Tag: Quotation

Three Things #10

Bookshelf for ABC Radio 04

Did not think I would get to number ten on my Three Things list!  One post in three parts “Reading Looking Thinking” a clever idea started by Book Jotter blogger Paula Bardell-Hedley for those little things in life.  I have posted TT irregularly since June 2018.

READING

‘The Strings of Murder’ by Oscar de Muriel

The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel

This lurid Gothic treat took me by surprise!

For starters, I didn’t exactly click with the protagonists Inspector Ian Frey and Inspector Nine-Nails McGray.

Londoner Frey is foppish and fastidious about his clothes, and Scottish McGray is the opposite, a rough tough fellow who believes in the supernatural.  McGray has formed Elucidation Of Unsolved Cases Presumably Related To The Odd And Ghostly subdivision within Edinburgh CID.  This goes against the grain for scientific Frey who resents being posted to Edinburgh under the pretext of hunting a copycat Jack The Ripper.  Animosity and resentment bounces between the two men most of the time, especially when McGray gives Frey an effeminate name.

Frey and McGray investigate the ghastly slaughter of prominent violin players in Edinburgh who used beautiful old violins prior to their death.  Clues range from an ancient curse, a Will, madness, and the work of the devil himself.  What is that shadowy apparition the townsfolk see at night?

This is the first book in the series (four other books) so I overlooked many of the author’s foibles in relation to the Victorian era, but will mention these:

  1. Characters regardless of status say ‘erm’ before they hesitantly speak.
  2. Characters, particularly Frey, continually raise or arch their eyebrows in surprise.
  3. Characters blush visibly; flush with fury; go red-faced; red with rage, etc.
  4. People are described as fat or thin and most are ‘coarse’ in looks or behaviour.
  5. Female characters are secondary and written as lowly, crazy, slovenly, weird, etc.
  6. The unwarranted inclusion of horses for the Inspectors.

Regardless of the above, I did enjoy the paranormal plot with its clever use of clairvoyance and chemistry.  It has some gruesome yet original chapters, with the occasional clue more obvious than others, but it’s written in a way that lead me through the story at a fast pace.  I wanted to find out what was going on!

The author Oscar de Muriel was born in Mexico City.  He lives in Manchester after moving to UK to complete his PhD in Chemistry.  Oscar is a violinist and chemist, and both professions are used to great effect in his Frey and McGray series. GBW.

LOOKING

Computer 10

Of course I am looking at a screen!

Today, two of the main things holding my world together
are the internet and my computer screen.
GBW.

THINKING

My current thoughts!

◊  Thought One

Since my forays out into the real world have been curtailed by The Pandemic, my writing has suffered.  As mentioned above, a screen has replaced real human contact (except for family) to the extent that my ideas and creative stimulation have been subdued.  Yes, I can Zoom and watch as much as I like online—more than ever before—but it’s not enough, it’s not the same as laughing and chatting in a coffee shop with best friends.  Okay, yes, I know I’m an introvert who enjoys ‘stay home days’.  However, there is a limit.  It’s not necessarily tolerance, or intolerance, more a case of suspended animation.  Australia has done well facing the COVID-19 challenge, we have done all that was asked of us as a nation.  Now, as the country slowly grinds back into action, we are wondering how much has changed, how much will never be the same again. GBW.

◊  Thought Two

I have long believed that everyone should read anything they like and that includes comic books.  The more we read, the more we discover what we like to read, and sooner or later we become aware of the good authors and the not-so-good authors.  Then it’s not long before we realise there are divisions in the reading world.  We falter, we question our choices in literature.  The Guardian article (below) says do not let snobbish separatists stop you from enjoying your favourite books. GBW.

The link to an edited version of the speech delivered by Emily Maguire at The Stella Prize 2019 longlist announcement  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/08/theres-no-shame-in-reading-whatever-books-you-want-literary-snobs-be-damned

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“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” Attributed to US author poet Albert Pike

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Dealing with Change

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Quote from “500 Days of Summer” a film based on the relationship between a man and a woman, Tom and Summer, who work at a greeting card company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/500_Days_of_Summer

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Old Woman Sitting Reading

‘Love…’ said Mr Jones

Love doesn’t make

the world go round.

Love is what makes

the ride worthwhile.

 

Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980)

Mr Jones was a reporter, public relations executive and humorist.

reading books 01

More of his agreeably witty sayings here
http://www.greatthoughtstreasury.com/author/franklin-p-jones

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Valentine's Day 12

Audre Lorde, Poet

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Audre Geraldine Lorde was born on February 1934 in New York City, and went on to become a leading African-American poet and essayist who gave voice to issues of race, gender and sexuality.

Lorde’s love of poetry started at a young age, and she began writing as a teenager.  She attended Hunter College, working to support herself through school.  After graduating in 1959, she went on to get a master’s degree in library science from Columbia University in 1961 and was head librarian at Town School Library in New York City.

‘The Black Unicorn’ (1978), a volume in which Lorde explored her African heritage, is considered one of her greatest works by many critics.  In addition to poetry, Lorde was a powerful essayist and writer.

In terms of her nonfiction work, Lorde is best remembered for ‘The Cancer Journals’ (1980) in which she documents her own struggle with breast cancer.  She died November 1992 on the US island of St. Croix.

Information from The Biography.com website  https://www.biography.com/scholar/audre-lorde

Citation Information

Article Title
Audre Lorde Biography

Author
Biography.com Editors

Website Name
The Biography.com website

Access Date
November 27, 2019

Publisher
A&E Television Networks

Last Updated
April 16, 2019

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Too Much…

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https://www.becomingminimalist.com/becoming-minimalist-start-here/ and also https://clutterfreenow.com/blog/decluttering/do-you-suffer-from-acute-iicp-aka-clutter-paralysis/

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Shopping – Bombeck and Kinsella say…

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“The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one.” ― Erma Bombeck (February 1927 – April 1996) ― American writer and humourist Erma Bombeck achieved great popularity for her newspaper column which described suburban home life from mid-1960s until late 1990s. She published 15 books, appeared on television shows, and wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns, all featuring her entertaining and eloquent humour. Irma Bombeck wrote before social media, achieving world-wide fame through her books, and in 1970s her columns were read twice-weekly by 30 million readers of the 900 newspapers in US and Canada.  Interestingly her work featured domesticity during the women’s liberation movement. She hid a life-long illness which was disclosed three years prior to her death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erma_Bombeck

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

Novelist Marguerite Yourcenar said…

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Marguerite Yourcenar, or Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour, was a French novelist and essayist born in Brussels, Belgium, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the Prix Femina and Erasmus Prize, in 1980 she was the first woman elected to the Académie Française. Her most notable work is historical novel “‎Mémoires d’Hadrien” (Memoirs of Hadrian) and I have read “Denier du Rêve” (retitled A Coin in Nine Hands) set in 1933 over one day in Rome where a ten-lira coin passes through the hands of nine unusual people https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marguerite-Yourcenar The flower buds are Dianella caerulea (commonly known as the blue flax-lily) which turn into small green then purple berries and it grows in a terracotta pot near my kitchen door. GBW.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward

John Wayne Quotation

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John Wayne, or Duke, was a major American movie actor. His characters were often strong, reserved cowboys or soldiers who reflected mid-20th century values. He filmed over 77 movies https://www.imdb.com/list/ls000487182/

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward