Looking forward to
The release of Sophie Hansen’s new book on Monday! I have her other two and they’re both just lovely. Is there anything better than the anticipation of a new book that you already know will be brilliant?
Going for my first run in my new running shoes, which arrived today. Honestly, the last pair I bought wore out so quickly, and I have been feeling the roughness of the trails through the soles for months now. This is a long overdue purchase!
Reading
The Brownie Diaries by Leah Hyslop
Planet Simpson by Chris Turner - I haven’t read this book since 2004 when it first came out, and I had forgotten how brilliant it is, and how timeless/prescient so many of its observations are.
Do Inhabit: Style your space for a creative and considered life by Sue Fan and Danielle Quigley
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics: The ethics of fiction writing (PhD related, obvs!)
A Writer’s Diary by Virginia Woolf
Why I Write by George Orwell
Sydney Review of Books: Circuit and The Writer’s Clutter, both by Vanessa Berry
Listening to
TIDAL’s Baking Beats playlist - I really like lo-fi music for cooking, reading and working to.
Rethink Moments with Rachel Botsman: Trust Issues/Vulnerability is not a Weakness
Unlocking Us with Brené Brown: Accessing joy and finding connection in the midst of struggle, with Karen Walrond
BeWILDered: Self-Doubt and Creativity
The Creative Penn: Your Story Matters with Nikesh Shukla and Dealing with Self-Doubt and Writer’s Block with Dharma Kelleher
Happy Place: Clover Stroud
The Tim Ferriss Show: Interview #366 with Neil Gaiman (Neil loves fountain pens and Leuchtturm notebooks too!)
Eating
Noodles with fried tofu and orange nam jim from Ottolenghi’s Flavour
Apple and fig crumble (using my parents’ apples and my own figs) smothered in this.
Otherwise, it’s just been tomatoes and zucchini every which way - curry, soup, risotto, pasta.
I made a batch of dukkah this week which is fabulous on top of avocado toast, or just with good crusty bread and olive oil. I also like it sprinkled over hummus and cucumber rolled up in a wholemeal flatbread, which has been my regular work lunch this week because cucumbers have been plentiful, thanks to our generous neighbours.
I also made stewed apples (for more crumble, or maybe for porridge), pickled tomatoes and pickled cucumbers.
Picking
Zucchini, tomatoes, beans and silverbeet from my own garden, and our neighbours invited us to go over to their garden and pick whatever we wanted as they’re away and didn’t want the vegetables to go to waste. So there were also cucumbers, in addition to more zucchini and tomatoes!
Watching
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) - what an incredible film, beautifully acted and written. A powerful reminder of why art is so vital, and the terrible price we sometimes pay in the pursuit of it. And Chadwick Boseman’s monologues are all the more powerful knowing that he must have had his own mortality in mind as he shot those scenes, as it was his last film. What a loss he has been.
Black Mirror (Netflix) - I enjoy surreal, futuristic dark comedy that still feels like it takes place in the real world, and this hits the spot while feeling terrifyingly prescient.
Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent)(Netflix) - safe to say we are now completely addicted to this fabulous show, and have also started learning French on Duolingo again.
What do you think - is being off social media agreeing with me? ;)
Wearing/applying
I bought some new jeans last November and they are the best I’ve had in recent history - Curve Embracer by Jeans West. I highly recommend them.
New Vitamin C serum and a new night cream - I may return to the old favourites if these don’t pass muster but so far so good. I’ve had an occasional mild bout of maskne and Go-To’s exfoliating swipeys cleared that up within a day, so I will have to restock those as I am perilously close to running out.
Apart from having them shaped regularly by a professional, I’ve never paid much attention to my eyebrows but a beauty editor friend recommended Rimmel London’s Wonder Last Brow Tint for Days and I’m not sure what it is but (I think) I look more polished and put together on the days I use it! Very easy to apply. I, obviously, use the blonde shade.
Thinking about
My friends currently in isolation/quarantine because their children caught covid at school. I know at least four families in this situation at the moment!
The fact that when I was born, if my mother had wanted to get a passport, she would have needed my father’s permission to do so. Australia didn’t change that law until 1983. That blows my mind and frankly makes me incredibly angry. I love writing historical fiction but oh my god am I glad to live in this time, as a woman, despite how far we still have to go.
An essay I started writing this week about superstition, friendship and the writing process. I’m going to have to dig deep for this one. It will be interesting!
Favourite experiences of the week
Getting a Wordle in two guesses - and Tom got one in ONE! I am yet to experience that phenomenon.
My monthly seminar with ACT Writers - this month’s lecturer was Claire G. Coleman and WOW, what a powerhouse she is. So generous, insightful and fun to learn from. “Don't be afraid to write garbage” was one of her many pieces of pithy advice.
Meeting up with my new PhD supervisor, who is actually an old acquaintance from London! One day we will share the incredible story of how our paths crossed and now have crossed again. It makes me believe in magic.