Nasim Marie Jafry's Blog, page 23

Olympic Flame

Was a lovely moment seeing the Olympic flame from my windowsill, though it passed so quickly and a shame the buses parked right in front of the church. The sun shone and I had a tear in my eye. I understand much better this sort of celebration -  applause for talent and hard work, the Olympic spirit - unlike that monstrous affair we had at the beginning of June.

'The Missing Shade of Blue' by Jennie Erdal

In Jennie Erdal's brilliant memoir Ghosting (2004) she 'came out' as the ghostwriter for the flamboyant, larger than life Naim Attallah. I remember loving this book and telling everyone to read it. So when Peregrinations mentioned The Missing Shade of Blue to me, Erdal's first novel under her own name, I was intrigued, but  with my mother having been ill it took me even longer than usual to finish, my stopping and starting more stopping and stopping.

And I confess I have mixed feelings ab...

Tumbling & falling

Realised yesterday the Olympic flame will go right past my flat, just like the Pope. At least I'll be prepared this time, and not think I'm hallucinating. There are coal tits - they are tiny! - tumbling and falling in the tree in the garden, like they're having their own Jubilee party - without the excruciating, ingratiating behaviour displayed by BBC -  and you can hear squeaking from the wall where they are nesting. Brilliant essay by Malcolm Muggeridge from 1955 on the toadying of pub...

Boys & books

I called my mother's house yesterday, my 7-yr-old nephew answered the phone. I asked him how Granny was and he said: Not bad. I asked if he was looking forward to visiting Auntie N and he said: Yup. I remember when I used to have to child-proof the flat so they didn't drink bleach or get electrocuted, now I just have to buy them ice lollies. Looking forward to giving them Roy Gill's debut novel, The Daemon Parallel, I got them a signed copy a couple of months ago. The gorgeous cover is just t...

Pregnancy & autoimmune illness

Interesting programme from Radio Scotland on the seemingly miraculous remission of autoimmune illness sometimes experienced by pregnant women (some, on the other hand, get worse). Presented by journalist Elizabeth Quigley who herself has MS and felt better during pregnancy. She asks scientists what they are doing to replicate pregnancy hormones in a therapeutic context. I know that some women with ME too feel better during pregnancy, but crash afterwards. Fascinating stuff.

And, of course, tod...

100 RPM - stories inspired by music

100 RPM, a gorgeously designed ebook anthology, is released today. It's the project of Caroline Smailes,  whose enthusiasm is irrepressible and inspiring.
All money raised goes to One in Four charity. Caroline has explained all on her blog.
There are a hundred stories and every story is one hundred words or less and has been inspired by music on You Tube.
(My own story was inspired by Glasvegas' version of 'Silent Night'.)
I hope you enjoy the book and pass on the word! I'm off to download...

The Seagull

A seagull shat on me yesterday, I thought, at first, it was a giant raindrop on the back of my hand. The sky was empty and blue. My stepdad then said he'd seen the shadows of *two* seagulls. Hard to know if he had as he seems to be retreating more and more into his own world. He puts the olive oil in the fridge, I take it back out, he puts it back in, I take it back out. And he hung the bath mats on the garden gate to dry, they had been on the clothes horse, but for his own (perfectly valid,...

Different states

I've just ordered  paperbacks of The State of Me, and State of Wonder   by Ann Patchett as gifts. I enjoyed both Bel Canto and Truth and Beauty. I have the Kindle sample of State of Wonder; these samples are overflowing, I download them and forget to read them. I imagine them as brightly coloured scraps of fabric that caught my eye, I have no real use for them but can't throw them away (literally, I don't think you can delete a Kindle sample, can you?). Also, just downloaded a sample...

Gorgeous

At the weekend, my nephews' village primary school won an inter-schools football tournament, an unexpected victory.  I heard that one wee boy who didn't even play - too young - took his shirt off and did a lap of honour. Gorgeous. The team is  being taken to an Italian restaurant for lunch this week, what a fabulous treat (I can't recall anything as sumptuous at primary school). But this is a  generation of nephews who ask for Jamie's summer salad in their packed lunches.
My old...

Educate, educate, educate!

Have been so preoccupied with my mum being ill this last ten days that ME International Awareness Week has had to go on the back burner. Scott blogged this on Monday and it was nice to see this review going up on Amazon and Goodreads. I like reviews that quote from the book - once I knew the novel off by heart, but with time you forget. Nice to see snippets and be reminded of what you wrote.

I managed to attend the ME Awareness Cross Party Group event at the Scottish Parliament last night (org...