A New Addiction

A word about the seasons

Well, hello there Friday and an extra big hello to August. I am thrilled that we have finally entered the last month of winter. I am really not very keen on the cold at all. Summer is a much friendlier and happier time of year. The evenings stay lighter longer, the sun is already up when the alarm clock sounds, you don't have to smother your body with clothes and you can open the windows to let the horrible smells out of the house! The fact that summer also coincides with 6 weeks of holidays certainly doesn't hurt either. Now don't go thinking that I love summer because I like to get outside and spend time in the sun. That would be stupid. My skin has only a couple of shades...lily white, lobster red and peeling. Tanning is something that happens completely by accident, if at all, and usually rather erratically depending on my attire. Several years ago I was teaching physical education and spent my days in the sun wearing 3/4 track pants. I ended up with a very attractive lower shin/calf/ankle tan that looked awesome with shorts. I actually have a deep aversion to tanning. Given the prevalence of skin cancer in Australia, and having known people who have not survived the condition, I avoid spending time in the sun and follow the SunSmart guidelines to the letter. I'm also rather diligent about teaching my students the importance of protecting their skin now rather than having to deal with the consequences later.

Suffice to say that, over winter, I've not been exposing skin to sunshine because of the cold, which means that I'll be heading into the UK autumn looking like a little Aussie snowperson.

UK Holiday

49 days today. That's only 7 weeks! I am pretty much organised I think, just the spending money situation to attend to now, so I'm saving furiously. I'm still rather terrified about spending several days in London and worry that I will just hide in my hotel at night because I lack the confidence to go anywhere. I'd love to go to English pubs or shows or something, but I'm just not an 'alone' type personality when it comes to doing stuff like that. I don't even like going into pubs in Australia by myself where I know where I'm going. Pathetic, I know, but not a habit I'll be breaking any time soon.

The New Addiction of the Title

I have finally succumbed to the temptations of Merlin and the very gorgeous Colin Morgan and Bradley James. I blame the very corruptive influences of my inspirational writing buddies...  Millionstar  and  +swivelsister42. I have already been lured into the fanfic Merthur world, which sits ever so sweetly alongside my Belldom writing and reading habits. It probably won't be long before I'm tempted to churn out a Merthur fic, but I'm not quite ready to fall down that path just yet. I'm still in the 'getting to know them' stage of my obsessive relationship.

Having said that, the fantasy Merlin world would be a perfect training ground for my personal novel project which will most definitely be of that genre, so perhaps I should indulge sooner rather than later. Watch this space.

A New Follower on Twitter

Now, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this, but my 17 year old son has decided to join Twitter. I have no idea why, and I'm rather concerned that he's chosen to follow me. I can't see that lasting very long given that I am prone to spamming Muse pics on a regular basis and he is not all that enthusiastic about them. There are some songs that he has time for, but I don't think he could cope with my adolescent fan-girling tendencies.

Shedding Kilos

Rather bravely, I have challenged my sister to a weight loss challenge. She has been spouting off about the latest fad diet product that works wonders and whips extra kilos off in record time. I've never been a fan of fads and consider them dangerous and ineffective in the long term. My problem is not the lack of a fancy gimmick product. It is purely that I lack motivation. So, the challenge... See who can lose the most weight over a 30 day period. She is going to use her fad, I'm going to eat healthy and exercise. What she doesn't seem to get, is that even if I lose, I still win. My goal is to be rid of unwanted kilos. I am happy to forgo bragging rights if this little exercise takes me in a healthier lifestyle direction. So, publicly putting this out there...84.5kg. Updates will happen on Fridays along with the blog.

That's all for tonight people. There is writing to be done and Merlin to be watched. Talk to you next week. x

Painfully at Odds

This first week of the new term has been filled with surprises and a healthy dose of irony.

I've been teaching in primary schools now for eleven years. You would think that in those years I would have gradually come to feel more competent and yet I have to say that it has been quite the opposite. I have had so many student / family-related issues brought to my attention that I feel less and less able to cater to my students. Time and again, teachers are bombarded with information that asks us to consider medical issues, psychological issues, legal issues and cultural issues. The latest in this series of issues was brought to my attention this week and left me feeling disempowered and overwhelmed.

