Monday 16 January 2017

Blue Monday

Apparently the most depressing day of the year is today, January 16th, known as, 'Blue Monday.' Mental Health Research UK wants to rename it, 'Blooming Monday' and is encouraging everyone to share pictures of themselves in brightly coloured clothing. I've just walked down the road to the postbox and have to say that the weather isn't helping, it's anything but bright and inspiring; the landscape is grey, the fine rain drenching. I'm living in roll-neck sweaters and woolly socks and forgive me for sounding like a grouch, but January and February are the months when I could happily hibernate.

Our e-mail system stopped working at Christmas and we were out of communication for weeks. Friends phoned to say that they couldn't make contact. We've just discovered why, our provider went bankrupt! E-mail is so immediate, ideal for those silly, short exchanges with friends and family that make you smile and equally good for lengthy catch-ups and an exchange of photographs with those who now live far away.
The art of letter writing, it seems, is dead.

Mt mother wrote wonderful letters, full of the routine of her daily life. She would describe a blackbird singing outside the kitchen window and what she had baked that was going to be eaten for tea. Her writing would transport me straight back home. I was also a letter writer, often adding drawings to accompany whatever I was writing about. One day I received a reply from a friend. She had made, as a heading, a carefully detailed pen drawing of a town crier in a feathered hat. He was ringing a hand bell as he read out a notice, proclaiming, 'Such is the letter that Rosemary writes and so do I....'
Throughout my childhood a single house telephone was our connection to the outside world and its four-digit number is embedded in my memory. The phone was positioned in the hall at the foot of the stairs and was used for my father's business as well as for family calls. A pad and pencil were set out on the table so that important customer details could be written down. Unfortunately I was a doodler. When friends rang to chat I would pick up the pencil and doodle on the pad. Loops and lines grew and connected the letters and numerals in an intricate web. I was totally unaware that I was doodling. If Dad was in the sitting room and I had been talking on the phone for some time he would know that his business messages were in the process of being obliterated. "Rosemary!" he would bellow, "Get off the phone!"

I like the feel of a pencil in my hand and have drawn and written since childhood, both for my own pleasure and for my career. I think of a pencil as a magical tool, able to record fact, create fiction and make imaginary figures that can, with just a few small marks, smile back at me from the page.
I've just finished writing my first novel and when I started I wrote in pencil, only later transferring what I had written onto the computer. At some point, I can't recall exactly when, perhaps during the editing process, the pencil became redundant and I wrote straight onto the screen.

Do I still doodle? I went and looked at the telephone pad in the hall. Pristine! Well, I'll go to the foot of our stairs! How strange. Did I stop doodling at the start of the digital age?
Dad would be pleased!
 

11 comments:

  1. Oh Rosemary, do tell. Monumental job you have undertaken. I too wrote my first (and only) novel in longhand. No spellcheck, would still be re-writing and editing; computers either were nonexistent or I didn't know how to use it. (The computer just substituted tit for it.)

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    1. 'Tit' indeed - your computer sounds just as insolent as mine!
      Well, I've finished my first novel, now I'm asking a few friends for their honest opinion of it. What happens to it then is anyone's guess.

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  2. I still keep a pad and pen beside the phone mainly for writing down appointments as I get things a bit muddled up these days.
    Merle...........

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    1. I'm like you, Merle, and have to write things down if I've to remember them. At least I've stopped the crazy doodling!

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  3. Rosemary.... I am so very excited for you. I look forward to hearing more about your novel.

    My computer seems to be on it's way out or so the apple tech tells me. He called it vintage. It is under ten years old! Though I can still write on it, it is just frustrating and more time-consuming than I have the patience for right now..... I have returned to paper and pen for the time being.

    Congratulations! Bonnie

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    1. We had such problems in establishing a new e-mail provider. In the end we put the computer in the car and drove it to a more capable pair of hands! All my old contact details have gone and displays have changed. Help!! I am unfitted for this modern world.
      A pencil in the hand feels wonderfully reassuring.

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  4. I draw all the time when I am talking on the phone. Especially while waiting .
    Love your phone spot the painting is wonderful

    How exciting about your novel. Be sure to tell us about how it is going.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. The painting is by Himself. If you look on www.bsartists.co.uk then his name, Peter Murphy, you'll see the sort of artwork that he produces.
      I don't know what will happen with my novel, I loved writing it but whether I'll be able to place it anywhere is another matter. If all fails I'll attempt the self publish route.

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  5. Hi! You commented on my blog, so I came over to read yours. I love this post. I always doodled while I talked on the phone. I think what has changed so much is that I rarely talk on the phone anymore. How wonderful that you wrote your first novel!! I think it is a very brave thing to do. -Jenn

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  6. We still have a "land line" phone and keep a doodlers pad next to it, but with the advent of the personal cell phones we rarely receive calls on the old one.

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  7. I hope you and yours had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and are having a very HAPPY NEW YEAR. May we display your linked header on our new site directory, SiteHoundSniffs.com? As it is now, the site title (linked back to its home page) is listed, and we think displaying the linked header will attract more attention.

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