Advent calendars

In a previous blog post/rant about the busyness of Christmas (https://www.penelopewallace.com/christmas-busy-ness/), I said this: “Most bought Advent calendars are a consumerist tacky nightmare, but that is a completely different rant.” Today I’ve decided to write that rant. This may offend…   What is an Advent calendar? Basically, it’s surely...

2
0

More advertising

Well, so here we are again. With regard to recent news, I don't think I've got much to add to what I said on this blog when the UK voted to leave the EU.  It's here if you want to reread:  https://www.penelopewallace.com/here-we-go/ - and it still...

1
0

A (brief) word for these times?

I was reading the 5th chapter of the First Letter to the Thessalonians recently, in my trusty RSV version, and I came across the following injunctions: “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those...

2
0

Putting the kettle on

My Facebook friend, Amy Boucher-Pye of the Woman Alive Book Club on FB, has written a book (recommended) called “Finding Myself in Britain”. It’s a light-hearted Christian memoir about being an American living in Britain as the wife of a vicar, the resultant culture clashes,...

4
0

Semi-fictional dates

Today is 21st October, CE, or for the more old-fashioned, Anno Domini. Our years are counted from someone long ago’s approximation of the date Jesus Christ was born. (Tom Holland’s interesting novel “Olympiad” traces modern dating back via the birth of Jesus and the founding of Rome...

5
0

Two or three things I like about Facebook

A while back, I wrote a blog post  here: https://www.penelopewallace.com/two-things-i-dislike-about-facebook/. I began by saying: I am finding Facebook, although terrifyingly time-wasting, a source of a lot of innocent fun, gossip and useful information (as well as those pesky cats).  I am still refusing to wish everyone a...

0
0

Mostly quotations

San Diego is a magnificent city in California.  I would like to tell you what I most wanted to see when we went there for a conference of Mark’s earlier this year, and why. You can award yourself points when you see where this is going. Thousands...

1
0

Very late review – “Noah”

There are so many exciting and inspiring stories in the Bible – wouldn’t it be good if someone occasionally made a popular film out of one of them? Well, in 2014 someone did, a film which I somehow missed watching or reading reviews of.  This was...

0
0

People who are evil

(After last week's froth, something rather darker.  Warning: contents may distress or disturb.) In December last year, a sentencing judge said to a woman who had defrauded and attempted to murder her sister, “Quite frankly, you are evil.” Judges do say this kind of thing, and I...

1
0

Romance in September

(Warning: spoilers below) “What’s the best love story you’ve ever read?” This was the question interestingly posed on Facebook’s Woman Alive Book Club page.  There were a lot of suggestions – Ross and Demelza from Poldark, “Pride and Prejudice” and “Jane Eyre” were obviously high on the...

2
0