I wonder if it’s a seasonal promotion, or - more sinister - perhaps they’re judging me by the frequency at which I purchase cleaning products. 🤣 Might just check the house for any hidden cameras concealed in any dust bunnies, though, JUST IN CASE… 🫣
These letters are becoming compulsory reading for me. There's always a snifter of delight, a snort of laughter and a snippet of information. I had no idea about the BBC weather - how funny! Bet some heads rolled over that one!
And the snippets of news cuttings! When I first worked for the ABC (think BBC in Australia) as a researcher, that was exactly part of my job. I had to read all the dailies and journals and cut out stories, date them, do some more digging and then pass to the programme presenters who may have been able to run a 3 minute radio piece. It was fun, even more so when research for TV programmes was added into the mix.
Thanks once again for a wonderful fly on the wall piece on daily life in the UK.
Oh, thank you so much, Prue! And wow, it’s brilliant that taking press cuttings was part of your job - I would LOVE that task - identifying interesting snippets to pass on would have been such fun! I really enjoy finding things that I know I can refer to for future posts - and am grateful that I only take one printed newspaper a week, because otherwise I’d be knee-deep in paper! 😉
Rebecca you are always a breath of fresh air when a girl … ok old curmudgeon … feels down. I can assure you your house keeping prowess exceeds mine. My dust can’t be seen but that’s only because it so high it’s looks like a blanket on everything. I love the writing case. Did Terry clean up the monopoly carnage I wonder? Pleas stop writing about interesting books. Lyn Barber’s is another for the increasing pile my house will soon look like Edda Tasiemka’s but with books.
Have a great week Rebecca and thanks for getting me chuckling this morning 😘😘
Oh Jo, I’m so happy to have got you chuckling - I thoroughly enjoy writing these letters to Terry, because it’s an opportunity to go just a little bit bonkers, and I’m very pleased that you enjoy reading them, too!
It’s funny - I hadn’t sought out the Lynn Barber book specifically - I was cruising the virtual shelves of the county library on the Libby app and came across it - anyway, it was absolutely fascinating! I enjoyed it not just for the hair-raising stories of the celebrities she’s interviewed, but for everything to do with interviewing and writing, too. I’ve fairly recently stopped buying books because it was getting ridiculous - well, I do still pick some up secondhand on eBay - and I’ve been enjoying accessing library books for free on Libby. I hadn’t thought I’d enjoy reading books on my phone screen, but actually I don’t know what I’d been worrying about. I generally have a real-life paperback on the go at the same time as an ebook AND an audiobook on Libby - that covers all bases!
We have a battered copy of Five Hundred Mile Walkies, which inspired us to walk part of that coastline forty years ago...we even had a dog, Susie, nicknamed Boogie!
Oh wow, that’s amazing, Janey - now you’ve got me wondering how your walk compared with Mark’s and Boogie’s! And it’s really lovely that you called Susie Boogie for the trip! 😊😊😊
So many bits of fun here, Rebecca. I want to comment on all of them, but in keeping with the idea of keeping too many snippets, I'll pull just two:
Weather: I'm not as dedicated as I once was, farming being so directly impacted and all, but I do appreciate knowing what's on tap for the day and a few days beyond. Here, I'm latching onto November 13th when we have a 44% chance of rain. If it materializes, it will be our first in well over a month. 😥
Handsoap at the amusement park: I'm picturing small children flying off the merry-go-round. But hey! They'd be sanitized!
Snippets: When you write that you make a record of every little notion in your book, and you mention screenshots, do you print a copy of the screenshot? Or is this a digital book? The writing case is fabulous and looks happy to be providing a valuable service. Maybe it becomes like a fortune machine. You reach in, pull out a snippet, and use it as a writing prompt!
Gosh, no rain for well over a month - that must be a worry. I don’t think we’ve ever had that over here, but things are certainly changing year on year.
And yes, those kids at the theme park would at least be clean, right?!
