Hoo boy, what a newsletter! First, while I love to sing and enjoy singing usually, I do not enjoy spontaneous singing in public or in my house by others. It seems rude and intrusive to me. Second, I'm so sorry to hear about poor Lilly's woes. I hope she has a full recovery and is able to sleep better once she feels better. Poor her and poor you. Third, I don't think of myself as self-conscious, instead I think of myself as conscious of where I am and what is acceptable social behavior. I am not afraid to write anything I want to write. I got over that when I wrote my (unpublished, but read aloud in installments on a radio show) memoir detailing many of the horrors of my youth. Writing that was so healing for me, that I decided to heed the advice from Anne Lamott: "Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better." To me that means I also have to be ready to hear or read whatever anyone I've behaved around has to say to or about me. And I am.
Well, I wasn’t expecting this. Me, the first! It is probably because of my mention in despatches so to speak, re. reading ‘The Kitchen is closed...’ by Sandra Butler. I read it by Thursday. This is not a gender book and there was none of its content I didn’t recognise. I only had to look up one word - ‘tchotchkes’. I wrote down sentences which caught my attention (How long have you got?), so I will settle for one: ‘I read now to find my own life echoed on the page. To feel less alone’. There you have it. A mini-review from a 78 year old Englishman still in a loving relationship in Nottingham. I can no more escape my socialism than Sandra can escape being Jewish. I love her. Robert 🐰
A P.S. If you are a declared something, then you have a sense of self-awareness you cannot escape.
I love your writing, Betsy; the descriptions form vivid images in my mind. I saw the electrician in my mind, and while he didn't look quite like your graphic, he did look funny anyway. I'm so sorry to hear about Lily, but it does sound like she is on the mend and will be better soon. Not soon enough for you, I'm sure.
Thank you for the wonderful shoutout about my last newsletter related to the book Dinners With Ruth. I'm still processing all the thoughts and feels that it brought up in me and this coming week I'll be visiting my sister-in-law in Southern California. I usually bounce these types of things off of her, and I'm sure I'll do that related to all the feels about this book. She's also a RBG fan, so I'll offer my recommendation that she read the book too, if she hasn't already. I also subscribe to Nia's newsletter and I've saved it as I want to re-read it once I have some clarity about the whole subject of friendship. Thanks.
Writing a scene with a character who's somewhat like me helped me learn to express anger, which was disallowed in my childhood. Even so, the character's cursing is limited to "Holy crap"...
I love the truth of this line, Betsy: Donning a fictional character’s life is a little like donning a Halloween mask.
So sorry to hear about your pup's cancer and the impact of it all on your life and sleep. I'll be sending healing and peaceful thoughts to all 3 of you.
Also another vote for "H is for Hawk" and the "Leo Grande" movie. Emma Thompson is my hero.
The opening consideration - who would I be if I could - was a nudge that I COULD be a lot of what I see as my dream life. It also made it clear how far that life is so very different from mine today. I have created a vision board and am on the path. What matters is my steps on the way there. Thank you for the spark.
Hoo boy, what a newsletter! First, while I love to sing and enjoy singing usually, I do not enjoy spontaneous singing in public or in my house by others. It seems rude and intrusive to me. Second, I'm so sorry to hear about poor Lilly's woes. I hope she has a full recovery and is able to sleep better once she feels better. Poor her and poor you. Third, I don't think of myself as self-conscious, instead I think of myself as conscious of where I am and what is acceptable social behavior. I am not afraid to write anything I want to write. I got over that when I wrote my (unpublished, but read aloud in installments on a radio show) memoir detailing many of the horrors of my youth. Writing that was so healing for me, that I decided to heed the advice from Anne Lamott: "Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better." To me that means I also have to be ready to hear or read whatever anyone I've behaved around has to say to or about me. And I am.
Well, I wasn’t expecting this. Me, the first! It is probably because of my mention in despatches so to speak, re. reading ‘The Kitchen is closed...’ by Sandra Butler. I read it by Thursday. This is not a gender book and there was none of its content I didn’t recognise. I only had to look up one word - ‘tchotchkes’. I wrote down sentences which caught my attention (How long have you got?), so I will settle for one: ‘I read now to find my own life echoed on the page. To feel less alone’. There you have it. A mini-review from a 78 year old Englishman still in a loving relationship in Nottingham. I can no more escape my socialism than Sandra can escape being Jewish. I love her. Robert 🐰
A P.S. If you are a declared something, then you have a sense of self-awareness you cannot escape.
I love your writing, Betsy; the descriptions form vivid images in my mind. I saw the electrician in my mind, and while he didn't look quite like your graphic, he did look funny anyway. I'm so sorry to hear about Lily, but it does sound like she is on the mend and will be better soon. Not soon enough for you, I'm sure.
Thank you for the wonderful shoutout about my last newsletter related to the book Dinners With Ruth. I'm still processing all the thoughts and feels that it brought up in me and this coming week I'll be visiting my sister-in-law in Southern California. I usually bounce these types of things off of her, and I'm sure I'll do that related to all the feels about this book. She's also a RBG fan, so I'll offer my recommendation that she read the book too, if she hasn't already. I also subscribe to Nia's newsletter and I've saved it as I want to re-read it once I have some clarity about the whole subject of friendship. Thanks.
Writing a scene with a character who's somewhat like me helped me learn to express anger, which was disallowed in my childhood. Even so, the character's cursing is limited to "Holy crap"...
I love the truth of this line, Betsy: Donning a fictional character’s life is a little like donning a Halloween mask.
Aww, Lily! Sending all the good thoughts her way! And, your way, Elizabeth!
So sorry to hear about your pup's cancer and the impact of it all on your life and sleep. I'll be sending healing and peaceful thoughts to all 3 of you.
Also another vote for "H is for Hawk" and the "Leo Grande" movie. Emma Thompson is my hero.
The opening consideration - who would I be if I could - was a nudge that I COULD be a lot of what I see as my dream life. It also made it clear how far that life is so very different from mine today. I have created a vision board and am on the path. What matters is my steps on the way there. Thank you for the spark.