VIKTOR DONOVAN: GOOD ADVICE FOR A DAUGHTER: IF YOU HAVE ORDER IN YOUR DRAWERS, YOU WILL HAVE ORDER IN YOUR MIND

Monday, November 25, 2013

GOOD ADVICE FOR A DAUGHTER: IF YOU HAVE ORDER IN YOUR DRAWERS, YOU WILL HAVE ORDER IN YOUR MIND

In 1941, when my Swedish mother Gunilla was twenty and had gone to Uppsala to study at the university there, she tried to find a suitable room for herself. Her girl friend already had a room but my mother still had not found a room two weeks after her arrival. Her American born mother Olga, writes in English which was her habit, wondering why she still has not a proper room for herself. This was after all during World War II and many men had been conscripted so there should be rooms available for a student. I suspect she thinks that my mother was not quite organized and mother Olga delivers some good advice for her seemingly disorganized daughter:

"Begin to plan your day calmly in the morning -- give yourself good time for everything -- one hour you must take for your 'toilet' and at night put your clothes orderly on a chair for the next morning. Give yourself good time for everything. People who are always in a hurry are not orderly people. Keep your nails manicured, your hair well brushed and never wear a slightly soiled collar. If you have order in your drawers, you will have order in your mind and always remember that a woman's daintiness -- freshness are what attract a man. You will not forget things or lose your belongings if you make up your mind to begin at once and plan each hour of your day -- if you do not begin NOW, you will acquire a habit of slovenliness and it will grow on to you and cling to you and before you know it, you are a slave to the habit of disorder and it will be noticeable in all you do.

Now, if from the beginning of your arrival in Uppsala you had made up your mind that you were going to find a nice room, you would have one by now. Go forth in life with a purpose and do not be afraid of to say no when necessary -- it is a sign of strength to be able to clearly demand what you want. Now enough of the preaching, but I hope you will read and reread what I have written and abide by it...I want you to be perfect and want to be proud of my little Gunilla. You are too fine and good not to make the best of your life.

Lots of love and kisses from Mams"

February 20, 1941

My mother Gunilla in Uppsala, not exactly studying at this moment -- but having fun on her way to a spring ball.

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NEW BOOK!

Much of human activity is centered around food. We think of food whether we’re hungry or not. We spend a great deal of time buying it. We take hours preparing it (well, some do). We talk about it. We read about it in cook books. We watch television when chefs talk about it (sometimes to excess). When we socialize, it is often centered around the communal intake of it. We give it as gifts. Food, we can’t escape it! Some people become keenly interested in preparing food for themselves and others; many have become what we call “good cooks”. Usually a degree of creativity is involved together with a keen interest to entertain and a need to take care of others, to be a good host. It is such people that one remembers, and that is how I got started on Food & Folk, remembering, for example that excellent couple, Beatrice and Clayburn La Force on their ranch in Alpine California. After that I just kept going.

MY HOMETOWN GOTHENBURG

A series of closeups (224 photos) of Gothenburg, Sweden. Language: English and Swedish.----- This book consists of a series of closeups of Gothenburg. It is no history book but, hopefully, it will generate some curiosity about our city. When you walk in a city like London you are struck by Britain’s colonial past and its enormous wealth which manifests itself in buildings and institutions all over the city. When you walk in “Little London” as Gothenburg is often called, one is keenly aware of its importance as the best fortified city in Northern Europe. Two forts still watch over it. Remnants of the seventeenth century wall, and the meandering moat are a reminder of the city’s military past. Positioned on the West coast of Sweden, Gothenburg was once a world leader in ship building and shipping and evolved naturally into a merchant’s city. The English and Scottish heritage here is very important. There are clues and traces everywhere. One has only to look.

A GARDEN IN MY HOMETOWN

A book in English and Swedish about the Garden Society of Gothenburg--TRÄDGÅRDSFÖRENINGEN -----The Garden Society of Gothenburg is one of the best preserved early 19th century parks in Europe. It is situated directly downtown, offering lovely walks in the park or in the shaded woodland areas along the canal/moat, waterfront. The garden recently went through a major renovation under the auspices of Ulf Nordfjell, the internationally known landscape designer. The aim was to bring the garden back to its old nineteenth century glory. Carpet bedding returned and five new woodland areas were designed by five international garden designers. A superb new rose park was added, a successful blending of historical roses and perennials.

Love letters from my Swedish grandfather Folke to my American grandmother Olga 1909 - 1961

My American grandmother, Olga, met my Swedish grandfather, Folke Jonsson, in Brussels in 1909. Olga was 18 and Folke, 23. They settled in Gothenburg and Särö, Sweden. Olga, being American, had her family in Florida, and Folke soon came to realize that if you marry a woman from another continent, and this woman is charmingly independent, innovative and brave, and has her own means to boot, she is bound to want to visit her native country some time -- or several times -- or more than several times. To Folke, a sensitive soul, the long separations were quite painful and he suffered till his darling Olga returned. He “talked” to her in his frequent letters. Olga saved all his letters, in their original envelopes, in neat little bundles held together with different coloured ribbons. They were a treasured lifelong testament of his love. Olga and Folke corresponded in English as Olga was American and preferred writing in English. Had my grandfather Folke married a Swedish woman who had stayed at home, there would not be this stack of his letters today. He never intended the letters to be shown to others, but more than one hundred years have passed since Folke wrote them to his darling Olga. I have enjoyed getting to know my grandfather in this manner and I think others, not only relatives, should also share that privilege.

A pictorial Companion to the letters in the book above: 150 pictures of Olga & Folke 1909-1978

NEW BOOK BY DONOVAN O'MALLEY

REVIEW: "...O'Malley continues to prove that he is one of the more important writers around, a writer who with every book brings into our lives some very strange, often exceedingly humorous, and now, frequently very lonely people. His ability to create language for each of his characters is sharp, well studied and written, and without belittling anyone he, in language, shows the difference between class, and education, and exposure. Likely that comes from his experience in writing plays where characters are alive and moving, but with his considerable literary skills he makes his written page people morph into real life folks. He is in top form here ... " Grady Harp, June 12 (Hall of Fame reviewer)

Monday, November 25, 2013

GOOD ADVICE FOR A DAUGHTER: IF YOU HAVE ORDER IN YOUR DRAWERS, YOU WILL HAVE ORDER IN YOUR MIND

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