And so to kick off my involvement I will proclaim that The Most Amazing Book I Have Ever Read is “Illusions: the Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” by Richard Bach.

It begins…

“1. There was a Master come unto the Earth, born in the holy land of Indiana, raised in the mystical hills of Fort Wayne.”

It is a precious jewel of a book offering a gentle and positive slant on life. I love the mystical spiritual elements that are grounded in the real world of squashed insects on windscreens and greasy hands. We are gently urged to look beyond the veil of reality where something amazing might be revealed.

It is a story about two pilots who fly small planes around the USA selling rides in small town America. They meet and discuss Life. Don is the Teacher and the Richard is the Seeker.

“Where do you learn all this stuff, Don? You know so much, or maybe I just think you do. No. You do know a lot. Is it all practice? Don’t you get any formal training to be a Master?”

“They give you a book to read.”

The book is revealed: Messiah’s Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul; a source of wise and interesting sayings.

I tend not to keep hold of many books once I’ve read them, but Illusions is the exception that I will keep and reread. I used to loan it to others but it never came back, so now I keep my own copy. And who can blame anyone for wanting to keep a copy for themselves.

It sits alongside Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig in a genre all of their own. Whilst Zen is complex, Illusions is a simple tale. Both gently coerce you into a deeper insight.

                        “Argue for you limitations and sure enough they’re yours.”

“The world is so loud. Keep falling. I’ll find you.”

Kate Bush~ what can you say? She is a creative artistic genius. She listens to and expresses her own creative heart. She is unique. Some people love her while many don’t.

She is one of the very few artists that I will buy without having listened to the music. I trust her implicitly and respect her creative choices without doubt. I don’t love every piece she creates but I am always won over by most of what she produces.

Her new album 50 Words For Snow is melancholy, understated and enchanting. A surprise duet featuring Elton John Snowed In At Wheeler Street is a sure winner. You can see much of her work here

Snowflake is sung by Albert McInstoch who is Kate Bush’s son. His choir-like vocals are amazing and send shivers up my spine.

As an art student I remember “dancing” and “singing” Wuthering Heights in a field of green as another student captured it on video. No music though and I am no singer or dancer but it gave us some laughs.

She has a gift for melancholy tones and sustaining the note that holds you. The unresolved motif has the ability to transfix your attention making you wait and listen wanting more, holding on for what comes next. There are also recurring images in her lyrics: rope; under water; women rising; on the roof; an old woman, and the spiritual world interlaced with elements of domesticity.

Her music sways you with a gentle lull then startles you awake with discordant surprise.

I loved her previous album Aerial too. Sea of Honey seduces and encapsulates your senses with reassuring warmth. By contrast 50 Words for Snow evokes a chilly winter’s theme. I will need to listen to this again when our Summer is over.

While the World Wide Web has increased and broadened information accessibility, it has also radically changed the working lives of Librarians. And there is more to come. Where will we be when a library can’t purchase an item whether it is physical or electronic and we have to subscribe to platforms for everything? How is that going to impact small town libraries and their people?

This all hinges on the internet for access and delivery and there is this widely held notion that this access is a given. But it is not so. Even in the not-so-remote parts of Victoria where I live and work, there are “black spots” where whole towns have no coverage other than dial-up.

Not only does this prevent any delivery and connection via web-based models, such as the online library catalogue, but it means that many people residing in these towns are well behind in knowledge, acceptance, and skills in using this form of information. More and more organisations are only offering online services now. Think about how you submit your tax return, book flights and shows, apply for jobs, etc.

And when a know-it-all interloper from the city breezes into town espousing the wonders and virtues of the internet, they are seen as some kind of snake oil salesman.

 Places like this still exist and are being used as such. Disability access, OH&S, even reliable electricity are not seen as important factors, let alone on any kind of priority list. Attempts at network access via 3G fail repeatedly. So trying to convert the stubborn country folk is a trial of proportions not appreciated by library suppliers from the cities where fast reliable connectivity is expected. Even trying to coax people into using the internet to order and reserve physical books is like trying to teach an aqua-phobic  to swim.

