Things we wish we had more time to do...

My mum pointed me in the direction of this website today: http://www.lauralaine.net, the website of the artist, Laura Laine.  She draws girls with beautiful hair.  Some of her pieces are used to advertise perfumes and designer bags and so on.  But I'm not much interested in that, I just thought that the hair was amazing.

Source: http://www.lauralaine.net/

And it reminded me that I have been wanting to sketch more.  I'm one of these people who has lots of plans, lots of things in the pipeline, lots of projects on the go.  Some of them might be on the go for years without me ever actually devoting any time to them.  My mum is very good at getting lots of things done, and is always starting a new book for one thing or another.  Sometimes I think she fills them!  I can actually do lots of things a little bit: I can draw, I can paint, I can play several instruments, I can sing, I can act, I can write, I can cook, I can dance, I can sew, I can knit, I can crochet.  I can do all of these things a little bit.  But sometimes I think that that is not the way I want to be; I want to be very good at a couple of those things.  Trouble is that I'm fickle, you see.  I practise one instrument for a few weeks, and then I get bored, and then another instrument looks far more appealing, so I switch.  Drawing is one that I want to be able to do without putting in the required effort.  Drawing, for me, takes such a long time, and I am not patient enough to put in the hours.  Same with painting, of course.

Hmm, I don't know if there is much I can do about this.  I think I am Elizabeth Bennett, and will probably never be properly accomplished: 'I am not a great reader, and take pleasure in many things'.  I think this is alright, I think it's allowed.

Actually, writing is the only thing I've ever stuck at for such a long period of time.  Ah, but that does not really signify much, since I have not finished anything!

Maybe one day I will be patient and disciplined enough to finish something.  Until that time I will just have to be satisfied with my flighty self.

Oh, once I did finish a whole big cross-stitch.  And I finished a baby cardigan too.  Don't think I've ever finished anything else though.  Very often I don't even finish my thoughts, or sentenc....

Proofreading

Oh bloody hell!  This arrived today (yes, delivered on a Sunday - weird):

This is what I've just paid £395 for!  Yikes!  It's a folder, with some sheets of paper in it, and it came with the Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation 'for free'.  Now, it doesn't look much for the money, (and actually this is not the whole thing - there are some more sheets of paper to come!) but I'm hoping that this little unassuming bit of thing is going to be the gateway to the good life for me.  Oh yes.  Well, that may be overstating its potential (and mine) a little.  We'll see.  But I am going to learn to be a proofreader.  Hopefully this little course with The Publishing Training Centre at Book House will lead to some more courses, and some paid proofreading, and some mentoring (for me, not by me) and then an accreditation if I'm good enough.  Knowing me though, I'll be bored after a bit and decide that I do want to be an astronaut after all.

Book House is a well-respected provider of this kind of training.  I wrote an email to Penguin Books a couple of weeks ago, and asked for some advice on the best proofreading training, and they recommended Book House.  In fact, they said that they only use proofreaders from Book House.  I then felt proud of myself for being able to sort the wheat from the chaff in a Google search, because I had picked out Book House as the best course provider myself, before the Penguin lady had even got back in touch with me.  Aren't I clever?!  Well.  Lots of people, professional and not, advised me against using Chapterhouse - I was wary of this company as soon as I saw its website.  It offered the cheapest course - but that rang alarm bells for me.  Cheapest so often means lowest quality.  And this was confirmed for me when someone my mum knows advised me that Chapterhouse passes almost everyone who takes the course, even if they're not very good, which is why publishing houses don't tend to use freelancers who have a Chapterhouse certificate.

So that'll all be quite exciting and interesting.  I've got work to do again!  Weird feeling.  But I'm looking forward to it.  I shall start my reading tomorrow.

But when will I write?  Oh.  Well, I'll just have to see how this week goes.  I'll read some of this material and see how quickly I think I'm going to take it in.  If there is no room for writing for a few weeks then so be it; I'll just have to tough it out.

