Write-Place

Before the End of Days - and After

2012-05-29T02:36:00.001-07:00

So, May 27th 2012 has been and gone and I don't think the world has ended (of course it could have and I might just be imagining that I am here, doing this etc but that philosophical debate is a bit much at this time of day) It's likely that I have misinterpreted the prophecies though. I downloaded the book to my Kindle 3 days before May 27th, but with the backlog of books to be read on Kindle quickly becoming as large as the pile of 'real' books to read which are in piles around the house, I haven't got very far yet.

The prophecies revealed in Robert Weinland 's book tells us that that the date given is the end of "man's self rule" and apparently the demise of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and much of western Europe and which will be followed by man's final world war. This war will be the result of clashing religions and the governments they sway. Billions will die and the destruction of this time will far exceed the very worst times of human history. The book is directed to the "people of three major religions. Islam, Christianity and Judaism who's roots are in the God of Abraham"

With the massacre of innocent, defenceless people in Syria becoming more appalling by the day and other grotesque events happening around the world by the minute, it's not difficult to conclude that this really is the end of humanity as I understand it. As Einstein stated - It has become appallingly obvious that our thechnology has exceeded our humanity.
Read more here

I will not be asking 'God' what to do in this situation. I have long since passed a belief in one god as being plausible.

But I do believe in the power of prayer, which seems as if this is all that can be done by some of us in these awful times. If the positivity of thoughts can somehow be transmitted into the ether and then into the minds of individuals whose lives are being destroyed and into the minds of the perpetrators of these inhumane crimes then just maybe this world may get a little relief.

In the name of humanity, I pray.

PPPHHHEEEW - hot isn't it ? (observations from a 54 yr old gimmer ))

2012-05-27T01:51:00.001-07:00

It's probably just me but I'm not that unique.

I am old'ish though and most things get on my nerves most of the time. I get on my nerves most of the time so I do sympathise with everyone else on this.
So,the sun is shining,there's hardly a cloud in the sky and it's definately hot. Great ! In this country we're always waiting for hot weather and when it comes we try to make the most it.

But the things that people do and 'rituals' we seem to go through are irksome, you must agree. Firstly BBQ's. I mean, why ?
Can anyone really say that they have tasted a beefburger, sausage or chicken drumstick that has been barbequeued and tasted better than one done in the kitchen in a frying pan or even under the grill ? OK if you like food burnt to a cinder or black on the outside and soggy in the middle, then fine. You go ahead. And all that preparation ! Either pouring 3 bottles of lighter fluid on a few charcoals or lugging a great object from the bottom of the garden where it has been stood all winter and the cover (which cost almost as much as the bbq) is covered in dead leaves and bird crap that needs to be cleaned before you start. That's to cook outside on gas when you have a perfectly reasonable gas cooker in the house. Maybe someone can enlighten me on the joys of this.
Then there's the males of our species who take off their tee shirt at the first opportunity and walk around the streets barechested with the shirt in their hand or slung over one shoulder or sometimes tucked in the waist of their shorts or jeans. No thanks. I was told the other day not to look, but I don't think that's my responsibility.
Some females, of all ages, might as well take their whole top off too for the amount of cleavage, bare back and stomach that they have on show. Complete with flabby thighs and varicose veined legs ... gross. If you want to expose bare sweaty flesh, please do it in the privacy of your own home or garden - and in the case of my home, only do it if you are getting in and out of the bath or shower or going to bed.
Then there's the screaming kids bouncing constantly on trampolines and jumping into paddling pools, doing a You've Been Framed and wondering how they've ended up with 2 black eyes and a broken arm from diving into 4 inches of water. The pool itself is a nightmare. Takes half the morning to fill it up then the kids moan it's too cold to get in it and you have to ferry kettle fulls of hot water to make it 85 degrees plus. They were complaining you were too hot and now the water's too cold !
When you at last get yourself settled in the shade to read the paper or your "summer book" with a nice cool drink all the neighbours get out their lawnmowers, strimmers and hedgecutters and start playing music (that should be in inverted commas too) loud enough to be heard over the top of the machinery. It's bedlam.

