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Jan. 2nd, 2012
Damn dog! It left two of my snacks lying bright red on the ground, to incriminate me. I rushed inside to get the springy gadget that has some grasping claws that you can open and shut. I managed to get one of the snacks back. So, it shouldn't look too bad, if it does get noticed by the neighbors.
No more snacks, though. At least not for a long while. Maybe some ham, if I do get back into the charitable mood.
No more snacks, though. At least not for a long while. Maybe some ham, if I do get back into the charitable mood.
1984 (2,4) Real Coffee
Jan. 2nd, 2012 05:01 pmTime to make it back to "1984". It feels like it has been a long weekend, and a long time since we got to return to our book-blogging.
*******
Julia makes it to the love nest, and it is like the sun has come out.
_ _ _
At this moment there was a quick step on the stairs. Julia burst into the room. She was carrying a tool-bag of coarse brown canvas, such as he had sometimes seen her carrying to and fro at the Ministry. He started forward to take her in his arms, but she disengaged herself rather hurriedly, partly because she was still holding the tool-bag.
'Half a second,' she said. 'Just let me show you what I've brought. Did you bring some of that filthy Victory Coffee? I thought you would. You can chuck it away again, because we shan't be needing it. Look here.'
She fell on her knees, threw open the bag, and tumbled out some spanners and a screwdriver that filled the top part of it. Underneath were a number of neat paper packets. The first packet that she passed to Winston had a strange and yet vaguely familiar feeling. It was filled with some kind of heavy, sand-like stuff which yielded wherever you touched it.
'It isn't sugar?' he said.
'Real sugar. Not saccharine, sugar. And here's a loaf of bread proper white bread, not our bloody stuff -- and a little pot of jam. And here's a tin of milk -- but look! This is the one I'm really proud of. I had to wrap a bit of sacking round it, because -'
But she did not need to tell him why she had wrapped it up. The smell was already filling the room, a rich hot smell which seemed like an emanation from his early childhood, but which one did occasionally meet with even now, blowing down a passage-way before a door slammed, or diffusing itself mysteriously in a crowded street, sniffed for an instant and then lost again.
'It's coffee,' he murmured, 'real coffee.'
'It's Inner Party coffee. There's a whole kilo here,' she said.
'How did you manage to get hold of all these things?'
'It's all Inner Party stuff. There's nothing those swine don't have, nothing. But of course waiters and servants and people pinch things, and -- look, I got a little packet of tea as well.'
Winston had squatted down beside her. He tore open a corner of the packet.
'It's real tea. Not blackberry leaves.'
'There's been a lot of tea about lately. They've captured India, or something,' she said vaguely. 'But listen, dear. I want you to turn your back on me for three minutes. Go and sit on the other side of the bed. Don't go too near the window. And don't turn round till I tell you.'
_ _ _
Mmm, it looks like Julia has another sweet treat for our Winston.
*******
Since the entire text is available online for our copying and pasting, I have let go of a good deal of my editing rigor. Why not take advantage of it? I'm content enough just to break down my novels into bite-size read-alongs, if someone cared to read along.
*******
Julia makes it to the love nest, and it is like the sun has come out.
_ _ _
At this moment there was a quick step on the stairs. Julia burst into the room. She was carrying a tool-bag of coarse brown canvas, such as he had sometimes seen her carrying to and fro at the Ministry. He started forward to take her in his arms, but she disengaged herself rather hurriedly, partly because she was still holding the tool-bag.
'Half a second,' she said. 'Just let me show you what I've brought. Did you bring some of that filthy Victory Coffee? I thought you would. You can chuck it away again, because we shan't be needing it. Look here.'
She fell on her knees, threw open the bag, and tumbled out some spanners and a screwdriver that filled the top part of it. Underneath were a number of neat paper packets. The first packet that she passed to Winston had a strange and yet vaguely familiar feeling. It was filled with some kind of heavy, sand-like stuff which yielded wherever you touched it.
'It isn't sugar?' he said.
'Real sugar. Not saccharine, sugar. And here's a loaf of bread proper white bread, not our bloody stuff -- and a little pot of jam. And here's a tin of milk -- but look! This is the one I'm really proud of. I had to wrap a bit of sacking round it, because -'
But she did not need to tell him why she had wrapped it up. The smell was already filling the room, a rich hot smell which seemed like an emanation from his early childhood, but which one did occasionally meet with even now, blowing down a passage-way before a door slammed, or diffusing itself mysteriously in a crowded street, sniffed for an instant and then lost again.
