tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71914084405061402142024-03-16T15:52:32.175+10:00are my feet in the way(a blog by kári gíslason)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger347125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-62504732372316213452024-03-16T15:51:00.003+10:002024-03-16T15:51:50.508+10:00Cover reveal: Running with Pirates<p>The cover of my next book <i>Running with Pirates</i> has been released. It bears an evocative design by <a href="https://www.lisawhite.xyz/"><span style="color: red;">Lisa White</span></a>, who has also created book covers for titles by authors such as Craig Silvey, Pip Williams, and Kate Moreton.</p><p>For me, the cover of <i>Running with Pirates</i> responds sympathetically and joyfully to the book's themes of adventure and reflection, its setting of Greece, and to a certain playfulness that comes with one of the storylines: in the fable-like qualities of the ocean as a pattern, a texture of the past and of remembering, and of ships, too. As well as the very particular nature of storytelling for one's children. </p><p>It's also graced with a very generous cover endorsement by fellow author <a href="https://susanjohnson.net/"><span style="color: red;">Susan Johnson</span></a>, who writes of the book: <i>Hearthbreaking, joyful, tender. The full catastrophe: Greece and life, in all its pain and glory</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglsrX2XWncsgNK9M8UFagbKJVw3Os5142zj024QCAahCShSfivDSjaelaqs4gEXYL7eApl5ETmForLTeXBIoz4shQIFN9tBPwf0FdikFEInHP0wvIqfkp1wUAS43GjbuiyAbeG_MWzmLRp4RTCUE4AFqFciSuCerIYP5p_Snv5GTNQyVKrXed23k7jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1004" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEglsrX2XWncsgNK9M8UFagbKJVw3Os5142zj024QCAahCShSfivDSjaelaqs4gEXYL7eApl5ETmForLTeXBIoz4shQIFN9tBPwf0FdikFEInHP0wvIqfkp1wUAS43GjbuiyAbeG_MWzmLRp4RTCUE4AFqFciSuCerIYP5p_Snv5GTNQyVKrXed23k7jpg=w268-h400" width="268" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The book itself will be released on 30 July this year.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-136643729736491532024-02-11T13:39:00.003+10:002024-02-12T13:04:30.403+10:00First Pages of Running With Pirates<p>This week I received the 'first pages' of my new book, <i>Running with Pirates</i>, a memoir about fatherhood set on the Greek island of Corfu that will be published in August.</p><p>The term 'first pages' refers to the first iteration of typeset pages that are printed out as proofs of a book and then marked up with any final changes that need to be made. The first pages can also be used for the advanced reading copies that are sent out to reviewers, booksellers, and other industry partners who need to read the book, albeit in its 'uncorrected' form, well ahead of the actual publication date. This is because reviews tend to come out at around the same time as the book's publication date.</p><p>For an author, I think there's a special quality about these pages, because they represent another first: the moment when the book takes a physical appearance that isn't of one's own making. In other words, the text takes a step beyond the laptop, the study, and the many earlier drafts, and begins to look like an <i>actual</i> <i>book</i>, which partly means something that doesn't belong entirely to me anymore. </p><p>This is a kind of first farewell to the work, as well as an initial meeting with how it could be shaping up for others.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN3HzOUpSmekPWnNwTDUqGPanfgXvHTPfljCFXipWX96fx7VClwkk4RY-9Xo95n6yXb3Yx1wQdf_O6P7Oj5rt_lrudaj8DL1HFwmaqmqFUVsSBBDpy2TultOXPGqJaVLXubjLrrVc0hPkhQelwmPmY4kY1K51uUky9mAel28N_II4ZIe-0qAB_2WHTCA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3564" data-original-width="5346" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN3HzOUpSmekPWnNwTDUqGPanfgXvHTPfljCFXipWX96fx7VClwkk4RY-9Xo95n6yXb3Yx1wQdf_O6P7Oj5rt_lrudaj8DL1HFwmaqmqFUVsSBBDpy2TultOXPGqJaVLXubjLrrVc0hPkhQelwmPmY4kY1K51uUky9mAel28N_II4ZIe-0qAB_2WHTCA=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Arillas beach, Corfu</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-15403391335150030712024-01-03T04:10:00.005+10:002024-01-03T04:28:14.292+10:00Prague to Budapest (a list poem)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiqr30k6ED6pa1i0ZNeWY_EuxiHJrouS8i16peBnGneXzw9F2vIibgtZKq222NuW3ddzf5KcPCRVPeIMMOLZCJl_oYYp4uBaLXjiOFTuXST8jAQjd5HJybB8tSm-FrUbJc10xChipu6S27_k0ucgqfNijCJ2XH1ahrryxSd83EuQC06CXQFYQtzYEMw/s4032/IMG_6262.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiqr30k6ED6pa1i0ZNeWY_EuxiHJrouS8i16peBnGneXzw9F2vIibgtZKq222NuW3ddzf5KcPCRVPeIMMOLZCJl_oYYp4uBaLXjiOFTuXST8jAQjd5HJybB8tSm-FrUbJc10xChipu6S27_k0ucgqfNijCJ2XH1ahrryxSd83EuQC06CXQFYQtzYEMw/s320/IMG_6262.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">PRAGUE STATION, 7:44am. </blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>Blue light. </div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>American neighbours.</div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>One of their party is in first class:</div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>“Ooh, first class,” says their friend,</div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>after they've gone.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>“I know, right,” says another.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Village houses pale against fields.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Black branches like inverted arteries of the lungs,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>beside river-narrow lakes.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Fluorescent lights outside barns.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>American neighbour:</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>“Do you have a crap laptop</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>to download everything on?</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>I’ve got every movie I’ve ever watched</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>on that thing.”</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Ticket inspection.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Grey light.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Flat country, ploughed.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Wishing we were going slower</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>so I might read the village names</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>given on short platforms.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Factory towns, apartment blocks.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>Remembering the Museum of Communism,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>and the apartment projects, for workers:</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>build, work, dig, labour as virtue,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>but writers underground.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>First stop, Kolin, 8:19am.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Pink buffet cart.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Email from our host in Budapest,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>who is called Attila,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>from Hungary!</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Pink buffet cart returns.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Pardubice, 8:41am.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div> </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Text from my sister Bryndis,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>her New Year's dinner photos,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Reykjavik under snow, floods in Hungary,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>as in Brisbane.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The web of weather reports.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Inside and outside light.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>How warmth can mean such different things.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Reading Jessica Au’s</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>Cold Enough For Snow,</i></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>a book of nearness and distance.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>How they combine when we meet family</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>after time apart,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>memory the link between carriages,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>along a line, not joined completely,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>yet close to inseparable.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>M’s head on the table,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>a pillow of scarf and ham baguettes</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>that would be better off elsewhere.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>O asleep, too.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>F reading cricket news:</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>David Warner’s cap removed</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>from a trolley,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>luggage lost.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Stately mansions with hollow windows.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Valley roads, brown hills, low clouds.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>A plain town with a few, Prague-pretty streets,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>the rest of the houses either alpine or Soviet, an odd mix.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>I wonder, too, while reading,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>why Au doesn’t name Australia specifically,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>but rests it anonymously as</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>a memory setting, not a “here”.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The Museum of Communism insisted:</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>We will name the past precisely,</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>its language of remembering is direct, not implied.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Not veiled.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The museum cafe was closed “due to technical reasons”, the same bureaucratic language finds its way even there, where it is despised.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Broken coffee machine?</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Southwards, the Austrian influence becoming more pronounced</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>in forehead-like eaves, thoughtful.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Villages that climb to churches.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Cotswold-like hills.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Fast flowing streams that suggest higher mountains. Steepness.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>A factory called Adast.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>I look it up on the free train wifi: fuel pumps manufacturer. Well, why not.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Brno, 10:18am.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The boys have started writing their own list poems that point out how lame mine is.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>A walk to the restaurant carriage: double espresso and Viennese wafers.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Breclav, 10:52am. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div> </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd_H0khjBVXgZdJWMJKCu3Ra0reRCZ-p_OiQbyAuNtDxAvJjh3oVpme4_hYmlAIH_Qos7a94R-Cs_k9fHd2p3AyDL1DjQ5JOmw-X7Ayi2csIf4Su3EbDIHMQdEkGDFMoU8nmUvhIo-fj7Zaim0vYMPD9RIeccGYMZd_DpW2jvhO6kFXJwBCUWmSZRXEw/s4032/IMG_6266.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd_H0khjBVXgZdJWMJKCu3Ra0reRCZ-p_OiQbyAuNtDxAvJjh3oVpme4_hYmlAIH_Qos7a94R-Cs_k9fHd2p3AyDL1DjQ5JOmw-X7Ayi2csIf4Su3EbDIHMQdEkGDFMoU8nmUvhIo-fj7Zaim0vYMPD9RIeccGYMZd_DpW2jvhO6kFXJwBCUWmSZRXEw/s320/IMG_6266.JPG" width="240" /></a></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Red-capped station guard.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Vineyards.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Crossing the border into Slovakia, 11:05am.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Glimpses of the sun beneath clouds.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Kuty, 11:12am. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Attempted snooze.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Bratislava, 11:58am.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Full train, much calling out.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>A screaming toddler who has had enough. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>A sound that cuts through into the eyeballs, says O.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Parents imploring. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The atmosphere on trains changes after every station.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>More vineyards, misty hills. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>The smell of warm food on cold clothes.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>News, Wayne Rooney sacked. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Discussion, do strikers make good coaches? Dalgleish. Others? Ferguson played as a forward. Oh and Cruyff, of course. Pep.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Noon is not making a difference to the grey sky, but a band of orange remains low on the horizon, a faint promise.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Italian neighbours chatting across the aisle.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Words: chiesa, Maria, quattro, bello, mangiare, musica, sharing NY fireworks videos without headphones.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Blue train stations.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Tidy Graffiti, seemingly in permitted parts of the walls.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Remembering a young guy I once met who travelled the world to tag trains. Disliked street art, which is sanctioned. Tagging is unwelcome, the real thing, he said.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Nove Zamky, 12:55pm. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div> </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtaFHAw2QI21SEByaUBqHPmSqLsrmC4ry_zrhAp0kj4uMk_kJuNs8zExwToN6yzfLtRQB7uckdiDDVilslNVwY2gtM2UwFOmO0VyMn6QG_sFf7YNIqaWeZyl13tGRNTybgkFlr3wxWw4d7PJINqMSV_V-XhtHp3lF-bqyrShfq66a1i0yV2qkhbz3Vw/s4032/IMG_6297.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtaFHAw2QI21SEByaUBqHPmSqLsrmC4ry_zrhAp0kj4uMk_kJuNs8zExwToN6yzfLtRQB7uckdiDDVilslNVwY2gtM2UwFOmO0VyMn6QG_sFf7YNIqaWeZyl13tGRNTybgkFlr3wxWw4d7PJINqMSV_V-XhtHp3lF-bqyrShfq66a1i0yV2qkhbz3Vw/s320/IMG_6297.JPG" width="240" /></a></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>M playing silent piano on my knee. Air piano?</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Sturovo, 1:25pm.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>First sight of the Danube, overflowing and silty. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Hungary on the other side.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Carriage lights go off, officially enough light to count as day.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Szob, 1:36pm.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Tiled roofs. Guesthouses. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Riverside prosperity. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Balconies and patios for the first time.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Nagymaros-Visegrad, 1:53pm.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>A few yellow houses standing out from the white and ochre of more suburban streets. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Holiday cabins.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Someone making a reel about Budapest before even arriving playing the first bars of George Ezra's “Budapest” over and over while editing.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Recalling what Mark Twain once said: it’s easier to write about a place before you get there.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Vac, 2:06pm. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Next stop, Budapest.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>First bars still going. “My hidden treasure chest…”. Not so hidden at the moment. </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Very well announced.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Go through Felsogod</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Next, Alsogod. Hmm!</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>“Hidden treasure chest” man has gone to the toilet, which is also, also good.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Quiet.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Budapest outskirts, 2:20pm.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Bags pulled down around us.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Squeak of puffer coats being put on.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Pink-yellow light.</div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>BUDAPEST STATION, 2:33pm </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div> </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9h6YMgh0boax9nD0PIkitsf6mt1Hgsn9avB1FVNinDyKyangCWGrdFmTfBKiqj4B_dNlx_Jcs-XRGnBd0ydG8w7uTGFD_DTZ9xxDqoUJqgzhS8NGHyPfoiPBL7YVnjt5iMhhsTMSge-iVBZfcxOBzSxLIVknKKvLfka_4bFhDDp-XZvQJGoeZq9Wq_A/s4032/IMG_6299.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9h6YMgh0boax9nD0PIkitsf6mt1Hgsn9avB1FVNinDyKyangCWGrdFmTfBKiqj4B_dNlx_Jcs-XRGnBd0ydG8w7uTGFD_DTZ9xxDqoUJqgzhS8NGHyPfoiPBL7YVnjt5iMhhsTMSge-iVBZfcxOBzSxLIVknKKvLfka_4bFhDDp-XZvQJGoeZq9Wq_A/s320/IMG_6299.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">(PS the journey was clean, comfortable, modestly priced, efficient, and on time.) </div></div></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-59799738476795134262023-12-23T01:47:00.002+10:002023-12-23T01:50:02.939+10:00Writing room<p>A little while ago, I was interviewed by the literary magazine <i>Kill Your Darlings</i> about where I like to be when I write, and my writing habits more generally. Like many others I know, I find routine and repetition are key to being productive as a writer: in this, writing is like sport, in that you can develop fitness simply by being consistent. You even come to feel a little impoverished if you don't get your daily writing time, much like after skipping exercise for too long.</p><p></p><p>But I think there's also something to gain in changing routines, for different spaces suggest new ways of thinking; even change itself can come to constitute a space that encourages openness to the new.</p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvT13_mPf6DfUjQeBVuET9FS_0vtHD_ZSQkwS4ak4omKZAyqThmPiZ31kWxaxmKzd9ryO0nr9FdqgiVlN9Y6AtiMpLxeJ_bhg-SCPkyOzpAnJ1yJ2uzOferybr5mzx3uWkaQv_eiV3muMbXrZuso10uoevEAQ2qO_9IJz6Xi-DRF9L3Z1fcJZLkYRyrw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvT13_mPf6DfUjQeBVuET9FS_0vtHD_ZSQkwS4ak4omKZAyqThmPiZ31kWxaxmKzd9ryO0nr9FdqgiVlN9Y6AtiMpLxeJ_bhg-SCPkyOzpAnJ1yJ2uzOferybr5mzx3uWkaQv_eiV3muMbXrZuso10uoevEAQ2qO_9IJz6Xi-DRF9L3Z1fcJZLkYRyrw=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2598" data-original-width="4030" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghFpXBc7NB00GhoFam36yEA5kROB7nRNVSrPqRN0DpXphTYkm-G2kCUzgx-kFd_BCWF-NVzYMi5OQt-4Bz64w9kbef3V4Tpk3nQ0relTu33QigLJHM1uaNCLZtBgkP1AipU_qSrf9m5CnBcWIlxmEDXyaSV3lEbuVmi9j9LSizoi1IhZMDKMesBduxRQ" width="320" /></div><br /></div>Over the past of couple of months, I've spent my days working in various libraries and reading rooms in Oxford University. Like most universities, this one communicates its attitude to knowledge in part through its buildings and grounds. In a college-based system like Oxford's, where teaching rooms, halls, and libraries are often shielded by gates and imposing stone walls, that communication can seem to emphasise separateness and exclusivity. <div><br /></div><div>But Oxford's architecture also expresses an extraordinary commitment to how spaces create new ideas and approaches: the optimism of spires that reach heavenwards, the warmth of sandstone walls, and the care taken in how reading room are furnished, lit, and encased by high bookshelves and windows. In their beauty and age, Oxford's buildings ask you to take the time to process and develop your thoughts with equal care, and seem to assure you that you'll get there if you do.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5hXftBhZLZMUFnTCbf5fnN3_KZg46hYQdMhnUYh5k-U-ShNCJTR78bljMx7cT7CZwEUaHbP_Dgnps7664PKaslDQjHeGB4zLgQP3mh6u9_7SeXn9S2Q3YkcCb-PD_BV4rk5ZAwERBZPWCa_ybMYspqTObwyN2r76ccSa5WCAGKDNVZX4Zw3ChYJ69og" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5hXftBhZLZMUFnTCbf5fnN3_KZg46hYQdMhnUYh5k-U-ShNCJTR78bljMx7cT7CZwEUaHbP_Dgnps7664PKaslDQjHeGB4zLgQP3mh6u9_7SeXn9S2Q3YkcCb-PD_BV4rk5ZAwERBZPWCa_ybMYspqTObwyN2r76ccSa5WCAGKDNVZX4Zw3ChYJ69og" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYKie_x7Dbwh1FGgqvqASFYCxRMzlO88cnyiY0ctPSFpl4EYywLfNgsc_9d9VCWR0uIf9rCYrdQ-TFCPssIsL0RamDXCoa3rrpZGDJqwit-hkl2xv2KNM2X8X4hYa3ZTg6MG4OdR9OweP2tNm5HhUbbGj9sWqgzK6GdgwCc83Y7nkmSL-dqxSjSRUUzA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2874" data-original-width="4133" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYKie_x7Dbwh1FGgqvqASFYCxRMzlO88cnyiY0ctPSFpl4EYywLfNgsc_9d9VCWR0uIf9rCYrdQ-TFCPssIsL0RamDXCoa3rrpZGDJqwit-hkl2xv2KNM2X8X4hYa3ZTg6MG4OdR9OweP2tNm5HhUbbGj9sWqgzK6GdgwCc83Y7nkmSL-dqxSjSRUUzA" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-o-YQBnkvJiBN7EkZ91zZXS3jJRT9-GqQx5gjLqRanc9dwVPgigFIvlgNLYIBULhUlaQsxDJF00tV5X818jUvyeKTDBEDB7WcMJ8ZR2ElEFVW2RiSGCGm_K8Khf4NZNJRLwqv2eeLheqQkEnghUUKrkoL-bsKlFerQF9TIWnaifwsgwHUp0sssjUoiw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3271" data-original-width="5070" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-o-YQBnkvJiBN7EkZ91zZXS3jJRT9-GqQx5gjLqRanc9dwVPgigFIvlgNLYIBULhUlaQsxDJF00tV5X818jUvyeKTDBEDB7WcMJ8ZR2ElEFVW2RiSGCGm_K8Khf4NZNJRLwqv2eeLheqQkEnghUUKrkoL-bsKlFerQF9TIWnaifwsgwHUp0sssjUoiw" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgu5ryjP9h24krwiqBkJ3-YmgC8DxL31PWBGfEyv0CW_Pf_lBNzyTkN7ybIjFpLs-b85kVd7lsp2F4Yd35bzlw8_ouNlcGk8sk9UMTKVQtUQx42KbKdBrICSqGr0t-ptS8fCwYlyB-XIvY5RixScxb9Xg-BbQOJGiRwAmvQjLdQ8ZgAgb1k1oYK6AvkPw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgu5ryjP9h24krwiqBkJ3-YmgC8DxL31PWBGfEyv0CW_Pf_lBNzyTkN7ybIjFpLs-b85kVd7lsp2F4Yd35bzlw8_ouNlcGk8sk9UMTKVQtUQx42KbKdBrICSqGr0t-ptS8fCwYlyB-XIvY5RixScxb9Xg-BbQOJGiRwAmvQjLdQ8ZgAgb1k1oYK6AvkPw" width="180" /></a><div><br /><p></p></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-22214285641270505662023-12-15T23:13:00.004+10:002023-12-19T21:44:51.609+10:00Sunrise at Lindisfarne<p>Earlier this week, I travelled to Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, off the Northumbria coast. The island was the site of a Viking raid in the summer of AD 793 that is often cited as the beginning of the Viking Age, for the raid was thought to mark a new ferocity in the Norse incursions into Britain. </p><p>These days, historians tend to emphasise that raids of various kinds were taking place before then and in other countries, and that we need to be cautious about claiming start dates of this kind. But, all the same, Lindisfarne remains very central in the story of the terrors that Vikings inflicted in the eighth to tenth centuries, and in accounts of their attacks on undefended abbeys and other Christian holy sites, in particular.</p><p>Though the island is separated from the mainland by a tidal plain that can only be crossed at low tide, it is also noticeably open and unprotected: it seems to greet the sea and the countryside around it. At sunrise on a clear winter's day, the stillness and peacefulness of the area made the island's choice as the site of an abbey seem perfectly understandable, even all this time on. A place that was both apart and part of its surroundings.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgApr-4T0_JQ3wWWbUN3GBfd5zdHf9mGgADpCFb40ATkoMvOzocrEyieQO37zt66ClWz1qZCGlUwK_12L6CqzBtOJmzAPGNdLLxEKfGQS3I42VfDr4zyDoZ4m0aV57HA4vF9EDzscrUpKn1imtdrFHPHGExgg629J7fHxiZ8HHbx6Hto38XDDI6NOJmCg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgApr-4T0_JQ3wWWbUN3GBfd5zdHf9mGgADpCFb40ATkoMvOzocrEyieQO37zt66ClWz1qZCGlUwK_12L6CqzBtOJmzAPGNdLLxEKfGQS3I42VfDr4zyDoZ4m0aV57HA4vF9EDzscrUpKn1imtdrFHPHGExgg629J7fHxiZ8HHbx6Hto38XDDI6NOJmCg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipJtcyppZ8qB3a_EIh6fKz5N5jriZDdcyeYqKEvI5mvreW1UGXwRAXlDrHLAYdQ2VScXAoaqAzgtllE8fKU4R67jaA2o8nqQZIZrHUaabL47sSVjPiesPIVYTOf5YRjCIK5NxGh7r3b0i90ZT39dEE4QGieFBCpxBFHRNiQwFLLIMXuccZ5WEIR2wZgg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipJtcyppZ8qB3a_EIh6fKz5N5jriZDdcyeYqKEvI5mvreW1UGXwRAXlDrHLAYdQ2VScXAoaqAzgtllE8fKU4R67jaA2o8nqQZIZrHUaabL47sSVjPiesPIVYTOf5YRjCIK5NxGh7r3b0i90ZT39dEE4QGieFBCpxBFHRNiQwFLLIMXuccZ5WEIR2wZgg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPwaH0UW35zSCxIdWMF0srwFsgMVF_3ONY9kbON_tV7b79so7rDHw7srvf82peD1B4R9i5w35Wx7ICA_d7s6tn-5miCeBOt9QptOStmI_jqX3M221K2ROB-AuP9ug8pJBbCXASndDU7SCftM3ZU5Z2DiCZBTzSXbAt-RX8yjY68nfYKn_czrlD5ZmBzg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4413" data-original-width="2941" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPwaH0UW35zSCxIdWMF0srwFsgMVF_3ONY9kbON_tV7b79so7rDHw7srvf82peD1B4R9i5w35Wx7ICA_d7s6tn-5miCeBOt9QptOStmI_jqX3M221K2ROB-AuP9ug8pJBbCXASndDU7SCftM3ZU5Z2DiCZBTzSXbAt-RX8yjY68nfYKn_czrlD5ZmBzg" width="160" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSlJUgFii6FuuPCtv6NrXPB59RTidP0Fi8sj2iDs535m3Ppy7pAPAqYR3EeskMiisBbPmv-1rEEML2Gx_a4mTAQlqhjt4frA4xT4lTeVwIJELh5Md9Mds2o510SKNQPX_At_Jl3nuoSClQEe9H5HXry_-eAdeWTaUKJZPHFek7i8WYxCryzPR7DP8rFQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2543" data-original-width="4245" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSlJUgFii6FuuPCtv6NrXPB59RTidP0Fi8sj2iDs535m3Ppy7pAPAqYR3EeskMiisBbPmv-1rEEML2Gx_a4mTAQlqhjt4frA4xT4lTeVwIJELh5Md9Mds2o510SKNQPX_At_Jl3nuoSClQEe9H5HXry_-eAdeWTaUKJZPHFek7i8WYxCryzPR7DP8rFQ" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><br /></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-21738127353257846732023-12-10T01:45:00.003+10:002023-12-10T01:46:22.956+10:00New(er) buildings in Oxford<p>No doubt, it says something about me that, while in a city famed for its old buildings and monuments, my eyes have equally been drawn to newer structures, and how they are integrated, come to form points of contrast, respond to the past, and offer new interpretations of more traditional shapes, patterns and architectural legacies. </p><p>I find the dialogue between modern and old styles as interesting and engaging as the styles themselves - especially here in Oxford, where concepts of inheritance and new knowledge are each so important in their own ways.