michaelhoney

K and I have been in Rome for about 48 hours now, and we can (just) get by in restaurants, shops and so on: Italian is pretty easy for an English speaker with a decent ear for accent and a good Latinate vocabulary. The high point so far was successfully ordering a 1/2 litre carafe of red wine today at lunch. I’m a bit apprehensive about asking for the bill at the end of the meal – it seems to me that asking for the “conto” could go horribly, horribly wrong.

Oh, and the Italians really know how to eat. I could definitely live here, which is more than I can say (despite my love for their compassiate and intelligent socialism-lite), for Sweden (sorry, Peter).

It was during the dark days of Apple – too many models out there, clones coming in and diluting people perception of Mac-ness. I was already experienced in pulling apart machines but the course was very enjoyable: the best bit was when they showed an old video (from around 1986, I’d estimate) showing the dangers of static discharge. Lots of nylon tracksuits and bad hair – and a good interview with Steve Wozniak talking about how much more delicate the modern chips were than the ones used in the Apple I.

Certainly it’s not the physical act of sitting down alone and writing (I’ve written a thesis and several hundred advertisements, so I’m no stranger to the process). It’s more the (idea of) the freedom which the writer’s life offers: the ability to do it anywhere, anytime; to have good reason to attend to and enjoy the minutiae of life; to be able to loaf around and call it research. Currently reading Margaret Atwood’s Negotiating with the Dead; not sure if it’ll give me any more insight, but the journey’s worthwhile.

... and so are the New Zealanders. Visited the South Island over New Year – Queenstown, Wanaka, Te Anau. Incredible scenery, friendly people: I’d live there in at least one life out of four.