Archive for compote

a journal of the conquest, war, famine, and death year

Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Running, Travel with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 11, 2023 by xi'an

Read the (paper version of) L’art du naufrage by Pascale Quiviger. Very light and rather YA, but still with enough creativity and originality to be enjoyable. Which made me read the second volume as well, Les filles de Mai, which proved an improvement in the scenario and its tension, even though the island-universe is most unrealistic. Nice covers of the Folio edition as well. Two more volumes to appear (and already written). And (again a paper version of) The House of Shattered Wings a relatively old book by Aliette de Bodard. A British Science Fiction Association Award and for once (!) a rather impressive horror story taking place in an alternative 1900’s Paris partly destroyed by a war between magical Houses run by fallen angels. With connections with French occupied Annam. The construct is quite original, with some great characters, if over-prone to introspection. Some components of the scenario remain obscure till the end, though, maybe due to my rushed read. Currently reading the next volume…

Finished harvesting an amazing year of figs, turned mostly into compotes even though I tried a fig pie that did not held well enough to carry. Had an epiphany after purchasing new running shoes with a carbon plate. As I noticed a significant impact on my lap times when training. I hope the impact will last till the next half-marathon! However I fear the lack of flat roads near Fort-de-France will definitely not help with the training..!

a journal of the [tolerated] plague and [mostly] pestilence year

Posted in Books, Kids, Mountains, pictures, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 31, 2022 by xi'an

Read Among Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch, the ninth installment in the Rivers of London urban fantasy series. Which I found superior to the earlier volumes. As the ninth novel in the series, it obviously shows some signs of fatigue in the relatively thin plot that painstakingly connects a series of no-spoilers with the Spanish Inquisition, in the convenient so convenient appearance of a new kind of magical being, and in the convoluted uncovering of this connection in the final pages. However, the witty remarks of Peter Grant still make me smile and his move to becoming a father is rather charming. Recommended for the comforting feeling of being reunited with a familiar.

Over the four week summer period “everyone” was away (on vacations), I managed to deal with long delayed projects, keep my Biometrika slate mostly clean, and work on an incoming grant. Plus, made an uninterrupted series of compotes from my neighbour’s fallen apples and rhubarb sticks from the local market, as I found a much faster way to bake them in the microwave oven, with no danger for kitchen pans! Observing in the process a phase transition phenomenon where the contents very suddenly change structure and the bowl overflows, despite my frequent stirring. And I found time to lazily bike with my wife on weekends to traffic-free Paris, incl. light dinners outside (except during heatwaves), like a nice and perfectly spicy Korean bulgogi near Denfert. Had some DIY experiences as well, incl. changing my 2000 Twingo car battery, which had run flat after at least three months of idleness (now that our children no longer drive it)! Which as usual induced several (dreaded) trips to the DIY store…

Watched Extraordinary Attorney Woo, which is a Korean TV series following an autistic attorney at law, which has some original features but leaves me uneasy about its rather charicaturesque depiction of autism. At least, addressing discrimination and sexism (albeit with mixed results, as in the stereotyped representation of both female heads of the law firms). And The Soul, a Taiwanese horror + sci-fi + noir movie whose foggy atmosphere was rather appealing but alas following a terrible scenario.