What I've been reading

The Girl with the Louding Voice
by Abi Daré

"As a third wife in a small Nigerian village, fourteen-year-old Adunni is expected to fade into silence. But Adunni will not keep quiet. She's smart, funny and curious, with an infectiously joyful spirit. And despite adversity awaiting her at every turn, she's set on getting an education, no matter the cost."

An interesting conjunction of poverty and wealth within Nigeria, but also bringing together European/first world and Nigerian/third world life and attitudes. I was hooked from the start and it didn't disappoint, with a cliff-edge approach to peril for the young heroine that left me unsettled to just the right extent. I shall pass this one on with my recommendation.

Black and Blue
by Ian Rankin

narrated by James MacPherson

"Bible John killed three women, and took three souvenirs. Now a copycat is at work - nicknamed 'Bible Johnny' by the media, he is a new menace with violent ambitions. The Bible Johnny case would be perfect for Inspector John Rebus, but after a run-in with a crooked senior officer, he's been shunted aside to one of Edinburgh's toughest suburbs."

I managed to follow the plot despite the audio format, so the writing and characterisation must be good. I didn't find it all that interesting, though. Hard to say why - it's set in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen within the oil industry, and Rebus is fairly interesting, but I didn't warm to him all that much, or fear for his safety in the difficult bits. So now I've read an Ian Rankin book, which was the main reason for choosing it, and I don't think I'll bother with any more.

Free Time!
by Vajragupta Staunton

"We and time are intimately intertwined. It is not something we are in; it is something that we are. That means we have a choice about our experience of time: what we do with our minds and our hearts, with our thoughts and emotions, will condition the quality of the time we live in."

A second read of this book which has a lot of truth and sensible advice within it. My relationship with time is almost as bad as my relationship with food. I'm always trying to pack as much into my days as I can, and when I don't fit something in I tell myself "There isn't enough time." But in fact there is plenty of time, and I choose what to prioritise - will I read a book or do my tax return? I divide jobs into 'work' and 'leisure' and justify reading the book on the basis of getting a mix of the two, and this isn't necessarily wrong, but I'm going to bring my characterisation of the choices into the open. I haven't done my homework for my Buddhist class today because I chose to watch a film last night, and that's OK.

Under the Knife
by Arnold van de Laar

"From the story of the desperate man from seventeenth-century Amsterdam who grimly cut a stone out of his own bladder, to Bob Marley's deadly toe, this book offers all kinds of fascinating and unforgettable insights into medicine and history via the operating theatre."

I picked this up from dad's shelf recently, remembering that I lent it to him. I don't think he read it - he was usually enthusiastic about accepting this kind of offer but often didn't follow through by actually reading the book. It's rather interesting in a 'History of Medicine' kind of way, and good enough to reward another read so I'll probably keep it for now.

The Order of Time
by Carlo Rovelli

"From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe."

This was an extraordinary book, a serious scientific explanation of the concept of time but written in an almost poetic way and beautiful to read. It also hit the sweet spot for me by reiterating what I already knew and adding just enough to make me feel like my mind had been expanded. I was already aware that there is no universally accepted time that is 'now', but I had only applied this at planetary distances rather than for two people in the same room. It completely blew apart my understanding of spacetime and then put it together again, and I would definitely be keeping this book if it weren't from the library!

The launch of GRUHI

July 2023

I've managed to start the huge project to try and free myself of all the accumulated stuff in my house that might come in useful one day, or that reminds me of something or someone, or is broken or just needed to be out of the way so it found its way to the loft, or that is nice to look at but taking up space and accumulating dust. So much Stuff. Just looking around from where I'm sitting: a silver desk clock with the second hand broken off. A small plastic dinosaur. An English dictionary and Thesaurus. A non-functional electric blanket. Three French language course books. And mum has also been passing me things that she no longer needs.

I don't want it all to end up in landfill, and ideally I'd like to find new owners who would appreciate the items. As with the LTRP I feel that to maintain momentum I need to apply an acronym. Get Rid of Unwanted Household Items seems appropriate: GRUHI. Sounds suitably gruesome to signify the tedious and difficult nature of the job and yet with a jolly little hiccup at the end which is the joy when it is accomplished.

Anyway, the first item to achieve the GRUHI status is my old iPod, which I have listed on eBay along with various compatible items - the iPod speaker docking station and assorted cables. The auction ended on Sunday and the iPod sold; I relisted the docking station and received one bid; the other items aren't even getting any views, so how will I get rid of those?

Leamington has a number of local initiatives as well as branches of national initiatives, which is one of the reasons I like to live here. LETS is a local trading community where the currency is 'Oaks' and people trade services rather than goods - giving lifts, swapping plants, make and mend sessions, recommendations for tradespeople and helping with any sort of household jobs. I've been a member for some time but haven't actually offered or asked for help. Leamington also has a monthly 'Repair Café' where people can take items that need repairing, and I have used that - they have extended the life of my camping chairs and a shopping bag.

