made, read, heard, saw

Happy Friday!

Firstly, I wanted to say thank you for all your very thoughtful responses to my other side post.  Knowing that you are out there is a constant source of delight and inspiration! 

On the subject of things enjoyable and inspiring, the week in review:

1. Made these zucchini quesadillas and can highly recommend you do the same. I think my technique may have been a little bit suspect - I basically cooked up the filling in one pot and then lay the tortilla on a warm pan, put cheese on top then filling, then tortilla and then thought 'How the hell do I get these this out of the pan without making a colossal mess?' I ended up cutting the circle down the middle with a knife/ spatula then gently flipped the half circles on top of themselves to form quarters. It worked, sort of. Tasty though.

I also made a damn lot of crumbles. Apple crumble, strawberry crumble with chocolate, breakfast crumble (essentially leftover crumble from the night before with milk added). 

2. Read Haruki Marukami's interview in the Paris Review and was immediately inspired to finish my top drawer half-finished novel and simultaneously start on another, also to start up running again.  I think I need to re-read What I talk about when I talk about running. There is something very reassuring and inspiring about Murakami's routines and quiet persistence.

3. Listened to Carl Sagan's message to the Mars explorers and got a bit teary.

4. Watched Maira Kalman reading her work on identity, happiness and existence and nodded vigorously in agreement with many of her wonderful words and ideas. If you haven't come across her yet, check her out, you'll be glad you did.

And that is all for now, have a wonderful weekend!

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there are no rules...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about authenticity and struggling a little with how to best be myself and represent myself in this space.  Sometimes I impose a lot of rules on myself about what I should be writing about rather than what I want to be writing about. 

The thing is when I post less frequently here it's often not that there isn't much going on but rather a lot is happening and I don't know how to translate it in a way that feels authentic to me. That's been the case lately.  Between moving house, visiting my Dad in hospital in the lead up to him having a transplant, helping K’s family paint our old flat and working, I’ve hardly taken pause for breath, let alone be bothered to prepare good meals, or eat properly or take pictures of things.  

A few weeks back I was so tired that I'd go to say something and unintentional words or sentences would pop out instead. I told a cabbie I wanted to go to the Cross instead of the Rocks, which was confusing for all involved. The hypochondriac in me was beginning to envisage a tumour-like scenario but I think it was just lack of sleep and stress.

I tend to avoid writing about this sort of stuff, but in a way it's almost like I haven't really been honest with myself so perhaps being a bit more honest with you is a small step in the right direction. I have to admit that life is often a lot messier that it comes across here and that sometimes I fervently want to cultivate the kind of life I see on other blogs, a life that often feels illusive in the normal scheme of things.  

But... and it's an important but, I have gradually come to realise that there really are no rules about how to do things - whether it's baking or blogging or decorating or designing or taking pictures - you have to do what you like and what works for you, even if sometimes it seems a little odd. 

A few others who have been touching on the topic of authenticity lately: 
- Paul Graham on how to do what you love, especially this bit: 'Prestige … causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like.' 
- Brian's post about honesty and food really got me thinking about how much we style our lives for the camera, when the truth of it is often just as, if not more, compelling.
- Edits quarterly  is a new online publication of “short narratives in film and photography” which is  inspiring and beautiful.
- This lady knows how to express things beautifully too.

These and many other good things have been keeping me going during this strange period of time and I know things will get better. I'm looking forward to sharing more pictures of our place - moving has been like a spring clean to the head, let me tell you. Highly recommended.

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smakfulle øyeblikk

It's been a little (long) while since I stuck my head out here and said hello... so hello there and hope things are going well with you.

As for me, I've been keeping busy - making salads and birthday cakes, running and reading (lots) but also suffering a mild case of bloggers block. Now and again the internet (and the world at large) can get a touch overwhelming and it's in those moments you sometimes need to take a break to refocus, to find the joy in small things again.

I think Meryl Streep said it rather well in the movie Adaptation:

There are too many ideas and things and people. 
Too many directions to go. 
I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something, is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size. 

Still, sometimes it just takes making a simple cake or a rocket salad or snapping a photo or even a great phrase to get you back on the horse so to speak.

The other day I discovered the wonderfully onomatopoeia-ish phrase smakfulle øyeblikk on this great blog. It's Norwegian for tasteful moments. And my word it's those tasteful moments that you've got to savour. They're not always the big brash momentous occasions you think will be important but the quiet spaces where you feel unexpected peace - in the kitchen, on the phone, in the garden, reading a good book, holding hands. Those words acted like a smack to the head, a whimsical nudge back into the land of here.

So, whilst I'm here, a few things I've been enjoying of late:
Inspiring questions;
This book;
Salads, specifically those featuring rocket, walnuts, parmesan, apple and balsamic - our rough and ready take on the great waldorf;
Inspiring lessons in creativity.

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