Tag: Challenge

It’s the end of June

And we’re all still here, in one piece, but oddly enough it feels like someone or something is picking us off, one by one.  You know, 100 green bottles standing on a wall…

I wanted to start this by reporting on my writing progress…

But…

I’m watching the world go to hell in a handbasket.  It’s not necessarily it’s leaders, those so-called wise men and women in government who are supposed to know what to do when there’s a crisis.  They can’t know everything.

They can try and get the best advice possible and pass it on.

And, it seems, a lot of them do.

There’s the odd maniac out there that has different ideas, mainly because their very instinct is to ask ‘what’s in it for me’?  It happens, and it will always happen, and sadly, a few million people have to die in order for them to realize their ambitions.

Fortunately, we don’t have many of them here.  We have leaders that make decisions that no one likes but begrudgingly follow.

Except for those few, and there’s always a few who think they are smarter, wiser, and better than all of us doing the right thing.

And they blame everyone else or play the persecution card when they perpetrate what can only be described as murder, because they disregard commonsense, go against all the proper things that they should be doing, get the virus, and then pass it on.

We have one such outbreak, a bad one, here, and it was started by selfish, stupid people.

There’s no other way of putting it.

To be honest, I’m all for public executions in the town square, but I’ve been told that’s a little harsh on one hand, and on the other, some would like to be the executioner.

But would it stop the stupid people?  No.

So, the bottom line is, it will come back, a few million more will get it, and those it didn’t kill before, it will kill them this time.  Why?  Because the longer we leave it out there, happily transmitting, it is mutating, as any ghastly virus does.

OK, I’m stepping off the soapbox now.

I’ve just been reminded that the COVID 19 virus doesn’t exist and it’s a Democratic hoax, that deep state (whoever they are – probably also Democrats) want you to think there’s a virus so they can control us.  Funny thing is, their not in power, so whose doing the controlling?

Are we going around in circles here?

It’s going away, it’s gone, it’ll be gone in a few weeks…  What will?  The Democratic hoax, deep state, a virus that doesn’t exist?

Hell, I’m just confused now.

But this just in … they’ve found a way to travel through time.

If they have I want to be first in line, so I can go back to when Russia and America hated each other, there was a cold, cold war going on, China made shoddy goods and we never heard from them or about them, and the British owned all the oil wells in Arabia.

In a word: well

At first, you would think this word has something to do with your health.

You’d be right.  “Are you well?” or “Are you well enough?”

Of course, it can cause some confusion, because how do you measure degrees of wellness.

Reasonably well, very well, not well, or just well.  Not a good descriptive word for the state of your health, maybe.

How about what if the team played well.  Not health this time, but a standard.

There’s ordinary, mediocre, as a team, brilliantly, and then there’s well.

It seems it can be used to describe an outcome.

Well, well.

Hang on, that’s something else again.

What about, then, we use the word to describe a hole in the ground with water at the bottom.

Or not if it is a drought.

A lot of people get water from a well, in fact in the olden days that was a common sight in a village.

What about those environment destroyers, oilmen.  They have oil wells, don’t they?

And when I went to school, there were ink wells on every desk.

Messy too, because I was once the ink monitor.

But if the well’s dried up?

It becomes a metaphor for a whole new bunch of stuff.

OR what about a stairwell?

And at the complexity of it all, for such a small word, tears well up in my eyes.

Past conversations with my cat – 76

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This is Chester.  He’s resting after a rather traumatic morning.

He came down sometime during the morning, into the office, and found me asleep in my chair.

After a long night last night, working on one of my stories, the plotline stretched well into the night and the creative juices were flowing.

It was very late when I got to bed, and I was surprised that he was not on the bed waiting for me like he usually is.

He’s one of those cats, very hard to move, and very difficult to work around when you try to stretch your legs,  And, being summer, he tends to jump around thinking it’s prey, and bites.

However…

He came down, saw me asleep and decided that I might be dead or something worse.

First, he jumped for the desk to my lap.  I didn’t move.

Second, he used a paw to tap on my arm.  I didn’t feel it.

Third, he did one of those hideous cat screams, and that nearly did give me a heart attack.

What is it they say, the cure is worse than the disease?

“What the hell is the matter with you,” I ask when finally my heart rate is back to under 200.

“I thought you were dead.”

“Isn’t that what you want, to become master of the house?”

“I’m already that, I just need a servant.  Don’t do that again.  Good servants are hard to find.”

With that, he jumps down and goes back to his lair, plotting, no doubt, the next lot of mischief he can get into.

 

The thing about ‘must read’ lists

And that is, you don’t have to read any of the books on it.

Who really cares if you do or if you don’t?

It’s just a list of books that a particular writer, journalist, or editor puts together simply because they liked them and think you might also.

And sometimes weight of sales numbers will dictate popularity, and therefore some basis to any particular list.

