Katherine Gregor's Blog
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Nov.21.2012
Why do people – strangers – feel they have to kiss you on the cheek, as a greeting? The British, for one, seem to have suddenly decided they will be all Continental about it. Except that their enthusiasm is now exceeding the number of kisses given by the average Continental...
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2 comments
Nov.18.2012
I like still days, like yesterday in London.
They creep up on you softly and, suddenly, you walk out of the house and find yourself in the midst of one. Early winter days, when the sky is a grey so pale, it is almost white. Not a breath of wind to stir the few fiery leaves left on the...
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16 comments
Nov.11.2012
I was very sad to hear, through fellow-Red Roomer Kim Packard, of the death of writer Han Suyin, last 2 November. Only last Sunday, I mentioned her novel, A Many-Splendoured Thing, in my piece about the moon. I was very sad, that she did not know just what a...
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6 comments
Nov.07.2012
Playwright David K. O'Hara
It all began in Oxford, last year, with director James Savin planning to direct Sartre’s play Huis Clos. Playwright David K. O’Hara read it and something did not sit well with him. In Huis Clos, we are in hell – represented by a Regency-styled...
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2 comments
Nov.06.2012
Can I be honest?
Why are you suddenly looking worried? There, you see, just because I said, "Can I be honest?" you automatically assume I'm about to say something negative; or at least something you think I think you won't like.
Don't you find that fascinating? If you notice...
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10 comments
Nov.04.2012
Sun-kissed, sunbathe, suntan, a sunny disposition. Good morning, Sunshine.
And what of the Moon?
In his magical book, Portrait of the Gulf Stream, Erik Orsenna tells us that the Moon is getting further away from the Earth. No wonder. There is only so much...
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18 comments
Oct.30.2012
I meet two female friends for an after work drink at the Windsor Castle Pub. I give one (Lady A) the socially compulsory kiss on the cheek. I turn to the other (Lady B) but she takes a step back. "I have a cold," she says.
Lady A promptly sidesteps away from her. Lady...
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6 comments
Oct.28.2012
No – not the polyester black capes, rubber bats and plastic axes. Not the fake fangs and stage blood. Not the tack. It has little to do with the original spirit of Hallowe’en.
And, please, let us spell it correctly. Hallowe’en. With the apostrophe, since it derives...
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4 comments
Oct.21.2012
I am a scribbler. I love writing but, I confess, I seldom read articles or blogs about writing. Barring the usual exceptions, of course, I confess I find reading about writing tedious. I would far rather read a story than a piece on how to write a story. Just like I love food but...
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7 comments
Oct.14.2012
“S and I got engaged!” I announced to my family, just before my second year at university, showing off my emerald and diamond ring.
My grandmother did not miss a bit. “Congratulations, my sunbeam! Does he speak any languages?”
“No.”
“Oh, dear,” she said, her smile waning. “His family...
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4 comments
Oct.10.2012
Cobnuts - Yum! Yum!
"Tree rats", "rats with bushy tails", "pests', "vermin".
First of all, what is wrong with rats? I can feel my question send ripples of disgust among you. "Eek!", "Yuck!" I hear you exclaim, your lips twisted in revulsion. Rats are dirty – you say – the...
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10 comments
Oct.07.2012
A little something I remembered, the other day.
My French School in Rome used to dedicate 10% of the academic year to guided extra-curricular activities. That year – the year I was sixteen – among our options was a three-day trip to Venice, Florence or Verona. I...
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2 comments
Oct.02.2012
Some thoughts on the painting Tobias and the Angel (circa 1470-80) by the Workshop of Verrocchio. Egg tempera on poplar. National Gallery, London.
Trust me, if you will. I am loving, I am infinite, I am immortal. I do not judge. I am beyond all fears....
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22 comments
Sep.30.2012
“A friend in need is a friend indeed.” We all know that one. That a true friend stands by you during adversity, is an accepted, unquestioned assumption in, I dare say, all cultures. Does the same friendship remain unshaken during your times of triumph?
I hold the...
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6 comments
Sep.26.2012
You tell a friend you are going on holiday to New York. This person is most likely to exclaim (at least in England), “You lucky thing! I wish I were going!”
You may find this reaction offensive on two fronts. Firstly, the suggestion that you have done nothing to deserve the...
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22 comments
Let's just say that I am old enough to know what to do with my young feelings.
”
—(Georges Guétary in 'An American in Paris')
About Katherine
Before you ask – one half of me is English; the other half, a Middle-Eastern mix. I speak English, Italian, French and Russian, which accounts for my hybrid accent which has, so far, been mistaken for South African, Irish, Dutch, US American, German, and one...
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Katherine’s Favorite Books
'La Ragazza di Via Maqueda' (Dacia Maraini), 'A Many-Splendoured Thing' (Han Suyin), 'Berlin Cantata' (Jeffrey Lewis), 'The Places in Between' (Rory Stewart...