strange_complex | Sunday, 23 January 2005

Sunday, 23 January 2005

In the last seven days (to be specific, since Monday), one or both of the heels from exactly THREE different pairs of my shoes have fallen off. For context, I own nine pairs altogether, so we are talking about a 33% Heel Failure Rate in one week.

The first pair (yes, both heels fell off at once) couldn't be put back on, so I have had to abandon that pair of shoes. The second (single heel) could, so I have. The third appears to have been lost this evening in a taxi (unless

captainlucy was successful at getting it back for me after I got out?).

Just what is going on here, exactly? Have the heels of my shoes been jinxed? Is it some kind of divine ironic punishment for the disparaging comments I have made about the horrible heels attached to virtually every pair of shoes currently available for purchase in the shops? Is fate playing with me - forcing me into a situation where I have no choice but to buy shoes with horrible heels?

And is it true that bad things always happen in threes, so that I can relax now that the danger has passed?

Answers on a lost shoe heel, please...

Update: The good news is that

captainlucy did manage to find last night's lost heel, so hopefully that's another one I'll be able to glue back onto the shoe concerned.

Someone on

dianawynnejones today posted up a link to a PDF file containing the first chapter (16 pages) of Conrad's Fate, which is due to be published on March 7th.

It looks extremely promising, and delightfully fresh in both style and content (i.e. no rehashing of an old idea to sell books, here). Most surprising to me was the discovery that it is written in the first person, our narrator being the eponymous Conrad. I know this is a first for the Worlds of Chrestomanci series, and I can't think of any other DWJ books I've read before which use the same device (although there are plenty I haven't read).

Plot so far seems to be about ( tactful cut in case you'd rather discover for yourself ) There's also a rather charming reference to a series of children's books which Conrad likes to read with titles such as Peter Jenkins and the Headmaster's Secret, Peter Jenkins and the Hidden Horror and Peter Jenkins and the Magic Golfer. Naughty old Diana! ;)