Music and words

Madeira Botanical Garden, Funchal, November 2022

I've been grappling with decisions about playing music and podcasts and audiobooks. I listen to a lot of these, pretty much all the time, and the ways I've done it have changed with the times. If this doesn't interest you (and why should it?) I suggest you skip this post. It will be very boring.

Once upon a time I just had a HiFi system that played terrestrial radio stations, vinyl records, CDs and cassette tapes, and I borrowed books on tape. There was a radio in the kitchen, and a radio, CD player and cassette player in the car. All lovely and analogue (or what I'll call 'old-fashioned' digital in the case of CDs).

Next came iTunes and the iPod, which moved music onto the computer and made it more portable. I acquired a cassette-shaped gadget that let me play the iPod through the car radio, and a base station with a speaker in the kitchen. I loaded all my music CDs into iTunes, and Audible let me put my audiobooks on there too, so I could listen to music and books in the car, in the kitchen and on headphones. using just the iPod.

Things changed in the living room with the advent of universal WiFi. I fell heavily for Spotify and Google Chromecast, which fed WiFi into the back of the old amp in the living room so I could stream music as well as play the old records and CDs (the cassette player having long since given up the ghost). And the new networked television with sound bar has a Spotify app built in.

Then the amp started to fail - it was 40 years old, so I can't blame it. I replaced it with a super wireless-enabled amp that connects and coordinates new speakers in the kitchen and upstairs as well as the old speakers in the living room. I can still play CDs but the turntable and tuner aren't connected any more. At some point I'd really like to digitise a few special albums that aren't available elsewhere, but I am starting to accept the fact that it may never happen.

Things continue to change. Audible stopped being available for Windows so I couldn't load books onto my iPod any more. Then the ancient iPod started to get a little bit flaky in terms of battery life, and I had to find a new way of playing music and podcasts and books in the house and on the move, and I was forced to consider the phone replacing the iPod.

Audible has a phone app for the books, and then Spotify started to include podcasts and books as well as music within my subscription. So CDs and Spotify supply my music and podcast needs in the home, except for a couple of BBC podcasts that have to go through BBC Sounds. 

I was on an incredibly cheap but very stingy data plan for the phone, so I wasn't able to use Spotify in the car. I found a free podcast player (Player FM) that auto-downloads my unplayed episodes, but as a result of joining the U3A walkers I've been drawn into updating my phone data plan so I can use a phone-based satnav. The next stage might be to ditch Player FM and simplify things to just Spotify and the Audible phone app. I might need a new phone.

It's time to sell the iPod Classic. The end of an era.

Out and about again

Madeira Botanical Garden, Funchal, November 2022

It took me about two and a half days to get through the email and WhatsApp traffic that had piled up while I was away for two weeks on retreat, and I'm still catching up on podcasts. I did three loads of washing and there's more to come, but this did include a whole load that I didn't manage to do before I went. The weekend disappeared very rapidly but at least I managed to retain some of the equanimity that a retreat brings, and if I can keep it going it will stand me in good stead for the rest of January and February, which are a bit busy.

The U3A board games and walking groups are turning out very well. I thought the board games group would meet in a Games café - there are two in Leamington - but it turns out that the group organiser has a house full of board games, which I was invited to view while his wife rolled her eyes at the foolishness of it all. Attendance is low at the moment, but maybe because of Christmas and cold weather and the advanced age of the group members. The walking group has been good too, with circular walks ending at a pub for lunch and interesting people to walk with and get to know. I'm definitely the youngster at both these groups. I'm not planning to join any more for the time being.

I was invited to spend a day in London with one of the people I go for walks with. It was strange spending time with him without the dog - for example, one of us didn't have to wait at the table while the other went to the counter to order tea. We went to an exhibition at the British Museum and then another at the Royal Academy, and both were interesting. The BM exhibition was about Myanmar/Burma, and one of the first things I learned was why there are two names - 'Myanmar' relates to one of the kingdoms that was drawn together to make what the British colonisers called 'Burma'. The RA exhibition was of drawings done by impressionists (Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec), of which my favourite was a simple watercolour of flowerpots by Paul Cézanne.