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgad4_UuN1C9yp5PGtaRDGwcHWJ4MH0v7S4gHDqA1E1OaCVI2cekDZnqg5wxIjmiEL2pkYPqtdGU2KMo4XgdJdXUgbF-C_KHt7CTp0Px_03BccdIIgTA2LMoVbfdZEyiCovjBQIcVbjtQD1rS0H5w78o7QySB6fQPIHzhIPPQYfbv6zmIiIR3NSHTWudw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgad4_UuN1C9yp5PGtaRDGwcHWJ4MH0v7S4gHDqA1E1OaCVI2cekDZnqg5wxIjmiEL2pkYPqtdGU2KMo4XgdJdXUgbF-C_KHt7CTp0Px_03BccdIIgTA2LMoVbfdZEyiCovjBQIcVbjtQD1rS0H5w78o7QySB6fQPIHzhIPPQYfbv6zmIiIR3NSHTWudw" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHyQM4Jdql2r8fKwq1WpKtXNs0fdygX8DWz-DQZs_k53O0X0m40kl7qQjUiirjz8yNdGKj3MvEDt7Ls093DlLSNF5GQp33AV2GvbEGDQ1SHlbBcx_XTfOSgteoQ6SygWP3CudpV_YVRQDvfiqlepYbfFPCDAG5GSZQbUxaArE9OkI35vap1JhZgsFkMA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2386" data-original-width="3408" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHyQM4Jdql2r8fKwq1WpKtXNs0fdygX8DWz-DQZs_k53O0X0m40kl7qQjUiirjz8yNdGKj3MvEDt7Ls093DlLSNF5GQp33AV2GvbEGDQ1SHlbBcx_XTfOSgteoQ6SygWP3CudpV_YVRQDvfiqlepYbfFPCDAG5GSZQbUxaArE9OkI35vap1JhZgsFkMA" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span><img alt="" data-original-height="2290" data-original-width="2608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiW6iMwaPtCZvsgM_A2LRSL3tYl7ChqP4CxlORAG_ooyDXrg_3HZFERI0awSEUZUTdagAOnuRTCDe4uLFNIylx5SIGCPavY1-epAb4TfAwAO58WDr0htCPINUpllj1cEVsRlZi5JvCpBHoz8hCzFZXz36XwA0fYb3cgmet3JkKoXxeVsBVaSMaxukeTtA" width="273" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlQq86XLZIHAI1iIsJN5hf_NzTheWqnmwU-XKDiO1QV3VZQsCGmfQKLxXcYrkeN7pdr7oSv9n7VTgmS66zXl510-NYLqIBdekSST5DEiZ2SbpPQD5y5FI7qA-qwxl7ltS0S5mVkB2jHHc4DISQe1JNajcvRna-LPBX6acRMyS42_8YAhTWeXJPEaym1w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhlQq86XLZIHAI1iIsJN5hf_NzTheWqnmwU-XKDiO1QV3VZQsCGmfQKLxXcYrkeN7pdr7oSv9n7VTgmS66zXl510-NYLqIBdekSST5DEiZ2SbpPQD5y5FI7qA-qwxl7ltS0S5mVkB2jHHc4DISQe1JNajcvRna-LPBX6acRMyS42_8YAhTWeXJPEaym1w" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4v2OtiVkEFdXgd-XU7imzwS2dJ3It8zjc9lgOYibultg3NFLjVSNsQpciEuXPZxMWeLCNXeUGozo2-GNWSBYG3kRRvDQ46CqePLZFx_lilXpCajOV5oEdHMY-BiZj5iYje70t0Yj-kGDphwaukO7ntMl7ZsItsOKOhnbG08yXyPG0HBiJyEQyINx9Hg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4v2OtiVkEFdXgd-XU7imzwS2dJ3It8zjc9lgOYibultg3NFLjVSNsQpciEuXPZxMWeLCNXeUGozo2-GNWSBYG3kRRvDQ46CqePLZFx_lilXpCajOV5oEdHMY-BiZj5iYje70t0Yj-kGDphwaukO7ntMl7ZsItsOKOhnbG08yXyPG0HBiJyEQyINx9Hg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLdGjCpoUnP4yrLQaQCEs88AWPOzxDvHd9ELQYsWiyXn711i8SdVKWg_YURD-z4SG5nr9PRWhk5jANo_X6e0iF7hNOEd6pgYLZHWdAe0YLO8GdkVkZ29KUK271ZUr3O3adxq70ST4ULHnxH4ooftHnRnKxCKFCLEthJqe5LLA1jZ8fseBvi4YG_L0RXg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLdGjCpoUnP4yrLQaQCEs88AWPOzxDvHd9ELQYsWiyXn711i8SdVKWg_YURD-z4SG5nr9PRWhk5jANo_X6e0iF7hNOEd6pgYLZHWdAe0YLO8GdkVkZ29KUK271ZUr3O3adxq70ST4ULHnxH4ooftHnRnKxCKFCLEthJqe5LLA1jZ8fseBvi4YG_L0RXg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQZwCOhRL8JQFpT8s6ydNT932_j2jr4V8WQ08HGJz_OfbsOteP-ayC3FTIXl-pBWeGcUPfZCjtEFlsRqSTdKJl0fvnR3sju_R3x_SzjeBdYeG2Egqc__2n0dEIEOEhfsvJYjQMnnWztluVR9JVggGY9UIt0s9y-On2owA4sRlMUShm7cGtueITzzbJlg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2915" data-original-width="4761" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQZwCOhRL8JQFpT8s6ydNT932_j2jr4V8WQ08HGJz_OfbsOteP-ayC3FTIXl-pBWeGcUPfZCjtEFlsRqSTdKJl0fvnR3sju_R3x_SzjeBdYeG2Egqc__2n0dEIEOEhfsvJYjQMnnWztluVR9JVggGY9UIt0s9y-On2owA4sRlMUShm7cGtueITzzbJlg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNMRaCOhf1qfBkm9rs0DdYsvNb7JFcBh0A3d76z0a9P7UbE2RXM53xmwWq3R99mNPpb9YFkPKYKJ3Gnd4G8ZVemW8G-mrs1a8Ld5FohK-7JkDt9yF5tbxXO7O9d9HhL3P61XEYGzbPpft8Ai_XHpjNwV5ibTwb07X44ZwqPC7iNTJzYXCtHcjbytrIDQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4632" data-original-width="3042" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNMRaCOhf1qfBkm9rs0DdYsvNb7JFcBh0A3d76z0a9P7UbE2RXM53xmwWq3R99mNPpb9YFkPKYKJ3Gnd4G8ZVemW8G-mrs1a8Ld5FohK-7JkDt9yF5tbxXO7O9d9HhL3P61XEYGzbPpft8Ai_XHpjNwV5ibTwb07X44ZwqPC7iNTJzYXCtHcjbytrIDQ" width="158" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikpIfdOEP6YBUZN2vE2J5ihDxj9F13glKtR14G24jH8vvSUVKQF2Eb_7aUySM8tTBEvfwRp8UGHUuqrsNA31edFVYKbHyACqisc6kY6Khm65xNIvnJ6ctM7i061FVI9MhNqtfrBSi4wtC6RF3o23riYhZn86dxN6aUIfmDDCdYvKrUKxUayhSsS5Bv5w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2801" data-original-width="4114" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEikpIfdOEP6YBUZN2vE2J5ihDxj9F13glKtR14G24jH8vvSUVKQF2Eb_7aUySM8tTBEvfwRp8UGHUuqrsNA31edFVYKbHyACqisc6kY6Khm65xNIvnJ6ctM7i061FVI9MhNqtfrBSi4wtC6RF3o23riYhZn86dxN6aUIfmDDCdYvKrUKxUayhSsS5Bv5w" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">*</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgesJGQLOrZn9dh0MrnQYeOPuNU5LIS4toTvePa9E50ptV8sbWVElLns6qm9qvEx76O5MjPB4HcPK3CqOq307ozilhxFkEWEkSa0EXC2Pf454DoQfh4YPIrTgaipmASTeIAJJFKhAXAFHrBD6bWRaGnKg_ctCd4Tmf3-LKVaXM4-Q8K232MzVjoRpRyYA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3290" data-original-width="4206" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgesJGQLOrZn9dh0MrnQYeOPuNU5LIS4toTvePa9E50ptV8sbWVElLns6qm9qvEx76O5MjPB4HcPK3CqOq307ozilhxFkEWEkSa0EXC2Pf454DoQfh4YPIrTgaipmASTeIAJJFKhAXAFHrBD6bWRaGnKg_ctCd4Tmf3-LKVaXM4-Q8K232MzVjoRpRyYA" width="307" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Well, and one of me in front of an old college.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-48433753422675992952023-11-17T05:19:00.009+10:002023-11-22T07:44:58.965+10:00Remembering the St Brice's Day Massacre of AD1002On Sunday and Monday just gone, I attended a series of events in Oxford marking the anniversary of the St Brice's massacre in the year AD 1002. The events were organised by <a href="https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/news/remembering-st-brices-day-at-st-johns/">St John's College</a>, where in 2008 a mass grave of the remains of thirty five young males and two children were discovered, and which were subsequently tied to a decree that was issued by King Aethelred the Unready (ruled 978-1013 and 1014-1016) that instructed his English subjects to kill all the Danes in England.<div><br /></div><div>It seems that the men and children who were killed that day were settled in Oxford, and probably lived on the fringes of the main town, in an area now known as St Clement's. But even though they were part of Oxford society, clearly they were also still seen as foreign, that is, as Danish outsiders, and thus were associated with Viking raids on England that the King was struggling to repel. They became the scapegoats for the wider problem of Norse incursions and the violence these brought.</div><div><br /></div><div>The evidence suggests that the Danes were not in a position to defend themselves, and were fleeing their attackers as they were killed. They fled to St Frideswide’s church that was located where Christ Church College of Oxford University now sits. They hoped to find sanctuary in a building committed to God. But when their pursuers couldn't force the Danes out, these pursuers set fire to the church. </div><div><br /></div><div>The horror of that day feels like an inversion of much of what we think of the Vikings who raided Britain and the Danes who occupied large parts of the country from the ninth to eleventh centuries. For, this is a story of partial integration, vulnerability, and defencelessness. It reminds us that the broad sweep of historical narratives is always incomplete.</div><div><br /></div><div>The events to commemorate the St Brice's Day massacre were varied. They included a walking tour of the evidence of Anglo-Saxon Oxford, lectures by Professors Carolyne Larrington, David Griffiths, and Caroline Wilkinson, and a panel discussion hosted by forensic anthropologist Professor Dame Sue Black that also featured author Amy Jeffs, who has written on English folk tales, and Angie Bolton, who is Curator of Archaeology at <a href="https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/leisure-and-culture/museums/museums-resource-centre?utm_term=nil&utm_content=">Oxfordshire Museum Services</a> and oversees the preservation of the Viking remains that were found at St John's College. It was very touching to hear Angie Bolton say that she says hello to these remains whenever she goes into the area of the museum where they're kept; she feels it's important to talk to them.</div><div><br /></div>A DNA test was performed on one of the skeletons, SK1756, a young man who had been struck with a sword and stabbed many times. In a remarkable piece of matching, the young man's remains were identified as a near relative of a man whose skeleton had been found in Denmark. In 2021, SK1756 was taken back to Denmark for a visit, and for a time was reunited with his relative in a special exhibition at the Danish National Museum in Copenhagen. <div><br /></div><div>At the commemoration this week, a reconstruction of his face, undertaken by <a href="https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/research/centres-and-institutes/forensic-research-institute/related-research-groups/face-lab">FaceLab</a> of Liverpool John Moore's University, was also revealed.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCLO7E7q3NvQsoPeAdtT_jXFiPNfd9UNHZgUnsOuANm5wou_zH5_4Wo9PBLU_yDeO9Ua8-8vB312nJyB1CRhg3KvfPKvduqsdJ4j47RTOkiaXfB9YvnirunvU3HNUYsn8FCo1bN8paO2-As8w41nGTynA7Dz2VKgFXxCF9ed-bNrTY49hhbqLqZkhMEw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="800" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCLO7E7q3NvQsoPeAdtT_jXFiPNfd9UNHZgUnsOuANm5wou_zH5_4Wo9PBLU_yDeO9Ua8-8vB312nJyB1CRhg3KvfPKvduqsdJ4j47RTOkiaXfB9YvnirunvU3HNUYsn8FCo1bN8paO2-As8w41nGTynA7Dz2VKgFXxCF9ed-bNrTY49hhbqLqZkhMEw=w400-h209" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The reconstructed face of one of the victims of the AD 1002 St Brice's Day Massacre</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Source: https://www.sjc.ox.ac.uk/discover/news/remembering-st-brices-day-at-st-johns/)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5-GpGHYUsXT9dxLTIPQEHGn4zHBTouAwjg8H39CYYSPI5BlWcvsb0fVX3aSD0wG3wRsfGR-GNFP2C7lnAfOIkcOEA6CS-wAniz58X9dwd2zgMpT43Gk2IVnIBQyykHSxh4dodvsjPxtBuabPL62niH3UXHwzbP7tSNMxkweZ0eEYxMSE5gTikjuMqYQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5-GpGHYUsXT9dxLTIPQEHGn4zHBTouAwjg8H39CYYSPI5BlWcvsb0fVX3aSD0wG3wRsfGR-GNFP2C7lnAfOIkcOEA6CS-wAniz58X9dwd2zgMpT43Gk2IVnIBQyykHSxh4dodvsjPxtBuabPL62niH3UXHwzbP7tSNMxkweZ0eEYxMSE5gTikjuMqYQ=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A walking tour of Anglo-Saxon Oxford arrives at what is now Christ Church College</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOMAcV2KSgugwmRJKaLt6gHb4F6uDxYf4OGZ-4UxY9yfJhgF-CYQgnlaCvbdKYIstZooe5AUAbAzAYtwnPI_-jbkgJ9vkU7mkGocRLNbMRxYYUtYak_v0Uzd4lmNLIcD8oengQvJMPDaamladwVEXLtCc21E-3ETomyLmjyp6UkZjSb0PsUl3GYHACww" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2613" data-original-width="3499" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOMAcV2KSgugwmRJKaLt6gHb4F6uDxYf4OGZ-4UxY9yfJhgF-CYQgnlaCvbdKYIstZooe5AUAbAzAYtwnPI_-jbkgJ9vkU7mkGocRLNbMRxYYUtYak_v0Uzd4lmNLIcD8oengQvJMPDaamladwVEXLtCc21E-3ETomyLmjyp6UkZjSb0PsUl3GYHACww=w400-h299" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The grounds of St John's College, Oxford</span></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-12919724819927241652023-11-04T02:35:00.008+10:002023-11-04T06:05:48.789+10:00The Oxford Canal Towpath<p>I arrived in Oxford a few days ago, and today used a sunny spell of weather to follow the Oxford Canal Towpath: I walked from where I am staying near Hythe Bridge in Jericho (in the city centre) as far as Oxford Airport, which is about 10km one way, for the first six kilometres on a concrete footpath and then on more varied, narrow and muddy tracks. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9swwTlUdEex68mrGMKwI90Ha128j6u8SGv4cd4YaFV6MPqCUtWF7jFRIVjsaL_xBeFzZFBgBw4XGQY-SOpCmk4Y_RlSjYk1Mw2IBO1mYdd5rYkhMWul2A_n-qkEwwQ5SrLUsf_6COrvjsVahuSRgVbjDdLiqjKAQ3q8V-eeERzRE11o1Jh9psB8oUWw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5472" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9swwTlUdEex68mrGMKwI90Ha128j6u8SGv4cd4YaFV6MPqCUtWF7jFRIVjsaL_xBeFzZFBgBw4XGQY-SOpCmk4Y_RlSjYk1Mw2IBO1mYdd5rYkhMWul2A_n-qkEwwQ5SrLUsf_6COrvjsVahuSRgVbjDdLiqjKAQ3q8V-eeERzRE11o1Jh9psB8oUWw" width="160" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>For the start of my walk, the Canal was busy-ish with walkers, joggers, cyclists, fishers; most of the way, it's lined with prettily-decorated narrowboats, many of which had fires going and must be used as homes, some rather luxurious-looking, others seeming to be overrun with grass and reeds, so well are they embedded in the bank. <p></p><p>After a couple of kilometres, I had long stretches of the Canal more or less to myself. It was very soothing. The colours of autumn were deepened by the interplay of light and shadows that comes with the quickly-changing weather that Oxford is having at the moment.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKYgyBjnE2Ic28gbV9QRy3eYXGvbYXt9QTHUUiX3NAJWvuf2jJ2TPkJ4BEiC-FeSNbVmDumje_eh60GxpoqGiRCqOAijmsrTIbZGFwZ45znaqG3T3ySnJLX0kbAFOoQaWGZALRf8SXy6GVlIPnUrZZLJONj0JYyDUOqJwFqK30ReY18FqAH-bhQQ0GFA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKYgyBjnE2Ic28gbV9QRy3eYXGvbYXt9QTHUUiX3NAJWvuf2jJ2TPkJ4BEiC-FeSNbVmDumje_eh60GxpoqGiRCqOAijmsrTIbZGFwZ45znaqG3T3ySnJLX0kbAFOoQaWGZALRf8SXy6GVlIPnUrZZLJONj0JYyDUOqJwFqK30ReY18FqAH-bhQQ0GFA" width="320" /></a></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-Vt4QC_Rh6lCNykPJKJUdXk7NFaBMB1NDob4uwV-16ya6hceRRZMHD5qmg0U8Yzv6ihj0rJJAWhmjErwum-QHDkkZYCUWAmKAQbm6yuwlAuPGamZKw3jfr5V3SPIFMzS7H8QxU_-xhizrPG62CL9U3NR0DpBAhv7CUqT9jy5vczPqAFKbAqS2Ced-Cw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-Vt4QC_Rh6lCNykPJKJUdXk7NFaBMB1NDob4uwV-16ya6hceRRZMHD5qmg0U8Yzv6ihj0rJJAWhmjErwum-QHDkkZYCUWAmKAQbm6yuwlAuPGamZKw3jfr5V3SPIFMzS7H8QxU_-xhizrPG62CL9U3NR0DpBAhv7CUqT9jy5vczPqAFKbAqS2Ced-Cw" width="320" /></a></div><p>When I got to the Airport perimeter, I found a food cart, and got chatting to a regular, a motorcyclist who said he liked to stop and talk to the owner about a favourite sport, motorcross. </p><p>'It's a hell of a week we're having,' he said to me.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I wasn't quite sure what he meant, given the state of the world at the moment. But I agreed. And then I asked if he meant the weather. </p><p>'Yes,' he said. 'Terrible. Though it should clear up later. And then get worse again.'</p><p>He mentioned the upcoming game on the weekend, and again I was left searching a little. 'Oxford United?' I said.</p><p>'Yes. They've been getting good crowds. Though I don't like going myself.'</p><p>'No?'</p><p>'No. Last time I went to the football I was sat next a fellow dressed as a banana. Oxford were about to be relegated, one game from it.'