Fiction – Page 69 – Travellin' Penguin

Simply Sunday

Posted on March 15, 2020March 18, 2020 by TravellinPenguin

It’s been a pleasant weekend. There is a very large book sale down the road put on by Rotary club this weekend. I took my motorbike down yesterday as Mr. Penguin was helping out on a friend’s farm.

BOOKS:

I didn’t think I would find much and I wasn’t going to go but you know how it is. A very large book sale less than two kms away? Would you at least check it out? I did. I found six new books and I could not believe it. The ones I found could not be left behind. It would keep me awake at night. I went straight to the literature/classics section. Wasn’t interested in anything else. Here you have them.

thumbnail2 — I have never read any of his books and I have always wanted to.

thumbnail3

Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory
Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock
Persephone (which you NEVER see in Tasmania) Saplings by Noel Streatfield

thumbnail6 — I like Hemingway a lot as long as I don’t have to read about his African hunting excursions and the Bullring in Spain.

thumbnail4 — I have a very small collection of Virago and think they are lovely books.

thumbnail5 — This is close in size to a coffee table book. Just beautiful.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Over the Frontier by Stevie Smith – green Virago
The Illustrated Edition of Charles Dickens. A very large, double column gorgeous book filled with illustrations. Simply gorgeous.

The next thing I did was come home and culled 16 or 17 books from my shelf and they will be donated to the Red Cross book shop. I chose that shop because it is in the city centre and each time I visit it is full of young adult and the elderly picking through the books. They also sell them for the most affordable prices than other op shops. My shelves look emptier already. (*cough *sputter)

PHOTOGRAPHY:

I had another weekend win today. My good friend in Florida sent me a photo that was taken of her with a phone under a beautiful tree in Charleston, South Carolina. She just returned from a short trip there. The problem is there were heaps of tourists and she asked me if I could get rid of the man dressed in orange. This is an exercise I need to work on in Photoshop so I enjoyed trying. I didn’t think the result would be so good though so once again I am happy (and terribly surprised.)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Judy tree — 1. Cropped it. 2.Got rid of people and the shed. 3. Brightened up her top. 4. Filled in the bare patch in background right and filled in the space between the branches.

I looks a lot better now.

WALKS WITH OLLIE:

The last thing that was a happy event today is that Ollie and I took a walk up to the fire trail up the road from our house. We used to go up and visit the donkey. We would take her carrots. Odie and I did this a lot before he died. But the last two times we visited the donkey was gone. As there’s been a drought I was worried they sold him. I was hoping they only moved him to a better paddock. He’s been gone all summer so I figured that was it.

Donkey 1

Today. as we walked up the road I heard the loudest, biggest braying. I couldn’t believe my ears. Ollie and I walked up to his regular paddock and lo and behold, she was there. He was on the far side of the paddock but as soon as soon as she saw us she walked over so we could pet her. I felt so bad I didn’t have a carrot for her as I usually do. She and Ollie sniffed noses.

Donkey 2 — The two of them were really interested in each other. Ollie is more fearless than is good for him.

This weekend has been a good one and I am continuing ignoring all the hype about everything going on in the world at the moment. I really can’t take it much longer so I’m making a concerted effort to do other things that make me smile.

Okay, your turn…. What did you do this weekend?

Screenshot 5 — Currently reading a book about Antarctica. Would love to visit one day.

Fiction, Pam's Photography

Documenting Life-What are their stories?

Posted on March 13, 2020March 13, 2020 by TravellinPenguin

Spanish wash woman copy — Laundry lady in a Portuguese courtyard

Today I came across a photography competition (Lens Culture) being held somewhere. It’s online and international. I saw that the winners of the competition will have their photos exhibited somewhere in Paris. The competition closes in April and anyone can submit one single photo, five single photos or five photos that are part of a project where the photos are linked together to be a project or tell a sequential story. I chose the five single photos and I also paid the small extra fee to receive a critique back on them from the judges. If I am not going to end up in Paris at least someone from another part of the world will explain to me why not.

Now, I am not a professional photographer by any means as I’ve never made a cent from my photos. But I am somewhat of a dreamer and I can see me walking in to the well lit gallery on a Parisian street with dozens of wonderful street photography hanging on the walls. Standing around in a quirky outfit with other people in interesting dress. I might even wear a hat. We’d be sipping champagne discussing the settings we used in our cameras and the experiences of dealing with the people we stalked through the streets.

(Though I am more of a photographer that sneaks up from behind.)

As it is fun to give things a go, even when you know you have no chance, being in that moment for a second, on a cold, blustery, rainy Tasmanian day is a fun way to live once in awhile.

Moscow Woman fix shoe — Making herself more comfortable on a street in Moscow while life passes by.

My favourite genre of photography is Street Photography. Documenting life. Street photography are photos that presumably tell a story. I also try very hard to not take a photo of anyone holding a mobile phone unless it is imperative to the story. All of us are living stories each day that very few people ever witness. I like that about life.

Often I will sit in traffic and be stopped at a light. How often do you watch people cross the street in front of your car and wonder what’s in the shopping bag or think about where they are coming from? How did they spend their afternoon? Probably not too exciting but the thought does cross my mind. I enjoy looking at the expressions on their faces and while really stuck in a long line of traffic, begin to make up stories in my head about them.

Moscow Men and Dog — Two friends hanging out on a Moscow street. The dog has his own agenda.

