Saturday, 28 November 2009

three and seven are special

yes, yes i've been missing from blogworld this last couple of weeks and from world of computer generally. quite why this should be i cannot say - rain has trapped me inside for long enough. mainly i just can't be doing with it. lack of training for my new year's race could be something to do with it - i have no need to be out on the bike in bad weather so i'm just not. t is concerned by this tho having said that she's been sufficiently unwell this last couple of weeks she's in no position to throw stones (not that she could, even if she wanted to).

i'm placed in the position that i'm a bit rubbish when i've got a sick house mate. i can deal with day to day sick (a couple of days) or proper sick (hospital) but lingering lurgy is not me - it's like being at work but really not. so i disappeared for a bit to let her sleep it off some more. whihc kind of worked even she's post viral and miserable now. not constant girny miserable but that way where your body's not been working for a while and needs out and about. i watch and learn, finally go out on the bike and - it's rather lovely.

but still no blogulising, precious little emailing. computer land is just plain depressing. so, instead, much lunar nonsense at the weekend with friend geo. and some particularly bad film watching. i see something call push which looks lovely but seems to have no story whatsoever. we recover with the wrath of khan. hilarious. geo finds the whole not drinking thing a bit odd, despite the fact that i'm drinking with him, in fact just drinking, for only the second time this year. it feels pretty odd and to be honest i'm more concerned with getting a read at my book. still. i get mildly
drunk while he passes out on the floor. ah, the years it was me! as he sleeps it off i get up bright and early and lose myself in renaissance world and the battle of lepanto, which i've only just discovered. books, you have to love them.

back to the house where t is now capable of movement. i have a load of writing stuff to do plus paintings to paint. ostensibly. i start work on one which must, absolutely must, be for t's mum. except it's so not. i diverge away from the original plan and end up with a spectrum of blues that's going no further than my wall. t, who seems to have mastered the making and selling thing effortlessly, is both amused and unimpressed and also back to the drawing board when it comes to trying to get me to paint more/sell some.

anyway, i reach the end of the week feeling somewhat out of sorts for no good reason. but today an envelope flops through my door. a letter! for me! i can't remember the last time i got an actual letter. and yet here it is, from dear mmoneypenny who, for various reasons, is also absent from computer world. all manner of bits and pieces are there. which is great. communication from a foreign land is like communication from another world.

what's all this bilingualism on the envelope? de partout....jusqu'a vous - it's just got a romantic ring to it. and then it's full of paper. coloured papers, coloured inks, strange diagrams and a ticket stub that's resistant to any interrogation. one bit of paper she's used has various addresses from her home town on it - it's scrap paper she says but really, it's anything not, these names and numbers are mysterious cyphers, un-knowable.

while i love the world of blog and genuine affection for the people i've 'met' here as well as all the things i could never have done had it not existed what a different thing it is to get a letter, and not just a letter, a package, a sample set. some sort of tangibilty. so thank you mmoneypenny, you've made my day/week. three and seven are special and i hope you enjoyed them...!

15 comments:

Rachel Fox said...

Lunar nonsense sounds good. I only do so much of this because I am in-house with family and all that a lot of the time. More freedom and I'd be running the streets by night shouting obscenities or something. You know, the usual.
x

Dominic Rivron said...

Yes, you can't beat the real. I was only thinking the same thing today myself. I'm an urban animal who has had to adapt to a rural environment (it would be an understatement to say there are worse things to have to adapt to) and I get a lot of intellectual stimulation from the internet. But I found myself this afternoon craving an evening in a real boozer deeply embedded in a city where there was an interesting challenging gig/poetry reading going on with an average age of less than 50. Oh well - possible if I drive to Newcastle. But I bet I couldn't see the Andromeda Galaxy there, with the naked eye. All I have to do here is turn off the kitchen light and open the back door - assuming it's not cloudy, which it is tonight, which could explain my heel-kicking mood!

Niamh B said...

Three and seven may be special, but so are you swiss, and computer land is that bit nicer with you joining in. Having said that, i guess it's true, we shouldn't forget the real world around us, so a good break from the blog every so often ain't a bad idea at all.

