Returning to Medium this week it seems only right that I kick off by writing a post like this.
I have now submitted my final writing project at university, so I can either sit and drum my fingers for a month or two, or thereabouts, or I can just get on with normal life, such as writing this post.
Monday
My week began by going to the cinema to see ‘Good Fortune’, a comedy relating to an angel swapping a rich person’s experience of life with that of a poor person, and vice versa. I wouldn’t call it a great film, but it was good, and provided plenty of entertainment for four old codgers on a Monday afternoon, from Aziz Ansari, Seth Rogen, Keke Palmer, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Oh and many others.
Tomorrow, in contrast, we are going to see a ‘National Theatre Live’ performance shown in the cinema of ‘Mrs Warren’s Profession’, starring Imelda Staunton and Bessie Carter as her daughter, who are, in fact, real-life mother and daughter. It also stars Kevin Doyle in this play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893, and first performed in London in 1902, but it was not performed to the public until 1925, after facing censorship for its ‘controversial’ content.
Tuesday
Tuesday’s highlight was definitely about visiting my daughter in Cardiff, which was a great experience. Lunch and lots of chat and lots of coffee and hugs in a Wetherspoons pub.
Another thing that happened for me on Tuesday was a successful bursary application for some undergraduate study I wish to do over 9 years from January, strengthening my core skills in creative writing. I am choosing to undertake this over 9 years (if I live that long) to stretch out the payments, to match my ‘Slowman’ pace of doing things and to keep me mentally stimulated, learning about the subject I am most interested in.
Wednesday
Wednesday was taken-up with actually enroling for the course, which I could only do after the bursary decision. The course is a BA in Creative Writing with ‘The Open College of The Arts’, and accredited by ‘The Open University’.
Thursday
Thursday was ‘Home Writing’ day for me from the local writing group, of which I am a contributing member. I had to write something about what the posture of a statue or person was conveying to me. I chose to write about Rodin’s ‘Age of Bronze’ statue, as portrayed above.
I also chose a prompt for the writing group, using the ‘Friends’ poem by Reinekke Longelle, for Friday’s meeting of writing group.
Friday
It was good to see the other writing group members on Zoom on Friday, both in a social sense, but also allowing an opportunity to write together and to discuss writing with other writers. There are currently only three of us meeting at the moment, and we could do with some more members.
Despite being a very small group, we did not have a chance to do everything we wanted to do in 2 hours, so the prompt I chose was set as Homewriting instead, for when we meet again in 2 weeks time, as next week is half-term holiday in the schools, and some have childcare commitments as a result.
Saturday
Saturday brought the news that Lucy Powell had won the contest to become Deputy Leader of the UK Labour Party, significantly beating her nearest rival, Bridget Phillipson. Without wading into a political discussion about this result, I will just say that I feel like this is a good result, as Lucy Powell will be able to exercise constructive criticism from the back benches, rather than being bound by the collective responsibility of being a cabinet member.
Sunday
Sunday has been a slow day, initially watching Kamala Harris being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC, as part of her book tour about her campaign for the American presidency, with a bit more ‘Political Thinking’ from Nick Robinson. Later on, I will have a monthly Zoom meeting with my siblings, each one of us being as surprised as the other that we are all still alive. We might actually get around to talking about something other than health and mortality. You never know!
In the meantime, I am finishing off this piece of writing, feeling glad to be back.
I go now to try and get my ‘Slowman’ head around Canva, but not being a visual thinker, I am more than a little challenged, despite how easy they attempt to make it for people like me.
I will persevere.
Fraser