Apparently Leamington LETS is represented at the monthly Repair Café. They have said that I might bring some GRUHI goods and see if anyone will take them off my hands - either the visitors, or maybe the people doing the repairs. That's all very interesting for the future, but the second Leamington Film Festival was about to take place and I needed to sort out the door to my toilet, which is dragging on the threshold and would be in danger of damage at the hands of multiple strangers pulling and pushing at it. So I put out a request via LETS, and who should respond but one of my U3A board game friends?

So he came over and we have improved the state of the door - I wouldn't say it's fixed but it's certainly much better. And he stayed for a cup of tea, and I told him about the Film Festival and sent him the link and he came to two of the films, which was very nice. And when I was out with my U3A walking group I mentioned my new project, and they told me about a company in Warwick that might be interested in dad's stamps - I haven't yet had time to do anything about that yet but it could happen soon.

And there are many charity shops in Leamington, and one of my Buddhist friend volunteers in two different charity shops in Kenilworth, and there's the shop at the tip, so many other ways to take forward my GRUHI initiative. It's now mid-September and I think it would be helpful to have some kind of time-based target for what I might achieve. Difficult to imagine what that might be at the moment - maybe I could go round the house listing everything to get rid of by the end of the year?

My second Film Festival

Random Chairs in a Darkened Room, September 2024

After the first Leamington Film Festival (Random Chairs in a Darkened Room Worldwide) took place in 2019, we had to give way to the pandemic. That first event had been relatively successful, but I decided a) to scale it back to films only on Friday night and Saturday, and b) to enlist a local collaborator who is in my Buddhist group. Almost immediately after we had set the date - one of the only weekends in the remaining year when we were both available - he became unavailable due to his son getting the grades he needed to get into a university that required his presence on the Saturday.

Never mind, we decided to go ahead anyway and I benefited from his management of the drinks on Friday night, which is an area where my skills are very much lacking. I was also supported very well by the Gulloebls - Lola II and Mr M - who came armed with snacks as well as trailers to each of the showings. Huge thanks to them. 

So it was looking pretty good on Friday afternoon: I had rearranged the furniture, tested the films, got an extra kettle down from the loft... and then the doorbell failed. Mr M's job was door answering, which was probably a poor choice given that he was the least likely to be able to hear anyone knocking on the door. Luckily one of the guests was the university entrant and his young ears proved invaluable.

We welcomed thirteen people on Friday night for Catherine Called Birdy, which I class as a roaring success. There were almost no bookings before the event for the Saturday films, but a few people came at the last minute (one without booking at all) so that we did watch the first film on Saturday (the Blues Brothers), and nine attended for the late afternoon performance of This Beautiful Fantastic. It was a film that I hadn't seen before and which turned out to be... all right. A nice film, but I would say that the Film Festival demands a more exceptional standard.

None of the visitors had attended the event five years ago, but all seemed very enthusiastic about future events, and I think we can build nicely from this baseline. Booking their place, bringing themselves, food and drink at the right time, and dressing up for Friday will all improve, and for my part I could make sure the doorbell works next time. I don't think I'll extend beyond Saturday next year, and as Mr M commented, real success will be demonstrated when someone stays for two films in a row.

Speccy swotty four-eyes

September 2024

There is a small amount of repair work needed to the roof in a few places, and I invited Clf, the chap who'd worked on the roof before and two new companies to have a look at the job as well. Clf did not respond, one company arranged a time to visit and then didn't, and the other sent a lovely chap who flew a drone with a camera and did the quote there and then. Then, I procrastinated. In the past I have experienced the common phenomenon of a tradesman who doesn't really want the job quoting an outrageous amount, and I don't know what an outrageous amount is in this context, so I really wanted a second quote to compare. But I didn't get round to it.

The next chapter of the story involves my glasses. A few years ago my local independent sold out to a bigger organisation. In general I prefer an independent optician rather than one of the chains, and after a couple of visits I decided I'd look for a new independent. I found one in Warwick, but then a brand new practice opened in Leamington. That's where I went this week for a very thorough eye test, and they recommended a slight change to my prescription. What with super-thin lenses and varifocals it came to a stupendous sum, at which point I realised that the roofing quote was only about three-quarters of a pair of new glasses and I got in touch with the company and booked them in.

In the process of transferring from one optician to the other I got the old one to give me all of my records in a digital format, and then I passed these to the new optician. One of the reasons why I think I will stick with them is that they had a really good look at my history, and contacted me to propose a cheaper way of upgrading my glasses (taking the cost down to just equal to fixing my roof). And I gave them dad's old glasses to recycle for those in need, and then went through and photographed all my old glasses that I've kept since the age of about 16 and that's the picture at the top of the blog. I gave them five of my pairs to go off with dad's, kept two of the most recent, and we're putting the new lenses into another one.