One day I’m going to write a post about my writing log - it’s still evolving. I started it in April, and as well as being a record of what I’ve got saved (in the form of cuttings, online articles and screenshots/pictures) it’s so useful for jotting down ideas. It’s basically a printed diary - one day to a page (that’s soooooo important!) - and on each page I have four sections:
A log of what I’ve done that day in terms of writing - drafted a post, caught up on my inbox, etc;
Notes - these might be something like a short list of ideas which I might like to include in my next letter to Terry; a book reference (page number - or, if I don’t own the book myself and have to return it, the full quote); ideas for posts; reminders of what I’d like to research; a log of notes about something that I might have made in my pocket notebook when I was out and about - I’ll write down in my log what those notes were about and on what page of my pocket notebook they start;
A log of any Substack posts I have read that day which I know I’ll want to link to in a future post of my own;
A log of any cuttings I’ve taken that day, online news articles I’ve saved or screenshot.
Some pages are completely empty, many are full, most have just a few lines of words.
The fact that these notes are all dated by default, in that I use today’s page to write TODAY’S notes/ideas/articles down on, means that I can very easily find them again - or simply dip into the book at random to find something short and sweet to make Terry laugh, for instance. Anything I’ve logged and then written about, I mark that I’ve written about it. Oh, and there’s an index.
Wow!!! I don't think I could be that organized even in my dreams, Rebecca. I love the idea, and what a gold mine of information that would be for any current day or retroactively. So, remind me: You're the offspring of scientists, teachers, librarians, engineers? You've got some very detail-oriented DNA! :)
LOL! Thanks, Elizabeth. It's a system which has evolved over time. I've always had trouble keeping track of things, and that's teamed with a desperate desire to be organised - which makes me perhaps a bit of a paradox. Over the years I've embedded certain approaches to tackling tasks and records into my routine, and that practice has made life rather easier!
But yup, I am the offspring of very lovely and jolly organised parents, so that, I'm sure, is a big help!
"I do at least try to keep on top of the bits that show!" Ha ha ha! That is harder for a tall person - YOU can see everything. I am 5' tall. The top of my refrigerator and the tops of the door sills haven't been dusted in years. Can't see them, so no worries....
"...monitoring the volume of dust I sweep under the mat on a (daily weekly monthly) occasional basis..." Just made me laugh so hard. Thanks, Rebecca.
PS No need to apologize for missing a weekly post. Your dear readers don't watch the calendar. We will read anything your write whenever you write it and be delighted.
Re the header 22, 23, 223 - cropping? Or paint it yourself? You’re ready for next fortnight’s one anyway.
Re the weather, our Australian Bureau of Meteorology recently forecast a tsunami for great swathes of the east coast, spreading a couple of hundred kilometres inland! Apparently it was a test of an emergency message, but they forgot to include that very important information, so there was some concern for those living down on the coast.
Ah yes, I could have cropped it! I'll thinking about that next time - thanks, Beth! I'd got into a bit of a spiral of scrolling down, down, down, trying to find a 22 - and then when I found 223 I rather liked it, and thought I'd just go for that! 🤣 I think I'll start a little art project for some of my future numbers - thank you too for that idea.
Oh gosh, that's sooooooo careless of the Bureau to send out that forecast without telling people that it was a drill, not a genuine situation! It must have been terrifying. At least in our case over here the mistake was just soooooo ridiculous that it couldn't be real, and I'm grateful for that. Thankful to be safe. xxx
We live 700m above sea level, an 80-minute drive from the coast and were supposedly going to be affected by the tsunami, so it definitely felt ridiculous to us… 🤗🤗
"Another pile of denial" is going to by my new favorite name for things that gather on my desk at home and at work. I will always cite the author. 😃. Loved this post, RH.
LOL! I have many, many piles of denial in all kinds of places, Mary! Glad we’re kindred spirits - although I am 100% certain that your ‘things that gather’ are in better control than mine. My approach to putting things away is on a spectrum from ‘doesn’t happen’ through ‘chaotic’ all the way to ‘once in a blue moon’.
Rebecca, I am glad I am not the only one being stalked by purveyors of cleaning products. I am convinced that They Know.
Now I must go and find Terry's original Monopoly story, because it looks so splendidly obvious of a thing to do, and yet I have never though to do it.
LOL - it’s not just me, then!
I wonder if it’s a seasonal promotion, or - more sinister - perhaps they’re judging me by the frequency at which I purchase cleaning products. 🤣 Might just check the house for any hidden cameras concealed in any dust bunnies, though, JUST IN CASE… 🫣
Also - kind of connected but then again, not.
