Monday, August 23, 2010

queen ants, wussy mums, and Russian translations

Current work: revisions on Venice book
Listening to: Def Leppard (very loudly)
Reading: Fools Rush In, Kristan Higgins (enjoying, especially the puppy)

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was great fun on Friday – I do rate Nicolas Cage as an actor, and Alfred Molina is such a good baddie :o) There was also a trip to Waterstone’s to spend Daughter’s book tokens (and I bought Susanna Kearsley's new one - unless DH is reading this, in which case I've had that book for AGES...). Sorted out most of the rest of the school shopping (shoes, bags, stationery) and saw my latest book on the shelf, on publication day (there weren’t many left – but our Smith’s does tend to put the books out a few days early, so hopefully that’s a good sign).

Then Daughter decided that she did want her ears pierced, after all (we’ve been discussing it for months) – so she was very brave and went for it. My excuses for not having mine done (hearing aid, high blood pressure, general wussiness) were shot down in flames by the very nice woman in Claire’s Accessories, but I’m sticking to them! Wussy mum, absolutely.

However, Brave Daughter went very wussy when we arrived home to find flying ants everywhere. Especially in the kitchen. Have to admit, I dislike ants, wasps and daddy-long-legs (crane flies), so I went on immediate kitchen strike. DH and Son have been dealing with them. (Well, hey. If he’s taller than I am, he can deal with flying ants - right? Bless him, he was great and hoovered up the dead ones for me, too.)

Other than that, I’ve been head down working on the Venice book and trying very hard not to let myself get distracted by a little bit of family history research… but if you had just discovered that your great-grandfather’s middle name was Adonas, wouldn’t you be intrigued? I want to know where the writing gene came from in our family, as I’m the middle of three generations I know about – the others being my mum and my daughter. And the way it's spelled makes me think of the Shelley elegy about Keats. Could be that his mum was a bookworm (esp. poetry - and note the connection with the Romantics, because my beloved spaniel is named Byron) but his dad registered the birth and, being unfamiliar with the name, couldn't spell it... Yet another time when I wish my mum was still here, because she would've loved finding this out, too. Though I can share it with bestest uncle, so that's good.

Russian translation? Had my first, this weekend, with Temporary Boss, Permanent Mistress – very exciting. Also had my first Indian translation last week, along with a lovely Japanese edition. To think that people who don’t even share a common alphabet with me can read my books – I’m not sure if that’s more thrilling or humbling. Probably both.

Plan for today: squeeze in some work, and we have torrential rain forecast, so maybe we’ll go to see The Last Airbender.

6 comments:

Michela said...

A M&B Russian translation? WONDERFUL! Or better... ocen' interesnij! Yes, I speak Russian (Degree in Languages) and yes - Cyrillic Alphabet can be very abstruse but it's a fascinating language when you learn it.
Adonas... intriguing name, indeed. My ancestors are from Spain (Naples and Spain...mmm, more Latin than this!) so I often discover beautiful names too.
I'd like to see The Last Airbender too, there's a very good actor in it - Jackson Rathbone - which actually I'm appreciating in The Twilight Saga. x

Caroline said...

Great news on the foreign translations. You must be thrilled. Not so good news on the unwanted bugs tho'! Caroline x

Lacey Devlin said...

Brave daughter indeed! I still remember getting mine pierced (I was five I think) and it wasn't because it tickled.

I hope you haven't been taken over by flying ants!

Kate Hardy said...

Michela - I was thrilled. (And wow, you speak Russian, too?)

The Last Airbender was a bit disappointing because there wasn't much emotional connection with the characters, and I do feel the film needed that. (I did note Jackson Rathbone - didn't know who he was until the credits came up! - and my first thought was 'potential hero material'.) My daughter rather likes the Twilight Saga, though at the moment she's sticking to the books rather than the films :)

Kate Hardy said...

Caroline - I am :o)

And I'm also delighted that the ants have gone (it's only for 2-3 days, but it's a pain while it lasts). A couple of people have told me that they're delicacies in Africa - in maize porridge in Botswana, and fried in South Africa. (Hmm. DH's grandfather was born in South Africa. Must tell him that instead of salmon tonight he could have fried ants...)

Kate Hardy said...

Lacey - she did admit later that it hurt. But she's very pleased with them. (And we have six weeks of cleaning the area with special lotion three times a day. She's worked out that she can change her earrings on her birthday, so you can guess what she's going to be choosing...)