Several blog posts I never actually got round to writing

1) A post about how I have started reading any old book that takes my fancy, rather than waiting only for the Perfect Novel, and how now I am reading children's fiction, non-fiction books on subjects like psychology, the Holy Grail and feminism, and novels which sometimes utterly enthral me but which I wouldn't usually choose. I had planned to mention  how constantly inspired I am by the reading blog written by the writer Paul Magrs. I am also pretty indebted to Ali Shaw, author of the stunning novel The Girl with Glass Feet, for his blog post Thoughts on the Pleasures of Half Understanding, which has made reading non-fiction a lot less like chewing through wood.

2) A post about my traumatic morning with the Lattes watching Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue at the cinema, which left me in a complete panic about bringing up two daughters, a state which was not helped AT ALL by just having read Natasha Walters' book Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism. Tinkerbell's every movement suggested a lifetime in training for jumping out of a cake at a stag night. I spent most of the film muttering to Eldest: "Tinkerbell's outfit is completely unsuitable for garden work" and seething about the idea that the only way for a scientist to bring up his daughter is to give up his job and eat picnics in the park with half-clad imaginary creatures.

Who is funding these picnics?

This was a U-rated film, for goodness' sake. Who is Tinkerbell aiming to please? Mary at Disney Princess Recovery may have decided to give Disney's Tangled film a miss, but I'd say it was a feminist triumph after this one. At least the girl was wearing an ankle-length dress, and could knock a bloke out with a frying pan.

3) A post thanking Pings and Needles for listing me as one of her favourite blogs with under 300 subscribers. I'm supposed to highlight three other blogs of my own, but I'm not sure what I do with blog awards and after reading Sue's post at The Quince Tree I'm even less sure. But hang on. There are four blogs here already. They qualify. Let's go with those.