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Eri and Trudi recommend
Shallow Sal
Have just read author Charlotte Wood's fantastic piece in the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend ('This dog is not a human being... right?). I've long been an enthusiastic and occasionally apologetic dog-lover and owner myself, but her words really struck a chord. Apart from the usual mixture of awe and envy that her writing evokes - her novels are lyrical, insightful and smart (her new one, Animal People, Allen & Unwin, is out any minute) - this one also got my dander up. (I've rarely had a chance to use that phrase and, as Wood uses the word in her piece in its true sense, I thought why the hell not.) Anyhooo... the premise is that she just doesn't get the whole animal/human dichotomy - the 'anthropomorthic slush' that clogs up our culture, juxtaposed against our sickening disregard for animal rights on a larger scale. And she's so damn right. But while I'm not guilty of dressing my dog in Prada rainwear or spending thousands of bucks on a canine analyst for her current garden-digging obsession, she is considered a vital member of the family and afforded rights that more pragmatic country folk might scoff at (though not many - she still sleeps in a kennel outside, is kept on a fascist food regimen to prolong her labrador life and doesn't share our sofa or bed - but come to think of it, neither do my husband and I most nights). I feel guilty leaving her at home alone when we're at work, and am loathe to leave her out of social events at the weekend for that reason. Some might say it's because we don't have kids and thus invest our stunted instincts in her instead. OF COURSE IT IS! But what are you gonna do?... Sure, she's never going to grow up, amuse me with her wit and wisdom, give me grandchildren and look after me in my old age; but she's not going to turn 14, roll her eyes at me like I'm a loser, steal my car keys and turn into a crack whore either. So, if I want to stick a sign on the back of my car that says 'chocolate labrador on board', buy her a collar that matches her eyes, or a few cool toys at Christmas, so be it. It's not like we expect her to say thank you. By Sally Feldman, food and travel writer
Eri & Trudi recommend: Henry the sausage dog brooch Share this: |
Reality bitesWhen you work in food magazines, people assume that you're a really good cook. This is not necessarily the case (my alleged skills are more on the editing than the food side), although my cooking has definitely improved by some sort of osmosis over the years. But with my day job as editor-in-chief of delicious and Masterchef magazines, plus working on hardtofind., plus two children and a partner, things can get a little ordinary on the domestic front. As I write this, my family is about to arrive home to an offer of cheese omelettes, or cheese omelettes, for dinner. And the house itself is not looking like something out of a glossy magazine either – dog-eared placemats and crockery from my neighbour's garage sale are probably not what most people would expect to find on my dining table. Funnily enough, this contrast of working on a glamorous lifestyle magazine and real life was one of the things that brought about hardtofind. in the first place - so many beautiful, irresistible homewares arrive in the News Magazines office, usually destined for shoots, that Eri and I started thinking, "How can we get our mitts on this gorgeous stuff without having to leave our desks, fight the traffic, find parking and drag the kids around a shopping centre?" Of course it seems obvious now that online shopping has taken off in a big way, but we think our carefully selected collection of products we would love ourselves sets us apart. And at least now I can get the cute plates to serve those omelettes on... By Trudi Jenkins, hardtofind. director Eri & Trudi recommend: We've found the perfect plates for serving omelettes Share this: |
Postcards from the edge
Last night I got home from work and, as usual, idly tipped open the letterbox, not expecting much, apart from the usual ‘handwritten’ missive from our local real estate agent, Gary, or Keith (or whoever the latest jowly suit leering at me in low resolution may be); or a SPECIALE OFER to saturate my arteries with a new Atkins-lover’s cheeze-on-cheeze pizza with a cheeze cruzt. To my surprise and delight, there was a postcard. An old friend from England, who likes exploring the more obscure corners of Europe, had scrawled a few words on the back of picture of an island “that reminded me of you and our cycling adventures in Rottnest”. He’d then bought a stamp, found a postbox and sent it – what a guy! I can’t tell you the pleasure it gave me – although, come to think of it, I just have – and it got me thinking about postcards and letters and all things stationery. There’s a generation of us, who, while we run frantically to keep up in the tail wind of social media, still have a bit of a thing for a cool or quirky birthday card, a written invitation, or (get out of here!) a thank-you note. I tried an animated online greetings card site for a while, but my interest flagged faster than that damn cartoon could load. I don’t know about you, but whenever I go to an art gallery or museum at home or overseas, I head straight for the shop (bugger the Picassos!), to stock up on postcards and other papery delights to save for birthdays, weddings, parties, anything… Sadly, though, my handwriting’s deteriorated to the point of illegibility over the past 10 years, due to too much texting and not enough pen-holding. Does anyone still have one of those lumps that grows on the inside edge of their middle finger anymore? Mine’s completely disappeared and been replaced by the less localised throb of RSI – ain’t evolution a wonderful thing... By Sally Feldman, food and travel writer Eri and Trudi recommend: check out the hardtofind. range of gorgeous stationery Share this: |
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