Feeling the Fail

I'm not feeling good about today. I didn't manage to make Hoppin John that I had promised for dinner, so the men had a quick, from the freezer biryani. I have done practically nothing of use at all today and I feel very low.

Bear, after utterly rejecting all long sleeved shirts since the start of his school career in 2010, has now urgently requested them on account of temperature. I offered to get him a school sweater, which was rejected firmly, and I offered to get him vests, which was rejected with extreme prejudice. I can see that I had it a lot easier when he was in primary school.

Bear's pal brought round some of his revision for English, and I was thrown back down memory lane. One of his set poems is Ozymandias by Shelley, which has always been one of my favourites. I think I helped by listening to him and asking him questions. I know it's not a popular opinion, but it sounds a lot harder for kids today. He told me that he had to learn all of his set poems by heart. I actually did learn all mine, on the bus to and from school, but it certainly wasn't expected. They also have to do 'iceberg paragraphs' which I had to google and found this. I'd rather suffer through Henry James again than deal with that sort of detail (I am not a fan of Henry James).

Writing stuff - Today I re-posted something from 2014, from the story of Steve Adderson here. Sometimes it's really encouraging to see stuff I wrote a while back and enjoy it almost fresh. There is also a post from Timothy Bateson here, which is a brief reading from 'Audition' by Naching T Kassa. I am also gearing up for October Frights, run by the amazing Anita Stewart, and I'll link you up to what's happening then.

Hugs to all.