Sunday 2 September 2007

Three double cubes is not as interesting as I thought it would be

Before I start, the warmest of welcomes to Mike, who I am vastly flattered to have as a visitor this month.

It's Dilly's birthday today. Slightly obscurely, she decided to greet the happy morn by packing up a load of baby stuff and going off with Al and Pugsley to Banham car boot sale. They left, leaving behind Squiffany, at 5.30 this morning.

They had announced their intentions yesterday, to me and Ro. "5.30" I said. "Ah, yes, babysitting. Oh..kay". "I'll do it" said Ro. "No problem." I was vastly impressed. Later, I said that was the action of a particularly decent brother. "I knew you'd be doing it otherwise", he said.

In other words, he did it for ME! I was quite overcome. The poor lad had to deal with a hug and a kiss from his grateful mother.

In short, all went well, they got rid of a load of stuff, enjoyed it and made a healthy profit, Squiffany was adorable and we fitted in birthday celebrations too. I find that September is a popular month for birthdays, which may indicate the sort of jollities that are carried on around the time of the Shortest Day (i.e. the Longest Night). There's Dilly, Phil, John R, John M, Z (that is I), Lynn, Shawn, Pugsley ... oh, and Dave of course. And a baby, born yesterday who has not yet a name and another baby, expected tomorrow (in the country of birth, already today!) and Ally's baby ... this is fabulous. We shall party all month.

54 is a dull age to look forward to, but there are, among that list, 3 of us. And since 54 is a double cube, we have here 3(2x3x3x3) which is ...162. Oh. Still pretty dull.

The bible reading today was one that always puzzles me. Jesus went to a party and noticed that some of the guests were pushing to get the best places. So he, when asked to speak, said that you should be humble and go to the lowest places (like near the loo or the clunking kitchen door - unless particularly yummy finger food is being brought through it, of course, in which case you get first pick). But, and this is the odd bit, he added that your welcoming host will go rushing up to you, saying that you cannot sit in that crappy seat, leave that for the lesser visitors and he will lead you to the best seat in the room.

That hardly appealed to the humble side, did it? It might have been humorous, to see this self-important individual plonking himself in the most below-the-salt place and being overlooked by the host, grateful not, for once, to hear his boasting but, splendid (and indeed Godly) chap that he was, Jesus was not notable usually for his sense of humour. Have I missed something? Dammit, and Dave, who could tell me, is away.

8 comments:

mike said...

Still LOL-ing at the finger food reference. My last good laugh of the holiday... thank you!

Z said...

Cheers, honey!

Monozygote said...

Makes perfect sense to me. I'm gonna bear it in mind. Thanks.

Z said...

Dearest, if I were the host I certainly wouldn't let you languish at the foot of the table. I'd want to talk to you.

It's just occurred to me. Maybe Jesus invented the table plan

Arabella said...

My take on the party seating arrangements goes something like:

we have our own ideas concerning the important places in life (excuse me, I'm trying to get to the earthly front seat if you'd just get your elbows out of my way madam...etc)and usually they're not the important places at all. It's very hard to remember this though, so sometimes, putting on the humble hat, even if it's a forced fit, can help us be guided to to the place where we'll do the most good. We're not always the best judge of where that might be.

Oh dear, that was a waffle! Fun to think about though.

Z said...

I say, Arabella, that's very impressive. An interesting interpretation and I'll reread the passage and think about it.

You may be bluffing - but that's good too!

Monozygote said...

I think it is simpler than that though: I think the message of the tale could be roughly paraphrased as pointing out that it is pompous to make decisions or assumptions about how others value us...

And in case that lovely remark was directed at me, well, thank you...

Z said...

Heh heh. I can't believe I've got a conversation going about the meaning of a bible story!

yes it was :-)