Wednesday, January 15, 2014

How to be a writer on $10,000 a year

I have been been reading Boswell's Life of Johnson, and it's quite fascinating. I'm up to Johnson going to London to try to make a living as a writer. Boswell records a hypothetical budget that one of Johnson's friends had explained to him:
Thirty pounds a year was enough to enable a man to live there without being contemptible. He allowed ten pounds for clothes and linen. He said a man might live in a garret at eighteen-pence a week; few people would inquire where he lodged; and if they did, it was easy to say, "Sir, I am to be found at such a place." By spending three-pence in a coffeehouse, he might be for some hours every day in very good company; he might dine for six-pence, breakfast on bread and milk for a penny, and do without supper.
Samuel Johnson in 1772
Let's break that down:

Item
Per day
Per week
Per year
Clothes

4 s.
£ 10
Rent

18 d.
£ 4
Food
7 d.
4 s.
£ 10
Coffee
3 d.
18 d.
£ 4

Now, this website tells me that £1 in 1750 would be the equivalent of £190 today, and this in turn equates to A$350. This gives us an annual budget of $10,000:

Item
Per day
Per week
Per year
Clothes

$70
$3,500
Rent

$30
$1,500
Food
$10
$70
$3,500
Coffee
$4
$30
$1,500

For a writer in Melbourne, the coffee works out about right. The food budget would be roughly equivalent – $2 a day will give you bread and milk for breakfast, while $8 will fill you up in Chinatown. Unfortunately, one would be hard pressed to find accommodation at even the most dingiest dive for $30 a week. The clothes budget, both then and now, is wildly disproportionate.

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

Books Kara read in 2013

 With our new little boy, Zephaniah.

Total read: 36

Fewer than in 2012, but I had other fun things to do, like growing a baby and living with an energetic toddler!

So here they are, with occasional comments. I've only linked to reviews, this time.

The Island of Adventure by Enid Blyton

Already Gone by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer

The Lord our Shepherd by J. Douglas MacMillan

They Found a Cave by Nan Chauncy

Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity by Mark A. Noll (my review here)

Thunder on the Right by Mary Stewart

Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement by Kathryn Joyce (John's review here)
Maddeningly unreferenced and anecdotal. Misunderstands her subject on key points, particularly missing the point of Christian self-sacrificial living.

Leepike Ridge by N. D. Wilson (John's review here)

The Puritan Experiment in the New World (1976 Westminster Conference papers)

My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart
I liked it until the last couple of chapters. Not recommended.

Talking About Dragons by William Chad Newsom
Nothing much new here.

Fit to Burst by Rachel Jankovic
Excellent, gospel-centred mothering book. I like her sense of humour and imaginative illustrations.

Standing on the Promises by Douglas Wilson
Best parenting book I've read.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Ride Like an Indian by Henry V. Larom
Children's book that reads like it was written by a health and safety committee. What kid sterilizes his knife before becoming blood brothers with his best friend?

Evening in the Palace of Reason by James Gaines.
Fascinating double biography of J.S. Bach and Frederick the Great.

Asterix the Gladiator

Asterix and the Actress

Family-Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham (John's review here)

Wordsmithy by Douglas Wilson

The Four by Peter Leithart

The Light Princess by George MacDonald

Classical Education and the Homeschool by Wes Callihan, Douglas Jones and Douglas Wilson
Short, helpful introduction to the subject.

Monet by Jude Welton (Eyewitness Art series)

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton

Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher

The Dean's Watch by Elizabeth Goudge
I fear she didn't believe in the resurrection.

Aunt's Aren't Gentlemen by P.G. Wodehouse

A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Charlotte Mason isn't God. Sometimes Andreola sounds like she thinks differently.

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

Empire of Bones by N.D. Wilson (John's review here)
This series keeps getting better. Fascinating incorporation of theology into story.

The Last Judgement by Iain Pears

Death By Living by N.D. Wilson
If you read Empire of Bones, you need to read this too.

The Classical Cookbook by Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger

The Lord's Service by Jeff Meyers
Not uniformly convincing, but still very helpful in thinking through liturgical matters.