Slags
And other things that have caught my attention this week
Things that caught my attention this week
I often lie awake at night wondering what to do with all the ear buds and straws I bought before I became aware I was contributing to the destruction of our planet. I have straws that I bought for my son’s 16th birthday party. He is 24. I haven’t used them or thrown them away because BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT. So I was very happy to receive an email from Recycle Smart this week saying
“If you don’t have the means or space for replacing items, there’s no stress! There is also no need to dump it all in the bin… use this email as a gentle reminder for what to think about the next time you shop.”
It’s funny how an authoritative but friendly email can put you at ease. I’m throwing out the straws. The earbuds I might still use.
Talking of lying awake in bed, I was delighted to discover other people who are scared to go to sleep at night (don’t they say misery loves company?) This episode of This American Life, entitled Fear of Sleep is a rerun but it reassured me I am not alone. Some nights I’m scared to close my eyes because I suffer from nightmares like a three year old child. But the more I read and listen to, the more I realise most people have some form of fear/anxiety/stress and it’s just part of being human. Could it be that I am getting closer to a place of acceptance?
This comes up ever time I open the web browser on my phone. Unfortunately it is about 42 years too late.
A list of 89 banned baby names in Australia. People who want to call their child Bonghead, Dickhead, Scrotum or Smelly need to be stopped. I’m glad someone is doing it.
I know that my mother loves the Donna Hay lemon yoghurt cake so I made it for her for Mother’s Day. Only problem is every time I wanted to check for ingredients or remind myself the method I re-googled the recipe and, move over Nagi and Brooke, I have the next big baking debacle on my hands. The recipes for a lemon and yoghurt cake come up twice on the Donna Hay website, once as lemon drizzle cake and once as lemon and yoghurt cake - one with three eggs and one with two otherwise identical (except for the icing). I made the one with three eggs and it was delicious.
The best grilled cheese recipe in the world (even thought its actually a fried cheese sandwich) should be accompanied by the best tomato soup recipe in the world. Don’t get these mixed up like I did with the Donna Hay recipes.
Reading Recommendation
I want to make this post into a sandwich board and walk through the streets insisting people read this book but I know that is insane and nobody reads sandwich boards anymore so I’m going to yell at you online instead.
READ THIS BOOK.
It tells the story of the impact of sexual violence on a young girl without even being a book about sexual violence. It is strong and assured and laugh out loud funny and tear jerkingly sad at the same time.
Slags is a coming of age story told in two timelines - one as a teenager and one twenty-years later. Sarah, our main protagonist is a teenager with all the typical teenage angst plus something she has just gone through on the bus (which is never explicitly spoken about). She hangs with her best friend Nessa and is in love with her school teacher.
Twenty years later she is dealing with life by, not dealing with her demons and instead trying to extricate herself from them with the only tools she has developed - drinking and causal sex.
But the story itself starts with Sarah and her sister Juliette hiring a camper-van to celebrate Juliette’s birthday. And to be honest I started reading it on a plane journey with my sister to visit my father overseas. It may have been the bond between the sisters, it may have been the familiar parts of a teenage brain that still swirl about in my head or it may have been the way Emma Unsworth tells Sarah’s story with such depth, understanding, poignancy and humour but I loved every page of this book.
I am not the kind of person who rereads books, but I turned straight to the beginning again when I finished this book because I loved Sarah so much.
See you next week
Lana