I'm at the stage with work, so long the hours, that I'm hallucinating, doing things I don't mean to do, sayingthings I don't mean to say.
Like my boss called me this afternoon. I'd managed to gain back 15 minutes out of a meeting and I was going to sit in my reading chair and take ten of those minutes back for myself as an afternoon tea break before the rest of the afternoon's meetings.
She rang just as I opened by book.
As Roy Kent is my spirit animal, my opening line to her was the following:
I didn't get my reading afternoon break. Que sera...
On the good side of things, my delivery of Mr Black's coffee liqueur turned up today. And soem Coffee Old Fashioned cocktail mix. It's the small things.
And as my subversive side was let out today, I got my Christmas presents wrapped during one of those boring meetings and my Christmas shopping finished after the gym. It's important to claw some time back. I also did a few lines of knitting in the same meeting. It makes me feel good.
But tonight, I shut my computer off at 5.45 pm, put on my gym gear and got myself off to a 6.30 pm Core Class - which was the perfect antidote to a difficult day, full of being pulled in front the head of the project to show her how I do my calculatoins, having to front compliance about a streamlining of our processes and getting a heap of other work done.
Core class, a half hour of sweating through routines with sit ups, mountain climbers, stretchy band wood chops... you name it, we did it, helped restore a bit of equilibrium.
But now, I'm just trying to relax before I do my ironing. I'm thinking about what it would be like to eat a dozen oysters, washed down with some French champagne. Maybe a little granita to cleanse the palate as they go down? Maybe I could go to the fishmonger on Christmas Eve and buy myself a Christmas Eve treat. Jonella and I are looking to go to Richmond Oysters for dinner sometime after New Years. But that is too long to wait.
Maybe I'm just channeling Christmas at home, where we normally have seafood and salad for lunch - not the traditional hot roast. Nothing is better than a big feed of prawns.
But just at the moment, I'm dreaming of a dozen oysters, ice chilled and sitting on a plate. Oh the decadence, the simple, sumptuous nature of those slippery little suckers as they tumble down your throat.
I'll take anything which makes me feel a little less stressed and tired than I've been feeling of late.
Jay and I caught the penultimate performance of the MTC's lastest rendition of As You Like It on Saturday at the matinee session.
To be honest, I wasn't quite convinced, although it was lovely to put in my Shakespearean babelfish and relax into the language which I love so well. We were supposed to go last Friday night, but a technical issue saw the performance cancelled, and we were luck to be able to exchange our tickets for this performance.
As You Like It isn't my favourite Shakespeare either. Never has been, never will be. It's one of the lightweight pastoral comedies, where there are banishments and running around the forest and cross dressing and it's all very silly. Yes, it has some fabulous speeches within the silliness, but it's a fluffy play. Not being in a silly frame of mind, I had to look for the good in other places in this rather banal play.
And yes, the costumes and staging were sumptuous, although it was hard to tell the male characters apart as they all looked the same. The set was lovely too, although I'm not too sure why they had floating goat heads up the back of the stage - they were off-putting (the sheep portrayed at the Pop Up Globe were much more engaging).
This was Christy Whelan-Browne's production as she outshone most of the cast as a very strong Rosalind. James Mackay's Orlando grew in strength as the performance went on, and both Natalie Abbott as Phebe and Tim Walter as the lugubrious Jaques brought a lot of light to the production.
Added to this, Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall put their stamp on the production composing the music, which was great - though the sight of Richard Piper playing the guitar left-handed felt a bit jarring. The music was really well done, I'll give it that.
But I found the first half quite stunted, though not dry enough to have me walk out, as the woman who was sitting next to me did, but the second half made up for it.
Above all, it was lovely to be back in the theatre watching a Shakespearean play. Though not up there with some of the greats done by the MTC - and I'm thinking about the superlative Richard III from fifteen years ago, this was a more than adequate, end of year performance, which on reflection, I liked more than I disliked.
Another Sunday, another set of questions, provided, as always, by Bev at Sunday Stealing.
It's a very social weekend for me. Off to a barbeque in a bit, so I best get on with this.
