May 30th (2020)

 

May 30th
76 days here.

I am awake at 4.45am

Time passes. I get up, go downstairs to get the broom and dustpan, then sweep the room I am staying in. I've not done that in a while.

I shower and have an early breakfast of a banana sandwich and 'Red.

Time is spent doing some posting and then working on The Blue Lotus magazine, and finally getting the Colors of Cambodia section right. Next I have a change of direction for this issue. I want to be more positive, more colourful so I give the magazine an overhaul. It takes some time, but it is beginning to look better.

Today I have a short story 'Paṟavai kūṇṭu' published in 'Strands' an online literary magazine. I am still waiting for another two to be published by Kitaab publishers in Singapore.

I go back to rest, and read a little. I am tempted to take elevenses. A quaint English custom of taking a break at eleven in the morning, between breakfast and luncheon, possibly coming into being in the 1800s. Britain is not alone in having a Hobbit type 'second breakfast ', it's popular across Europe - Hungary, Germany, Poland etc. And has various names and ingredients.

4pm
I talk with ‘A’ for a while. on Facebook Messenger, about books, j.D Robb, Elley Griffiths and various other authors, both our likes etc. It is interesting that we have similar tastes in books, but there is also plenty of space for me to learn too. Like many people she prefers physical books. I don't. I like the comfort of carrying many books in a small device. The lightness of that, the ease of accessibility.

I have to rush to prepare for this evening’s ‘Project’, though in truth today it is more like just setting up, as we didn’t finish all last week.

I haven’t gone out today. I’m saving money for the ingredients for tomorrow’s lunch. I have planned to make ‘Pasta Arrabbiata’. Of this the internet says….

“Arrabbiata sauce, or sugo all'arrabbiata in Italian, is a spicy sauce for pasta made from garlic, tomatoes, and dried red chili peppers cooked in olive oil. ... Arrabbiata literally means "angry" in Italian; the name of the sauce refers to the spiciness of the chili peppers.”

Maybe I shall add a little meat to this essentially vegetable dish. Some quick dry fried chicken with black pepper perhaps.

‘Project’ finished for this week. It was interesting that only one person played video games.

I make pot noodles with plastic cheese and bean sprouts for dinner. It's interesting how the hot water for the noodles completely dissolves this brand  of processed cheese, giving me a cheesy milky soup. It's not at all unpleasant.

I eat dinner watching 'Get Carter' (the 1971 film with Michael Caine). I have forgotten most of the film. Forgotten too that it was in Mono, not stereo. Still the camera work was very stylish (by director Mike Hodges), and the story is adapted from the Ted Lewis book 'Jack's Return Home'.