Author: johblogs

Namowrimo Abandoned for Beach

I concede defeat. If you look at my stats, there is very little hope for me. Last year I predicted my inability to do it and didn’t try, this year I am quite willingly surrendering. It must have been beginners luck the first year and I feel doubly successful in my original effort now that I appreciate what it must have taken. I take my hat off to all those who are soldiering on with it and will now be a supporter from the sidelines.

My weekend went in directions I didn’t expect. I was too leisurely on Saturday, although thank goodness I did clean my house! Often I put that off till Sunday as well. I enjoyed it all very much though and feel no regret for the price I have paid.

On Sunday after his work, my son suggested we get out of the house and go to the beach. So we did. He brought a couple of friends and Rhonda called and decided to join us. We took our work with us, study, unfinished essays, corrections were all packed up and away we went. Driving there, about an hour away from home, the sky was dark and rain spits were disheartening on the windscreen. Rhonda in her car was thinking I was mad.

We arrived at the beach, whilst most were packing up to leave we enjoyed a couple of hours of swimming and lying in the gentle afternoon sun. It had been hot and muggy at home, yet was clear and still warm on the sand. The sea was refreshing and I enjoyed playing in the chilly waves. We then went into town and the six of us ordered a variety of yummy food and sat out on the street table and satisfied our after swimming appetites, tasting all the variety and laughing a lot. The sun was setting as we drove home and the world was beautiful. As we came through the hills the air smelt of eucalyptus’s and the thunder storm we could see ahead.

It did my spirit good. I’ll write the novel another day. Now I need to get moving for the busiest time of my year. Corrections, report-writing, Christmas shopping and mega birthdays (including my own!) all loom in the next month. This time next month I will be in WA with Jane, so I need to be effective in my actions and letting go of NaNoWriMo is the first step.

‘Lies’, ‘Once’ and personal clips

Last night I went to see ‘Once’, I have reviewed it on ‘Falling Brick’.
This is a track from the film called ‘Lies’.
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This YouTube clip is a scene from the film that particularly touched me. On IMDb I read about the film, it mentioned in the trivia the clip was of the director, John Carney’s real girlfriend. This added to the appeal of the film for me. It was a very real and amazing film.

I love to make clips for people I love. I have just finished making one and sent it to Andy in Tasmania. I want to edit it already! Little snippets of our time together through my eyes. He probably hasn’t even seen it yet. Lucky he never reads my blog – would blow the surprise.

Last Christmas I made one for Jane and we added a Christmas message to the end of the collage. She lives interstate, so it was fun to do. I love that too. I made one for my Pa’s funeral that is particularly special to me. I have promised family members to distribute it to them. I must do that soon.

I started off making them for my homeroom class and giving a copy to each child as a gift for the end of the year. A couple of my year 9s have told me they still watch them and treasure the one I made for them in year 7. They are just really collages of photos and small videos taken with a still camera. The limitation of 30 seconds that my digital camera has, makes for easy editing. I then edit them in Microsoft Movie Maker. As I said, it is a very simple and inexpensive way to give a meaningful gift. Microsoft also have a program called Photo Story, if you only have photos.

This year at school, my digital storytelling class is making a clip for each homeroom. They are doing a great job. Some of them are using Flash and I am getting them to teach me about it as I haven’t used it before.

Girlosophy: A Soul Survival Kit, by Anthea Paul


Get ‘Girlosophy: A Soul Survival Kit‘ for your girls, you’ll be glad you did.
When you open this book, vibrant images, colours and words almost bounce off the pages. In the style of billboards or large stunning posters, the sound messages of this book are delivered in a very asthetically pleasing way. It’s like flicking through a glossy magazine, yet instead of false images, the truth is revealed.
The messages in this book are nourishing and good. If you have a daughter, this would be an amazing gift. I thoroughly enjoyed it myself and thought several times as I was reading it from cover to cover, I wish someone had told me that info at an earlier age. For me it was everything I want my daughter to know about being the best she can be.
I have taken this book (as well as some others), to school this week and the teens I work with have all flicked through them and shared with each other the bits they found particularly interesting. Many of them asked me where they could buy them and how much. So it’s not just my older eyes that saw the beauty in it. The boys too were quite interested and much of the information is human rather than female.