Outline

I have 1750 words for an outline which is also struggling to be a draft MS. Lots of threads to follow which should could me busy. Wonderful french film got creativity flowing, that and not doing any housework or ducking off to hang out washing.

Returning

I was given the blog address of a friend to look at pictures of their newly purchased house that brought me back here. Its been 12 months since last I visited, a few cobwebs around but my ol' faithful has waited patiently. And so here I am, after checking out a couple of recommended blogs from grandpurlbaa blog that I completely forgot about. And what joy (love using "and" at beginning of sentence, its such a freeing sensation to tear down the grammar police who made it taboo) to catch up with such interesting blogs. Facebook took my attention away for a bit, I was mesmerised by the immediacy and presence of so many all on one page, pinging away at each other, but too brief for my liking, I'm over the rush and its back to blogs. Of note for example is "Life at Willow Manor" http://willowmanor.blogspot.com/ really interesting visuals, and airily familiar thoughts from Tess Kincaid, its as if she has put in to words what flittered through my mind - wonderful to see another person enjoy same music and interests. Enough. Will continue later.

Cat on corner desk

These canine companions & the resident feline are witnesses to the lack of writing I have done today. I am ashamed to say I have spent the afternoon refamiliarising myself with the camera, and how to transfer pictures from it to my facebook page and here. So here is proof though that there is a rather large (70cms tall at shoulder so far & he is only 9 mths old) companion at this desk, as well as a portly sleepy one, and attentive border collie along with a very elderly sleepy feline & of course a cup of coffee.

In awe of John Kerry

I spent this afternoon watching The Long War of John Kerry and thoroughly enjoyed it. I know "enjoy" is not synonymous with war but it is the man I am most in awe of. At 27 years old John returned from Vietnam & decided that he was not going to just sit back grateful he made it out alive, but instead empowered so many seriously wounded men (physically & emotionally) to send a clear anti-war message to the Nixon administration. And to have what little strength left after witnessing the tragedies of war, to protest against sustaining the war was just amazing. I have not doubt that it was what John & his fellow veterans did that actually helped give some meaning to many veterans who returned home to what seemed like a wall of disassociation. What a shame John missed out on the Presidency by so few votes. Bush, rather than Kerry, the latter having received recognition for saving the lives of some of his fellow troops. Then having to be put under a microscope of suspicion by the Nixon administration, and have the so-called counterfoil employed to tarnish the good work John was doing to help the veterans find their voice to call for the end of the war.

I recall when my father returned from Vietnam there was no flag waving, or thank you's. Instead we (children) were subjected to nasty little comments from teachers who really knew nothing of what or why our fathers were in Vietnam, along the lines that our fathers travelled overseas to meet people & kill them. I just hope that teachers of this era are more diplomatic about their views when in the presence of children whose parents may now be in Afghanistan, East Timor, and the likes.

Wandering off the track

I have recently discovered the joy of podcasts. It occurred to me that this magnificent invention has to be right up there with the wheel, X-ray machine, refrigerator, and of course the standard size computer. I have been listening to all sorts of interviews, mainly from the United Kingdom, involving authors, poets, politicians, historians, and of course not dissimilar to the latter - comedians. I listen while driving to and from work, the iPod graciously loaned to me by femme teen as she has moved on to another type with far more storage space (haven't got the handle on the correct terminology yet). At the time she out grew this, I thought to myself that it was a waste of money buying another, then of course I would presume - another, because where one becomes unpopular or out-of-date another must take its place. But I get why teen needed the larger one - and quite frankly I can also see why one of my favourite authors & social commentators is so passionate about gadgets. A couple of times a week I have plug the iPod in to the computer and recharge it, and of course refresh the podcasts I subscribe to, mostly BBC, but also some from various other places. If I were to have a gadget that had more memory I could save lots more, and not have to delete the ones I have listened to several times. I could archive them so to speak, like books on a shelf, and go back to them at a later date.

So while roaming the shelves of the itunes catalogue - I am not writing. It is worse than getting carried away on a web surf - I start tasting a little bit of this, then a little bit of that, and dart off to another recommended site or blog and by the time I have come to my senses, I lost two hours of my life and nothing written. The wee bit of time left for writing I spend tweaking the chapter I have sat in front of for months.

Its NaNoWriMo and I have done zilch, zero, zip. I have however deleted a truck load of emails which have been automatically sent by all of those enthusiasts who are diligently writing and following the programme.

I, on the other hand have been:

• attending quilting workshop


• sewing homework from Q workshop


• reclaiming gardens from winter/spring weed infestation


• attending puppy training classes with 8month old "Archie" the huntaway


• doing puppy training homework


• shopping, cooking, cleaning for family


• attending Zumba class (had first one this week)


• doing 45 minutes on treadmill every second night


• trying to fit first passion of life in - that's reading of course


• going to work

Meanwhile, there is the forebodance of the end of year celebrations and of course as does naturally occur, the end of the year. And how much have I written? I have to toughen up and get on with it. Otherwise another year goes by, Im a year older, and if I don't get the thing (it's become "the thing") finished it will haunt me every time I pick up someone elses book. Even if I write something that is only fit to line Archie's bed with I would be happy.

