Cheltenham Literature Festival
On Friday, Leigh and I took a well-earned break from the office and spent the day at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. We had a genuinely lovely day. Not necessarily because of the events we paid to attend (although they were all excellent, both entertaining and insightful) but because of the room it gave us to think and to be challenged intellectually. Owen Sheers made me want to rediscover poetry and to seek out his BBC4 programme on iPlayer; the discussion on mad women in literature triggered a desire to discover a few unread classics; and the subject of journalism writing history highlighted global issues I know scarcely enough about to make the kind of judgements I find myself making.
If only I had the time to do all of those things: to read non-fiction, classics, poetry, political diaries; to watch documentaries about subjects that are new to me; to visit places that will stimulate me. I do have that time. I am simply too distracted by day-to-day living but also by the technology in my home, which requires little attention, wastes many hours and allows me to passively absorb information – little of it of any consequence – in bite sized chunks. A case in point: this week I have tried (and failed) to read three different books. This is not the fault of the books. It is my painfully and increasingly short attention span.
I would like our day at the literature festival to change that.
Some other observations from Friday:
1. I was having breakfast (well, coffee) in Starbucks. They’ve started asking for your first name when you order and then proceed to shout, “tall Americano with room for milk for Jenn!” I don’t like it.
2. Leigh phoned whilst I was in Starbucks to say she was lost (she really, really was). I used Google Latitude to find her and it worked a treat.
3. I was impressed by the sheer number of children at the festival and completely bowled over by their delight and enthusiasm as they had books signed by authors such as Anthony Horowitz and Julia Donaldson. I was bowled over in a very different sense by the number of adults queuing to meet Alan Titchmarsh.
4. There was a lovely European market on the Promenade and it was there that I discovered that sweet ginger is delicious when eaten together with sundried tomatoes.
Twitter Trackbacks for Cheltenham Literature Festival « Jennifer Heidi's Blog [jenniferheidi.wordpress.com] on Topsy.com replied:
[...] Cheltenham Literature Festival « Jennifer Heidi's Blog jenniferheidi.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/cheltenham-literature-festival – view page – cached On Friday, Leigh and I took a well-earned break from the office and spent the day at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. We had a genuinely lovely day. Not necessarily because of the events we paid… (Read more)On Friday, Leigh and I took a well-earned break from the office and spent the day at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. We had a genuinely lovely day. Not necessarily because of the events we paid to attend (although they were all excellent, both entertaining and insightful) but because of the room it gave us to think and to be challenged intellectually. Owen Sheers made me want to rediscover poetry and to seek out his BBC4 programme on iPlayer; the discussion on mad women in literature triggered a desire to discover a few unread classics; and the subject of journalism writing history highlighted global issues I know scarcely enough about to make the kind of judgements I find myself making. (Read less) — From the page [...]
October 18, 2009 at 3:30 pm. Permalink.
Omar replied:
I sometimes feel like I’m not really ‘living’, that it’s to easy to waste such the time we have. When there’s a whole range of things that might be more enriching.
October 18, 2009 at 4:17 pm. Permalink.
rob replied:
I’m quite excited by the idea of Complexity Theory
/geek
October 18, 2009 at 8:07 pm. Permalink.
jenniferheidi replied:
Omar – EXACTLY. I think ‘enrichment’ was just the word I was looking for when I wrote that. Just how to manage that…
Rob – It’s on my Christmas list!
October 19, 2009 at 11:30 am. Permalink.
Omar replied:
1. Stop.
2. Make an effort, however small.
3. Don’t beat yourself up over not being able to do it all now.
October 19, 2009 at 9:09 pm. Permalink.
Rob replied:
ooh ooh ooh did you see richard hammond?
http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2009/10/08/see-richard-live/
October 20, 2009 at 8:13 am. Permalink.
jenniferheidi replied:
Rob – the fact that you even asked that question… words fail me.
October 20, 2009 at 5:21 pm. Permalink.
Rob replied:
but I have a man crush on all TG presenters, especially James May.
October 21, 2009 at 2:56 pm. Permalink.
Cheltenham Literature Festival 2009 « Cheltenham & Gloucestershire Blog replied:
[...] experiences such as Crime Fic Reader, Alison Baverstock (Writers and Artists), Sarah McIntyre, Jennifer Heidi, and Kimbofo (Reading Matters [...]
October 22, 2009 at 4:53 pm. Permalink.