I don't think that I mentioned that Cliff and I went to see a play starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum last weekend. The play was called 'Speed the Plow'. You might be interested in the review. Here is the link: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/drama/reviews/story/0,,2256041,00.html
If you are in the London area and can get a ticket, you should consider seeing it.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Food, Writing and the erotic
Of late, my favorite detective fiction writer is Donna Leon. Her detective lives in Venice and when he's not chasing criminals, he is eating the most wonderful meals cooked by his wife. And of course there are wines to go with these meals. Here is a quote from Suffer The Little Children:
Brunetti usually disliked eating the same thing for lunch and dinner, but the tuna steaks Paola had simmered in a sauce of capers, olives and tomatoes could hardly be said to have originated on the same planet as the tuna tramezzini he had eaten fro lunch. Tact and good sense prevented his making any reference to the latter, since comparison even with such paltry opposition might offend. He and his son Raffi shared the last piece of fish, and Brunetti spooned the remainder of the sauce on to his own second helping of rice.
"Dessert?" Chiara asked her mother, and Brunetti realized that he had managed to save space for something sweet.
"There's fig ice-cream," Paola said, filling Brunetti with a flush of anticipation....
Sensational it was, and after the four of them had managed to knock off an entire kilo, Brunetti and Paola repaired to the living room, each with a small glass of grappa, just what Brunett's Uncle Ludovico had always prescribed to counteract the effects of heavy meal.
I can't but wonder how it would be possible to do the same with a British detective. How could steak and kidney pie or a hamburger ever be as sensual as some of the dishes Brunetti describes. Moveover, he goes home for lunch! What detective does that! I love it!
I've been a bit preoccupied by the sensuality of food and drink in the last week. I'm not sure why. Reading another Donna Leon novel probably did it. So,when I went into a book shop yesterday looking for a book on Chinese cooking, I couldn't resist a book by Isabel Allende, Aphrodite: the love of food and the food of love.
This from the introduction:
The fiftieth year of our life is like
the last hour of dusk,
when the sun has set and one turns
naturally towards reflection.
In my case, however, dusk incites me to sin,
and perhaps for that reason,
in my fiftieth year I find myself reflecting
on my relationship
with food and eroticism: the weaknesses
of the flesh that most tempt
me are not, alas,
those I have practiced most.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Just a coincidence, I must add.
Brunetti usually disliked eating the same thing for lunch and dinner, but the tuna steaks Paola had simmered in a sauce of capers, olives and tomatoes could hardly be said to have originated on the same planet as the tuna tramezzini he had eaten fro lunch. Tact and good sense prevented his making any reference to the latter, since comparison even with such paltry opposition might offend. He and his son Raffi shared the last piece of fish, and Brunetti spooned the remainder of the sauce on to his own second helping of rice.
"Dessert?" Chiara asked her mother, and Brunetti realized that he had managed to save space for something sweet.
"There's fig ice-cream," Paola said, filling Brunetti with a flush of anticipation....
Sensational it was, and after the four of them had managed to knock off an entire kilo, Brunetti and Paola repaired to the living room, each with a small glass of grappa, just what Brunett's Uncle Ludovico had always prescribed to counteract the effects of heavy meal.
I can't but wonder how it would be possible to do the same with a British detective. How could steak and kidney pie or a hamburger ever be as sensual as some of the dishes Brunetti describes. Moveover, he goes home for lunch! What detective does that! I love it!
I've been a bit preoccupied by the sensuality of food and drink in the last week. I'm not sure why. Reading another Donna Leon novel probably did it. So,when I went into a book shop yesterday looking for a book on Chinese cooking, I couldn't resist a book by Isabel Allende, Aphrodite: the love of food and the food of love.
This from the introduction:
The fiftieth year of our life is like
the last hour of dusk,
when the sun has set and one turns
naturally towards reflection.
In my case, however, dusk incites me to sin,
and perhaps for that reason,
in my fiftieth year I find myself reflecting
on my relationship
with food and eroticism: the weaknesses
of the flesh that most tempt
me are not, alas,
those I have practiced most.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Just a coincidence, I must add.
Monday, 11 February 2008
Start of the Week
In my journal and to a lesser degree, here on the blog, I have been examining the idea that writing helps you to explore your thoughts and feelings and that by doing so, we may have a better understanding of ourselves. This morning I had the opportunity to listen to Andrew Marr's programme, Start of the Week on Radio 4. One of the contributors has written a book on the history of women and mental illness. She put forward the same idea. In particular she looked at women writers who had also suffered from mental illness or periods of depression. Below is the description from the website of her research and book:
From Mary Lamb who, in the throes of a breakdown, turned on her mother with a knife, to the depression suffered by Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf, women have played a vital role in the history of how we understand madness and its treatment. Novelist and broadcaster LISA APPIGNANESI charts how female patients - and doctors - have contributed to the medicine of the mind and how mental illnesses mirror the malaise of each era. Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present is published by Virago.
If you are interested in hearing this programme, you can go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/starttheweek.shtml
From Mary Lamb who, in the throes of a breakdown, turned on her mother with a knife, to the depression suffered by Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf, women have played a vital role in the history of how we understand madness and its treatment. Novelist and broadcaster LISA APPIGNANESI charts how female patients - and doctors - have contributed to the medicine of the mind and how mental illnesses mirror the malaise of each era. Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present is published by Virago.