Nothing will happen much next week because I have 'Zumba' Monday (the music & dance reminds me of the heady days of the late 70's early 80's, Gloria Estefan, Miami Sound Machine, and the timeless Santana). While I may be the oldest there, well maybe not quite, it will help keep the arthritus at bay. Then its off to Wellington for three days for work, and catch up with a lovely friend who I met while travelling around Europe - another bibliophile. We intend to visit Unity Books shop, and take in the Te Papa Museum Photography exhibition.

Going back to the arthritus, I am still perplexed that I went to an eye specialist to deal with a lump on the eyeball, and given some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the lump was treatable with some steroid drops, the bad news is that the lump will more than likely return, the good news is that unless it gets nasty like it's predecessor, there's no reason for it not to disappear of its own accord. The bad news is that the blood tests taken as part of the diagnosis for the eye revealed rheumatoid arthritus.

Now how bizarre, but not shockingly surprising because I have felt a noticeable stiffening in the fingers - but to go to get an eye problem checked only to find out about arthritus. My thoughts turned to getting serious about exercise and losing some of the extra weight (yup, if I was baggage being checked in I would have to leave behind quite a bit as unchecked luggage) to ease the difficulties I might face in the future with movement. For some reason the arthritus was enough motivation to get me using the treadmill every other day, and the Zumba to help with the other joints. Apparently, instead of stopping knitting sewing etc i should try to keep it up on a regular basis to keep the finger joints moving but its not that easy [comfort wise] because my employment revolves around drafing sometimes lengthy letters and reports, so the fingers get quite uncomfortable.

Anyway, the arthritus is another reason for getting the writing down in the near future in case there comes a time where doing what I have been sat here doing for nearly an hour, gets too difficult.

I have also made a commitment to not taking any further books out of the library until I get through some of my own. I purchased a box full at the last Red Cross Book Fair and they deserve some acknowledgment, so I have started on Jostein Gaarder's book The Solitaire Mystery. I have read Sophies World and it was superb, and frankly the author is quite a picture too.

Well thats all for tonight. I still have some reading to do.

So grateful it is Friday

What an exhausting extra long work day. Thank goodness it is Friday. Anyway I was checking out one of my favourite bibliophile blogs to see if she had updated anything recently (You Can Never Have Too Many Books) at http://susanflynn.blogspot.com and in the depths of her last post she has a link to another bibliophile who also linked off to the Fashion section of the NYTimes where there is an article that states that burying noses in books is "somewhat isolating" absolute darn right - but this fashion columnist seems to think that its wrong - and that the ebook is going to encourage readers in public to be more interactive - who in the heck wants to interact when their reading, thats why they are reading!! otherwise they would be talking. What is sad is that the ebook is supposedly going to be some kind of fashion accessory - the only reason I can think of why it is in the fashion section. Anyway, too many late nights this week and I have a quilting workshop to attend in the morning.

Seasons in the writing process

Writing is a lonely pastime - with most activities there is a coach or team cheering the participant on but with writing its just the writer and the inner critic. An internal editor has its place in our life, it helps prevent us from making prat of ourselves, it acts like sand in polishing the surface of a rough stone. But it can also be the bane of a writers life, whether it be writing for pleasure, education, or work - allow it too much lee-way and the writing becomes like a plane overloaded with cargo, it just cant get off the runway.

My editor is on 24 hours because I draft technical reports, memos, and letters, for a living. Even my telephone conversations are guarded, because I am acutely aware of the diplomacy required in my role. So unfortunately by the time I get home, the editor remands on guard, and I struggle to get words that I have typed or written, to stay on the paper or screen. I can end up editing the same pages for days, even months.

I was reading over at Notdesignedtojuggle.wordpress and picked up a link to http://www.andyshacks.com/ about a nifty trick that helps to bypass the critic. The method involves acknowledging the internal critic's dilemma with a phrase or sentence even, by flagging it for ponderance at a later time, and then moving on with the creative flow. So in essence, Andy's advice suggests parking the problem phrase, sentence scene, and signalling like so with he hash key #. I cant work out how to put a link in here so any reader wanting to read in his masters words will have to go over to Andy's pages and read the advice for themself.

The Chilean miners have surfaced, and big celebrations are abound. The strength and courage shown by all of them is remarkable, and the relief the families must be feeling will be overwelming. Its timely for me to remember a couple of the many things I am grateful for:

*Living in the country in fresh air
*Living and working in a reasonably healthy space
*The late Allen Carr, and his book The Easy Way to Stop Smoking (5 mths)
*Human capacity for ingenuity (without which the miners may still be below ground)
*Companionship of hubby
*Having read Desiderata - thank you Max Ehrmann