Filed under: Literature, Single life, business | Tags: canaries, fuerteventura, holiday, jed rubenfeld, julian barnes, karaoke, laundry, Literature, psychoanalysis, winter sun
The Pirate and I landed in Dublin last night, still friends after our week in the sun together. The irony of the situation isn’t lost on me – the last holiday we took together as a couple was, over all, miserable, whereas our ‘just friends’ trip to the canaries was a resounding success.
Things that made me smile this week:
Grandma Patty, aged 70+, who murdered ‘What a Wonderful World’ at karaoke every night.
The Reptile Show, where I was blindfolded and handed a rather large python. I love reptiles, and my enjoyment of the experience was added to when the Pirate jumped out of his chair and left the building before I could introduce him to my new friend. Girl’s blouse.
A drive to the south of Fuerteventura, Pirate at the wheel, leaving me to admire the bizarre Martian landscape of the island.
‘The Interpretation of Murder’ by Jed Rubenfeld, a murder-mystery set in early 1900s New York with Freud and Jung at the centre of the action. Oedipal theory, dead bodies, and psychoanalysis galore.
‘Arthur and George’ by Julian Barnes, based on a real world miscarriage of justice in Victorian England. Arthur Conan Doyle becomes Sherlock Holmes in this beautifully written, meticulously researched novel. A British Knight with a penchant for disguises, a love affair hidden from a consumptive wife, the clever but remarkably ordinary George Edalji and the author’s droll sense of humour combine to create a book that demands attention.
I’ve designated today as a day off – to recover, unpack, and do laundry. Tomorrow I turn my energies back to the business and the real world. I’ve had a few thoughts this month that will undoubtedly make the New Year our most prosperous so far, but there’s a lot of work to be done between now and then.
I’m off to catch up on the blogs and happenings I’ve missed out on this week. What’s new with you?
I complained earlier today about how, well, dull our life is sometimes. And I was promptly told that it’s a matter of how you choose to look at life.
Ah, he doesn’t say much, but when he does he often surprises me with his insight. Of course it’s a matter of perspective; almost everything is.
Life isn’t dull – I’m just a little lazy right now. We’ve booked a holiday for next week which will surely jolt me out of the lethargic state I’ve grown accustomed to over the last few weeks.
This holiday has real potential. I’m very excited at the prospect of canoeing and camping. He doesn’t seem excited about anything, but then he never does.
(Unless it involves the pub.)
Things are good between us right now, but the thought that we’re just delaying the inevitable has entered my mind on a few occassions.
There are some people you meet who you instantly connect with on a level you can barely recognise; a connection that runs deeper than words or actions. Just by sharing the same space, the same air, by sitting close to one another, you KNOW each other. You don’t need to talk, or make promises, because you both understand that yes, you’ll see each other again, that the other person is as aware of the connection as you are.
The Pirate was never one of those people. We seem to live life on different frequencies – we see and hear different things, care about different things, right down to the way we think about birthdays and cups of tea.
My wise aunt once pointed out the biggest difference between me and my wonderful sister. To me, life and everything in it is about the journey. The step by step process of making things happen, of watching things unfold, of enjoying the moments along the way. My sister is more concerned with the destination – I don’t fully understand what this means to her, but I know she’s more interested in the outcome of a particular event than she is in the event itself. I think the Pirate is like that too – to me, he seems impatient and disinterested, but he’s probably just seeing things from his own perspective.
Maybe he’s all the bad things, and I keep making excuses.
