Thursday 30 May 2019

A to Z of bookishness - a book by Olive Etti



Olive (my typewriter alter ego) has been busy.

She was set the challenge by the Instagram group  #areyoubookenough to make a book on the theme of alphabet.

What better way to address the theme on the subject of A to Z than an A to Z of bookishness she thought.

So she popped to her favourite shop in London, Shepherds for some suitable paper and started compiling a list of book related words.

She got stuck at Z, and it occurs to me now, that she forgot that the book is printed on Zerkall  paper. Ah well, next time.....

Next she searched for some photos....

The internet has a wonderful supply of images available under creative commons licence.

She started her search here, and rapidly disappeared down a rabbit hole of wonderful old photographs.

She particularly likes this self portrait taken in her days of working for Bell telephones.

She rather likes the way that her right hand rests nonchalantly on her left thigh while perched at the top of a ladder in high heeled shoes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14569555060/

And then she set to work.

A rather unplanned process of typing and experimenting, in the way that only Olive knows how.

Each time she made a mistake, she tried re-typing. each time she re-typed, she made a new mistake.

So using her motto 'good enough is good enough' she settled for far less than perfect.

She found an old scrap book and pilfered a few images from there, as she knows that people enjoy looking better at pictures better than reading words.

Her old friend, Frenchy has such a marvellous smile. And she used to have a bit of a thing for the Prof.  So she cut them out and did a bit of sticking and glueing.



https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14743606386/




N is for nonsensical notebook



V is for verso, W is for well thumbed



She got sloppier and sloppier as the project progressed, and eventually sewed the pages together.

Shocked to find that she had fogotten how to do coptic stitch, this took longer than it should.

Luckily Pinterest saved the day.



A to Z of bookishness

She had no time to make a cover, as the deadline was approaching fast, and she couldn't think of a suitable way to cover it anyway. She created a very nifty hanging thread instead.

And here it is.....




Monday 27 May 2019

you do not have to be good

you do not have to be good


Strange times......

Mixed emotions and a life on hold for a few weeks as my mother dies and we wait for her funeral.

Creativity stifled except for brief moments when words flow.

The ability to express my emotions through written words is something I am grateful for.

So much easier than speaking out loud.

'You do not have to be good' wrote the poet Mary Oliver wrote in her poem "Wild Geese".

I find these words resonate right now.




When you mother is gone, there is no one to be good for any more.

The world is calling, and I have to decide how to be in it.



I wrote a few words last week, which I call a recipe for survival.



Recipe for Survival

Gather fallen leaves and petals.
moisten with gently lapping water.
Add some mid-summer dreams,
strands of curling fescues
and a melody of birdsong.



Mix all in the evening’s half-light,
then rest for forty days
in the distillatory of your mind.
Decant gently into a slender-stemmed goblet
and consume one small sip after another
until the day is done.





I was going to say so much more, but for now that feels like enough.
 

gather fallen leaves and petals.....