My reading jag has included the three Tana French (new Irish crime writer) I bought last year. I'm waiting for the next. She really is very good. Each novel has been written in the first person, so far she's voiced two men and one woman and seems equally comfortable with either sex. The protagonists are liked by their job - in the Irish Guard, detectives, one often under cover, one the senior of the other two. This is satisfying as it gives different views of the same characters. I'm going to quote a bit here from 'Faithful Place' the last so far, which has more humour than the other two.

 "You're looking very well,'Carmel informed me, predictably. If the Risen Lord appeared to Carmel one morning, she'd tell him he was looking very well. Her arse was in fact pretty high-impact, and she had developed a genteel meet-my-sinuses accent that didn't surprise me one bit. Things round here were much more like they used to be than they had ever been.'

 So, apart from reading a lot, last night I went to a talk on Daoism given by my acupuncturist, an amazing lady.I've read (tried to read) the Tao Te Ching and I've use the I Ching a lot but I have never arrived at any useful understanding of what Daoism is other than the belief that all is interconnected. Last night I finally got a glimpse,and really like it. It certainly must be the oldest philosophy in the world because there are signs of its presence way back in prehistory. It preceded writing and believes that the true Dao is beyond words. Difficult for westerners. Bisong also made her audience (a mixed bag of Scots, Germans, English, Ductc, Austrians, Australians - and that was just the ones I knew) laugh by saying that westerners can't follow Chinese conversations because they jump around from one subject to another like children. She puts this down to Daoist thought which permeates all Chinese society.

 All in all it was an interesting evening and I was impressed with myself for going!!

 Lunchtime today I'm celebrating Robert Burns with a friend who, like me, doesn't get out in the evening much. This means 2 pints of real ale for him, a whisky for me and - wait for it - haggis tapas!