6. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877; trans. Constance Garnett)

15. The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett,Murphy (1938)

35. It was like so, but wasn’t. —Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2 (1995)

44. Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. —Zora Neale Hurston,Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

54. A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. —Graham Greene, The End of the Affair (1951)

62. Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person. —Anne Tyler, Back When We Were Grownups (2001)

63. The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children’s games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. —G. K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904)

78. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.  —L. P. Hartley,The Go-Between (1953)

There is always debate about whether your dreams represent subconscious desires or premonitions of things to come. Are they a product of the worrisome thoughts before sleep, or simply images compiled from our experiences?

Sometimes dreams are purely fantastical, with imaginary creatures and monsters. Yet other nights the dream may seem so real it leaves us disoriented when we awake.  Who has never woken up when they clutched the bed mid-fall? Or felt their heart racing from the run in their dreams?

Then there are the occasions when reality intrudes on the dreams. The telephone that turns out to be an alarm clock. The rain that is really pouring outside. The mysterious distant voice calling your name that turns out to be your mother.

So who is to say exactly where dreams and reality separate? Maybe we’re dreaming our lives now and this post doesn’t even exist.

Here I am, once again
I’m torn into pieces
Can’t deny it, can’t pretend
Just thought you were the one
Broken up, deep inside
But you won’t get to see the tears I cry
Behind these hazel eyes

The mii stor presents its “White”, “Snow” and “Ice” USB data drives, which mix data and diamonds with silver, gold or platinum cases. The top end is the “Ice” drive (pictured here) which is

• 4GB 
• solid platinum
• encrusted with 350 white diamonds for a total of 5.8 carats
• and hanging from a solid platinum chain

And you get all this for the low, low price of US$40,000!! Talk about your perfect stocking stuffer.

The marmalade was created by jam maker F. Duerr & Sons Ltd. to mark its 125th anniversary and features the following:

• the finest cut Seville oranges
• vintage Dalmore 62 whisky from Whyte & Mackay (valued at £32,000 per bottle)
• topped off with a splash of Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1996 vintage champagne
• garnished with flakes of 24-carat gold leaf
• encased in a custom-made crystal jar valued at £1,100

Duerr’s initial plan was to make the exclusive marmalade a one-off effort, with the one-kilo jar being auctioned on eBay to raise money for the Manchester Kids charity. They found the taste so spectacular, however, that they are investigating the possibility of incorporating it into their regular product line with slightly less exotic ingredients. Not sure my budget will cover even the cheaper version though. I’ll just have to stick to my plain jam.

• Angels In Dire Straits
• Secrets Till Death
• Vocal Destiny
• Return If Paid

 Partin’

Me goin now; come kiss me, Jim.
Sal, yuh got everyting?
Sam, shake me han train soon move now
When dat-deh sinting ring.

Tell Puppa plenty howdy. Teck
De grip outa yuh lap.
Look after piggy good an sen
Come tell me when she drop.

Tell Fan me tenk her fi de pork,
Doah it did lickle touch.
Lick Rena pon har mout an ask
Her ‘meck she chat so much?’

Teck everyting safe, doan nyam out
De pickney-dem candy.
Kiss Lucy, and tell Vie fi name
Her cow-calf after me.

De bell a ring again, few minutes
More an oonoo gawn!
Jim, yuh mus get a drapes trousiz
Like what dah man have awn.

See de marga man what holin han
Wid de nice fat lady
- She mussa feel like she dah hole
A mirasmi baby!

De man work dung a railway yah,
Me see him all de while,
Him hitch up anywhe him see
A nice good-lookin chile.

Him drapes dah meck me laugh, but it
Dah meck him look improve,
It meck him hip look fat out, an -
Lawd oh, de train a move!

Safe drive home, teck care a yuhself!
Tell Mimi ah wi write!
Kiss Tayma. Tell John howdy, do!
Haul een yuh head, awright!

The Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley O.M. M.B.E. Dip. R.A.D.A., D. Lit(Hon)
September 7, 1919 – July 26, 2006

• confusing,
• interesting,
• stimulating,
• sexy ,
• fun,
• a bitch,
• a headache,
• uncompromising,
• unfair,
• joyful,
• beautiful,
• creative,
• orgasmic,
• unpredictable

 - List (by no means complete) courtesy of a wise friend