half my head just caved in.
or at least, i have lost a big chunk of tooth this evening. what was i doing to merit this misfortune i hear you ask. i was brushing my teeth. so much for the dental hygiene theory, eh?
12 March 2005
9 March 2005
Maus
I finished a great book this evening. I thought it was good enough to share. Sorry to those of you for whom this is duplicate reading.
This evening I finished Maus. It only took me a couple of evenings after I settled down to give it some real time. As you may have seen on the Palimplists, I have given it a five star rating. So first off, thanks Bak for recommending. I never would have picked it up otherwise and I'm so glad i did.
For those of you who don't know what it's about let me briefly explain. Maus is a graphic novel. The author/ illustrator is recording his father's memories from his time before WWII, through his experiences as a Jew in concentration camps and into his days after the war as a holocaust survivor. The Jews are represented as mice, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs and the Americans as Dogs. These creaturely faces sometimes become masks when a Jew pretends to be a Pole to avoid detection and also, rather poignantly, when the illustrator depicts himself with a mouse mask over his own face as he tries to record his father's experiences as a 'second generation Jew.' The book is rich with imagery.
I think the book works so well because it is not simply a chronicle of the war. Spiegelman looks at the effects of the holocaust on his father after the end of the war - the difficulty he has in adjusting to normal life, the problems in his second marriage, the expectations he has of his son.
He doesn't shy away from depicting what was obviously a tense relationship with his father whilst still sensitively portraying the pain of an Aushwitz survivor. There is a mix of responsibility to the truth of his father's pain and experiences coupled with the reality of a relationship fraught with disagreements and ill-founded expectations.
He also conveys some sense of the awkwardness of trying to find the truth about something at once very immediate and entirely removed from ones own experience. Within the text he wonders if his father feels guilty about surviving and he questions his own feelings of not being good enough for his father. He depicts his own struggle to find out about what is essentially a personal history that he hasn't experienced for himself.
There is so much I could say about this book. It is a book with convincing psychological depth.It's not an easy read nor is it relentlessly harsh. The narrative dips between the war and later life so that the storyline is about Art recording what happened to his father rather than as a documentary of suffering. I would strongly recommend it for anyone to read.
This evening I finished Maus. It only took me a couple of evenings after I settled down to give it some real time. As you may have seen on the Palimplists, I have given it a five star rating. So first off, thanks Bak for recommending. I never would have picked it up otherwise and I'm so glad i did.
For those of you who don't know what it's about let me briefly explain. Maus is a graphic novel. The author/ illustrator is recording his father's memories from his time before WWII, through his experiences as a Jew in concentration camps and into his days after the war as a holocaust survivor. The Jews are represented as mice, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs and the Americans as Dogs. These creaturely faces sometimes become masks when a Jew pretends to be a Pole to avoid detection and also, rather poignantly, when the illustrator depicts himself with a mouse mask over his own face as he tries to record his father's experiences as a 'second generation Jew.' The book is rich with imagery.
I think the book works so well because it is not simply a chronicle of the war. Spiegelman looks at the effects of the holocaust on his father after the end of the war - the difficulty he has in adjusting to normal life, the problems in his second marriage, the expectations he has of his son.
He doesn't shy away from depicting what was obviously a tense relationship with his father whilst still sensitively portraying the pain of an Aushwitz survivor. There is a mix of responsibility to the truth of his father's pain and experiences coupled with the reality of a relationship fraught with disagreements and ill-founded expectations.
He also conveys some sense of the awkwardness of trying to find the truth about something at once very immediate and entirely removed from ones own experience. Within the text he wonders if his father feels guilty about surviving and he questions his own feelings of not being good enough for his father. He depicts his own struggle to find out about what is essentially a personal history that he hasn't experienced for himself.
There is so much I could say about this book. It is a book with convincing psychological depth.It's not an easy read nor is it relentlessly harsh. The narrative dips between the war and later life so that the storyline is about Art recording what happened to his father rather than as a documentary of suffering. I would strongly recommend it for anyone to read.
6 March 2005
Resistance is useless.
Well 'useless' might be a bit harsh. I went to see a production at our local theatre tonight based on a true story of the blind and visually impaired working for the French Resistance during WWII.
