If anyone reading this blog knows how to set up a comments box could they please let me know. I and others have tried several times to no avail. Surely it cannot be that difficult!
I am thoroughly enjoying Saving the Queen although was a bit stunned this morning to read a very vivid description of Oakes receiving a caning at the prestigious boarding school his step father had sent him to in England. It was more of a beating rather than a caning and one wonders how many of today's stiff upper-lipped men who are absorbing their anger to their own and their family's detriment is as a direct result of this barbaric treatment. Perhaps this is an explanation for teachers turning a blind eye to bullying, they can no longer give out punishments so quietly support the bullies who do so.
I purchased this book for my kindle at the weekend. While I am unsure if my skills are sufficient to try this as an added art form I hope to begin reading it today. Art is proving to be a wonderful outlet for me as I struggle to overcome the negativity's of the past. Yesterday I began a new journal, one which will explore my thoughts and feelings about the future, the quietness of life, new beginnings and ideas. perhaps mapping may provide me with a journey into a realm I had previously not explored.
Writing has taken second place in my interests at present and I was disappointed to receive an email this morning reminding me I had not entered the Scottish Book Trust competition for a story about home.
Jay is bored as outings have reduced while I recover from my time of negativity. He is bursting out of his skin to go for a long walk, something I cannot do at present while my feet are so sore. I am beginning to dread the walk to work tomorrow, and home again, hopefully I can get my feet comfortable so the rest of my being does not compensate for the pain. Arthritis is not something I believed would ever be predicated on my body, life offers many twists and turns which are unexpected and certainly painful.
I have a rather unusual interest which some people find extremely odd, I love reading about the royal families of Europe, particularly the younger members who are slowly taking over the reins and becoming young and vibrant Kings and Queens. My particular favourite is Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, previously an Australian I think we have all applauded her fairytale life with Frederik. I have watched all the You Tube videos of the new King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain. These royals are all far more interesting than our stuffy British royalty.
Saving the Queen is proving to be an interesting read and in the middle of the night CIA training tactics seem quite mild. 1951 may have been during the Cold War, but their rather introverted methods of putting an agent in the field seem very old fashioned and outdated. I gather this may be the first in a series of Oakes CIA exploits, I will need to check this although I am not sure spy novels are a genre I would wish to pursue.
Art Journaling has finally taken hold of me and I have bought two more kindle books on the subject, one a book of prompts, the other map journaling which sounds fascinating for a traveller. I have done several pieces over the weekend and hope to do more today, it needs to become an ongoing hobby.
Broadchurch, a TV series I have been avidly watching on Sunday nights reaches it unexpected conclusion next Sunday. I know who did it, a most unexpected murderer, perhaps I wish the series was not so well described on the internet where the identity of this person has been revealed. I have also purchased the DVD of Philomena, a movie which made me very angry, I will watch it when I feel emotionally capable of doing so.
I finished Digging to America last night and it ended in a rather predictable way with the Iranian grandmother making a decision that she needed to accept America and Americans rather than continually railing against their mores. I suspect that many of us are anti-American having viewed their endless imposition of their values on a variety of nations from the Caribbean to Iraq. As a traveller I find their brusque loud manner rude and overbearing so could totally understand the themes of this book woven around refugees, adoption and inter-country misunderstandings.
Making a decision to open this book on my VRS at some ungodly hour may prove fortuitous. I doubt I have ever read a spy novel, certainly I cannot remember having done so. Blackford Oakes applies to join the CIA and with a mother living in London which provides adequate cover, he is sent to discover the source of a leak involving a Queen Caroline and the royal household. An ex-fighter pilot and Yale graduate, Oakes is debonair and intelligent. I hope this turns out to be as interesting a book as it appears in an hour or so of listening last night.
I am still reading Rushing Women's Syndrome by Dr Libby Weaver. So much of this book fits my stressed out life which has come to a head of late. I am hoping to gain skills which will allow me to recognise when I am becoming stressed, over tired and beginning to burn out. Tired adrenal glands appear to be the source of many women's issues.
Four days to relax and enjoy doing as little or as much as I choose is very precious. My arthritis is painful so walking and getting fresh air may be out of the question so I will have to garden or sit outside in the sun. Perhaps my next book will have to be about diet and exercise for sore joints, I just hope there is one for kindle or in large print.
