Frances Fischer

Yep, it’s midwinter, Candlemas or Groundhog Day, traditionally the coldest day of the year, although it didn’t live up to that here. Storm Malik withdrew yesterday, leaving cold sunshine between the clouds. Any Danish groundhog would have to play peek-a-boo if it hoped for a shadow to check the tilt of its ears. Folk tradition therefore says spring is on the way. Mainly, there’s about an hour more daylight than there was around Christmas, when the days were darkest. For… Read More »Midwinter

A Wizard’s Staff Oh, a wizard’s staff has a knob on the end – It’s retractable, ooo – and distractible; It’s emphatical, with me on sabbatical, Educational, a bit sensational, very practical – even piratical. A wizard’s staff has a mind of its own – It’s insistent, ooo – and persistent; shades to purple, I’m all a’burble. When it’s frolicsome, quite a conundrum, not polemical – but alchemical. A wizard’s staff may be rather cocksure it’s invincible, ooo – but… Read More »A Wizard’s Staff Has a Knob on the End

What’s in a Name? According to Juliet, nothing. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” she tells Romeo. But I am not a rose. I am – among other things, including loyal Shakespeare fan – an author, and thereby, all unexpected, the owner and subject of a homepage. That needs a name ….   Oh God, what do I do now? My own domain! Now there’s a title to awaken slumbering anxiety. It sounds like a kingdom,… Read More »What’s In a name

Movies & Poets Recently enjoyed a DVD evening with my absolutely better half, watching, once more, The Raven, a big favorite. Edgar Allan Poe must help the police find a killer who is copying his scary stories, & finally threatening his own true love. Mystery solved but our hero dies at the end. Nobody really knows how Poe died & the movie’s solution is not the least bit convincing, but suspenseful good fun. Somewhere in the literary oversoul Poe is… Read More »Movies & Poets