Which do you think is greater - the National Debt or Purdey and Figg's marketing budget?
They get everywhere. I'm confidently expecting to find a delegation on my doorstep when I come home one day.
Oh golly, they’re everywhere, aren’t they?!
These letters are becoming compulsory reading for me. There's always a snifter of delight, a snort of laughter and a snippet of information. I had no idea about the BBC weather - how funny! Bet some heads rolled over that one!
And the snippets of news cuttings! When I first worked for the ABC (think BBC in Australia) as a researcher, that was exactly part of my job. I had to read all the dailies and journals and cut out stories, date them, do some more digging and then pass to the programme presenters who may have been able to run a 3 minute radio piece. It was fun, even more so when research for TV programmes was added into the mix.
Thanks once again for a wonderful fly on the wall piece on daily life in the UK.
Oh, thank you so much, Prue! And wow, it’s brilliant that taking press cuttings was part of your job - I would LOVE that task - identifying interesting snippets to pass on would have been such fun! I really enjoy finding things that I know I can refer to for future posts - and am grateful that I only take one printed newspaper a week, because otherwise I’d be knee-deep in paper! 😉
Rebecca you are always a breath of fresh air when a girl … ok old curmudgeon … feels down. I can assure you your house keeping prowess exceeds mine. My dust can’t be seen but that’s only because it so high it’s looks like a blanket on everything. I love the writing case. Did Terry clean up the monopoly carnage I wonder? Pleas stop writing about interesting books. Lyn Barber’s is another for the increasing pile my house will soon look like Edda Tasiemka’s but with books.
Have a great week Rebecca and thanks for getting me chuckling this morning 😘😘
Oh Jo, I’m so happy to have got you chuckling - I thoroughly enjoy writing these letters to Terry, because it’s an opportunity to go just a little bit bonkers, and I’m very pleased that you enjoy reading them, too!
It’s funny - I hadn’t sought out the Lynn Barber book specifically - I was cruising the virtual shelves of the county library on the Libby app and came across it - anyway, it was absolutely fascinating! I enjoyed it not just for the hair-raising stories of the celebrities she’s interviewed, but for everything to do with interviewing and writing, too. I’ve fairly recently stopped buying books because it was getting ridiculous - well, I do still pick some up secondhand on eBay - and I’ve been enjoying accessing library books for free on Libby. I hadn’t thought I’d enjoy reading books on my phone screen, but actually I don’t know what I’d been worrying about. I generally have a real-life paperback on the go at the same time as an ebook AND an audiobook on Libby - that covers all bases!
x
We have a battered copy of Five Hundred Mile Walkies, which inspired us to walk part of that coastline forty years ago...we even had a dog, Susie, nicknamed Boogie!
Oh wow, that’s amazing, Janey - now you’ve got me wondering how your walk compared with Mark’s and Boogie’s! And it’s really lovely that you called Susie Boogie for the trip! 😊😊😊
She was Boogie by nickname anyway, coincidentally 😊
We only did a few days, but it was fab. It was also forty years ago 😧
Oh, that’s so lovely!
Some absolute gems in this as usual! Love it! Please turn up at thorpe park with handsoap 🤣 Keep snipping! X
LOL - thanks! Golly, can you IMAGINE the headlines?! 🫧🎢🫧
🤣
So many bits of fun here, Rebecca. I want to comment on all of them, but in keeping with the idea of keeping too many snippets, I'll pull just two:
Weather: I'm not as dedicated as I once was, farming being so directly impacted and all, but I do appreciate knowing what's on tap for the day and a few days beyond. Here, I'm latching onto November 13th when we have a 44% chance of rain. If it materializes, it will be our first in well over a month. 😥
Handsoap at the amusement park: I'm picturing small children flying off the merry-go-round. But hey! They'd be sanitized!
Snippets: When you write that you make a record of every little notion in your book, and you mention screenshots, do you print a copy of the screenshot? Or is this a digital book? The writing case is fabulous and looks happy to be providing a valuable service. Maybe it becomes like a fortune machine. You reach in, pull out a snippet, and use it as a writing prompt!
Gosh, no rain for well over a month - that must be a worry. I don’t think we’ve ever had that over here, but things are certainly changing year on year.
And yes, those kids at the theme park would at least be clean, right?!
