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Month: January 2021
Uta’s Diary
Yesterday I looked at a lot of Peter’s books and also at some of my books. I wanted to make a decision, which books I definitly wanted to keep, just to keep, and then which books I also wanted to read. I came up with a plan! So, my plan is to aim at reading two books every week, meaning over the year I should be able to read about 100 books!
Hopefully I’ll be able to read about 100 books every year that I am still alive!
Recently I already read ‘HOLY SMOKE’: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7868-6349-5
I do like stories where there is a lot of dialogue to read, especially when it comes to a more meaningful dialogue. There is quite a bit of it in ‘HOLY SMOKE’. The book I just started today, seems also to be full…
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Uta’s Diary
Yesterday I looked at a lot of Peter’s books and also at some of my books. I wanted to make a decision, which books I definitly wanted to keep, just to keep, and then which books I also wanted to read. I came up with a plan! So, my plan is to aim at reading two books every week, meaning over the year I should be able to read about 100 books!
Hopefully I’ll be able to read about 100 books every year that I am still alive!
Recently I already read ‘HOLY SMOKE’: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7868-6349-5
I do like stories where there is a lot of dialogue to read, especially when it comes to a more meaningful dialogue. There is quite a bit of it in ‘HOLY SMOKE’. The book I just started today, seems also to be full of very meaningful dialogue. It is a historical novel. I am very much looking forward to reading it. It is written in German by Renate Feyl and called ‘Aussicht auf bleibende Helle’.
Here in German what it says about this book:
“Königin Sophie Charlotte und Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – eine Liebe im GeisteDer letzte Universalgelehrte und die schöngeistige Königin: Mit diesem Buch kehrt Renate Feyl auf das Terrain zurück, auf dem sie mit überaus erfolgreichen Büchern geglänzt hat: die historische Romanbiographie. Sie erzählt die Geschichte einer Beziehung, die aus dem lebendigen Austausch der Gedanken Funken der Leidenschaft schlägt – und die Leibniz die fünf glücklichsten Jahre seines Lebens beschert.Sophie Charlotte, geboren 1668 auf Schloss Iburg im Fürstenbistum Osnabrück, begegnet Leibniz am elterlichen Hofe in Hannover, wo er in kurfürstlichen Diensten steht. Mit sechzehn Jahren heiratet sie Friedrich III., den Sohn des Großen Kurfürsten, und geht mit ihm nach Berlin. Hier besucht sie Jahre später der weithin berühmte Mathematiker und Philosoph, um sie für den Plan zu gewinnen, eine Akademie der Wissenschaften zu gründen. Während ihr Gatte mit großem diplomatischem Geschick das Ziel seiner Krönung zum König in Preußen erreicht, fördert sie die schönen Künste und Wissenschaften. Im Laufe der zahlreichen anregenden und geistreichen Gespräche entwickelt sich eine enge Beziehung, und Leibniz wird zum Gefährten ihrer Gedanken. Sophie Charlotte animiert den universellen und genialen Gelehrten zu einer systematischen Ausarbeitung seiner Ideen, die letztendlich in die berühmte Theodizee mündeten.Renate Feyl erzählt mit großem Gespür für die Sprache des Barock und die leisen Zwischentöne vom Zauber einer »mariage mystique« – einer geistigen Liebe voller Esprit und Dezenz. Und es gelingt ihr, die Atmosphäre des Berlin im Aufbruch, die Zwänge des höfischen Protokolls und die Freiheit des intellektuellen Austauschs in eindrucksvollen Bildern einzufangen – und zugleich das Porträt einer faszinierenden jungen Frau zu zeichnen, die eine eigenständige Rolle sucht und das geistige Klima am Hofe prägt.”
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Renate Feyl (born 30 July 1944) is a Prague-born writer living in Germany.[1]
Born in Prague (at that time Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia), she grew up in Jena and went on to study philosophy at Humboldt University. Since 1970, Feyl has lived in Berlin working as a freelance writer.
Selected works[1][3][edit]
- Bau mir eine Brücke, novel (1972)
- Der lautlose Aufbruch, essays (1981)
- Idylle mit Professor, novel (1986)
- Sein ist das Weib, Denken der Mann, essay (1991)
- Ausharren im Paradies, novel (1992)
- Die profanen Stunden des Glücks (1996)
- Das sanfte Joch der Vortrefflichkeit (1999)
- Aussicht auf bleibende Helle (2006)
ME-ISM: The cult of the Individual
I was thinking that maybe a study of psychology would help in getting rid of that crass individualism!
by Dr Stewart Hase
Let me state from the beginning that I am not opposed to human rights. I’m a member of Amnesty. I will never complain or even raise an eyebrow to someone’s right to order a quarter strength, half almond and goat’s milk, three quarter decaf, latte in a compostable cup while half an office block of people are waiting in line.
Apparently, around a hundred anti-maskers invaded Westfield Shopping Centre in Paramatta at the weekend (https://cutt.ly/PjY76hy). The report, complete with video and photos even shows placards stating that Coronavirus is a scam. Clearly, these people have been over stimulated by Craig Kelly’s Facebook page and need to spend more time in the real world.
What I most want to ask these demonstrators is what would be the motive of any government, particularly ours that is obsessed with neoliberal principles. Point the finger at anarchists by…
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Writing About Writing
Writers Vs Bloggers: What’s The Difference?
My blogger friend, Catterel, wrote to me the following:
“Writing helps sort out thoughts, ideas, feelings – and helps me stay sane and on top of things. Thank you for rebloggingui this,, dear Uta. I hope you are finding your way in this new year. Blessings.”
This I replied:
I like, what you write, dear Cat. You say, you hope for me to find my way in this New Year.
Yes, a lot of it is new for me in this New Year. Meaning, I have to sort out my feelings about a lot of things. What I wish most for myself is, not to get upset about anything. Make changes where they can be achieved, but to be happy, when the changes take time. Not being upset about it that maybe I do not have much time left, but to be happy about every day that is still given to me. And even if I can achieve only very little each day, to be content with just that little bit that I can still achieve. Even if sometimes I think I waste too much time, I want to try to be gentle with myself by telling myself that I really do each day as much as is possible for me to do.
These days I spend most hours of the day totally on my own, while a lot of the time doing the every day things that need to be done. This includes a bit of walking with my rollator, hopefully catching some sunshine and being able to enjoy beautiful fresh air! Also, while walking, becoming aware of my feelings and maybe of some distant memories. I might be feeling how important it is to be able to talk to people, yes wishing to have a conversation with someone, thinking about what I would like to talk about, or what some other person would like to talk about to me. As far as writing is concerned, this is often to me just like talking. I reckon, when you talk to somebody, you usually get some kind of response. Can I imagine some kind of response, oh yes, I can imagine a response about certain subjects that I would really like to talk about. How good writing is to somehow sort out our feelings and thinking!
Writers Vs Bloggers: What’s The Difference?
I like th idea that bloggers and writers are kind of similar! 🙂
What defines a blogger? What defines a writer? What is the difference between them and how important it is?
Ok, to get to the bottom of this, we need to go through the hard-core definitions first, so let’s check Wikipedia first:
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Uta’s Diary, January 2021
How does Covid19 affect us?
Well, it is the beginning of 2021. We migrated from Germany to Australia in 1959. So we have been in Australia well over 60 years. We had two children under two when we migrated. And then we had another two children born in Australia. Australia definitely is our new home country wheras Germany is our ‘old’ home country!
When my father died of cancer in Germany in 1966, no way could I have contemplated rushing over to Germany to his bedsite. Airtravel to Germany would have been much too expensive for me. The first time we could afford to travel by air to Germany for a visit was in1977. After that Airtravel became more and more affordable. We were able to travel lots of times to Germany for visits. We even travelled to other European countries to England and to America.
Now, with the virus none essential airtravel is becoming outright unaffordable for the average citizen. Even travel between the different states in Australia is becoming more and more difficult. With all the travel restrictions in place because of the virus, our son, who lives in Victoria, nearly did not make it to New South Wales to be with his dying father!