16. Do you want any piercings?
No, I'm happy with just having my ears pierced. They were pierced twice, but the second set of holes appear to have closed over from lack of use.
17. What’s your mouse pad look like?
I don't have a mouse pad. I use a notebook as my mouse pad when needed.
18. Have you ever been to a psychic/tarot reader?
I read tarot to a professional level and have been to many tarot readers over the years - however, I don't go to psychics. They tend to freak me out. At least with tarot readers I know what is going on and how they operate.
19. How do you identify spiritually (do you follow a religion, what do you think about soul/spirit, etc.)?
I can tell you what I'm not rather that what I am. I'm not a Christian, nor do I afflliate with any other major organised religion. However, I do believe in god, though I can't tell you what that is. I'm pretty spiritual. I also go to Kabbalah meditation once a fortnight. And there are Wiccan elements to my practices. And I'm a Freemason. So yeah, a Spiritual Agnostic is what I put on the forms when asked abut my religion. Or if that isn't an option, I put down no religion.
20. Do you prefer your nails long or short?
I like my nails short-ish. That is my fingernails I like a nice plain mid-length. Too long and I can't type. Too short and you can't find the end of the sticky tape (cellotape/scotch tape). My toenails I like to keep very short.
21. What are your favorite smells?
In no apparent order:
Dog's paws in the morning
Cookie Man cookies when they are fresh out of the oven
Night blooming jasmine
Asphalt when it starts to rain on a really hot day
Quality perfume - currently wearing Juliette's Got a Gun's Not a Perfume.
Clean, freshly washed men
Roast Lamb
22. Do you still use a radio or just use your phone/computer for music?
I don't own a radio - the only radio I listen to is the one in my car when I forget to bring my phone, which links in via Bluetooth and plays music and audiobooks.
23. What kind of socks do you prefer to wear?
Most of my socks are ankle socks or footlets which get worn when I wear my running shoes. I have some nice longer, cotton socks for when I wear boots.
24. Do you have any family heirlooms?
Not really. I have my father's box brownie camera and the pewter tankard he was given for his 21st birthday. I also have Mum's engagement ring. She received another when she married my stepdad. I still think my grandmother's collander is a bit of a heirloom. We're not a heirloom kind of family.
25. Are there any musicians you didn't like at first but grew on you?
Ah, I hate to say it, but I didn't like George Michael way back when, but I really like him now. Still not overly fond of Wham! and I'm actively avoiding shopping centres so I don't get #Whamageddon-ed, but George Michael is now great. If I don't like some music, I tend not to ever really like it.
26. Is there anything you used to love but now dislike?
In no order:
Bananas
Mark Latham - I voted for him 15 years ago, now he's a complete pillock.
Sweet wine
Chick Lit
Running. I wish I could run. I don't dislike running, but it really does my joints no favours.
27. Your favorite place to be aside from your home?
Movies theatres and the beach. Or just outside in the gardens around Melbourne.
28. What is your favorite kind of tea?
I don't drink much tea, and when I do, it's the normal black tea - but I really like Earl Grey tea. And Lapsang Souchong, when you can find it.
29. Any old home remedies you use when you're sick?
Flat Woodroofe's lemonade when you have a funny tummy is the best. And lemon, honey, hot water and an asprin for a cold helps a lot too.
30. What level of brightness do you usually keep your phone at?
It's normally set around mid-range. I don't like it too bright.
I'm biased. I love Wes Anderson films, and I've been waiting for this for an age. Pastiche, stylised comedy and violence, strange characters, tableaus - you name it, you know it's going to be in there - and The French Dispatch had them all. It's what I call titter-funny, where you sit there and snort at the absurdity and cleverness of the whole thing. It's not belly laugh funny, but the snort in your coffee and smirk into your choc top sort of funny.
If you liked The Grand Budepest Hotel, you'll like this - though I think The Grand Budapest Hotel is Anderson at his finest.