Perhaps she wouldn’t be so cranky if her son hadn’t just slammed the car door on her and disappeared down the street. Or the three girls giggling because their school day has finished and they have big plans for the weekend. How good will it feel for the elderly lady, carrying too many groceries in that bag, hoping she makes the bus and can finally relax when she gets home. It is no wonder I love books so much. It also keeps me calm when some idiot does something on the road where I want to ram him or her. I won’t describe the stories I think up for that person but hint it involves crime and will I get away with it?

Morocco: Waiting for his friend to come back with jumper cables maybe?

It is with the idea of these little stories happening every second of the day and night, right around the world that I decided to enter five of my favourite shots I have taken whilst travelling. I may never hear of them again which is most probable but I’ve had fun making up the dream and working with the photos.

I share them here with you today.

Cleaning lady — A Street Cleaning Woman on a street in Seville, Spain.

and last but not least…………….

Tasmania penguin tourist copy — Penguin exploring Tasmanian wilderness.

Fiction

Olive Again and a Giveaway Winner

Posted on January 31, 2020 by TravellinPenguin

Business first please:

Berezina book I said I would send the Russian travel book, Berezina by Sylvain Tesson to a random person who commented on the last post. I used Random.org and the winner is Kaggsy of Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings. Karen, if you email a mailing address at psbparks at ymail dot com, I will post to you at the beginning of next week. I hope you enjoy it.

Binging on films:

This week has really flown by and I admit I have no idea where the time went. I have been reading and also attended a couple of films. Little Women was enjoyable but more for the costumes and scenery. They flash back and forth a few times which at times confused me momentarily but then all became clear. I have seen so many interpretations of this film I guess now I have it covered more than enough. The book remains the best way to know this story. Timeless.

I also saw the movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood. Starring Tom Hanks, it is the story of Fred Rogers who presented the American childhood show, Mr. Roger’s Neighbourhood in the USA from 1968 to 2001. It was a very gentle show and although I was too old for it at the time, I remember my younger brother watching it and the impersonations he did of Mr. Rogers kept our family in fits of laughter several times. I enjoyed the nostalgia of it.

Last night I saw the film, Bombshell with a couple of friends. It is based on the sexual harassment that happened to the women broadcasters on Fox News by the CEO and the women’s case against him that resulted in his leaving the organisation in 2016, just before the American election of Donald Trump. As I won’t have anything to do with Fox News, I was unaware of all of this, though none of what I witnessed surprised me. Fox News isn’t even registered as a news organisation but instead is listed as entertainment. Why so many Americans think Rupert Murdoch’s Fox TV news program presents unbiased news is beyond me but hey, to each their own. Of course being a Hollywood film it was full of drama and spit and polish. I don’t usually run to see a lot of American films unless they are more independent but to see three in two weeks is a record for me. It was more of a social opportunity to spend time with friends than having any real desire to get to these films.

I did get excited to hear the producers of the Downton Abbey movie that was so popular last year are looking at making yet another full feature sequel. I think they were surprised at how much money they made from the first one so that is probably the best incentive. Now, they just have to try to get all of the actors gathered together again to move forward. We’ll see…

Books:

The book I immersed myself in this week was Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout. I really loved Olive Kitteredge as the first Olive book. I also enjoyed e mini-series made of it with Frances McDormand starring as Olive. As I read the book she is who I pictured in my mind.

Olive Again is constructed the same as the first book and picks up from the end of Olive Kitteredge and goes to almost the end of her life when she is in assisted living. The chapters feature various people in the town of which she lives and she pops up here and there. Sometimes she features quite a bit in the chapter and other chapters she is a passing character.

Elizabeth Strout has such a good way of defining and writing about characters in a community and by the end several characters are intersecting in each others lives with Olive somehow touching all of them. I really enjoy the format.

Olive Kitteridge I know a lot of people probably wouldn’t like her as a person but I love her. She is acerbic and cranky with a very hidden heart of gold. As I grow older I find myself blurting out things when annoyed and I can hear Olive’s voice in my head-=. Sometimes it worries me how easily I could become her. She is one of my all time favourite characters in a book and I really do come close to knowing her as a non-fictional character. I guess this is very complimentary of Strout’s writing. If you enjoyed the first Olive book then I think you will enjoy the second one. If you didn’t like the first one then it is probably best to skip the second one. I think they are both books I could happily read again at a later date.

I’m undergoing some treatment for an eye problem at the moment (nothing to worry about as it is treatable but necessary) and the drops I’m using really cause the eye to be sensitive to light. It also aches quite a bit for a few hours after the drops so I am only reading in fits and starts.

classic american lit I downloaded the Classics of American Literature narrated by Arnold Weinstein on Audible.com. I listen to it for 30 to 45 minutes each night when I first go to bed each night. I set the sleep timer for 30 or 45 minutes and as it finishes I am either asleep or just about to sleep. The entire course is 44 hours long. I’m finding it very interesting. Mr. Weinstein is a professor in literature at Brown university and is very knowledgeable.

I have heard lectures on Washington Irving, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Thoreau, Edgar Allan Poe and am currently listening to lectures on Nathaniel Hawthorn. He discusses their personal lives and then really dissects their most prominent writings. Currently he is really giving a great deal of information about the Scarlet Letter. I read this book in high school and hated it. But now I am much older and learn what Hawthorne was trying to relate through it, I am finding it much more interesting.

I guess that pretty much summarises the week so I will finish this off and get the Berezina book wrapped, ready to post. Enjoy your weekend.