Rushing

This will be a short post as I was out much of yesterday, still celebrating my birthday and have to pay a visit to my mother soon, she is almost 101. The heat also makes sitting at a computer exhausting so blogs, facebook and other computer work needs to be done in the morning before the humidity arrives.

I could not get my VRS to charge so decided that it must be time to insert the new battery I bought recently. Not a bad run, I bought the machine in 2008 and this is the first battery change. It charged up quickly and ran perfectly last night so hopefully this battery will last for about 7 years.

I have started listening to another of Geraldine Brook's novels, March. Due to the issue with the VRS I am still in the prologue I think. It seems harder to follow from the beginning than her other novels. As it won the Pulitzer prize I am assuming it is good so I will persevere.  Her style of writing keeps one interested and the sudden inserts to describe violence, anger, or human misery keep one on track to follow the plot.

I have done very little other reading though have downloaded a couple of new memoirs recommended by the WLM group. This group now had 2000 members and had a big party on Friday which I missed due to work. Only a few people are regular contributors so the group does consist of hibernating onlookers.

Workshop

Yesterday I attended a workshop to discuss a national roll out of street accessibility audits. It required my complete attention, concentration levels were off the scale as we talked and planned our way through a wide variety of ideas and problems. I hope someone sends the plan in electronic form so I can absorb all that was discussed.

I was late to bed as I was determined to watch the programme on TV which was reflecting on the Christchurch earthquake. It was a very moving programme with many new photographs and moving media of the day as it unfolded. The profound affect of the day was visible in the eyes and demeanour of the people who were being interviewed.

I have just started a new talking book.


Winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize, March is based on the unknown father in the stories of Laura Inglis Wilder and the American Civil war. I think I will need to rewind part of it to follow the plot but it appears to be another masterpiece by this wonderful author.

Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I went out with my Stepsister for morning coffee and cake, slept half the afternoon and stayed up late to watch the final of Australian Masterchef. Although I knew who had won it was still very interesting to see all the pain they were in trying to gain the most points.

I am still reading Gorse is not People and find some of the stories interesting if I manage to finish before my VRS turns off. Other stories have no meaning at all and seem to reflect the mental illness that Janet Frame experienced much of her life. I will be glad when it is finished and I can move on to something easier to follow.

Writing a literature review has taken much of my time over the last 2 weeks. Apart from a meeting this Wednesday I hope I have almost finished it. On to the next one I would imagine.

I am still having difficulty reading on my kindle, hopefully this enforced break will be tempered by a huge reading session over the next week.  

Literature

Writing a literature review has been very interesting. I have not written one for several years but found that the skills returned very quickly. It has been an ongoing process for about 5 weeks and now I am glad to see the end in sight; although it looks as though the next one is being formulated.

Having finished Alone on the Ice I have now proceeded to a recently published book of Janet Frame's short stories.


I find it difficult to listen to short stories on my VRS as the machine turns off, sometimes when just starting a new short story, right near the end or leaves one hanging in suspense. I find Frame's short stories quite interesting and unusual, giving one much rumination over the intention behind the characters. It is not a very long book so will soon have to make another choice, on with my second year of books.

My reading of The Underground Girls of Kabul has come to a halt due to another cluster of migraines. I am beginning to suspect they are being caused by my neck and this grouping is the result of the massage I had last week. The tablets are making me quite muddled but do make the aftermath of each one more tolerable. As I have bought a large number of kindle books recently I hope I can get back to my reading soon.

I returned to my art journaling yesterday, I had forgotten how relaxing and stress reducing this past time is. I hope to do more at the weekend, perhaps a way to spend my birthday.    

Excited

Seldom does a book excite me so much that I listen to it for ages every night.


Enthralled by this book I find myself in the wee small hours turning my VRS on to listen to 'just 15 minutes more'. Having had this book on my player for a couple of years I was about to delete it when I decided to listen for an hour to see if it was interesting. Personally I cannot understand the pull of polar regions but the story of Mawson's solo trek across Antarctica with death, crevasse falls, starvation and then losing the soles of his feet is a wonderful example of how much a human can endure. About to be snowed in for another winter because the ship could not get close enough to allow them to board I am eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

 
I have just started reading this on my kindle. It is about the girls who disguise themselves as boys in Afghanistan so they may attend school. The book opens with a confused discussion as the children are introduced as 'sisters' when by all appearances they seem to be boys. I am sure this will be a very thought provoking book.

Another cluster of migraines has ensured that reading time is again reduced. I am pushing myself to exercise each day in the hope that the extra oxygen required will help with my headaches and ensure I get my blood sugars down to normal levels. Jay, who has put on a couple of kilos, is enjoying the walks free of his harness as I swing my white cane around. In need to change my exercise routines and my diet, not an easy ask after a year of apathy. 

Sugar

Several of my friends have given up eating sugar and have lost a lot of weight without exercising. I received a phone call on Thursday telling me that my blood sugars are up and I need to change my diet - again! I have a penchant for chocolate and while feeling apathetic all winter I ate bars of chocolate as if they were the last thing I would ever eat. As I have coped well with the gluten free diet I imagine a low sugar diet will not be too different.

Last night I watched Dr Zhivago. I had completely forgotten the plot, all I could remember was Omar Sharif and lots of snow. It is a fabulous movie which has stood the test of time and certainly stands out among the more modern movies which often contain too much violence.


Yesterday I began a new book on my VRS.

The story of an ill fated Antarctic expedition led by Douglas Mawson this thrilling account is full of adventure, tragedy and evidence that those who traversed this wilderness at the beginning of the last century were either mad or heroes.

My WLM Facebook group keeps recommending memoirs that look too good to miss. Today I have purchased two more which I will want to read as soon as I have finished Paullina Simon's book about her visit to Leningrad.




I dream that one day I may still visit Russia.

Toothache

I have now paid three visits to my dentist over the same tooth. The gum has been very painful for 24 hours but it appears that may be due to plaque and the beginnings of gingivitis. I need to keep really well this year, both mentally and physically so I can have a busy and fulfilling year. Not only do I have a new job but I have started writing a book and want to put more time into my art and garden.

I am still reading To Kill a Mockingbird on my VRS but heard that Harper Lee has found a book she thought had been lost and it will be published this year. While well written in that one is unexpectedly drawn in, I find her book a bit boring as it seems to be a blow by blow description of life as a lawyer's daughter in a small American town. It is very interesting to hear that she wrote the new book first but was encouraged to write Mockingbird and make her first book a sequel. It is interesting the way we take the advice of others who claim to know more about our writing than we do.

I am now reading Six Days in Leningrad   by Paullina Simons on my kindle.

This is a memoir of her journey back to her homeland to research St Petersburg for a book which became The Bronze Horseman. I have only read the first few chapters but understand that this book changed her life and provided her with another layer to a life filled with being both different yet belonging. Her description of the flat of her Papa's friends and their belief they were living in luxury opened her eyes to the deprivation in communist Russia.

Hearing an interview on the radio with Michaela De Prince saw me scrambling to Amazon.com to buy the book she has authored with her mother.

Orphaned by the war in Sierra Leone, Michaela is adopted by a loving American couple who encouraged her love of ballet, despite Michaela being told that the US was not ready for a black ballerina. Many years of practice and entering competitions has now paid off and she is dancing with the Amsterdam Ballet Company. You Tube videos show an athletic and not too thin yet very skilled ballet dancer who is obviously devoted to her chosen craft. I think this will be a very exciting read.

While I have begun writing a book I am in the process of putting together a literature review on street accessibility audits for CCS. Tomorrows meeting will be very interesting as I am sure they are unprepared for the extensive research I have already done.