Posts tagged with “kindness”

4 September

Categories of Engagement

05:54 AM
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It is not too often the personal intrudes on this blog (I hope!) But today I would like to indulge myself a little.  Anyone who has been here before will perhaps notice that there are a couple of new categories creeping in here.

One is cycling - and the tandem features (Now enhanced with lights and super bell and ready to roll!).

The other is marriage - and this is because I am now engaged to be wed, I have plighted my troth!  It will be a long engagement, but if any matters come up which I think I can talk about here (or even if I read anything which seems connected) then I may post to this category.

On which subject my fiancee thinks this blog would reach a much wider audience and I can see what she means (though am uncertain I really want the world and it’s brother to be reading this - my hosting could not cope for a start!).  BUT I have decided to see if I can register the domain “eclectic.me” as a possible alternative.

UNLESS anyone has any better ideas for the name of this blog?  AND YES; I do realise the heading banner and design would be due for a complete overhaul as a result, then again I am quite keen to improve the site’s accessibility and so should not mind this.

A post should be forthcomng to review the book “Chicago” soon and not sure what will follow from that, perhaps a thrilling account of the first tandem tour involving panniers and distance!

 

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16 January

The Secret Scriptures

07:44 AM
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One could be forgiven for thinking that this book might fall into the Dan Brown/Da Vinci code “genre” to go by the title, but you’d be wrong.  There is a narrative device of two journals which alternate and one of these is necessarily hidden away and secret.  Perhaps secret is the wrong word, but there is a big “secret” which is only revealed towards the end of the book.  It is hard for me to talk about plot specifics without revealing this secret without “spoiling” the plot.

I was really quite taken with the way this book covers the sweep of an entire century, yet does so in a very engaging way by literally covering the life story of a woman from the last century to this.  All this in the context of Ireland.  There always seem to be questions I am left asking myself after reading a book, and I think the more of them I have usually is a pretty reliable indicator as to how good the book is or at least how much it engaged me.

For this book one question was if Sebastian Barry were Irish and another was whether he started the book with the ending in mind and some sort of plot outline.  For the former a quick google has revealed that he was Dublin born and is indeed Irish, as I expected since the book is immersed in Irish culture and history which was one of the reasons I so enjoyed it.  This also enabled me to learn a lot of history and background both of the troubles and of the recent revelations of abuse cases endemic in Ireland and a few other island nations (such as the island of Jersey where a residential childrens’ facility apparently had many many historic abuse cases).

As to where he started his planning of the book - well Google is less revealing of course and we can likely only speculate.

But this does lead me to the last thing I am curious about, which is how many readers are surprised by the final “twist” to the plot.  As the interleaving narratives progress we are left wondering if they will overlap in any other way than their perspectives on Roseanne’s life (it is told in the first person from the beginning and in third person from the end).  The third person is not the narrator per se, but another character in the book.  I found this plot device immensely satisfying and it gave Mr Barry a lot of opportunity to show what a fine writer he is.

To conclude - thoroughly recommended!  And please please do leave a comment to let me know if you were totally surprised as you finished the book or if you, like me, had intimations as to what was to be revealed before it was!

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14 February

Ode to a burglary

06:48 AM
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Come on you burglers

Come and have a go

Take every thing I own

I’m a Quaker so

that’s OK….

 

The riches of my spirit

far outweigh your karma

if you want to hurt me

You’ll have to try harder

 

Come on all you burglars

You got my daughter’s DS

now you really shouldn’t

Mess with my princess

 

Come on all you burglars

show me your face somehow

I may be a Quaker

But I could kill you now

 

All the stuff you have is tainted

You can have it all

But frightening my daughter

You really didn’t oughta

 

That made it personal

that made me care

Makes me see your life as worthless

But I can’t go there

 

We’ll get our home back

we have our love

You have some stuff

and when you go above

You’re going to fucking pay for this in ways you never could imagine you fucking bastard.

 

Sorry I’m a Quaker

What I meant to say

was God bless and I feel sorry for you

and listen to a voice inside next time

Just LEAVE THE DS, OK?!

 

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23 November

A worthy Sunday

08:54 PM
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I am hesitant to make this post, because it could easily come across as self-praising and “up myself”.

It is not meant to be like that, and if it reads that way then one of us has got it wrong (most likely me of course!).

Anyway, I did a few things today which occupied more or less my whole day:-

 

  • Served a cake I baked for a worthy cause at Meeting for Worship
  • Bought a copy of “The Big Issue”
  • Called around my family (concerned for my father)
  • Had a successful shopping trip featuring many reduced items of clothing for my daughter
  • “Rescued” a pair of calvin klein slacks from a soggy mess outside a charity shop (hey!  I’m poor and not proud!)
  • Noticed new neighbours moving in nearby and called around to offer remains of two cakes to them as a welcome
Believe it or not it is the last of these things which I found the most pleasing.  I knew it could go any which way, it is no longer something that is a “normal” behaviour and it is especially eccentric or likely to be ill received in a city environment like London.

They are not neighbours in the traditional sense, but our kitchen windows overlook one another (so I was in no doubt they were moving in) and it took a little consideration on my part.  But they seemed genuinely glad of the offering and I feel glad I made the effort.  I had a bad experience or two with neighbours, so anything good feels quite healing.  I like to imagine I would also be gracious and accepting of anything like that, if any neighbour did something similar for me when I was moving in.

My point, if I have one, is to sing the praises of the recipients of my random act of kindness (or whatever you wish to call it) rather than my own.

 

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