Whoopee!

Happy Victoria Day and all that. Not everything the Brits left us turns out to be naff. It almost makes up for the bland cuisine, the monarchy, and the crushing self-consciousness.

Xtreme English is always poking about on the net looking for interesting stuff which she then posts about, making her a good source of undiscovered things that will make you laugh until you pee your pants. Recently she introduced me to "Whoopee", the blog of Antonia Cornwell, a woman who lives in London and by whose own account has "a heart of gold and a wrong sense of humour. I live with my moustachioed lover, Ian, who owns real lederhosen, and our baby daughter Esme, who doesn't." Reading her blog didn't cause me to pee my pants but it did cause me to snort out loud more than once. She's very funny and very dry and while I'm not a mum, I sympathize with her campaign of trying out different playgroups and "mommy and me" activities as she attempts to find other mums to socialize with who think like her and who haven't turned into food nazis and joyless, primary-school-obsessed automotons.

If Antonia doesn't make you laugh, perhaps it is you who are the joyless automoton; if so, Xtreme English has something to chill the cockles of your heart as well.

ronnie