there aren't enough stars . . .

. . . for this delicious movie. Pitch perfect. I laughed, I cried, I was astounded at the excellent performances by the entire cast. Alan Bennett ~ he of "Beyond the Fringe" and "The Madness of King George" ~ is acutely tuned to the dialogue of these smart, smarty and remarkably innocent boys. As I noted above, pitch perfect. Bennett is also the author of Talking Heads, a series of monologue plays shown on BBC TV, of which "Bed Among the Lentils" with the incomparable Maggie Smith is one. If you ever find it grab it and prepare to fall in love.

I, myself, went to boarding school. All girls. Although we did not have a Hector to lead us into, around and through language, literature and other more interesting facts of life and learning, we did have a couple of eccentric teachers. Miss Parker, M.A. Radcliffe College, had wiry gray hair that looked like it was constantly full of static electricity. She smoked unfiltered Camels, was alarmingly thin, wore the weirdest clothes, and had a brilliant mind. Miss Brown taught Latin. I think she spoke Latin. She had mischievous, twinkling eyes which belied a strict, no-nonsense manner. What was this all worth? Everything. Along with Medieval History, chemistry, French and the poetry of Tennyson, we learned how to compete. We learned that it is a good thing to stay in the game. It's OK to win, and that you don't have to fade away because your competition is a boy, that you don't have to give in just because it's a boy, no matter how shamefully ignorant he is. A valuable lesson.

Three hours in the garden this morning. Digging, pruning, clipping, sweeping, watering, fertilizing. Next chore is going to be to divide the bulbs that have pretty much taken over some pots. I had to pull out two rose bushes; they just didn't make it. Fortunately, no lawn to mow. Makes me glad I don't live at Les Tuilleries.