1. Sitting in the sun for a few minutes.
2. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a letter to one of my favourite childhood authors -- Diana Wynne Jones. A reply arrived yesterday. I wasn't expecting one; I wasn't even expecting an acknowledgement -- she must get piles and piles of letters from adoring fans. But here was a personal letter, responding to my comments and promising a sequel to one of my favourite books ever in the autumn. (Go to 43 Things to find out why I wrote the letter in the first place.)
3. I read Richard Feynman's book What do you care what other people think? while I was travelling. The title sounds like self-help, but it's not. It's memoirs and essays by a genius. The title piece is the story of his first wife who often asked him that question. It made me think about how I squirm and feel small and hot at the noise made by my friends having fun, wondering 'What must people be thinking?' I wondered why I cared so much about what total strangers thought -- so much so that I felt bad about people I like and respect having fun. Anyway, last night, I sat in a restaurant among friends drinking cocktails and laughing loudly, and towards the end of the evening, I realised that I hadn't once felt squirmy, small or hot. Which sounds like progress to me.
Shower, sparrow and night before bin day.
1. The rain comes down in rushing spate, drowning downpipes and running in fans over the asphalt. Next time I look up, the sun is out, water...
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1. Stirring the brewing coffee to break the floating crust and bring up the crema. 2. We have donuts to give the children at teatime. 3. Th...
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1. An enormous fat bumble bee at work. She is so bulky that she can knock dead blossoms out of the way as she gets right in to the new jasmi...
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1. The shortest night and the longest day. I was up at Wellington Rocks with Anna, Paul and Jason. We couldn't see the sun through the m...