On the Bright Side

So let me start off by saying that I didn't finish this book. It's another year in the life of Hendrik Groen and I got to the end of July. I didn't finish it because I didn't like it. I didn't finish it because it wasn't the right time to read it. I don't think I've given up on a book for that reason but there is always a first for everything.

The first diary of Hendrik Groen was one of my favourite books that I've read in the past few years and I couldn't wait for this book On The Bright Side - The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen to be translated from Dutch into English.

In the first book Hendrik Groen is 83 and a 1/4. In this book he is 85 and maybe a little bit crankier but still making the most of life with his mates who are all part of the Old But Not Dead Club at the resthome they live at in the Netherlands.

Members of the club are also all members of the resthome's Residents' Committee. The club now goes on fortnightly dinner excursions to a restaurant with various international cuisine. They also still have their regular outings including a two day trip to Bruges where they visit the Frites (Fries) Museum. Their visit to the museum ends in a letter written about their visit and their view on the fries.
And I quote from the letter - " We were counting on a masterful fry but it was limp, too pale and made from an inferior tasteless spud".

The book has some hilarious lines but I don't think it's as funny as the first book.

It deals with death a lot more than the first book, which given the residents' age, is not surprising. I guess that is why I struggled with it at the moment, having recently lost an older person who was very dear to me.

I'm still a huge fan of Hendrik. I love his character, his attitude and most of his outlook on life. One day I will pick the book up and read August to December.

Bring Back Snail Mail!

It didn't take too long for the memories of my grandmother to flood back after reading this beautiful book Snail Mail by Michelle Mackintosh.

In the book she talks about aerograms. Who remembers those? I certainly do. I remember writing to my grandmother aka Oma Wolters on them. She lived in the Netherlands and would visit me and her other grandchildren in New Zealand every two years when I was young.

I remember being excited about going to Auckland International Airport to pick her up. She would always give us a big cuddle at the airport and then when we all arrived home after a two-hour trip, she would open her suitcase to reveal what she had brought us.

It was usually Hagelslag - a chocolate or other flavoured sprinkle, a large chocolate letter - usually the first letter of our name, very salty licorice and other treats.

After lots of tears saying goodbye at the airport before she flew home, we would always try to keep in touch. Sending an aerogram was the most cost effective way. I loved writing to her but my biggest bugbear was that many of the aerograms in those days were not lined so my writing was all wonky. I'm sure she appreciated receiving them anyway. She would send us aerograms in return.

Sorry I digress but the sign of a good book often is the memories they stir up.  This book, which I found while shelving books at my local library where I work, covers all types of snail mail, the lost art of manners, lettiquette and netiquette. It compares telegrams to Twitter and postcards to Facebook. It has so many ideas for creative letters, invites and other crafty correspondence and ideas. It looks at how we should start and finish letters. It has templates to make envelopes and the aerogram and ideas for invites. It features some examples of some great letters written. The best thing about this book is its beautiful illustrations and layout.

If you love stationery, paper arts or just simply want to send a letter, have a flick through this book.

Journal Life!

Some time ago I saw a bookshop promoting Bullet Journals. I had no clue what they were.
What I do know is that I love journals. I try to keep four of them. I don't share my deepest darkest secrets (I don't really have many of those) in them but I do share bits of information and what interests me.

Journal 1 - Literary Journeys - In this I share some of my notes which help in writing up book reviews for my blogs. Each page has the following sections - Book Title, Author, Plot Notes, Character Notes, Favourite Quotes, Other Books to be read by this Author, Date Started, Date Finished and a place to rate the book out of 5. It is a pen and paper version of Goodreads with a few extras.

Journal 2 - Q & A - 365 Questions - 5 Years - 1825 Answers - I bought this journal while on holiday in Europe and each day there is a question to answer. A few of the 365 questions or statements to answer include Today was delightful because....., Where do you go for good ideas?,  What was the last thing you  baked or cooked? and so the very long list of 365 goes on.  There's room to answer for five years and I try to write in this journal as much as I can.

Journal 3 - 3am Journal - This is a journal I picked up from one of my favourite stores Kikki K a year or two ago. What's supposed to happen is that you wake up at 3am or some other unearthly hour of the evening with all these amazing ideas and you quickly jot them down in your 3am Journal. Thankfully, most of my ideas come at more friendly times of the day so I just use it for notes and ideas.

Journal 4 - Literary Listography - I just love this reading journal - so much so that I'm too scared to write in it. On each page there is a bibliography list to complete. There are more than 70 lists including My Top 20 Most Beloved Books,  My Favourite Classics, Fictional Characters I Connected With, My Favourite Book Covers, etc.

And now I'm about to add Journal 5 to the pile - A Bullet Journal.
A Bullet Journal is  described as the "analog system for the digital age" by its creator Ryder Carroll. He says the Bullet Journal is a customisable and forgiving organisation system. It can be your to-do list, sketchbook, notebook and diary, but most likely, it will be all of the above. It will teach you to do more with less. From the research I've done Bullet Journals can be as simple or as complex or as creative as you want them to be.

I'm still in the research phase as to what sort of Bullet Journal I want to keep but there is so much resource out there on the web - whether it be Instagram, Facebook or other areas of the Internet to explore. I'm hoping to keep a Bullet Journal with a bit of a bookish theme. I've already found one Bullet Journalist who designed her own Book Bingo which I loved.
I've started following a number of Instagrammers who create the most creative and colourful spreads for each week or month of the year. I'm not that creative when it comes to drawing but having been a fan of scrapbooking and stamping I realise I have a lot of materials I can use.

And I have now found something for which I can use the pens I initially bought for the adult colouring phase I unfortunately had to give up. And there is a huge amount of templates of Bullet Journal pages available to download online. You can also buy templates to help with drawing more than stick figures.
I will leave you with a few people to follow on Instagram and some links if you want to start a Bullet Journal.

To follow on Instagram

@bulletjournal
@bulletjournal.ideas
@thebujobuzz
@written.intentions
@journalwithpurpose
@bujobeauties
@candyloucreative
@fischrjournals
or search with the hashtag #bulletjournal

Some links
https://kalynbrooke.com/life-and-style/time-management/how-to-start-a-bullet-journal/
http://bulletjournal.com/
http://www.infiniteplanner.com/
Or just type Bullet Journal in Google for thousands of resources!