Have you ever irrationally wanted something, even though you know it's not practical, and it will be a pain in the arse to arrange to get it and really it isn't something you need.
Well, I call this the Hemingway Chair.
My friend, Millie, has this chair, and I have coveted it since I saw it. Part armchair, part chaise, it's the perfect reading chair.
For me, it was love at first sight.
I made the comment at the time, some eight or nine years ago, that if she ever wanted to get rid of this chair, ask me, I'd probably take it off her.
The message came through last night. Did I want her Hemingway Chair?
Yes!!!! It has a broken leg, but broken legs can be fixed. I'd also have to find a way to get it from her place in the Middle Eastern suburbs, down a few flights of stairs, to my place in the Inner City, and up two flights of stairs.
Then I have to find a place to put it. It's an opportunity to clean up the spare room. At the moment, the spare room is the place where shoes go to die and clothes go there to dry. I could set up a proper home office... I could make it a writing studio, with the perfect reading chair. I could do lots of things.
And there is the matter of getting the leg fixed.
And to find somebody to collect the chair and bring it here and up two flights of stairs.
And there's the matter of sorting out the spare room.
But I want it. Because in my little dreams, I have always wanted a reading chair like this, and I love Millie for offering this to me.
So if anybody knows of a removalist who might have capacity for a quick job, and a handyman who can fix furniture, please let me know. It won't be until after lockdown has ended. But there it is.
I'm hating my current impracticality, but there are times you just have to say yes, and I have covetted this piece of furniture for years.
I've never felt like this about a chair. It's stupid, but sometimes you have to say yes.
Today's Song:
Today's Cards:
The Enchanted Map: Coming Apart
Archetype Card: Beggar
Cards Against Humanity: The said we were crazy. They said we couldnt put...EMOTIONS... inside of... A BALL BY BALL COMMENTARY FROM RICHIE BENAUD... They were wrong.
The glory that is Facebook reminded me of another seventies food craze which has gone from out vernacular. The humble cheese savory, also know as savoury toast in Tasmania.
On reposting the link to a video of the said wonderfood being made, there was a lot of traffic on my account. "Oh yes!", "They're the best." and "I'd forgotten about them. Those and a bowl of Campbell's tomato soup on a cold winter's night are the absolute bomb."
My sister says she still makes them regularly.
My mother said she took some to a pot luck a few month ago. (I gave my mother my secret to put luck events - take fairy bread - it goes down a treat for all ages - for my not Australian readers, think cake sprinkles (100s & 1000s) on very fresh white bread and butter. )
Me, I just tend to put a bit of Worcestershire Sauce on my cheese on toast rather than make up a batch of this wonder stuff - joys of living alone, you find ways to cut corners.
The other biff that came out of this was where the bacon goes. It appears the Tasmanians mix in the baconm finely diced, with the cheese mix, while me, being South Australian, place the bacon in a strip on the top. Swings and roundabouts. As a child, the best thing about these was pulling off the bacon and eating the toast second. And I liked them a bit crisper, not soggy,
I called Mum tonight to get her recipe for cheese savouries (or savoury toast, if you come from Tasmania), which, in my mind, are a highlight of my childhood - along with crumbed chops, roast lamb and spaghetti bolognese made out of mince, an onion and a tin of Campbell's tomato soup. In my family, they only ever have white bread (says she who has half a loaf of multigrain gluten free bread in the freezer). I think of white bread and I always think of my family. My choice of bread, which is not white bread, makes me a bit of an outcast.
Now we just have to get out of lockdown so I can have people over to make them.
Here's Mum's recipe, with notes.
Cheese Savouries (South Australian style)
1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar cheese (bog standard tasty cheedar works well, vintage is good too)
30 grams of melted butter
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce (I say 2 tablespoons, even a bit more)
1 egg, well beaten
A pinch or two of Cayenne pepper.
Bacon - streaky works well for this.
White bread, preferably fairly fresh.
Butter to butter the bread.
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. (If you're Tasmanian you'd mix in the diced bacon at this stage, but I'm not Tasmanian, just a Tasmanian who can swim)
Butter 6-10 slices of fresh white bread.
Spread the mixture on the buttered bread in a thick paste.
As a South Australian, we cut the bread into soldiers and lay a strip of bacon on top.
Bake the cheese savouries for about 15 minutes or until they go brown.
Best enjoyed in front of the fire on a Sunday night with a bowl of Campbell's tomato soup, and a cat to pat and a mug of steaming hot Milo, after you've had a bath and while Countdown is on the telly.
