Warning: May contain over-dramatic metaphors
I am now firmly convinced I live in the best town ever. Four years ago we moved to a medium-sized market town on the verge of being swallowed up by a fast growing city. Having moved from the city itself, this isn't something I particularly resent, but the longer I live here the more I fall in love with little town life. Out of some appeal to originality, I'm trying to avoid the word 'vibrant', but I can't think of any other way to sum up the atmosphere in this town. It's so full of history and culture and life. Like many towns, it's experienced it's losses, such as the closure of the branch line (now a lovely, shady walkway) but it hasn't become a dead, commuter town. Old families stay. People move here and never move away. The churches and the clubs and societies and the multitude of coffee shops and the scout groups and the festivals teem with happy locals. I love it, and when I move away in September, I'll miss it more than anywhere else I've lived.
The high street is only five minutes away from my doorstep, so this morning I went up into town to raid the charity shops. As you may or may not have guessed, I am a book fiend, and as it happens we have a particularly excellent selection of book-selling charity shops here. After visiting Oxfam (my favourite, but smelt weird this morning), Willen Hospice (always excellent for books) and Age Concern (spotted useful book on Hitler in window display) I was meandering towards the co-op to pick up 4pints of milk (thrilling) when I remembered that I'd heard about a new book shop opened down one of the side-streets, so I thought I'd take a look.
And then I was transported to book lovers heaven.
Maggie and Josie's Bookshop is an independent shop, selling a wide selection of second hand books. Walking around, it was obvious that they'd been selected with love and taste: everything was in good quality and the selection was fantastic, from sports biographies to 50p Danielle Steels to Dr Faustus and English A-Level textbooks. The shop itself felt quiet and homely, with a few beautifully kitsch touches like the front of the desk, papered in book-leaves. Clutching my armful of books, I had a lovely chat with the lady who runs the shop about books, and unashamedly dragged my long suffering mum back later in the afternoon so she could buy some too. In the end I purchased 5 myself, plus 1 mum bought for me, at only £12.50 in total, which was fantastic! Having also bought three books in charity shops earlier, I now have nine new books. It's too good for words, so here's a picture instead:
Courtesy of Maggie and Josie's bookshop:
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi
Peter Pan and other Plays by James Barrie
Save me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald
A glossary of literary terms &
a palgrave book of 20th century literary theory.
I am so happy to have been able to get the original play version of Peter Pan, which I have been looking for for ages. I was also tempted by Yann Martel's Life of Pi and Vladimir Nobokov's Lolita but I had to stop buying at some point. Also Lady Chatterley's lover, but somehow it does not feel quite decent to own it. I had to get it out of the library by the self-service checkout.
I also bought Animal Farm by George Orwell from Willen Hospice and The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins and Burning your boats: collected stories by Angela Carter from Oxfam. We already have the Moonstone, but I am a Wilkie Collins fanatic and require my own copy to attend university with me!
The other high street shop I want to talk about is Queen of Threads, a relatively new vintage clothing shop at the other end of the high street. This used to be my opticians and I was gutted when they closed down as they were really lovely, but all that changed when Queen of Threads opened. At present, it is the only clothing shop on the high street. Quirky and colourful, it sells the most amazing range of jewellery, bags, shoes, dresses, skirts, tops and trousers to be found in the county, all at affordable prices. Being reasonably conventional in my tastes, I haven't been brave enough to buy any of the more exciting pieces yet, but I love going in to browse. Although my 'sleeping mouse' ring broke, I still have a gorgeous dress with a woolly dog on it and this wonderful, hand-knit jumper photographed right. It's the perfect jumper for snuggling up in on a winter's evening, but it also looks great and makes me feel confident. What more can you ask for? Love it!
So that's my materialistic outpourings for the month. I hasten to assure you that I am a deep, fulfilled, spiritual person and did not jump up and down with joy at the prospect of double-stacking my bookshelf...
Till next time, God bless & stay groovy!
J.R.
I have decided to keep up my blog! ( hums death star theme tune!).
So...
Since I last posted, my life has rather vaguely revolved around school, grades, subjects and french revision. I still believe education has the power to be terrifically exciting, I've just realised it makes every other aspect of your life boring. Being a bit of a geek (ehem...yes.), after a day of school all I can think of to talk about is...school. Conclusion: It's time to change the subject.
The sun has come back! I'm feeling happier already. I'm one of those awkward people who hates whatever season I'm in, but now isn't too bad, if a little windy. I have a feeling this summer will be beautiful. Already the skys of my mind are a vivid blue, the thin clouds embossed far below the level of my thoughts. At last, after my long struggle last year, I'm properly happy again. I've been fine for a month and a half, maybe two, and I feel more like myself than I have in two years.
Last night I washed and plaited my hair (with some help, hairdressing is not my forte!) and now I have rather wonderful wavy hair. The sixthform at my school (drat, I'm doing it again!) had to dress on the theme 'Movies' today, so I came as a rather feeble impression of Hermione Granger, complete with wand. Not overly imaginative, but my wardrobe and purse are rather sparse for exciting constume making. The wand, a remnant of a childhood Harry Potter obsession, has a light up tip and sound effects, which transformed my sober and mature sixthform friends into overexcited wizard-wannabes. Brilliant! Any time you think your friends are getting too serious, a short trip back to their childhood will solve the problem. I grew up with Harry Potter and his friends, from early primary school, and it was noticable how everyone I talked to today took the wand into their stride. It's part of our culture as children of the 90's - we're the Harry Potter generation.
Sadly this beautiful day hasn't been so perfect for everyone. I was woken by my radio-alarm telling me about the earthquake and subsequent Tsunami hitting Japan and spreading out across the pacific. We flow from one horror story to another, war and revolution to natural disaster and on. Has it always been like this? The world precariously balanced, as if any moment we could collapse into terror, the news flashes baying their sadistic sincerity. I wonder if we're living through a moment of particular disaster and - if the earth lasts that long! - one day, we'll tell our children about watching Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, New Zealand, Australia, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, the economies, the EU, all crumble under blood and fire and water. Perhaps one day people will be so used to democracies dividing and people dying in their multitudes, nameless, we'll become numb to it all. Do disasters raise our humanity, or grind it away?
Jesus. In disaster he fell on the cross, under the thumb of a great empire tearing away the liberties of his people. He had nothing and was humbled, dying under the mocking calls of soldiers whilst his followers hid and denied his name. Is there anything more terrible than the agony of an innocent who dies to save the guilty? Is there anything braver, than to walk to one of the most painful and humiliating forms of death knowing you could escape - Jesus is God, he could have - but choosing to? Our God chose to walk to death that day. But then. Then.
Imagine the might of the flood. The hurricane. The storm and tornado and tsumani and earthquake and avalanche and the radiant poison of the pollutants and fires, their toxic gases spreading over earth. All these things can take away your homes, your familes, your live. They are killers. But that is the end of there power: their dominion ends at death. Look. There is the pause, where we wait, listening. What happens next?
God. Death took an innocent man in Jesus, like thousands today, the people dying as I write this in the tsunami, the people slipping away at the end of their lives, the others, the many. Yet because Jesus died, God himself in human form, something miraculous is happening.
After the boundary of death there is God's kingdom. God rules, death is defeated, the tsunami and the poisons and the aching seeping wound of evil on the earth is nothing. I believe in this Kingdom, the dead are living. Jesus opened the gates of life and he is holding out his hand, reaching out for the sufferers to show them the way.
Basically... Death is an Epic Fail!
Even in the darkest night we have hope, whether your darkness is a bad patch at school or languishing in prison or waiting for the waters to recede so you can search for your loved ones and destroyed homes. If you are out there in one of those traumatised countries, or just suffering in your own lives, I hope things will change for you soon. Thousands of people out there are praying for you & God is with you. It's a little hard to express without sounding insincere, but I really do hope and believe that there is always hope, and God can change lives. And to the people of Japan, the world is with you in your suffering.
...I think I just invented a split personality blog. I really need to improve my writing!...
Peace out & God Bless!
J.