Of course, this doesn’t work if all you read is comics or romance books like Mills and Boon.  Hey, that’s fine.  You’re reading and this is one of the most important aspects of life, to read, and sometimes, to learn.

I know that my life changed dramatically when I read books, lots of different sorts of books.  I’ve never recommended anyone read the dry, dusty tomes about neurosis for psychiatry, or a history of the Roman Empire simply because of it something I was interested in after I saw the film, Ben Hur.

In a similar manner when we go to school, the curriculum sometimes dictates we read certain books, whether this is to give us an understanding of life centuries before, or that there is some deeper, more sinister, meaning to it all, but some of those books I had to read, back then, the meaning was lost on me.

But should I not read them?  I know most of the kids in the class didn’t because they considered reading a waste of time.  There were more important things to do like chase girls and play a sport.  And torment the teachers.  From what I hear, little has changed.

But the point here is, in my case, I’m just giving you the drum on what I read to improve my literary understanding, of life, and of the world, and perhaps in a small way, help with my writing.  After all, writers must read, particularly in their genre so they have some idea of what readers want.

But again that two-word phrase ‘Must read’ is an unfortunate and often misused heading.  We do it all the time.  Ten films you ‘must-see’, ten things you ‘must-have’, ten places you ‘must go’ usually before you die.

It amuses me to see books with a 1000 somethings you must do before you die.  I will no doubt be well and truly dead before I get halfway through even one of those lists, that is, if I actually took any notice of them.

But, what’s more interesting is that I like to see how many I haven’t done, which is probably the reason why we buy the book, usually off the sale table.

Just one of many reading lists – part 3

**Please don’t assume that you have to, nor would I ever expect you to,  read any or all of these books.  You don’t.**

Everyone, it seems, will publish what they call the top 100 books that you should read. Some are voted on, some belong to the opinion of the editor of the book review section of a newspaper, and, as you know, there are a lot of newspapers, a lot of editors, and a lot of opinions.

I’m not a newspaper, I’m not an editor, but I have a list, based on personal experience, and many, many years of reading.

It’s in no particular order.

41.  The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as a host of other Sherlock Holmes stories

42.  The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, one of Conrad’s later political novels, set in London in 1886 and deals with anarchism and espionage.  In those days spies were called anarchists.

43.  The Ipcress File by Len Deighton, introducing us to Harry Palmer, who was personified by Michael Caine and led to Horse Under Water, and Funeral in Berlin.  More of Len Deighton later on in the list

44.  The Remorseful Day by Colin Dexter introducing the somewhat enigmatic detective, Morse, his first name not revealed for a long time but oddly, Endeavour.  John Thaw brought him to life

45.  Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, hard to pronounce and even harder to read, but perhaps worth it in the end.  By the time I read this I was wishing for a Russian writer had could use an economy of words

46.  Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak wasn’t it.  A vast and lengthy dissertation on lost love, I felt very sad for Zhivago in the end.  I saw a stage play of the same name, and I’m sorry, but it’s a few hours of my life I will never get back

47.  Casino Royale, the first of the James Bond novels by Ian Fleming.  I have to say these are among my favorite spy books.  I must say I preferred the new James Bond in Casino Royale, though Sean Connery still rules!

48.  The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsythe, a fascinating story about an assassin

49.  Anything written by John Le Carre, but in particular, the George Smiley collection.  Finally unmasking his nemesis the Russian spymaster made it all so satisfying.

50.  The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlam, inspiring a long series by both Ludlam and Eric Lustbader makes entertaining reading, but the first, the man who did not know who or what he really was, was excellent.  Matt Damon didn’t harm his persona either.

51.  Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers, whose detective is Lord Peter Whimsey, a 1933 mystery novel that’s eighth in the series

52.  Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith.  You have to admit that his Russian detective Arkady Renko is up against it when his investigation goes in a direction that uncovers corruption and dishonest in his superiors

53.  The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler, a semi-autobiographical novel written between 1987 and 1884, and published in 1903.  The story of the Pontifex family.

54.  Howards End by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, is an interesting insight into the behavior of the, and between the classes, with the Schlegels acting as the catalyst.

55.  Washington Square by Henry James, originally published as a serial, and covers the conflict between daughter and father.  I must say I prefer The Ambassadors to Washington Square.

56.  Ulysses by James Joyce, a day in the life of an ordinary man, Leopold Bloom, why could it not be the 7th June rather than the 16th, for obvious reasons

57.  The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley is a view of society at the end of the Victorian period through the eyes of a young boy.  I read this while still at school and had no clue why, but later, when I read it again, I understood the meaning

58.  Atonement by Ian McEwan, I saw the film and then read the book.  Never a good idea.  Basically, a young girl makes a bad mistake and tries to atone for it.

59.  Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, the War and Peace of Americal novels, and as long by comparison.  The only book written by Mitchell, and the second most read book by Americans.  The film was interesting but awfully long.

