One morning last week I happened upon a Facebook post by Liz Gilbert. I scrolled on and didn’t read it at the time, but the opening phrase stuck with me so I later went back to check on it.
The Bluffs is the debut novel by Kyle Perry and a lot of reviewers I know have loved this book. So… my thoughts deviate a little from the norm.
Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the book. I read it in a sitting and (eventually) turned the pages quickly, keen to learn more.
But it took me a while to get to that point. In fact I almost put it aside (to read later) a few times in the first few chapters.
The structure confused me as did the obvious reference to Picnic at Hanging Rock. I adored Joan Lindsay’s novel but HATED the posthumous final chapter that leapt into the supernatural. So, talk of portals and other realms here almost had me running for the… (ahem) bluffs.
“Oh of course they’d need to leave time after we finish to sanitise the table and chairs for the next booking,” I said to a friend last weekend.
We were going for drinks and I was checking to see if our 2hr booking was for 5.15 or 5.30pm. It was the former, with the next ‘sitting’ at 7.30.
Popular restaurants and cafes have long had ‘sittings’ so they can fit as many as possible in each evening but of course, the term has taken on a whole new meaning during the coronavirus restrictions.
What disturbed me about the conversation with my friend was that it seemed so normal. “Oh yes, the disinfecting!” is like a no-brainer.
Last week I wrote about the overwhelm I was experiencing. I commented on the guilt I felt for being so exhausted when I was in such a position of privilege. Even saying “I want the world to pause so I can get off for a bit,” reeks of middle-aged white-personism.
A lot of messaging suggests we avoid social media, news or negativity… to preserve our own mental health. Our sanity.
It’s been a big year (or three). A lot of bad shit has gone down, some preventable. Some not.
There are endless memes around about the fact that 2020 pretty much sucks. About the fact the weeks and months have dragged on interminably despite the first half of the year basically flying by.
I felt a bit of online overwhelm early on, but at the same time it seemed little had changed in my world. I spent much of it at home and probably adjusted to ‘lock-down’ (such as it was here in Australia) better than most.
I’m trying to keep my blogging momentum going. Or get it started. Something like that anyway. I was working on something far more profound but it’s led me in so many circles I decided to stick to Denyse Whelan’s link-up theme today and I’m sharing some snaps. Not just any snaps… some that offer some insight into moi. Kinda.
The first two things I found when tidying my study a while ago. They were part of a heap of stuff my mother had handed me to me (report cards and the like, which I ditched).
I completed my MBA (Master of Business Administration) in 1998. Apparently that is more than a decade ago. Even more than two decades ago. Apparently.
I’d started the MBA before heading overseas to work in international development so completed it by distance and have vivid memories of trying to explain to a lecturer – via fax or telephone (ie. before internet) – that I was living in Mozambique. A Portuguese-speaking country and had no access to any English texts or literature of any kind.
Anyhoo… it’s a long time since I’ve done any formal study. And I should admit, I hated study. Hated it. I always did far better at subjects requiring understanding and ‘doing’ rather than ‘learning’.
