Saturday Night at the Movies

One of my big projects for 2019 has been writing reviews for 52 of my favourite 'positive psyche' movies. Two recently purchased 2020 diaries have been upcycled into a movie schedule for the upcoming year; they feature a positive film review for every Saturday of the year, as well as accompanying artwork, lists of positive virtues contained in the films and ideas for book/film tie-ins.

13 Books for 2019

2019 has been a good year for reading. 

These are the books I have been enjoying, since January.

 The first 6 by 6 book challenge - Mood Boosting Fiction

1. Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami

2. The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

3. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

4. This book will save your life by A.M. Homes

5. The reader on the 6.27 by Jean-Paul Didierlaurent

6. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

The Second 6 by 6 book challenge - Autumnal Reads

1. We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson

2. Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

3. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

4. Wabi-Sabi by Francesc Miralles

5. Cloud atlas by David Mitchell

6. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Buddhism Extra

The things you can see only when you slow down by Haemin Sunim

Stargazing by LJ Finnigan

 
Stargazing is, perhaps, my favourite of the songs I have written. It is now accompanied on YouTube by, perhaps, my favourite of my daughter's paintings, also called Stargazing. The earlier music video to my song includes a montage of Amy's space pictures and also a space poem written by Amy and me called 'Planet Renga'.

 

Six by Six Book Challenge - July to December 2019

My second six by six book challenge was just as rewarding as the first. I would strongly recommend reading fiction if you need some deep escapism in your life. The following are my six related book reviews.

​We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson

This is a strange little book concerning sisters Constance and Merrycat and the strange little lives they live. I wasn't sure if I was reading about ghosts or real live people, the sisters and the big house they inhabit become more mystical as the story wears on. There is an interesting essay on the story and its author at the end of the book, written by Joyce Carol Oates. It makes me think that Shirley Jackson was as strange and sad as the stories she created.

Dark Matter by Michele Paver

This book is what it says on the tin. It is a dark and disturbing read. I read it at the height of summer; I thought it would help me cope with the excess of light and heat. The book is mostly set in the arctic winter, with four moths of cold and darkness. The book is quite horrible in places. I read it in the mornings. I can imagine it would be much scarier reading it at night.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

I read this after being so taken with the film. I think the film is funnier, but the book is intriguing and entertaining. It is written in first person so you can really connect with R, the zombie at the heart of the action. He falls in love with a human girl called Julie, there is even a balcony scene, you can definitely see Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' shining through the zombie apocalypse.

Wabi-Sabi by Francesc Miralles

I read this book while on holiday in Eastbourne, while taking a break from Cloud Atlas. It is quite a light read, although there is a tone of sadness and disappointment in it. Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese philosophical concept which embraces life's imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness in alignment with nature. The book livens up when Samuel's Japanese adventure begins and he starts living this new philosophy in real life.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

I enjoyed this film enormously, but it took me two attempts to read the book. The first time I found it too difficult, but the second time I seemed to understand it all quite perfectly. The book comprises of six stories arranged in a kind of pyramid structure so you sort of end up back where you started. The first story involves slavery and a sea voyage, the second is a series of letters from the 1930s, the third a 1970s political mystery, the fourth a contemporary story involving an old people's home, the fifth a futuristic interrogation and the sixth a post-apocalyptic tale. All in all it is a very good read.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

This book is full of animals, human and otherwise, Pi is a very entertaining storyteller telling a fascinatingly long tale about an ill-fated sea voyage. I watched the film first and that is quite faithful to the book and just as entertaining. I would recommend them both very strongly.

Poe Therapy

 

After the difficulties of 2018 I decided that my coping strategies needed reconsidering and recalibrating. I realised that some of the 'distractions' I had developed over my previous 50 years had great value. I'm not so sure that 'distractions' is even the right term. I decided a few years ago that what gave my life most meaning was music, art and creative writing.

Edgar Allan Poe has long been a source of comfort for me. He died poor at the age of 40 in Baltimore in mysterious circumstances. He left behind morbid tales of psychological torment and human frailty. I have always felt a connection between me and his fragile characters, the overly sensitive, sickly Ushers, the tormented souls in the Tell-Tale Heart, the doomed party goers of Prince Prospero. He doesn't go in for happy endings, he didn't get one, maybe no one does. There is something therapeutic about him and his tales of frailty and failing. I've found Poe Therapy to be a thing. I've also found solace in Dr Who, films, books, ghost stories, poetry, Shakespeare. I've started making more lists.

Below are some pictures I took of Poe Cottage, The Bronx, when I visited New York City at the end of October 2017.

 

    

Lucy Vale

 

I was writing Lucy Vale over ten years ago, in 2006, just before I started work on ALF Creations @ the Star Heart Cafe and embarked on various social media projects. For years I couldn't work on my story, I felt it was a big mess and I was busy being a working mother, I had a lot of grief to deal with and I was also nursing a big broken heart. Then on her ten year anniversary I felt once more able to engage with Lucy and came up with a year long plan for her dream diary adventures which I am still working on.

  

Gratitude and the slow movement

My explorations into mindfulness have led me down many interesting avenues. I have been making an effort to practice gratefulness and mindfully slow down since earlier in the year. Above are just some of the things in life I have been feeling grateful for this year and below are just some of the ways I have been living a slower paced life.

Debut or The EWOC

This piece of flash fiction was inspired by a wedding reception I went to in the City of London. It was a very 'fish out of water' situation, I am a far cry from the city types I was mingling with. I was only on the very edge of that world and now that situation feels a very long way away from me. I'm glad I have this small piece of writing to remind me of that 'unreal' time in my life. I still find myself wondering about those people and the kind of life they lead. I couldn't keep up that level of pretence and 'I just had to let it go,' as John Lennon once sang; 'Watching the Wheels' indeed.