Then I went to York for the weekend to visit my Buddhist friend who moved from Birmingham, and to deliver a camp bed and curtains for her flat, which also meant I was more comfortable at night. York is a lovely city, and there's plenty of scope for exploring in future. I returned via Manchester and H+B's place, where H had arranged someone to sit with B so we could go out to a lovely local place for soup (me) and croque (him) and ponder on the suffering in the world and our imminent deaths. And some cheerier subjects too.

Excitement lined up for the future includes my next new volunteering opportunity. I have been accepted as Event Control Room Team Member at the international badminton competition in Birmingham in March. Not a lot of effort went into my application - I just wrote that I'd been in the radio room at Warwick Folk Festival twice, which suggests that perhaps they are short of volunteers for the role.

And lastly, more teeth news: the last person I saw thought my treatment might be coming to an end, but she asked the senior orthodontist who thinks there is a bit more that can be done. So they gave me 13 more retainers, so that's about four more months.

What I've been reading

The Hearing Trumpet
by Leonora Carrington

narrated by Siân Phillips

"An apocalyptic fairy tale quest about an occult old ladies' home and the spry nonagenarian who ends up there. After coming into possession of a hearing trumpet, 92-year-old Marian Leatherby discovers her son's plans to send her to a nursing home."

This was a wild ride! The first half is a bit like the Cinderella story but about a 92-year-old woman being mistreated by her younger family. The middle section is about her time in the craziest nursing home you'll ever find, and then it goes completely off the rails when she survives a global apocalypse and another woman marries a wolf. It's books like this that I was hoping for with the Classics list I've been using, but they don't often materialise.

Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life
by Peter Godfrey-Smith

"In captivity, octopuses have been known to identify individual human keepers, raid neighbouring tanks for food, turn off lightbulbs by spouting jets of water, plug drains, and make daring escapes. How is it that a creature with such gifts evolved through an evolutionary lineage so radically distant from our own?"

The most interesting things that I didn't know before are that the lifespan of most octopus species is only one or two years, and about the mechanism for displaying a whole spectrum of skin colours despite octopuses having little or no colour perception. Having said that, the book wasn't quite as good as I was expecting, given that octopuses are really amazing creatures and the author has studied them a lot. It has some colour pictures in the middle! but they aren't all that exciting. Given the title, perhaps I should have expected to read about the rather academic description of the evolution of the nervous system rather than all the wondrous things that octopuses have been seen to do. 

The Intrusion of Jimmy
by P. G. Wodehouse

narrated by B. J. Harrison

"Having fallen in love on a transatlantic liner, Jimmy Pitt befriends a small-time burglar and breaks into a police captain's house as a result of a bet. The cast of characters head to England and the stately Dreever Castle, overflowing with impostors, detectives, crooks, scheming lovers and conniving aunts."

This is a standalone Wodehouse story written before Jeeves and Wooster were conceived, and I would say is actually better in that it relies less on the contrived coincidences and asinine character of that series of stories. I could almost say that it is more plausible, but that would be ridiculous as it is not plausible at all, it just feels like that. I enjoyed it.

Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens
by David Mitchell

narrated by the Author

"England's monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects' destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky sods who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits. Taking us right back to King Arthur (spoiler: he didn't exist), David tells the founding story of post-Roman England right up to the reign of Elizabeth I (spoiler: she dies)."

Given that David Mitchell is one of my favourite comedians, I would have been very disappointed had I not enjoyed this, with the extra bonus that he narrates it too. And it was free with my Spotify subscriptions, and I could even download it to listen in the car. And it was a right good listen too.

Les Misérables
by Victor Hugo

translated by Isabel F. Hapgood

"Set in the Parisian underworld, Les Misérables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert."

