Month: December 2022

Wally’s Great Adventures (18)

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Wally’s Great Adventures (18). hello everyone, wally here. quick update before my afternoon nap. dad says that i can stop chewing on every damn thing anytime i was ready. cords. labels at the bottom of couches. legs of chairs. floor rugs. door stops. towels. tennis shoes. baskets. bags, oh bags, plastic, leather, paper, any kind of bag. floor plants. xmas tree (natch). but the best, dads draw strings on hoodies and sweatpants, dads slippers, dads socks, and dads fingers. and his giant hand. dads like to tease me with his finger, poking me, flipping me on my back, this game is fun for like 3 seconds and then i chomp down on him, break his skin and wont let go. dad yelps like a giant baby puppy, i bark at him and tell him to try manning-up. he mumbles something about biting the hands that feeds you. Anyhoo, its nap time. TGIF everyone. Have a good weekend. Wally.

 

T.G.I.F.

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A humble Christmas tree in a New South Wales town has gone viral for being lauded as the worst display of festive spirit ever.

The dishevelled tree – which looks like it arrived home after a 24-hour bender, slapped on some makeup and covered itself in tinsel – was erected in the main square of Port Macquarie to cries of dismay and horror.

Port Macquarie’s council initially took it all in their stride, with mayor Peta Pinson declaring “any publicity is good publicity”. But that was before the lights had to be removed when they were deemed a safety risk due to slowly slipping from the tree.

“I have a great sense of humour, just like our wonderful community has,” Pinson said. “All you can do is laugh.”

The council has now reportedly replaced the tree with a more traditional option – a smaller, artificial tree that was decorated by council staff…

—  Caitlin Cassidy, from “Tinsel travesties: the worst Christmas tree displays across Australia.” A safety risk in Port Macquarie, an inappropriately spiky star and a literal coat rack are among the nation’s least-accomplished examples of festive spirit. (The Guardian, December 7, 2022)

Lightly Child, Lightly.

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Not far from the city I had a secret refuge, a small cove that I liked to visit at the kindling of the morning star. At that hour there was nothing more translucent under heaven than the shallow sea between the rocks. The seabed was everywhere visible and the water, blue as an eye, grew lighter the closer you got to the surface, until it turned green, then vanished—and I breathed it in.
It was there that the god found me.

– Sjón, The Whispering Muse

Notes:

  • Quote: Thank you Sawsan for sharing. 942 consecutive (almost) days in a row on this morning walk in my almost “secret refuge, a small cove that I liked to visit at the kindling of the morning star.” These words magic, capture it.
  • DK Photo @ Daybreak. 6:14 am. 48° F. December 8, 2022. Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT.  More pictures from this morning’s walk here.
  • Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”

Wally’s Great Adventures (17)

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 hello everyone, wally here. Just popped in to say hello. i went out for pee pee and it was so cold out. i was shivering and dad asked why as it was 45F outside. he said when he was a kid my age or a little bit older he used to walk to school all by himself in the winter in 3 foot deep snow and it was so much colder than this. mom snorted when she heard this. anyhoo, it ‘is’ cold out no matter what tough guy says. when i come in from the cold, i run quickly to each floor vent to see which one is blowing warm air and wherever my tushy feels warmest, i flop right down on that spot. It is so warm and toasty. 

and these vents are nice and all but nothing is like napping on dad’s lap when he is working. The tapping of the keys on the keyboard, dad chattering on the phone, soft music playing in the background (dad says van morrison), my eyes get heavy, and heavier and heavier and i fall asleep. i’m safe with dad, and i love him. Have a good day everyone. Wally & out.

 

 

Monday Morning Wake-Up Call

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There is something about churning through books that induces envy and even admiration, never more than at this time of year when piles of finished tomes are splashed across social media. Bragging rights seem to go to those who have read lots of books and read them quickly – how many times have you seen someone boast about finishing 10 books in a year? What about five?

But there is power in reading slowly, something the Chinese-American author Yiyun Li tells her creative writing students at Princeton University. “They say, ‘I can read 100 pages an hour’,” she says. “But I say, ‘I don’t want you to read 100 pages an hour. I want you to read three pages an hour’.”

That’s the speed Li is happy to read at, even if she is re-reading a familiar text. “People often say they devoured a book in one sitting. But I want to savour a book, which means I give myself just 10 pages a day of any book.” On an average day, Li, best known for her novels A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and Where Reasons End, reads 10 different books, spending half an hour on each title.

At that pace it can take Li up to three weeks to finish a novel. “When you spend two to three weeks with a book, you live in that world,” she says. “I think reading slowly is such an important skill. Nobody has ever talked about it, or taught me that. I’m a very patient reader. Even if it’s a very compelling book. I don’t want to rush from the beginning to the end.”

Elizabeth Strout, the Booker-shortlisted author of Olive Kitteridge and the Lucy Barton books, is also taking books at a more tranquil pace. “I was never a fast reader [but] I think I read more slowly than I used to. This is partly to savour every word. The way a sentence sounds to my ear is so important to me in the whole reading experience, and I always want to get it all – like when you read poetry.”

These words hit a nerve because I am an archetypal impatient reader, desperate to have finished a book as soon as I start. I want to know what happens – now. Ever since I started keeping track of the books I read (because I was sick of forgetting what I’d read) I’ve wanted to read more, to read faster.

So, in an effort to follow Li’s advice, I resolve both to linger and to juggle more than one book […]

Taking my time with multiple books at once feels liberating; as if I have permission to pick up books I’ve spent years meaning to tackle. I’m not promising never to cane something again but I really think Li is on to something. Oh, and I’m at 85 books for the year, not that I’m counting.

— , from ‘I want to savour every word’: the joy of reading slowly‘ (The Guardian, December 2, 2022). Bragging rights seem to go to people who devour books, but, as this impatient reader found, turning the pages over many days or even weeks can immerse one deeper in the writer’s world