Book Club: 'Surfacing'

This month we read Surfacing by Margaret Atwood. It was a pretty short book, but so much is packed into it! The characters are complex and there is a great deal of subtext so I think it is the type of book that would get better on a second or even third reading. I liked the main character; she starts off fairly pragmatic, but towards the end of the book there is more symbolism and more of an exploration of mental states which is really interesting. I did find that I got lost somewhat towards the final chapters, I wasn't exactly sure what had happened and that made me a little confused about what feelings the character was trying to express.

The thing that most interested me was the relationship between the two couples and how that changes as they spend more and more time in isolation. There is increasing paranoia, vanity, pettiness and other strong emotions all come to the surface, deeper characters and fears are shown than might ever be exposed in the city dwelling routine that the couples normally belong to.

I have to say, I have read quite a few works by Margaret Atwood before and this was a good read but it wasn't my favourite.

After we finished our discussion of the book we grabbed some pizza and settled down to watch The Impossible, a film about the tsunami in Thailand. I love both Ewan MacGregor and Naomi Watts. I thought that it was an incredibly emotional and a bit overblown and hammy in places, but there were definitely things I appreciated. The acting was fantastic, particularly the kids. It managed to portray just how fast everything happened and how much pain and insecurity and fear there was. Some of the scenes of the ocean wave coming in and engulfing the resort were literally awe inspiring, as was the contrast between the tranquil Christmas day and then the carnage afterwards. None of us cried it must be said, but there was definitely a bit of squealing and hiding behind clutched pillows as the suspense mounted. I enjoyed it (if you can say that about that type of film!).

This month we are reading (and probably watching) The Hobbit which I have never read. I know, I'm about to remedy this situation poste haste. To the bookery! Without a moment to lose!

Birthdayness!

It's my birthday! So just a little post to tell you what I got up to: I got dressed up and had breakfast with G and Miss V at a new cafe that has just opened in town called Mrs Jones Kitchen. I adore going out for breakfast! This was followed up by cake and coffee naturally. Then we went to browse a bookshop and bought some childrens' books and had a stroll around town. In the evening, I went off to teach meditation - some of my students got me flowers and chocolates! It's been a lovely day all in all.

I've been told there is more in the post and things being made by various people but so far I got a book, a Thelonius Monk CD and quite a lot of chocolate. Many of the cards people gave me had beautiful fonts. I got to wear a skirt and a cardie with cute pockets. All of this has made me very happy.

There will be official celebrations in June when various people are back from holidays so you'll hear more about birthdayness from me, but today has been delightful!

It's a Small World

I can't believe it's already May! The sun is shining and a soft breeze is wafting through work. By soft breeze, I mean howling gale, but it could be worse - it could be raining. Nothing much has happened recently, which makes a nice change to be honest. I do however have quite a few birthdays in May so there will be much discussion of presents and parties (or lack thereof). I will kick that off now: I remembered that G's birthday is sometime at the beginning of May not once suspecting that it would be on May 1st itself - which gave me all of 1 day to find a present! As it was she was away with her family, so I had a few days grace. This time of year is a little bit tight for me, so I was thinking about what I could construct from what I had at home. I was quite inspired by Kim Welling's Instant Comfort Pocket Boxes, so I decided to have a play around with some matchboxes myself. This was the end result:

It's a small world....

She's pretty earthy and deep, so I decided to try and fit a whole world in there. I cut out some butterflies and some celestial bodies and put some bits and pieces in like gemstones, a shell and some fabric flowers. It was fun finding things to go in.

The Box of Wonder and Delight

Not bad for a couple of days work! I think there are ways for me to get more adventurous with the construction, maybe add a bit of texture or layering, but I was pretty happy with this. I ended up wrapping it in tissue paper, putting it in a box (surrounded by packing peanuts), wrapping it in parcel paper and some string round it so it really was like pass the parcel! Fun times. The next birthday is my Mum's, and I suspect that I'll be a little bit more conventional with that present.

End of an Era

This week saw the official demise of my car - she went to the scrappers and is now in car heaven, which I assume means that she's up in the sky, parked looking at lovely sunsets and listening to whatever she likes on the radio for all eternity. I know it's only a car, and it's not really that big a deal, but she was my first car and I'll always think of her fondly. Bye bye Tabitha!

Another goodbye this week was for Miss H who moved out of the house yesterday. We've shared a house for nearly three years, so it really is the end of an era! She's only moved down the road for now, but in September she and her Mr. will be headed to the big city where she will take up a job in the very wonderful and swanky London Library. I believe this calls for lots of amazing pencil skirts and looking at people over her specs and maybe even telling people to 'Shhhh!'. Hopefully we'll see each other a fair bit before she goes, not least because we have plans for her to teach me how to use a sewing machine - actually I suspect that we will see each other more this summer than we have the last few months anyway. No more will we able to squeal 'I live with you','I live with you tooooo!' at each other at random intervals! I am very proud of her finishing her degree and getting a fabulous job, but I will miss her muchly.

In which some Musings are Mumbled and the Nature of Time is Speculated Upon

It appears that Spring has decided to grace us briefly and with it a lovely flurry of sunshine and conversation with various housemates. As I've gotten to know him, I have discovered that as Doc gets more tired, he also gets more random - here are few gems that popped up in conversation this week:

'Wouldn't it be the worst thing in the world if you were made of cornflakes and it started raining milk and you really had to go outside?'

(I honestly have no idea how we get into these conversations.)

'I was watching an interview with Snoop Dogg and I'm not sure he's human...I'm convinced he's not a real person but a character on Sesame Street, like he's made by Jim Henson or something'.

'If we were ever in a plane crash in the middle of nowhere and we were getting really desperate, I would definitely eat you, let's not have any qualms about this - yum yum yum yum, Nat steak, fillet of Nat, Nat sausages with mash, Triple Big Nat with Cheese...I mean don't get me wrong, it would be awful, I'd be sobbing while I did it, of course, and because you're culinarily inclined I would definitely find something to marinade you in, like coconuts and pineapple chunks or something, some good seasoning as a tribute to your life..... Although thinking about it if we ended up somewhere with coconuts, I would just go and get us both some coconuts....'

Speaking of The Doctor, this is ridiculously fantastic:

So time does appear to be a ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff after all. Gosh.