This is a ridiculous book, not least because it has more than 1300 pages. The story itself probably occupies less than half of these pages, and the rest includes (among other digressions) long sections describing the Battle of Waterloo, the history of a pub, (French) slang, and the Paris sewers - how and when they were built and what form they take, following which Parisian roads. But I kept ploughing through, helped by the fact that I was on retreat for the second half so had lots of unallocated time. I got it from the library, and had to renew it so many times that I ran out of online options and had to physically take it back to the library, return it and borrow it again. If you're interested then read an abridged version (and I can't imagine that I've ever recommended doing that before), or even better, take in the musical which is pretty true to the story and vastly more entertaining.

Hare House
by Sally Hinchliffe

"In the first brisk days of autumn, a woman arrives in Scotland. Moving into a cottage on the remote estate of Hare House, she begins to explore her new home – a patchwork of hills, moorland and forest. But among the tiny roads, dykes and scattered houses, something more sinister lurks: local tales of witchcraft, clay figures and young men sent mad."

I saw this in the library as I was re-borrowing Les Mis, and it's written by someone whose blog I regularly read. I really enjoyed her writing and the well-rounded characters she introduced, but something about the ending weakened it. I found myself musing on how I might have changed the plot entirely to make it hang together better.

Inconceivable Emancipation: Themes from the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa
by Sangharakshita

"Mahayana Buddhism emphasizes the ideal of the Bodhisattva, one who seeks to become Enlightened out of a compassionate desire to help all living beings. In the Vimalakirti-Nirdesa we meet the Bodhisattva Vimalakirti, a worker of wonders, a formidable debator and skilful teacher."

"Next term is going to be a bit challenging," our teacher said. Mahayana Buddhism is a bit flowery, metaphorical, paradoxical, stretching the limits of reality with one hundred thousand million worlds and a parasol big enough to encompass all of them. So I was duly warned, and picked up the textbook with some apprehension, but in fact it reminded me of a popular science book I'd read on the topic of (mathematical) infinity. I didn't quite understand the text, but was fairly certain that just beyond the scope of my imagination there was probably quite a satisfying truth. We start the class that relates to the book next week, so maybe I'll change my mind when that happens.

Impossible Things Before Breakfast
by Rebecca Front

"A collection of true stories about surprising turns of events, bizarre misunderstandings and improbable life lessons. We learn, among other things, how gazing at the stars can help you communicate with teenagers, how a mushroom can undermine an ancient ritual, and why everyone should wear a cape."

This is another book I happened to see at the library while I was looking for something else, and one of the reasons that I picked it up is because for a few weeks, Rebecca was in my class at secondary school, before she had some kind of crisis and switched to a different school. Every time I see or hear her on TV or radio I think, "She was in my class," and reflect on how well she has done, and what a nice person she seems to be, and try not to compare her career trajectory with mine. Not that I could ever have become an actor and writer, and she is rather good at both of these - her book is great, by the way, and by the way, did you know she was in my class at school? Briefly, anyway.

Retreat

Madeira, November 2022

I've been away, but there are people who literally put the phone down on callers when there's a blog post so I feel a responsibility to get started straight away.

I was on a two-week retreat that started before Christmas and ended after the New Year was well under way. This has left me slightly out of step with the populace who have endured all that the holiday period has to offer. I had to be reminded that a 'Happy New Year' wish is appropriate for messages sent within the first week of January, or sometimes even later.

There's very little I can say about the retreat except that it was in Wales and the rain was torrential. Someone even described it as 'biblical'. Apparently there was a storm, but without TV, radio, Internet or any other way of connecting with the outside world we all just endured wind and water battering the roof and windows day after day, and wondered if it would ever stop? The retreat centre stood up to the onslaught admirably and remained warm, so all survived except the one woman who tested positive for Covid on the first morning but luckily departed without infecting anyone else.

The retreat was all about the Triratna Buddhist Order, which those present (including me) have requested to join. It was all rather serious - there was meditation, talks, groups, reading material, prostration practice (don't ask), ritual, and a DVD (on the Order rather than anything more entertaining). There were women from Ireland, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Greece, France and Spain as well as the UK. 