</p><p>'I wonder why he was dressed like that,' I said.</p><p>'Don't know.'</p><p>'Not because the team was slipping out of the division,' I suggested.</p><p>He gave it some thought. 'Couldn't tell you,' he said.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifC_jGQpkW0t38sk-biT73Z3_C-iaGxyE3xmoxr49flI1hylh78Icdjq03yt2aPfitowboGVvf1Co-DyWlpOLWklGWlhDIvNPs75CEb6zhpK79svshiqs9J1QkXQzR-RjcdrxCkL_MSnAh_9Nw_Y_twubmcxH5OpM8Qlo5hne8SOtKeuMZjI_YPumtdQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3093" data-original-width="2602" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifC_jGQpkW0t38sk-biT73Z3_C-iaGxyE3xmoxr49flI1hylh78Icdjq03yt2aPfitowboGVvf1Co-DyWlpOLWklGWlhDIvNPs75CEb6zhpK79svshiqs9J1QkXQzR-RjcdrxCkL_MSnAh_9Nw_Y_twubmcxH5OpM8Qlo5hne8SOtKeuMZjI_YPumtdQ" width="202" /></a></div><br />We collected our food and said goodbye and I looked for a bus stop. <p></p><p>I had thought I might make it as far as Blenheim Palace, which was only another couple of kilometres along the road. But the weather was turning, as the man at the food cart had said it would, so I decided to leave that treat for another time.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-86209715495389530072023-10-25T14:57:00.007+10:002023-10-25T14:57:46.173+10:00New book!<p>I'm very pleased to share the news that I've signed a contract for my fifth book, <i>Running with Pirates</i>, a memoir about fatherhood that is set on the Greek island of Corfu.</p><p><i>Running with Pirates</i> tells two stories separated by thirty years, one of strange and wonderful experiences in Corfu when I was eighteen, and the other of a return I made to Corfu last year accompanied by my family. </p><p>It tells of the debts that I left behind when I was young, and how I might best pay them back all this time later, when my own sons are reaching the very age I was then. And so, it's a book for them, or us: a story I am telling my sons as a way of reflecting on fatherhood and our relationships.</p><p><i>Running with Pirates </i>will be published by <a href="https://www.uqp.com.au/blog/uqp-acquires-new-non-fiction-book-from-bestselling-author-kari-gislason"><span style="color: red;">UQP</span></a> in August 2024.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXovauqLMFdK7Bu9tfOl_AhzQO55_PWGuvsz4F9TPOqalT9XxNJtn9e6nhcbnW-ut7jHIibDBGsIah3AAXgmKX41yeiWXgolNJroSV2GcSJNo8abg0B9axwYilOz3yQUmTEfjLzvfpQIKiwAWYVT8dnZhxdvPPWE99xThhWphmlapag4-E292-zdrozg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXovauqLMFdK7Bu9tfOl_AhzQO55_PWGuvsz4F9TPOqalT9XxNJtn9e6nhcbnW-ut7jHIibDBGsIah3AAXgmKX41yeiWXgolNJroSV2GcSJNo8abg0B9axwYilOz3yQUmTEfjLzvfpQIKiwAWYVT8dnZhxdvPPWE99xThhWphmlapag4-E292-zdrozg" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Signing the contract for <i>Running with Pirates</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbkl9UrH6yG5il2JqUTBiQqnYA6KPDKmDeMfX0EfgN__rX82hw9-V88Mg1yMqhlFHRvdvSpV_0vCWP45bZHaC4UwiLtpsGy0-LRvvCPOMN4wp8UWoH0QTLfepTtaGujzErMw8FgTKAuIHAICbtpaG5Ykm11U977ZksPdhoxUNsDt2tayc8d0l88LOG9A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbkl9UrH6yG5il2JqUTBiQqnYA6KPDKmDeMfX0EfgN__rX82hw9-V88Mg1yMqhlFHRvdvSpV_0vCWP45bZHaC4UwiLtpsGy0-LRvvCPOMN4wp8UWoH0QTLfepTtaGujzErMw8FgTKAuIHAICbtpaG5Ykm11U977ZksPdhoxUNsDt2tayc8d0l88LOG9A" width="180" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">With UQP publishing director Madonna Duffy and marketing and publicity manager Jean Smith</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-UWbbTLcYhqErsaccKSfBfp0ESD-NvshKzy8kqkUcJ2_41AiNtDDegltHOzYYGxBtFJH-3y8TmwMaBoAkjg1p6KAuMJe3WlYIJXqosLW05kiwYxhZIdQxUVjjxuI9HsBXPHKMKSj1hy9rWH1MP1CD9jhuRDy3Z62Tvdzhp_okThVjlXN7t1EhP25DeQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4585" data-original-width="3513" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-UWbbTLcYhqErsaccKSfBfp0ESD-NvshKzy8kqkUcJ2_41AiNtDDegltHOzYYGxBtFJH-3y8TmwMaBoAkjg1p6KAuMJe3WlYIJXqosLW05kiwYxhZIdQxUVjjxuI9HsBXPHKMKSj1hy9rWH1MP1CD9jhuRDy3Z62Tvdzhp_okThVjlXN7t1EhP25DeQ" width="184" /></a></div>The village of Karousades, Corfu<br /><br /></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-85711449729899575012023-10-24T07:05:00.004+10:002023-10-24T13:27:28.537+10:00Impossible Inhabiting<p>In my last post below, I mentioned a scholarly article that I co-authored on the topic of creative practice research in Old Norse-Icelandic studies.</p><p>I've taken a slightly different approach to this topic in a piece that I've just written for the magazine <i>Kill Your Darlings. </i>There, I reflect on the apparent impossibility of fully inhabiting the perspectives of those who lived a long time ago and in very different circumstances from ours, but also on the necessity one feels as a writer to attempt that inhabiting. After all, I do want to better understand the people of the past, and to do so through creative writing involves a portrayal of their inner lives. </p><p>The piece steps through these topics while also traversing the fields of Haukadalur, where much of the action of my novel <i>The Sorrow Stone</i> takes place.</p><p>It is available online <a href="https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/impossible-immersion/"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3xqdQvlgOj7TBW41lFuTmllbSNzQzFUNatAqPDighkgwZJfZibv-KGivpuEVlNuXB0fqMuta5gRSb1rd70qj6NaTvwm_vUqtnAJEUN4X94qn7cwANrbXneJbXdoYkHmeoBw6DSXctwMIO9p426KrbLpyyzKi8JZCvn2nvBccvffA3wLR0QOaUW_v6Rg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1614" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3xqdQvlgOj7TBW41lFuTmllbSNzQzFUNatAqPDighkgwZJfZibv-KGivpuEVlNuXB0fqMuta5gRSb1rd70qj6NaTvwm_vUqtnAJEUN4X94qn7cwANrbXneJbXdoYkHmeoBw6DSXctwMIO9p426KrbLpyyzKi8JZCvn2nvBccvffA3wLR0QOaUW_v6Rg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">Walking in Haukadalur</div></span><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-83845321562040357372023-10-03T07:28:00.003+10:002023-10-03T07:28:44.679+10:00Creative Practice as Research in Old Norse-Icelandic Studies<p>I recently collaborated with fellow writer-academic Lisa Bennett on a scholarly article that explores the potential of creative practice as research in Old Norse-Icelandic studies, in particular through the adoption of female characters' points of view in contemporary re-tellings of the Sagas of Icelanders (or, <i>Íslendingasögur</i>).</p><p>The article is structured as a dialogue between Lisa and me, a format that allows us to develop the topic in relation to each other's creative practice, namely Lisa's new book <i>Viking Women</i> and my novel <i>The Sorrow Stone. </i></p><p>The article is open access and available <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41280-023-00285-z"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>. </p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhW1GI8mbeffDV0WX-epcSLK4OE1MOBnS9hYO3rYeP6YicffgRYiNmKcnidE9Xz2FGrc0E49Q7E2zPyYvIC6uw4ysESvbI5A9neMSiPY00uXMmT3yybbZBhfJEh2RQR9ylfD2ScDezZoZK1rpjn1s0n_76FsIqkIS0HWiBDoCwpnGH2k_f5OtxK5tqEZA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhW1GI8mbeffDV0WX-epcSLK4OE1MOBnS9hYO3rYeP6YicffgRYiNmKcnidE9Xz2FGrc0E49Q7E2zPyYvIC6uw4ysESvbI5A9neMSiPY00uXMmT3yybbZBhfJEh2RQR9ylfD2ScDezZoZK1rpjn1s0n_76FsIqkIS0HWiBDoCwpnGH2k_f5OtxK5tqEZA=w320-h213" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-39077815212033322512023-08-17T10:10:00.005+10:002023-08-17T13:21:36.277+10:00Saga-telling modes<p>Last week, I spoke about the Icelandic sagas at Melbourne's Sophia Club, which is a live philosophy series that also holds events in London and New York, and that is part of the philosophy magazine <i><a href="https://aeon.co/">Aeon</a></i>. The club's events take a multimodal approach to the topics covered, and on this occasion included saga readings by actor Eloïse Mignon and original musical performances by Erkki Veltheim and Aviva Endean (details <a href="https://sophiaclub.co/event/sagas-of-the-icelanders">here</a>). </p><p>The format consisted of interview questions about medieval Iceland and its literature and society that were put to me by the director of the club, Brigid Hains, with our discussion then interspersed with Eloïse's readings from <i>Njáls saga </i>(Gunnar's decision to refuse exile and stay in Iceland), <i>Laxdæla saga </i>(Guðrún's dreams), and <i>Grettis saga </i>(Grettir's fight with Glámr). The musicians Erkki and Aviva played while the readings were going, improvising responses to the text and the emphasis in the story. At the end of the night, I gave a performance of the first two verses of the hymn 'Heyr himna smiður', in part because the sagas as we have them are the products of a medieval Christian society (as are the words of the hymn, which were composed by the chieftain Kolbeinn Tumason, who lived from 1171-1208), but also because I find it's a fitting way to end the night.</p><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNEYu5frPVq6FYXWcDTyJS6acnd_S_VcHp5qwmo5JTbpbG1YaLL94rGIy8jNyXUbn-XlEQ3LxRhpeDSHaID6tAMJwPnQ-9so9g4DMjl2k8HPmjlqLeHOqIlv-syHj8cLi1T4pg4FkBP2AzsVLU7t42f215dBs34jKwBLaupAscuBo9t7bII5TE-hzOXA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNEYu5frPVq6FYXWcDTyJS6acnd_S_VcHp5qwmo5JTbpbG1YaLL94rGIy8jNyXUbn-XlEQ3LxRhpeDSHaID6tAMJwPnQ-9so9g4DMjl2k8HPmjlqLeHOqIlv-syHj8cLi1T4pg4FkBP2AzsVLU7t42f215dBs34jKwBLaupAscuBo9t7bII5TE-hzOXA=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></div></blockquote><div><br /></div>The event reminded me of how different art forms can reveal the properties of a source text in different ways. This idea was central to the <i>Saga Land</i> project I undertook some time ago, which consisted of a radio series, live performances of the sagas, as well as a co-authored book. It was a key part of why I wrote <i>The Sorrow Stone</i>, which adopted the conventions of historical fiction in order to re-tell parts of <i>Gísla saga</i>. It's also an idea I'll be exploring further in the coming months when, in late October, I travel to Oxford to undertake research into the role of creative practice as a research methodology in Old Norse-Icelandic studies. <p></p><p>Rather like those endeavours, the Sophia Club event last week was given an extra dimension by place and setting, which was the large but also intimate-feeling Brunswick Ballroom, recently renovated, and which with its wooden floors and small table settings created the atmosphere of a discussion that was being shared with everyone in the room.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjG2zq5cDzXHka5d_PnuGMw8FtE3gwK-Cmk6d6pvodCn1vOvIPNhGzkfLBosFM1O7h38GO1RvsWOB6iyUy0hOWSQu47BigRx7ryjQPkZjmOKcAvD_2PP-mOt6Viy3ghrOl8NTz6XajSlXks-ZDQs8qg8inQAzrBfcz73ubRfk0IuWLLAarVxh_rmatchQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjG2zq5cDzXHka5d_PnuGMw8FtE3gwK-Cmk6d6pvodCn1vOvIPNhGzkfLBosFM1O7h38GO1RvsWOB6iyUy0hOWSQu47BigRx7ryjQPkZjmOKcAvD_2PP-mOt6Viy3ghrOl8NTz6XajSlXks-ZDQs8qg8inQAzrBfcz73ubRfk0IuWLLAarVxh_rmatchQ=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></p></div></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-58066549062351204952023-03-19T12:53:00.000+10:002023-03-19T12:53:03.766+10:00In Conversation with Alexander McCall Smith<p>Last Sunday 12 March, I had the pleasure of interviewing Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith at Brisbane Powerhouse Theatre.</p><p>When the event was first booked, McCall Smith had recently published the latest book in his <i>No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency </i>series, <i>A Song of Comfortable Chairs</i>. But between then and last Sunday, more titles had appeared: <i>The Private Life of Spies</i> and <i>The Exquisite Art of Getting Even, </i>stand-alone works containing short stories joined by theme. </p><p>As a result, our conversation traversed three books and quite a varied range of topics, from the nature of revenge and forgiveness to the human scale of his delightful stories about Mma Precious Ramotswe and about the somewhat unlikely cast he has chosen for his book about spies, which includes German soldiers parachuted into England dressed as nuns, disgruntled Scottish farmers, and theologians seeking to safeguard the values of another age.</p><p>Perhaps more notable than even McCall Smith's productivity (he has published some 100 titles) is the consistency of his kindly tone and good humour in his books, and this came through on stage, as well. I didn't ask all that many questions, for his answers were generous and often very funny, digressive in a very enjoyable way, and he was keen to ask questions of me in reply: he sought out conversation, much as the characters in his books seem to do.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSMi2QTjacU8PVeenLOsaWo5x4zy0WNGCBsfuqTHXAvAbud0LIIggIC8KR2tLKB9CJKtRXYXw2ZbfUNDr_t5LEkoJ-i6Ax2n2jC4ZzpQj7yvjx59hC96D0aOHuzm1BQVFECtBWDbUFRK3iBIHnFgP3jYiT55Sxr8Zaz5OWP6KfD691ofwMaFT3Ddg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjSMi2QTjacU8PVeenLOsaWo5x4zy0WNGCBsfuqTHXAvAbud0LIIggIC8KR2tLKB9CJKtRXYXw2ZbfUNDr_t5LEkoJ-i6Ax2n2jC4ZzpQj7yvjx59hC96D0aOHuzm1BQVFECtBWDbUFRK3iBIHnFgP3jYiT55Sxr8Zaz5OWP6KfD691ofwMaFT3Ddg=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-49919389537077131262023-02-24T06:15:00.023+10:002023-09-11T11:10:02.782+10:00Oh Shenandoah<p>One of my favourite traditional folk songs is "Oh Shenandoah", set on the Missouri River in North America, and thought to originate in the early nineteenth century with traders who used the waterway. The full story it tells is an uncertain one, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Shenandoah"><span style="color: red;">Wikipedia</span></a> notes the explanation that it is about a trader who fell in love with the daughter of the Oneida Iroquois chief Shenandoah (1710–1816).<br /><br />The song is also an example of how stories, especially in lyrical form, can consist of glimpses and suggestions rather than a comprehensive narrative. We know everything we need to know in order to empathise with the storyteller.