Issue 60 - The dog soup bowl
DECEMBER 2023
Poured Jolene (my dog) a bowl of water in the office. Chose a horrible chunky bowl with the word 'soup' in caps down the side. She started lapping at it straight away.
A colleague walked past. 'you know I use that bowl for my soup every day?'
'Are you joking?'
His cheeks were pink and he was smiling, in quite an embarrassed kind of a way, 'no,' he said.
Wrote DOG BOWL on my hand as a reminder to bring one in.
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A friend sends me a video of her 4 y/o daughter just gazing lovingly at their decorated Christmas tree. I reply and we both agree this moment alone warrants having a child.
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Jaya texted me to ask if I could have five liquids coming out of of my fingers at all times, what would they be? Thought long and hard about mine: sparkling water, very good olive oil, Champagne, an oat flat white at perfect temperature, maybe petrol? L said he'd choose: diesel, petrol, 30w engine oil (i'm not 100% sure what this is?), Champagne, chainsaw oil. Jaya put forward two good options I hadn't considered: a perfect cup of tea and Tom Ford perfume.
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Went round the amazing 'Photie Man' exhibition. It was incredible - the photos felt so different to ones we all take now. Was trying to work out why. Most of them are not posed in any way, there are no filters, and there were no selfies. The sizes were strange - taken with medium format cameras. It meant often you were getting several scenes in one shot. The people on the bus, crammed in and holding on, and maybe families waiting outside to get on. The posed ones, somehow, were still interesting - arresting. People had spots and sweat marks and often looked more beautiful for it. Could have genuinely spent hours there.
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One of the books I'm attempting to finish mentions David Nash's 'ash dome.' Spent an hour one Sunday am trying to work out where it is, if they are still alive.
Good Things to click on
“The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” Laura Ingalls Wilder
The best foccacia recipe I know: 510 g strong flour, 2 teaspoons salt, 8 g instant yeast, 455 g warm water. All mixed in a bowl with a v generous amount of oil and plenty of chopped artichokes. Fridge, covered, for 2-3 days. Out of fridge, leave to rise a few hours, stretch, more salt, more oil, extra delicious garnishes. Hottest oven 20 minutes.
I love the way he puts two questions together
It's a long story, but I started reading about Buddhist funerals