Marion McCready said...

I'm on enforced leave from the computer as the baby won't tolerate being held in the little cupboard that is the computer room! Hoping to sort that out soon but in the meantime I'm working my way through some political biographies - that Cherie Blair is so not what she appears to be!!

On Facebook Colin is excitedly telling us about your forthcoming collection, I'll be looking for a signed copy for sure!

swiss said...

but rachel i thought you and wee girl would be out shouting something along the lines of - ricky whittle! why?

i don't know precisely what that means but it's the limit of my strictly knowledge!

dominic, as i'm in possession of my new telescope finally (meade etx80 - idiot proof!) these cloudy skies are just a tad frustrating. i get fleeting glimpses of jupiter and the moon is awkwardly sliding (out of view) into fullness. i;ve got one of those computer things that does all the work for me. fantastic. or some i'm told!

niamh, that's very sweet of you. so much so i'm going to tap you up for a possible favour.

sorlil - cherie - in a good way or a bad way? pray tell. the book? i'm not on facebook or any of its incarnations but i'm excited about it all and looking forward to getting it launched. of course you can get a copy. find me a venure in dunoon and i'll even read out of it for you!

Roxana said...

"i get fleeting glimpses of jupiter and the moon is awkwardly sliding into fullness."

is this how an old japanese master would write if he were born in today's scotland? lovely poem :-)

Marion McCready said...

swiss, please join us on facebook!!!

as for cherie, just not what I was expecting, a bit out there in a totally wacky kind of way. whereas hilary clinton - much more down-to-earth, could really relate to which was even more surprising!

now that is an interesting idea, may put out there and see if there is local interest for poetry readings!

swiss said...

roxana - you have such a lovely conception of us! if such a master was born in scotland he would be old, bitter and probably very drunk! ; )

sorlil, i really can't join facebook. the whole cia thing does sound like a bit of a mad conspiracy theory, only not that mad when you dig into it a bit. and aside from that things like the following just put me off...

"Facebook may also collect information about you from other sources, such as newspapers, blogs, instant messaging services, and other users of the Facebook service through the operation of the service (eg. photo tags) in order to provide you with more useful information and a more personalised experience. By using Facebook, you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States."

Marion McCready said...

never put you down as a conspiracy theorist lol

if they want info on you they'll get it facebook or not!

Rachel Fox said...

No, Swiss, the Girl likes Chris Hollins (too young for sexy Ricky W! Still prefers the cuddly types).

And Sorlil - I was pleasantly surprised with the response I got to putting on a poetry event here so go for it! It's one way to meet up with your blog poetry pals (and more)...well, one way for those of us living on the extremes.
x

swiss said...

i'm not a conspiracy theorist per se but i do enjoy a good one.

unfortunately the facebook one isn't a good one as its funders are quite upfront about it. and people are into it! orwell never would've dreamed it! lol

now i sound like the unabomber!

Dominic Rivron said...

Re telescopes - mine has a motor drive, but I haven't got round to figuring it out. Thought I'd stick with doing it manually until I'd got my head round it - and figured out an exact place to put the tripod each time. Cloudy skies are a nuisance.

swiss said...

the telescope - the moon looks great in it, the very few time i've had time to look through it. jupiter unfortunately follows a trajectory behind the hill at the front of the house and then thru an array of streetlights! i;ve dry runned the autostar stuff and it looks great but still waiting for clear skies on a day off.

annpoyingly i did buy a mains power input for it which has turned out to be the wrong one. i got an email for the company telling me this today. but, i;ve pointed out, it's the one you supplied me as compatible. this seems a bit complex for them at the moment!

Dominic Rivron said...

I haven't figured out all the equipment yet (I'll get round to it) - but I must say I enjoy working the machinery manually. It's a challenge that creates a sense of adventure.

swiss said...

yes, but you're the man that made a radio telescope out of a wok. whereas i have problems with left/right and can;t understand how my planisphere works! lol

i love the noise it makes when i've got the motors on. it makes me feel like a bond villain...