Exquisite

I'm not watching much TV these days - six months without one seemed to snap me out of my addiction of lying half comatose in front of the box for three hours an evening. And truly half of what's on there is rubbish. Freeview has given me access to god know's how many channels, and there's rarely anything I want to watch on any of them.

And then suddenly you discover something so wonderful, so exquisitely produced, so lovingly crafted, that it makes you want to weep. In this case I am talking about BBC4's current series, Picture Books, covering the history of children's writing from picture books to teen fiction.

Catch up with an episode on the BBC iplayer - assuming you've not caught it already - and you'll see what I mean. Amongst other things, the series is a homage to great children's illustration - original drawings from various classics form gorgeous backdrops behind the commentators in some scenes, while in others the camera pans lovingly across the artist's images. It makes you want to run out the room and root out your old copies, to feast your eyes all over again on John Tenniel's illustrations for 'Alice in Wonderland', or E H Shepherd's for 'Wind in the Willows'and 'Winnie the Poo'.

Simply unmissable for anyone with a passion for children's literature - or for that matter anyone lucky enough to have had these books and images form part of their childhood mental landscape.

Good grief....

Second son, clutching the adaptor plug to his digital radio.
“Look, Mum, I put my tongue on the end here and I got a really bad electric shock. Even though it’s not plugged in. Look.”
He puts the plug to his tongue. “Aaargghhh," he yells, "That REALLY hurts!”
He does indeed look pained.
“Look. I’ll do it again.”
He does it again. More squeals of agony.
When he's recovered, he hands it to me. “Go on, you have a go.”

Can you believe this child is nearly 15?

Sheesh

I was doing a bit of surfing, prompted by a newsletter from the Arvon society, which runs a slew of creative writing courses. Try one - they're jolly good. Anyway, I landed up on the website of a female novelist/journalist, who kicked off with the following: "Xxx is one of Britain's most talented contemporary writers." I shan't tell you her name, since anyone given to such shameless self-promotion may well be the type to flame anyone who objects.

But really, how can you have the nerve to actually write that about yourself? Especially given that frankly, Ms Xxx, I for one have never heard of you.

Not barking, but howling

I'm going to take a deep breath, then repeat this only once. When you're not interested in something, you're uninterested in it, okay? Uninterested. Not disinterested.

Got that? Not interested, as opposed to impartial. Please try to remember it. Please.

I've been feeling pretty much like this....

Simply irresistible

My youngest son - now 12-years-old - gave me hell this weekend in the way only he and his oldest brother know how. Sheer bloody-minded unreasonableness mixed with a good dose of contempt and belligerence, and seasoned with a liberal smattering of swear words. I declined into that feeling of absolute maternal desperation - the one where you don't know whether to murder your offspring or yourself. Luckily, I had a trip to London scheduled, and escaped on Sunday morning with two days to calm down.

Said son phoned my mobile while I was recuperating in my favourite Japanese restaurant. After enquiring whether I wanted him to go up and see the dog, he then apologised for hie earlier behaviour (that is where he and his elder brother differ - the latter has NEVER apologised for his verbal atrocities). Then he said, and I quote: "Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this quaint turn of phrase - what has he been reading recently? - but it had the desired effect. I forgave him instantly.

The best things in life are free

Actually, I feel the need to sing the praises of craigslist a bit further. I've spent a lot of time on the net - some might say an inordinate amount - and I really feel it's the jewel in the crown. Yet almost no one I know has heard of it.

Here's a bit of the blurb about "24 Hours on Craigslist" - the film of the concept (no, I am not kidding) Anyway, it will give you the general idea. Basically craigslist:

• Is responsible for billions of dollars of interpersonal commerce—more than any other stop on America's internet.
• Provides the majority of housing and jobs for the nation's urban population.
• Has hooked up more people than ALL other dating sites combined.
• Has grown in web traffic 100% a year since it's creation over a decade ago.
• Is 99.99% FREE to use and 100% FREE of banner adds, pop-ups or any other annoying internet advertising which you are probably seeing out of the corner of your eye at this very moment.

Since Craig Newmark founded the site in 1995 simply to "help out, in a very small way" he has resisted an onslaught of advertising offers, multi-million-dollar buy outs and even the courtship of national TV shows and Hollywood studios.

Now that is my kind of guy. And craigslist is my kind of site. I've used it to arrange houseswaps in NY, rent rooms and apartments, make friends and find dinner dates (back in my halcyon single days). Not to mention just entertaining myself reading people's ads - the personals alone will keep you amused/bemused for hours. The 'Best of' section on the left contains some of the funniest prose I have ever read. Anywhere.

So, if you've not discovered it, don't waste another moment. Check out the NY site (newyork.craigslist) to see how good it can get. Then find the one for your local town and get posting. Grass roots participation doesn't get any better than this.