A cute friendly creature we often see on our morning walks.
I’m not going to lie, this has been a long, fairly shit-house week. And yet it still had some highlights and lovely things - so that is what I’ll focus on, for that is the Philippa Moore Way. When you’re in the arena of life, you can’t get bogged down by feedback from the cheap seats. Onwards!
Looking forward to
A break over Easter. Reorganising my book shelves. Maybe seeing friends on the mainland again soon. Making Nigella’s vegan gingerbread again!
Reading
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami - I haven’t read this book in years. It was an old favourite in my marathon days, and now that I think about it, a real influence on The Latte Years too. I have been running for sixteen years now and, like Murakami, my journey as a writer has unfolded in parallel and there are so many similar lessons and challenges. I keep running now to, as he puts it, “maintain, and improve, my physical condition in order to keep on writing novels”! It was nice to spend time with this old friend again, and even nicer to find my old Up and Running postcard bookmark. Good times.
The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master’s House by Audre Lorde - this is just phenomenal and a wonderful introduction to her work.
Creative Histories of Witchcraft: Magpieing, sparking the creative process by Anna Compton. I just love reading about other people’s creative processes. I engage in quite a bit of magpieing myself!
Three-Martini Afternoons at The Ritz: The Rebellion of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton by Gail Crowther - only a few chapters in and LOVING it.
I also enjoyed many of the articles and blog posts on Gail Crowther’s wonderful website - particularly What Sylvia Plath Can Teach Us About Gaslighting which felt particularly pertinent this week.
Vox: How To Forgive Someone Who Isn’t Sorry by my old blogging and running pal Rachel Wilkerson Miller. “Forgiveness is my safety valve against the kind of toxic anger that could kill me…waiting for the apology is to misunderstand your free will, and it’s to misunderstand the medicine that is forgiveness, that you should be able to take freely, whatever you want.”
Julia Bausenhart: Why I Quit Social Media
Jen McLeary: Why I Am Leaving Social Media For Real This Time
I’ve also continued reading My Body by Emily Ratajkowski but, to be honest, I am finding it very triggering. Should I keep going, knowing it is an important book and it is vital that stories like this are shared - or should I shield myself from reliving my own painful experiences, and continue to suppress the rage I feel for what so many women have been subjected to? Thoughts welcome.
Listening to
My Running playlist!
The First Time Podcast: Masters Series: Sarah Winman - an absolute must for any writer, I loved every minute of this one. Perfect for walking to work and getting ready to face the page.
BeWILDered with Martha Beck and Rowan Mangan: Comparing Lives and On Top of Things?
James and Ashley Stay At Home: Living with ambiguous loss with Erin Stewart
Eating
I have not had much of an appetite and thus have not enjoyed my food as much this week. But these were the highlights:
Rick’s pasta - our last jar of capers had gone off so we used green olives instead, which was pretty delicious. I didn’t think it was possible for capers to go off, but there they were in the jar, a mouldy pink like the scum that grows at the bottom of the shower. Gross!
Pumpkin-topped cottage pie - a recipe I was intrigued by in the Woolworths magazine, which I veganised. TVP instead of mince, an easy swap! Very delicious, served with beans from the garden.
Vegan chickpea curry jacket potatoes - I was lazy and used tandoori paste instead of the spices, which turned out very nicely.
We also polished off the last of the cocoa brownies I made from Leah Hyslop’s The Brownie Diaries.
Picking
It’s all been about greens and beans this week. I also threw some of the last strawberries and figs into our morning smoothies. There are still plenty of tomatoes that seem to redden overnight like magic, and the potatoes will be ready to pull up soon. I also bought some mustard green seedlings at the Botanical Gardens for a bargain $2 each, so I hope those will be a bountiful source of winter greens.
Watching
I watched the first two episodes of Season Two of Star Trek Picard (Amazon Prime) for my darling husband, and they actually weren’t too bad! Patrick Stewart makes anything bearable!
Wearing/applying
Modibodis - these have changed my life and I only wish they had been around 28 years ago. My very first pad is probably still in landfill somewhere, which is a haunting and horrifying thought indeed. It feels a bit odd to finally be embracing the power of my cycle, only to know I may not have it for much longer. It is very weird indeed to be asked by your GP “are you still getting your periods?” but I guess that’s to be expected. I am 40 now, after all!
Favourite experiences of the week
The article about my Nan and her Anzac biscuits in this month’s Australian Country Style - we were at the shops first thing on Thursday to get a copy!
A bolstering and productive meeting with my PhD supervisors, who are kind, perceptive and deeply intelligent women who truly get what I’m trying to do and always offer the right encouragement when I need it. I couldn’t be happier or luckier with my team.
Quote of the week
“I am the sole author of the dictionary that defines me.” - Zadie Smith
If you’d like to share your thoughts on this post with me, please do! Otherwise, same time next week? xx