Friday, September 21, 2018

End-of-the-week envoi in which you discover what an old fogey I really am

You know all that bleating about how good for writing this autumn weather is? Well, I can't write all day, everyday. My sax playing is improving, though. Mel was impressed with the progress I've made with Take Five. << follow that link and listen to the original. It's fantastic. Did you know it was the biggest selling jazz single of all time? It's an injection of happiness.

Here's a plug for the weather.com site : it said there was no chance of rain here between 9 and 11 this morning so we set out for a walk in the wind and sunshine and grabbed our fresh air. As we were walking back down the lane at 10.55 it started to spit. I am so impressed with that site, and so are my endorphins.

Enough waffling...I want to ask you something. Do you understand why someone would want to have piercings in their mouth? Yesterday in the library the smartly dressed and coiffed librarian had 3 or 4 piercings in her lips. I was baffled, and yes - I admit - rather put off. I'm definitely in old fogey territory now. I barely understand why someone would want to deface a beautiful body with a tattoo FOREVER, but with piercings in the mouth, I am utterly baffled. Can one of you explain?

Also, this morning, I read in the Guardian about the books on the Booker shortlist.


'Unveiling this year’s Booker shortlist, which runs the gamut of topics from sexual abuse to environmental crisis, chair Kwame Anthony Appiah said that the dominant theme among the 171 books submitted for the prize was, “our species, and sometimes the other species who share this small planet, challenged by anxiety, suffering, pain; our institutions and our environment under threat.”
“We live in dark times,” Appiah said. “Or, at least our novelists think we live in dark times.”'

Writers have to write what they care about, they have to write the truth as they see it, and I know the saying 'Happiness writes white' but could no prize-worthy writer of literary fiction write something even a smidge uplifting? Isn't reality bad enough without spending leisure time reading about dystopias?
Tomorrow I'm going to Wensleydale to stay in a holiday cottage with three of my sibs. 



The fourth lives close by. I'm excited! I may blog while I'm there. We'll see. In the meantime I'll leave you with this top tip:
If you find two stale chocolate chip biscuits in the cupboard and decide to mash them up with the end of a rolling pin for the birds, the chocolate chips won't mash and they're not stale. Yum.
If this post is a little too frivolous, blame it on the endorphins. I keep thinking of blogging about the Israeli government, but I don't have the heart to talk about injustice and misery today. 
p.s. Someone on Twitter has given me this answer to the piercing question:

I think one of the main reasons is for pleasure. As in it pleases their partner when being intimate. I've put that as carefully and politely as I can

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oo-er, I never thought of that. I did imagine entanglements when kissing if both had such piercings but not THAT.

As for the book themes, I doubt I’ll be racing to read anything so miserable and depressing. I like a bit of escapism and uplift in my reading, thank you. Your novels fitted the bill perfectly.

Enjoy you stay with your siblings, lucky thing. I haven’t any - perhaps I should adopt a few?

marmee said...

yes and the same goes for me! I did not know THAT about the piercings! So one is not only an old fogey but uninformed and what?? Naive ? Unworldly? BUT I must say I do have a teeny longing for a little tattoo but I won"t follow through. And I also find it hard to even think about Israel and Gaza especially in the light of all the Trump administration has done to cut funds etc ...no let us be happy for you off to beautiful Wensleydale! Enjoy!

Sue Hepworth said...

What a relief! I felt rather stupid and naive when I got the Twitter answer, too. I’m glad I’m not the only one.

And Marmee - it’s LARGE obtrusive tattoos I don’t get.

Anonymous said...

Weird twitter reasons aside - and I feel they were more likely referring to tongue piercings - can it not just be something rather simpler and more obvious: they think it looks good.

I'm guessing you don't wear earrings in order to tickle the cheek of easily stimulated hug-ees...

Sue Hepworth said...

Yes, anonymous, and that's why it baffles me.

Phoebe said...

Honestly, the bodily manipulations of the younger generation/s are perplexing and/or off-putting and I’d rather not think about them at all. Regarding dystopian trends in fiction, a friend in my book group said it best when she stated her preference is for books in which, “she slammed the door to the drawing room!” That sums me up perfectly as well.

Sue Hepworth said...

Phoebe, I love your robust comment!