CAIRO by Chris Womersley

Straight away my intuition was that there would be a tragic element at the end of all this.

I knew all along more or less what would happen, like when you witness something but are powerless or prevented from speaking or warning.  

There was a real cringe factor.  Youth, naïveté , denial, deception...all so blatantly obvious.

The cruel self interested games of manipulation people play.

So sad.

Could have been worse for Tom.

I enjoyed it without loving it.

Liked the familiar streetscapes.

Some small relief with the present? Left behind by sally.

I couldn't think of anything worse than going away with those disjointed couples.

Perhaps the experience wisened him up, one would hope it woke him up to the importance of doing your own thing, being your own person.

I felt uncomfortable because I recognised my own naive self.

What letters reveal...

Hi Andrea,

Just thought I would touch base and give you an update.

I hope your break was reposing.
Our summer and autumn holidays were lovely and full of distractions.
Like Oscar Wilde, I can resist anything but temptation!
My main one being books which is promising for a hopeful future librarian but not for getting anything else done!

Unfortunately, I didn't quite reach my 2014 end of year study goal and am paying for that now with a term already gone.  I don't know where it went but it lost me along the way.
I will be doing my best to get it together this weekend after having re-attacked my tasks on Thursday so it is all fresh in my head again.

I believe I need to complete 9 electives and figure I will be working hard to finish up this year and hope you will guide me in choosing these soon.  I have some direction already but not being in a library will surely govern some choices.
There is a large possibility that we will head overseas early next year so hopefully a little urgency will do wonders.  If you have any information about the course equivalences in Europe that will be helpful.

There have been a few life and family things harder to juggle over the months but some balance has returned. 
So many roles we play...
We talk about using 'the cloud' these days but honestly I think I've been doing that for years already!  Not that I can retrieve anything in mine.

Some of my casual work has become a lot more demanding recently and my own creative ventures are always overwhelming me so I am trying hard to prioritise and concentrate on what I feel most passionate about.  I really do feel that I will find satisfaction blending library/education together in some way yet to see or imagine.  If I am honest, classroom teaching is not where I want to be.

So there is plenty to do and I will be working hard on my focusing/discipline strategies to achieve it all.
Lucky I'm an optimist.

happy weekend adventures,
Tina Pech

Dear Mr Sprouts by Errol Broome

I love books I can pick up and read in an evening!

This is inspiring in so many ways.  

Correspondence is such an appealing story format and this demonstrates nicely how powerful a written relationship can be.

It is an unexpected journey about a chance meeting, unlikely friendships, discovery, growing up...of trees and youth, place, identity, of sowing seeds, words and all of which these may grow in to.

 A lovely way to have spent my evening.