One day I’m going to write a post about my writing log - it’s still evolving. I started it in April, and as well as being a record of what I’ve got saved (in the form of cuttings, online articles and screenshots/pictures) it’s so useful for jotting down ideas. It’s basically a printed diary - one day to a page (that’s soooooo important!) - and on each page I have four sections:
A log of what I’ve done that day in terms of writing - drafted a post, caught up on my inbox, etc;
Notes - these might be something like a short list of ideas which I might like to include in my next letter to Terry; a book reference (page number - or, if I don’t own the book myself and have to return it, the full quote); ideas for posts; reminders of what I’d like to research; a log of notes about something that I might have made in my pocket notebook when I was out and about - I’ll write down in my log what those notes were about and on what page of my pocket notebook they start;
A log of any Substack posts I have read that day which I know I’ll want to link to in a future post of my own;
A log of any cuttings I’ve taken that day, online news articles I’ve saved or screenshot.
Some pages are completely empty, many are full, most have just a few lines of words.
The fact that these notes are all dated by default, in that I use today’s page to write TODAY’S notes/ideas/articles down on, means that I can very easily find them again - or simply dip into the book at random to find something short and sweet to make Terry laugh, for instance. Anything I’ve logged and then written about, I mark that I’ve written about it. Oh, and there’s an index.
Wow!!! I don't think I could be that organized even in my dreams, Rebecca. I love the idea, and what a gold mine of information that would be for any current day or retroactively. So, remind me: You're the offspring of scientists, teachers, librarians, engineers? You've got some very detail-oriented DNA! :)
LOL! Thanks, Elizabeth. It's a system which has evolved over time. I've always had trouble keeping track of things, and that's teamed with a desperate desire to be organised - which makes me perhaps a bit of a paradox. Over the years I've embedded certain approaches to tackling tasks and records into my routine, and that practice has made life rather easier!
But yup, I am the offspring of very lovely and jolly organised parents, so that, I'm sure, is a big help!
"I do at least try to keep on top of the bits that show!" Ha ha ha! That is harder for a tall person - YOU can see everything. I am 5' tall. The top of my refrigerator and the tops of the door sills haven't been dusted in years. Can't see them, so no worries....
"...monitoring the volume of dust I sweep under the mat on a (daily weekly monthly) occasional basis..." Just made me laugh so hard. Thanks, Rebecca.
PS No need to apologize for missing a weekly post. Your dear readers don't watch the calendar. We will read anything your write whenever you write it and be delighted.
Awwwww. Thank you, Sharron! I don't know why I tie myself in knots like this! xxx
LOL - the secret is not to look! And I'm not sure I've ever dusted the top of a door sill in my life!
xxx
Re the header 22, 23, 223 - cropping? Or paint it yourself? You’re ready for next fortnight’s one anyway.
Re the weather, our Australian Bureau of Meteorology recently forecast a tsunami for great swathes of the east coast, spreading a couple of hundred kilometres inland! Apparently it was a test of an emergency message, but they forgot to include that very important information, so there was some concern for those living down on the coast.
Ah yes, I could have cropped it! I'll thinking about that next time - thanks, Beth! I'd got into a bit of a spiral of scrolling down, down, down, trying to find a 22 - and then when I found 223 I rather liked it, and thought I'd just go for that! 🤣 I think I'll start a little art project for some of my future numbers - thank you too for that idea.
Oh gosh, that's sooooooo careless of the Bureau to send out that forecast without telling people that it was a drill, not a genuine situation! It must have been terrifying. At least in our case over here the mistake was just soooooo ridiculous that it couldn't be real, and I'm grateful for that. Thankful to be safe. xxx
We live 700m above sea level, an 80-minute drive from the coast and were supposedly going to be affected by the tsunami, so it definitely felt ridiculous to us… 🤗🤗
🤣 Pretty safe, then! Glad to hear it! 😊
"Another pile of denial" is going to by my new favorite name for things that gather on my desk at home and at work. I will always cite the author. 😃. Loved this post, RH.
LOL! I have many, many piles of denial in all kinds of places, Mary! Glad we’re kindred spirits - although I am 100% certain that your ‘things that gather’ are in better control than mine. My approach to putting things away is on a spectrum from ‘doesn’t happen’ through ‘chaotic’ all the way to ‘once in a blue moon’.