</p><p>Click to hear my cover of the song:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxShKGDqt3Lpprs5iZHRovK83zm14YSAOoGkDd9RYyzGgNGt77qgASNWNrzzZzLcI_Pppmd-pAfIcFPZyDarA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh Shenandoah, </div><div style="text-align: center;">I long to hear you </div><div style="text-align: center;">Away, you rolling river </div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh Shenandoah, I long to hear you </div><div style="text-align: center;">Away, I'm bound away </div><div style="text-align: center;">Across the wide Missouri </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh Shenandoah, </div><div style="text-align: center;">I love your daughter </div><div style="text-align: center;">Away, you rolling river </div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh Shenandoah, I love your daughter </div><div style="text-align: center;">Away, I'm bound away </div><div style="text-align: center;">Across the wide Missouri </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh Shenandoah, </div><div style="text-align: center;">I long to see you </div><div style="text-align: center;">Away, you rolling river </div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you </div><div style="text-align: center;">Away, I'm bound away </div><div style="text-align: center;">Across the wide Missouri</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-56816298826438562292023-02-22T10:02:00.006+10:002023-04-05T21:22:00.696+10:00Writing from ExperienceNaturally, all writers draw on their experiences in order to tell stories, for there is no such thing as total invention. But, that being said, some writing has a more direct relationship to past experiences than others, perhaps most notably in memoir and other forms of autobiographical nonfiction and fiction.<div><br /></div><div>Unlike some other forms of creative work, autobiographical writing does not disguise its debt to past experience. But even forms in which the author is less "present" in the text, seeming to be no more than a function of the content, the credibility and specificity of the writing is often enhanced by the author's personal connection to a key aspect of the story. </div><div><br /></div><div>For example, setting and character are, I think, difficult to write well without a link to one's own impressions of place and people. There must be exceptions, I know; after all, I don't think anyone has actually met an alien in a distant galaxy, but lots of people have written about doing so. But maybe even these writers had someone in mind as they wrote. An unpleasant distant cousin, say.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>I have written a short piece on the idea of experience as a method of writing for the recently published <i><a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/a-to-z-of-creative-writing-methods-9781350184213/"><span style="color: red;">A to Z of Creative Writing Methods</span></a></i>. And, later this year, I will be offering a five-part course on the subject for the Queensland Writers Centre (details <a href="https://queenslandwriters.org.au/events/writing-experience"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>).</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDtEZDF7547ZuKv7_4jD2GFmPMpPTiu9-OctyzVLmdJeWPG5lyd4dxIHmUW6WR40mmDyi2lrDyRL7rPQGjdrQkmCgxu12wg8Tx6PEotWL3LHWgG5zzkT4C45lDIyk5y_xrK6CyO6-hh7BlL1M2ByRV_LkccoENNJ9qavj0xFlAYSwGrLtDjWQtNTs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="568" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDtEZDF7547ZuKv7_4jD2GFmPMpPTiu9-OctyzVLmdJeWPG5lyd4dxIHmUW6WR40mmDyi2lrDyRL7rPQGjdrQkmCgxu12wg8Tx6PEotWL3LHWgG5zzkT4C45lDIyk5y_xrK6CyO6-hh7BlL1M2ByRV_LkccoENNJ9qavj0xFlAYSwGrLtDjWQtNTs=w213-h320" width="213" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div> </div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-3256426260290210402022-12-15T07:26:00.008+10:002023-04-08T07:50:32.941+10:00Dísa's PrayerI have written and recorded a song called "Dísa's Prayer," which imagines a moment of reflection and prayer in the life of the main character in my last book <i>The Sorrow Stone.</i><div><i><br /></i><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dytAZp6K9XTbXNPmoljZ_1v4Xb1Ij2AkTIdkRDp6rw7VDalRrY4UVPTQ2l8XnewVqL2OOozr94kOkvJidoR2Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Dísa's Prayer </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So these are the ways of love, </div><div style="text-align: center;">the body is not the soul when we are gone. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The fire inside the hull, </div><div style="text-align: center;">now it is warm, the air is cold. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I hold the torch, </div><div style="text-align: center;">his last word to me. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We were not enough </div><div style="text-align: center;">But I am here and he is gone. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Will he let me be with him?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-28843839382704536122022-10-20T07:14:00.005+10:002022-10-20T16:40:05.878+10:00Eyrbyggja saga country<p>I've spent the last few weeks at Skógarströnd, an area at the northern entrance to the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland's mid-west. This is <i>Eyrbyggja saga</i> country, the setting of the events of <i>The Saga of the People of Eyri</i>, which in large part is the story of Snorri goði, a tenth-century chieftain whose experiences also found a place in my last book, <i>The Sorrow Stone</i>. In that work, I changed Snorri's name to Sindri, and portrayed him as a twelve-year-old boy on the run with his mother Dísa, whose character was in turn based on the historical figure of Þórdís Súrsdóttir.</p><p>I'm back to further my exploration of that story, but I must admit I haven't had a very clear 'research' plan for the time I've spent in Snæfellsnes, apart from wishing to visit sites from the saga and, while I do so, to give more thought to the life and relationships of the main characters. But being here has produced some ideas that I can take away with me, digest at a distance, and perhaps use. As usually is the case, slowing down and absorbing the landscape seems to suggest stories, as well.</p><p>For the time being, I am sharing some pictures of those saga sites I've visited. They will have added meaning for those who've read <i>Eyrbyggja saga</i>, and, for others, perhaps form a sort of landscape introduction to the saga, one of the strangest in the corpus of Icelandic family sagas.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5yiAuNJh4ydWmrEFtz9KztzLETTuS5nw9xiJHD5U7qsPbI-4sxZE7h8y3RP61Mlgx0CjNaBVRCqbCqc2ma-Mfsi-pLOnqsU02MBc7SlTBwZxZcmRXZBPUCSl4USOqGcDAoW2oprfVrZRvd654UXqnF5wtBIhJ_Koyp4ygczFRDBSHvCCaKVk7bng" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh5yiAuNJh4ydWmrEFtz9KztzLETTuS5nw9xiJHD5U7qsPbI-4sxZE7h8y3RP61Mlgx0CjNaBVRCqbCqc2ma-Mfsi-pLOnqsU02MBc7SlTBwZxZcmRXZBPUCSl4USOqGcDAoW2oprfVrZRvd654UXqnF5wtBIhJ_Koyp4ygczFRDBSHvCCaKVk7bng=w200-h133" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Álftafjörður (1): towards Bólstaður</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWmzv9cwPvVqzzeMNl-KOTRZMc7vc6w_hZ0koOuZ0Us9SjxC3LtsLaPtKdzk0Yv3Mt7QQD06PgN5s2ofD9fDzNDWzIWDYAoDLysNGuFvN9WR95SOwJeP5eRLOI-odADlJShE0dqM78AE0Cb20RfbwNPMvWLGqYFh77lEyRTMcHJ-Tpk2Y9tvSEuOk" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWmzv9cwPvVqzzeMNl-KOTRZMc7vc6w_hZ0koOuZ0Us9SjxC3LtsLaPtKdzk0Yv3Mt7QQD06PgN5s2ofD9fDzNDWzIWDYAoDLysNGuFvN9WR95SOwJeP5eRLOI-odADlJShE0dqM78AE0Cb20RfbwNPMvWLGqYFh77lEyRTMcHJ-Tpk2Y9tvSEuOk=w200-h133" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Álftafjörður (2)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKNUAimaWvo_jpgDF8GQkgHziuneWg3eeR7_wp1g8w3Yeg17R7mxMvrzgZNAbAie3pcALvK5lGgVqwPLvTzZGGcF_i9_hXDiwrxxuMzJe3bg28GAUA4Nc3sttwc1UKYoxFePPYDzMW0qxf9X8YImpRHxnIz89FD4G4_x5PArwnu1JreWfnZFjWh7M" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKNUAimaWvo_jpgDF8GQkgHziuneWg3eeR7_wp1g8w3Yeg17R7mxMvrzgZNAbAie3pcALvK5lGgVqwPLvTzZGGcF_i9_hXDiwrxxuMzJe3bg28GAUA4Nc3sttwc1UKYoxFePPYDzMW0qxf9X8YImpRHxnIz89FD4G4_x5PArwnu1JreWfnZFjWh7M" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Álftafjörður (3): Krákunes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiemXtYBkWF8Nq9ZocHhhCLOzUP4NjM5yY0Rkvm9lqwbPkH-V4ILhwSm8EYWtn64HSJ2P5Ydp0KY16_zsLLxYZK-JPR1Xkaavto9SQUN42MjXUCuOkqPkwY3NLpJRjHwCyYqI7KApZk0XmBuhLaFIVC55-krKInfhGxiN_Ejx6Dr1m5KDiXocycBbY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiemXtYBkWF8Nq9ZocHhhCLOzUP4NjM5yY0Rkvm9lqwbPkH-V4ILhwSm8EYWtn64HSJ2P5Ydp0KY16_zsLLxYZK-JPR1Xkaavto9SQUN42MjXUCuOkqPkwY3NLpJRjHwCyYqI7KApZk0XmBuhLaFIVC55-krKInfhGxiN_Ejx6Dr1m5KDiXocycBbY" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Álftafjörður (4): Bægisfótshöfði<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCwTG8akFA6jyWzZW80mTXxGqfCLFTJCatJkmCN5A-Em5ufDtA274_PndHuB7Sdr37AzaqX2P81Kp5XmqpKTiPIR66fLFrK6_zAhy29qvvDBv9wmH18sAADwv59BT7UR4eD__wKKz5WC6_Mn_WxkkH72D8u2YcHOTBYTeFYDKadAELsCJNkuFoSlM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCwTG8akFA6jyWzZW80mTXxGqfCLFTJCatJkmCN5A-Em5ufDtA274_PndHuB7Sdr37AzaqX2P81Kp5XmqpKTiPIR66fLFrK6_zAhy29qvvDBv9wmH18sAADwv59BT7UR4eD__wKKz5WC6_Mn_WxkkH72D8u2YcHOTBYTeFYDKadAELsCJNkuFoSlM" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Just west of Hvammur</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggCKSYpAjqRKf-W4PhQ12VhJnS1_YRVCyMcIKefy-CduD6vkF5P4QINLvFjYmLuIhPtqRCUSn9XBEAGRcU5lIJgonjRJVfHH2pz6wGeDBCHqTcvLz4jUhRyVGaI8WCBRh6zs30Fz2E2j085yYnIR1INk8cSFROyRWsygvZGWmybhKD7F93ccqYUPI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggCKSYpAjqRKf-W4PhQ12VhJnS1_YRVCyMcIKefy-CduD6vkF5P4QINLvFjYmLuIhPtqRCUSn9XBEAGRcU5lIJgonjRJVfHH2pz6wGeDBCHqTcvLz4jUhRyVGaI8WCBRh6zs30Fz2E2j085yYnIR1INk8cSFROyRWsygvZGWmybhKD7F93ccqYUPI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw9_eaz1SwGiP7oNeqSv3M8L5MfJBt6GGEcBRPwocHnvYxhCkkjK3YufXD5lGPa5buzhcZ1OAwoiMus6WiXOhSe-sxauR6BusJNwqw7h9UvK6ihdSeZLix9Szxn0W_0p-Md_4QwCy2DfMs5WPwRD4XBq6VXiMYHM-H0WkV6tsY-Q0jRwbHl5zTnaE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw9_eaz1SwGiP7oNeqSv3M8L5MfJBt6GGEcBRPwocHnvYxhCkkjK3YufXD5lGPa5buzhcZ1OAwoiMus6WiXOhSe-sxauR6BusJNwqw7h9UvK6ihdSeZLix9Szxn0W_0p-Md_4QwCy2DfMs5WPwRD4XBq6VXiMYHM-H0WkV6tsY-Q0jRwbHl5zTnaE" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">Track to Úlfarsfell</span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggCKSYpAjqRKf-W4PhQ12VhJnS1_YRVCyMcIKefy-CduD6vkF5P4QINLvFjYmLuIhPtqRCUSn9XBEAGRcU5lIJgonjRJVfHH2pz6wGeDBCHqTcvLz4jUhRyVGaI8WCBRh6zs30Fz2E2j085yYnIR1INk8cSFROyRWsygvZGWmybhKD7F93ccqYUPI" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kárstaðir</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhD-mSKnkmfIIiQSqB2NCcnaFiSTuArtaLxlJ_HDxmcXuOxFOVxqIQ96BRs_Jjb3yrnGXbbE0UWPZgJ25R7UJkRGfJGpSDwNYhNja3g0c7NM10MtPT-dGai5TAL9EeThayHeDPbBgYZNNFSMV4mC7tY7Z_7_vUuTL2AnrnZWHs9R5whL4mot8KjKaM" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhD-mSKnkmfIIiQSqB2NCcnaFiSTuArtaLxlJ_HDxmcXuOxFOVxqIQ96BRs_Jjb3yrnGXbbE0UWPZgJ25R7UJkRGfJGpSDwNYhNja3g0c7NM10MtPT-dGai5TAL9EeThayHeDPbBgYZNNFSMV4mC7tY7Z_7_vUuTL2AnrnZWHs9R5whL4mot8KjKaM" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Þórsá<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizaIca7hx992W4b6rQb3KIu6mBdR_tCOsCAHH8oghtiwP19kW1YbHdaBZBGkLWNoL8fCkZR6trAQMwd2BEqX6qzhrj1eJ6u9i2GdpBHohTIPpoRbMBPqeFZmuxrgeGVcHCqCzlq0u-vy42qdcNWXjW_tQWfe7dLKx8GEAA364e9HFB266fv6nIDnk" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEizaIca7hx992W4b6rQb3KIu6mBdR_tCOsCAHH8oghtiwP19kW1YbHdaBZBGkLWNoL8fCkZR6trAQMwd2BEqX6qzhrj1eJ6u9i2GdpBHohTIPpoRbMBPqeFZmuxrgeGVcHCqCzlq0u-vy42qdcNWXjW_tQWfe7dLKx8GEAA364e9HFB266fv6nIDnk" width="320" /></a></div>Berserkjahraun towards Bjarnarhöfn, by the path<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNYOB8n1BlDdU4k0wo4XUe21AiBo9xUj85XJF4U4wD6TcM_QUMGBmwYYckBtFqEYrECLnQ03r0a9w5IekO276kIxMCzWN2hof2t6kBpu-niVorWmazT64TH6uskJWpZVkPttDIxm7LD7xbe6fPpeo_oqrDv1UiTHYPDDjqFyKYgT6wIMARc7d13mM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNYOB8n1BlDdU4k0wo4XUe21AiBo9xUj85XJF4U4wD6TcM_QUMGBmwYYckBtFqEYrECLnQ03r0a9w5IekO276kIxMCzWN2hof2t6kBpu-niVorWmazT64TH6uskJWpZVkPttDIxm7LD7xbe6fPpeo_oqrDv1UiTHYPDDjqFyKYgT6wIMARc7d13mM=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div>Berserkjagata<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_a4ylgnJoeqEO-9Cn8aaSC2MZMQDo6e74eUs4w9PFD-hJIaYCAZ5eUaOOdvwAjLMz_OB2lJqvKExsNo5JgcPRThIK5rvPgC3lCTuokN6GB3RP3qk7SrMqHVm0KZZFVOt-B207qPYAAZWVQjcpA6UariyF7MYDVfteZrF74cCF_wMkCZgyeDrg0fw" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_a4ylgnJoeqEO-9Cn8aaSC2MZMQDo6e74eUs4w9PFD-hJIaYCAZ5eUaOOdvwAjLMz_OB2lJqvKExsNo5JgcPRThIK5rvPgC3lCTuokN6GB3RP3qk7SrMqHVm0KZZFVOt-B207qPYAAZWVQjcpA6UariyF7MYDVfteZrF74cCF_wMkCZgyeDrg0fw" width="320" /></a></div>Hraunsvík near the site of Hraun Farm<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLpPm7-DkRUp5JidIZbrFR-jkJO4lC8xONsJ-uImI5K7vdzoEUyAYUNAvllEPgOLqPPaSL99qZA9Iqb9p9M4Q9pmUIQ8YJkGLjnRXctacT4UaCYTHRI6EPq_f3dLntovI_HSTgwuW_ZAmPIPQfOIgnFHk1Un2S0b0kbbZ8aYE36Maj4VepYgv0fzY" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3167" data-original-width="4780" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiLpPm7-DkRUp5JidIZbrFR-jkJO4lC8xONsJ-uImI5K7vdzoEUyAYUNAvllEPgOLqPPaSL99qZA9Iqb9p9M4Q9pmUIQ8YJkGLjnRXctacT4UaCYTHRI6EPq_f3dLntovI_HSTgwuW_ZAmPIPQfOIgnFHk1Un2S0b0kbbZ8aYE36Maj4VepYgv0fzY" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grundarfjörður from near Þórdísarstaðir<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOovhAIisDCzCZUVSsyeKNkn0fn1iIO4v6c_yWsY0i4oi5j8TrxCzoTA4y7f3RXzUJ6dI8YBVML_SCJ77PK9PR8z7PL3QsK58JinZ2qscR7Ea9sxBPWc5NIPTCZ5Z_mIYrG5S4zoJlLyBFex1AaVYqVXPwHBO1TQmYFdq-bT1RfCPecXx8vf7lcME" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOovhAIisDCzCZUVSsyeKNkn0fn1iIO4v6c_yWsY0i4oi5j8TrxCzoTA4y7f3RXzUJ6dI8YBVML_SCJ77PK9PR8z7PL3QsK58JinZ2qscR7Ea9sxBPWc5NIPTCZ5Z_mIYrG5S4zoJlLyBFex1AaVYqVXPwHBO1TQmYFdq-bT1RfCPecXx8vf7lcME" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mávahlíð<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGQAohx4rXk_lxPN2Vfl353s7g61MER2CWEpYNRZBnWt0aQXmfot8teMbkN2MuOT3N_cbzogPrSKGgI5j5UloIq9cffWxcvpUPaPK1BZVTWbvxNFt72HZVWeOkblZuxfId9QRYyH1NKIss2Nt16ZpPRedH-2o-d3cdnLpj6TElVKPwFjOqWr9jZjs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2962" data-original-width="4278" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGQAohx4rXk_lxPN2Vfl353s7g61MER2CWEpYNRZBnWt0aQXmfot8teMbkN2MuOT3N_cbzogPrSKGgI5j5UloIq9cffWxcvpUPaPK1BZVTWbvxNFt72HZVWeOkblZuxfId9QRYyH1NKIss2Nt16ZpPRedH-2o-d3cdnLpj6TElVKPwFjOqWr9jZjs" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fróðá (1)<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0HAqIYV8D3E-3AxT1lL8Lni4_1xD5_9wvGmX_TvHPBUyQe6f9hthprnNAO4fHxkg3grJYkrOkX8eCMPFuuaDIN6CYagL7z6oQMqy4sRT1CiubI3dHbaaagICySPOVSS4jhHOBgCQsgAwcwvYorHzAy4w-dAIbeg_MaX-tY-txqnlHQdQEx--Itog" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3229" data-original-width="4790" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0HAqIYV8D3E-3AxT1lL8Lni4_1xD5_9wvGmX_TvHPBUyQe6f9hthprnNAO4fHxkg3grJYkrOkX8eCMPFuuaDIN6CYagL7z6oQMqy4sRT1CiubI3dHbaaagICySPOVSS4jhHOBgCQsgAwcwvYorHzAy4w-dAIbeg_MaX-tY-txqnlHQdQEx--Itog" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fróðá (2)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0nwSju7jlT0gp6yAtscAdPfrb6z9NUrdVb9Hj1lPrykySqIB5V_wYSXvGjk3vpvACytwvDkONfR2jWaFssXRadH18oStuY0av5YSkgya1NyZ9OGwXSGpYsGryUDLppr3hcMKcyHNjN3vnQCjNwpg06TPFabvSVp2A4MePS1_kC8yqOpG17emOnDI" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0nwSju7jlT0gp6yAtscAdPfrb6z9NUrdVb9Hj1lPrykySqIB5V_wYSXvGjk3vpvACytwvDkONfR2jWaFssXRadH18oStuY0av5YSkgya1NyZ9OGwXSGpYsGryUDLppr3hcMKcyHNjN3vnQCjNwpg06TPFabvSVp2A4MePS1_kC8yqOpG17emOnDI" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Late autumn berries<br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJQEC5kDxOw0Mg1aFNg2X44oZgYXImzU1yF3fLzz75c_6095YSXT7En9v_--W98FQkiar0ax7zGtHPj_xP9270ykdbjCgurc-ijaOHFtSIoCrAAG62PgkNPXXpNeWak44VcK8eqIePrLEdPu0-uhMIs7yR-y6Wm1RvdHSzCUTRvr8g1ig1a5FugHk" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJQEC5kDxOw0Mg1aFNg2X44oZgYXImzU1yF3fLzz75c_6095YSXT7En9v_--W98FQkiar0ax7zGtHPj_xP9270ykdbjCgurc-ijaOHFtSIoCrAAG62PgkNPXXpNeWak44VcK8eqIePrLEdPu0-uhMIs7yR-y6Wm1RvdHSzCUTRvr8g1ig1a5FugHk" width="320" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Þórsnes (and Helgafell, far right) from Skógarströnd<br /></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_fDQJvdHr9JN5I-N6pT_GsNgdIMZj-4rKO7pYC9twFOf57yWWD81l4JhBDcR_Ho8lVsXNep95OKlQHZQkSJHZmGFEskdbYC3Oofz6itnAmrOzq0XO-msnYtmivHscne4lrInNzgaLsJS_AlQSUc0TYnmnO0JzslK_MFC-hXk7mClg6sWCZcQluTU" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_fDQJvdHr9JN5I-N6pT_GsNgdIMZj-4rKO7pYC9twFOf57yWWD81l4JhBDcR_Ho8lVsXNep95OKlQHZQkSJHZmGFEskdbYC3Oofz6itnAmrOzq0XO-msnYtmivHscne4lrInNzgaLsJS_AlQSUc0TYnmnO0JzslK_MFC-hXk7mClg6sWCZcQluTU=w320-h213" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Breiðavík</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCaPzwnrDcJsstpNkj0TO9z4qrj__dP5Idaa3mrU2VMxqul4LU-CwS2Ts6AlkDNZ2z4SdRA7Tj_WWHfddhLm1uu_tVGI0VnCpnnREimYKBhSE3EvhZ2kWuKOaaWk2UkA09k2XJ-f34Q3wY54HqceyQ5BhjbgyavzMQ8L_q7hbIQ0WDjt44lzzUv6s" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2574" data-original-width="3451" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCaPzwnrDcJsstpNkj0TO9z4qrj__dP5Idaa3mrU2VMxqul4LU-CwS2Ts6AlkDNZ2z4SdRA7Tj_WWHfddhLm1uu_tVGI0VnCpnnREimYKBhSE3EvhZ2kWuKOaaWk2UkA09k2XJ-f34Q3wY54HqceyQ5BhjbgyavzMQ8L_q7hbIQ0WDjt44lzzUv6s" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From Helgafell looking north-west along Þórsnes<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidfiocftpOQUjhGgaZ42U3rUXFaspuX8DL9Ivtk_bHQuS27Ru0kkj44TFI-QaSVtonpQenlOpm2B9-Oo52vf8H3yOCKLMPsNtVvOQYWXLPDN5CMsuFT14rzWiNXRVt0OgQ2CyFnP0QdpfsrCK1m80La5thJnv24BI0Z85Q3Z2mkgK97KU2aXmyyeY" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2733" data-original-width="3648" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidfiocftpOQUjhGgaZ42U3rUXFaspuX8DL9Ivtk_bHQuS27Ru0kkj44TFI-QaSVtonpQenlOpm2B9-Oo52vf8H3yOCKLMPsNtVvOQYWXLPDN5CMsuFT14rzWiNXRVt0OgQ2CyFnP0QdpfsrCK1m80La5thJnv24BI0Z85Q3Z2mkgK97KU2aXmyyeY=w200-h150" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Between walks</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEis4flBQfZC96vLfJeOh5Jm2MROy11ndhBXKuV_ia6T-6PUhcMjbmRxk4cjNfbAvDsZvTagmaRMvYrBkKTrvfvffFHr---JfQmFNbB2-DlakYs_jwAPg6O-CqfOvZ31s7MlAM69zK06diTkrXVXOqrigpt-9q3ezFuWw9SeKpe3N4Ni22k4RvkNHgw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEis4flBQfZC96vLfJeOh5Jm2MROy11ndhBXKuV_ia6T-6PUhcMjbmRxk4cjNfbAvDsZvTagmaRMvYrBkKTrvfvffFHr---JfQmFNbB2-DlakYs_jwAPg6O-CqfOvZ31s7MlAM69zK06diTkrXVXOqrigpt-9q3ezFuWw9SeKpe3N4Ni22k4RvkNHgw" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Helgafell local looking towards Hofstaðir<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-44406458207888817562022-10-16T19:57:00.001+10:002022-10-16T20:11:40.298+10:00Álftafjörður studies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSFFxNaofAb3GN3O198mkzURGa7L5dXNtGtiOKI4HYq7bDxscvJMeWH8IHqHKmRt73EwXKtxcUjVoFi8z8YiXa4caZHy5BdmxHS_IZdR-etSg_JUg8Rw3JvNh9Tq8B9ayt479ww3rodVCjBc3Xugz6SU-8WtScnv4msEu4TkpPye_8EIdk0uCO_JE" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSFFxNaofAb3GN3O198mkzURGa7L5dXNtGtiOKI4HYq7bDxscvJMeWH8IHqHKmRt73EwXKtxcUjVoFi8z8YiXa4caZHy5BdmxHS_IZdR-etSg_JUg8Rw3JvNh9Tq8B9ayt479ww3rodVCjBc3Xugz6SU-8WtScnv4msEu4TkpPye_8EIdk0uCO_JE=w160-h213" width="160" /></a><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirqQoQ4-jCDtiAo1bgJK4zG-kQbTxh9YYAsZtGjFnZ783oWi7Y4r4NjxmN6Uz4QnOwno44ARh11TYDVsFucRYppXPLseKFo9sBqGfzeP6xskpLcIMlXL2Elg72w8ZHv9uLpQC2M9wCakw5t94r_gkQAleAkS6GqKkAwbY6ymjBUlRURsZd6Crz9C4=w161-h215" width="161" /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8AroLxefHs22Pb55m9JxOYyVhHWjnnULk8muZXa7Kaqoyw2Pg-BJMUPUppHylX52-1DLy641gLFGXFgUkmzReIyZ6mtDySl5ycebthu1cT4B6251W6I-EoVHfw7XsvH15I1Wb1mZws0rERIFmGbsbQxdY17UauqVf7I90BVnwWV673OnfOQxiGso" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2948" data-original-width="3931" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8AroLxefHs22Pb55m9JxOYyVhHWjnnULk8muZXa7Kaqoyw2Pg-BJMUPUppHylX52-1DLy641gLFGXFgUkmzReIyZ6mtDySl5ycebthu1cT4B6251W6I-EoVHfw7XsvH15I1Wb1mZws0rERIFmGbsbQxdY17UauqVf7I90BVnwWV673OnfOQxiGso" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEifnwB7w7_4mus5cL8pNFr-z5DZApW73dEGj57CMnUy-8lARKMTAR-8bU6vByzZECjqwRIOJaybqPSornBgNBkcHgoXEv47HMLrRiV9ebY0GD6q9Ny8x157EmTB2WvV3SguOLx2yyk5sQggWe59_iPOl_8x58xsIg0J5bn6MHIL47LPoJidceot66c" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxRKl4J814FNC9auVh2tqp0ZSolajytWa_dEO2YfgxzEQgJK5NZi9AqqPQHVvsbH5WY8iRiEETMjn8b3KNzYRTd31xOqxGZQn2VvyB_AxR0Z4lB7V8MknW61RUp0SYPh4FpH2VUUB4-xNOCtaWSfHBM_DhS2sdV8uUn4g9AMgtD7eGYoE0uTkgves=w300-h400" width="300" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwgCp1vejGcRkwREnCqbYFolCkqa4oQ2lbciBuYuyHFVGW8lvwB2tpPZaE2xAP16Rt3Dq0Rd3GrlrOKlLeWev-imlpyFB6qmWuhtIC0tAsCV5q_A5Q5zMIqJFSaNj4R59XCFgVcUCvzXckl_XG1EL0CHEnD0VV1lkPyOO5O_cBb7xwsM64RsMRdxc" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwgCp1vejGcRkwREnCqbYFolCkqa4oQ2lbciBuYuyHFVGW8lvwB2tpPZaE2xAP16Rt3Dq0Rd3GrlrOKlLeWev-imlpyFB6qmWuhtIC0tAsCV5q_A5Q5zMIqJFSaNj4R59XCFgVcUCvzXckl_XG1EL0CHEnD0VV1lkPyOO5O_cBb7xwsM64RsMRdxc=w219-h295" width="219" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uq37yQLAhYdvEhNitNBsDtGAoOiXUhD_40lpDpMHz0GmqF2sMjboYid_lsj7IK7ICRYTzR7_sBxT9CKZh34jOEDo6qDK6f8Xi332ZpICegi7i_w7nBA-jSycFIGFpXwSjjbeK1SsuMF_g2y9RGmlOIN5p_DmqkNDgy_7Uu3-ljWD-GB4cKFneGU/s2142/IMG_4856%202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2142" data-original-width="1881" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_uq37yQLAhYdvEhNitNBsDtGAoOiXUhD_40lpDpMHz0GmqF2sMjboYid_lsj7IK7ICRYTzR7_sBxT9CKZh34jOEDo6qDK6f8Xi332ZpICegi7i_w7nBA-jSycFIGFpXwSjjbeK1SsuMF_g2y9RGmlOIN5p_DmqkNDgy_7Uu3-ljWD-GB4cKFneGU/s320/IMG_4856%202.JPG" width="281" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-85867098110975101272022-09-02T03:27:00.003+10:002023-10-30T21:12:44.908+10:00Karousades Village<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXLmo9hwLDjf-AVuDdOixmikJV1CQrLiYP86NZgt4BxLFlRR17MWrOsRRDtbADTy6swbk8t6xTBgTVVBeqnVaTFh3gx1RMwy1vMo82HOa9yVaREgwiaO0hOOH7_zgawx2TRsitxsZcSdEBx0OXntsfGxMdxPEiP19I4Q3nDyojyka_m8uxRBvqeb8" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3034" data-original-width="4239" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXLmo9hwLDjf-AVuDdOixmikJV1CQrLiYP86NZgt4BxLFlRR17MWrOsRRDtbADTy6swbk8t6xTBgTVVBeqnVaTFh3gx1RMwy1vMo82HOa9yVaREgwiaO0hOOH7_zgawx2TRsitxsZcSdEBx0OXntsfGxMdxPEiP19I4Q3nDyojyka_m8uxRBvqeb8" width="320" /></a></div>I am presently staying in the small village of Karousades, which lies in the north of the Greek island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea. I've come to write a creative project, a nonfiction book about living and working here when I was eighteen, when I got myself into some troubles and in the end had to make a troublesome escape. This story is one about youthful misadventures and hopes and dreams and discovery and, I suppose, incompetence, but also how we come to reflect on these aspects of youth later in life. Perhaps pine for them while also knowing them to be incomplete. In the case of my story about Corfu, such reflections are inflected by fatherhood, and the thought that my sons will soon be the age I was when this story is set.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg--Y-X4MVA3x5GPNIuP7gwd9V97_rYYdSI0NOh7bYoUBfomaPii04Ee07Ksk6Ld_mLGzQNKVBjVs1lifX4ztZ2HH74y1IPUnXpssBNV8krf0VNdLVcASccJ4UPGBapxyKArJH6HiGfiEKnAiAnK7X0m5kelsVwZ6McCjc8Z6xmJ-MpKGiAKXvMcFY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg--Y-X4MVA3x5GPNIuP7gwd9V97_rYYdSI0NOh7bYoUBfomaPii04Ee07Ksk6Ld_mLGzQNKVBjVs1lifX4ztZ2HH74y1IPUnXpssBNV8krf0VNdLVcASccJ4UPGBapxyKArJH6HiGfiEKnAiAnK7X0m5kelsVwZ6McCjc8Z6xmJ-MpKGiAKXvMcFY" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsrYIwWPYXzX8eU1ur8LPAaGcQSQ9u1F0WBU2dM0suoasK8SUoKS3iyay-9qC7PC-fI_Ke-B-ugWch0mr4c_YuJAweEtADe8w4JbuK1dFspgHgbKlQ55wc8mjJ1nMIC_Oa0MH_CYJZdOEfvgV42ZM7h4di8gFWvPcdwetV9VKuiTB1LLxvJ7DJm7I" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsrYIwWPYXzX8eU1ur8LPAaGcQSQ9u1F0WBU2dM0suoasK8SUoKS3iyay-9qC7PC-fI_Ke-B-ugWch0mr4c_YuJAweEtADe8w4JbuK1dFspgHgbKlQ55wc8mjJ1nMIC_Oa0MH_CYJZdOEfvgV42ZM7h4di8gFWvPcdwetV9VKuiTB1LLxvJ7DJm7I" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The village itself is perfectly preserved as it was at that time, and also somewhat in decline, for not changing is usually a sign of slipping backwards. Far fewer people live here now, and most of the shops and tavernas have closed. When I bought a bus ticket to Karousades, the ticket seller asked me twice if I really wanted to get off at the village, and then the bus driver did so, too. When I disembarked and asked for directions, the villagers I spoke to assumed I'd gotten off at the wrong stop. Everyone is facing the sea in an island like Corfu, it seems, and hillside villages like Karousades come to struggle.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPvfpGjGEAl9tWQdpg8qlQb66O-4zS0My99JlNd-mMJGjx7ZCsbRz8SW2qAfbhQttUZ1aABExyOq-tiAdCabhn9NQLtqsBG7Ms28RdzCbiNB2_emSAKC9HBBcy5zJRzK-m9UC71GRaG0_23iOCGD79cGVKNIfl0viIr06fJbR-07DUrd1P4xkkqVg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2830" data-original-width="3317" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPvfpGjGEAl9tWQdpg8qlQb66O-4zS0My99JlNd-mMJGjx7ZCsbRz8SW2qAfbhQttUZ1aABExyOq-tiAdCabhn9NQLtqsBG7Ms28RdzCbiNB2_emSAKC9HBBcy5zJRzK-m9UC71GRaG0_23iOCGD79cGVKNIfl0viIr06fJbR-07DUrd1P4xkkqVg" width="281" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, for someone writing a book, quietness and separateness are not terrible things. I have met my neighbours and the village butcher, the grocer, and some of the old men who sit on the narrow benches in the village square for hours at a time. Here I have included some pictures I've taken of the village during breaks from writing, some on my phone, others on my DSLR, including a short time lapse clip which I took from my balcony between five and nine one evening.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzvaNCmEkxcJ2yEEzYDCzvCOMONhpZzfsq7lh6IcBFnnWrcHP7rMaaDebyS7iHma8FZG5XCZKfaF4i6-UmtTQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Time lapse Karousades</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhATCiY3anSbiqLjIBTqw22-eScKPVLOCprhvPRugdKgBdUJKSjU5cdFEPxW0nZjcOdF_SU6iSbFtMW_Kn_lmFTEE9RxHwUQCek5Ai08-aKM0zogzOeQ_dCTIGWrSpv_K9xNryUsJByXy4978hE6X971RhopCSzT1NJS1kbFBznl6nrpm1YHfGtOT4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhATCiY3anSbiqLjIBTqw22-eScKPVLOCprhvPRugdKgBdUJKSjU5cdFEPxW0nZjcOdF_SU6iSbFtMW_Kn_lmFTEE9RxHwUQCek5Ai08-aKM0zogzOeQ_dCTIGWrSpv_K9xNryUsJByXy4978hE6X971RhopCSzT1NJS1kbFBznl6nrpm1YHfGtOT4" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTZL7y8Pv2tmgER8Lc0c3Uo8jWalE2vXg6ZtLatqTsZJWMvH2gER1NuAhBmxRW7feI9C_l0U_R9JMpvgDhD2UxbIT0ySV2nTLV9bwz6uHw-YBUkHyHfGUHjKTYE7j4G1Nn1rktHfNhXd3QxNp9QhTn04vlj3u9BbSd7bbJFWDQUIXC3-v7UzbCVYs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4739" data-original-width="3578" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiTZL7y8Pv2tmgER8Lc0c3Uo8jWalE2vXg6ZtLatqTsZJWMvH2gER1NuAhBmxRW7feI9C_l0U_R9JMpvgDhD2UxbIT0ySV2nTLV9bwz6uHw-YBUkHyHfGUHjKTYE7j4G1Nn1rktHfNhXd3QxNp9QhTn04vlj3u9BbSd7bbJFWDQUIXC3-v7UzbCVYs=w302-h400" width="302" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoGsYKvXMZ-UHN9kFmSDiObSrRJGe_AdiNU2ZN3CToxPJm9mC2Y6wIBUhq3jjBRfp8qO6VGv5UDZrZKHNufmN8OBCXVWyJDcuP4Lj3d16p14TYGvDBxqSfsrdlapYCoHJ_Fy-WEa6lXOmJWOpZdYHUxB0w6PgI-spmu-fEyVRXHD__RqV4IIIOQTg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2998" data-original-width="4499" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoGsYKvXMZ-UHN9kFmSDiObSrRJGe_AdiNU2ZN3CToxPJm9mC2Y6wIBUhq3jjBRfp8qO6VGv5UDZrZKHNufmN8OBCXVWyJDcuP4Lj3d16p14TYGvDBxqSfsrdlapYCoHJ_Fy-WEa6lXOmJWOpZdYHUxB0w6PgI-spmu-fEyVRXHD__RqV4IIIOQTg=w200-h133" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Balcony office</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-3253798954875905412022-08-19T02:28:00.002+10:002023-10-30T21:13:08.733+10:00An evening and a dawn in Corfu Town<p>Yesterday, I flew to Corfu, where I'm doing some research for my next project. </p><p>Most of my time will be spent in the north of the island, where the story I'm writing takes place. But I punctuated my journey there with an evening in the island's main town, aptly named Corfu Town. I landed in the afternoon and went for a long walk. The next day, as always when I have jet lag, I woke very early and went for another another one, and so I got to see the town both as the sun dimmed and in time for when it rose again. </p><p>While these in-between moments of the day sometimes share a palette of orange, pink, light blue, and fading yellow, on this occasion the sunset was quite gentle and clear; the sunrise, with the town facing east, much more definite in affecting not only the quality of the light but also in deepening the colours in the buildings, many of which are already painted in the colour of indirect sunlight.