I did a couple of long walks during the retreat, partly because I like walks and partly to get away from everyone for a bit. Because of the rain I discovered the particular defects in my old jacket and was soaked down to the underwear on one walk, but luckily my feet and my head stayed warm and dry. For the other walk I was lucky and it only started to rain seriously at the very end.

At the end of the retreat someone asked for a lift to Adhisthana, the retreat centre where I'd volunteered earlier in the year, and it wasn't out of my way so I offered. It was a delightful treat to be welcomed by the people I'd got to know there, and be reminded that it isn't all about deep reflection and personal transformation, it can just be chatting to someone over a chopping board.

Just like old times

Kew Gardens, October 2022

It's been a week like it was in the old days, when I optimistically used to fill my diary on the basis that I don't have to go to work so I must have lots of time, and then I find that I don't. All the things I've done have been fun or helpful or both, but I need to remember to keep some days free of commitments because I was too tired for badminton and that will not do.

Since the last post I've played in a badminton match, went for a walk with the U3A, and did some work for Mr MXF which consisted of chatting to a young man in the television department of Currys to find out what his knowledge and experience is of HDR, one of the standards used in media and TV. Then with a clear conscience I journeyed south for the Mr MXF Christmas party, which involved playing board games, receiving party bags containing chocolate and toys, dinner, speeches (short ones), Secret Santa, and then back to the MXF/BL2 house to watch Barbie on his new super-TV and sound system.

On my way back north I dropped in on Lola II and Mr M for lunch and a film, next day I went for a dog walk with a friend, board games with U3A, gave blood, fitted in a meeting for coffee with my friend from Brazil who has come home to try and sort out some financial stuff, drove to mum and dad for lunch and admin (ongoing communication with Thames Water in particular) and home in time for a Blues gig at my favourite Temperance bar.

Next day I met Lola II in Oxford, a bit later than planned because she had an senior moment which led to her finding herself at Heathrow airport by mistake. But we had a lovely lunch in a friendly pub and went to the Weston Library again - they have really interesting exhibitions, this time about Chaucer, the Alphabet and John Playford ('The Dancing Master').

Then I was back with the U3A walkers before being visited by Sister D and her husband, who treated me to a poinsettia and a curry and I treated them to an episode of Taskmaster (an old episode) and a bed for the night. They carried on to their destination while I had my Christmas concert. Due to the absence of a few key players I ended up sight reading the 4th clarinet parts which had a few unexpected solos, but I managed not to let the side down.

UJ returned from her trip to Kyiv two weeks ago, but Saturday was the first evening that we were both at home, so we caught up with a couple of the latest Taskmaster episodes. She's off again in about a week and I'm not sure we'll have any other evenings together before she goes. Then there was a coffee morning social with the Buddhists on Sunday morning, two Buddhist-related Zoom meetings as well as the usual Tuesday evening meetings. Thankfully, next week is due to be much quieter.

How I spend my time nowadays

Self portrait with skipping rope, 1969

I've still got a collection of old school books, certificates and pictures that I drew when I was very young. I'm not sure how I feel about the dilemma of keeping vs throwing away, but while I can rest easy with getting rid of university notes, these documents are much more interesting. I spent a weekend working out which pictures I might frame, including repurposing frames I already had, ordering new ones for delivery (one of which arrived with the glass completely smashed but was replaced without quibble), and shopping in person. There's still more to do with all this, but I'll come back to it when I have another surge in interest.

It's been a while since I reduced my paid work to the dribble that I do for Mr MXF, and although my evenings and weekends are fully committed to the Buddhists, badminton and family, I have a fair amount of time during the day that I'd like to spend more usefully. So I joined the University of the Third Age (U3A)! So far I've joined a walking group and a board games group, and the people I've met so far are interesting and friendly and quite a lot older than me. We'll see how it goes.

