Relaxing Doesn’t Mean Doing Nothing

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Cooking, cooking is relaxing, spelt flour baking, healthy living your way

For most people I know, doing nothing is the ultimate type of relaxation. But for me keeping the mind calm and clear requires me to work with my hands. In creating something healthy and delicious I free my mind of other things that have been bothering me.

I started cooking from as young as 10 years old. It started as a form of familial obligation which very soon became a series of hapless attempts to create decent dishes that my mother would approve of.

Fortunately, I managed to learn to love cooking later on. As I moved away from my home and lived on my own in a different city, cooking became a necessity as well as a distraction.

A Beloved book in progress

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Beloved a novel by Toni Morrison, Corrupt governments and failing economies, dirty politics and corruption, magic realism that is Beloved, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover in Beloved, the self and the community, We are enslaved by material matters, Write a book that you want to read

Almost everyone that I have ever met whom I have known for more than a week asks me this question – do you plan to write a book? I have been thinking about my unwritten book since late last year. The question is what should I write about?

Then I stumbled upon a quote by American writer, Toni Morison, “If there’s a book that you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” And I am reminded of the controversial book that she wrote.

A Beloved daughter

Recalling ‘Beloved,’ it would seem that Toni Morison meant what she said. No one has ever written a book like that. So she wrote one.

I had read Beloved during my undergraduate years. It wasn’t an easy read. You would feel yourself tearing off bit by bit at the seams as the story reveals the horror of a mother trying to kill her children for fear of losing them to an inhumane concept that is slavery.

Flesh and Bone is on point

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ballet and dance, Flesh and bone, professional dancers star in Flesh and Bone, Sarah Hays as Claire Robbins

I recently discovered a new American miniseries called Flesh and Bone. The sacrifices that ballet dancers and many dancers make are realistically portrayed as the drama unfolds. Apart from the commendable acting skills of the professional main cast, you get a glimpse of the harsh reality of the industry through the eyes of Claire Robbins played by Sarah Hay.

Twenty one year old Claire is an aspiring ballet dancer. We see her in the first episode running away from home through the window of her room. Her room door is locked from the inside with a padlock.

Gothic fairy tales, the twists and the turns of today

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Angela Carter, German folklore, Gothic fairy tales, The Bloody Chamber, The Erlking, The second sex by Simone de Beauvoir, Traditions and women

In my previous blog I wrote about 7 of the stories in The Bloody Chamber, authored by British novelist, feminist and journalist, Angela Carter.

In this blog, I’m paying all my attention to The Erlking. The original term “Erlking” refers to “king of fairies” according to Danish and German folklore. I find Angela Carter’s adaptation of this folklore disturbing yet relevant as a commentary of today’s societal practices.

Fascinating fairy tales

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Angela Carter, beauty and the beasts, cultural values, fairy tales, Gothic tales, magical realism, Puss in Boots, sexual awakening, the female condition

Most children love fairy tales when they were young. I didn’t.

I was busy reading other types of books. By the time I learned to read, children my age were no longer reading fairy tales. So I skipped that part and went straight to Nancy Drew, Famous Five, Malory Towers, every Enid Blyton book I could find and Shakespeare.

My next stop was romance novels. It was a short stop. I went back to Shakespeare and expanded my reading list to include innovative literary writers and the more fantastic versions of fairy tales.

Life, as we never know it

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a truly blue Monday, a very good and close friend, Life and death, shocked and sad, sometimes the journey must end, the bond of friendship

“My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get,” this is a famous quote by Forest Gump, played by Tom Hanks from the blockbuster movie – Forest Grump. A very good and close friend of mine died 6 days ago today.

Why have you been silent? Is everything ok?

He didn’t tell anyone that he had been sick for some time. I became concerned when he messaged me less often than before. We used to message each other at least four times a week for the past four years.