Travellin' Penguin

It is a good thing Word Press gives me these reminders or I may lag even further behind. Life is settling down. I can drive again. I am walking about 3 kms most days. Mainly to op shops in the city to find items to sell in my eBay store during slow winter days. I enjoy it. I’m not making my fortune but at least it is coffee money.

I’m still working my way through The Dangers of Female Provocation by Zoe Coyle. I am almost done. The premise of the story is Odessa has a husband she loves. He leaves her and gets his work colleague pregnant. Odessa has 5 good friends. They lead an influencer’s life in London. Coffees, gyms, lovely cars, lots of shopping. Each of her friend’s husbands are successful and Odessa doesn’t like the way they treat their wives. So individually she sets each of the husbands one by one in a compromising situation then blackmails them into being better husbands. She has a lot of rage inside her.

It is a book I’m sure many women would get a kick out of it. I am finding it a bit tedious. There is too much rage and the lengths Odessa goes to seem a bit much. I don’t believe in interfering with another’s relationship. No one really knows what the stories are of others. But this is a bit over the top. I’m almost done with it and will begin New Zealand author Eleanor Catton’s book, Birnam Wood soon. It is our book for August book group.

This past week we attended the Fullers book launch of Trump’s Australia which we really enjoyed. Author Bruce Wolpe was in discussion with previous premiere David Bartlett about the effects a Teump presidency had on Trump’s presidency in the U.S. They also compared the various parts of democracy between U.S and Australia. Australia has quite a few safeguards compared to America and some of the things happening in America couldn’t happen here. You’ll have to read the book to learn more about that. I will paste the recent blurb about the book below. The audience had a lot to say about this topic too and we found the discussion quite enjoyable. There weren’t any Trump supporters in the audience that was certain or they hid their feelings very well.

The blurb…

Trump’s Australia

How Trumpism changed Australia and the shocking consequences for us of a second term by Bruce Wolper

Trump (or a Trumpist) could well win the 2024 US presidential election, and if he does, American democracy as we have known it will probably come to an end. Australia’s best-informed commentator on US politics sends a chilling warning about the implications for Australia.

What if Trump (or a Trump-like candidate) becomes US president in 2024?

Leading expert and US and Australian politics insider Bruce Wolpe reveals the many ways in which Australia was damaged by Donald Trump’s presidency. Seeping into Australia from above and below, Trumpism contaminated public debate, emboldened local political and religious extremists, diminished Australia’s economy and international relations—and much more.

Wolpe predicts America’s democracy won’t survive a second Trump term. The implications for the world and for Australia are shocking. He explains how Australia can draw on its strengths to protect its democracy, economy and society from Trumpism, and where Australia is vulnerable and needs to build guardrails. He warns Australia might also face an existential question about ties with its most important ally.

***************

We also attended the launch of Line in the Sand by author Dean Yates. He worked for Reuters news for many years and went to war affected countries and as a result suffered PTSD. This book was about his journey in receiving health after telling us about some of his more harrowing experiences. A discussion of the lack of mental health services ensued as St Helen’s hospital (main hospital for mental health and also mothers and babies struggling with parenthood) in Hobart recently shut its doors with little notice and left all the patients in the cold with no support. The conversation that followed was passionate and we heard from audience members who have been affected by ptsd, disability service workers, police officers, ambulance personnel. Governments continue to recognise or do anything to provide services to the many who need it.

I am happy to report my heart withstood the passionate discussions of both mental health in crisis and Trump possibly being reelected again. If that doesn’t give a person heart damage I must be on the mend. Just keep getting out in nature and walking and concentrating on more positive events.

That’s me for the moment. This is a long post but I had a long weel. Happy weekending everyone.

I am supposed to be heading to the Flinders Ranges next weekend for my big photography week tour with Mark Gray.

Well, this past Monday, I took the bus into town for my weight training class at the gym. Hopped off the bus and as I began my walk I had shooting pain across my left shoulder and arm. I’d had a few niggles previously but this couldn’t be ignored. I immediately rang Mr P and he picked me up and we drove straight to the hospital where after tests I was informed I’d had a heart attack.

I was admitted immediately and there I stayed. Had an angiogram the next day , some new medications and sent home. The PCR test for Covid came back “borderline’ (didn’t know that was a choice) and transferred to a quarantined room with big signs on the door. The next day the PCR came back negative so everyone relaxed a bit.

I’m home now, feeling much better but feel very unfit. I have also been told I can’t drive for two weeks. I asked the doctor about the photography trip and he said I’d most likely be ok to go but the thought of being in some remote parts of the outback without my wonderful doctors nearby make me hesitant to go that far so soon. We were required to get travel insurance so think it is best I use it and stay home.

So what am I doing instead in this rainy, windy, cold Tassie winter? I’m reading the book by Zoe Coyle- The Dangers of Female Provocation. I am also selling things on eBay. Things around the house and cheap items such as vintage clothes, previous thrifting finds, especially sporting or designer/popular brands. I’m also selling some unique magazines and book bundles. It is fun and I have done quite a bit of selling and buying on eBay in the past.

The weather hasn’t been that good for metal detecting or photography though the sun is out today. Yesterday I managed lunch with a friend and a 4.1 km walk (about 2+miles. The gym is on hold for another week.

The Dangers of Female Provocation is a read I am enjoying and Fullers recently had a fun launch of her book with Geordie Williamson, literary critic, publisher interviewing her.

The book blurb reads:

Vengeance is coming.

Odessa Odin has it all – a successful career, an adoring husband and a close circle of friends to whom she is fiercely loyal. On the surface they’re living a glittering London life of wealth and cosseted privilege, but underneath this veneer lies painful truths of betrayal, neglect and unfulfilled ambitions. It’s a tightrope of holding themselves and their marriages together as their men transgress the promises they made at the altar with the blithe entitlement they’ve enjoyed all their lives. For the women, there’s just too much to lose.

When Odessa discovers her husband is having an affair, her carefully constructed life falls away, and the mask slips to reveal a vast reservoir of rage, fed up with the ways the patriarchy stack the odds against her sisterhood. Training her sights on her friends’ husbands, Odessa becomes an avenging warrior – aiming to chasten them into being better partners, picking them off one compromising situation at a time…

But as Odessa’s mission becomes all-consuming, it blinds her to the reality that the score is about to be evened in a way she could never anticipate.

The Dangers of Female Provocation is a razor-sharp, delicious testament to the force of women stepping into their own power.

*********

We had a small crowd at the launch and a very amusing conversation happened. Zoe is a wonderful listener and writer and we all enjoyed her talk.

So I really need to add to the t shirt collection I think of developing. After “There’s Always One!” the next one will be, “It’s Always Something!”

Hope your weekend is going well.

Covid really knocked me around, mainly with fatigue on top of my MS fatigue. Headachey too but now I’m climbing out of that tunnel. My energy needs to go back into my gym work to get my fitness back and a better mood. On July 8th I am travelling to South Australia to do an intensive 5 day photography workshop/training in the Flinders Ranges. If you search for Flinders ranges on you tube you can see the beautiful scenery. The days will begin before sunrise for shoots and end around 8 pm at night with a few built in rest periods during the day. I’ll get to Adelaide a couple of days early and come home the day after the workshop ends on Friday late afternoon.

I’ll be back online with hopefully more things to write about after that.