Then I was invited to go back to Adhisthana, the retreat centre where I previously volunteered in the kitchen for a month. They were hosting a weekend for 150 people and thought they could do with a bit of extra support in the catering department. I had a great time again, especially as all meals were planned so that it was entirely coeliac friendly and there were only a handful of special dietary requirements to worry about.

Helping mum and dad recently has been heavy on the admin. Mum has engaged a new company that supplies carers, and they have sent a barrage of forms to be read and signed. The Home Improvement Team has taken the referral from the Occupational Therapist Team and sent a contractor to scope out work to convert the downstairs shower into a wet room, while we applied for an Independent Living Grant to cover the cost. They sent the wrong forms twice, but once I'd got the right forms and phoned the team to check how to fill them in, the grant was approved the same day that I submitted them.

There's always more news in the dental department. Having been given my sets of aligners on the basis that I would be having the 'slenderising' treatment that I declined, the aligners don't fit very well any more. When I pointed this out I was invited to an in-person appointment so they could have a look, and it's possible that the whole treatment will end before Christmas. In the meantime more 'buttons' have been glued to my teeth so that another elastic band can be used. It's been just over a year since I started the treatment and it will be lovely when it's all over, but I'm now starting to become just a little apprehensive about what the aftercare will be like.

What I've been reading

Magician
by Raymond E. Feist

narrated by Peter Joyce

"War is coming to the Kingdom of the Isles from another world, bringing with it chaos and destruction. Pug yearns to train as a warrior and fight for his kingdom alongside his foster-brother, Tomas, but instead he is forced to follow a different path: a path that will lead him right into the heart of the enemy."

An epic read in more ways than one - 36 hours listening to a fantasy saga containing humans, elves, goblins, dwarves etc. which calls to mind Lord of the Rings but is immensely inferior. It didn't help that it also reminded me of sections of the Iliad that just described fighting, and not only am I not interested in combat tactics but there's also too much killing in the real world to allow for any tolerance of fictional killing. It was good enough, but no more.

Bright Lights Big City
by Jay McInerney

narrated by Daniel Passer

"A young man with nothing but goodwill, controlled substances, and wit to sustain him in his quest, runs until he reaches his reckoning point, where he is forced to acknowledge loss and, possibly, to rediscover his better instincts."

The whole book is written in the second person (e.g. "you run until you reach your reckoning point") which is a really strange idea that took quite a bit of getting used to. Aside from that quirk, it's a fairly readable account which had me rooting for the protagonist even though he is behaving pretty badly, but mostly harming only himself, for which the likely reason is revealed towards the end. I can see why this was on the Classics list (probably also because of the second person thing), and I wondered if the title came from something well known or whether this is the origin of the phrase? So, no need to wonder, I turned to the Interwebs and it was the title of a song written in 1961.

Justine
by Lawrence Durrell

narrated by Nicholas Boulton

"Set in the sensuous, hot environment of Alexandria just before the Second World War. Within this polyglot setting of richly idiosyncratic characters is Justine, wild and intense, wife to the wealthy businessman Nessim."

What a huge disappointment this was. For some reason I thought this would be a book that I'd really enjoy, but I came within a hair's breadth of actually giving up without finishing it. There was lots of lovely prose, delicious adjectives and atmospheric evocation of the location, but by two-thirds of the way through hardly anything had actually happened. I made it to the end, and can summarise the plot as 'several people have affairs with one another in Alexandria, three of them die, then they all go their separate ways'. Avoid.

The Art of Reflection
by Ratnaguna

"Ratnaguna offers practical and specific advice on reflection as a spiritual practice. He also demonstrates its great value—not just as a part of life, but as a way of reminding oneself of life's true meaning."

We were studying this book in my Monday Buddhism group, and for a change it contains material that I actually understand and can relate to my own practice. Unlike meditation, reflection allows structured thinking, but towards the end we are introduced to contemplation, which takes me back into the more difficult zone of non-thinking. I have learned not to try to apply everything I encounter within Buddhism, and to appreciate the particular qualities of my own mind and how that differs from the descriptions I read of how minds might operate, without letting myself off the hook with 'I can't do that'. But a lot of this Buddhist mind work (and body work) is beyond me, and I suspect it will remain that way for a long time, if not always.

