A wonderful weekend
Had a wonderful weekend with Bill. Started with gym sessions for us both, then brunch at Floriditas where we chatted with many people we know. Then drove up the coast to Peka Peka to have lunch with friends of Bill’s. A quick trip to Hōkio Beach to treat our drinking water, then back to Wellington to catch up with friends for a birthday and then a play at Circa Theatre - “Hope” - get your tickets now!.
Sunday - a very hot humid day - saw us walking through Mt Victoria and along Oriental Bay, then brunch once more, followed by shopping at the waterfront farmers market. A quick catchup with friends, then a visit to The Dowse Art Museum in the Hutt Valley - then Bill preparing for family dinner, and me joining a Wellington Pride Festival planning meeting.
A Complete Unknown
Going to see this movie tonight, and I can’t wait. It sounds wonderful…
Timothée Chalamet hits right notes in Bob Dylan biopic
I think it’s kind of wonderful that someone so determined to cloud the story of his origins would become famous playing a club called the Gaslight but that’s just one aspect of Dylan’s life that continues to delight me.
Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy Book 2)
Finished reading: Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 2) by Robin Hobb 📚
I really enjoyed this sequel to Assassin’s Apprentice. The pace really picked up and the story took a darker turn. The characters kept developing and the final chapter was incredible.
Finished reading: Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman 📚
So wonderfully down to earth and pragmatic. Also well written and funny.
Finished reading: Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch 📚
Wonderful pithy epigrams from David Lynch, one of the best creative people we were lucky to have.
Finished reading: Max by Avi Duckor-Jones 📚
Touching story of finding your identity(s), very well crafted. Set in Wellington, NZ and the US. Queer.
Wonderful new local business location - Eva’s Garage - with a cafe, florist, barber, and gift store!
Open now at 3C Eva Street.
Finished reading: Marcel Proust by Edmund White 📚
Excellent short biography of Proust by one of our great writers.
Powerful reminder of the underlying action required to address disasters like the L.A. 2025 fires.
The chronicle of a fire foretold | Rebecca Solnit
no personal preparation can compensate for the lack of the collective preparation that is meaningful international climate action. The current fires are reminders of the costs of forgetting
Excellent review of “The Whale Tattoo”, which I recently read. Agree with everything in this write-up.
The Whale Tattoo by Jon Ransom review – a powerful new voice of gay working-class life
The Whale Tattoo is a book about trauma, but it’s also about healing, trust and a young man working his way through the gloom like a boat in sea mist. This eloquent, heartfelt debut pulls the reader right beside him, and announces Ransom as a writer of real talent
I was this many days old when I realised that this was the origin of the saying “a day without Lesbians is like a day without sunshine”.
Anita Bryant, singer and anti-gay rights crusader, dies aged 84
“Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
Finished reading: Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb 📚
One of the best, most complex fantasy stories I’ve read. The characters are complex, varied, and flawed, with mixed and changing motives. The magic elements are subtle and limited; but central to the story. The writing is simple but skilful. And the theme of otherness, outsiders, and strangeness are enduring.