For the past forty years or so we had become used that travel overseas as well as within Australia had become possible any time. Now, since this virus has to be watched, all of a sudden all this travelling has been put on hold. How do we cope with it? I must say, so far we do not seem to cope with it all that well. All these restrictions because of the virus go on people’s nerves. Wearing a mask to avoid infection? What a bother! No, to have to wear a mask when you are among people, really is not very pleasant. Germans would say: ‘Mach eine gute Miene zum bösen Spiel!’ That means you can pretend to be cheerful even if this thing is not to your liking!
And what about ‘Social Distancing’? How difficult is that for people? In lots of places, some signs on the floor indicate how far to keep away from the person in front of you. When it comes to sitting down, you usually are expected to leave the chair on both sides of you empty, and some signs indicate where people cannot sit. The exception is of course, when people are from the same family and live together, meaning people that do live together do not have to sit separate. But often extended families have the urge to sit close together too!
When they have that urge to congregate in clusters in order to be able to talk to each other, what does that indicate? Can we not talk to each other when there is a bit of room left between us? Apparently the urge is to be as close as possible to the person we want to talk to. This is the normal way to have a converstion, is it not? Well, not anynore! The virus teaches us something different. And we better learn quickly to cope with all these changes for the virus is going to be with us for quite a bit longer. Even all the vaccinations will not wipe out the danger of infection 100%!
Uta’s Diary
The above pictures I took a bit over a month ago! Today I took some pictures outside because it was such great sunny weather. A lot in the backyard looked beautiful to me. It was a really good Sunday again. I spent many hours outside including an early morning walk and starting to read a book I had been wanting to read ages ago and never actually started reading it. Today I managed to read already 100 pages in three sessions. All the reading I did sitting outside in different places. It is so good to spend time outside. What could be better?
With the downloading of the new pictures I don’t feel quite up to it yet. I wanted to show Martin how much everything has been growing since he planted it. It really is very luscious growth this year after all that rain. But yes, it was very pleasant to have today a day without any rain and also hardly any wind!
Instead of today’s pictures I inserted now a few pictures from last month when Peter was still alive, but deteriorating a lot in that he was not able to eat properly any more, not even cake! We moved the card table close to his bed with Caroline’s sumptuous birthday cakeon it, so that he would feel included in the birthday celebrations. Alas, he managed to eat only a tiny, tiny bit.
Embrace Peace
Jan says: “. . . His speech was so disturbing that I had to shut it off. . . .”
This is what Jan wrote in January 6, 2021:
The events at the United States Capitol in Washington DC today were more than disturbing. I watched about a half an hour of President Trump’s speech to thousands of his followers who came to his rally this morning near the Capitol Building in Washington DC. His speech was so disturbing that I had to shut it off.
About 10 minutes into his speech, I wrote to a friend saying, “I am listening to a rabid crowd that is listening to this delusional dictator/cult leader. So troublesome!! He’s so dangerous!”
About 10 minutes later I wrote, “I am praying for peace. I’m worried about his power base believing the election fraud lie and being riled up… He is damning ‘Weak Republicans’ and obviously trying to plan a coup… inciting insurrection. He said there were ‘explosions of bullshit’ – and the crowd loved it! He said, ‘The media has become the enemy…
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Friday, 8th January 2021: A Bit about how I feel today
Peter died on Saturday, the 12th of December 2020. The funeral was on Saturday, the 19th of December.
In my blog from 27th of December it says what I did on Sunday, the 13th and Sunday, the 20th of December. And that on Sunday, the 27th, I was happy, that I could stay at home after having neglected to ring Erica to ask her whether she could give me a lift to church. Now, nearly two weeks later, I feel, I am still not ready for regular attendance at Mass. Believe it or not, I am still happy to just stay at home!
