Watching, reading & seeing

My senses have been overwhelmed of late & my life as the luckiest woman in the world proceeds unabated. (Loud knocking on wood will be undertaken now!)

· I was up close and personal with a 10-day-old baby, born to one of my dearest friends. I swear she eyeballed me and searched for answers though they say she can’t see yet. (I also got to see part of animated film, Ratatouille, until newborn’s brother decided to throw up. Seems he doesn’t like flicks about rats.)

· I’ve sat in a darkened theatre and watched the costumes and conniving of The Young Victoria. (A pretty film but forgettable!)

· I’ve finished listening to Harlan Coben’s The Woods.

· I’ve read and loved The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

· I’ve discovered I can load complete audio books in both MPS and old fashioned CD format onto my MP3 player.(I've fallen asleep to it too many nights already.)

· I’ve discovered loads of old Stephen Fry podcasts about language and travel and movies and more.

· I’ve rediscovered the library and can barely squeeze around the bed because of the 'topple' (a new collective noun I have come up with) of books that have formed a high rise development along the bedroom wall. There is everything from books on the history of automata, self-operating machines or mechanisms, especially robots (Living Dolls by Gaby Wood) to a fast paced suspense thriller called Belfast Confidential (not to mention the ‘young adult’ book on CD, Down the Rabbit Hole: An Echo Falls Mystery, by Peter Abrahams - one of Stephen King’s favourite authors).

(Not to be confused with www.downtherabbithole.com.au, the new shoe selling website I discovered along the way ...)

I am STILL slogging through the production cycle of the double issue of the magazine. I am still hanging out for my 10 days in Daylesford. I am still coping with eyes as red as piss holes in the snow. I am still the luckiest girl in the world.

AND I have a new mantra as I go into every new situation and part of the day: Enjoy everything. Yep, it's as simple as that. And as lame. You have to see it in action to believe it!

Note: Clown Illusionist (Animated Worlds) from 'Musical Machines & Living Dolls', the exhibit of mechanical instruments and automata housed in the new wing of the Morris Museum in Morris Township.

Forgive me if I’m still twitchy about tweeting

I was listening to a bit of Lindy Burn on the way to supermarket last night, admittedly shagged after producing about 14 pages of the double issue during the day (applause all 'round for that massive achievement). Maybe my fatigue prompted my worry at hearing the discussion about how a 'tweet' from journalist and blogger, Mia Freedman, about a narcoleptic Dachshund had inspired a war of words via The Australian newspaper. See here to read the original story.

Basically Mia made light fun of YouTube footage of a sausage dog collapsing asleep while running across a backyard. A journo at The Oz, whose son suffers from narcolepsy, took umbridge, was heart-broken and shocked really, and wrote a huge tome in response with the headline, Tweet this, Mia: the misfortune of others isn't entertainment.

The details of this actual story don't interest me that much. Not here and now anyway. What does interest me is the conversation between Lindy and her on-air commentator, whose name I never caught (bad journo, bad ... but I had to skedaddle and get the steaks and red wine - it's about priorities people!).

Basically the two women went on and on about the hoardes of journalists and 'commentators' who are obsessed/addicted to Twitter and how, once you start using it, you are so prolific and so speedy that there really is no time for thoughtful processes, for reflection and meditation, the weighing up of facts, the educated pursuit of ideas and opinions. Oftentimes, it seems, you Tweet before you think.

Oh I am scared! This is what I constantly bang on about. History is peopled with great minds, people who really took a step back from the hurly burly and thought about things. Are we on the brink of losing that kind of tempered and intelligent thinking, educated/informed analysis and commentary forever? It’s seeping into every sphere ‘til we have the best selling music artists (Britney Spears) saying things like, “I don't really have time to sit down and write. But when I think of a melody, I call up my answering machine and sing it, so I won't forget it.” Yeah, that’s how The Rolling Stones probably wrote their classics.

I am not one of the great thinkers. We all know that! But I kind of count on there being some others out there who fit the bill. If George Bush was in office still he'd probably be Twittering. It sounds like the kind of thing he'd get into. Then, with a couple of key strokes, he'd have the USA in some new type of violent scandal.

Of course I did find a poseur with his name on Twitter and his latest comment was: "i can write boobies on a calculator!" Probably not far from the truth.

Are thousands of journos and commentators obsessed by Twitter? The woman with Lindy said she personally tweeted constantly throughout the day, in her office while doing seven other things. Great! A new form of multi tasking but one that may further undermine the evolution of the human mind.

I haven't taken care of my mind. For God's sake, I'm blogging! Thing is ... soon I am going to be in the brain dead majority ... and I had such high hopes for mankind.

Not trying

Anyone who is anyone knows I love a little Dolly Parton. I am also a fan of actress, Allison Janney (Juno, The West Wing) so I felt a little pulse of glee when I checked in on an old favourite podcast American Theatre Wing and discovered Allison was on speaking about her career and her role in the Broadway version of '9 to 5'.

I LOVE living in Melbourne, Australia, but when I see shows like this come and go and know I will a) never see them in that location (NY) and b) never with that cast, I feel a little c) gloomy for a second. Of course no matter where you live, unless you have caravans full of cash, you'll never get to see everything in every place so a nice dose of shut-the-fuck-up is required when these thoughts trot on by.

One thing I WOULD like to see, though, is one of the plays that Janney was in a long time ago called 'Five Women Wearing the Same Dress' by the uber talented Allan Ball. (Stolen from Wiki ...) The play is a comedy set at a wedding reception in Knoxville, Tennessee where five bridesmaids have found refuge in the room of Meredith, the sister of the bride. The women come to realise, among other things, that they are closer friends with each other than they are with the bride.

Allan Ball - who has created my wonderous TRUE BLOOD just seems unable to put a foot wrong. How is he capable of turning his talents to so many different genres? Is it just because he simply tries?

I have been trying to "not chase things" and, instead, allow them to come to me. Of course this does not rule out actually doing work. Work must always be done and effort exerted, but chasing is a different thing. In my mind it is about sucking up, creating work, opportunities and maybe, unconsciously, obstacles before giving other people (and dare I say it, the universe?) the chance to put some natural opportunities in your path.

I am very excited about the writing/holiday break I have booked in for October in lazy old Daylesford. I find myself thinking of plot points and so forth for a little project in my head and this has not happened for SO LONG.

I am completely energy zapped currently from the toll of getting the double issue of the mag together and out the door, hence the paucity (good word huh? Sounds like a disease of the gut!) of this post. Yet, I feel great excitement about writing about non quilting topics.

Also, providing a little stimulation, was last week's attendance at The Man in Black with the sexy Tex Perkins. Ah, where would the music world be without the spirit of Johnny Cash?