#Spotted While Roaming in Aotearoa New Zealand:
A young human (12?) is cycling, beaming as he dinks a friend on the handlebars. She's wearing a lei of red flowers and is laughing at something he's just said, her hands up in the air. A snatched moment of happiness, feet whirring on the pedals.
At a small Easter Craft Fair numerous stall owners are genteelly hawking their crochet and knitted wares. Meanwhile a teen (14?) is earnestly belting out James Brown's hit, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". This is wonderful, unironic serendipity.
In a mechanic's workshop after hours, the lights are throwing a warm glow into the night street as two men (late teens) practice their skateboarding moves. Beats cranking, laughing at each other's mistakes.
Three women (60s to 80s?) are sitting on a sunny bus stop bench, howling with laughter as they search through the middle one's massive mustard yellow handbag. They pull first one thing out, then another, wiping tears from their eyes. One says: "You've got an entire continent in here Annie!"
At a fruit and vege market: A teen (13?) runs through a picnic area towards a public piano, takes a seat and is soon playing Bach, Mozart and maybe a snatch of Handel? Moments later her brother appears with an ice cream and the music stops. This is FAR more important.
(Continued below)
A young human (12?) is cycling, beaming as he dinks a friend on the handlebars. She's wearing a lei of red flowers and is laughing at something he's just said, her hands up in the air. A snatched moment of happiness, feet whirring on the pedals.
At a small Easter Craft Fair numerous stall owners are genteelly hawking their crochet and knitted wares. Meanwhile a teen (14?) is earnestly belting out James Brown's hit, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". This is wonderful, unironic serendipity.
In a mechanic's workshop after hours, the lights are throwing a warm glow into the night street as two men (late teens) practice their skateboarding moves. Beats cranking, laughing at each other's mistakes.
Three women (60s to 80s?) are sitting on a sunny bus stop bench, howling with laughter as they search through the middle one's massive mustard yellow handbag. They pull first one thing out, then another, wiping tears from their eyes. One says: "You've got an entire continent in here Annie!"
At a fruit and vege market: A teen (13?) runs through a picnic area towards a public piano, takes a seat and is soon playing Bach, Mozart and maybe a snatch of Handel? Moments later her brother appears with an ice cream and the music stops. This is FAR more important.
(Continued below)
George Penney •
Posting my usual Monday morning thread early because this morning at 5am after one of many, many all-nighters, we managed to finish the first draft of Rude Mechanicals, the second in our OverLondon series.
3 years, serious RSI that had us thinking I'd never type again, a broken foot, a traumatic family bereavement, multiple international moves and many late night writing sessions and we got the book done.
And what got us through was moving to this wonderful country in 2023, spotting the good stuff around us, being massive geeks with wonderful friends, remembering to belly laugh as much as possible, and you wonderful, amazing people being so supportive and kind.
Huge, huge thanks. It's really meant an awful lot. I'll leave it here because I'm very tired and emotional right now. (And so relieved to type 'the end') But please know you're appreciated. Thank you.
(Depending on the whims of the editorial deities, redrafting shenanigans, random meteorite strikes and Cthulu rising from the depths of the deep to fthlaggan flamboyantly... Rude Mechanicals should be out some time end of 2025/early 2026.)
Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷 •