Thursday, June 05, 2008

Breakfast, make room, make room and Gemma.

Still getting spammy comments, so I'm still moderating, but hoping to switch back soon.

1. I love taking my breakfast tray into my room.

2. I'm moving again, so the time has come to shed some stuff -- in particular, books. I go through the shelves and am surprised that I can pull about nearly a meter-and-a-half of books that I'm never going to look at again.

3. I crouch in bed totally absorbed by Gemma Bovery. I love its shameless middle-class setting, and I am in awe of Posy Simmonds' ability to make us both despise and love the characters -- Joubert is creepy and bumbling, yet brave and kind; Gemma is ridiculous and cruel, yet beautiful and deserving of love. I occasionally stop reading to seethe with jealousy at the power of illustration. An artist can draw a person in 25 lines and a bit of wash and you know what they look like like, how they stand, what they wear. It would take a writer pages to do that -- and I'd probably cut it all out for being 'showing-not-telling'.

Book treasure, worn and speaker.

1. Finding treasure in the Oxfam bookshop. I only popped in to look for a card. 2. Bettany doesn't wear makeup out and about, but noneth...