Bridges Out of Poverty

My week began with a professional development day organised for the public schools in our district. Called Bridges Out of Poverty and featuring the work of Dr Ruby Payne, the seminar addressed the challenges of poverty in the context of students and their families. Now, don't get me wrong. The information presented was both enlightening and disturbing. It made me realise that there are whole other worlds out there that I certainly wasn't consciously aware of, sitting here in my painfully middle class existence. I'm not just talking about the poverty class here either. I'm also referring to the wealthy class. It was a bizarre experience to feel simultaneously privileged and inadequate.

I guess I emerged from the training with some strategies for dealing with kids affected by poverty but also with the feeling that this was just another nail in the coffin for my teaching career. This job entails far more than I'd ever imagined and demands more than I've got to give. I'm done. I've had enough. Enough of the demands on my personal time, my emotions, my family and my finances (because I do end up spending my own money on my students - money that I really can't afford to spend). I don't know what the alternative is for me yet, though I'd like to think that it is going to be associated with writing considering that when I'm writing, I'm happy. In an ideal world, I'd love to get paid for being happy.

Looking for the Positive

At this stage, it doesn't matter how much I want to be out of teaching. It's paying the bills and is allowing me to provide my kids with a stable home and myself with the opportunity to travel. So I'll teach until the universe creates the conditions that will allow me to bid this phase of my life a thankful farewell.

I've made a conscious decision to approach each day with positivity. It seems that this is paying off too. On the first day of school, two of my toughest kids came to talk to me together at lunchtime to let me know that they have made a decision to try harder with their schoolwork and their behaviour. I was stoked, but tried not to let my elation get out of hand in case it scared them. I thanked them for their mature decision and promised to support them in any way that I could. I also reiterated that I believed in them, probably more than they believe in themselves. They are both intelligent kids who could be doing so much better. I've tried many different strategies to engage and motivate, but most times, the success has been short-lived. I know it is because they needed to make the decision for themselves.

So far they are sticking to their promise, and though it has only been three days, it takes very little to get them back on task when they slip. A raised eyebrow is now sufficient for them to self-correct. I've been really diligent about giving them public and private recognition of their efforts without actually offering extrinsic rewards and I'm hoping that they have made the transition to finding intrinsic motivation.They need to want to succeed for the sake of succeeding. Perhaps a positive experience with these two kids will help me to find the motivation to continue teaching for the moment.

UK Trip

Today, my travel buddy and I finalised a few more details of our trip. We have booked our London hotel, organised an overnight trip to Paris and a stay at Eynsham Hall in Oxford.

We were on the verge of booking our car hire when my very diligent bank decided that all this UK credit card activity was uncharacteristic of my spending habits and promptly suspended my card so no further fraudulent purchases could take place. I received a polite SMS asking me to call them to chat about it, which I did. After waiting for a considerable amount of time, I was greeted by a very flustered sounding call centre chap who apologised profusely for the wait before asking me whether my request was critical enough to warrant immediate attention as they were in a bit of a mess with something going down in all the call centres. I was quite happy to go cardless for the evening, so he thanked me and asked if I could call back tomorrow. Looks like I'll be booking the train to Oxford a bit later. Never mind. Better safe than sorry. I can't complain.

I must admit, I looked at this problem in a new light after the poverty seminar on Monday. At least I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I can have a credit card in the first place.

Hockey

As an ex-hockey player of many years (damn you osteo-arthritis for taking that away from me!), I'm excited to see the Australian boys and girls fighting it out at the Commonwealth Games. The World Cup winning Kookaburras are an amazing team (and VERY pretty to look at), and our girls have the potential to extremely well too after finishing second in the World Cup not long ago.

I had planned to write more, but it's very tricky to watch and cheer for the hockey lads and type at the same time, so I'm off to admire their skills...truly.

Apology Post

Just ducking in quickly to apologise for my lack of posting last Friday. I was totally caught up in finishing my first ever fic series and it left me exhausted but very pleased with myself. I will be back tomorrow for a full post, but today I need to say a couple of things...

As promised here is the link for the NME Music Photography Awards. As I mentioned, I've entered five pics in the Live Amateur Category. The link above will take you to this pic of Chris first. While it's not the clearest of pics, I just love the way the lighting has cast him into partial silhouette.


From this pic, if you vote, you can proceed through all five of my pics in this order.

Dom is looking unusually serious in this pic.







I adore this pic of Matt at the piano and it always gets a lot of love on Twitter.












The band on the stage during Follow Me sums up everything about Muse for me. The crazy lighting, massive stage presence and their roles. Matt could have been at the piano, or on guitar, but this pic of him with just a mic highlights that he is the primary vocalist.









The final picture of Matt is currently sitting in second place. As a Facebook friend said, it is that classic rock guitar pose. I love the lighting and the expression on Matt's face as he loses himself in the music.








I could go on about Muse, but I promised to keep this zone relatively obsession-free, so I won't carry on about how Matt finally tweeted me this week! and I like to try to keep my promises.

I'll finish up with a bit of humour and I'll be back tomorrow with a proper update.

I thought I'd kick off this late post (sorry) with a panorama that I took last night as the sun sank into the Indian Ocean. Don't be deceived by the warm glow...it was freezing cold down there, but there is something about the ocean that draws me to it, regardless of the weather. Not to swim, mind you. That's not my thing at all. I just appreciate the ever-changing beauty, the power and the mystique. If I started swimming west from this point I'd eventually hit Africa and a whole world of different! Yet another place on the bucket list. In the meantime...

UK Trip

Tickets have been purchased! This is really happening! Now I'm terrified because I'm going over there for the first week by myself. I have no idea where anything is, or how to use the rail system, or money conversion. Luckily, I have some friends who are going to look after me for part of my week. For the rest of it, I need to summon the courage to actually go out and do things for myself in a place I am completely unfamiliar with. *Deep breath* I can do this! I'd be happy with myself if I can find my way to a cafe and some local shops.

Photography

I've started to take my beautiful camera with me so I don't miss great opportunities. Having said that, the sunset pics were all iPhone photos and the colour is natural!

I took some nice pics down at the beach near my favourite cafe the other day. I really need to take some pics of my local cafe. It's called Dome and it's part of a franchise chain across Australia and internationally. I've never had a bad coffee at Dome (@DomeCafeGroup), no matter where I go. I was itching to get back to my Dome after my US trip where we experienced some truly dreadful coffee. We have two of these cafes in Mandurah, but my favourite is at Doddi's Beach in Halls Head, which is where these pics are taken. The staff are wonderful, the food is delicious (my daughter loves the kids menu and especially the mac cheese and creamy milkshakes!), the views are fantastic and it is just so darned relaxing. It's not uncommon for me to go there twice on a weekend. The vegetarian breakfast is absolutely perfect. Picture this - eggs your way, mushrooms, tomato, baked beans, spinach, toast and a hash brown. I should pre-order tomorrow's breakfast right now! My travel buddy and I planned our US trip while sitting in various Domes around Perth and we are doing the same with our UK trip. Free Wifi certainly helps with this.

Well, after that massive plug for Dome...back to my pics. I really enjoy playing with the light through clouds and off water. I've also been trying to compose my pics to give them more perspective. I don't really have any idea of what I'm doing, but it's fun trying and I've been happier with the quality of my photos, particularly landscapes where there isn't necessarily a focus.

I quite like including people in my pics, but I much prefer them to be unposed. In these photos, the people are completely unknown to me. They just happened to be walking along the beach. Rather than leave them out, I thought I'd use them to help make sense of the picture.

But even taking pics of my kids and my friends, I'd much prefer to catch them with natural looks on their faces, because that is how I see them all the time and how I love to see them.

Competitions

Back in April, I entered a photo competition for Western Australian photography and scored a creditable third place on public voting (I entered with only 4 hours remaining in the competition!) The winning pic is at the bottom of this post.

Spurred on by this success, I'm going to try again, but something different this time.

I've been really brave and entered 5 of my pics in the NME Music Photography Awards. Some of my photos from the Australian Muse gigs last year turned out to be truly spectacular (though I may be a tad biased since I'm totally in love with this band). This was quite by accident. The flashing lights combined with lots of movement and crowd jostling made things rather challenging. I'm waiting for the pics to be approved so they can be added to the website for voting by the public. I'll post a reminder when that happens, but the link above will get you there. I've entered the Live category for Amateurs.If I win anything I won't be able to keep my mouth shut, so keep your fingers crossed and vote if you feel enthusiastic.

Writing

Being on school holidays has given me a bit of extra writing time, but I've also taken quite a bit of time to read. There's so much to be learned from seeing how other people craft their stories. I see techniques that I can integrate into my writing. I'm particularly interested in world-building - creating the world in which the story is set, but in a way that feels natural, as though the setting is another character to learn about in the narrative. Endless streams of description without any meaning to the characters is pointless and boring to the reader in my opinion, so I'm studying ways to bring world-building into my stories and experimenting! I do love experimenting. My own novel will require this exact skill of world-building, so I need to train myself. So to my followers who are wondering what I am doing towards my novel, there you have it. It will all come together when the time is right. I just know it. But for now, I'll continue to play.

Holidays!

The fourth of July may have a more historical meaning in the States, but for me, it signals the end of the term and of first semester at school. The past ten weeks have been the most emotional, heart-wrenching, soul-destroying weeks of my teaching career and have most definitely made me adamant about leaving the teaching profession. I swear, I have received more support from my Twitter buddies during this time than from any of my colleagues, so from the bottom of my heart...THANK YOU! You know who you are.

Writing

My health has been on and off this week (probably a severe case of 'end-of-termitis'), so I plan to switch my writing nights for this week. Tonight is for fanfic, mostly because it is sitting on the edge of my brain demanding release. Tomorrow (after a decadent, child-free lie in) I will summon the energy I need to tackle my own novel.

Holiday plans

These holidays do not come with any grand plans apart from recovering from hell term and indulging my writing. There is also the important fact that I'm trying to save for my trip to the UK in October, so spending now needs to kept to an absolute minimum. That said, I daresay I'll splurge on a few lattes if only to partake in some admiration of the cute barista at the local coffee shop. Weather permitting, I will even make the effort of walking to said cafe. Caffeine, exercise and eye-candy...what more does a girl need? (You don't need to answer that.)

Reading

I'm continuing on my journey through the complete works of the most awesome and talented Millionstar who kindly agreed to me linking her page here. If you have a taste for the type of fanfics that I write, you will most certainly enjoy what this lady can do with words! Go forth and give her some much-deserved love.

Photography

As promised in my last post, I went out on the weekend to play with my camera. Here is a sample of my shots. Luckily for me, my daughter is far more photogenic than I could ever hope to be and really enjoys hamming things up for my camera.

Well, that's all for this week. Just a quickie. Plus I'm really keen to write. So goodnight all. Back this time next Friday. x

Following through on commitments

Here I am, a day late, posting my next entry. I had expected to strike problems in maintaining my promise of Friday updates, but I hadn't expected one to hit so soon.

Bugs!

One of the banes of a teacher's existence. My daughter has been off sick for three days this week. Being a kind and sharing chicken, she wasted no time in giving me a serve of whatever bacteria have taken up residence in her system. I struggled through a full day lightning carnival of volleyball yesterday with the help of copious amounts of cold and flu drugs, but promptly died in a most uncreative heap on my lounge chair last night. Nothing of note could possibly make its way out of my extremely muddled brain in that state. I felt so bad that I even 'watched' a movie - a pleasingly predictable rom-com that made me realise the last thing on this planet I want to write is something pleasingly predictable.

Reading

I have been indulging my passion for excellent erotic fanfic this week by trawling through the entire LiveJournal of one of my favourite writers. I'm constantly amazed at the diversity of work this gorgeous lady delivers. I'd love to mention her here, but I'll get her permission before I go there, just in case. Some of you will know exactly who I mean without even mentioning her name.

 I've also managed to finish a book series that I've been sitting on for months. If you want to feel extraordinarily uncomfortable, I recommend you go and pick up the first of this series, Gone by Michael Grant. It's one of those book series that I've loved and hated in equal measure and absolutely NEVER want to see made into a movie because it would be way too disturbing. The final book took me a good six months to finish because I just couldn't see how it could end in a way that made me happy. I'm pleased to say that it did, although I was left in tears. Be prepared for a six-book addiction!

Holidays

We have only five days left of this term before the mid-year holidays. With my UK trip pending in October, I don't plan to do very much at all during this two-week break. I've been keen to experiment with my wonderful camera, so I might take my daughter exploring in some pretty places around Perth to hone my skills. I really must do some sort of course to extend my skills and learn how to use the functions on my camera. My pics turn out fairly good, but I'd love to be more knowledgeable. These were taken from my usual position behind my computer, so I'd like to see what my camera can do when I actually go searching for great images. That way, I'll be ready for all of the wonderful scenery in the UK.