Like I said, it's probably just me, but I'm taking no chances today. As it has also been forecast that today 27th May is The End Of Days...again .... I am going to find the highest, loneliest mountain that the car will climb and sit on the top.
And I'm taking a picnic of cold, uncooked, unsmoked food.

Have a lovely Sunday - I intend to.

I'm not paranoid but think "THEY" are trying to confuse me ...

2012-05-19T03:28:00.000-07:00

It always seems to happen. I have a vague notion of a blog topic or story or article idea while emerging from the depths of an exhaustion and medication induced sleep.
By the time I've woken up enough to drink a cup of tea or two, the idea is still itching at my thought processes. I turn the laptop on to write some notes - reading the news on my phone as I do so - and getting slightly distracted my a few emails - and open 'New Post' page of Google Blogger. This is the problem point.
Google Blogger welcomes me to the site and tells me that it is upgraded, updated and has a new style and format.
Great , I suppose I ought to think. But I don't. I spend the time that I could have been posting my scintillating thoughts onto the blog staring at the settings page and trying to work out what in fact has actually changed and if it's any better than it was before.Don't even considering asking "before what?"

And by now I am sort of forgetting what the brilliant idea was.

Of course it can't have been such a good idea if it has so easily slipped and become stuck between the layers of Breaking News, Twitter feeds and Facebook comments

... ... but it was my idea and deserves to be treated with a bit of respect. Ideas of any kind don't come so easily as they used to, you know.

Anyway, this blog now has a post for this month and you (or I ) I never know, there might be more before the week's out never mind the month.
If only "THEY" would leave things as they are for long enough for me to digest
information in a more leisurely fashion, I would be very grateful.

Pyjamas are only jeans with patterns on

2012-03-17T06:07:00.001-07:00

http://wwwrite-place.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/pyjamas-are-only-jeans-with-patterns-on.html

Bananas in Pyjamas

2012-03-17T05:59:00.000-07:00

At the risk of boring my reader, I just wanted to say that I am on a 'pyjama theme' today - again.
There's two reasons for this
1 I am wearing mine
2 I have been updating this blog (and attempting to change and update my website Write-Place to it's new domain Write Place
Now as my blogger/writer friends know, the process of unjumbling thoughts from your brain and transferring them to the keyboard in a format that others will understand, is not an easy task. It's difficult enough doing it in a way that you understand yourself. Hardly without you realising you are searching other websites, looking at today's TV listings, looking at what's trending on Twitter and checking Facebook to see if anyone's bothered to respond to your inane comments. I usually find myself 'phoning a friend' too.

It's a bit like looking at photographs. You intend to just look at one or a few, but suddenly you are researching not only your own family history but that of your brother's friend's uncle's grandparents who emigrated to Uzbekhistan with Sir Francis Drake (I'm not implying that Francis Drake went to Uzbekhistan, but I think you get the general idea).
I have been looking at old posts and have gone off at a tangent and back again to something that I have blogged about before - pyjamas. I don't know if I have a phobia - positive one if there's such a thing -about pyjamas or if it's psychosomatic.
I love pyjamas and am looking forward to wearing a new pair tonight.

So here I am, in my pyjamas - though I have been showered - eating bananas, drinking coffee and half watching some shopping channel on telly. Who knows what I may have purchased by the end of the day, and what a pleasant way to spend a Saturday, don't you think ?

The Well - One Word Challenge: Writers - Online

2012-02-04T12:29:00.001-08:00

Writers-Online January 2012 prose winner - "Shift"

The Well

The sky is overcast with dark grey streaks signalling rain. She wishes she'd worn shoes instead of sandals that flap against her heels, flicking bits of loose Tarmac as she waits to cross the newly laid road.

Rush hour traffic buzzes past, exhaust fumes mingling with the oily smell of bitumen, catching her throat. Same walk to the same supermarket, same time, same route she's been taking for a number of years since her youngest started full time school.

She glances at her watch as she weaves between a van and a bus while the lights are on red. She's not late, yet.

A flash of sunlight illuminates the scene as the sounds around her change. Her feet feel encased. She looks down to see herself dressed in laced boots, thick wool stockings, a linen pinafore covering a rough dress.Water trickles over stones and a heavy leather bucket thuds against her as a boy hauls in the rope. A snuffling,steaming horse waits patiently, scraping it's hooves on the cobbles.

Then as suddenly, she is back in the present. A time shift that reverts in a moment but remains in memory.

The lights change to green. She continues her walk.

Click here to see the picture that inspired this flash fiction

Every Picture Tells a Story - Remembering Maltby

2012-02-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

Whether it's one of those coincidence things or just that sometimes things do work nicely together, it's good when it happens.

I am pleased to announce on this blog that Facebook page Remembering Maltby has to date 585 members in just over a week. I am more than a little overwhelmed with the interest in it and am looking forward to collating all the pictures and stories together to make an invaluable historical record, made by the community. Feedback about this has been amazing and there's some brilliant photographs, memories and stories being shared between 3 or 4 generations of Maltby people. Some are Maltby born and bred, some were born elsewhere but now call Maltby their home, some spent their childhood here but now live on the other side of the world. At the risk of sounding too sentimental, it really is wonderful to be part of this and I am very grateful for everyone's responses.

The other thing that I'm chuffed about is this ...

I am the winner of January's One Word Challenge prose competition on Writers-Online. Very pleased about this - though I don't relish the 'prize' which is to judge this month's competition. Not an easy task.

However, why I am really pleased is that I based my 200 words entry (on the word 'shift' on a picture that Stewart Platt has drawn from an old photograph of Maltby, which is now on the Remembering Maltby Facebook page.

"The Well" by Stewart Platt

Take a look at Remembering Maltby's Facebook page to compare with the actual photograph.

To read "The Well" by Brenda Gunning look at my next blogpost.

Enjoy !

Googling Google and other information

2012-01-29T03:13:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days I've been getting emails, texts and notifications, some at unearthly hours of the morning - as I'm sure every internet user has about Google policies.

I've skim read the information as it's arrived - and lost interest after the first few lines.

Is this something I need to read the very 'small print' of or is it just something that will happen and won't particularly effect the likes of me as a regular user of Google search ?

Facebook 'timelines', Twitter upgrading to new versions, Amazon recommending what I should read and iplayer giving me suggestions of what to watch, it's hardly surprising that I find it difficult to find time to write.

Of course I could tap away on the laptop without considering the internet at all until I'm ready to email something. But that would mean a long list of 'research' topics to look up later and anyone who knows me knows my aversion to lists.

Text me, email me, Facebook me or tweet me if you have any suggestions.

Thanks.

I'm old - it's official !

2012-01-13T03:35:00.000-08:00

I look it and more days than not I feel it. The signs have been there, for as long as I can remember (!). Poor memory, going to the fridge and losing my way across the kitchen, agreeing with everything that's said on "Grumpy Old ... ". Aches and pains and body protesting at the simplest of tasks.
But now it's official (according to research done by the Dept for Works and Pension)
Old age begins at 54.

This has been a bit of a shock to me today, despite the signs, because it seems I have been in old age for almost 6 months now. If I remember rightly, which I probably don't, last birthday I received a few jokey cards on an old age theme along with the ones with flowers and dogs and things, but I've been getting those for a number of years now, but no one sent me a "Welcome To Old Age " card specifically announcing this milestone in my life.
Now I would have thought that with the recession and all the cutbacks, that the DWP might have better things to spend their money on than a survey like this. We all know that we are living longer and there are more "old" people than ever before. As the government itself is increasing the age of retirement, it seems strange to produce statistics that tell us at what age we actually leave our youth behind and become old.

Anyway, despite it seeming to be true more to me because I have seen it written down, I don't think I need it confirming in black and white. I have just half an hour ago ran a bath and then got into it with my pants on.
Of course I was just multi-tasking, washing clothes and washing self at the same time ... ...