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br />Dawn</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOBRUDuC3gW_jivjXkR5hDs_RRnOE_YHxhkBEFAzOW9MzaiAOnW0KoUns3u_jsdYKVa9UdzqHzniHIdbBrnOLz0sESLUXCgAZFwW5bLzTw1coEbEBCinGJ1ae2sXYKer_AaGqxKdZfUIPvvopw2aufzjUdUcTOq-5NrP-Ln5eyvUe0TXZ0-jJpAOQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOBRUDuC3gW_jivjXkR5hDs_RRnOE_YHxhkBEFAzOW9MzaiAOnW0KoUns3u_jsdYKVa9UdzqHzniHIdbBrnOLz0sESLUXCgAZFwW5bLzTw1coEbEBCinGJ1ae2sXYKer_AaGqxKdZfUIPvvopw2aufzjUdUcTOq-5NrP-Ln5eyvUe0TXZ0-jJpAOQ" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEhr42e1lJaLngm2ZoiOVy6KVUsbE_r3elenUadJb8CnuXM8kMDOjQhclHotRZ_nHqMzNsmYWTbIGCxdg6kq30Fwq3ni2Mo8_8wCgqIp1rC6n5dCIVoFAoh9zh_5VcUSMKxNVemItDO_z-7EpDLsyGKVi02yJHMMHQ545S1lk8uG8xUY5GVLQT8rs" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEhr42e1lJaLngm2ZoiOVy6KVUsbE_r3elenUadJb8CnuXM8kMDOjQhclHotRZ_nHqMzNsmYWTbIGCxdg6kq30Fwq3ni2Mo8_8wCgqIp1rC6n5dCIVoFAoh9zh_5VcUSMKxNVemItDO_z-7EpDLsyGKVi02yJHMMHQ545S1lk8uG8xUY5GVLQT8rs" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirzNOFtbj_53WZETGVb80Bqjsi3z1w-msoGk6_SspjcVIO5PRoyRp980jKqjlOtJqgWa9KtVCvmjpwpd0VCRoQce4McdH8zKsO00kstZJ4qOVsbk22yya7GVJzJSUeIaZxVzsL8yES0QeJdTNEZMMU7J-1WqhHmdUdRXruEULIkXQtaDZvBottosU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirzNOFtbj_53WZETGVb80Bqjsi3z1w-msoGk6_SspjcVIO5PRoyRp980jKqjlOtJqgWa9KtVCvmjpwpd0VCRoQce4McdH8zKsO00kstZJ4qOVsbk22yya7GVJzJSUeIaZxVzsL8yES0QeJdTNEZMMU7J-1WqhHmdUdRXruEULIkXQtaDZvBottosU" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgO0lRBXriSk4lDTUPUFMDifL_sc57WNKh-84w4EVcO9RTmoAEXOGJo4W7Ur866nmuoAumU-Tj9v9OjHxfaI4vkahTlAbOPiYV6esfCTrHsFr0uIDTFpo1tLKetKffAq7lhciL5QVsEOWQniZpswh2nK7bxJwKJkEMXaQiWrfhNjmKGXSEE4jG5oqw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgO0lRBXriSk4lDTUPUFMDifL_sc57WNKh-84w4EVcO9RTmoAEXOGJo4W7Ur866nmuoAumU-Tj9v9OjHxfaI4vkahTlAbOPiYV6esfCTrHsFr0uIDTFpo1tLKetKffAq7lhciL5QVsEOWQniZpswh2nK7bxJwKJkEMXaQiWrfhNjmKGXSEE4jG5oqw" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhw6Eu7rAOA2u8sK9EAPzwwc-JUi5SUXiWCZo400KNA2Kpk7JSLSqUgYPG9URgna34os7zGR9aQ-pjZRvwcTzNlXGqNRoSkCn0ErgdGGA6BFrJK3evoAHBpygU67VZ6Wv3RPud8FBASresc_NdUBJsmMJXBtu9lLAOHS4ScO_KHzfuDk51TqTjzksQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhw6Eu7rAOA2u8sK9EAPzwwc-JUi5SUXiWCZo400KNA2Kpk7JSLSqUgYPG9URgna34os7zGR9aQ-pjZRvwcTzNlXGqNRoSkCn0ErgdGGA6BFrJK3evoAHBpygU67VZ6Wv3RPud8FBASresc_NdUBJsmMJXBtu9lLAOHS4ScO_KHzfuDk51TqTjzksQ" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Evening</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_lfVEi4r_B6yy2MTGOxg-4aM3eiiO7q3IhoBMwGH6K_hl8daoI1NvaT59XC06vGGOC4PjgmptMRPKCNbl90DgxQdQWDOKLf_vvK1YGQlBPQKi-24eR3h-St8mcqHJDSV6wIzNdWQuC85FxhWhUmnrQ7jWuoV10cu2tcI_9m3bg8wfkvFVl7hO5tM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_lfVEi4r_B6yy2MTGOxg-4aM3eiiO7q3IhoBMwGH6K_hl8daoI1NvaT59XC06vGGOC4PjgmptMRPKCNbl90DgxQdQWDOKLf_vvK1YGQlBPQKi-24eR3h-St8mcqHJDSV6wIzNdWQuC85FxhWhUmnrQ7jWuoV10cu2tcI_9m3bg8wfkvFVl7hO5tM" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrUhboturZBsUMARzyidAC5c683DUs_vOuzebohMOMeVRdXyb6TWDAgscV1dX-iqaSuKZTQ6j5AtljQEx1DGqhMHquNDPiblicdY6qjxSPQlTAjxluEMYRAlDsIt5_ib4MzmgaHbHh-Bot6chrgmYRWSXf4DTavVStYOTKJp55tLqxi0kex9Q17cw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5472" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrUhboturZBsUMARzyidAC5c683DUs_vOuzebohMOMeVRdXyb6TWDAgscV1dX-iqaSuKZTQ6j5AtljQEx1DGqhMHquNDPiblicdY6qjxSPQlTAjxluEMYRAlDsIt5_ib4MzmgaHbHh-Bot6chrgmYRWSXf4DTavVStYOTKJp55tLqxi0kex9Q17cw" width="160" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPX42V_62eCklt8B1f8G2QvsmmS0Tbg_6sxy6D9gFrFqKjvm_WVT9ZZpEit_PVrIN6skduPCSJKeSSEcWLPCooZsupgTUXBPACgXSDK_P1lI_u4DE-YzT0wEtMRrU7FLcHvugAGMLdyoS1ePUOk8h4KYeyTxXthHjT4rqs0pN8c06H9xG1NKygmTM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgPX42V_62eCklt8B1f8G2QvsmmS0Tbg_6sxy6D9gFrFqKjvm_WVT9ZZpEit_PVrIN6skduPCSJKeSSEcWLPCooZsupgTUXBPACgXSDK_P1lI_u4DE-YzT0wEtMRrU7FLcHvugAGMLdyoS1ePUOk8h4KYeyTxXthHjT4rqs0pN8c06H9xG1NKygmTM" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvtt-3cUPWu_pAKEVMqKJ-5RjtPeUH4-iVULZRlTBAwU4rMkOgxzMvV0Y_EeQQL-MxgSTg_ACxTln950znbHWWAKVBql3erBYLKLroz9IwPtEZGvYIbjUfjcuo1Dmp5CQLaWDcY78UliBGpdWH-uDqMGGQNWbWleFe_MNVQJUiclTouOGIlqDiJZI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="5472" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvtt-3cUPWu_pAKEVMqKJ-5RjtPeUH4-iVULZRlTBAwU4rMkOgxzMvV0Y_EeQQL-MxgSTg_ACxTln950znbHWWAKVBql3erBYLKLroz9IwPtEZGvYIbjUfjcuo1Dmp5CQLaWDcY78UliBGpdWH-uDqMGGQNWbWleFe_MNVQJUiclTouOGIlqDiJZI" width="160" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9hs3JFVptZcoUifFPk-gpxSiTKvFIe1_7Yhq6TaX88D7x9yRlC6q1ttrmUQ8BwNWGvk9Qts4cxwvU_UtTMl3Ajk9wC34OeH-h2W4FxIf-D-EB2yko3D51qSWvfPiTViGW51wjFJCRwqkDZI1IEt0EylB6uosMa0UWW7NY8XdrT7Ld1eiWbqQHaBA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9hs3JFVptZcoUifFPk-gpxSiTKvFIe1_7Yhq6TaX88D7x9yRlC6q1ttrmUQ8BwNWGvk9Qts4cxwvU_UtTMl3Ajk9wC34OeH-h2W4FxIf-D-EB2yko3D51qSWvfPiTViGW51wjFJCRwqkDZI1IEt0EylB6uosMa0UWW7NY8XdrT7Ld1eiWbqQHaBA" width="320" /></a></div></div><p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-40390532349948634362022-06-19T07:23:00.001+10:002022-06-19T07:23:26.951+10:00Writing as critical reading: Daisy and Woolf<p>This week, I was interviewed by Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh for Radio National's 'Bookshelf' program about Michelle Cahill's debut novel, <i>Daisy and Woolf</i>.</p><p>The opening premise of this book is an author's attempt to write a novel about Daisy Simmons, a minor character in Virginia Woolf's <i>Mrs Dalloway</i>. In the original text, Daisy is referred to only briefly through the viewpoint of Peter Walsh, her lover who is arranging her divorce from her husband. Peter is uncertain about whether he really wants to be with Daisy, and seems more concerned that she isn't with anyone else. Daisy, meanwhile, is about to give up a great deal for him: she is leaving her husband, her family and friends, and her home in India in order to marry him.</p><p>In <i>Daisy and Woolf</i>, we follow the efforts of Mina, an Anglo-Indian author from Australia, as she arrives in London to see whether she can discover a more complete story for Daisy than the one we get in <i>Mrs Dalloway </i>or has been sought in critical responses to the book. What follows is also an exploration of the potential of creative writing as a form of criticism: because creative writing is a very permissive and open form that absorbs and celebrates desire, social situations, and relationships, the interpretive act is also a representation of family, artistic aims, sex, geography and, perhaps more pointedly in this case, of the role of race and ethnicity in our lives. Mina as an author has much in common with Daisy, and thus her written work is also an attempt to define and understand a meeting between them that occurs on the page.</p><p>As well as response to the content and characters of <i>Mrs Dalloway</i>, Cahill's work is a tribute to the spirit of modernism, and in particular the way modernist writers experimented with form. <i>Daisy and Woolf</i> is a hybrid work with elements we recognise from epistolary novels, autofiction, literary criticism, writers' reflections on writing, and historiographic metafiction. Thus, while the book questions Woolf's depiction of Daisy, it is also a tribute to the boldness of Woolf's prose and modernist writing and its concern with experimentation. As a result, as I was reading, I found myself making connections with quite a wide range of works, such as <i>The Details</i> by Tegan Bennett Daylight, Karl Ove Knausgaard's <i>My Struggle</i>, Hannah Kent's <i>Devotion</i>, and <i>Jack Maggs</i> by Peter Carey. I could list others, but the point is that this book has a richly mixed heritage both culturally and formally.</p><p>The end result, I think, is a work that searches for the place of storytelling in our reception of earlier works. In this case, we see how that search might combine literary and race theory to develop an argument, or at least reflection, about the embodied, experiential nature of writing practice and interpretation.</p><p>Our discussion of this book on Radio National is available in full <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-bookshelf/new-fiction-by-spencer-cahill-and-golderg/13932532"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>. </p><p style="text-align: center;">*</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfd1gk1N8oU7rtePIwVF2PSAwC46une3st-KB8WQHPzrhdAeXyqr4vmUBehcFef_CY_qWds-KaKXLeEmZf8JVxIMLkFuC0UhKF9kzHo0sV794O9awsJpjTOgTHygDbXPH1dXV7S5lj5GARnsam3IdHKrkR8l0uVAHiOQQXZSrQoHkqpD4QOyTEv-U" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2762" data-original-width="1788" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfd1gk1N8oU7rtePIwVF2PSAwC46une3st-KB8WQHPzrhdAeXyqr4vmUBehcFef_CY_qWds-KaKXLeEmZf8JVxIMLkFuC0UhKF9kzHo0sV794O9awsJpjTOgTHygDbXPH1dXV7S5lj5GARnsam3IdHKrkR8l0uVAHiOQQXZSrQoHkqpD4QOyTEv-U=w258-h400" width="258" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-54499448431576896992022-06-09T10:23:00.002+10:002022-06-09T12:26:13.138+10:00Weeks 25-26: Góða Ferð Dísa <p>It's now six months since I began a series of posts that has accompanied <i>The Sorrow Stone</i> into the world and the hands of readers. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_6J4tcXpw4-Oo9pSXHfDEa485SoAQy7lUHMUzi5ELybO8d5YAIeuxLqnCrq112HsKED6OAaG77LIRELFFNFbE_wdl2ctq0WTtrZ6xZ7RTq8fGewm-TOgOn35K6TLH7lTl36AnztgG2DgJ2qfjjsEE5UTSqXpl1NQ29hjuIflSo4ezvA6JU1zxWoU" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="5760" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_6J4tcXpw4-Oo9pSXHfDEa485SoAQy7lUHMUzi5ELybO8d5YAIeuxLqnCrq112HsKED6OAaG77LIRELFFNFbE_wdl2ctq0WTtrZ6xZ7RTq8fGewm-TOgOn35K6TLH7lTl36AnztgG2DgJ2qfjjsEE5UTSqXpl1NQ29hjuIflSo4ezvA6JU1zxWoU=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Powerhouse Theatre event (picture: Joe Carter)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>My first post was on 17 December 2021, and on Sunday just gone, the book was finally given its launch party at an event at The Powerhouse Theatre attended by some four hundred people, including many friends and family and colleagues, as well as new readers of my work. <p></p><p>The launch was originally scheduled for February, just before the book's official publication date. But then Brisbane experienced a 'major weather event', as it was called, and my own major event was washed out. The Powerhouse, which sits close to the river at New Farm, was flooded, and <i>The Sorrow Stone </i>launch, its first celebration, was eventually realised as the last of a number of live events for the book.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJdT3FIB4TNSq78CjqQ5Ej-TjwaJSKn5D1FLdnzCR5xWSSbpt0PW5UQ8uCR9-hsa_dp_iPFi7I_CWcWE-Z-0E0WY1asoQ6rJSjvNwG48hrarjKgrO8I-s3872rZgGnDlLcExpjVXlK5TIN_RpF0ueQWrzaodEr81p-EQnF73XmVbsRpDgK72zBcOU" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="5760" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJdT3FIB4TNSq78CjqQ5Ej-TjwaJSKn5D1FLdnzCR5xWSSbpt0PW5UQ8uCR9-hsa_dp_iPFi7I_CWcWE-Z-0E0WY1asoQ6rJSjvNwG48hrarjKgrO8I-s3872rZgGnDlLcExpjVXlK5TIN_RpF0ueQWrzaodEr81p-EQnF73XmVbsRpDgK72zBcOU=w400-h265" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">In conversation with Richard Fidler (picture: Joe Carter)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Things change. I thought I would keep this series of posts going for a whole year. But actually six months is the right moment to turn the page and farewell Dísa, and turn my attention to my next project, an autobiographical work which at the moment feels radically, even relievingly, distant from medieval Iceland and its troubles (and joys).</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: left;">In a few weeks, I finish teaching duties for the semester and begin a rather long period of leave that will allow me to travel to Greece in August and then on to Iceland for a month or so. It will be my first trip to Reykjavík since before Covid began. And it will be my first chance since I began writing <i>The Sorrow Stone</i> to not be thinking about the novel at some level, even if sometimes it was only in my sleep. </div><p></p><p>My thoughts about the book now are entirely ones of gratitude. There is no remnant of worries about the difficult periods in the writing process, or fears for how the book would be received, or busy thoughts about what will happen to it next. Well, maybe a bit of those things. But mainly, such thoughts are replaced with a fuller appreciation of having had the chance to undertake this project at all. </p><p>In a scene in the TV version of <i>Brideshead Revisited</i>, someone remarks to Charles Ryder that he's lucky to have a talent (painting) and the time to pursue it. The scene has long stuck with me, because it <i>is </i>such a privilege to spend long periods of time inside a story, and to inhabit it sufficiently deeply to be able to produce readable work that others find interesting. I had the same thought when I was in Helgafell doing research for the book. I told myself to always remember how wonderful this was: to spend long days in the landscape, walking, breathing in the autumn air, thinking about the characters from the sagas, and shaping their stories into an interpretation of my own.