Library services provided to small remote towns with limited internet connectivity are a lifeline to a larger world. While these people value, want and need their regular book delivery, many are yet to catch on to the possibilities that are there waiting for them.

Will the NBN come to the rescue of these people? Or are they destined to growing disadvantage caused by the digital divide?

This is an interesting talk given by Philip Kent in September 2011 at Melbourne University about Research Libraries in the 21^st Century.

So I have caught up with family, had a facial and massage, made some lovely meals, played my neglected piano, worked on that oil painting that has been waiting and gathering dust, gone for bike rides and walks, shopped, had meals and coffee in local cafes and restaurants, watched movies, gardened, cleaned the windows, practiced meditation and yoga.

Oh and what do librarians do when they are on holiday from work? They read of course. So I am currently reading Living As A River: Finding Fearlessness In The Face Of Change by Bodhipaksa. I am also catching up on reading blogs and twitter posts.

I will finish my leave with a weekend meditation retreat with the group I attend. And return to work with a clear mind ready to tackle the Dukkha.

OK so I did have to be a library member with a password, and register with the ebook supplier, and have an itunes account. But other than that…it proved to be seamless.

Contact Glenelg Libraries  for more information.

Kristian Winther on violin and Anthony Romaniukon piano gave an inspired live performance – In Search of Lost Time- at the Reardon Theatre as part of the annual Port Fairy Spring Music Festival. Reliving the Flaneurs of Belle Epoque Paris, they wove an intricate musical tapestry: Poeme by Chausson; Rhapsodie d’Auvergne by Saint-Saens; Carmen Fantasy by Sarasate; and Sonata by Ravel.

The melancholy flavour of the selection was perfect for such a day and a real treat for those of us huddled in the dark warm shelter of the theatre on a wild spring Sunday in wild south –west Victoria.

You can see some of Kristian Winther’s work here. You can see some of Anthony Romaniuk’s work here. Here are some other versions of these pieces that I have located online: Poeme played by Stephen Waarts; Rhapsodie d’Auvergne played by Emily Pei’En Fan; Carmen Fantasy played by Sarah Chang; Ravel’s Sonata(this is really beautiful and well worth listening to).

Nevertheless I relate more to images than text. I love to create images and have been taking photos for many years as an infrequent hobby. You can see some of my best unedited photos here.

My beloved multi-functioning iPod allows me to take photos then with a smorgasbord of free apps I can edit to my heart’s content creating my own little works of art.

What fun! Now I would tell you which application I used to  create each image, if I could remember, but I got so carried away with using  the tools that I lost track. I can tell you what photo editing applications I  have on my iPod though and they are these:

• Hipstamatic
• ClassicCam
• Instagram
• PS Express
• PhotoCopier
• Pic Grunger
• Bad-Camera
• DXP
• Retouch
• Pro HDR
• SketchMee

I tend to use the Free versions of these apps but if you  want to delve further into the detail there are more features available in the fuller  versions available for purchase. A great resource that covers these and others  with amazing examples and instructions is iPhone Obsessed : Photo Editing Experiments with Apps by DanMarcolina. Thanks Dan.

It is helpful to watch the cooking episode on TV, and then attempt the meal later. I am glad he has outgrown the need to say “pukka”.

Cookery books are the only books I buy anymore (everything else I borrow from the public library) and recently I have added these to my shelves:

• ·         Now Vegan by Lynda Stoner
• ·         The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone
• ·         Livwise by Olivia Newton John
• ·         Eating for the Seasons by Janella Purcell

Some others that have been on my shelf for awhile and I have enjoyed testing the recipes are:

• ·         The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking
• ·         Super Vegetarian Dishes by Vikki the Vego
• ·         The Vibrant Vegetarian by Vikki Leng
• ·         Raw Energy by Leslie and Susannah Kenton

While I can’t claim to be Vegan or Vegetarian, I do make eating choices in favour of that diet regime most of the time. I have significantly reduced the amount and frequency of eating red meat in recent years. I still eat seafood at least once a week and poultry now and then. I heard someone say that it’s difficult to be vegan in our society and so calls himself a “flexivore”.

