Friday, November 30, 2007

Good swag


One of our less than gracious family traditions is to sit and admire our shopping purchases or gifts we have received. We call it 'gloating time' and, having paraded and extolled the virtues of the said items, the owner dons a smug smile and says "Good swag!" Yes, I know it's pathetic but it's what we do!

I'm sitting with a smug smile looking at some of the good swag I received for my birthday, yesterday. One glance will tell you how well my nearest and dearest know my tastes: I have books to read, notebooks to write in and a bottle of Baileys. A late-November birthday is the perfect excuse for lazy self-indulgence.

My son always manages to buy books that he knows I won't have read but will enjoy. Here he has chosen Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey and Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Peter Carey is the only Australian writer that I can think of, which is undoubtedly more of an indictment of my knowledge than of Australian literary talent. I read and enjoyed his Jack Maggs a couple of years ago, thanks again to Andrew's choice of gift.

His second choice, Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise, is described as "a masterwork of literary accomplishment" in the Sunday Times. Irene Nemirovsky was born in Russia into a rich, Jewish family. They fled the Russian Revolution to Paris, where Irene became a successful writer. She planned to write a sequence of novels about the experiences of ordinary people living through the occupation but she died in Auswitch in 1942 before completing them. The two completed works, Storm in June, set in Paris, and Dolce, set in a small rural community, were discovered and published as Suite Francaise in 2004.

My third treat is Advent and Christmas: Wisdom from G.K. Chesterton, a gift from MBFIATW, Crinny. This will provide daily reading for reflection during December. (We claim a very tenuous family connection with GK: our nephew,Allister is married to one of his distant relatives!) I love this picture of Chesterton from the book's Introduction, "In him was a humor akin to humility: a humor that delighted in life but refused to take the enigma of being human too seriously, a joyous humour with a sane estimate of itself and others, a holy humor that lived lightly because it trusted God for maintaining the universe." He would have been a most welcome visitor on Random Distractions!

The gorgeous notebooks and diary are from my husband and daughter, who know that I love writing on beautiful paper and that purple is one of my favourite colours.

17 comments:

  1. Thank you, e. A friend told me on my 60th birthday that I wouldn't realise I was 60 until I reached 61, now I'm 62 I understand!

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  2. One glance will tell you how well my nearest and dearest know my tastes: I have books to read, notebooks to write in and a bottle of Baileys.

    Oh great, now you tell us. And just what do you suggest the post-Judd Alliance should do with the little piggy quilt we got you!?

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  3. Peter, boy is that a loaded question?

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  4. Was that a hand stitched square each, Peter? I'll treasure it always.

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  5. As a Chestertonian, I found your blog and was interested in your relationship to GK. As he and his wife Frances had no children (therefore, he could not have a great-great-granddaughter) I wonder if your relative is married to a grand-niece or something?

    I just got this Chesterton Advent book myself and look forward to reading it during this quiet season of Advent.

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  6. Happy Birthday. Consider yourself the recipient of lots of virtual swag.

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  7. Nancy, welcome. Thank you for the information on Chesterton. As I said, our claim is extremely tenuous and now it looks as if it might be even more tenuous that we thought! The niece-in-law's family line is that of Haythornthwaite. I've just looked up their genealogy page and there is a female Chesterton link, so maybe you are right about Alice being a grand niece - probably third generation as she is still in her twenties.

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  8. David - thank you. We Nixons love our swag!

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  9. Mea culpa! I have removed the misleading statement about our passing acquaintance with the great GK Chesterton. I would hate anyone to think that Alice had made a false claim - it was purely my inattention to detail at a family dinner party.

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  10. Happy Birthday! And looks like some Very Good Swag Indeed. Enjoy!

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  11. Thank you, Juliet. I'll raise my glass of Baileys to you!

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  12. Belated birthday greetings M; I think we should make that a celebratory lunch on Thursday, don't you? Let's treat ourselves!

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  13. Hmmm, Bailey's - it's that time of year again, isn't it? Excellent idea. It's on my shopping list for tomorrow's trip to the Mersea offie (See how you lead your readers astray . . . !)

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  14. Why not, D? I think Stumbles will offer something to tempt us and then we can lead Juliet further astray!

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  15. Well we've all read the warnings about people we meet on the internet, M - something for you and your concience to be mulling over while I'm lounging around quaffing my third glass of Bailey's tonight when I should be getting on with the ironing!!

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  16. I'm sure the iron ran much more smoothly, Juliet. Watch this space for the next temptation!

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I love to read your comments and promise that I will reply as soon as I can leave my garden, sewing room or kitchen!