What's another year?

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Sheffield Wednesday have again (like last year) failed to get through the playoff’s and win promotion to the Premier league, beaten on penalties. With Sheffield United having won promotion to the Championship we will be having Steel City derby’s again next season. Go The Owls!!

Aside from football machinations, we have had a somewhat different week. Nicky has been on annual leave all week. She booked it in order to attend as many events as possible at this year’s Auckland Writers Festival. It turned out the first event on her schedule was on Friday, so she has spent most of the rest of the week sewing, which she has really enjoyed. She has also had her hair done and been to life group.

My week started quietly so I managed to finish Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The bulk of my work for the week has been for a new customer with a broken hard disk and no backup to speak of, so much rushing around and data recovery. I only did a couple of loads of washing due to damp, wet and at times stormy weather, and I had a good evening out at Deep & Meaningful. Stella popped over for a swift neck massage on Friday.

Nicky’s Friday and our whole weekend has been taken up with the Writers Festival. We have used the bus each day instead of taking the car which has worked well. The bus stop we use in town is almost right opposite the Aotea Centre where the Festival was held. It is only the second time we have been and we have enjoyed a mix of paid-for and free events. The events we chose, with one exception, fell into three categories:

Four for Fifty: this was four authors each reading an extract from one of there books in a 50 minute long session. Each session was themed, such as Pacific Tales, Family Dynamics and Those were the Days. These were all good, though some of the authors were better readers than others. Miranda Carter was particularly good. Each reading was long enough to get a flavour of the writers style and whet the appetite. One session brought up a memorable quote by the moderator: Families are like plastic bags; you are never rid of them!

Panel Discussions: Two to four authors with a moderator tasked with directing a given topic. We really enjoyed the ones on fake news, the art of crime fiction, Kiwi town and country and the tribute to Leonard Cohen. Teenage suicide and loss was less enjoyable but very interesting and challenging.

One on one interviews: James Galeick (time travel), John Lanchester and Dame Fiona Kidman were all very good.

The exception was Harry Potter Hijinks first thing this morning which though aimed primarily at a younger age group was enjoyable all the same. The solo presenter, Professor Frankie Falconette, was full of energy and worked really hard.

We also enjoyed other many sessions in the 10 hours each day we have been there. The structure of the programme with 30-40 minutes between events enabled us to experience as much as possible and have time for toilet breaks, cups of tea, banana bread, home made sandwiches and some excellent sushi. We have also had some lovely conversations, met some people we know (though missed Letty), and seen the same people on both days to chat with. A tiring but excellent weekend.

Finally, this is Nicky, pre-Harry Potter getting measured:

Turns out Nicky is Giantish

After the event we bough a copy of Fantastic Beasts with 6 new beasts and new (to us) illustrations to get Professor Frankie Falconette to stamp it with her special HP stamp.

Take care, Rick

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