Today's song:
Today's Cards:
The Enchanted Map: Stuck in the Mud
Archetype Card: Angel
Cards Against Humanity: Crikey! I've nver seen....WHITE PEOPLE.. like ths before. Let's get a bit closer.
It could be ten, but then again, I can't remember half an hour since a quarter to four.
Throw on your clothes, the second side of Surfer Rosa, and you leave me with my jaw on the floor.
I feel a bit like the guys on the treadmill. We don't seem to be going very far at the moment as we go into Lockdown 6.0. If this was a movie we'd have the tagline, "Yes, we're over it, but at least we're not Sydney. "
I love that the OK Go song mentions my most favourite album ever, Surfer Rosa by The Pixies. The second side of the album has songs like Where is my Mind and Vamos.
Just when you think that you're in control,
just when you think that you've got a hold,
just when you get on a roll,
here it goes, here it goes, here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.
I should have known,
should have known,
should have known again,
but here it goes again.
Oh, here it goes again.
Yes, OK Go have it right. Here we go again.
So I'm home. I was home at 8.05 pm, after going for a session with Cleo and stopping in a the shops to collect a knee brace as it's time to bind this up to try get the bugger really better. It hurts if I walk for too long, and I can't have this.
Am I surprised we've gone back to lockdown?
No.
Do I think they're doing the right thing?
As most of the population isn't vaccinated and if you get this bastard disease, there's a one in 200 chance of dying if you're not vaccinated. Yeah, I'd rather people not die. Thankfully, I'm fully vaccinated.
And I have a job I can do from home.
And a cat to keep me company.
And a bubble buddy to visit over the weekend.
And a personal trainer who has loaned me a kettle bell so we can work out online next week.
And a there's a novel to write....'
And the opportunity to go to a workshop last weekend.
It is what it is.
And my goals for this lockdown. Lockdown 6.0, as it is good to get these out the way.
Wear my new t-shirt to work and have the camera on in a meeting and see if anybody notices. It reads "See you next Tuesday". It's even better than my "Sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come" hoodie. Extra points if I get caught knitting during a meeting. Sneaky knitting is a good thing. Reminds me, I need to get a 4.5 circular needle to start the next project.
Drink two litres of water a day.
Watch a movie with my bubble buddy. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri or Whiplash could be goers.
Do the August Furious Fiction challenge (and not leave it to pen on Sunday night)
Finish the masons books.
Get my tax documentations ready for Mr H&R Block.
And listen to Surfer Rosa again. It's a very fine album.
It's good to have some goals.
Onwards.
Lyrics: OK Go, Here it goes again.
Today's song:
Enchanted Map Cards: Peaks of Joy
Archetype Card: The Liberator
Cards Against Humanity: I have 99 problems, but NEW AGE MUSIC... aint one of them.
My grandmother taught me to knit and crochet when I was five. I remember sitting next to her as she patiently taught me to make the stitches, hold the wool, hold the needles, what to do when you drop a stitch. She only taught me plain and purl and how to make blanket squares. Then she started me on the crochet hook. She's made baby blankets for all of her grandchildren, and great grandchildren over the years, always using Paton's Bluebell wool, always edging them in black. Being a Libran, everything was always perfect as she worked her papery hands through these basic patterns. My grandmother never made anything fancy, but her stitching and needlework were immaculate. One of her granny blankets has pride of place on my couch.
Over the years, I've kept up these skills. When my friends were having babies, they all received a baby blanket, crocheted not from squares but on one round. Normally they'd fit happily over a single bed. They're the same as the blanket I have on my bed now, the one I made in my teens under which the cat now sleeps. I've made jumpers and cardigans and hats. I like keeping my hands busy. I remember my grandfather calling me a lazy bones for watching so much television. Knitting and crochet are productive use of my television time.
Fast forward 30 odd years. I have a proper job which is currently being done from my lounge room, where you find my desk. I also find myself in a lot of very boring, mostly pointless meetings.
The boring and pointless meetings are different from the productive ones, which are the ones where I find myself driving the computer, gleaning information, updating documents and finishing off stuff. No, the boring, pointless meetings (also known as WOFTAMs - "Waste of F%cking Time and Money.") are the ones where you are forced to listen in, but can't really work on other stuff in the background as you know you may be called upon to comment, or there is five minutes on the agenda when you need to be across the information. I go to a few of these.
So I've taken up sneaky knitting again.
Now, next to my computer sits a ball of wool and a pair of knitting needles. A knitting pattern sits under my note pad. When I have to go to a WOFTAM, out comes the wool and the needles. This sneaky knitting makes the meeting go faster, and you feel like you're achieving something in the 4-8 hours of boring meetings a week.