Begin totally vegan or vegetarian is not straightforward and you really need to make sure you are getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals such as B12, D, iron, calcium and others. Jamie’s meals in his recipe books are not totally vegetarian but his does have many scrumptious recipes that are.

I am reading State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.

It’s interesting how much we take appearances for granted and make superficial judgements based on our face and the faces of everyone else we meet.

Consider the female US politician who was very attractive and had a high profile job where her face was seen often by many and then had her face destroyed by some crazy gunman. How did she cope with that? What an awful thing to have to endure and yet she has courageously moved forward, recently having some amazing facial reconstruction. (This was in the news recently and yet I can’t seem to find any information online about this. I haven’t done extensive searching at this point though.)

Consider women of Muslim faith that wear the hijab. Try to put yourself in their shoes and imagine what it must be like to cover your face to the world. What does this do to your sense of identity, your confidence, your ability to relate to others in the “modern” world?

And then consider popular culture that has enormous emphasis on “look”? It reeks of “lookism”. The ostracism that occurs every day because you might not have the “right” look is accepted by large portions of our society. The main culprits of this in my opinion are fashion, celebrity, and the media.

How must the current Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, feel being tormented every single day for her red hair? She has amazing red hair (colour enhanced perhaps) and striking fair skin and yet she is ridiculed for those unique characteristics, while trying to do her job conscientiously, sensibly and with maturity. Where is the maturity of those who ridicule her like they are still in the schoolyard?

As a typical Aussie who loves the outdoors and spent years playing outside in the sun during my child and teenage years – playing tennis without a hat, water-skiing all summer, and more, the fair freckled skin I inherited from my English and Scottish heritage, is now suffering from sun damage. I wonder how much the hole in the ozone layer contributed to this. Perhaps this problem being experienced now by many of a certain age and demographic won’t be seen in such epidemic proportions in future years because the hole in the ozone layer has decreased in size – for now.

Recently I had the Efudex treatmenton my face to try and kill the potential SCC cells that are underneath my skin. This condition is named Bowen’s Disease. I have had SCC’s cut out in recent years and so this treatment will hopefully reduce the occurrence of the SCC’s developing.

That’s all well and good in a practical medical sense, but it was interesting to experience the profound shift when presenting this awful face to the world. Our face is our window. Whilst we might be able to cover other imperfections or problems elsewhere, short of wearing a hajib, our face is our communication interface. Apart from the discomfort I felt from the treatment and the effects, I didn’t see my own face whilst moving about at work and in town. But I could see the faces of others as they looked at me. Often I would explain with some degree of embarrassment. Around town I would lower my face, the peak of the cap shielding me. But how many times can you do that in a day? I couldn’t hide away at home for 6 weeks. I had to go to work. I wasn’t sick after-all and I had work to do.

Having never been considered a beauty by myself or anyone else, the impact is perhaps not felt as keenly by my ego as that of someone who might have traded on their beauty for most of their life. But it certainly makes you very aware of how much unconscious emphasis we place on people’s looks.

Think about some well-known people who have astonishing faces and yet would not be considered “beautiful”. I love Einstein’s face or is it his brain I admire? Think about people you know whose spirit and soul shine and you don’t even think twice about how they might look. Think about those funny looking Tibetan Monkswho smile and smile and smile.

I am still healing from my treatment and enjoying a day at home. I can’t blame others from being sick of the sight of me. I am so sick of my own face right now. I can only hope the treatment works. But my thoughts go to others who have far worse to endure than I, people who are judged harshly on their nature-given looks, who try to change their looks through damaging and unnecessary plastic surgery, who suffer from rascism, feminism, ageism, lookism.

Through meditation I endeavour to heal my body and soul, and engage my spirit, so that I might be freed from the tyranny of “lookism” and relate to all people as one soul to another, connected in our humanness as Earthlings. I know how lame that sounds but I will try anyway. Will you?

I am listening to Rrakala by Gurrumul, Tabula Rasa by Arvo Part, and reading NOVA magazine, Australian Country Style magazine, vegan recipe books, and re-reading The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra.

Here is a list of the “apps” I currently have on my iPod: