life rattle show no. 1294

Presented on THURSDAY, february 27, 2014

Hosted by laurie kallis

featuring

"Bastard"
"Grampa's Comfy Chair"
and
"No Treat"
by Sheridan Martins

tonight's Show

Life Rattle Program No. 1294, features three stories by new Life Rattle writer Sheridan Martins.

Sheridan Martins is twenty-five years old and on the verge of a mid-life crisis—rightly so, considering she had her quarter-life crisis when she was seven. Fresh out of high school, Sheridan blindly decided to major in economics and political science in university. After three years and endless essay writing and graph drawing, she called it quits to enter the working world. Sheridan did well for someone without an expensive piece of paper, working for an engineering recruiting firm, the Government of Canada and one of the Big Five banks. She renewed her relationship with note-doodling, midterm butterflies and graph scribbling in 2013 to acquire one important skill: professional writing. It also doesn’t hurt, she says, that she can use it on her LinkedIn page.

Sheridan tells us that she is over television, that she pretends to be wise beyond her years and that she hates small talk but knows it leads to juicier conversations. Sheridan Martins wants writing to choose her, and until that time, she chooses to write.

With a genuine and true voice, Sheridan Martins reacquaints us with the experience of being a child, specifically, a precocious young girl who, despite her awareness, sometimes can’t resist doing that which she knows she shouldn’t.

"Bastard" gives us a glimpse of life as a female in Saudi Arabia, a snippet of a Bollywood film, and the dangers of attractive-sounding English words.

"Grampa's Comfy Chair" takes us to Bombay where our young narrator meets her grandparents, the oldest people she has every seen. Under the watchful but hesitant eye of a household servant, our young narrator learns there are some rules that do not flex, even for a visiting granddaughter.

"No Treat" brings us to the grocery store, and the devilishly-placed candy displays at the checkout. At first, our young narrator is rewarded for her good behaviour, but then, sweet temptation is too difficult for her to resist.