If you are interested in hearing this programme, you can go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/starttheweek.shtml
Sunday, 10 February 2008
Isn't spring wonderful!
In truth I suppose it is really late winter here. However, a day like today makes you think of spring!
Friday, 8 February 2008
The holidays begin!
I've just checked my site monitor and discovered that people are still visiting. I feel bady that I haven't written in over a month. Instead I have been writing in a journal and have started on a novel. Some of you are aware that I started a murder mystery at the same time that I started my chemotherapy last year. One of the side effects of chemo for me was increased brain activity at bed time. Also in the first few days after chemo, I had a spurt of energy...if that's what it can be called. I was physically tired but still buzzing. Hence, Evie, my murder mystery heroine was born. I stopped around the Christmas holidays and haven't done much more with her. She's stuck in Marrakesh on holiday with her parents. A nice place to be stuck but the potential for family discord is great after so long.
However, a week ago, realizing that I was bored, I started to write again. This time, it's more of a romance. What's more, it seems to be doing better than Evie. The first novel was done as a blog and I think that the format restricted its growth. This one is not and I'm writing it in the third person so there is greater scope to develop the story. (At least for me there is.)
Someone asked me if I had planned it all out before I started. No, I didn't. I came up with an opening sentence and it grew from there. It seems to be evolving organically. I wonder if this will work? Morris West said that he could never start a novel till he had the first sentence.
I have written the first chapter (around 5000 words) and intend to write at least 10,000 during the half term break. I want to finish before the summer holidays so that Emma and I can work on our future 'cult novel' with the working title: Slugs.
However, a week ago, realizing that I was bored, I started to write again. This time, it's more of a romance. What's more, it seems to be doing better than Evie. The first novel was done as a blog and I think that the format restricted its growth. This one is not and I'm writing it in the third person so there is greater scope to develop the story. (At least for me there is.)
Someone asked me if I had planned it all out before I started. No, I didn't. I came up with an opening sentence and it grew from there. It seems to be evolving organically. I wonder if this will work? Morris West said that he could never start a novel till he had the first sentence.
I have written the first chapter (around 5000 words) and intend to write at least 10,000 during the half term break. I want to finish before the summer holidays so that Emma and I can work on our future 'cult novel' with the working title: Slugs.
Sunday, 6 January 2008
More on Resolutions
For someone who doesn't plan on making any New Year's resolutions, far too many seem to be surfacing. I am resolved to learn more about lowering blood pressure. I've already mentioned that in a previous post. I am further resolved to expand my writing to include a novel that Emma and I have already planned out - 'The Revenge of the Slugs' is its working title. My murder mystery may yet return - in another format, perhaps. I am also resolved to continue in my approach to my working life and environment. It has work so far this past year and each day/week/month I am more able to cope with it and even to improve it for myself and others.
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
New Year's Day
On New Year's Eve, I thought that I would spend today in some sort of reflection. Instead, I spent it either passed out on the sofa or in bed. Fatigue caught up with me and until after dinner I could barely stay awake for more than 15 or 20 minutes. I seem to be back to normal physically now but I'm in no state to reflect.
(January 3rd)
Three days later and I'm not doing a lot better. I have had some time to think about what I should be reflecting on. Resolutions! I've decided not to have any this year. (However, to be truthful, resolutions are a hard habit to break!) Instead of resolutions, I'm trying to concentrate on what I might have learned over the last year.
I haven't learned how to lower my blood pressure. You're right, this is not something that I have learned, rather something that I've learned that I don't know how to do. Does it not seem odd to you, it does to me, that my doctor puts me on pills for high blood pressure but does not tell me how I might lower my blood pressure. I don't want to spend the rest of my life on pills. He tells me that one doesn't cure high blood pressure, just treat it. I'm not sure that I believe that. So, I have learned that I don't know how to lower my blood pressure which leads me to the decision (we won't call it a resolution) that I am going to find out this year.
I have been writing this blog for over a year now. I sometimes wonder why. However, if I am still doing it, I must have a need for it. I have learned that writing in times of stress and confusion helps me to work through them. Writing also allows me to explore certain ideas or situations. I have started to keep an off-line journal as well for those issues I don't want to share with the world. So, I will continue!
(More another day!)
(January 3rd)
Three days later and I'm not doing a lot better. I have had some time to think about what I should be reflecting on. Resolutions! I've decided not to have any this year. (However, to be truthful, resolutions are a hard habit to break!) Instead of resolutions, I'm trying to concentrate on what I might have learned over the last year.
I haven't learned how to lower my blood pressure. You're right, this is not something that I have learned, rather something that I've learned that I don't know how to do. Does it not seem odd to you, it does to me, that my doctor puts me on pills for high blood pressure but does not tell me how I might lower my blood pressure. I don't want to spend the rest of my life on pills. He tells me that one doesn't cure high blood pressure, just treat it. I'm not sure that I believe that. So, I have learned that I don't know how to lower my blood pressure which leads me to the decision (we won't call it a resolution) that I am going to find out this year.
I have been writing this blog for over a year now. I sometimes wonder why. However, if I am still doing it, I must have a need for it. I have learned that writing in times of stress and confusion helps me to work through them. Writing also allows me to explore certain ideas or situations. I have started to keep an off-line journal as well for those issues I don't want to share with the world. So, I will continue!
(More another day!)
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