On Fridays is games afternoon at one of my friends’ places. I know, this afternoon these games are going to be played at Irene’s place that is a few doors away from where I live. The games last for about three hours with a tea/coffee break in between. Last Friday the games were at Barbara’s place, that is also very close to my place. Because the games are being played indoors, I felt I needed to wear a mask. Barbara knew, that I wanted to come to her place on that afternoon. But I had rushed too much again and was a bit late. The others were waiting for me already: Erica, Irene, and Barbara. They pointed out to me, that they thought, it was not necessary to wear a mask. But I decided to keep my mask on, which was rather difficult for I felt too hot after having rushed so much to get ready on time!
Anyhow, I told myself, if I would go the following week to Irene’s place, I would make sure, that I would be ready and relaxed well before two o’clock. So, games at Irene’s place, that is today. Will I be able to make it? Honestly, I do not know yet. I feel, I do need plenty of rest today after having had an exhausting day yesterday. Will I be able to leave everything as is in the house and in the overgrown ‘garden’? Yes, maybe. But at least I have to cook myself a proper meal. Do I need to clean up the kitchen after this? Maybe not. Maybe I can just leave it as it is and concentrate on getting ready. It would be so much easier if I hadn’t have to go out at all. But I love to play the games with my friends!
I slept in this morning. I am still not dressed. I had a bit of a sniffle. Am I coming down with something? Or do I just need a bit of a rest after having done hours of weeding in the backyard yesterday and then having been out for hours with Monika and little Eve —-
There are still so many things to sort out in the house. For sure, I can take it one day at a time. Tomorrow, Saturday, Caroline and Monika are going to be here to clean out a few things. Most things they can sort out without me. So what am I worried about? I thought it would be nice, if I could attempt at least to look after the few things that I want to keep for myself. Anyhow, I hope, tomorrow I am to have a little bit more energy again.
This a copy of my Post from Sunday, the 27th of December 2020:
One day after Peter died was a Sunday. I asked Martin, could he drive me to church. And of course he volunteered to do this. I made it to the early Mass at 7,30 am. I did light a candle for Peter after Mass. Then, Erica came to talk to me. She knew that Peter had died and said, she was sorry. She remarked, she was happy that I came back to church. And she asked me, did I have a lift home? I answered, Martin, my son would pick me up again. It so happened, that Caroline and Matthew had gone out to the shopping centre to get fresh breadrolls and eggs for breakfast. They picked me up from church at exactly the right time on their way back home.
The following week on Sunday Martin drove me once more to the 7,30 am Mass. So, I could light another candle for Peter. On that Sunday I did not see Erica. It was the Suday when Martin went with his dog Millie back to his place in Benalla, Victoria. He left soon after breakfast and arrived home soon after 4pm. The border was closed the following day. Martin was lucky, that he had made it home without having to go into quarantine!
Now, today, is the third Sunday after Peter died. I was supposed to ring Erica and ask her, could she give me a lift to church! But somehow I did not feel like ringing. And I am glad I didn’t! I had such a lovely morning here at home, enjoying beautiful sunshine and doing a bit of gardening. Thinking of lighting a candle for Peter, I am going to do this right now, here at home!
Daughter Caroline and son-in-law Matthew went back to. their place in Marrickville. But they did stay with me for quite a while. I wanted to visit Martin in Benalla. But this is not possible for as long as the border is closed. Daughter Monika lives not far away and can help me out when needed. But for the next week or so she is on a holiday at the NSW Southcoast with her children and grandchildren. In the New Year Caroline and Matthew are going to help me with the settling of a few things. And so it goes . . . . .
One day after Peter died was a Sunday. I asked Martin, could he drive me to church. And of course he volunteered to do this. I made it to the early Mass at 7,30 am. I did light a candle for Peter after Mass. Then, Erica came to talk to me. She knew that Peter had died and said, she was sorry. She remarked, she was happy that I came back to church. And she asked me, did I have a lift home? I answered, Martin, my son would pick me up again. It so happened, that Caroline and Matthew had gone out to the shopping centre to get fresh breadrolls and eggs for breakfast. They picked me up from church at exactly the right time on their way back home.
The following week on Sunday Martin drove me once more to the 7,30 am Mass. So, I could light…
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AuntyUta 