Booked

 

Hello everyone. I hope that you are well. It's rained quite a bit more in Plymouth this week, and everyone is feeling more autumnal. I'll be honest with you - we have done very little this week. All the gadding about in August has taken its toll. We did go to the pictures to see "The Summer Book", which is the film version of the beloved book. (Surprise!) I enjoyed the book a lot, and the film is also excellent. It's very quiet, and not much happens. The first surprise, though, is Glenn Close taking her teeth out in an old-lady way. She is a superb old lady. She's come a long way from her days in Fatal Attraction. This is a VERY different persona. Anyway, I liked it. Nice to be at the pictures. 

We had a walk down the Royal William Yard this week. They are having their first literary festival. I mean, I don't think the Hay Festival will be feeling threatened anytime soon, but it was still good to see. Although our daughter wasn't sure about the wisdom of calling one event "Booked Up"- well, would everyone think all the tickets were sold? 

One event was held in a little local shopping mall. I'm not sure how to describe it to you. Let's just say that the organic pet shop wouldn't really stock Chappie dog food - that should give you the general idea. Still, this Dog Stick Library was really cute. 

One of the shops also had this stall outside with second-hand books at the bottom. As usual, there was a lot of serial killer stuff, 584 Richard Osmans, a few 50 Shades and a very 1970s book on embroidery. (That last one is a lie. If that was there, I would have bought it.) I don't understand how people go to charity shops and manage to end up coming home with a Barbara Pym, two Christopher Fowlers and a first edition Charles Dickens. 

I think you can just see that they have also done that thing where they wrap up a mystery book in brown paper as a nice surprise. I have never bothered to do that. Firstly, because there are so many books that I know about that I would love to buy, it seems like a big risk to take a punt on spending my well-earned dosh on who knows what. Also, they try to help and attach a label with a clue to help you. For instance, one in there said, " A Regency Romance" Well, that could be Georgette Heyer, and we would all be thrilled. Or it could be a Bridgerton romance that you have to read secretly so any Aged Parents don't get a glimpse, or it could be a self-published novel by a man called Alan who loves the dresses and doesn't really see the point of commas. Too much risk for me. (Before everyone is nasty to me. I have lots of excellent self-published books. Carefully reviewed and chosen. Not covered in brown paper for anonymity) 

We were just coming out when we saw the notice at the top of this page. This is a woman who paints dogs and cats - all day. That is her job. Painting dogs and cats. Really well. What a life. How do you get a life like that? hah!

Can I bring the mood down a little? Do you mind? Living where I live, I have huge respect for the Lifeboat service. These people are volunteers who risk life and limb to rescue people at sea. Like most people in the southwest of England, I have watched people being hoisted from the water, at great risk to those doing the actual hoisting. Again, like most people who live in the South West, I am familiar with the Penlee lifeboat disaster in which sixteen people died - including eight volunteer lifeboatmen. Those people are not messing about. 

To pivot a little. Those of you who used to watch the magnificent Moonlighting - with Cybil Shepherd and Bruce Willis may remember a seminal episode with the Temptations and Shepherd limboing under a desk while people sang "How Low Can You Go?" Well, I think that we have discovered how low some people can go this week, as we have watched people abuse the RNLI for daring to be human and pick up drowning people - possibly because they are the wrong colour. You could argue for a long time - possibly with some justification - about the need for managed migration. This is not about that. This is about bullying and intimidation to build a mass state of mind where even the best of us are scared not to do the bidding of a man dressed as Captain Pingu or whatever those black uniforms were. I understand that donations to the RNLI were off the scale this week. Especially, I believe, the sale of Christmas cards, which some wags had been sending to the Freepost address of a certain right-wing party - therefore costing them lots of money. The British people can be very creative when the urge strikes. Also, I wonder if this proves that there is a silent majority who are not happy with all this.

On Saturday night, we watched the Last Night of the Proms, which I always enjoy. I don't think that it attracts many of the sort of people who shout "Traitor" at lifeboat personnel. We live in dangerous times, though. But I think that Sunday School, Youth Group, children's football training, food bank, Man's Club, OAP lunch, etc. (and on and on) are worth their weight in gold now. They are reasons for hope. They are a force for good. I'm not sure we have ever needed them more. Have a good week.