</p><p>Thank you, Dísa, and your much-damaged family, your strange and violent and brave times, and your heart that raged against its sorrows. Góða ferð.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4wZYCigFBcleM2DLPLOe5YbHpv4nmmnL1MT2Xa3uEeR0vWsoEgITTHYrmQwEqOzxdaKwqCTSDJDqTJ74KQi1eAamh5XbofUtVN9l4aTi1tZkIw3ivOJCmzVewrlrtQnnqAxRQ32wWTAqmL1CCuYTgjx-fi4sEqbzs-1uLdjKsmmv6Ey3QVpYmUP8" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4wZYCigFBcleM2DLPLOe5YbHpv4nmmnL1MT2Xa3uEeR0vWsoEgITTHYrmQwEqOzxdaKwqCTSDJDqTJ74KQi1eAamh5XbofUtVN9l4aTi1tZkIw3ivOJCmzVewrlrtQnnqAxRQ32wWTAqmL1CCuYTgjx-fi4sEqbzs-1uLdjKsmmv6Ey3QVpYmUP8=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Near Helgafell, Snæfellsnes, Iceland</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-3975764652686218172022-05-29T16:02:00.004+10:002022-06-07T16:32:36.759+10:00Week 24: Field Work<p>Today, I published a short piece in the travel magazine <i>Escape</i> about the experience of travelling to Haukadalur in the Westfjords as part of my research for <i>The Sorrow Stone</i>.</p><p>I reflect on the search for a different sense of time, a task I tried to achieve in the main by walking as much as I could. I wondered if slowing my movement through the landscape might ground me a little more in its patterns. On one occasion that I describe in the travel piece, I fell asleep in a meadow high up in the Haukadalur valley, a moment that I transposed to my imagined version of Disa's life in the same place. When she wakes, it is with an altered understanding of how she will manage living in Iceland. Now that she and her family have fled from Norway, she has to try to rebuild her life, her relationship with her brothers, and she is also thinking about whether she might yet find a husband who will help her to leave them. When she wakes up, I think she feels that she will manage it.</p><p>When I woke up from my sleep, it was with an appreciation of how calm and sheltered the valley could be in its upper reaches. This was important, because it challenged my assumption that Disa and her family would have struggled with being here, that is, after their lives in the relatively wide and fertile farmlands of Surnadal in western Norway. If they'd had weather like I had that day, they might well have been relieved at what they found in their new home. It was my third or fourth visit to Haukadalur, and yet I was still learning to see the area on its terms rather than according to my assumptions.</p><p>I think learning to observe landscapes is partly about learning to slow down. Photographers and painters understand this: they wait for the right light, or they come back day after day and form a composite of viewpoints and impressions. Writing is a process of slow understanding, too, so sometimes it is an art of changed perspectives.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuddQ9-lZsoww_55EV2RthW6hYbuLLKc11GosMfT7mz_5RPaDXNeLCleQxIvpWZ7rhqzPuKCa3VzfAJgZkkELuaFyYMtYrZogprFZvPn-lLkAFuitOqutR7fSgEWOGDK3rW9V4Uzq9XootcYE4tsQJ7z2GkGETKPDURUfK5njFby4mWe2_JDRgok/s4032/930B443C-45C4-4D6D-8243-7EFD495213E2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuddQ9-lZsoww_55EV2RthW6hYbuLLKc11GosMfT7mz_5RPaDXNeLCleQxIvpWZ7rhqzPuKCa3VzfAJgZkkELuaFyYMtYrZogprFZvPn-lLkAFuitOqutR7fSgEWOGDK3rW9V4Uzq9XootcYE4tsQJ7z2GkGETKPDURUfK5njFby4mWe2_JDRgok/w300-h400/930B443C-45C4-4D6D-8243-7EFD495213E2.jpeg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From <i>The Sunday Mail (Escape)</i>, 29 May 2022</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>[The travel story pictured above is available online <a href="https://www.escape.com.au/destinations/europe/author-kari-gislason-discovers-icelands-most-beautiful-valley/news-story/efb0a81d895d65ea7cdeeff60e7c819b"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>.] </p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-63772312728387395202022-05-23T13:17:00.003+10:002022-05-23T13:27:06.221+10:00Weeks 22-23: A Wet Weekend in Sydney<p> A wet weekend in Sydney may consist of:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Umbrella from Dymocks, George Street</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Dinner at The Restaurant Pendolino, three-course minimum </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">The next day, walk it off, from The Rocks through town and up past Sydney University to Carriageworks</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Sit, watch those milling in the festival bookshop</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Speak on historical fiction at the Sydney Writers Festival with Emily Brugman and Susan Wyndham</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Speak to those who buy a book</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Dinner with friends in Balmain, watching the election results come in</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Change of government </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">At night, the Opera House pulsing with white light against low clouds</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">Flying home, and a moment above the rain that doesn't stop this year</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">An article I wrote about openness and Noosa National Park in <i>The Weekend Australian</i> </p></blockquote><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKy4DxjQE5CgfDNphZrB9xOjrXeZWwZ9f_hQm85PiLcRqj1px0eUqqu6zDkhPeEyxf7M2mmQuVAESmfwpScpbBEuHyU5K3pCmLZ0duByfRTDa-HRSrueuRQCPtYVK5Hzm0gGOBxLrerxBsaKNtQ9IRag2hjVpgMzygfov7_mHyYvti1wboJODIDv8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKy4DxjQE5CgfDNphZrB9xOjrXeZWwZ9f_hQm85PiLcRqj1px0eUqqu6zDkhPeEyxf7M2mmQuVAESmfwpScpbBEuHyU5K3pCmLZ0duByfRTDa-HRSrueuRQCPtYVK5Hzm0gGOBxLrerxBsaKNtQ9IRag2hjVpgMzygfov7_mHyYvti1wboJODIDv8=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzm1FF23DDxiWGXzujg3vLbwg0RfF6VpzqsuTpV7NqMjNuiQaWoMCrq3fc4g2uYFoOI1D5VAc41AavacvCPe2xrmiLW0nV3lW8jRXFStUJpdNKzi3Yw4jjQbwzDdxXP9BEuSMQBZ81Tf7nQiMhWm9DRq98T4bwhO_mYvMkTAMxy8TgOmAeEd6d-gc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzm1FF23DDxiWGXzujg3vLbwg0RfF6VpzqsuTpV7NqMjNuiQaWoMCrq3fc4g2uYFoOI1D5VAc41AavacvCPe2xrmiLW0nV3lW8jRXFStUJpdNKzi3Yw4jjQbwzDdxXP9BEuSMQBZ81Tf7nQiMhWm9DRq98T4bwhO_mYvMkTAMxy8TgOmAeEd6d-gc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzm1FF23DDxiWGXzujg3vLbwg0RfF6VpzqsuTpV7NqMjNuiQaWoMCrq3fc4g2uYFoOI1D5VAc41AavacvCPe2xrmiLW0nV3lW8jRXFStUJpdNKzi3Yw4jjQbwzDdxXP9BEuSMQBZ81Tf7nQiMhWm9DRq98T4bwhO_mYvMkTAMxy8TgOmAeEd6d-gc" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhAMzLZrQirTc_qs1WOILgXBChN9ytPEFQlGA2kLEf7lx4yLGHkT2pWNGuVKvR5s40vMYfEdGbMRS7xhzbV6N064Hm0uVF0I9LCthsDk7cESKRnkMm_mLw2R08tqieA02ZojSiF-6v6NJ-LbVU1TqiOv9ulRU_qwK4wADsRNmPrmtIC58JXMu616EQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhAMzLZrQirTc_qs1WOILgXBChN9ytPEFQlGA2kLEf7lx4yLGHkT2pWNGuVKvR5s40vMYfEdGbMRS7xhzbV6N064Hm0uVF0I9LCthsDk7cESKRnkMm_mLw2R08tqieA02ZojSiF-6v6NJ-LbVU1TqiOv9ulRU_qwK4wADsRNmPrmtIC58JXMu616EQ" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgokTrKCkBDybJAD1hERVUhHX2bTRzZ9IwNtIEFFK9CleuiiKeoq_5IYHv7bp4e9cVqpDkMBy_QAJxaQWpxXnX4i5nRdCOm6DSQSltF7oTxBxM3vPEguhrkhv6CojSp3ZW7ZRf6cAzIRIWoHY_A88rCStXG8SQr-gzjhnM3IA4d1pZfKsVcBxveQfM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgokTrKCkBDybJAD1hERVUhHX2bTRzZ9IwNtIEFFK9CleuiiKeoq_5IYHv7bp4e9cVqpDkMBy_QAJxaQWpxXnX4i5nRdCOm6DSQSltF7oTxBxM3vPEguhrkhv6CojSp3ZW7ZRf6cAzIRIWoHY_A88rCStXG8SQr-gzjhnM3IA4d1pZfKsVcBxveQfM=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTfV6v4f7BcCUC3FJq2ulF4AR1XoweC33IDPkfKJHRN2t1Fi1VwLMEJuULpl9difGO9SNjjgCm-gYEJ6GyccT9nX_YGUBJME1dFMkum5sRHjFZB2gZe9A__vi7JZQKvvUmhsMmguhPGYljMkrgnfiZTXEs1iVRLRS7C8m1Xj0sW780Ut22Urbn-ow" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTfV6v4f7BcCUC3FJq2ulF4AR1XoweC33IDPkfKJHRN2t1Fi1VwLMEJuULpl9difGO9SNjjgCm-gYEJ6GyccT9nX_YGUBJME1dFMkum5sRHjFZB2gZe9A__vi7JZQKvvUmhsMmguhPGYljMkrgnfiZTXEs1iVRLRS7C8m1Xj0sW780Ut22Urbn-ow" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyinL5vZq0iYwGpJwf7MRlsn38iiVfQw3vEgQ4QIClgw42-iviYZeNAjln-P0zzbR54dY31S-Ev6YPm0rHIEWNBO4Nv-TrgRxyLRHwpjD0NL_OB9REhJlwQtU2gzFdXXOSPEJCfK7ErvORPazaehMGZd6aIgIpPRUCF3_sRTVcbO6jVVRpX1jEOfc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyinL5vZq0iYwGpJwf7MRlsn38iiVfQw3vEgQ4QIClgw42-iviYZeNAjln-P0zzbR54dY31S-Ev6YPm0rHIEWNBO4Nv-TrgRxyLRHwpjD0NL_OB9REhJlwQtU2gzFdXXOSPEJCfK7ErvORPazaehMGZd6aIgIpPRUCF3_sRTVcbO6jVVRpX1jEOfc=w300-h400" width="300" /></a><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></div></div><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></blockquote></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7191408440506140214.post-83600102892065136102022-05-07T17:27:00.013+10:002023-04-05T21:23:25.785+10:00Weeks 20-21: Creative Responses<p>Last year, I published an academic journal article on the topic of retelling the Icelandic family sagas. Research for that article took me to Linda Hutcheon's book, <i>A Theory of Adaptation</i>, which describes adaptation in positive terms as a process of engagement - rather than as a derivative or inferior art form, as has often been felt by critics in the past.</p><p>Seeing adaptation as a process that can lead to many different outcomes - each with its own goals, formal constraints, audiences, and so on - is also an insightful way to think about saga composition, which over the centuries has traversed a number of different oral and written forms. Looking at saga composition this way can release the adaptive process from strict notions of fidelity to a singular 'original' text, for in fact there are many such 'originals', which tell and perform a story in their own ways. When we write or film or retell a medieval saga, we are also responding to a thousand years of that saga's performance and reception - many iterations and versions. </p><p>This week, I've been giving more thought to all this during conversations at Outspoken Maleny with Steven Lang, and at two events, one with Krissy Kneen and the other with Hannah Kent, at the Brisbane Writers Festival. A recurring topic point in conversations that I've had with others about historical novels is about how we balance the seemingly competing pushes of fidelity and alteration, especially in relation to style. On a few occasions, I've been asked whether I wished to retain the original style and ethical outlook of the sagas, and how did I think modern readers would handle the strangeness or alien quality of the world they portray.</p><p>One part of the adaptive process, especially in the case of fiction dealing with the past, is this question of how far we want to go in order to meet the expectations of the modern reader, and at what point doing so means that we're no longer meeting the characters of the earlier stories. When there is a tension between the two, I hope I manage to privilege the latter, for if the style and ethos of a novel is very distant from the original work, it will lose sight of its own origins as a project of meeting the people of the past and trying to see things from their perspective. But of course it's an imperfect meeting always, because an adaptation and retelling instantly becomes its own moment and mode of engagement. While I agree with Hutcheon and her theory of adaptation, I think I am also quite slow to admit it into my own work, where fidelity remains a kind of goal, if not a true possibility.</p><p style="text-align: center;">*</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tNtuG5AtnAmWZZwkl7C82k3RMsO7uSzDSHXjP_WMmp2Zq6wlKzPYv2dnZ9ndDX3r_amC9dCgYoFkodSDAD3bn5g3SbMOjFXUBiTPcP4Omce2X7MSfOxKF_R-PNvJE4Fjr3XlxAYaiwBFZC7pkDVPIy7jdfydr1rnTOZVaCgy5FdUiGVG17SSsNI/s1782/279792199_10166282791410445_2253445340577968752_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1782" data-original-width="1187" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1tNtuG5AtnAmWZZwkl7C82k3RMsO7uSzDSHXjP_WMmp2Zq6wlKzPYv2dnZ9ndDX3r_amC9dCgYoFkodSDAD3bn5g3SbMOjFXUBiTPcP4Omce2X7MSfOxKF_R-PNvJE4Fjr3XlxAYaiwBFZC7pkDVPIy7jdfydr1rnTOZVaCgy5FdUiGVG17SSsNI/w266-h400/279792199_10166282791410445_2253445340577968752_n.jpeg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sunbathing books (pic: Brisbane Writers Festival)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>On the topic of meetings, this week when I was at Maleny it was as the first speaker at an event that in the main featured the former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, who has published a book about China-America relations called <i>The Avoidable War</i>. As ever when I speak at events with other authors, the cross-overs between books and ideas seem oddly numerous, even when the subject matter is separated by centuries and continents. I believe the interviews will be soon uploaded to the series's website <a href="http://www.outspokenmaleny.com/podcasts"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqprImSo-CRXvduzquAZFwxbiF43pzOKJJFRgXBXlU69KWHifbmWxKPfJWL3xFZxtUicvAEkwkpS_K-zlPDFbpUeXq58wTXJM6fIEOk5zlYvbnudx1AKX-Rj9WZWA03TNOTDY3i-iTzWuWadgSjKwgjK70ERJW3G4kdMkQ4Pg_tuu4-EJXOAaIqZQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2850" data-original-width="1838" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqprImSo-CRXvduzquAZFwxbiF43pzOKJJFRgXBXlU69KWHifbmWxKPfJWL3xFZxtUicvAEkwkpS_K-zlPDFbpUeXq58wTXJM6fIEOk5zlYvbnudx1AKX-Rj9WZWA03TNOTDY3i-iTzWuWadgSjKwgjK70ERJW3G4kdMkQ4Pg_tuu4-EJXOAaIqZQ=w207-h320" width="207" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Avoidable War</i> by Kevin Rudd</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWGGeaTNgiiQO-7jST8C9O0BV18-9vPJd_i46SREl5fe3nkmOJsI583L4QS5vPo7IdnFnmQJ4g4zcL8NGDxYCcCA6cZSo-DjAdzRK2-6vDvks5OlDzSAnnh94YMKWcOZ8WuFd1AISLqzAxF4hXXREOHm02p4F4cEPFSgmAYrNgZkHg1WiR7nhafA/s640/280104624_290544886614511_2846968930570190529_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWGGeaTNgiiQO-7jST8C9O0BV18-9vPJd_i46SREl5fe3nkmOJsI583L4QS5vPo7IdnFnmQJ4g4zcL8NGDxYCcCA6cZSo-DjAdzRK2-6vDvks5OlDzSAnnh94YMKWcOZ8WuFd1AISLqzAxF4hXXREOHm02p4F4cEPFSgmAYrNgZkHg1WiR7nhafA/s320/280104624_290544886614511_2846968930570190529_n.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Pic: Outspoken Maleny)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com