Tea and Zen

“Now you understand the Oriental passion for tea," said Japhy. "Remember that book I told you about: the first sip is joy, the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy.”

Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

 

Madame Defarge

A few weeks ago I finished reading A Tale of Two Cities. I was put off Dickens at university because they made us read Oliver Twist, and novels with simpering orphans as protaganists apparantly fail to even twitch my cold, dead heartstrings. But Two Cities is great because it's about the French Revolution, and there has always been a tiny part of me which wants to wear red trousers and find new ways of using big blades. Or, you know, just, vote Labour.

There has also always been another part of me which loves knitting. Several years ago I knitted a scarf so big that when I wear it, children have been known to follow me and point. Seriously. It took me three months. I put my heart and soul into that scarf. It became part of me.  I can well believe that someone would get so caught up (no pun intended) in their knitting that they'd start coding in the names of people they wanted dead. Knitting is making something with your soul.

I think Madame Defarge is fantastic. 

That's all really. I just absolutely love her.

What's happening on International Women's Day:

Today:

• Women across Europe are working another day for nearly 20% less an hour than men.
• £11bn of the £18bn public service cuts in the UK is coming from the pockets of women.
• Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has signed a bill requiring Virginia women to undergo an ultrasound procedure prior to having an abortion, claiming this aligns the state with 23 others who have also made this mandatory.
• BBC journalists composed a list of survival tips for female reporters on international conflicts. Tips include 'avoid wading into large, mainly male, crowds on your own' and 'don't always look men in the eye'.
• 1 in 10 women in Congo are living with the effects of being raped.
• About 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of genital mutilation.
• Only 6.5% of reported rapes in the UK are resulting in a conviction
• Afghan's top clerics are issuing guidelines claiming that 'women are subordinate to men, should not mix in work or education and must always have a male guardian when they travel'. They are being backed by the Afghani president.
• Globally, at least one in three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused by an intimate partner in the course of her lifetime.
• 70% of about 220 million who are semiliterate or illiterate in China are women.

Just saying.