I liked this piece a lot Ryan. It was an excellent and timely reminder that consolation and even joy often comes from the small things in life. For me it’s the moment the pen (has to be a particular brand of Japanese gel-point) hovers over the first page of a new notebook (has to be Moleskin, has to be squared paper). Or that feeling when the book you’re reading is so good you ration yourself so that you’ve got a reading session to look forward to. Or that immense sense of pride you feel when you see a pal find a metier and a voice like you have and your inner voice says “on yer mate”.
I meant to add that in 1985 in Sydney's Mascot as part of my Community Programs teaching with the AMES - I taught a group of abuelas y abuelos all from South America - mostly Chile, La Argentina y Uruguay - in a group gathered together by an amazing social worker from Ecuador, Nelson Ramirez. I should really say that the group taught me. Lots. Helped improve the little Spanish I spoke. And in the years after my wife and I moved north to Nelson Bay - we met up once for a proper South American barbecue - and via letters - especially with an Irma Minetto - who had returned to Uruguay. Your story of Pepe - the President of Uruguay - what an example for all politicians and the hubris which seems to overtake them (many, most?) once they hold the levers of power!
Jan 18, 2023·edited Jan 18, 2023Liked by Ryan Butta
Ryan: The link to vote for The Ballad kept showing up as an error. Sorry. Aah, yes - the Australian magpie - what a caroller! I was about 10 I think when visiting an uncle & aunt in Penrith (NSW) (Christmas, 1960) I was introduced to a neighbour's magpie - it was a pet - drank some beer - spoke some words (sounded like words)! The bird's call is the sound of my childhood growing up in Tamworth. Speaking of Covid and lockdowns - I was really only badly affected when I could not get to my little brother's funeral - though I knew I was only one of many affected in such life-and-death matters. The Japanese have an expression for such kinds of circumstances: Gaman, ne! It's a kind of "Do your best!" or "Hold on!" or "Endure as best you can!" I did that. And wrote him a long letter of our life which I forwarded to my brother's widow and son - and a copy to my mother. I'm sitting on the 28th floor of a building in Brisbane looking through to the Brisbane River and just down below to the beautiful St John's Anglican Cathedral. It's a beautiful day and above the sound rising from the traffic of Queen Street and Ann Street - I hear some birds - but not magpies. Maybe currawongs?
Ryan: No matter how many times I try to access the Dymocks Voting link - it returns the following to me - even when I try to google Dymocks myself:-
403 ERROR
The request could not be satisfied.
Request blocked. We can't connect to the server for this app or website at this time. There might be too much traffic or a configuration error. Try again later, or contact the app or website owner.
If you provide content to customers through CloudFront, you can find steps to troubleshoot and help prevent this error by reviewing the CloudFront documentation.
I liked this piece a lot Ryan. It was an excellent and timely reminder that consolation and even joy often comes from the small things in life. For me it’s the moment the pen (has to be a particular brand of Japanese gel-point) hovers over the first page of a new notebook (has to be Moleskin, has to be squared paper). Or that feeling when the book you’re reading is so good you ration yourself so that you’ve got a reading session to look forward to. Or that immense sense of pride you feel when you see a pal find a metier and a voice like you have and your inner voice says “on yer mate”.
The small, simple joys. The warbling tune of the magpie sits high at the top of my list of extraordinary ordinary things.
I meant to add that in 1985 in Sydney's Mascot as part of my Community Programs teaching with the AMES - I taught a group of abuelas y abuelos all from South America - mostly Chile, La Argentina y Uruguay - in a group gathered together by an amazing social worker from Ecuador, Nelson Ramirez. I should really say that the group taught me. Lots. Helped improve the little Spanish I spoke. And in the years after my wife and I moved north to Nelson Bay - we met up once for a proper South American barbecue - and via letters - especially with an Irma Minetto - who had returned to Uruguay. Your story of Pepe - the President of Uruguay - what an example for all politicians and the hubris which seems to overtake them (many, most?) once they hold the levers of power!
Ryan: The link to vote for The Ballad kept showing up as an error. Sorry. Aah, yes - the Australian magpie - what a caroller! I was about 10 I think when visiting an uncle & aunt in Penrith (NSW) (Christmas, 1960) I was introduced to a neighbour's magpie - it was a pet - drank some beer - spoke some words (sounded like words)! The bird's call is the sound of my childhood growing up in Tamworth. Speaking of Covid and lockdowns - I was really only badly affected when I could not get to my little brother's funeral - though I knew I was only one of many affected in such life-and-death matters. The Japanese have an expression for such kinds of circumstances: Gaman, ne! It's a kind of "Do your best!" or "Hold on!" or "Endure as best you can!" I did that. And wrote him a long letter of our life which I forwarded to my brother's widow and son - and a copy to my mother. I'm sitting on the 28th floor of a building in Brisbane looking through to the Brisbane River and just down below to the beautiful St John's Anglican Cathedral. It's a beautiful day and above the sound rising from the traffic of Queen Street and Ann Street - I hear some birds - but not magpies. Maybe currawongs?
Ryan: No matter how many times I try to access the Dymocks Voting link - it returns the following to me - even when I try to google Dymocks myself:-
403 ERROR
The request could not be satisfied.
Request blocked. We can't connect to the server for this app or website at this time. There might be too much traffic or a configuration error. Try again later, or contact the app or website owner.
If you provide content to customers through CloudFront, you can find steps to troubleshoot and help prevent this error by reviewing the CloudFront documentation.
Generated by cloudfront (CloudFront)
Request ID: JNOEivcUI-s15_iWFQFY85hnu10RjThMe_Nytl7kS_sdLZNCuIHbvw==