Oh, does anyone want a copy of the Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation?  I bought myself a copy of this very same book a few months ago, when I enrolled on the MA in English with the OU (which I might have to defer for a year, but we'll see), so I now have two!  It must be a sign that this is what I'm supposed to do next!  Though it can't be, because I don't believe in signs.  Must just be a coincidence then.

Far too many exclamation marks in my post today!  I'm supposed to be learning to be a proper writer, and a proper writer should never need to use an exclamation mark!

Well, there should have been lots of other things for me to write about today, such as the Scout Festival, and risotto, and the beach, and the rain and thunder storm (storm, ha!), and something else that I've forgotten.  But I've got to go to bed and get some sleep now.  Busy few weeks ahead.

Night all.

Yawn.

Sorry.  Lethargy has descended.  No idea why.  Hoping to shake it off tomorrow.  Night.  Off to bed to read.  See you on the other side... of the lethargy.

The Yawning Man, from Tom Thumb

And while I'm on YouTube, you can have this from the same film :)  G'night.

Lx.

Lazy days

We have done nothing very much so far in this long-awaited Easter holiday.  But a good few days of relaxation, playing at home, and being allowed to indulge in TV and DVDs was just what the boys needed to recharge their batteries.  We have had some very tetchy, and easily irritated little boys in this house over the past few weeks - strange that when their behaviour is at its worst, my patience grows.  Hmm.  Must be because it's easier to spot when they're tired, and know that they're not being naughty on purpose.  Most of the time they are very, very good, and they don't like to think that they've let me down, bless them (they never do let me down, but it doesn't hurt to pretend to be a little disappointed now and then, just to keep them on their toes ;) ).

So we've only been to Dalton Zoo (South Lakes Wild Animal Park) which was quite a bargain because kids are free for the whole of April.  Further bargainous because I told the boys before we left home that I had no spare money, so they did not ask for any souvenirs from the gift shop (I'll remember that one from now on!)

This is what we saw at Dalton:

One day we'd all like to adopt some of these protected animals.  We always feel very sad when we visit this conservation park, because they do tell you the very grave truth about the seriousness of the threat of extinction to so many species.  It's also not very nice to see these majestic animals caged.  But we still go, because it's one of our favourite places - we know this park does as much as it can to protect animals in the wild.  Personally, I feel very humbled when I'm there.

We have had a little fresh air, but not much.  This is what fresh air looked like today, on the Barton Road fields near my mum:

Although Thomas seems to have a sour face here, this is not actually the case - he is just squinting against the sun :)  He actually loves spending time on the field.

Thomas is doing some investigating here - he found a ladybird.

Matthew's looking for ladybirds too.

James would love to have a dog of his own - he will be allowed to have one, when he leaves home.

Super wholesome and refreshing afternoon, out walking me mam's dog :)  The boys don't love much more than getting out for a run around in a field, with a ball and a dog to chase after it.  I love watching them run up and down, showing us their skills, their aikido rolls and their acrobatics.  They're fabulous little boys.  Exploring copses, climbing little trees, getting squelchy in the mud, paddling in the beck, drying their feet by running on the grass.  What I wouldn't give to actually be one of my boys, because they are having the time of their lives doing nothing much - they're not having a bad childhood at all :)  

I'm having a short break tomorrow, being one of my Days Off.  I'll be doing some serious writing jobs, and getting stuck into a couple of projects that I'm hoping to get somewhere with.  After that it will be the second week of the holidays, and I am looking forward to some good weather, to some picnics perhaps, and some more fresh air, hopefully a little further afield (stocking up on travel sickness tablets!).

Life is good :)

Silverdale

Now, I don't know about you, but I think that the views we saw today were pretty special.  This is Morecambe Bay, which might get a bit of a bad press sometimes, but seen from this angle hasn't got much wrong with it (if you don't look too far round to the left - err, south - and see the power station!)

To be honest, I don't think I really need to say anything - I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  We had a good day today.

