As someone who cares for a son who is an adult, disabled and medically vulnerable I cannot thank you enough for articulating the gulf that now exists between the world we used to be a part of and the world that has moved on in a form we cannot access.
Bonus points for using Berger who made me feel both smart and dumb as a box of hair in first year semiotics.
rick, not to sound like a total nerd, but have you read any Marshall Berman? I’m not sure if he’s the one who actually said it, but I bumped into his work at the same time as I did a bunch of marxist cultural critics—they’re big on ‘sustained paying attention’ as methodology. I reckon it’s an important/exhausting/sometimes beautiful way of navigating the world! (also pearl updates are always a treat; is there a possibility she is slightly fae?)
I missed out on the overseas travel as I married youngish, and my ex wasn't interested in either travel or working. He'd been overseas with his family as a child, and "didn't feel the need". Working, of course, was why he'd married me - I could deal with all that nonsense; which meant that I had neither the money or the opportunity to travel.
As he's left me broke, I still can't afford to go - although I'm contemplating taking some superannuation if I ever retire and seeing the bits I most want to see, and hoping that I still have enough to see me through.
Don't just get that passport Rick. Take that holiday. You deserve it. Your book was a massive achievement. Giving back takes it out of you.
Sounds like just the tonic.
Reminds me of presumptions of holidays planned. Often it's the small things, people, views, sounds, tastes, tiny details that are never expected but best remembered.
I went overseas just after I turned 18. My Dad commented later that everyone I knew was at the airport crying, ‘and you just said Bye! and off you went’. I had the best times of my life travelling but right now all I want to do is be here in Australia. I’m having the opposite of your experience.
This is kind of what you do, Rick. You help me to see how the powerful ones have acted in the past and how they tried to shape the world according to their own perceptions and desires - not necessarily malevolent people (though some are), just unable to see outside their own “pasts”.
Laughed out loud. WW gold. When I had my first baby, a colleague told me that when she had been in a similar place, her just renewed passport expired (10 yrs later) with nary a single stamp. That was fuel enough for me to insist we, with our small child, travel immediately, and *anywhere*. We did and it was expensive and she screamed throughout the Musee D’Orsay, ans so we spent a lot of time on the Metro where she did not scream, and was it worth it? Who can tell. It’s a bizarre itch.
Thank you Rick. I appreciate your thought provoking posts. Always new things to learn, plus the humour of the every day to lighten the darkness and hopelessness of all that is happening in the World, and our Country.
The best thing about John Berger is that entire series is available for free on YouTube! Every year I make kids watch it at school and watch their minds tumble as they realise memes fit perfectly into his frame of reference even though the series was made 50 years before memes were invented!
I watch it twice a year and it remains fresh and interesting every time. Incredible.
I saw a fabulous meme of a tin of those biscuits, open, with the biscuits inside and the caption “man finds biscuits in household sewing kit!” 😂
Imagine the day you'd be having if that happened to you! Sheer bliss.
As someone who cares for a son who is an adult, disabled and medically vulnerable I cannot thank you enough for articulating the gulf that now exists between the world we used to be a part of and the world that has moved on in a form we cannot access.
Bonus points for using Berger who made me feel both smart and dumb as a box of hair in first year semiotics.
I am at my wit's end, and not personally affected. I just can't handle the spin and lies.
Thanks Rick 😇 I love your writing and stories. You are honest, funny and clever
And I love you!
Ditto!
Interesting week.
Potentially the funniest first comment I've ever received! Thank you Roslyn!
notions in the biscuit tin. lol
rick, not to sound like a total nerd, but have you read any Marshall Berman? I’m not sure if he’s the one who actually said it, but I bumped into his work at the same time as I did a bunch of marxist cultural critics—they’re big on ‘sustained paying attention’ as methodology. I reckon it’s an important/exhausting/sometimes beautiful way of navigating the world! (also pearl updates are always a treat; is there a possibility she is slightly fae?)
I missed out on the overseas travel as I married youngish, and my ex wasn't interested in either travel or working. He'd been overseas with his family as a child, and "didn't feel the need". Working, of course, was why he'd married me - I could deal with all that nonsense; which meant that I had neither the money or the opportunity to travel.
As he's left me broke, I still can't afford to go - although I'm contemplating taking some superannuation if I ever retire and seeing the bits I most want to see, and hoping that I still have enough to see me through.
I'll take you somewhere with Mum and me, Anne. You deserve that much.
Don't just get that passport Rick. Take that holiday. You deserve it. Your book was a massive achievement. Giving back takes it out of you.
Sounds like just the tonic.
Reminds me of presumptions of holidays planned. Often it's the small things, people, views, sounds, tastes, tiny details that are never expected but best remembered.
I went overseas just after I turned 18. My Dad commented later that everyone I knew was at the airport crying, ‘and you just said Bye! and off you went’. I had the best times of my life travelling but right now all I want to do is be here in Australia. I’m having the opposite of your experience.
This is kind of what you do, Rick. You help me to see how the powerful ones have acted in the past and how they tried to shape the world according to their own perceptions and desires - not necessarily malevolent people (though some are), just unable to see outside their own “pasts”.
I’m glad Peter Jackson abandoned the tobacco industry and took up film-making instead.
Laughed out loud. WW gold. When I had my first baby, a colleague told me that when she had been in a similar place, her just renewed passport expired (10 yrs later) with nary a single stamp. That was fuel enough for me to insist we, with our small child, travel immediately, and *anywhere*. We did and it was expensive and she screamed throughout the Musee D’Orsay, ans so we spent a lot of time on the Metro where she did not scream, and was it worth it? Who can tell. It’s a bizarre itch.
Gorgeous, love your writing.
Thank you Rick. I appreciate your thought provoking posts. Always new things to learn, plus the humour of the every day to lighten the darkness and hopelessness of all that is happening in the World, and our Country.
The best thing about John Berger is that entire series is available for free on YouTube! Every year I make kids watch it at school and watch their minds tumble as they realise memes fit perfectly into his frame of reference even though the series was made 50 years before memes were invented!
I watch it twice a year and it remains fresh and interesting every time. Incredible.
Royal Dansk and hopeful notions? Ask you mum about ‘notions’ and she’ll tell you how clever you are! A hug from this fan.