Awakening

After a reasonable night's sleep, I'm at home on my own today with a goal to achieve something tangible by day's end. It's raining at present so I'm hampered in my next job of hanging an external blind on the windows over the downstairs kitchen (three down, three to go!).

I've already lopped some trees and shifted branches this morning, as well as continued my reading of the next Nesbo novel The Leopard. I'm desperate to finish this and a Jane Haddam I'm halfway through to move onto Jar City. Arnaldur Indridason is an Icelandic writer and superior but similar to Henning Mankell. He comes highly recommended so I have him lined up as my next purchase and a treat for when I've finished this round of marking.

It's been an interesting change of gears this week - from idyllic and restive surroundings like Berry with old friends, to the mundane but comfortable feeling of home and family. There is of course the obvious sense of displacement of place and time and the awareness of intrusion on other's lives. David and Susan gave generously of their time, friendship, counsel and their warmth is genuine both as a couple as well as friends.

I return from my sojourn refreshed and inspired to be a little more optimistic in my view; to read more widely; build more in terms of my house as well as the people who pass through its doors; to walk and exercise a little more. (But you all knew I needed to do those things anyway!)

Burn brightly, Pete

SnowJo

I've just finished Jo Nesbo's The Snowman, a Norwegian Noir set in and around Oslo with proponent Harry Hole. I'm not a great lover of serial killer tales but this dark little piece works quite well with its alcoholic cynical hero - the cop who doesn't really fit in but pragmatically is tolerated due to his results.
I was surprised at the amount of sex in the piece having not previously read Nesbo (and possibly because of who passed it on to me), but I thought it was well constructed with the right measure of red herrings and dry humour to keep things percolating. Colours abound throughout the writing - from the grey skies of Oslo to descriptions of bright red arterial blood on the crystalline snow. I'll be back for more and will try to pick up The Leopard - the next in the series - tomorrow before I head south for a few days... perfect for airport lounges.

Burn brightly, Pete.

Ups and Downs

Life of late seems even more rollercoasterish.... from the joys of watching a student produce a successful work - surprising classmates and themself.... to those moments of dark introspection when the black dog bites and the frustrations of the past month seem to bubble to the surface.

This month I've been given a free "Get out of Hell Card" from old mate David Millikan and I hope to be joining him and Susan on their property near Berry in NSW. David has been in Brisbane and Kingaroy recently working on a piece about a cultist who purports to be the reincarnated Jesus and we recently caught up. The woman in Dave's life is Susan Dermody, mother of aussie actress Maeve Dermody who is making waves in a newly released Aussie film "Griff the Invisible" so it promises to be an interesting time living with filmmakers again.

Road to Berry - Lloyd Rees  1947

Berry is the area where Lloyd Rees produced his iconic "The Road to Berry" as well as being near where Arthur Boyd lived and worked for so long producing his wonderful landscapes on the Shoalhaven River. So much of Australian art has such a strong sense of place and ownership of a locale so spending time talking about art and theology and life will hopefully renew my soul. One of my favourite authors, John Updike said there are three great things - art, sex and religion (we'll probably get around to third at some point - boys will be boys). I'm looking forward to the time off and the chance to unwind and sort through some of the accumulated clutter in my life at present.

Reading is on hold at the moment.

By the bedside is :

The Snowman - Jo Nesbo (Norwegian Noir on loan from a friend)

The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp (40 years of wisdom on the creative process)

The Headmaster's Wife - Jane Haddam (American version of Agatha Christie)

Drive - Daniel Pink (The nature of human motivation and the mismatch between science and education's understanding of the process)

The Politics of God and the Politics of Man - Jacques Ellul (One of my favourite theologians  and ex-resistance fighter explores the political response)

Moonwalking with Einstein - Joshua Foer (cutting edge research and techniques for memory and total recall)

... and I've just recently picked up a book of Lichtenstein's Drawings and Prints to replace the Egon Schiele: Drawing and Watercolours I've recently completed.


So here's to the glimmer of hope in our lives as we reconsider, reconstruct and reconnect.

Burn Brightly, P.