Resistance was performed by an all blind/vis. imp. cast. It was an interesting evening. If I were to be picky to the point of pedantry, and let's face it, I am, I'd say the text was a little bit too dense. It was played with passion but I thought sometimes relied a little too heavily on exaggerated gestures and tones of voice. The choreography however was impressive. There was a lot of climbing around on frames and short bursts of dance that worked well for the most part but occassionally didn't hold together.
It was a good evening. Not your typical mother's day present but I think it went down well with the M.I.L.
Resistance was performed by an all blind/vis. imp. cast. It was an interesting evening. If I were to be picky to the point of pedantry, and let's face it, I am, I'd say the text was a little bit too dense. It was played with passion but I thought sometimes relied a little too heavily on exaggerated gestures and tones of voice. The choreography however was impressive. There was a lot of climbing around on frames and short bursts of dance that worked well for the most part but occassionally didn't hold together.
It was a good evening. Not your typical mother's day present but I think it went down well with the M.I.L.
5 March 2005
4 March 2005
not quat what we expected
Tonight I attended a lecture on Van Gogh. It was really well done. Masses of pictures and photos of the landscapes he painted. A very vibrant (Slade School trained) guy enthusing about his hero. He even reenacted a moment from Van Gogh's life by letting off a gunshot and falling to the floor in the darkness of a slide show. Unexpected!
3 March 2005
diddly sQUAT
Today I bought 5 books for 3 quid. Then I left them at work so I can't pore over them this evening and introduce them to their nice, new, alphabetic homes.
From memory:
* Three plays by Strindberg. An nice old 1950's copy.
* Plays of the 1930's. Bought because there it has an adaptation of 'Love on the Dole'.
* Moll Flanders. Should have read this a long time ago.
* Something Russian I'd never heard of before but couldn't be left at 50p.
* Shirley by Charlotte Bronte. You can keep Austen and all her clubs for my money.
Best-smellers all of them. Magic.
From memory:
* Three plays by Strindberg. An nice old 1950's copy.
* Plays of the 1930's. Bought because there it has an adaptation of 'Love on the Dole'.
* Moll Flanders. Should have read this a long time ago.
* Something Russian I'd never heard of before but couldn't be left at 50p.
* Shirley by Charlotte Bronte. You can keep Austen and all her clubs for my money.
Best-smellers all of them. Magic.
2 March 2005
quatastrophe
Cooked a fantastic pork roast tonight. Scranchied up the rind and had a host of little side dishes to go with it. Cheesy leek, thyme butter roasted red onions, roast parsnips etc. Rich gravy. It was magnificent.
Half way through the dinner I remembered something. My guest is a vegetarian.
Half way through the dinner I remembered something. My guest is a vegetarian.
Stolen idea
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the “coolest” book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.
---------------------------------
I'm not sure about point 5 but it's still an interesting diversion. Here's what I came up with: "If all physical systems are computers, and if computers can perfectly mimic all physical systems, the what distinguishes the real world from a simulation?"
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the “coolest” book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.
---------------------------------
I'm not sure about point 5 but it's still an interesting diversion. Here's what I came up with: "If all physical systems are computers, and if computers can perfectly mimic all physical systems, the what distinguishes the real world from a simulation?"
28 February 2005
280205 damning with faint praise
Tonight I drove over to Milton Keynes and saw 'Rebecca' starring Nigel Havers.
I enjoy the whole theatre experience so it wasn't a wasted evening.
I enjoy the whole theatre experience so it wasn't a wasted evening.
27 February 2005
270205
Last night I went to see 'A Dream Play' by Strindberg at the National. It was really very good. I say Strindberg, it was actually an adaptation by Caryl Churchill. Afterwards I met up with my brilliant Strindberg expert friend who spouted forth righteous indignation at her shoddy treatment of his hero. I felt like I ought to be taking notes. We somehow managed to drown our sorrows later at The Ivy and then on through a stroll/stagger round Soho. Finally collapsed home in bed at 3.
Cybarites are us.
Cybarites are us.
24 February 2005
240205
Strindberg wrote more than 70 plays as well as novels, short-stories and studies of Swedish history.
how lazy am i?
how lazy am i?
23 February 2005
230205
i'm going to write a book. it's going to be called "25 in a 40". it's going to be all about the mindset of the people who think that 40 mph means 40 mph is punishable by death and therefore stick at a safe 25. it will have one character. i will punish them. they will crash and burn over and over again until they are a charred little matchstick person in a car resembling a crushed milk bottle top.
yup. i'm onto a winner.
yup. i'm onto a winner.
230205
i stay up til half past midnight doing brain quizzes and personality tests and are you male or female tests on the bbc science web page and what do i learn?
well firstly that i'm a lot like who i thought i was (newsflash) and seconly that i am incredibly cold yet have an indefatigable interest in wasting my time.
well firstly that i'm a lot like who i thought i was (newsflash) and seconly that i am incredibly cold yet have an indefatigable interest in wasting my time.
21 February 2005
210205
Why buy diet books when you could better spend the money on cake?
>>sigh<<
the diet started today. i did brilliantly. muesli for breakfast. a tin of very skinny soup, fun-free crisps and a similarly cheerless mousse for lunch. then i got home and was close to shaking with hunger. mmm, three big slabs of cheese on homemade bread and a packet of crisps.
>>sigh<<
the diet started today. i did brilliantly. muesli for breakfast. a tin of very skinny soup, fun-free crisps and a similarly cheerless mousse for lunch. then i got home and was close to shaking with hunger. mmm, three big slabs of cheese on homemade bread and a packet of crisps.
20 February 2005
19 February 2005
190205
Right at the bottom of my blog I have put in a chat room. As far as I can tell you just click on it, make up a name and start talking. Who knows, it might even work.
16 February 2005
160205
hurrah for competitions, especially the ones i win and get immodest
amounts of book vouchers. mmm.
2 x jamie oliver
2 x douglas coupland
1 x strindberg
1 x levy
1 x dickens
so far.
amounts of book vouchers. mmm.
2 x jamie oliver
2 x douglas coupland
1 x strindberg
1 x levy
1 x dickens
so far.
15 February 2005
150205
unbelieveably true:
yesterday a girl came in and bought a valentine's card. the design
on the front was a lipstick kiss. she grinned all the way through
the transaction and i thought she was hitting on my colleague...
until she said; 'it's for next door's parrot.' i thought i was going to
wet myself. she added; 'i'm going to cross out the lips and draw
a beak.'
not a word of a lie. fact stranger than fiction etc etc
yesterday a girl came in and bought a valentine's card. the design
on the front was a lipstick kiss. she grinned all the way through
the transaction and i thought she was hitting on my colleague...
until she said; 'it's for next door's parrot.' i thought i was going to
wet myself. she added; 'i'm going to cross out the lips and draw
a beak.'
not a word of a lie. fact stranger than fiction etc etc
10 February 2005
100205
8 books in 2 weeks? why did i agree? why did i say, and mind you give me the teenage novels and not those piddly little kiddy ones that i could devour in an afternoon?
because i am a fool.
i am a fool.
i am a fool.
because i am a fool.
i am a fool.
i am a fool.
6 February 2005
1 February 2005
010205
i give you all fair warning. it's my birthday next monday. should
you wish to shower me with gifts, i'm giving you fair warning so you can
start making your purchases.
diamonds are always a good fall back.
you wish to shower me with gifts, i'm giving you fair warning so you can
start making your purchases.
diamonds are always a good fall back.
31 January 2005
29 January 2005
290105
Recommendations required:
Am currently doing about 2 hours driving a day for the next 5-6 weeks. So far I've listenened to 'David Copperfield' and 'Pete & Dud' on audio cassette. Here's my dilemma. If there's a book I really want to listen to, I don't want to hear an abridgement, ie Dickens. If there's something I don't mind hearing an abridgement of, then generally I don't want to bother listening to it at all. I have plenty of music but being a book fiend I am irked by the fact that I'm sitting down for two hours and not picking up a book. I have once had a book on the passenger seat that I grabbed up at welcome red lights but I suspect this may be a little obsessive.
So, dear readers...I ask merely the impossible of you. Give me something that's available on cassette for my car that is sufficiently high brow enough for a shocking snob like myself to want to listen to but not essential enough for me to fret about only hearing the abridged version. I wait with bated breath, much like the proverbial cheese eating cat.
Am currently doing about 2 hours driving a day for the next 5-6 weeks. So far I've listenened to 'David Copperfield' and 'Pete & Dud' on audio cassette. Here's my dilemma. If there's a book I really want to listen to, I don't want to hear an abridgement, ie Dickens. If there's something I don't mind hearing an abridgement of, then generally I don't want to bother listening to it at all. I have plenty of music but being a book fiend I am irked by the fact that I'm sitting down for two hours and not picking up a book. I have once had a book on the passenger seat that I grabbed up at welcome red lights but I suspect this may be a little obsessive.
So, dear readers...I ask merely the impossible of you. Give me something that's available on cassette for my car that is sufficiently high brow enough for a shocking snob like myself to want to listen to but not essential enough for me to fret about only hearing the abridged version. I wait with bated breath, much like the proverbial cheese eating cat.
24 January 2005
240105
Today I bought myself an entirely low-tech gift because I asked for it for Christmas and didn't get it.
A recorder. Five quid. Early Learning Centre. Bargain. It even comes with a little jute bag with drawstrings so I can carry it to school..?
A recorder. Five quid. Early Learning Centre. Bargain. It even comes with a little jute bag with drawstrings so I can carry it to school..?
23 January 2005
230105
Back from skiing the French Alps!!
Only six stitches and even then they were in someone else.
Only six stitches and even then they were in someone else.
11 January 2005
10 January 2005
100105
discovered today that a certain company, totally unrelated to me in every possible sense, has been sacking members of staff after seeing them post derogatory comments about said company in their blogs.
nothing to do with me. at all. never heard of them.
but my job is happy, fulfilling and really as close to paradise on earth as anywhere. the customers are smashing and i want to take all my colleagues home at the weekends.
nothing to do with me. at all. never heard of them.
but my job is happy, fulfilling and really as close to paradise on earth as anywhere. the customers are smashing and i want to take all my colleagues home at the weekends.
9 January 2005
080105
due to a sudden influx of interest in my blog (one person) i am back to tell you of all the excitement that makes up my glamorous life.
am getting drunk with a friend and picking random european cities we could conquer next.
am getting drunk with a friend and picking random european cities we could conquer next.
29 December 2004
291204
having a house guest for a few days so will be cutting myself off from my daemon that is the room housing all my books and computer, in the name of friendship.
light a candle and pray for nerves of steel for me.
light a candle and pray for nerves of steel for me.
28 December 2004
281204
for half price sale, read license to treat books like empties down at the bottle bank.
pun not intended.
pun not intended.
24 December 2004
21 December 2004
211204
I had a customer today who, in order to better help me recognise the book after which she was enquiring, said; 'It's got a binding down the side.'
20 December 2004
201204
it's incredible how the minutiae of life can take on epic proportions by missing an hours sleep.
how difficult is it to just say goodmorning back to me when i say goodmorning to you. leave the comments about your runny nose til later. OBviously i'm gripped by your rhinitis but just say goodmorning. it's a vital part of the fabric of society.
how difficult is it to just say goodmorning back to me when i say goodmorning to you. leave the comments about your runny nose til later. OBviously i'm gripped by your rhinitis but just say goodmorning. it's a vital part of the fabric of society.
19 December 2004
191204
Having been requested to show body parts on my blog, I went googling for suitably ludicrous tattoo images i could comically pretend to be me.
all i'm saying is google 'tattoo monkey' and the the 4th one in. not me, not anyone i know, not anyone i hope to meet. ye gods!!!! a novel use for a belly button.
personal tattoo revelation will have to wait for now.....hee hee hee.
all i'm saying is google 'tattoo monkey' and the the 4th one in. not me, not anyone i know, not anyone i hope to meet. ye gods!!!! a novel use for a belly button.
personal tattoo revelation will have to wait for now.....hee hee hee.
17 December 2004
171204
today my t-shirt said 'trigger happy' just so no-one could say they weren't warned.
tomorrow will be the busiest day of the year. someone has already handed in their notice and refuses to work out their week.
if only i had a t-shirt that said 'it's the season of good will so mess with me at your fkn peril'
tomorrow will be the busiest day of the year. someone has already handed in their notice and refuses to work out their week.
if only i had a t-shirt that said 'it's the season of good will so mess with me at your fkn peril'
15 December 2004
13 December 2004
131204
Is there any greater happiness than recovering your lost purse with all the christmas money in it?
(ahem, down the hall in a bag i'd forgotten i was using)
(ahem, down the hall in a bag i'd forgotten i was using)
12 December 2004
121204
today i got my christmas present early! have spent the afternoon adjusting the screws for a better stance and admiring the steel edges.
11 December 2004
111204
is it normal to be off sick and then to coincidentally have prospective employers ring you up out of the blue offering you work?
just a question.
just a question.
10 December 2004
101204
there's something about buying clothes that brings on the existential angst in me.
how many hours did it take to earn the new top from oasis? was it worth it? does it matter if it's worth it? is anything worth anything? what is enjoyment after all? it's only "fun". who needs fun. we're all going to DIE anyway. new top or no new top.
>>sigh<<
it matches the new eyeshadow though so all is not lost.
how many hours did it take to earn the new top from oasis? was it worth it? does it matter if it's worth it? is anything worth anything? what is enjoyment after all? it's only "fun". who needs fun. we're all going to DIE anyway. new top or no new top.
>>sigh<<
it matches the new eyeshadow though so all is not lost.
9 December 2004
091204
back by popular apathy!!
today i did not kill anyone. i only laughed in the face of one customer (they asked for the Eenead by Omer). I only had to leave my section once due to the overpowering stench of a recently filled nappy. I didn't slam books down saying 'why the fk can't you put the book back where you found it' in front of minors.
Now here's the irony. Who would have imagined having an argument about religion with someone called Kristian? (sorry pal, you're wrong, deal with it)
You're glad you called by my blog again now aren't ya? :)
today i did not kill anyone. i only laughed in the face of one customer (they asked for the Eenead by Omer). I only had to leave my section once due to the overpowering stench of a recently filled nappy. I didn't slam books down saying 'why the fk can't you put the book back where you found it' in front of minors.
Now here's the irony. Who would have imagined having an argument about religion with someone called Kristian? (sorry pal, you're wrong, deal with it)
You're glad you called by my blog again now aren't ya? :)
3 December 2004
031204
my life is one long stream of unabated glamour.
today i put books on shelves in my kids section. i put stickers on promotional books. i feigned interest in dozens of customers. i made the significant decision to make my top zigzag shelf of audio a multi-author space. i'm sorry if that intimidates you! maybe you should just try and keep up with me. i work hard, i play hard. i get the results i want. don't be jealous that i've made it to these heights. the position of responsibility i hold isn't something to be taken up lightly, on a whim as it were. oh no. so go BACK to your job, ASSESS where you're going wrong, DO some HARD thinking, make some INTELLIGENT choices and THEN, only THEN you may come here, to my blog, raise a finger of criticism at the WAY I STACK MY SHELVES. DO YOU HEAR??
today i put books on shelves in my kids section. i put stickers on promotional books. i feigned interest in dozens of customers. i made the significant decision to make my top zigzag shelf of audio a multi-author space. i'm sorry if that intimidates you! maybe you should just try and keep up with me. i work hard, i play hard. i get the results i want. don't be jealous that i've made it to these heights. the position of responsibility i hold isn't something to be taken up lightly, on a whim as it were. oh no. so go BACK to your job, ASSESS where you're going wrong, DO some HARD thinking, make some INTELLIGENT choices and THEN, only THEN you may come here, to my blog, raise a finger of criticism at the WAY I STACK MY SHELVES. DO YOU HEAR??
1 December 2004
29 November 2004
26 November 2004
261104
Tonight I went researching working class pleasures.
...and the haaaaaaaaaare is running...........
did i make anything? not a penny.
...and the haaaaaaaaaare is running...........
did i make anything? not a penny.
25 November 2004
23 November 2004
231104
There's no easy way of breaking the news. Today I had my most embarassing moment, ever. Ever.
Picture the scene - me on the shopfloor with a large pile of books.
I take up my best manual handling stance for putting books onto a low table when I am bothered by a disconcerting noise and a disconcerting sensation.
The noise: the seat of my pants ripping wide open.
The sensation: a cooling breeze around the nethers.
I am one classy chick and no mistake.
Picture the scene - me on the shopfloor with a large pile of books.
I take up my best manual handling stance for putting books onto a low table when I am bothered by a disconcerting noise and a disconcerting sensation.
The noise: the seat of my pants ripping wide open.
The sensation: a cooling breeze around the nethers.
I am one classy chick and no mistake.
21 November 2004
20 November 2004
19 November 2004
17 November 2004
16 November 2004
15 November 2004
151104
"do you have a list of all the books written for 5-8 year olds?"
(yes madam i'll just hit 'print' and if you'd like to come back in the new year...)
(yes madam i'll just hit 'print' and if you'd like to come back in the new year...)
14 November 2004
141104
I have a drum kit in my loft that I didn't think would be there when I got up this morning. Interesting!
Reached 19,000 words tonight.
Ernest & Julio have earned their place in heaven.
Reached 19,000 words tonight.
Ernest & Julio have earned their place in heaven.
12 November 2004
121104
apologies for the shoddy commitment to this wonderous site. yesterday i was out til half one getting drunk round soho and china town ( as i recall )
i was hung over all day at work and now i'm home desperately trying to hit the 16K mark on my writing and drinking more red wine and feeling scared of another day of headache and strauss waltzes piped directly into my BRAIN from the speakers.
still laughing about how i pounded down the platform at st pancras with the doors beeping and threw myself headlong onto the floor of the carriage before the doors shut.
73 words to 16,000.
half a glass more til i'm anyone's (again)
i was hung over all day at work and now i'm home desperately trying to hit the 16K mark on my writing and drinking more red wine and feeling scared of another day of headache and strauss waltzes piped directly into my BRAIN from the speakers.
still laughing about how i pounded down the platform at st pancras with the doors beeping and threw myself headlong onto the floor of the carriage before the doors shut.
73 words to 16,000.
half a glass more til i'm anyone's (again)
10 November 2004
101104
It's Wednesday
There's no need to be afraid
On Wednesday
We let in quiet and we let out ***** (insert name of colleague)
And in this shop of plenty
We spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around your books
on Wednesday.
But say a prayer
Pray for the other days
There are four more working days just out there
And they're days of dread and fear
Where the only words are flowing
are the bitter words of fear
Well today thank fck he's home
instead of heeeeere
Feed my ears
Let them know it's quiet time
Feed my ears
Let them know it's quiet time...... etc
There's no need to be afraid
On Wednesday
We let in quiet and we let out ***** (insert name of colleague)
And in this shop of plenty
We spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around your books
on Wednesday.
But say a prayer
Pray for the other days
There are four more working days just out there
And they're days of dread and fear
Where the only words are flowing
are the bitter words of fear
Well today thank fck he's home
instead of heeeeere
Feed my ears
Let them know it's quiet time
Feed my ears
Let them know it's quiet time...... etc
9 November 2004
081104
OUCH.
some nasty beggar posted this on my other blog:
Where is the creativity, the inspiration... the message? What do you want to say to me, as a reader. Where is the substance? Your word choicage is distasteful, your descriptions uncoordinated and unclear. It lacks the subtle grace, that literary mood that pours us into the subject, forces us to embrace it.
Your presence as a writer is as a hopeful mid-teen girl (perhaps 17? 16?)
Am feeling surprisingly hurt.
I replied:
May i remind you of my inital post which said:
THE EXCUSES
Clearly this place is going to be awash with lifeless prose from time to time but that's partly due to the fact that NaNo is trying to get me to write 50,000 words in 30 days. The other reasons are obvious!
I am taking part in a project designed to get us to write 50,000 words in one month. There is no time for revision.
I was 15 very many years ago and frankly, I find your choice of words (rather than the cumbersome 'word choicage') distasteful.
I notice you remain anonymous.
OUCH. I'm going to bed.
some nasty beggar posted this on my other blog:
Where is the creativity, the inspiration... the message? What do you want to say to me, as a reader. Where is the substance? Your word choicage is distasteful, your descriptions uncoordinated and unclear. It lacks the subtle grace, that literary mood that pours us into the subject, forces us to embrace it.
Your presence as a writer is as a hopeful mid-teen girl (perhaps 17? 16?)
Am feeling surprisingly hurt.
I replied:
May i remind you of my inital post which said:
THE EXCUSES
Clearly this place is going to be awash with lifeless prose from time to time but that's partly due to the fact that NaNo is trying to get me to write 50,000 words in 30 days. The other reasons are obvious!
I am taking part in a project designed to get us to write 50,000 words in one month. There is no time for revision.
I was 15 very many years ago and frankly, I find your choice of words (rather than the cumbersome 'word choicage') distasteful.
I notice you remain anonymous.
OUCH. I'm going to bed.
7 November 2004
071104
given the option 'keep or chuck', 9/10 i will opt for chuck. And so i have spent a happy afternoon emptying my loft of bicycle chains, stuffed toys from 30 years ago, old curtains and what can only be described as miscellaneous non-descript items.
don't tell anyone but it's being boarded out for a big christmas day drum kit surprise for mini-me.
don't tell anyone but it's being boarded out for a big christmas day drum kit surprise for mini-me.
6 November 2004
061104 (b)
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
yoghurt! yoghurt!
061104
(post to be read with a Blackadderesque German accent)
I am ringing from Germany.
I have a fantastic Elvis book.
I would like to talk to someone about importing.
I have been given your number.
I was told you are central to the company.
me, shamelessly laughing down the phone: oh you were, were you?!
I hope this is true?
I am ringing from Germany.
I have a fantastic Elvis book.
I would like to talk to someone about importing.
I have been given your number.
I was told you are central to the company.
me, shamelessly laughing down the phone: oh you were, were you?!
I hope this is true?
4 November 2004
041104
an american friend tells me that the newly appointed senator (that still just sounds star wars, sorry) for south carolina wants to see all homosexuals and women who have had children out of wedlock, out of their jobs on moral grounds. this seems like a moderate, well thought out plan and we should all congratulate them on their broad minded insightful opinions.
rule britannia.
rule britannia.
2 November 2004
021104
two days into NaNo and i'm number obsessed already. 1700 words a day. every break today was throwing down words onto scrap paper and i have another 1000 to write before bed if i'm going to keep to target.
keep the comments coming here please. remind me of sanity.
keep the comments coming here please. remind me of sanity.
1 November 2004
011104
Who is the mystery Danon and where is the elusive Lotuseater? These are the questions that have taunted me today as I have wandered the tortured walks of Milton Keynes shopping centre abating my existential angst with remarkably large chocolate chip muffins and filter coffee.
31 October 2004
tick followed tock followed tick
It seems pointless waiting til midnight but midnight it must be.
I thought a panicky thread would be a good place to start while i while away another 80 minutes and then crash into bed being too knackered and grouchy to bother writing anything.
Of course I have no plans beyond it's about a girl who writes something strange in the end of year book then dies so what she writes takes on prophetic proportions and ends up unravelling the lives of everyone around her. That should secure me half a page. Now where to find 50K words??
I'm thinking that I am actually allowed to think about plot as I go along and it doesn't matter *overly* if it's not all planned with teutonic precision and written out in triplicate by midnight.
Really, if you plan badly and want to stick an extra chapter in at the wrong place, just do it - call it postmodern or a lost manuscript unearthed by a secondary character.
I thought a panicky thread would be a good place to start while i while away another 80 minutes and then crash into bed being too knackered and grouchy to bother writing anything.
Of course I have no plans beyond it's about a girl who writes something strange in the end of year book then dies so what she writes takes on prophetic proportions and ends up unravelling the lives of everyone around her. That should secure me half a page. Now where to find 50K words??
I'm thinking that I am actually allowed to think about plot as I go along and it doesn't matter *overly* if it's not all planned with teutonic precision and written out in triplicate by midnight.
Really, if you plan badly and want to stick an extra chapter in at the wrong place, just do it - call it postmodern or a lost manuscript unearthed by a secondary character.
311004(b)
Tonight I went to an early all souls service to commemorate the life of a close relative. Weirdly, who should I run into but the same french teacher that i met earlier in the week. Nothing for years then twice in one week. Spooky. Also had to smile darkly at the fact that I was snooping round a grave yard, tending a grave in the pitch black except for eery golden flood lighting on a medieval abbey on Halloween.
30 October 2004
301004
"It's either called 'we you and them' or 'me them and us' or 'him you and me' something like that. Do you have it in?"