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Monitor's Mission

2011-12-31T12:23:00.000-08:00

Writers Talkback One Word Challenge - "Scarlet"

Akram is jostled in the crowd, struggling to push his head up between the knees and elbows that are digging into his small body. He is almost deafened by the sounds of angry voices chanting and car horns signalling their discontent. He grasps the hand of his older brother, desperately clinging on. He knows he must not let go.
The crowd surges and Akram's five year old feet are lifted off the ground as they move forward, nearer to the group with the white peaked caps.
Akram's brother will be in deep trouble with Mama if she finds out he is here. In the past few months since the troubles got worse she has forbidden them to go to Friday prayers at the Ummayad Mosque in the city and they have stayed indoors much more than usual. But she won't find out - not yet.

Tricolours of scarlet, whiter and black with two green stars in the centre, wave above the heads of the people as shots are fired. Akram's limp, now lifeless body is lifted bleeding onto the bonnet of a car of the Arab League observers,Another innocent, martyred in the name of united democracy.

196 words

Christmas Post

2011-12-22T04:49:00.000-08:00

Watched The Grumpy Guide to Christmas last night - amusing, if not predictable.
All those so called celebs telling us how much they hate Christmas, but obviously revelling in the revenue that moaning about it brings by talking about it on TV. As Ozzy Osbourne said "When I was a practising alcoholic it was the best time of the year, but when you don't drink it's just another day".
They also talked about sending (or not sending) cards at Christmas and how you always get one from someone who you have never heard of. Me, cynical as ever, thought - that never really happens, it's just you have forgotten or something.
But, another one of those coincidences that aren't really coincidences happened this morning.

I received a Christmas card through the post this morning... from someone I've never heard of.

Or maybe forgotten.

I don't recognise the handwriting and I have scrutinised the postmark, which only tells me that it has gone through the Sheffield Mail Centre, yesterday.
So, to whoever sent the card, thankyou for thinking of me. I wish you best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, too. And I haven't really forgotten you, just your details are awaiting process somewhere in my memory.

Poetry 'n Motion

2011-12-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

In case anyone missed it on Tuesday 29th November via almost every social networking site available -
I won a competition.
At risk of being repeatetive, the competition involved Vintage Inns, Sir Andrew Motion as judge, and one line of poetry.
I have graciously accepted and enjoyed the dining out part of the prize (at the Boat Inn, Sprotbrough) and am now waiting for the other parts - a framed copy of the poem and a signed copy of Andrew Motion's latest collection of poems "The Cinder Path".

Now, I have to admit that apart from knowing he was poet laureate at some time in the past, that was about all I knew of Andrew Motion. My main studying time of poetry was, of course, before the days of Google at the sweep of a thumb and the click of a button. That's my excuse anyway, but I did feel obliged to read up a bit about the man responsible for my latest 'literary prize'. As coincidence/luck/fate or whatever would have it, a few days after the competition I came across Andrew Motion's 'In the Blood - A memoir of my childhood', in Poundland. Always one to splash out, I bought it without hesitation ... and am glad I did. The story is a detailed and beautifully written account of his family and the countryside he grew up in and a tribute to his mother.
And so I am inspired yet again to record my own musings and memories. If I make it to the shelves of the pound shop, I will be in eminent company and more than pleased.

The Best Christmas

2011-12-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

It did cross my mind not to write a blog about Christmas - before, during or after the event. Which ever way I talk about it I know that I will appear either 'holier than thou' or scrooge- like. I will certainly seem hypocritical.
However, I have buckled under the weight of my thoughts - which apparently are not so dis-similar to those of many others at this time.
There's nothing new in feeling a bit pressured at this time of year. Most of us want our family and friends to have the best possible... everything.
Best tree. best decorations, best lights, best food and drink, best time together and most of all best presents. Whether this 'best' is for ourselves or for what others think of us is something that's a bit too uncomfortable to think of. I hold my hands up here - I reckon I'm a pretty good contender for the top prize in this game.