This movie is a love song to the ever-disappearing print media, and if you keep this in mind, you're find. What lets this film down a bit is that it's a trio of tales, rather than one full story. The overlay of story is that the French Dispatch is supposedly a weekly magazine, published out of Ennui in France, for the Liberty Kansas Evening News. Party travelog, part food pages, part society rag, it's a passion piece published by Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray). As a writer, some of the quips that came out of the first part of the film were very in jokes. I was with Teddy, and she couldn't quite get why I was giggling.
There are three stories to the film. The first, from the art pages, after a bit about cycing with Herbsaint Sazerac - which is cute, and short.
The next section is the art pages, by J.K.L. Berenson, played by the marvellous Anderson stalwart, Tilda Swinton. The story is of a painter, Moses Rosenthaler (played brilliantly by Benecio Del Toro and Tony Revolori) who is painting from a lunatic asylum. The asylum art show is visited by some critics who love his work and want more. And hilarity ensues. I found this to be the stand out section, with a killer cast. Lea Seydoux, Henry Winkler, Adrien Brody, Bob Balaban and just wonderful.
The next section, about student activists by Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) who is following some ongoing riots in Ennui, lead by the ever beautiful Zeffirelli (Timothee Chalamet). I know Mr Chalamet is an adult, but he still looks 12, and it's a bit strange looking on at this beautiful youth, but these guys are great as well.
And the last section is the cooking section, which leads to a shaggy dog story with Jeffrey Wright as Roebuck Wright, who follows a police caper as well as the police cook's involvement in this.
In all, it's not the easiest film to follow, but it has a stellar cast, it's got that wonderful Wes Anderson aethetic about it.
It made me very happy on a warm Friday night. It's not for everybody, bit if you like something different and have a warped sense of humour like mine, hunt it out. It's great/
And now for the last four books from our book group book choosing. Thanks for bearing with me on this.
So here we go.
September: The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
We read the author's amazing Ten Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World the year before last, so it would be rude not to put this one up for consideration.
According to Goodreads, "Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love.
Years later, a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited - her only connection to her family’s troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world.
A moving, beautifully written and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak’s best work yet"
I'm really looking forward to this one.
October: Love and Virtue by Diana Reid
This was my choice and there have been a lot of great reviews on this Australian novel, set in a University College - somewhere I lived in the eighties.
The Goodreads blurb gives a lot of themes which will go down well for our book group discussions.
"Feminism, power and sex play out through the eyes of young Australian uni students in a contemporary narrative that is fiercely authentic
Whenever I say I was at university with Eve, people ask me what she was like, sceptical perhaps that she could have always been as whole and self-assured as she now appears. To which I say something like: ‘People are infinitely complex.’ But I say it in such a way—so pregnant with misanthropy—that it’s obvious I hate her.
Michaela and Eve are two bright, bold women who befriend each other their first year at a residential college at university, where they live in adjacent rooms. They could not be more different; one assured and popular – the other uncertain and eager-to-please. But something happens one night in O-week – a drunken encounter, a foggy memory that will force them to confront the realities of consent and wrestle with the dynamics of power.
Initially bonded by their wit and sharp eye for the colleges’ mix of material wealth and moral poverty, Michaela and Eve soon discover how fragile friendship is, and how capable of betrayal they both are.
Written with a strikingly contemporary voice that is both wickedly clever and incisive, issues of consent, class and institutional privilege, and feminism become provocations for enduring philosophical questions we face today."
November: Piranesi by Susana Clarke
Ah, Piranesi - I listened to this as an audiobook earlier this year and loved this short, strange tome. I'm not sure how it will go down in book group, but I'm really pleased it's got up.
A bit on Piranesi, according to Goodreads:
"Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known."
I think this is going to be a contentious one. Still, I love it.
December: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
We selected this book to read in December because it appears to be lighter than a lot of the other books we have on the list - and December is when we do our book choosing. Also, after reading the phenomenal Daisy Jones and The Six but the same author, I piped up, "Party Book", and it was all sorted. Jenkins Reid does great things with voices - so I hope this doesn't disappoint.
For a bit more information, Goodreads says, "Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.
Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.
The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.
Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.
And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.
By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.
Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them... and what they will leave behind."
And that is our booklist for the year.
Please feel free to read along with us. I love talking about books with people.