What made me feel a bit better was being in my last meeting and somebody saying, 'Sorry, I missed that, I was just folding the laundry."
And all of my team will have a new hat by the end of September the way things are going. Bonus.
Today's song:
Enchanted Map Cards: Talisman
Archetype Card: Gossip
Cards Against Humanity: Liberals... good to the last drop.
The best thing about going to writer's workshops are the writing exercises you can take away with you. Of course, it seems much easier to have somebody else choose your cards and do the thinking, but I'm up for the challenge of setting my own writing targets.
Also, what they don't tell you about writing a novel, is that there is SOOOO much to fill in. You have to know your characters, set them in situations, write around their troubles and work out who they are. And how can you do know this until you write it?
So as an example, we did a fairy story task on Saturday. There are six prompts ... once upon a time... then something happens.... and another thing happens... and because of this... but then this was affected... and in the end... You take these prompts and meld your story around it. For me, I was able to nut out a back story for my main character, Faith, and her mate, Harry - who until this exercise, I did not know that they were friend's at primary school before they reconnected at university. Harry went off to boarding school. Faith stayed in the country town. Harry's family have money. Faith's doesn't.
I got this all from this exercise.
The other exercise which is love and get a lot out of is using cards.I have a lot of cards in my cupboard to choose from.
I admit to being a bit of a card junkie. Along with my Rider Waite and Morgan Greer reading decks, a Voyager and Inner Child Tarot pack, a couple of packs of Angel cards, oh, and the Osho Zen cards, there is enough to choose from.
To keep up the impetus with the novel, I'm selecting three cards a day from three different decks to help prompt me into writing. Rather than use tarot cards, which can lead you down the garden path in their own right, I've chosen to use some more generic decks. They are:
The Archetype cards provide character traits, or allow my characters to operate in a certain way. So today's card, the Messiah, provides a chance to make a character do something, or act in a certain way. I can see some fun I can have with my character, Laz.
The Enchanted Map Oracle provides an situation or environment in which to work. These are airy fairy cards - can't remember buying them, but I know they give some clarity. Thankfully I've still got the instruction book that goes with them. Also handy.
And then there's the Cards Against Humanity. That party game for horrible people. Always good for a laugh, but again, a random question and answer can be worked into a scene.
It's all about pushing yourself out of your little box and making some new connections. Though how I'm going to work in a soundscape and the Pope is another matter.
Anyway, I'll give this a try. Fellow writers, you're welcome to use the prompts as you wish. I'll put one up at the end of the blog for the month of August.
Today's Song:
Today's Cards:
Enchanted Map Cards: Spirit of Place
Archetype Card: Messiah
Cards Against Humanity: What's that sound? The Pope...
After a year of lockdowns, shut downs, cancellations and postponements, finally, the Memoir Workshop was taking place.
Having spent the bulk of the last 18 months in my flat, going nowhere, it was a bit exciting to get up and dressed on a Saturday morning. It felt strange not be wearing trackie dacks, ugg boots and to have the hair not shoved in a pony tail. Taking some inspiration from Wednesday Addams, and being a mild day, my favourite little black dress, stripy tights and Doc Martens - and strangely, I felt wonderful. The acts of dressing for an occasion, applying a little makeup for the first time in weeks, and having to get myself over to Carlton for ten'o'clock was all part of the fun.
The Carlton thing was the biggest irritation - I'm not a fan of Carlton, mostly due to the availability of parking. Thankfully, I found a decent park a few streets from La Luna Bistro. Decent, in that it was a four hour park. The workshop was due to run six hours. Worth the risk of getting a ticket. Thankfully none was to come.
Spending a day talking about Memoir with Jenny Valentish and Catherine Deveny was wonderful. As somebody with 90000 words of a pseudo-memoir in a file somewhere, it was an opportunity to get the skinny on the joys and pratfalls of writing a memoir. As somebody who reads some, but not a lot of memoir it was a good overview of what is out there, the process and some of the challenges this type of writing throws at you. Came away with a lot to think about. Also was thrilled that one of the exercises helped me to find away through a problem.
But if I'm really honest, the best thing about the workshop was the ability to be sitting in a room with ten other people who also have aspirations of writing. Having lunch in the room, and tea and coffee meant that we'd have to take our masks off in each others' presence anyway. We were all checked in. The question was asked. We were all vaccinated either fully, or in part. And the relief of being able to sit around with a coffee and a notepad and just be, like we used to, back before this stupid disease made everything weird and strange and hard was the best thing of all.