I want my family and friends to have THE BEST, be it mince pie, cracker or party, while talking about peace and harmony and good will to all. I think I have sorted out the difference between wants and needs and believe that I need them to have the best.

But really what I know would be the best would be to spend time with people who mean something to me (and me to them) without the pressure of "is everyone happy?" when obviously what makes them happy is for me to be happy.

Not difficult is it ? It's not even a case of beliefs or tradition. We can all manipulate those terms to suit our mood, if we want to.
So ...
may your Christmas be merry, happy, joyful, peaceful, or whatever adjective you wish to put with it.
I will try to make mine "the best" for all concerned.

Newspaper Blackout

2011-11-30T11:59:00.000-08:00

Only six hours left to make an entry in the Writers Online monthly One Word Challenge and I am struggling to produce a poem based around the word 'putrid'. The 200 word story was difficult enough but this seems to be beyond me. ( I have less than 6 hours left really, because I won't be able to stay awake till anywhere near the deadline of midnight tonight)

But then I just happen across the headline in today's news that Alastair Campbell has used the word today at the Leveson inquiry. Then, by luck, fate, chance or coincidence, my wandering mind also rests on the website of Newspaper Blackout.
Problem solved. Wonder what anyone makes of it.

(ironically this is the perfect time to use the highlighted text which I have been trying to lose for the past few posts !) |

Newspaper Blackout Poem

Take one newspaper,
article,
marker.
Cross out words.

Leave only those you like,
and soon you’ll have a poem,
they said.

Created from
running puddles of text
still visible.
resurrect
what others declare dead.
make
enigmatic ransom notes,
funny and zen-like,
collages of found art.

Reclaimed Reformed

from a
putrid press industry.

That's my line - all seven words of it

2011-11-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I've told everyone and anyone that I can think of about this so I ought to write it here as well.
I HAVE WON a competition BY WRITING ONE LINE !
I've never quite had the opportunity to say "less is more" but I think in this case I can.

Here's part of the "press release" (yeah, you did read that correctly ... ! )

"Brenda co-authored an eight-line poem inspired by Sir Andrew’s work on Vintage Inns’ latest press campaign, which honours the Great British rural pub. He has been judging the best line submitted each week, so they can be added to gradually complete the verse.

When Brenda entered, the competition stood at six lines completed:

The muted brilliance of autumn leaves

The wind’s deep voice soft-tickling the trees.

The parting notes of swallows’ cresting calls

As dappled sunlight fades and evening falls.

The bonfires’ tongues call to the dying sun

Bright harvest moon ascends, her reign begun.

And Brenda’s suggestion for the next one – chosen by Sir Andrew over hundreds of entries from all over the country – is: Then glittering starlight sprawls across the sky

Brenda will receive a framed copy of the eventual eight-line poem, plus a meal for four with wine at her chosen Vintage Inn, but also a signed copy of Sir Andrew’s latest collection of poems, The Cinder Path, which has been shortlisted for The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. "

I am, needless to say, chuffed to bits.

Thanks Vintage Inns

I am inspired to write further - maybe eight,nine or even ten words next time.

(Read more of me promoting myself on Facebook )

'Mega Monday' is here !

2011-11-28T01:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not one for quoting statistics, mainly because my memory is so bad I forget the figures in between reading them and writing them down. But I thought a few numbers might wake me up a bit this morning, so sit up and pay attention !

Today is "Mega Monday" according to the media and estimates are that there will 3,300 purchases a minute online.
High street shops are struggling with sales down by 2.1%

25% of all our Christmas shopping will be online up 16% from last year
12% of online sales will be made on a smartphone
1 in 3, that's 11 million will use the computer at work to online shop.

Does this mean we prefer shopping online to going to the shops ? Not really, is the apparent response - it depends who we are and where we are and what mood we are in that day.

This sounds about right to me. I went shopping on Saturday and am still feeling that if the only shop I walk into again is our corner shop, then that's fine by me.
I'll probably feel differently on another day but for now I'll stick to browsing online.
But not today.
I don't want to cause internet chaos by taking 3 hours to decide whether to buy an individual Christmas pudding or a large one that can sit in the cupboard till next year as no one here likes it except me ... ...

