Storytime

Last blog I talked about the horror of being half way through the year and having achieved nothing .... a lot ...a small amount of what I had planned for the year. My writing group had a meeting and we actually looked, briefly I admit, at our goals for the year and where we were with them. It was good to know that I was not alone in my putting off..or procrastination...or whatever I would like to call my inability to get things accomplished. Mind you several of my group were able to say that they were 'well on track' and had their goal sheet, complete with ticks and notes. Did make me feel worse, however I have no one else to blame but myself. So after carefully looking at my goals- and I only had five this year- unfortunately they are big ones. And I think this is often where I become lost....I lose sight of what I am aiming for because it is too large or too far away or even 'gee a year is a looooonnnnnnggggg time'. But what if I break it down into piec...

Yep we know it's winter. The days are long and grey, it's been wet and windy, a bit of wild weather and lately it has been damned cold as well. Most of us are struggling to stay warm, even when the winter sun lures us outside (under false pretences I must say, it is still damned cold!).  The trees are bare, the grass is lush. The world has slowed. As does my writing. There is something about winter that tells me to take it easy. Which is quite absurd as there are plenty of places to send pieces, lots of competitions out and about and none of the publishers (those that are still willing to take unsolicited manuscripts) have closed for the Christmas / New Year period. That is all to come. So why do I feel so inclined? Is it a case of SAD....seasonal affective disorder? Is it pure laziness? Is it a case of losing the old mojo and wondering how the hell to get it back? Truthfully....it's a bit of all of the above. Mostly laziness I fear. And ...

With a huge sigh of relief, the school holidays are done and dusted. As usual the library was smoking....kids, parents, toddlers, elderly, middle-agers, seniors, teens...you name them, we had them in. And as usual Youth staff rocked with lots of programs. I am used to the toddlers and small fry....this is my usual area of experience but I jumped at the chance of running a teen craft program. The idea was to create pictures using string and glue. Inspired, I had printed out examples of portraits created using wire...as well as ones using string and ribbon as we were set to use. Now with littlies, they just get in there and create. They think everything they do is fantastic and are eager to colour and paint and glue and cut (especially the cut) anything and everything. I wasn't ready for the 'I can't do this'. After much cajoling, urging, showing, inspiring, motivating and generally telling them yes you can....work began. One parent stayed, a father, and he s...

On the weekend I had the experience of seeing Disney on Ice...not only with my daughter but with Little Miss. It was excitement overload. To add to the fun, daughter had bought Little Miss an outfit. We had heard that a lot of littlies would be dressed up and didn't want her to miss out on half the fun. So dressed up as Snow White, minus the cat, we headed off to the city. We had a lovely lunch at Hopetoun Tearooms  - which included Little Miss's first foray into pate, which she loved- then off to the show. As you can imagine, there were a lot of children, a lot more boys than I had thought- and so many girls, both young and older, were dressed as princesses. There were a lot of Elsa's but also Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Little Miss loved the show, she sang, she danced, she threw herself into it body and soul. But it was a definite girls were princesses, boys were princes. Coincidently, last week for the school holidays I did a Dasta...

In a spurt of nostalgic boredom I began a jigsaw I found in my son's room. It brought to mind all those years helping Mum do one, or even later on my sister and her family. Now this was a jigsaw never attempted. Pristine in its box. I commandeered the dining table and set forth. Not with gusto I must admit but with a small smile and an even smaller hope that it would be finished. I won't even tell you how long it took just to do the outside edge- seemingly easy you may think. Not at all...but slowly, slowly, ever so slowly it began to come together. The parts that were quite easy to identify were the first to emerge. The edges as you can see are still not together. Few more weeks, yes weeks, and we were up to this stage. It's something I do when I'm walking past, perhaps cooking tea in the kitchen and just wander in and see if something fits...somewhere. After nearly a month this was all I had....not much at all. Unfortunately there is a stron...

Yep, it's up there with one of our greatest fears. Up there with fear of flying and fear of heights.  It even has a name - glossophobia or speech anxiety. I used to be horrid at public speaking. Absolutely horrid. My heart would race, my hands shake, my face turn fire engine red- and I would read my work at one hundred words per second. In my mind the sooner I finished, the sooner I was out of there. I doubt if anyone ever understood a word I said. However, over time, with the help of a  friend who ran a poetry gig and actively encouraged me to read (even to the point where she would smile and wave her hands forcing me to slow down)...I have improved. That does not mean that I don't have a quiver of nerves each time I do read. On the weekend I went to one of my regular haunts, the Hut Poetry in upper FTG, and because due to work and life I had not been at all this year, the nerves really got to me. I could feel my stomach churn, my hands were clammy and th...

I'm usually not one for being hugely inspired by people. Don't get me wrong, there are countless people out there that I truly admire, think what they do is just wonderful and wish I could have a small percentage of their courage / beliefs / understanding / passion / strength etc. However I recently went to a birthday party for a lovely lady who really does inspire me. Annette just turned 80. Yep 80. That in itself is a feat these days but Annette is more than her years. She is one of the most kind hearted and caring people I know. She believes there is good in everyone, and although she does have certain definite ideals and beliefs, is willing to listen to another's point of view. But what truly inspires me is that she makes the most out of everyday. She sings in a choir, she learnt how to play piano, she line dances and recently took private tango lessons. Tango lessons! She joined toast masters, writes and paints, goes to local theatre...the list goes on and ...