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December 20, 2006
PRE-XMAS IN MY BACKYARD
We don't celebrate so I am extra attuned to all the frantic activity. I am flat out in a different way. My oldest son worked a 96 hr week. I've been cooking meals for the workers at the commercial kitchen and when I get a chance, I escape to our wonderful cafe, Sustenance, at the corner of Brunswick and Johnston, taking my laptop with me. I seem to be working on about 4 stories at once... I think it has to do with all this floating around. When I am needed, I pop behind the counter and serve customers but I get decent chunks of time to write, looking past the photographs on the wall and the pot plants onto the busy street where I can see the Buddha from the cafe windows reflected on the passing trams. Every now and then, I get talking to people. Some great people walk in those doors. Some of them writers. Most often readers. And I promise to update my blog with recommendations. Which I am doing right now.
To start off, I'll point to an article in the Boston Glove by Sven Birkerts titled A book and its cover The work of fiction in the age of blockbuster publishing -- I love Sven's articles -- and I have mentioned this before when talking about the editorial intro to each Agni (he is the editor there).
Next: I've finally finished reading The O'Henry Prize Stories 2006. The first story, Old Boys and Old Girls by Edward P Jones is stunning. My sixteen year old started reading it and the book went missing -- I spent quite a while looking for it because I believed that I was the only one in this house who was in love with short fiction -- but it turned out that the anthology had taken off on a tram ride with my son. I loved almost all the stories in here. My favorites being the one already mentioned and Wolves by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer. The concept of David Lawrence Morse's Conceived, I discussed with a screenwriter I met in LA on my recent trip to the States. He was talking about a dream and how it might work as a story and off I went on my favorite subject. Now I am thinking, as I do, about the novels by these authors, The Known World (Jones), The Snow Fox (Schaeffer).
I am not sure what I am going to read next. I still haven't finished the fiction issue of The Atlantic Monthly that I bought when I was in New Orleans. Plus I will be finishing those stories I started. My microfiction does not seem to want to stay small. Pre-trip, it would take months before some of these would want to grow but not so at the moment.
In the meantime, tomorrow is going to be a scorcher and I suggested spearmint and apple juice tea for the cafe, with crushed ice. So I should probably make sure they've got supplies. And Glenn will be coming soon to drive the trailer to the Queen Vic Market for the summer festival there every Wednesday. I am not sure that I am going into town to write but my youngest wants to get to the bank and he wants to know if I'll pick him up from the movies. I told him that I headed home from the cafe at about 9.30 last night but today... I should manage to get more reading and a bit more writing together with the chores. And I promised my sister....
Posted by girija tropp at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
December 06, 2006
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S CODE OF ETHICS - IS THIS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE CHRISTIAN!
From The Observer (You don't have to go to the movies anymore...)
When 12 bodies were found buried in the garden of a Mexican house, it seemed like a case of drug-linked killings. But the trail led to Washington and a cover-up that went right to the top. David Rose reports from El Paso.
Writer Eric Bosse posted about this in a private online office and pointed out that the first story in print is in a British newspaper
Posted by girija tropp at 08:21 AM | Permalink
December 04, 2006
A LITTLE BREATHING GOES A LONG WAY
Now that I am back in Melbourne and the family have opened up a cafe-restaurant-health place in Fitzroy... Sustenance, I have gone in to help, and to sit in the wonderful space to get some work done. It seems way too busy at home sometimes. Strange thing is that I keep running into other writers.
In conversation, I have passed on this breathing technique that I use to keep myself together; very portable, especially when travelling. Its an old yogic breathing method that once you've got the sequence, you can practise anywhere, in the car, in the plane, at home. It's that unobtrusive. Here goes:
You always start with the left nostril. There are 2 parts to each cycle. And you repeat the cycle 3 times.
To start, hold the right nostril close with your thumb or forefinger and breathe in the left to the count of 4, hold both nostrils close (betw thumb and forefinger?) to the count of 16, let the breath out the right (holding the left closed with a finger) to the count of 8 and then immediately in to the count of 4, hold the breath again by pinching off both nostrils to the count of 16, and then finish by holding the right and breathing out the left to the count of eight.
2nd part of cycle:Hold the right nostril close with your thumb or forefinger and breathe out the left to the count of 4, hold both nostrils close (betw thumb and forefinger?) to the count of 16, breathe in the the right (holding the left closed with a finger) to the count of 8 and then immediately out to the count of 4, hold the breath again by pinching off both nostrils to the count of 16, and then finish by holding the right and breathing in the left to the count of eight.
Can be used anytime you are feeling off color. But I am in a habit of doing this first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
And now, I don't have to write it out everytime someone needs this method--I'll just refer them to the blog!
Posted by girija tropp at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)