29 October 2004
291004
customer: (holding a book he's just picked up) " do you stock this book?"
me: "well we stock that one!"
customer: "yes" (unnerving maniacal laughter)
me: (look of anxious bemusement)
me: "well we stock that one!"
customer: "yes" (unnerving maniacal laughter)
me: (look of anxious bemusement)
28 October 2004
281004
my old french teacher from school turned up at work today. still found myself bowing and scraping in an effort to compensate the years of attitude i gave her.
tonight i rode for an hour in the pelting rain and driving winds... "which was nice".
half term lunch out with mini me.
not bad for a thursday :o)
tonight i rode for an hour in the pelting rain and driving winds... "which was nice".
half term lunch out with mini me.
not bad for a thursday :o)
27 October 2004
26 October 2004
261004
it's great having someone confide in you. cool time with company tonight.
my ebay entry now has 4 bids. my first ever. it's so exciting!
25 October 2004
251004
today went fast and i came home pleased. does that mean anything??
caught myself having this conversation:
new colleague: wow it's all changing here, new boss, new people, refurbishment, you must get pretty tired of all this change
me: no actually the more change the better
her: really?
me: yeah. it's sad and shallow but i get bored very quickly and the new desk downstairs will keep me going for a week thinking 'oh yeah it's ok here'
>>hears the distant sounds of warning bells ringing but pushes the ear plugs in a little further<<
caught myself having this conversation:
new colleague: wow it's all changing here, new boss, new people, refurbishment, you must get pretty tired of all this change
me: no actually the more change the better
her: really?
me: yeah. it's sad and shallow but i get bored very quickly and the new desk downstairs will keep me going for a week thinking 'oh yeah it's ok here'
>>hears the distant sounds of warning bells ringing but pushes the ear plugs in a little further<<
24 October 2004
23 October 2004
231004
a merry jaunt northwards via sheffield, stannage edge, calver, hathersage, bakewell and froggat's edge.
threw it down with rain all day but it was Madeleine's first drive out and we had fun.
threw it down with rain all day but it was Madeleine's first drive out and we had fun.
22 October 2004
21 October 2004
211004
County Council School Admissions Handbook. Section E. Part ii.
I quote.
"Some schools give a higher priority to 'looked after' a children. But this does not guarantee a place."
My points.
a) The first sentence is devoid of any hint of meaning.
b) Sentences ought never to begin with the word 'but'.
c) Which school did the author of this booklet attend because I would like to request my child does not go there for his education.
I quote.
"Some schools give a higher priority to 'looked after' a children. But this does not guarantee a place."
My points.
a) The first sentence is devoid of any hint of meaning.
b) Sentences ought never to begin with the word 'but'.
c) Which school did the author of this booklet attend because I would like to request my child does not go there for his education.
20 October 2004
19 October 2004
191004
what is it about personal hygiene that so many members of the general public find impossible to grasp?
18 October 2004
181004
high drama today as the street was cordoned off, all the emergency services converging outside our doors and the shop being shut for a woman running across the roof and threatening to jump. really weird sensation seeing someone on the roof, drunk, abusive, out of control and grief stricken.
17 October 2004
16 October 2004
161004
...and today she bought the kitten a teddy which i had to name so long as it went with 'mic'. now we have mic and angelo.
15 October 2004
151004
she told me he wanted to call him 'Mike'. she told me she didn't want him to be called mike. i told her he should be called Mike so long as it was short for microphone. seems i twisted her arm. the new long haired kit is mic.
14 October 2004
141004
pity the poor fool who tries to buy anything off my display at work after i've spent 3 days making it perfect
13 October 2004
131004
todays t-shirt would say "that was a private conversation about prawns, do you mind not interrupting?"
12 October 2004
121004
if only moral dilemmas were a bit easier to sort out. i can do the right thing but i can't do it graciously.
11 October 2004
coelho
anyone who thinks the alchemist is an amazing piece of literature should be put in solitary confinement with some real literature til they have no further appetite for the pseudo-philosophical sentimental clap trap spawned by mr c.
111004
so the prawn mayonnaise fell on the floor and we all laughed at his grossed out humour when he said he'd eat the bits that weren't touching the ground. we soon stopped when he got down on hands and knees with a fork and started eating directly off the staff room floor. is it more shocking when the man's in his 50's?
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