Tassie has been very dry lately. This morning the rains have come and the temperature is high enough to have the window open so we can hear it. A favourite kind of a day. While the cats are doing high speed runs through the house the dogs are a bit quieter. Molly, our terrier has gone back to bed. Odie sits with me every morning. 
This morning is a good time to talk about new books. Fuller’s. An independent book shop. I talk about this shop a lot. It really is my home away from home with their lovely books, friendly, family like staff and a good cafe to boot.
Whenever I need a gift for someone (or myself) I usually get it here from their wide range of books, beautiful stationery or cards and calendars. As a result I get these wonderful book vouchers sent out every so often throu th their rewards program. Yesterday I had a big one and put it to good use.
I generally use it to buy reference books of some sort but since I have been in a book reading slump I thought I would put it towards some novels that might make me curious enough to inspire me to put down internet articles and magazines.
Here is the loot!
Bill Bryson makes me laugh and I have always wanted to read this one. I have read several of his others but somehow this has escaped me over the years. Having done several road trips through the UK I know I will enjoy this.
I have no idea who this is but the cover drew me in. The book blurb states, in part, “Yasmin Abdel-Magied is a young Muslim dynamo offering a bracing breath of fresh air-and hope. As a 21 year old she found herself working on a remote oil and gas rig: the only woman.” This is her story. It includes being a third culture kid, growing up migrant and Muslim in Australia post 9/11.
It sounds really interesting and comes from an interesting perspective. 
Then there is this. I had a friend who died a couple of years ago. He was a hoarder. Like the ones you see on tv reality shows. It is a psychological illness that I have been fascinated by. I am also a BBC First TV addict of British forensic crime shows. This book might be gruesome but it is a part of our society that does exist and I admit, I am curious. Sometimes we need a change of genre in our reading selections. I think one of these in this subject will be enough.
Last but not least I wanted another bit of non fiction. The Organised Mind by Daniel Levitan supports to help us weed the wheat from the chaff with so much media and internet overload in society. It discusses our daily processing limits and claims to help organise our memory, attention span and improve our memory. It is supposed to be based on neuro-scientific principles. We will see how evidence based it is.
As it is continues to rain and I have nothing else planned until my photo club meets this evening seems my day is off to a good start. How do you spend a rainy day?
I know it is a holdover from working so many years but Saturday always feels good. There are choices of things to do and often never enough time to do them. The International Photo Walk is happening today. I might join in at the Hobart wharf and participate in that for a couple of hours. The Penguin enjoys travelling around Hobart also. I need a way to attach him to my camera strap or backpack.
The thought of walking this trail is very appealing but some of the crowded accommodation not so. Up to 250,000 people a year are now doing this pilgrimage and the thought of that sounds soul destroying. I know though that people do walk in various spots where they find fewer people. I think living in Tasmania, (Australia really) one gets spoiled to enjoying nature without hordes of people at every turn.
I also listened to some of the ABC Radio National’s program (repeat of the day) Books and Arts. It comes on week mornings from 10:00 to 11:00 but I often catch the repeat later in the night. I listened to an interview with author Michelle de Kretser about her latest book A Life to Come. The book description really appealed to me and I will be interested to hear what others who read it think of it. I tried to get into her earlier book A Question of Travel twice but couldn’t swing it. My mood though has shifted a bit towards various authors and I may give both of these a try again but the latest one sounds the most interesting. (At least at this hour in time.)
the weekly Salamanca Market in Hobart. It is a very large market with upscale crafts amongst Asian made trinkets, jewellery, food stores and areas of fresh vegetables from the Hmong people that remain here. Those that didn’t relocate to Queensland. I may have a walk around it today. I have been in a cooking mood. Something about spring cleaning cabinets, getting rid of old glasses and finally our old set of cheap dishes. I treated us to something nicer and also bought a pressure cooker. I remember the days when pressure cookers exploded and yesterday when it released its steam at the end of cooking the pumpkin, potatoes and leeks for a soup I was making, I jumped three feet across the kitchen.
There is a new film at the State Cinema in North Hobart (our local Art theatre that now has seven separate cinemas in it) I would like to see. The description states “At an intimate and sumptuous celebration of her husband’s latest business venture, Beatriz is introduced to Doug Strutt (John Lithgow), a ruthless billionaire real-estate developer. She listens uncomfortably while Doug brags about his aggressive business tactics, but when he boasts about shooting a rhino in Africa, she can no longer hold her tongue. As opposing worldviews collide over a dinner table, Beatriz’s pent up outrage spills out in a way that surprises even herself. The Doug Strutt character is based on Donald Trump, as some believe and current political arguments are infused throughout this film.
Travellin' Penguin 