Hub and I sat down and watched this last night. We have lived in Maiduguri, from where Boko Haram started, and have watched and prayed in horror and dismay at the horrific things that are going on. We wanted to see what line the documentary took, and whether it would shed fresh light on what […]
The Subjectiveness of Seeing
Originally posted on jessicafoster3's Blog:
Walking along the canal today I passed a man who was intent on taking a photo. He stood for quite some time focussing and refocussing a professional looking camera, gazing at a spot over the water. After passing him I glanced back to try and understand what had caught…
IRRITATED BUT LEARNING
During this Lent I’m using a book called ‘The Artist’s Rule: nurturing your creative soul with monastic wisdom’ by somebody called Christine Valters Paintner. No prizes for guessing. Of course it’s American, and that’s one of the problems, because it affects the way it’s written. It sounds a bit precious, and takes itself terribly seriously, […]
TRICKS OF MEMORY
Pyramids of granite, faced with limestone. The pharaohs Cheops, Akhenaton, Tuthmoses. The gods Osiris, Hathor, Anubis. The rise and fall of the Nile. Mummification processes. Cartouches. Ushabtis. Perfumed cones of wax on the heads of party-goers. All so familiar from – how long ago? 60 years, I reckon. I was fascinated, riveted by the ancient […]
NOT YET
The two children of Daughter 2 came to stay over new year, along with their mother and stepdad. It’s a while since we’ve seen them, and Wizz had shot up – she no longer fits under my chin for a hug. I wondered how else they had changed. Wizz is now 11 and Danny 9. […]
THE BIRD IN THE TREE
The Bird in the Tree Ruth Pitter The tree, and its haunting bird, Are the loves of my heart; But where is the word, the word, Oh where is the art, To say, or even to see, For a moment of time, What the Tree and the Bird must be In the true […]
CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES
I’ve just finished reading a very eccentric book. It’s called A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, written in the 1960s but not published until 1980. The author got so depressed about not being able to get his book published that he committed suicide, and the reason the book saw the light of day […]