The roofing company has been in touch to say that there's been a family emergency, so they need to rearrange the visit. We'll see which comes first - perfect vision or a non-leaking roof.

My left eye, September 2022

What I've been reading

A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara

"Four college classmates - broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition - move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma."

A very long book but utterly enthralling, albeit very harrowing in places. I can't remember reading anything where men's friendships are given this sort of attention. Women do feature too, and not just as ciphers or outlines, but it's the men who lead the story and provide all the colour and interest. I wondered whether the author was male, but she is a woman. The only criticism I have is that Jude's past, revealed gradually throughout the book, is too bleak, too extreme, too cruel, and its messages too often repeated.

The Thursday Murder Club
by Richard Osman

narrated by Lesley Manville

"In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case."

Probably because of the celebrity author, this has become a best-selling book and now a TV adaptation is on the way too. I think that it is fair to middling, not bad, but not that good either. My main problem is that there are too many murders making it complicated, which means that there were too many characters for me to keep track of. It's clever, but a bit too clever. I'm not tempted to read more of the books in the series, but I wouldn't be surprised if the TV version is better.

Double A-side (High Fidelity)
by Nick Hornby

"Do you know your desert-island, all-time, top five most memorable split-ups? Rob does. He keeps a list, in fact. But Laura isn't on it—even though she's just become his latest ex."

I enjoyed this book mostly because the author is about the same age as me and includes loads of references to the culture and music that was going on in the early nineties, a time I remember with some nostalgia. He also writes in a non-standard way that doesn't irritate me (for a change), and the characters seem real and mostly sympathetic. So a thumbs up from me for this one.

A big event is tiring

Adhisthana, August 2024

I love writing this blog, but I also have a very full life which I enjoy, so I'm not exactly complaining about the lack of time to sit down and write. But I've been meaning to write this for ages - the details may have escaped but impressions remain.

I was a bit less than halfway through my volunteering at Adhisthana when I had the weekend off and went home. After that, I did have another half day off when I visited Former Land Rover Man and Former Bee Lady who live quite nearby - this trip only interrupted by the fact that my car battery was completely dead. Luckily the retreat centre has all sorts of useful gadgets, including a special jump starter for car batteries which was impressively effective. FLRM and FBL were on good form despite FBL's broken wrist. I brought a cake for us all, which was kindly declined because a walk was planned to a place where I was promised cake, only to discover that cake was completely sold out. So we happily ate some of the one I brought.

Apart from that little excursion I worked solidly for eight long days, and sadly only a couple of hours of that were in the kitchen, because they have now recruited more permanent kitchen help. Setting up the barn for meals and drinks involved a lot of moving furniture, food and equipment; setting up rooms as dormitories meant carrying about mattresses, duvets and pillows, and there was lots of preparatory cleaning. 

I found out about all sorts of secret cupboards and storage spaces within the grounds including 'the silos' and 'the swimming pool' (which actually is a swimming pool). Every room was occupied, sometimes in excess of what they normally held - for example, the yoga studio was set up with 14 beds - so I was moved out to one of the cabins used for solitary retreats. It was a beautiful spot with the added bonus that I didn't have to get in line for the showers. 

Then as people started to arrive I was put on reception together with four other people, which I enjoyed a great deal. But my main job throughout the weekend was at the drinks and toast station in the barn - toast at breakfast time and drinks at morning and afternoon tea breaks. This wasn't very tiring work in itself, but the standing up and the long hours and the cumulative effect of working so hard meant that I became more and more weary as the week went on. 

Obviously there was a big team working behind the scenes to stage this event, and we were all wheeled out in front of the masses at the end so that we could be properly thanked. Then, as usual, when it was time for me to go everybody on the team gets to tell me how lovely they think I am, which as ever was pleasing but difficult to sit through. The nicest comment was that it felt as though I'm someone who lives and works there but gets to go away for long periods.

My car wouldn't start again when I was ready to go home, but it was booked in for a routine service anyway the next day. After some thought I decided to drop it at the garage rather than take it home, and it was a good thing I did because it didn't start for them next morning. A new battery, and everything's fine again.

Lola II tempted me to meet her in Banbury the next evening, and we talked non-stop for about five hours and sorted out a lot of admin for an upcoming event (of which more later no doubt). Unfortunately we didn't keep an eye on the time, and while I was only 15 minutes away by train, Lola II's journey home turned into a bit of a marathon. The next day I was off to see mum, and we had a very successful time sorting out all the business that has arisen. 

Since then I've been on a walk with a friend, then another friend came to stay for Saturday night and a really interesting musical event in a local community wood,  I've donated blood, had my boiler serviced, had a first consultation with a Personal Trainer, been to the optician (new glasses are truly eye-wateringly expensive), attended two of my online study groups, played board games, played badminton, and attended Buddhist groups in person (twice). In between all of this I was catching up with all the stuff that had been left unattended while I was volunteering. I think I've nearly caught up, but it feels as though I might easily have missed something.