Persistent Distraction

Today's Battle: The Spice of Life (Harriet v. The World)

"No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety."
     Syrus (Publilius Syrus)

"Listen, Harriet, you've taken a tomato sandwich to school every day for five years.  Don't you get tired of them?"

"No."

"How about cream cheese and olive?"

Harriet shook her head.  The cook threw up one arm in despair.

"Pastrami?  Roast beef?  Cucumber?"

"Tomato."

     from Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh

And the winner is..... Harriet.

On a wall outside Delft Central Station...

...someone composed this poem:

Which gives approximately the following, in English:

At the station

The clock ticks the minutes
before the train departs

The destination remains unknown
until the very last moment

The future lies before you in the train
and wherever it may go

Wonderfully limitless
feeling of freedom

Nothing holds you here
Nothing you need

Anything is possible,
everything is permitted

The world welcomes you with a smile

A sweet sentiment, expressed with questionable syntax.  Is it bad grammar, poetic license, or Auntie Shell's poor translation skills?  Who knows...maybe you native Dutch speakers?

The monkey comes out of the sleeve

Auntie Shell loves expressions that feature monkeys. "De aap komt uit de mouw!" is used to remark upon the revelation of crucial detail that was previously withheld, or a hidden agenda finally made clear.  It literally means, "The monkey comes out of the sleeve."

Colleague #1:  "I just failed my certification exam."
Colleague#2:    "Oh, drag.   But I'm surprised...
Colleague #1:  "Yeah, well, I thought it was scheduled for next week."
Colleague #2:  "Ahh...there comes the monkey out of the sleeve!"

Petit déjeuner

It's Sunday.  This is what one should be having for breakfast:

And one could, if one were at the Comptoir du Panthéon, in the Rue Soufflot, in Paris.  This is one of the rare extant examples of Food Porn from my latest Paris outing. 

In Rotterdam today, the choices are rather limited, as it is a public holiday and everything is closed for two days.  Happily, Auntie Shell has stocks of caffeine and various delivery systems, so the buzz is provided for, if not the ambiance.