Happy shopping !

Keeping an eye on things

2011-11-22T06:57:00.000-08:00

This is probably old news to many people, but it's new to me, very interesting, amazing, almost unbelievable and more than a little disturbing.

Scientists have developed a prototype contact lens which can generate info-vision – the ability to stream information across a person’s field of vision.

"Do what ?" I hear you asking. I said the same to myself.

Soon we could be sending and receiving texts and emails, catching up with the latest news and generally social networking without even logging on to a computer or phone.

Images and messages will just appear in front of your eyes. It will one day be able to show directions and TV programmes.

Yes, honestly.

Just imagine, you might never need that old fashioned Sat Nav ever again and you could watch Corrie and Enders while you are driving too. Get rid of that ancient Sky HD recording thingy that you just got installed.

After blogging about my new phone just the other day, it seems a little 'previous' to be now talking about doing all the things I have not yet got to grips with in a blink of the eye - literally. I know there are many things that my poor brain can't fathom, but just the concept of this is quite scary to me. The next stage in this ever 'advancing' technology might be to connect our thoughts to this information stream. I find it difficult enough to keep my mouth under control, never mind my thoughts, so I dread to think of the consequences.

Within weeks a number of people in Britain are to be implanted with a tiny device in their retina which, if successful could be on the market by 2013.It stimulates nerves in the retina which pass signals down the optic nerve to the brain to turn into an image.Robert MacLaren, the surgeon who will lead part of the trial warned that 'the surgery is still experimental and the device does not work in all cases.' Well, it's been tested on rabbits and squirrels so far, so that's reassuring.

I'm all for improving things for health reasons and education is by it's nature an ever evolving concept, but I am sure I am not alone in feeling wary of some of this. Or maybe I am just showing Luddite tendencies, or whatever today's equivalent may be.

Diagram from Daily Mail Online

"Homeland"- 200 words

2011-11-21T02:26:00.000-08:00

Stars flickered in a sky not yet diminished by electric light. The USA was twelve years old and ended at the Mississippi River. The camp, near the town now called Salmon, was fragrant with cedar needles smouldering on a fire when I was born into the Agaidika tribe.

They named me Sacajawea and taught me to hunt and trap in the forests and fish in the streams. I skinned deer to make soft leather for clothing. I painted the partings in my hair with red clay, a symbol of peace. I learned early and worked hard for survival.
Captured by horsemen trading with the white men, I was taken from my tribe. Sold, I became the wife of Charbonneau and the mother of Jean Baptiste.
More men came, with strange looking boats and wearing uniforms. They built a place they called Fort Mandan. I was useful for the skills I had learned from my tribe, so I went with them to what they thought was unexplored territory and reached my homeland where my family was killed five years before.

I died of putrid fever in St Louis, but my spirit soars still, above the Lemhi Valley of my birth.

(One Word Challenge entry for Writers Online )

Managing Wants, Needs and Time - can you do it ?

2011-11-20T03:20:00.000-08:00

I've done it now.
After being the owner of a variety of mobile phones over the years, which have met their demise by being stolen, lost, put in the washing machine, dropped in the bath and down the toilet, I was sure I was perfectly happy with the basic one that I've been using this past year.
It has the basics - phone calls (why else would I need a phone ?) texts and even has a reasonable camera. But I've got a camera for taking photos, a camcorder for video, a notebook computer which does everything I can think of that a computer does, and a laptop for when I need a bigger screen and keyboard. Why would I need a Samsung Galaxy ? Aren't I just being too materialistic, something that I am quite averse to - usually ?

Well, I think this situation is a bit like when I had a twin tub washing machine years ago when my children were babies. I could do whole loads of washing (including towelling nappies !) in that twin tub, in a couple of hours. What was so good about an automatic one ? I didn't need one. Obviously I found out when I got one. It was the same with a dryer. And central heating. And electric and gas and so on ... and presumably with the wheel.

