'An Ode to Marking'

Now, I confess that I am no poet, but as the mountainous pile of assignments begins to overwhelm me, I felt the need to release and talk back to those nasty writer's notebooks, writing projects and folio drafts.

Anyway, here it is.  It has made me feel better for writing it!

‘An ode to marking’

I know you mock me.

You, you white sheets of purity,

You think you are so saintly.

But no, you are tainted.

Marked with blackness,

With your insipid romances

And melodramatic tragedies,

Your violence and your wars.

No, you are not pure or perfect.

Are you oblivious to your mistakes?

You are riddled with the diseases

Of poor grammar

And punctuation errors

And words that don’t make sense

Or sound just plain lame.

Do you think that you are everything?

That I have no other life?

Well, I do.  I have a LIFE.

A life that is my family, my garden,

A house to keep, and books to read.

Do you not think I deserve to sleep?

Or to eat? 

Maybe even watch a tv program, or a movie

Just once in a while ….

I know you do not care for any of that.

You just demand and consume me,

Trying to destroy me.

Well, you won’t.

I will have my life, and you can wait.

So next time you mutter

About deadlines and results,

Just remember:  I have a LIFE!

just an update ...

My creativity has been somewhat stifled by an overwhelming mass of Writing Project drafts of late .... (sigh)   However, I am still reading - Pearl in a Cage is the current tale of choice, and I have to say that I am quite engrossed.  I will endeavour to post some details in the near future ....   I am also very excited about the forthcoming release of Kate Morton's latest novel, The Darkest Hours.  I cannot wait for this - bring on November 1!!

Truth ...

I have just finished reading Peter Temple's Miles Franklin Award winning novel, Truth.  While I am not normally an avid reader of crime fiction (apart from my love of Patricia Cornwell), I did really engage with this story.  I loved the vivid Melbourne setting, and although I found the large number of characters a little challenging to keep up with, it was a fantastic story.  The portrayal of characters was believable and human; I liked that it was not ALL happy endings, and yet the narrative provided a satisfactory resolution to the plot lines.  Lots of complexities and subplots - a recommended read!   My only gripe was an error early on: 'women' instead of 'woman' - cannot help but get stuck on such mistakes  :(

What to read tonight?  I need to select from the substantial pile next to my bed ... perhaps Pearl in a Cage?

Elegance of the Hedgehog ...

Wow!  I have finished reading this beautiful novel ...it was fabulous!  It took me a while to empathise with the two alternating narrators:  Renee is the 54 year old concierge, of humble origins yet highly  although secretly educated.  12 year old Paloma is an intelligent daughter of one of the wealthy residents of number 7, Rue de Grenelle, who rejects the bourgeois and plans to commite suicide on June 16, her birthday) But I steadily became enthralled by the story.  It did feature some surprise twists - I won't give too much away - although I was a little saddened by the final event before the novel's conclusion ....   I would have liked a little more on the developing relationship between Renee and Paloma, more on the interaction between them to convince me of their connection, although it was credible.  I totally believed in - and found myself hoping for the blossoming of - the relationship between Renee and Monsieur Ozu.  It is a story about friendship, intelligence versus the class of intelligentsia, fate, wealth and status ... It was just so different, and so lovely, intellectually challenging, and yet imparting some basic messages about life, love, culture and the state of the world.  Adorable!

Pearl in a Cage

Just bought this one on e-bay.  Looking forward to a shopping trip to Hobart, where I am sure I will pick up an extra book or two  :)  Plus a visit to Laura Ashley ... always inspiring!

New books!

I love buying new books, and have now added Peter Temple's Truth and Still Alice, by Lisa Genova, to my collection, as well as the latest Joanne Harris novel, Blue Eyed Boy.  I always become so engrossed in Harris' tales, and look forward to reading this one.  


I cannot wait for our new house extension to be completed, so that I can create my library/study - although sadly, it won't warrant one of those ladders that roll along to reach the higher shelves ... still, I am excited about creating a new book haven for myself, building some new shelves and organising my very own library.

50 great reads ...

I am so excited that the new list is out, and have already highlighted about twenty books I simply MUST read ... shopping awaits .............