July 31, 2005

I'm on the ride and I wanna get off

One of the reasons I can’t wait to move into my new apartment next month is to have all my books on my shelf again for the first time in nearly 3 and a half years. It will be wonderful to rediscover them all over again. There is a profile of Dorothy Parker in The Guardian this weekend. I had forgotten how fascinating she was and I can’t wait to read her stuff again. I feel the same about my many LM Montgomery books, which you don’t outgrow as you might think. I found a fun page here with lots of Anne info, including a quiz to discover what Montgomery character you are. Apparently I am Jane, but I would argue with that. Thuis website is bizarrely fantastic. Click to find snapshots of people o’gasming, but not in a doity way. A really powerful article here by Margaret Drabble, about her experiences writing The Red Queen and cultural appropriation. She asks how do we “only connect” (as Forster put it) with other cultures without stealing or invading. A fantastic article here on the dying voice of Hiroshima survivors. The article mentions the letters the city government of Hiroshima have written to every country since 1945 that has staged nuclear tests, and how the display of letters at the Hiroshima Peace museum has nearly run out of space. I’ve seen the exhibit, and to me it was the most symbolic and powerful image I was left with. The lessons learned from Hiroshima are not well-received these days, when they are needed more than ever.

It’s been a good weekend. We went shopping in Oshawa on Friday, yesterday I ventured back to Durham region and met friends in Whitby, and we had lunch at the world famous Hanc’s Fish and Chips and Chicken and Ribs. Such a various menu! I have been reading madly, newspapers, magazines and the wonderful Small Island, by Andrea Levy, which I will write about in more detail this week. I have now started “Case Histories” by Kate Atkinson, which comes with an endorsement by my husband and I am enjoying so far. Tonight we are going to Dusk til Dawn at the Mustang Drive-In!