dual personalities

My dual personality and the fact that I (am about to) have an empty nest have inspired me to begin some deep cleaning in my house. I’m starting slowly — a box a week from the attic. Some of these boxes have been up there for twenty years, so unpacking them is really kind of exciting. I’ve discovered some treasures:
A Lowestoft cup — antique Chinese export porcelain from my mother’s family (or that Mother bought because it matched? Dual Personality, do you know?)

A small Italian pitcher of unknown origin with a broken handle

Grandfather Chamberlin’s leather shirt collar case, full of collars (I also have 2 of the hand-made shirts that went with).

One of my mother’s unfinished sewing projects, a nighty with embroidered yoke she was to make for me. Her sewing was always so perfect. Someday, I’ll do something with this.

And this wooden ‘figure’ that I made in my Grandpa Cameron’s workshop when I was a small child (five or six?) and painted yellow at some later date. Note the rounded corners that I spent ages sandpapering to perfection and the happy smile, legs, and folded arms (hard to see in the middle of the pic) made of nails.

I Once, while hammering, I missed and got a big blood-blister on my thumb. But since it was very, very special to be allowed in the workshop and to have my grandfather all to myself, I choked back my tears a soldiered on.

Don’t you just love attics? I can’t wait to see what’s in today’s box. Stay tuned…

“Take a moment from time to time to remember that you are alive. I know this sounds a trifle obvious, but it is amazing how little time we take to remark upon this singular and gratifying fact. By the most astounding stroke of luck an infinitesimal portion of all the matter in the universe came together to create you and for the tiniest moment in the great span of eternity you have the incomparable privilege to exist.”

― Bill Bryson, I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the perils of misquoting Shakespeare. Since then I’ve come across another problem involving the Bard — casual attribution. We’ve all had the experience. Some pithy quote comes up that you can’t identify so you figure it must be Shakespeare, right? There’s a 50/50 chance that you are correct so it’s probably a risk worth taking. But if you are wrong and you post your mistake on the internet, guess what happens? People believe you, they repeat you, and it becomes ‘true’. Take, for example, this wonderful witticism:

It’s everywhere. You can buy t-shirts and hats that say it. You can even find it on ‘period’ ceramics at a nice etsy shop:

But did Shakespeare really say this? Well, no. His plays are full of great insults, but not this one. So what’s the moral of the story? Shakespeare is not the source of every quotable quote and the internet is not to be trusted. And, yes, I did spend time on this, but it’s better than watching a SciFi original movie.

Not all my time on the web was a waste. I found the Scottish Castles Association where you can discover which Scottish castles are for sale, such as Colliston Castle, built in the 16th and set in more than 10 acres of gardens and woodland. 10 beds, 3 baths, 3 kitchens, 5 receptions, turret, outbuildings. Asking price: a mere £650,000.

You can also find out which castles are available for weddings

Eilean-Donan Castle — perfect wedding location

and which contain recently discovered secret rooms where Jacobites hid after the battle of Cullodin

Drum Castle near Aberdeen

Yes, perceptive reader, I did experience a period of disinclination last week and once again, I spent far more time fooling around on the internet than productively working. But “tomorrow is another day” — and we all know who said that, right?