Twaddly telly and good books

Gidday.

It has been a busy week. I'm tired and when I'm tired I can't think of anything profound to talk about. Which is why you haven't heard anything particularly inspiring from me since...well, actually, I can't remember when I actually wrote anything of value. Since then, anyhow. I'm working on a couple of vaguely interesting posts. One's on etiquette and the other's on scientific writing. They are interesting, I promise, but I don't seem inclined to look at either of them right now.

Jemimah has a house guest this weekend. They managed to stay up most of last night, and are tired and grumpy this morning. They are currently blobbing in front of GO channel on the teev. It's a new channel full of nostalgic old faves like Marine Boy, Josie and the Pussycats, Flinstones, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo and Get Smart. All blasts from my past and quite good fun. Well, I think so anyhow. Hubby thinks it is twaddle and he's probably certainly right, but he's off at a Men's Breakfast at church this morning, and while the cat's away...

Anyhow, nostalgic telly. My mum totally disapproved of the Flinstones when I was a kid. She hated the way Fred was portrayed as a bumbling idiot whereas Wilma was strong and clearly the real head of the family. We ignored her (my mum, I mean - nobody was game to ignore Wilma, least of all her husband) and watched it anyway. Nowadays I feel the same about the bad values of The Simpsons, only I'm a bad mummy and won't let Jemimah watch it. Funny how I'm still okay about the Flinstones, although I was pleased that Jemimah understood my mum's reservations with the show when I talked to her about them.

I was such a square-eyed kid. My general trivia knowledge of 70s TV is terrific - I watched them all. I was talking about this with my sister last night. My parents were a generation ahead of their times. Mum worked full time, raised a family full time, was hugely involved with church, and managed to have a life as well. I actually think she did a pretty good job. Look how wonderful her kids turned out? I mean, hey! Look at us!! We did, however, have little (!) too much freedom, and much too much television. Nowadays we watch almost none, as if to make up for the excesses of my youth, but I still get all gooey about my childhood favourites and am prone to getting somewhat over-excited when I see Jemimah enjoying the same shows as I did. I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched, for example...despite the fact that the women ruled the men in both of those shows as well, in addition to doing lots of other things I totally do not approve of. Ooh, I can see you all shaking your heads at me right now, and deciding I'm a bad influence on you...and a bad role model for my daughter as well. Surely some of you feel the same way about chilhood telly... Anyone? Shucks.

Porky Pig's on now. He just said, "I know when I'm beat...I acquiesce." Bad grammar and a word like acquiesce in the same sentence. Hmmm. Now Bug's Bunny's being shot into space in a rocket. It's too small for him..."I usually take a size 36," he says. Chuckle. Still love it.

You'll be somewhat relieved to hear that we're reading some quality literature. It's all in the balance, surely? Our family read-alouds currently include the following:

• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Men of Iron by Howard Pyle
• Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
• Wilderness Orphan by Dorothy Cottrell
• English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

We're adoring them all. There is a skill involved in selecting books to read together CM style in short chunks. They need to be different enough from each other that there is no risk of getting them confused. Hubby read 1984 and Brave New World at the same time, and has them forever entwined in his brain. We've done particularly well with this selection, I reckon. A great mix of old and new, Aussie and international. I'm planning of reviews of both Wilderness Orphan and Charlotte Sometimes sometime soon. Wilderness Orphan, the story of Chut the kangaroo formed the basis for Ken Hall's film Orphan of the Wilderness which had the notorious boxing kangaroo scene that resulted in the film being banned in Britain. You can view it here if you're interested, but I don't recommend it. It is sad and cruel. The book's not though. It's great.

I'm reading Stravinsky's Lunch by Drusilla Modjeska. It is a wonderfully rich and engrossing book about the lives of two Australian women artists, Stella Bowen (1893-19470) and Grace Cossington Smith (1892-1984). I can't put it down. Jemimah is back reading another story about Bonnie and Sam in Horse Crazy! by Alison Lester. She says it's great. She's also enjoying Asterix and the Goths. Don't know that you call that reading, but it is good for French culture. Hubby is reading The Marriage you've Always Wanted by Dr Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages. You can never work too hard on your marriage in our opinion. I'll be interested to hear what he's thinking of this one. (My love languages are Words of Affirmation and Quality Time. His are Acts of Service and Physical touch. Sure makes life interesting. What are yours?)

Jemimah and I are reading Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons for a bedtime read-aloud and The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner for school. Lulu la Tortue by Antoon Krings is our French story.

A little twaddle on telly this morning's not going to hurt us too much...is it?

Hubby's just phoned to say he's on his way home, so I'll press the Publish' button. No editing the choppy unconnected sentences. No correcting repetitive words. No picture.

Sorry.

I'll write something of value next week.