'It's coffee,' he murmured, 'real coffee.'
'It's Inner Party coffee. There's a whole kilo here,' she said.
'How did you manage to get hold of all these things?'
'It's all Inner Party stuff. There's nothing those swine don't have, nothing. But of course waiters and servants and people pinch things, and -- look, I got a little packet of tea as well.'
Winston had squatted down beside her. He tore open a corner of the packet.
'It's real tea. Not blackberry leaves.'
'There's been a lot of tea about lately. They've captured India, or something,' she said vaguely. 'But listen, dear. I want you to turn your back on me for three minutes. Go and sit on the other side of the bed. Don't go too near the window. And don't turn round till I tell you.'
_ _ _
Mmm, it looks like Julia has another sweet treat for our Winston.
*******
Since the entire text is available online for our copying and pasting, I have let go of a good deal of my editing rigor. Why not take advantage of it? I'm content enough just to break down my novels into bite-size read-alongs, if someone cared to read along.
Miss Next came back to post today. She wasn't gone as long as Kanada and Hellbound Heart, but it is newsworthy. She asked how I was doing, and I said:
I'm glad to say that I curiously remain on the same constant plane I have been on all these years. It's been so long, and I imagine things have to crash sometime, but not today. I should be so lucky in 2012. *fingers crossed*
I know I am usually hangdog, but I really have been very lucky, all things considered, and I would be glad to have another twenty years like this.
I'm glad to say that I curiously remain on the same constant plane I have been on all these years. It's been so long, and I imagine things have to crash sometime, but not today. I should be so lucky in 2012. *fingers crossed*
I know I am usually hangdog, but I really have been very lucky, all things considered, and I would be glad to have another twenty years like this.
turkey TV-dinner
Jan. 2nd, 2012 07:35 pmSince I was set on finishing off that red velvet cake for dessert tonight, it was a good time to have a turkey TV-dinner, and I am only confirmed in my conclusion that I just cannot have them anymore, except as a rarity, when I am in desperate need for diversity in my diet, like the mexican TV-dinner. I swear the turkey is more like bologna now. I need a couple of more items on my menue, badly.
The Potential To Be a Writer
Jan. 2nd, 2012 09:49 pmHow many bloggers and other would-be writers like to think that they have the potential to make it in this dog-eat-dog world as a writer?
Bukowski touches on this point nicely in a scene in his novel "Women". Chinaski is in bed with Lydia, when she seems to suddenly get into a manic mood...
_ _ _
Then Lydia leaped out of bed. She threw both of her hands up in the air toward the ceiling and said in a loud voice: "I'M GOING TO BE GREAT! I'M GOING TO BE TRULY GREAT! NOBODY KNOWS HOW GREAT I'M GOING TO BE!"
"All right," I said.
Then she said in a lower voice, "You don't understand. I'm going to be great. I have more potential than you have!"
"Potential," I said, "doesn't mean a thing. You've got to do it. Almost every baby in a crib has more potential than I have."
-- "Women" by Charles Bukowski
_ _ _
At some point you have to do it. Life is too short just to have that special dream floating in front of your clouded eyes, thinking that that great thing will happen for you some day. You have to get down to business and do it. And therein lies the rub.
For myself, I have come to accept that I am just a reader, and I am never going to be great. But I am reasonably satisfied. It is good just to have something you love. It will not make you great, but it will get you through the day, and that is now the extent of my ambition.
Bukowski touches on this point nicely in a scene in his novel "Women". Chinaski is in bed with Lydia, when she seems to suddenly get into a manic mood...
_ _ _
Then Lydia leaped out of bed. She threw both of her hands up in the air toward the ceiling and said in a loud voice: "I'M GOING TO BE GREAT! I'M GOING TO BE TRULY GREAT! NOBODY KNOWS HOW GREAT I'M GOING TO BE!"
"All right," I said.
Then she said in a lower voice, "You don't understand. I'm going to be great. I have more potential than you have!"
"Potential," I said, "doesn't mean a thing. You've got to do it. Almost every baby in a crib has more potential than I have."
-- "Women" by Charles Bukowski
_ _ _
At some point you have to do it. Life is too short just to have that special dream floating in front of your clouded eyes, thinking that that great thing will happen for you some day. You have to get down to business and do it. And therein lies the rub.
For myself, I have come to accept that I am just a reader, and I am never going to be great. But I am reasonably satisfied. It is good just to have something you love. It will not make you great, but it will get you through the day, and that is now the extent of my ambition.