The one where I talk about The Art Of Belonging (which is both a book and something I am trying to master)
or what I am reading, thinking about and eating
READING
There are some books that make it to my TBR pile because I loved another book by the same author. It’s not that I tap my fingers and wait for that author to write a new book but it’s also not like I don’t tap my fingers and wait for the author to write a new book. So it was for The Art of Belonging by Eleanor Ray
The Art of Belonging tells the story of a widowed seventy-two year old woman whose daughter and grand-daughter come to live with her bringing with them all the mess, joy and memories of what family are about. It opens up to reveal the lives of all three characters complete with their pasts, their perceptions and their humanity.
When you read a book told through three generations you sometimes expect it to be full of wisdom and life lessons and that’s what you get in this book. But you also get a thread of adventure and intrigue, you get a novel that doesn’t want you to stop reading and guessing and revealing. But the thing you take away at the end is the importance of communication, of talking even when it’s hard. It’s about the importance of connection - genuine connection not just familial connection. It will remind you that all families have problems and issues and guilt and buried pain but it will prompt you to think about how you could address that.
You’ll probably also be waiting for Eleanor Ray to write her next novel. But in the meantime read this one - and maybe also her last one Everything is Beautiful
NEWS LITE
Sometimes I take a break from being scared about elections and wars and famines and natural disasters and instead I sit on the periphery of the news. Here’s what’s been in the news and on my mind in the last week.
The American Presidential Debate
Don’t stop reading, I am not talking about anyone’s performance, or lack thereof. What I want to know is why is no one (that I can see) pointing out that Donald Trump will also be 81 in three years. If 81 is too old now, surely it’s also too old in three years time? I mean that’s like reason 76825 that he shouldn’t be voted in, but still. Where are the young Americans? Or even the middle aged ones?
Young people complaining about how hard it is to give up vaping.
No shit Sherlock. I’ve given up smoking cigarettes as many times as I’ve taken it up, I understand how hard it is to quit. I can’t imagine that it’s harder to give up vaping than smoking. But could I be wrong? Am I being old and out of touch when I think that Gen Z should never have taken up vaping? And I should never have taken up smoking cigarettes in 1985. Quitting nicotine is hard whatever your age. Not starting is far easier. (PS I no longer smoke but I intend to start on my 75th birthday)
TLDR: A woman complained about her wedding photos on TikTok and it went viral.
A week before my wedding I had a perm. I have dead straight hair and do not suit a perm; my wedding photos prove that. I wonder if a social-media version of me would have blamed the hairdresser. Now that I think about it, why did NO ONE tell me it was a very bad idea? The wedding photos are one thing, but worse are the honeymoon photos when I subjected my newly curly hair to humidity. Picture my face with Ray O’Leary’s hair.
No, not that raw dogging. This one is a trend where you sit on a long haul flight and do nothing. You don’t watch a movie, you don’t play on a laptop or your phone, you don’t even read. You just sit and wait for the flight to be over. In my day we just called this flying because there was no access to movies onboard and wifi hadn’t even been invented. Computers were the size of small rooms. We sat on planes and waited for the time to go by. Trendy before my time.
EATING
My husband’s family was coming round for dinner. He decided to make roast beef, I decided to make a nut roast for those of us who don’t eat meat. This is not my picture of it, this is from Gimme Some Oven where I got the recipe. My own picture of it looked like one of those fail memes, but it still tasted good (if you like citrus in your “meat” loaf)