Life in the slow lane

is just fine with me.  Dominating my thoughts this past week have been the horrible events in Paris, though the response around the world is very heartening. I only hope leaders don't just use these despicable murders as further excuses to deprive the people of our liberties. Time will tell - but one can hope that even the most venal, conscienceless pol will look at the millions flooding the streets in support of "Je suis Charlie" and take pause at what might oppose them if they are not wise.

Anyway, aside from following that unfolding story, I've not done much this week. Got Season 8 of Doctor Who and marathon-watched it all in two nights; I think I love Peter Capaldi's Doctor. I've never been very fond of Clara, but I do like the prickly interplay of those two characters. I do wish Pink hadn't left the scene - maybe they'll bring him back, somehow.

I've read two books this week: the newest Flavia de Luce, As Chimneysweeps Come to Dust (LOVED it - like all Flavia fans, I think, I was a bit nervous about her decamping to the Canadian girls's school but oh my it turned out quite well). Keep 'em coming, Mr. Bradley!  The second book is non-fiction, The Secret Rooms, by Catherine Bailey. It's kind of advertised as a possible ghost story, in a real ancient family ducal seat in Britain, but it's really the story of that ducal family's history and in particular the generations just before, during, and after WW I.  I really enjoyed it until she got to the part where she was detailing - and I mean *detailing* WW I battles and the behind the scenes machinations of a particular mother - I skipped a LOT of pages there. In the end it's a fascinating look at how those people really lived before it all fell apart after WW I - mind-boggling wealth and arrogance OMG it's GOOD that it fell apart (and I am again reminded it was GOOD that the American colonies scraped Britain off their shoes like horseshit).  Ms. Bailey (except for the boring war details) is a good history writer for popular readers and I will be watching for more from her.

I got hung up knitting Sock 7 - discovered I need to tink like, 7 rows so I can start decreasing for the toe sooner, but tinking is SO fiddly and tedious. So I picked up the CoBaSi sock (Sock 8) again and got a little further on it. It's certainly not perfect (you can't see the other side) but I really don't care - I am needing socks, and I'm not out to show off my knitting expertise (since I don't have any). I try to learn more with each sock, though.

This is reminding me of a soccer jersey, and it's odd because that pleases me, even though I have zero interest in any kind of sports. Psychology, go figure it out. I can't.