from christine...

Dear Shah,

Great to hear from you. I love the photos of the Royal Arcade which Alvin took. Last time I was in Melbourne I bought a postcard of the Royal Arcade because I was working on Walter Benjamin and his Arcades Project. If you have de Certeau I have Benjamin on which, maybe, to base some of my theoretical analysis in dealing with History. My PC is in B & W. Alvin's photo is gorgeous in colour. Tell him so.

I wished I could visit Melbourne to see the Salvatore Dali Exhibition but I really can't take a break right now. I love Surreal Art and my current interest is in German Expressionism, Franz Marc and Paul Klee. I also have some beautiful music to listen to while I write: Jon Hassell's 'Last Night the Moon Come Walking', 'Maarifa Street: Magic Realism', and 'City: Works of Fiction' and a Bob Dylan album: 'Together Through Life.' I'll play them for ages until I get tired of them and find something else.

I've tried to persuade Val to book for a week at Schuss in August when our friends Helen and George are managing the lodge but he is reluctant. We are having dinner with H & G and some other Schuss members on Saturday. Helen will try to use her charm to get Val to book but he can be very stubborn sometimes. He just isn't keen on snow this year. And I must work. The writing proceeds slowly but I know what I am doing. Everything always takes much longer than anticipated and I only have until Jan 2011.

Cold and wet here but I took the dogs to Mylor this morning and managed to cross the creek on some stones without getting my feet wet--daily dose of excercise. Yoyo and Merry like to sneak on the bed and get warm. Everyone is fine. No coughs, colds or sneezes.

Back to work,
Cheers,
Christine