Author: TravellinPenguin

Windows are open and the sun is shining. The eastern half of Australia has just been inundated with rain the past few weeks. And like everyone else I keep saying, Can you believe it is the end of the year already? Okay so getting on with it.

Books: I finished the audible book The Happiest Refugee by Anh Doh that is a biography that spans from his treacherous arrival into Australia as a small child aboard a leaky boat, attacked by pirates, hunger and all kinds of danger. It is amazing they actually made it thanks to a German ship that picked them up. He details his family’s activities, the highs and lows of life in Sydney and he really does have an indomitable spirit. He is very successful as an artist and comedian and I enjoy his tv series as he paints a portrait of his featured guests while talking to them. The guest is then presented with the final portrait at the end of the program. Anh’s Brush With Fame featured on the ABC (Australia).

I have also visited my Lonely Planet Armchair Traveller book of writings and music from the countries of the world and Random.org picked Peru for me a couple of weeks back. I downloaded a book of short stories by Peruvian author Julio Ramon Ribeyro. The book is titled Marginal Voices: Selected Stories. I am loving these stories and his writing is just brilliant. It is narrated by Kenneth Lee, part of the Texas Pan American series, University of Texas Press 1993. Translated by Dianne Douglas.

Amazon describes the book as:

Julio Ramón Ribeyro has been widely acclaimed as Peru’s master storyteller. Until now, however, few of his stories have been translated into English. This volume brings together fifteen stories written during the period 1952-1975, which were collected in the three volumes of La palabra del mudo. Ribeyro’s stories treat the social problems brought about by urban expansion, including poverty, racial and sexual discrimination, class struggles, alienation, and violence. At the same time, elements of the fantastic playfully interrupt some of the stories. More importantly, Ribeyro’s characters are culturally diverse, yet they share a common destiny—a life nourished by illusions that falls short of their expectations and invariably leads to solitude. As the characters become swept up in circumstances beyond their understanding, Ribeyro shows that the only freedom or dignity left them comes from their own imaginations.

I am enjoying these stories very much. The writing is excellent and the characters very well defined. I have also been listening to the music listed on the page of the Lonely Planet book through Amazon Music or Spotify. It is just wonderful to be able to stream music from other countries so easily. Artists: Eva Ayllon, Arturo Cavero, Bareto and Los Mirlos to name a few. I have decided to use Audible for the books I read suggested by the Lonely Planet Armchair Explorer. I can stream the book at nighttime or while driving. The same goes for the music. I am really enjoying this project and using my audible credits are useful and I also have time to read my other copies of book books.

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman- Our shared reading group finished this book last night. We applauded the end of it. Then we had a round of Vodka shots and our facilitator Ebi did a Russian phrase for Salud. We also enjoyed a table of black bread, caviar, sausages, pickled onions, blinis that someone made with smoked salmon and sour cream. A few of the members that had Ubers coming later stayed on to enjoy their shots of vodka. The vodka was packaged in a beautiful carved glass bottle with lovely foil labeling and made in St Petersburg. It was such a fun evening. Now we are on break to read other books over our summer. New events will begin at Fullers in February.

One more project I am “diving into- as the popular trend of the moment”….is a photography project I am just getting off the ground inspired by the book launched at Fullers Undiscovered Tasmania by Rochelle and Walter Dare last week. They are a couple with a young daughter who explore the hidden areas of Tasmania and put their photos up on Instagram. Instagram name is “LetsGoDare”. They were approached by someone who wanted them to turn it into a book and to make a long story short, that is what they did. None of the iconic tourist areas of Tasmania are presented but instead they visit small country towns, wildlife areas and beaches that are out of the way.

I’ve been wanting to do some photography away from the iconic areas that everyone sees when googling Tasmania and I have bitten the proverbial bullet.

I bought a Tasmanian map and a book of camping areas and places to see around those areas and am starting to explore in the southern part of the state. I have decided I will share this project on this blog but in separate posts called Exploring Tasmania or something similar. Have not decided on that title yet. I have quite a bit of bookish activity on during the year so will keep books separate from photography. That way if you’re not interested in both fields of interests you can ignore those posts.

Another area of interest I want to do in 2020 is a new bookish feature called From My Shelves or something similar. Still thinking. I have quite a few unusual books of interest on my shelf, some read, some not. I thought I’d feature a specific book from my shelf just to share it with readers. I have books on the classics, cookbooks, photography books, reference books, etc and things I inadvertently come across here and there. I know how much I like to see a book displayed. It will be more like walking through a bookshop, picking up the book and thinking….I wonder what this is about. No review of the actual story or characters, just a review or display of the book.

In summary for 2022 you can look for: Photography with the Penguin. The Penguin shares books on our shelves. Bookish activities and short synopsis or reviews and Lonely Planet Armchair books from other countries. I think the Penguin will need to have some new outfits made.

I’m getting a jump on 2022 as no doubt others will be doing soon and I do look forward to seeing what you will all get up to in our new year. Stay well. Get vaccinated.

Reading groups, new books, nuisance appointments and photography updates.

I know I shouldn’t say “How fast is this year going?” But now Christmas and 2022 are in sight it is hard not to think this. For not travelling anywhere it seems quite a bit has happened. Just not things we always chose.

First off family and pets are all fine. Moving right along on this turbulent river we call Life.

Lots of books have come along and I look forward to summer months without so many commitments and some reading outdoors. My favourite places to read are in a bath or outdoors in a lounge chair surrounded by Ollie and Peanut.

First off, the Russian book, Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman will probably wrap up in one more week. It has been the most interesting time. Tomorrow night we have a guest lecturer from the University in the department of philosophy visiting the group and I imagine we’ll be delving into good and evil of what happens in war. What is evil for one group appears to be good for the other. Is it innate? Do we chase after it? How do these atrocities develop between people who were once friends because of war? I’m not sure about the subject matter but Life and Fate sure gives one plenty to think of. These sessions have become very similar to post graduate tutorials and I really thrive on them. Next year we are hoping to share reading of possibly a Dickens book. We all need a bit of lighter reading.

The book group is finishing up and the 90 members of the Fullers book shop readng groups are invited to an end of year Christmas get together of drinks, book chat and nibbles the first week of December in a lovely local hotel. Fullers is putting this on for us. A chance to meet other group members and there may be a quiz over the books we read this year. Should be fun.

I had a birthday this past week and was given several book vouchers for the day. As well as chocolate and a jig saw puzzle that might be a bit tricky. It was a good week and my vouchers have already been cashed in. Here is the lovely book haul that waits for summer calm.

I have had na two month break from photography and all things linked to it. The you tube instructional videos, the post editing, taking photos of the same old things all the time. Just a full stop. However the break worked and I look forward to getting into it again. This coming week I am attending a Fullers book launch of a book that highlights the off beaten areas of Tasmania to visit. When living on a small, beautiful island that attracts tourists from all over the world, the same geographic places are advertised time and time again. Cradle Mountain, Port Arthur, the west coast activities of Gordon River cruise in Strahan and the wineries everywhere along the east coast. For a photographer it seems all the photographers are taking photos of the same thing. Yes they are beautiful but moss covered trees, the red rocks of Binalong Bay, the myriad of waterfalls. I need some different and more unusual places to visit so that will be my photography goal for next year. Stay tuned.

The good thing about this year ending is all of the various health appointments Mr. Penguin and I seem to spend time on. Often scheduled in the middle of the day they seem to go on and on and just bust the days in half. Also the five weeks of solid rain we’ve been having, with even one day of snow last week has been beyond ridiculous. I think we can see summer approaching at the end of this cloudy, dreary tunnel and in good health, with good eyes, good teeth, good feet (haha), we should begin to embrace a more interesting life. We can live in h0pe.

Well the bookish photos and as it is the time of year people begin looking forward, I look forward to hearing what plans others have for 2022!!

Stay well and all the best, until next time.

This week has been insanely busy with all kinds of stuff. One of those weeks when you have no time to even chase your tail.

Monday: Hit the gym and am pleased to know with a year’s weight training my almost 72 year old body is registering 56 on their assessments. Hard yakka and all that.

That night we had our shared reading at Fullers book store continuing Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman. This is probably the most intense and wonderfully written book I have ever encountered in my life. I know, a bit statement but I can’t recommend it enough especially if you’re interested in World War II. We are now up to page 600 by next Monday. We read about 60 or 70 pages at home and 30 – 35 pages at the shared reading. This past Monday was absolutely harrowing as our experience led us on the walk to the “baths” at Auschwitz where we were happy to wash and scrub and strip off the old cloths after the weeks of hardship and starvation only to watch the older people take responsibility for young children who were alone and then realise the sweetened smell was gas. At the end of the reading we all looked at each other and felt the silence in the room. No one spoke.

Moving on to happier times….. Tuesday. While the rest of Australia got hyped over the Melbourne Cup horse race of which I abhor (at least this year no horses died after the past six or seven years a horse died each time). I wonder how those who gambled off money they could ill afford told their families that night. I’m sure you get my point but of course fashion ruled and I just went and got my hair taken care of. In jeans, no high fashion for me.

That night we had our seniors group meeting where our guest speaker was a woman who presented their photos of a bicycle their family of spouse and four children aged 7 to 11 took from western France to Budapest, camping along the way. A wonderful experience for those children and she was an enthusiastic speaker. We all enjoyed their experience of riding a 3000 miles bike trail. Australia….take note. I talked to her afterwards and learned she lives about one km up the road from us. Who knew?

Wednesday, I took this 56 year old body (ahem😳) back to the gym and then had to run up for a quick doctor appointment (just routine- no worries) then took the bus up to South Hobart and hopped off to do a couple of errands in the 40 minutes I had before the next bus came along. I went into a charity shop attached to a local church and found a wonderful succulent plant I’d not seen.

Spring is a season for me where I gather plants that catch my eye and enthusiastically plant them only to say, “You now have a home so thrive on your own, you are now released to the wild. ” Surprisingly most of them survive if the garden guy doesn’t accidentally take his whipper snipper through them. I treat them like wildlife.

