Exams!

Good luck with your exams, everyone!

source: theatlantic.com

My usual appeal before the holidays: READ BOOKS!

source: http://visual.ly

On the topic of small talk :)

To consider the problem a bit more seriously, have a look at this short article: Accidental drifting – small talk in the UK | Macmillan.

Here is a fragment:

"In talking about the weather, the English person will complain. If it’s rainy, then it’s too wet. If it’s sunny, then it’s too hot. If it’s overcast, it’s miserable. Do not take this as an invitation to complain about it more or contradict them with You call this hot? It’s 90°F where I’m from. Either mildly agree (Yes, it has been a bit much, hasn’t it?) or mildly disagree (I don’t know … I quite like it. It’s good for the plants.) While they may have started the complaint, they don’t really want to hear someone else complaining about the state of their home(land). (And that goes for anything else in England that you as a visitor might want to gripe about. Or anything else in any other country you’re visiting.)"

Nostalgia

I just love this song, and Annie Lennox's beautiful rendition of it. The video is not very interesting, so just LISTEN :-)

Annie speaks about making her latest album Nostalgia

You can do it!

Here is some inspiration for your writing assignments. No no, just kidding, please don't write sentences like that! ;)

The Irish again

To continue our celebrations of St. Patrick's Day, have a look at some traditional (though a bit stylized) Irish dancing in its two major forms. First, the soft shoe dance:



And second, the hard shoe dance:



For me, Irish music and dance are absolutely unique and captivating.

Sir Terry Pratchett

Sad news again :( Fans around the world are mourning the loss of one of the most brilliant men - Sir Terry Pratchett. His writing was full of wit, wisdom and kindness all at once; his sense of humour was really exquisite and second to none. The cruel irony of his illness, which attacked this sparkling intellect, is unacceptable and unbearable. Characteristically, he called his condition (early onset Alzheimer's disease) "embuggerance", and faced it with incredible dignity and courage. Hera are a few of his sentences, about humans and about Death, one of his favourite characters in Discworld:

"Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom."

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.

"Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom."

If you want more, there are some brilliant quotes to be found

at BBC America's website Anglophenia.

We are lucky to have his many books to go back to, and to continue our conversation with him.