Swan Or Swann?

 I should have spelled Swan with a double 'n'. Or should I? Swan was the family name and his great grandfather added the extra 'n' because it looked more splendid or something. This grandfather was a Lincolnshire man who emigrated to Russia and reinvented himself as Herbert Alfredovitch Swann. Donald's father was fully Russian but of English descent and his mother was from what is now Turkmenistan. The Russian revolution sent them packing and Donald was born in Wales. His middle name was Ibrahim. 

We have his autobigraphy in the Meeting House library. The title is Swann's Way. Cheeky!

A Stay Of Execution That Arrived A Little Too Late

 As Damian and his assistant were loading the remains of the piano- now partially dismembered- on the back of the van a chap with long hair (musicianly type- I wonder now if he was someone I should have recognised) drove past, stopped and came over to see what we were up to. I told him the lamentable story. "Pity," he said, "I'd have bought it off you." "Pity you didn't come by five minutes earlier," I replied. 

Twenty years and more of not being able to shift the damn thing and just after we've rendered unsaleable we have someone come by who might have been a buyer. Ain't that just life! Thomas Hardy would have called it a "Satire of Circumstance" and worked it up into one of his awkard, cussed, indelible little pomes.....

By the way, Damian says he means to keep some of the fancy carved woodwork and repurpose it as a shelf. 

Misheard

 Ailz and I filmed Harvey Gillman's talk last Sunday and Jim has edited it and will be posting it on the Eastbourne Quaker website. It came out pretty well considering we were planning to record audio and only decided at the very last moment to go for video as well.

I have been reviewing it this morning. My "favourite" bit is where the subtitles render "Anglican priest" as "nine-inch priest". Phwoooar!

Oh, and remember where I wrote that Harvey had said "Anger is guilt turned outwards?" I find that what he actually said  was "Grief turned outwards". Not the same thing at all.