The innocent suffer,  freedom is imperilled, and our hearts break, for the sufferin...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/11/evil-wickedness-criminal-merciless.html

Here I sit in the lounge at Madrid airport, waiting for my flight. The morning was spent walking around Madrid. Being Monday, galleries were closed, so I retraced my steps hither and thither. Th...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/11/point-of-departure.html

This post is from the cafeteria of the MuseoThyssen-Bornemisza, where I am spending much of the day. And having something to eat and drink. The hotel which I foolishly chose for reasons of econo...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/11/last-days-in-spain.html

I am on a trip to France and Spain, concentrating on mediaeval art and architecture. So far so good. After several days in Paris, we arrived yesterday evening at Dijon, where I am sitting awaiti...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/10/far-far-away.html

The first cataract operation was done on Wednesday, and my daughter was with me, to drive me to the hospital, and bring me back home, and to note all the instructions for eye  drops, etc. She w...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/09/post-operative.html

it took me four goes to type that heading. I blame my own incompetence, the fact that I am typing this with one finger on the iPad, and so on and so forth. I am typing this on the iPad because ...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/09/yet-more-proof-of-ones-myriad.html

When I tripped and fell over some weeks ago, the lens of my glasses of my better eye was badly scratched. In the process of getting the glasses fixed, I had another eye examination. The optometr...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/08/what-can-you-see-coming.html

Recently I re-read some of my old blog posts, going back quite a few years. There are accounts of my travels, and of my life with Dr P, his decline and his death, and all the things that had to ...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/08/warding-off-brain-rot.html

Since being widowed, my cooking standards have deteriorated significantly. Even that is not the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but, etc. I used to be a really good cook,  but after the end...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-cooking-spree.html

My doctor recently advised me to get fitter. How much walking did I do, she asked. Well, I said, I walk to the bus, and here and there, and from the city to the art gallery. And sometimes I do g...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/07/get-fitter.html

It is cold. Well, OK, Sydney is not really a cold place. The heat is more of a problem than the cold. However, I have acclimatised, and recently have needed hot water bottles. And it is the firs...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/06/winter-and-imminently-oppressive-need.html

I am off to choir very shortly, as we are performing this afternoon, singing this and that, including Verdi's Quattro Pezzi Sacri, or, in English,  Four Sacred Pieces. I was tickled when the em...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/05/too-old-and-grumpy-who-me-i-am-afraid-so.html

The government is trying to encourage parents to get their children vaccinated. The issue has had plenty of media and social media coverage, and the policy is to tie receipt of some forms of soc...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/04/vaccinations-personal-case-for-them.html

The equinox is past, autumn is here, the leaves are starting to change colours. There has been an eclipse of the sun in the northern hemisphere, and we in the south have seen amazing photographs...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/03/mellow-fruitfulness.html

Tonight I watched the ABC programme QandA, which dealt with feminism. It left me somewhat bemused. The mix of panelists seemed designed to provoke, and to enable the discussion to lurch all over...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/03/what-can-be-shown.html

For the past year there has been a leak in the bathroom, which has had me frantically worried and petrified. It seemed likely that very expensive repairs would be necessary, and that, like getti...

http://idlepersiflage.blogspot.com/2015/03/plumbing-depths-or-at-least-middle-of.html