Writing

Speaking of skills development courses, I'm planning to attend a creative writing course in Perth run by the Australian Writers' Centre and one Natasha Lester. Natasha's website has proven most inspiring, but I feel rather guilty about being unfamiliar with her writing. School holidays can rectify that problem. Unfortunately, I will have to wait until after my trip so I can afford to do the course, but I believe it will be a good investment in my writing future. I'll make it my November goal.

The good news is, I will not be resting on my laurels. Now, you won't get to see any of this...yet. I am fulfilling my promise to write something towards my personal novel project.  I already have ideas scribbled down in my notebook. Some of these will never be used but some will evolve into the real deal. At this point, with mixed feelings about how I want the plot will go, I feel the need to get to know my characters. I'm going to give each character a page (to start with at least) and try to flesh them out. I need to find out all about them. They will have physical attributes of course. I can already 'see' some of them clearly in my head. But they don't yet have substance. I need to find out how they will react in the situations that will arise in my story. They all need to be distinct from each other. They need their own agendas, their own flaws, their own attitudes, philosophies and personal histories. They need their own style, speech affectations, mannerisms, emotional baggage. There are going to be major cultural differences and foreign ways of thinking. I need to see how they will conflict and complement to bring this story to life. Wow, I'd better get cracking.

So, with this thought, I'll sign off this post and pull out my notebook. Thanks so much for taking the time to read. See you next Friday! 

The first step of the journey...

It has taken a ridiculous amount of time, but I have finally come to the realisation that I am, indeed, an author trapped within a teacher's body. While my current profession does allow me to sometimes indulge my passion for creative writing, it is also rather limiting. I'm sure you can appreciate the importance of a teacher keeping all writing firmly within the realms of PG ratings. Yes? Well, I find this rather...stifling, shall we say. I do tend to enjoy writing that leans towards the dark side when it comes to ratings. I like to keep things a little bit saucy, a bit naughty and well outside of my personal life experiences. 

I hadn't intended to go down the path of fan-fiction, but fate has intervened and provided me with this safe and supportive training ground in an unexpected place. For those of you who have already made your way through my earliest writing, I thank you whole-heartedly. Your support so far has been astonishing and inspiring. Your encouragement has been overwhelming in the best of ways. I have plans to step outside of the genre that I have dipped my toes into. Fantasy beckons rather enticingly and my novel ideas are on the grandiose scale. I must confess to being a little intimidated about getting started, but I'm determined to travel this path. I hope you are willing to follow me into new worlds.

Luckily I have discovered that my imagination is a rather colourful depository for bizarre ideas. I have also opened up my senses to everything that the world has to offer in terms of ideas. Little things that would have previously slipped by unnoticed have suddenly become the catalyst for writing ideas. Not always successfully, granted, but that's the idea with training. Try it, learn from it.

So, the plan is to use this blog as a pacing tool. I will endeavour to update on Friday nights before writing. Friday nights will be dedicated to my novel while Saturdays (yes, I have such an active social life) will remain the property of my fanfic fun. This is my commitment to you and to myself. Feel free to nag me if I wander.

My blog is likely to consist of whinging about school, gushing over cats and laughing or anguishing over my children as well as other assorted life incidents. I will try to keep this space free of my Muse obsession, but I won't make any guarantees in that regard.

A few pieces of news for this week then, as a starter.

Yet another cat

My gorgeous nephew has come to live with me and my two kids for the next few months. He brings with him the very fluffy Theodore, bringing our cat population to four! They are all getting on surprisingly well, though our youngest, Tinsel, has taken it upon herself to go into heat and is offering herself to the new boy with great enthusiasm. I don't know that he has realised that certain parts of his anatomy are no longer present judging by his response. Between the two of them, they are intent on educating my kids about cat copulation, usually under the dining table during meals.

Holiday countdown

Thankfully, school reports have been submitted and the stress of that time is over for another semester. School hols are a mere 8 school days away, paving the way for 2 weeks of freedom which might just be spent in front of the heater if the current temperatures persist. 

UK Trip

My travel buddy and I are off to the UK in October. That is the plan. We haven't booked anything yet, but we have certainly started to get serious about our itinerary, so it won't be long before I have a countdown to take-off underway at which point I should become totally unbearable.

Something to make you laugh

Well, I found it funny...

It's not about the nail...

There you have it. My first blog entry. If you have taken the time to read this, thank you! I really appreciate it and hope you will stay with me to be a cheerleader as I take this journey. Talk to you soon.