It's been a quiet ol' week at QB Heights -- but not in a bad way! (Though I'm afraid there are no homemade gifs to show for this week. I've been in a bit of a an epic lethargic fug. I blame the weather.)
Speaking of enjoying the quiet, one of my Voicerox friends shared this rather perfect depiction of introvert traits on FB, which for the most part could read as my Myers-Briggs profile:
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| Click here for the full article. (Thanks, Kerry!) |
Right, back to business.
This week, I have mostly been...
Reading | Shame on You by Clara Salaman
There's a theme in my reading matter at the moment: when cults go bad which all counts as research for the book I'm trying to write (except, clearly, I'm not writing it very actively at the moment, I'm blogging... Ah well, semantics..).
This novel looked promising, in spite of its cover, which resembles one of those tell-all, hard-luck autobiographies with titles like A boy called Nobody or The girl no one loved. But sadly Shame on You was of less literary integrity than even those bios*. Cliche, formulaic (adult reopens Pandora's Box of childhood 'trauma') and yet often so flummoxing and unbelievable I made it to the end just to be able to write my own tell-all, hard-luck autobiography herein entitled My Dirty Literary Secret or: how I survived substandard** literature.
*According to Goodreads -- the author was raised in a cult, which would potentially explain why the central protagonist's initials, CS, are identical to her own, but does not explain why the whole treatment of the narrative is so downright clumsy and far-fetched. Surely approaching the subject matter as a tell-all, hard-luck autobiography would have given it some much-needed gravitas.
Or not.
(**Disclaimer: I should mention this is my purely subjective opinion.)
No, fear ye not, there were no keys or bowls on tables involved.
I'm talking old-fashioned, 'push your legs out and pull 'em in to FLY' swinging.
I took Wednesday off to spend some proper, quality time with my gorgeous bestie and her two gorgeous moppets (to whom I am Auntie B and right proud I am of that title).
We wandered round Dunorlan Park (Tunbridge Wells), ate fry-ups and ice cream for lunch, wandered some more, danced on a hilltop, blew bubbles, then relocated to the glorious Nevill Crest and Gun for a tall, icy OJ and lemonade, a game of Frisbee with rules decided and bent at large by the little people, involving Auntie (Q)B running around like a
And did I mention there were swings?
There were swings!
Nothing transports a decrepit 36-year-old back 30 years like a swing. And actually I'm pretty sure there are physiological benefits to the process as well. Or there'd better be otherwise why else did I ache like a nonagenarian for most of Thursday?
Rewatching | Mamma Mia
Because, Meryl Streep. And Dominic Cooper.
And Colin Firth's delightful treatment of 'Our Last Summer'.Walks along the 'Sane', anyone? Oh, we still would.
And 'Slipping Through My Fingers', which never fails to break me a little bit.
Of course I can't take any element of this very sage, very intellectual film seriously since this excellent French and Saunders tribute:
Snapping | for The August Break 2014
#augustbreak2014
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| Day 4: orange |
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| Day 5: "three" |
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| Day 6: "reflection" |
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| Day 7: "today is..." |
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| Day 8: "selfie" |
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| Day 9: "in my bag" {why yes, officer, I do carry around two different hand creams, three different notebooks and a Tictac box full of kirby grips, what of it?} |
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| Day 10: "drink" |
Ten Pins
My last ten pins on Pinterest:
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| {1. tile game} |
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| {2. that Mark Twain quote again!} |
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| {3. metabolism boosting foods -- my diet has been a bit slack lately...!} |
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| {4. inspirational quote} |
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| {5. a little spot of truth} |
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| {6. The American Standard Building, NYC} |
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| {7. 1970 London Transport poster} |
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| {8. book wedding arch | brilliant!} |
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| {9. innovative book shelving} |
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| {10. inspirational quote} |
Weekly Weblinks
Literary Linkage
- James Patterson's 'Rafe' character to feature on new Books Are My Bag schoolbag
- The best books for children who feel 'weird'
- Pelican postcards mark imprint relaunch
- Penguin defends new adult-skewed 'Charlie' cover
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My thoughts? I see their point but Charlie... is not an adult crossover title the way Harry Potter proved to be.
And back to less controversial material:
Non-literary Linkage
- Prince William: the new Sam Patterson***
- Bang-on-the-money brilliant: What British people say vs What they actually mean (thanks, Fiona, for this link!)
- Shaun the Sheep to star in arts trail
- Top places to swim in the UK
which segues neatly onto:
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| {The Grace Hotel pool, Times Square, NYC. Totally on the maybe-to-do-in-NYC list!} |
***Sorry. You need to realise my 25-year-long obsession with The Flying Doctors to appreciate, then discount, this reference.
| {Be still, my heart.} |
Victor Charlie Charlie, over and out...