Wednesday night it was off to the Book Group where we discussed Klara and the Sun. What fun it was. The first question asked was, “Is it science fiction?” We didn’t really think so as the story is about artificial intelligence in the life of an artificial friend for a sickly girl who had been ‘lifted’ and surviving the procedure, although extremely unwell was companioned by her AF (artificial friend). Kazuo Ishiguro doesn’t give you all the details, but he does scatter clues. The book is told in the first person of the AF and readers became quite attached to her. Does the girl Josie survive her lifting procedure? We are led to believe all is well as we travel through this book but the ending is very ambiguous and the discussion the 10 of us was wild and hilarious. All kinds of issues around robots, artificial intelligence and “oblongs” (that are the rectangular screens the children all use for their schooling) arose. It is a fun book we thought but the social issues it raised were spotted everywhere. The environment, social media, loneliness in the community, spirituality. I would recommend the book if you want an easy read that has a lot in it. It may not be to everyone’s taste but hey, what book is?

Thursday I thought I’d get a reprieve from the headless chicken routine but instead we took our five year old cat, Grizzy to the vet for his follow up blood work as his liver is giving off funny blood readings. (I’m remind pet owners they seriously may want to consider pet insurance- wouldn’t be without it).

That over and done I wandered into town to pick up my new glasses that are supposed to help me see again from my left eye. However I had a really dodgy optometrist of which is a long story I won’t go into, but think ageism (“Your left eye can’t read the eye chart but your right eye will eventually compensate”) and Yes, we don’t need to check to see if you can read with only one eye. You don’t need glasses as you have “good middle vision”. Doesn’t matter I can’t read the eye chart with my left eye or road signs or read a book. The ophthalmic surgeon who is renown told me after a year’s work on that eye including surgery, “Now is the time to get glasses- off you go”. I was excited and this numbskull burst my bubble. It boiled down to “women who are retired don’t really need great vision, what do you use it for dear?”

I might add I made him order glasses anyway, which showed me his little temper tantrum side, went home, slept on it, then documented the whole episode (I’m good at that) and sent it off to the company he is employed by and the Optometry board of Tasmania. You don’t mess with this Old Age Woman. I kept thinking how many older, unassertive women have been his victim and left the office being told “You don’t need glasses dear, your other eye will fill in for it.” Livid does not describe my mood.

I picked up the glasses and of course they aren’t completely right and after a lovely conversation with this middle age man’s manager I’ve been referred to a competent optometrist who will redo all the tests again. Looking forward to seeng how that goes. OK….as if older pe ople don’t have enough medical issues at times.

However last night my friend and I went to a Fullers Book Launch event of a Western Australian author from Perth named Alan Carter and the book is Crocodile Tears. It is the final in a five book series (but can be read stand alone) of a detective who becomes involved in bodies, spies, Timor-Leste and the true story of Australian government spying on them in the Howard years (2004) to be exact. This book has everything. The author had a great sense of humour. The room was full of Fullers supporters and we all enjoyed the evening very much. Not sure I’ll get to this book but I sure would like to. Who knows when the mood and interest level change and you pick up books you’d not have predicted interest in.

Then when that finished at 6:30, my friend and I sat in the hotel lounge for 20 minutes and chatted to another couple who had also attended the event. They were having a drink before going off to dinner. We chatted about what a horrible prime minister we have and what an embarrassment he is to our country and the sooner he is gone, the better. You know, the type of conversation that seems to be prevalent in the circles I roam, haha).

Then we walked up to the Playhouse Theatre and watched Marta Dusseldorp and Essie Davis in a excellent, brilliant, wonderful, engaging, heart wrenching, (need I say more?) play The Maids by Jean Genet. Oh so good.

Now as I write on a rain free, sunny Friday morning my hectic week is about to end as this afternoon our friend’s memorial is being held at the Sandy Bay Yacht club where hopefully cheery stories and food and drink will be served. Drinks being the operative word. This has been a long event and quite sad. We’ve had her partner up twice for a meal in the past two weeks and hopefully the support of his friends will get him through this.

What’s on for the weekend? N O T H I N G hopefully. Sit on the porch with my Russian novel to get the 60 pages completed. Enjoy Ollie and Peanut’s company. Ollie now believe the lounge chair is for him as it makes him taller (all the better to keep an eye on the neighbourhood and get cuddles at the same time).

I haven’t decided what book to dive into outside of the Russian book. I did finish the audio book of Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink, an English author who loves books. Her experiences of working as a book seller at Harrods Dept store in London and Waterstones as they just opened was fun to hear about. Other than that is a list of books she calls out with a quick synopsis around her quick retelling of her life, marriage and the love for her family. It is a very light, enjoyable night time listening and car book. I finished it quickly as it is only around 4 or 5 hours long.

I then began Anh Do’s book The Happiest Refugee. He is a Vietnamese born Australian of wonderful talent and personality. We have seen him on stage previously in Hobart at the Theatre Royal, watch his ABC program of interviewing and painting portraits of his guests and generally admire him. One of the loveliest people one would ever come across.

Okay, now this monstrous missive has finished I’ll give you a rest, if anyone is still out there reading this. The Penguin moves on once again.

Have a happy time as much as possible, stand up for yourself, support your fellow man and read!