A year ago I blogged about Twitter on To - witter or not. Now I think about it differently and can see it's power and influence throughout society - 'Arab Spring', NOTW, last summer's riots and so on. Changes and progression in technology are constantly impacting on us as time-saving gadgets and machinery affect us all, even though time can't be "saved" as such (I think, unless someone has found out differently)
We have to differentiate between 'wants' and 'needs', individually and globally and prioritise work and leisure with family and friends and ourselves. We may even find that we have extra time that we didn't know was there. That's time management.

John Rowles sings "If I only had time"

The Blogathon Challenge

2011-11-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

A colleague at Writers Online Talkback has set a challenge for those of us who need a bit of a push sometimes, to get on with the task in hand and also to give other bloggers the promotion they deserve.
Always up for a challenge (!!??) I have decided to take part.
I am of course, later than I intended in posting this, so don't worry dear reader, this post is going to be short.
So ...
Thanks to Patsy Collinsfor the idea and the challenge. I am sure we will all rise to the challenge, and some of us may even complete it.

Next post coming up soon. In the meantime, take a look at The Blogathon Challenge in action.

Testing...testing ...

2011-11-09T09:14:00.000-08:00

Well, seems I have well and truly messed up with the background colours and goodness knows what on the layout of this blog. Unintentionally and unknowingly of course.
This is therefore a test (similar to the numerous pieces of paper I have with TEST printed on them when trying to sort out the printer) to see if I have managed to put it back to what it was.
Many thanks to all on Writers Talkback for your advice - gratefully received. Not sure whether I have interpreted it correctly though.

So, I'll now press the button ... ...

One thing leads to another, even when stationary

2011-11-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

Not been on here for over a whole 2 months but seem to be in writing action mode past couple of days so am making the most of it.

A discussion on Writers Talkback about a member's 10yr old daughter writing some very perceptive thoughts on existance, has made me remember my Big Plan for The Environment. This must surely be a case of the time being right for it to see daylight and be brought to the attention of those that ought to know.
So here it is.
My plan is to have one large motorway type construction running length ways through the whole of the country north/south and another couple going east/west.
The road itself will be a conveyor belt system which cars get onto and park until they get to the point where they can drive off onto the other conveyor belt and park till they are nearer their destination. A bit like a ring road only not necessarily a ring and a moveable belt as opposed to the cars themselves moving. The belt would be powered by waste cooking oil or wind power or maybe even water power on the more coastal routes.
I have not come across any negatives to this invention myself, so far !

I hope to produce an artist's impression of the system, just as soon as I can get the artist to do it. Then I sit back and wait for the offers from Dept of Transport etc to come in .

Human - Visible

2011-08-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

I am the place where light can not reach.

Obstructed by opaqueness

I occupy all of the space behind.

A reverse projection

A cross section

A two dimensional silhouette

At certain times, at certain heights

I appear to change and grow,

though appearances can be misconstrued.

I am human – visible.

And in the right conditions Venus I employ,

to join the sun and moon in casting my creation.

Yet no one says who or what else sees me.

Unattended I am ghostlike,

a representation of a presence,

unnerving the sciophobe.

Happy Birthday to me 2011

2011-07-25T05:29:00.000-07:00

Another birthday.
So far, I have resisted the urge to look at what I posted on here this time last year. Not for any other reason except that I'm hoping it was not maudlin thoughts about getting older or being too thankful for what I have that it sounds pretentious (of course just using the word 'pretentious' sounds pretentious anyway )

Have had good wishes from all the people who are most important in my life and however it sounds, that is the most important thing to me. (Am making no excuses for repetition of words today - it's an age thing.) The dogs had to be told, but they are definately excused as, if I remember correctly, I only wished them both happy birthday after the event )

So Happy Birthday to me and anyone else who's birthday it is today and a 'happy day' wherever possible to everyone else.

Little food for thought courtesy of my mother this morning :
Add the last 2 digits of your birth year to the age you are this year .
The answer is always 111.
No idea why- it just is.

Not telling you how old I am today, but I was born in 1957. Do the Maths !