I watch many films

Kew Gardens, October 2022

I paid the price for my increased level of social contact by coming down with a horrible cough, sore throat and runny nose - I'll give it a couple of days and then see if it's Covid. That will teach me to go out socialising with people. [Update - it wasn't Covid.]

As well as the concert, badminton, comedy, meetings etc. last week I joined Lola II, Mr M (and other friends including Mr MXF and BL2) for the celebration of Diwali in Southall, home of a large concentration of Diwali-celebrating maniacs. We mingled with the crowds, admired the Indian produce and then Mr M achieved a significant win by finding a restaurant able to accommodate all of us in its basement. A vegetarian restaurant, so I was extra happy, and the food he chose for us was tremendous too. The only blot on the landscape was the unfortunate incident with the thermos of chai that leaked all over the floor (and the matches, and the sparklers, and the rucksack) in quite a spectacular way.

After our dinner the plan was to make our way back to the bridge by the station to watch the fireworks. On the way through the crowded streets, young men (mostly) were setting off fireworks in the street, one of them holding a display box above his head as it fired rockets upwards, and others being equally careless about the safety of themselves and others. Back at the station we lit some sparklers and watched the seemingly never-ending displays in surrounding locations. Back at the house I fell asleep while the bangs and pops continued into the night.

Back home, and my dental hygienist is very pleased with how my teeth are progressing, the garage is very pleased with how my car is going, and mum seems very pleased with the 'heavy duty' plastic carpet protector that should help her and the carers move the hoist about more easily (although with the passing of time we'll find out how heavy duty it really is). We have now received the proposals from the Community OT Team for a ramp in the front garden which is out of all proportion in terms of construction and cost, and for the changes to the downstairs shower room which look good but there are details that need to be ironed out. We plan to turn down the ramp but accept the shower adaptation, at which point we move from the OT department to the Home Improvement Team and the story continues.

I have a bank account that offers an annual benefit to its account holders, and last year I chose to accept six free cinema tickets. With less than a month left I had only used two of them, so in the last three weeks I've felt some pressure to go to see films at the cinema that I might not otherwise have chosen, as well as making use of my usual DVDs by post, the Royal Spa Centre's loyalty scheme and hosting a Buddhist Social film night. Here are my reviews:

• The Great Escaper (based on a true story about a WW2 veteran going to France for the commemoration celebrations with great final performance by Glenda Jackson, 4*)
• Broker (fantastic Korean drama about an unofficial baby adoption 'service', 5*)
• Dumb Money (a bit like The Big Short, a story about financial markets, 4*)
• Clerks (nostalgic viewing of a film I loved when it came out in 1994, 5*)
• The Creator (spectacular special effects, too long and much too much death but includes Buddhist robots, 3*)
• One Fine Morning (French drama about a single mother with a sick father, wasn't that bad but only 3*)
• Dream Scenario (fine performance from Nicholas Cage but not very enjoyable on the whole, 3*)
• Dream Horse (another based-on-a-true-story drama about a Welsh syndicate who buy a race horse, predictable and sentimental but features Toni Collette doing Welsh, 3*)
• Return to Seoul (another Korean film about adoptions, had lots of potential but in the end I didn't care about any of the characters, 3*)
• Saltburn (dark thriller in the style of Brideshead Revisited or The Go Between - lower class misfit spends summer in upper class pile, would have got more stars for the plot but many of the characters were horrible so only 3*)
• Marvellous (traditional annual viewing with the Buddhists of this heart-warming film, 5*)
• The Miracle Club (about a trip to Lourdes for a miracle, also predicable and sentimental but features Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates both doing Irish, 4*)

Going out

Kew Gardens, October 2022

Mum celebrated her 91st birthday without incident. There was no cake! and no presents! but we were there and she enjoyed it, except for the bit when dad outlined his demands of the hoist manufacturer. To be fair, I didn't enjoy that bit either so mum and I retired to the kitchen while Lola II and Sister D had a good time with him and the hoist.