60.  The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, with a man with severe burns and the effect he had on three others.  Colin Firth is villain one day and hero the next, this time in the cinematic version, an out and out cad.

More to come…

 

Did somebody say they wanted a book?

Books, books and more books

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As you can see the shelves are multi-purpose, but that’s all about to change.

The problem?

I have been buying books and I am now running out of shelf space, so the drinks will have to go.

There have been quite a few that have been reduced in price, and this is the time when I buy up big.

The problem is that I have so many, and no more space for shelving, that sometimes I have to ‘recycle’, but a friend of mine doesn’t mind because those recycled books find a good home elsewhere.

Even so, I don’t think I’ll stop buying books.

They’ll just have to lie around on the floor is stacks.

What goes up must come down, hopefully

It makes me feel a little light-headed looking at this photo, and how far down those steps go.  At the time, after climbing those steps, I was light-headed and out of breath.

Exercise can kill you.

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Having walked up all those steps, I wasn’t looking forward to going back down again.  You know the old say, what goes up must come down.

I’m sure that had its origins in relation to gravity.

So, as an intrepid adventurer, I thought there must be an easier way.

If you call walking another three or so kilometers to the end of the track, and five going back.

It was a long day, but it got the grandchildren out of the house, and out from under my feet for a few hours.

Post conversations with my cat – 75

This is Chester. He’s now answering the phone.

I came down to the living room to find Chester on the counter next to the house phone, and the receiver sitting next to him.

I’m almost too afraid to ask, but, you know it is, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

“What have you done?”

“I thought I’d answer the phone for you. Thing is, they hung up.”

It’s a scam call. They ring up, you answer, they hang up knowing they’ve got a live number to call with their scam.

“Yep. Just sit tight, the scammers will start calling in half an hour.”

I put the receiver back.

“I’m getting back to work.”

“I’ll keep an eye on the phone. When they call, I’ll answer it.”

Yep. That’ll give the scammers something to think about.

Half an hour later, the phone rings. Instinctively I get up to answer it but Chester has answered it. That is, he has dislodged the receiver, and it’s sitting on the bench.

A voice is coming out of it. “This is Aaron. I’m from the Telstra technical department. Hello.”

Chester is looking at the phone, hearing the voice but not quite understanding.

He looks at me. “What is that guy’s problem. I told him I’m not interested. Doesn’t he get it?”

I hang up the phone. “They never get it. But don’t worry, they’ll call back again in an hour or so. Just tell them to go away.”

Chester looks at me with a whimsical smile. “This is going to be fun.”

My scam call problem is solved!

Let your imagination run free

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Whilst in reality these steps go down to a very narrow space of the beach, and scattered rocks in the shallow water, so much more could be inspired by this photograph.

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Further out that day, divers were out exploring about 100 yards offshore.

But, to me, it what you don’t see that gives it its fascination.

We could be anywhere along a 1,000-mile shoreline, one side a small village lazily gets through the day, on the other, a deserted and overgrown picnic spot that no one ever comes to anymore since the bypass road was built.

But it is not any of those.  it’s in Mornington, Victoria, Australia, the pier that is not far from a small park, and that day, very, very busy.

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It simply goes to show that sometimes a photograph can provide enough information to inspire a story.

A side effect of COVID 19, more time to write

I’ve been watching our part of the world slowly come back to life.  It’s a small part because our state borders are still closed, and I have to say, in all the time I’ve been alive, those borders have never been closed.

It seems odd that once country has six states and two territories, and at the moment you can’t travel between them.

Perhaps no so funny, maybe, given the times we live in.

So, would it be worse than the day east and west Berlin finished up with a wall and saw families separated simply by finding themselves on the wrong side.

We have family in another state and we can’t visit them.  We have friends in other states, and we cant visit them.

There are places in this country we wanted to visit, but we can’t.  Not now.  Maybe not later, because some of those states are seeing a resurgence of the virus.

We are only allowed to visit our own state, but there are places we haven’t been, and things we haven’t seen, so maybe that will the prompt to do so.

But, the thing is …

We are all so used to getting on planes and going anywhere in our country, or anywhere in the world that takes our interest.  Now we can’t.

It’s had an effect on my writing because now I spend more time on character development rather than where the characters are.  Places are secondary now, the people, well, they’re becoming more than just people in a story.

And I’m getting to see more of myself, remember more about what has happened in the past, and more of an interest in the family tree, where we came from, who we were, and how I finished up where I am.

Australian’s always joke about the fact their forbears came out as convicts.  Ours were not, and as far as I’m aware, date back to the 1600s in England.  My brother knows more, but I’m sure we were not lords of the manor, probably the serfs who farmed the lord’s fields.

It’s something I have the time to investigate because until this virus goes away, we will not be going anywhere.