Today's Song:
Today's Cards:
The Enchanted Map: Wishing Well
Archetype Card: Warrior
Cards Against Humanity: It's a pity that kids these days are all getting involved with ...Christopher Walken.
Day one of the joyous 10,000 step challenge for Breast Cancer research and it's just after midday and I haven't even made 1000 steps yet. Never to mind. We have a lot of the day to cover.
Interesting title for today's questions, so let's see how interesting they are. The Sunday questions, provided, as always, by Bev at Sunday Stealing.
1. Have your ever driven drunk or even slightly buzzed?
Unfortunately, I have to say yes to this. Not that it's a defence, but it was when I was in my late teens, at university, after a College Ball and a group of us decided to watch the sunrise from the top of Mount Lofty. I drove this bloke's hulking great Falcon as I was the most sober of the lot of us. In hindsight, stupid, stupid move although nothing happened to us (thank goodness). I'm very anti-drink driving. My father was nearly killed by a drunk driver when I was in my teens. Now, I'm old and sensible and won't drive if I've had more than two glasses of whatever on any given night. I cherish my life and my driver's license too much to do anything else.
2. What was the funniest moment in your life?
Okay, I can't think of a funny moment, as there have been lots of them, but, I can remember the time I could not stop laughing. I was working at Tincan, String and Whistle, a telecommunications company. This superbowl advertisment was going around. All I will say is that I sat next to 'That Guy'. I howled with laughter for at least half an hour - laughed so hard I thought I was going to crack a rib.
3. What kind of things really makes you laugh?
English humour. Daft things. Irony. Blackadder. Dog's facial experessions. My cat when he's in zoomie mode.
4. If you could jump into a pool of something, what would that be?
Water. Seriously, I'm happy to be in any sort of water. If you can't find water, then a pool of gin and tonic would be cool.
5. Which habit are you proudest of breaking?
I'm very happy to no longer berate myself on an hourly basis. I've got good at reigning in negative self talk. It's a battle, but it's getting there. I'm also very aware that I don't have to apologise for everything all the time. Excuse me ore pardon me works better than sorry. It doesn't negate you as much.
6. Which animal do you find the sexiest of all?
This is a bit of a strange question. What animal do I find most aethetically pleasing? That would be any type of cat - particularly tigers. They're gorgeous.
7. What’s the weirdest nickname you’ve ever had?
I used to be called Skippy in the office of the merchant bank, in which I worked. I'm Australian, they call you Skippy - original, much?
8. What do you wish you were really good at?
May things. Writing. Playing the piano. Having people over for dinner. Running. I'm mediocre at many things, but I always wish I learned to play the piano as a child.
9. If you were a dog, what kind of dog would you be?
Who says if I was a dog. I am a golden retriever. I hoover up food. I'm mostly happy. I like to cuddle. I have long hair. I'm just not blonde.
10. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
In the early noughties I threw in my job and moved to a Greek Island for a few months. Is that spontaneous enough for you?
11. If you had a time machine, would you go back in time, or would you go to the future?
I'd probably go back in time, maybe change a couple of things, take the other train, go in the other door. You know, just right those small actions which set forth an avalanche. I have a pack of tarot cards for the future.
12. What was the last show you binged-watched?
I'm currently working my way through House M.D. Got a bit of a thing for Hugh Laurie at the moment (it's those eyes).
13. If you had to rename yourself, what name would you choose?
I'd probably go by my Twitter Handle, Trellawney Thom. Yes, it's a bit strange, but as Pandora Behr is my pen name, but I like Trellawney - pays homage to my Cornish roots and it's a bit different. My real name is about as boring, white and anglo as you can get.
14. What did you in the summers when you were growing up?
I don't like summer. Summer is boring. It's hot. We used to swim in the water tank when it was really hot. From the age of 14 I worked in the local general store. Sometimes, we went to the beach. Still not a fan of summer.
15. If you go to a restaurant and have terrible service, is it ever okay not to tip?
In a word, yes. But let me clarify this for the Americans reading this. Over here, we pay our wait staff a living wage so tips are optional, and depending on the experience, you'll leave a tip of say 5-20% of the bill if you want to. But it's not expected. So yes, if you get awful service, you don't have to feel like you have to tip. I know I'll not tip mediocre service without a second thought.
Today's Song:
Today's Cards:
The Enchanted Map: Intention
Archetype Card: The Goddess
Cards Against Humanity: What broke up the original Wiggles? An M.Night Shyamalan plot twist.
