“Sommerboken” written in Swedish by the Finnish writer, Tove Jansson and translated into English by Thomas Teal is a delightful depiction of a young girl, Sophia aged 6, and her elderly grandmother, living on a tiny island for a summer.
For months, they live an idyllic life, pottering around their small kingdom, planting seeds, watching the [...]
Filed under: Books on July 29th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
One of the reasons for my letting off steam the other day was because try as I might to educate my clients into their seeing me as part of the overall team on a project, I seem to fail.
The problem is not just that I have to educate my clients (in this case, agencies) but [...]
Filed under: Translation, Trials on July 26th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
About a year or so ago, I read The Kite Runner by Khaled hosseini and was absolutely gripped by the page-turning story. Many people have blogged about the story and so I will not rehearse the plot here.
I missed the film when it was on general release but have just seen the film on DVD [...]
Filed under: Films on July 25th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Sometimes, just sometimes, your clients can drive you to distraction. And sometimes you need to let off a bit of steam.
Excuse me while I rent my clothes, beat my breast, wail and gnash my teeth and look daggers towards a certain town in Germany.
Gah! and Double Gah!!
You will be pleased to know that some of [...]
Filed under: Translation, Trials on July 24th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
that some people are doing their bit for international understanding and harmony.
I was told this story by a Scottish lady I met at a party last week. She said it was true – she works in the field, so she may be right.
A German was arrested for speeding offences in Scotland. He appeared in court [...]
Filed under: Life, Translation on July 14th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
This book is a trilogy consisting of Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances. I know some of my gentle readers have enjoyed the 1st Ladies’ Detective Agency series and so they may also enjoy this series too for it is by none other than the [...]
Filed under: Books on July 13th, 2009 | 4 Comments »
In addition to my translation and proofreading services, it would appear that I am filling other gaps in the market.
If my stats are to be believed, there are a few people who need to know the Norwegian for “my pencil is blue”. I remember writing at some length (at least 4 words) on this very [...]
Filed under: Life on July 12th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Before any more of July passes by, I feel compelled to record what I can remember of June.
After the very quiet months of April and May from a work point of view, June arrived with pleasant weather, the prospect of replenishing the elderflower cordial stocks and a general question mark about work levels.
Curiously, a couple [...]
Filed under: Food, Friends, Translation, Words on July 10th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I have found over the years that Foreigners accuse my countrymen and women of “always talking about the weather”. And whereas I feel that this is not entirely fair, we do after all talk about other important things too, my defence has always been that Our weather is arguably more interesting to talk about than [...]
Filed under: Weather on July 1st, 2009 | 2 Comments »