sigh!!!

Sing a song of sixpence,
A POCKETFUL OF RYE,
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
the birds began to sing.
Oh, wasn't that a dainty dish
To set before a king?
The king was in his counting-house
Counting out his {money;}
The queen was in the parlour
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden
hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose.

Of late I have been reading only Agatha Christie s and I guess its not a good enough thing to say when I (an M.A graduate) am asked “so what are you reading nowadays”, I feel I cant possibly say ‘five little pigs’ and get away with anything. But I love toh! I have finished all the Christie s at Walden and now don’t know what to do, where to go and buy?

Of course have read all Miss Marple s and it’s not fair that they are so few. My mom and I devour the books like ….. I would mayonnaise… heh heh. And my room is completely filled with these perfect looking books,

Where Poirot is written in raised letters, and they smell great, with awesome covers pics, and cost only 150 bucks (of course a year ago it was only 125…so quickly hoarding before it becomes 175)

I love that so many of her titles have a nursery rhyme in them. Some that I can think of right now are:

McGinty’s dead

Pocket Full Of Rye

Five little pigs

Hickory dickory dock

One two buckle my shoe

Crooked house

And then there were none (play).

Three blind mice

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice?

The origins of the lyrics to this nursery rhyme are in English history. The 'farmer's wife' refers to Queen Mary I, otherwise known as 'Bloody Mary', the reference to 'farmer's wife' alludes to the massive farming estates which she possessed and those of her husband, Philip of Spain. The 'three blind mice' were three noblemen who were plotting against the Queen - she did not have them dismembered and blinded as inferred in the rhyme - but she did have them burnt at the stake! Agatha Christie too used nursery rhymes to wave horribly sinister plots. In ‘pocket full of rye’ the killer is after her own heart as he uses the rhyme to plan out a murder.

I wish I had not read them ever cos now I have read them all.

my lil pukki

mom and steve irwin

It’s been a month exactly since I have blogged. And it was quite therapeutic I claim. Not having to blog, not feeling the pressure to share one’s life with the ‘others’. But blogging is such a good way of being in touch that I actually feel I have no friends now that I have not blogged for ages (1 month). Ok so have made same point twice already. Going to call this post “Mom and Steve Irwin”. Steve Irwin died last week. He was 40 something. Left behind a daughter, a son, a wife, a dad. Mom and dog had pre-deceased him. Mom died in car crash, and dog had cancer in the nose. How do I know?

I know cos mom has been watching animal planet a little more than usual. Animal planet is my mom’s fave channel. My sis, my mom and I have watched animal planet many a(an?) afternoons, and cried our hearts out cos the dog, the camel or the polar bear died, or was loved and happy. My mom cannot get over the extremely untimely and tragic death of the crocodile hunter. I don’t like reptiles but remember having watched him anyway. He had named his daughter ‘bindi’ after his fave croc. How can you not cry for such a man?

Having lived a successful life as a nature conservationist, he died an apt death, trying to research for his daughter (my sister tears up at this thought).

Here’s to Steve for being passionate about animals, and finding beauty in all of them

Here’s to mom for being gentle and sensitive enough to shed tears for Steve and his dog.