This is not pithy or profound

But it is irritating

Thinking

Sometimes I think of really insightful and pithy things to say, but usually I forget them when I’m sitting down in front of a blank page (or when I am not sitting down in front of a blank page.) So, in the absence of saying anything profound, I’ll share a list of inconsequential consumer issues that have been irritating me lately. Quite niche, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to get it off my chest

1. This Cadbury Dairy Milk Ad

A man is in the car talking to his son on speakerphone about his first day at work. The son tells his dad to look in the glove compartment. He opens it and pulls out a slab of dairy milk chocolate and his son says ‘Before you ask, they didn’t have fruit and nut.’ I want to scream at him to try a different store rather than settling for a different chocolate.

Petty? Yes. Irritating? Also yes.

2. Bunions

I am desperately trying to pretend I am young and fresh and my feet are perfect. So why does this ad keep popping up when I play Spelling Bee?

3. The Atlantic

I quite like reading articles from The Atlantic, what I don’t like reading is the bot generated comments on their Instagram ads. Seriously is anyone supposed to believe that these are genuine comments? It’s almost like a parody of comments.

4. Labels

I know I go on about my age a lot but I do remember when I could read labels on even the tiniest jars with no problems at all, but I don’t think even in my heyday I could manage this.

Yes I know I probably could have, but there must be some marketing that suggests people without perfect vision also deserve to see how to use their hair product.

Lucky for me that I had a great book to read which leads me on to this…

Reading

The last time I read a novel by

Rachael Johns

I made a mental note to myself to read more romance novels. There is something so soothing and escapist to read a novel you know will have a happy ending. And how lucky was I to pick out Rachael’s new novel The Bad Bridesmaid which didn’t just offer a new romantic adventure but also allowed me to revisit characters that I fell in love with from her last book, The Other Bridget.

The Bad Bridesmaid tells the story of Winifred, a serial dater with no plans to ever settle down, whose mother is set to marry her sixth husband. At the destination wedding Winifred meets Leopold (you can call them Fred and Leo but true romantics will always call them Winifred and Leopold) the son of her future step-father and that’s where the story begins.

It is a true romance novel which feels light and airy and escapist but along the way it also deals with some deep and impactful themes around relationships, sexual experiences and how we form the personas we carry into the world.

The novel is set on Norfolk Island which I immediately want to visit and it is the perfect book to read when you want characters you will love and recognise, a storyline that will pull you in and keep you reading and an all over feeling that there is good in people and in the world.

10 out of 10 recommend for when the news needs escaping - ie right now

Eating

Ate the most delicious food at Bessies in Surry Hills. I was the second oldest person there (my husband was the oldest) but it was delicious and worth all the rave reviews I have heard about from people way cooler than me.

At home I baked hamantaschen for Purim, a stir fry of broccolini, snap peas and bok choy in a tablespoon of oil for a minute followed by a tablespoon or two of water and another minute of stir frying - more tasty than it has any right to be and also still crunchy but not raw. I also made very crunchy tofu in the air fryer and used this zippy trick instead of pressing it.

delish

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Thanks for reading to the end and for putting up with my constant changes in format and content. See you next week

Lana