I've been going out locally a bit more than usual, with two local comedy nights and Mozart's Requiem (plus three settings of the Miserere) in the Parish Church. I even went with other people on two of the three outings (badminton/Buddhist friends). Unusually, I didn't enjoy the comedy all that much. Reginald D. Hunter didn't seem to have his heart in it and Bridget Christie did a lot of material about older women (work, representation on screen, menopause), but I didn't altogether agree with her point of view.

My Monday Buddhism class has had a short break for our teacher's holiday to Cornwall, which allowed me to go to Monday badminton as well as Thursday, and I've had two matches as well, and fallen over twice (clumsily tripping over my own feet). I conclude that I'm quite good at landing because I've escaped with mild bruising, but it's only a matter of time before my post-menopausal bones crumble away and I end up with something worse. It's worth it though.

In the headlines for my teeth there was a visit to the orthodontist where I was scheduled for 'slenderising', which means shaving bits off the tooth enamel to make everything more perfect. After quite a long conversation with the orthodontist we agreed that since my aims for the treatment do not include the perfect smile, tooth enamel is far too valuable to shave bits off just so that I don't have gaps at the gum line. At the dentist this week my hygienist was very pleased with progress and thinks that the aligners have made a big difference.

And I went to a meeting held by the committee of the Warwick Folk Festival. The Team Leader for Communications (where I was a volunteer) is hoping to step away from the role, and they are trying to interest a few of us volunteers in taking it on. Two of us were there and neither of us wants the role, although we don't mind doing a bit more next year. We'll see where that goes. The venue was terrible for the meeting (background noise, poor projection of Zoom and inadequate microphone and speakers) but lunch was excellent, so hooray for priorities.

As I write it is Remembrance Sunday. I'm having a difficult time with the news, and I really need to start avoiding it more completely. UJ is still in Kyiv - I read today that the conflict there has pretty much reached a stalemate, but Zelensky won't negotiate and will certainly run out of resources before Putin does. Politicians in the UK continue to be contemptible, the situation in Gaza is more than I can bear, many African states are enduring civil war, and the thought of Trump winning the election based on current polling feels very much like the beginning of the end of the world.

Pie

Tiratanaloka, September 2022

There's a distinct lack of interesting and/or blogworthy things going on in my life, which is very pleasant for my life but a challenge to my blogging mojo. Writing about a new vacuum cleaner was quite a low point, but the bar may have to drop further this time.

I made a vegan lemon meringue pie. Easy to replace fat with coconut oil/non-dairy spread, lemon curd thickened with cornflour, and I tried aqua faba - the liquid surrounding tinned chickpeas - as a replacement for egg white meringue. It was certified as delicious by Lola II and mum, although mum found the lemon curd a bit sharp. 

Sister D and Lola II visited Lola Towers to provide valuable assistance in carrying out some of my projects. I am gradually emptying the loft of its non-essential contents, which includes a shelf of folders from my university course in the 1980's. Sister D kindly separated out the sheets that could be re-used for printing so the rest could be recycled, which allowed me to detach myself from the process rather than getting caught up in unhelpful thoughts relating to that time of my life. Meanwhile, Lola II photographed the spotlights that have been replaced in the kitchen and listed them on local marketplace websites. I was contacted very quickly by a man who, very unusually in my experience, not only didn't try to renegotiate the price but actually turned up and collected them when he said he would.

There was also a visit to mum and dad, where useful work was done (mostly relating to money and finances) but we completely missed the clinic appointment that I was supposed to take mum to. Unusual for both of us to be so forgetful! Anyway, it was rebooked and took place without me, so that's a good result.

I've completed my tax return, and made inroads into the job that Mr MXF wants done (all about availability and types of HDR [High Dynamic Range] in UK media). And that's about it.