I have continued to read Digging to America with a growing understanding of the impact and implosions that adoption brings to one's life. This week I have been recommended a book called The Primal Wound which unfortunately was not available for kindle so I have ordered the book from Amazon. I am expecting a huge enlightenment on my own life, thoughts and feelings.
I have just started reading this book on my kindle. The author has just arrived in Damascus and is exploring his surroundings which already enchant him. With Syria being at the forefront of much of our news of late I am sure this will prove to be an insightful and challenging book to read.
I need to explore my books on art journaling again. Time and being overly busy has impacted on my time to enjoy this new hobby. While books on Amazon look very interesting I need to read more deeply the ones I already have on the subject. Practice is meant to make perfect so I need to stop thinking and take part!
I began reading this last night on my VRS. Initially I assumed it was a non-fiction work but quickly became aware it is fiction. The story of two very different families who meet at Baltimore Airport while waiting for children they have adopted from Korea, lives intertwine and acknowledgement of difference is a theme explored from several angles. One family is all American, the other Iranian immigrants. Simply written it appeals as an easy listen, exploration of adoption - I am adopted - and an expose of what it means to be American. The two small girls seem almost adjunct to the story, I hope they are part of the theme as they grow past babyhood.
I am still enjoying Our House is Definitely not in Paris on my Kindle. It is both an interesting and subtle memoir, renovating on both sides of the world is not for the fainthearted. Explanations of the simplicity of life in the French countryside are exquisite, especially the bricole and other sources of French memorabilia. This book is enough to make me dream of a month in France - perhaps!
My philosophical and sociological training has made me angrier and angrier about a friend's response to my text regarding my desire to work. It is not all my Piscean nature, her ignorance and opinionated response leaves much to be desired. Why do I allow other people's beliefs to take such precedence in my thinking.
I will be completing one of my archiving positions this week due to difficult working conditions and severe eye strain. While it seems unusual for someone with a 'pieced together' work life to resign from a day's well paid work my health and wellbeing is far more important. I have been offered other work more commensurate with my passions and qualifications, I hope I can align myself with this type of work over the next few weeks.
Yesterday I attended a workshop run by 'Think Differently', a section of the Ministry of Social Development who are attempting to change attitudes to disability in the community. It focused on getting positive messages out to the media, print, radio and television. Each participant was interviewed and then their interview was critiqued by the group. Working with high level journalists such as press reporters, Radio NZ journalists and similar was a real privilege.
I have done little reading this week, each book I have attempted on my VRS has ended up with me pushing the delete button and I am ensconced in the Readers Digest at present. I receive voluminous emails from Amazon about books they are certain I should read but in most cases I delete them. Recently I have purchased a large number of books for my kindle and will spend much of the rest of this year perusing them.
I find it disappointing that some authors still refuse to allow their books to be available in e-book format. There are many books I hear of but when checking online discover they are only available in hardcover. While I understand the mores of income for authors and royalties perhaps they do not understand the needs of vision impaired people to access print in the same way as fully sighted people do.
I must get back to my copy of Rushing Women's Syndrome as it appears I am part of this new phenomenon. This is meant to be a day of fun, hopefully it will include some reading.
Finishing the compact history of South Africa early this morning I trawled the books stored on my VRS for something new to read. Several weeks ago I downloaded Time magazine's 100 most influential people. It sounds interesting but I may not last the distance given that the first person mentioned is Beyonce. Why does the world have such a fascination with pop stars, actors, sports stars and the like rather than with ordinary people doing extraordinary things. No wonder our young fail to see what is good and correct in this world when their 'stars' are drug takers, wife beaters, constant divorcees and the like. I am hoping that as I read closer to the last 10 people who are truly worth admiring and respecting have made the final few.
I have begun searching Amazon.com kindle books at least twice a week as often there are bargains of books I have on my 'to buy' list. I am sure everybody has times when they are attracted by books from a particular genre and buy several only to tire of the subject and move on. I counted up how many books I have unread on my kindle, more than I would like to admit. While this is to be my 'year of reading widely' from both the talking, kindle and real book options I find that my eyes often make reading in the evening impossible. As a result I have spent several evenings watching DVD's I borrowed from the school library. Two of these, 'Earth' and 'Water' are made in India and are based around the upheaval in their culture in 1947 when achieving independence from Britain. Much of what is portrayed is horrifying - child widows, suttee, racial and religious tensions, divisions of the country, misuse of the innocence of children, rape and pillage. Despite having such a huge population and customs so different from my own I am horrified at their treatment of women and children. Movies worth watching, not for the fainthearted.
