To complete the fantasy of being a farmer’s wife, it’s necessary to be a seasonal baker.
According to the Mail Online’s “etiquette expert” – a concept so risible, given the Daily Mail’s obsession with pictures of celebrity derrières, that you suspect it must be a joke – putting up your Christmas decorations before mid-December is utterly vulgar. To put the tree up in November marks one as horribly middle class and not “proper”. Tinsel is tacky, unless you can source some of the 17th-century stuff, which was, apparently, made of real silver. If you must have a fake tree, it must be green; a pink tree, say, is beyond the pale.
We leave our tree up all year long, which would presumably render us de trop in Mail circles. It is a fake tree, obviously, and we leave it up because we love it. It is a Yule tree, made by The Artist, and was one of the loveliest things we have ever been given for Christmas. We put the presents under it.
Esta historia es de la edición December 15 - 21 2018 de New Zealand Listener.
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Esta historia es de la edición December 15 - 21 2018 de New Zealand Listener.
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First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