Debut by LJ Finnigan

'The wedding party arrived by double decker bus. Christine was one of the last to step outside into the late afternoon sun, onto the hard grey city of London pavement, before stepping foot into the Merchant Taylors grand hall.

Inside the hall was cool and dim, Christine’s black heeled shoes clattered on the hard stone floor and she found herself fascinated by the echo that was produced. It was then that she became acutely aware of her difference.

Despite her expensive haircut and her elegant clothes, she didn’t quite gel with her surroundings. The others seemed to carry on as they normally did, they were at home. But to Christine, this was odd.

‘Max,’ Christine called to her date, her boyfriend of two years.

A little ahead of her a shaggy haired, rugby-playing, ex-public school type lowered his eyebrows at her and gave her a crooked sort of smile. He was standing amidst a group of Greek Goddesses and their mother, apparently. Christine felt her face heat up and knew that she must be going red.

‘I’m an embarrassment,’ she thought.

It was then that she became aware that her time in this world and with this man would be short lived. He was already tiring of her. Soon she would be banished; back to her shabby house on the edge of the council estate where she had lived all her life, back to buses, lonely nights in front of the TV, her mediocre family, her ‘just getting by’ existence. Back to the land of the EWOCs, the vanishing English Working Class tribe that she belonged to.

‘OK Christine, I’m just catching up with some old friends from university. Help yourself. There’s plenty to eat and drink,’ said Steven, obviously itching to get away.

‘I’m fine, don’t worry about me,’ said Christine, humbly.

The couple were edging away from each other even now; Steven towards a new group of ex-University students and Christine towards the long white table-clothed table full of Champagne and canapés.

Christine stood alone sipping her glass of champagne and studying the assortment of wedding party guests until her gaze settled on a particularly pleasing specimen of city boyhood; tall, blond, athletic. His handsome face returned her lustful look with a particularly manly one of his own. Christine felt the exquisite sensation that she would be the instrument of her own destruction.'

Craft Fairs of the Twenty Teens

I heard it once said that Britain was a nation of shopkeepers. I think of my craft stall as being my little bit of an opportunity to run a small 'pop up shop'. My craft stall has 'popped up' on fourteen different occasions between the years 2013 and 2019. I have been running out of energy on a number of different levels so I'm not sure when my craft stall will 'pop up' again, but here are my reflections on its past appearances.

2013 

There was a bit of a craft craze in 2013 and I had produced enough crafts to put a stall together. I started making my Star Heart dolls in 2010 and my other crafts evolved from there. I looked at various craft stalls in Ealing, before encountering the craft fair in Champers Wine Bar on a Saturday morning. I think it was a slow morning, but I sold a few things and liked it enough to want to do more. 

Unfortunately the Champers Craft Fair folded soon after, the lady running it recommended the URC Coffee Mornings in Northwood Hills or Eastcote / Pinner. I took my stall to the Northwood Hills URC charity coffee morning in December and did better than I had done in Champers.

 
Champers Craft Fair, Eastcote, June

URC Coffee Morning, Northwood Hills, December

2014

I thought I would try my luck at the Northwood Craft Market in 2014. I got there in June. Northwood is quite a nice place, with a large Costa. I go there quite a bit. Doing the craft market was a good experience but not so enjoyable that I relish the idea of going back there. The URC Charity Coffee Morning in July in Northwood Hills was also not so friendly. I did no more craft fairs that year.

  

 

Northwood Craft Market, June

 URC Coffee Morning, Northwood Hills, July

2015

I was in a bit of a state in 2015 but managed to give my craft stall an airing on three different occasions. I first tried the URC Coffee Morning in Eastcote in March, it was quite a good experience, so I thought I would go there again.

The Willow Tree Marina fun day was an interesting experience. My craft stall was outside and it was windy. I didn't sell anything. Amy helped and drew a picture of me, so that was nice. 

The URC Coffee Morning in November was on my birthday. I was in such a state I turned up at the wrong church. I was late getting back to Eastcote but it was fine when I got there.

 URC Coffee Morning, Eastcote, March

 

 Willow Three Marina Fun Day, Hayes, July

URC Coffee Morning, Eastcote, November

2016

2016 was a quiet year for craft fairs, the main focus was on helping Amy through her GCSEs. I did the URC Coffee Morning in Eastcote in April and the URC Coffee Morning in Northwood Hills in December. I think they were both reasonable experiences.

URC Coffee Morning, Eastcote, April

URC Coffee Morning, Northwood Hills, December

2017

2017 was a big year because of my 5B450 project which included a week's holiday in New York City. I also managed to participate in three craft fairs and events. My tenth craft fair was the Load of Hay Market in South Ruislip in April. It was a proper craft fair with inspiring craft work on display, it was also a very pleasant day. 

I was back at the URC Coffee Morning in Eastcote in June and back in the Load of Hay Market in South Ruislip in September. It was a good year for my craft stall despite the dark clouds gathering on the horizon.

 

Load of Hay Market, South Ruislip, April 

 

URC Coffee Morning, Pinner, June

 

Load of Hay Market, South Ruislip, September

2018

2018 was a very difficult year but I did manage one outing for my craft stall at the URC Coffee Morning in Eastcote, which I attended with my daughter. Soon after the Eastcote United Reformed Church became a Hindu Temple.

URC Coffee Morning, Eastcote, Pinner, June

 2019

In 2019 I have been relaxing a lot more and practising letting things go. I don't know if I want to let my craft stall go yet, but I'm glad I have done what I did with it. The last craft morning I did was at the Northwood Hills URC charity coffee morning in May. I had a really good time there and having a good time, however slow and quiet, is very important to me these days.

URC Coffee Morning, Northwood Hills, May