Maybe. Can one quit being a writer? This is a post I’ve wanted to write – and dreaded writing – for a long time. For about as long as I have no longer considered myself a “writer,” at least outside of my freelancing career. How long has that been? It’s hard to say. There wasn’t […]
Last month, my husband and I spent a couple of weeks visiting family in Finland and Germany. The historical site we were both most excited to see was Turku Castle, in southwest Finland. Turku was the capital of Finland until 1812, when Alexander I, thinking Turku was a little too close to Sweden and too far from
Turku Castle/Turun Linna Read More »
Many buildings outside London had thatched roofs of reed or straw, and in January 1784 Woodforde noted: ‘I rejoiced much this morning on shooting an old wood-pecker, which had teised [teased] me a long time in pulling out the reed from my house. He had been often shot at by me and others…For this last
I kind of feel sorry for the woodpecker. Read More »
We had no such thing as printed newspapers in those days to spread rumours and reports of things . . . but such things as these were gathered from the letters of merchants and others who corresponded abroad, and from them was handed about by word of mouth only; so that things did not spread
“Instantly,” 18th century-style. Read More »
Last year, I found a copy of Mrs Beeton’s Household Management in a secondhand book store, and snapped it up eagerly. It isn’t obvious when it was printed. A previous owner wrote her name and the year 1944, but certain things made me believe this was already a few years old when she got it – for
A Mrs Beeton recipe: Tomatoes, Stuffed, With Mushrooms Read More »
In 2008, my friend Suzen and I started making short video diaries as a way of keeping in touch across the country. I’m clearing out some files from my computer and I found the videos I’d made. Here are some text excerpts that prove no matter how much I think I’ve changed, I’m still very
At least I’m dependable. Read More »
I tried for a week and a half to get through 23 pages of a “literary” novel I ended up abandoning, but have spent the past two hours completely engrossed in a book based on the Dragon Age video game series. Draw from that any conclusions you will. (I was surprised to find the Dragon
No shame in my video game-book-game. Read More »
This 1945 penny was in my change from the grocery store in 2010, and it’s one of my most prized possessions. I’m not really a monarchist, but I like to imagine the way the world was when this coin was new. In the grander scheme of history, it’s very recent, but these days the world
Reading descriptions of food in books is maybe one of my favourite things. I often read the descriptions two or three times, imagining how the combinations work and comparing the food to what I’m already familiar with. Recently I read a food description in Ethan Frome that was among the most unusual I’ve seen: She
There are some writers who I enjoy as writers more than I enjoy their writing. Stephen King is one of them. Doris Lessing is another. That’s not to say I dislike their writing, but I don’t respond to it as well as to what they say about the practice of being a writer. I’m really noticing
On not finishing books, and peer pressure Read More »