The boys are exhausted - excellent :)  The kind of exhaustion that only a brilliant day full of exercise and good playing can bring.  A birthday party in the morning, followed by a walk at Silverdale, followed by a surprise play with a little friend who lives in the house directly behind ours (Kev lifted out a fence panel and they were all able to go back and forth between the gardens - they're so excited and want to do this every day).  I hope that we can go out to play every day in these next two weeks - if I were the praying kind, I would pray for dry and warm days every day; but since I'm not the praying kind I will just be hopeful instead :)   Kev will be back at work, but since when has that ever stopped me from taking the kids out to nice - free - places??  One of our days out will be a walk along the cycle track to Sainsburys to buy strawberries to eat at the Castle :)  Simplicity itself, but one of our favourite things to do on warm days.

I'm a little stunned that some beautiful weather has arrived - but I shouldn't really be surprised, since the Easter Holidays usually are kind to us.  (Although I hear that it might actually rain tomorrow).

Limericks

I have become a limericist this evening :)  One of my fellow hubbers told me that he believed I would be able to write poetry, and I told him that I wouldn't, that my poetry is awful.  He basically told me to have more faith in myself, so I said I'd give it a go.  I decided that I would start with limericks because I thought they would suit my sense of humour, and I also like the rhythm.  I don't think limericks have to be humorous, but this is where I'm going with them just now.  It might be nice to do some more sentimental ones, or some scary ones, or some sad ones, or some cute ones later on, or whatever.

Would you like to see one?  Now, don't get too excited, because it's not hilarious!  This was my first one.  I've only done one more, but I can see already that I'm going to like them very much.

Here it is:

Miss Wordsmith she wanted to rhyme,
She saw people rhyme all the time,
She stuttered and tripped,
Some pancakes she flipped,
Then she gave up and rested, sublime!

:D

There then ensued a little spat, between the Professor, who had challenged me to take up the poetry bait, and another well respected hubber called Sligobay.  I decided to respond to their disagreement over the praising of my first bit of poetry with another limerick, thus:

The Professor and Sligo at odds,
Thought Linda, 'they are silly sods,
To fight and inflame,
When my poetry's so lame'.
But really they're all writing Gods!

Only I made a terrible mistake and used the word 'enflame', which of course is not a real word!   I will have to apologise and repost it with the correct word, 'inflame'.

So that's what I'm trying my hand at just now.  It's fun.  It's not going to get me famous though!  Hmmm.

I think I would also like to try haiku, but I'll have to read some of those first to see what they're about.

I don't think I'll ever be

though, eh?  Not with these rhymes!

Bullying

I'm not sure why so many things in this world have to be fought for, but there you are, that's how it is and we have to get on with it.

Today the bullying situation at Thomas's school seems to have come to a head, and I am now left with no choice but to follow the school's complaints procedure.  The bullying has been relentless this school year, and although Thomas is being brave and dealing with it very well, we feel it's high time the school pulled its finger out and started taking this issue seriously.  They've been aware of this particular bully's behaviour for three years - now am I being over-sensitive, or is three year's too long for a bullying problem to persist?!
The bully does not only target Thomas, he targets several other children as well.  I have been talking to other parents and we are all of the same mind: the bullying must stop now.

The kind of bullying that we are dealing with is mostly psychological, the intimidation kind of bullying, the threatening behaviour and language, the bully trying to encourage others to do his bullying for him.  It's the secretive kind of bullying, the kind that's particularly difficult for the victim to prove.  I have looked at the school's policy on bullying, and to be perfectly honest, it's rather pathetic.  This particular school favours a softly, softly approach to the bully, and prefers not to use a blame and punishment approach.  Well, this approach clearly is not working AT ALL, since my son is still being bullied.  I have a right to expect the bullying to be stopped immediately, and for the school to ensure that it is prevented from now on.

So, I have made an appointment to meet with the Head Teacher, and Kev will be with me, and at least two other parents.  I asked for the appointment in writing so that I could put down a list of points that we want to discuss.  I copied the letter to the Chair of Governors, and I have to copy it to the Local Education Authority as well.  So now it will be a case of seeing what progress we can make at each stage.  I have various options, and steps to investigate a little further - the extremest of which would be looking into moving my boys to a different school: I do not want to do this, but if in a few weeks I am banging my head against this same brick wall, it might have to be considered and threatened.  There are two other Excellent schools in the area, and my children could be thriving at either of those, instead of just getting by at this one.

Sorry, I don't usually write blog posts like this, but I just needed to get this information out of my head so that I can relax for the rest of the evening and weekend.
I'm sure there will be updates as we go along!

A picture of the contents of my head right now?

Oh dear. I'm thick.

Well, that has all just completely baffled me.

I have just spent half and hour looking into freelance writing online.  I am so ignorant, and so very naive, and I know nothing.  SEO?  I don't know what this is.  Well, I mean I looked it up on Wikipedia, and it stands for Search Engine Optimization, but it all looked very complicated and I didn't know where to start properly finding out how to learn about SEO.  I mean, I'm sure that if some people can learn how to promote themselves as freelance writers that I could also learn the same skills.  But I wonder whether it's all beyond me really, whether I'm nowhere near as clever as I thought I was, and that I do not have the right kind of brain - is a business brain needed?  Because if it is then I'm not sure I have the right kind of brain.  I know I can write some nice things sometimes, but a little literary talent doesn't seem to be enough - apparently you need to be eSavvy now too.

I could do with someone to sit down and tell me where to start, because it's all rather overwhelming.  And now I am aware that I am whining.  But it's difficult to find determination when the thing I want to be determined about is as tough to get hold of as smoke.

More thinking and searching I suppose.  Perhaps I need to find some energy first and then research this when my head is clearer.

I'm floundering at the moment, hopping about from project to project, unable to find proper direction and focus.  It's very annoying.  I'm annoying myself.  I wish I could get a grip and get on with things.  What I could do with is a mentor really.

Hmmm...

What a difference a little sunshineyness makes.  I think we're all feeling the love today, are we not?  Smiley faces in the playground, smiley faces on the street, neighbours standing outside their gates chatting, people cleaning their cars and singing along to the radio.  The first day of Spring might not have been today, but certainly this feels like the real beginning.  Ohhhhhh, I have never looked forward to warm weather so much as this year.  It's been a Winter of illness, and not just for my mum (though, of course, she has had the worst).  It's been a Winter of the most colds, snotty noses, ear infections, bronchitises, tonsilitises and laryngitises that I have known.  Not that I'm complaining, because poorliness is always the best excuse to have cuddly times on the sofa and plenty of DVDs.  But I am ready to brush away some cobwebs this Spring.

I've got my novel-writing head on now; I'm going to do it; this is it (as I say every Spring!)  I've found my principle characters, and I know what they look like so they can't give me the slip this time.  I've found my plot, and I've found my baddie, and I've found my baddie's motivation, and I've found a few sub plots that might be worth exploring, I've also firmly decided on the rules for magic in my world.  All that remains is to write the bloody thing.  Five chapters down, roughly twenty-five to go!

Oh good grief!  How to spoil a person's productive mood!  I said that my neighbours were singing along to the radio whilst cleaning their cars?  Well, my next-door-but-one neighbour has just turned Blondie up full blast, and I am mightily vexed!!!  I cannot abide Blondie, so I am going to have to shut my window until it's over.

Huh?

What's that all about then?  Are you lot suckers for a bit of negativity then, or what?  I post a negative blog entry, and like magic I get the highest number of views in 24 hours that I've ever had.  Well, if only I'd known, that all it would take was a bit of a moan, I'd have had a bit of a moan ages ago.   My, oh my.  I'm stunned.

:D

Well, you'll be sad to know that I am not negative today.  I am back to my usual happy and annoyingly cheery self.  My lime green Docs are doing their job, and tomorrow I may wear them with my skinny jeans tucked in!  I'm just missing the black leather bomber jacket, and the green hair (though I'm hopefully getting the green hair in a few weeks).

Spring today, and my Docs match the buds that are exploding out everywhere :)

Happy Spring :D