Posted on 30 September 2005 @ 18:00 in Health
Received my lupus wristbands from Tricia, volunteer with St Thomas’ Lupus Trust this afternoon. Slipped them on and found them a bit too big for my left wrist. Felt a bit conscious wearing them – don’t want to be seen as jumping on the wristbandwagon. But then, it’s a good opportunity to spread the word about lupus.
In her note, Tricia mentioned about Lupus Week in October. Wonder what’s the actual date? Have written to ask her.
I ordered 5 (4 purple, the original colour, and 1 orange, which is the newly added colour), and plan to give the purple ones away to friends. No more orange wristbands, as I’m wearing one purple and one orange.
Anyone want one? But must promise to wear. The purple one says “Lupus? What’s that?” , while the orange one says “Life without Lupus”.
I’ll probably wear mine during off-work hours. Closet wristbander?
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Posted on 30 September 2005 @ 06:09 in Gadgets
I’ll be moving into my own apartment later after renovations are done (not even started, as my tenant will be moving out this weekend), but already I’ve chosen the Home AV System for it. Although I’ve been thinking about how I want the apartment to be, and what I want in it, this is the first item decided on. Mainly because it’s cheap and by a company I’ve always respected for their hi-fi stuff.
I was thinking how typical of me to think about such a luxury over other essential stuff (like the kitchen and the bedroom), but then, music’s always been in my life, so it’s not a luxury to me, but a must-have, almost a lifeline.
More later.
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Posted on 29 September 2005 @ 09:53 in Stress Busters
Over the next few evenings, there will be a series of documentaries on my favourite black and white furries over both Animal Planet (Astro 51) and National Geographic (Astro 52). I don’t think it’s intended to be a series, but it just so happens both channels are showing the documentaries on consecutive evenings.
Below are the screening times for the various documentaries:
Panda: The Great Leap Forward
Animal Planet (Astro 51)
Thursday, 29 September
9:00 p.m.
Fate of the Panda
Animal Planet (Astro 51)
Friday, 30 September
2:00 p.m.
Panda Nursery
National Geographic (Astro 52)
Friday, 30 September
8:00 p.m.
Giant Panda: The Last Refuge
National Geographic (Astro 52)
Sunday, 2 October
1:00 p.m.
The documentaries are also being shown at other times over the next few days, but those are either in the middle of the night or early in the morning.
They are all reruns, too, that I’ve watched over the years, but will enjoy watching again.
Catch them if you can.
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Posted on 28 September 2005 @ 17:36 in General, Personal
If there’s one thing I’m guaranteed to do well (and right everytime), it’s pissing people off.
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Posted on 24 September 2005 @ 12:31 in People, Writing
My favourite picture from the book doesn’t show a desk at all. All it shows is the writer seated with pen and notebook in her hand. The writer in the picture is Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Literature Prize.
Another picture shows one of the younger writers, Veronica Chambers, seated on top of her kitchen counter, laptop on her lap. Again, no desk – not in the traditional sense of the word. Unfortunately, the picture is spoiled by the sight of the wire linking the laptop to a power outlet beneath the counter. I found myself thinking how much more powerful this picture would be if she were shown using an AlphaSmart. But the picture was taken in 1996 when the AlphaSmart was barely out of its infancy, and yet to be discovered by writers.
Chambers is one of four writers shown using a laptop in the book. One of the others is Amy Tan. All four represent the younger generation of writers featured in the book.
Most of the others have variations of the laptop’s “ancestor” (typewriter) on their desks – manual, electric, electronic, and a word processor here and there, too.
Some have no typewriters on theirs at all, Susan Sontag being one of them. Well, Morrison has neither desk nor typewriter of any sort. And some are shown standing up at a tall counter. I read somewhere that’s what Ernest Hemingway used to do – write standing up until he was happy with the words before moving on to a typewriter for the rest of the day.
Morrison also doesn’t have any books or papers or folders or filing cabinets around her. Most of the others do, their writing stuff stacked high, almost to the ceiling, or spread wide around them.
What all these writers have in common is that they are all featured in this book, The Writer’s Desk, a book of photographs taken by Jill Krementz, wife of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (he’s also in the book).
Others in the book include P G Wodehouse, Stephen King, John Irving, Jean Piaget, John Cheever, Pablo Neruda, E B White, Thornton Wilder, Philip Roth, Robert Penn Warren, Joan Didion, James Michener, Joseph Heller, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Tennessee Williams, Saul Bellow, Joyce Carol Oates, etc.
Accompanying each picture is a short essay by each writer about their writing process. The introduction is written by John Updike, who has three pictures accompanying his words, each showing one of three of his writing desks.
Many of the writers I’m familiar with, some I’ve never seen pictures of before, and very surprised when I finally saw what they look like. For example, I never knew Niiki Giovanni is female. Or black.
Unfortunately, the book is out of print. I got mine from an online second-hand bookseller. I’d read about it from Richard. His entry about it is here. All it took to send me searching for a copy was the magic word “writer” .
Now, I’m thinking of getting a second copy, for a friend whose birthday is coming up soon.
Shh …
*mysterious*
An interview with Jill Krementz about the book, with some pictures from it, may be viewed here:
Leaving a Trail: A Writer’s Desk by Jill Krementz
Another stunning picture from the book is the one on the cover:
That’s Eudora Welty in profile at her desk, her typewriter before her.
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