I have not written on here for a while now as I have had a few other projects and sites to write for. I just thought I would pop in and poke my nose around the door to see what it happening.

I created a website for my journal and am busy building another site focused purely at all things to do with writing. The latter is not available to the public yet, but I will give the URL as soon as it is.

I have written blog articles for the Simply Green website, some reviews for the Cape Town City Sightseeing open top bus tour company, belong to two conservation support groups, Friends of the Tygerberg Hills and Friends of the Blaauwberg Conservation Area, and am on the committee of the latter. I belong to a writers circle and created and maintain their website. So, you can see that I am busy with various projects.

I also do various courses and belong to a bookclub, spend a lot of time surfing the net - I am often asked for information or to do research.

http://www.simplygreen.co.za/local-stories/biz-and-community/
http://www.westcoastwriterscirclesa.weebly.com
http://writejournalforme.blogspot.com/
Add Comment
 
 
I was sitting beavering away at my laptop a few weekends ago when a strange thought just popped into my head. What would happen if some humungus 'thing' or something, jumped/fell onto the edge of one of the tectonic plates that we float blithely around on on top of all that hot, seething magma?

Now, where did that come from? Do you find yourself having odd thoughts when you are focussing on something else? It set me thinking about how our minds multitask. I was not working on anything remotely linked to the tectonics of our planet, although I do have to admit to receiving regular daily global earthquake reports from the USGS site.

These odd 'query thoughts' just pop up at strange times. We all know our brains are still busy working in the background whilst we sleep - hence the contents of our dreams, but whilst you are concentrating on something else that is using mind power? You would not think so - that is, if you think about it at all!

There was an advert for something on British TV, where a bog standard lady was sitting on the Tube [the London Underground], her boring trip home obviously allowing her mind to wander, and you saw a thought pop up, 'I wonder what Barn Owls were called before there were barns?'. She had the slightly bored/bland look on her face that people on buses and trains tend to assume, and you had to wonder where such a 'query thought' came from. She did not look the intellectual type who might have been studying ornithology or something similar, but that thought had bobbed to the surface seemingly unbidden.

Some very interesting items bubble to the surface in these 'query thoughts'. What, if any, can you recall yourself having?

 
1 Comment
 
NaNoWriMo-ing 11/16/2009
 
I have not written in my home blog for a while now, although I have done so on my 24.com blog - ecoecho.

Currently I am trying to write 50,000 words in the space of a month! What on earth did I think I was doing signing up for this? I seem to recall that my hand went up of its own accord when we were asked who was signing up at the last WCWCSA meet.

Never heard of NaNoWriMo? It is the National Novel Writing Month, and takes place during the month of November. It is an international project now, but was originally started by a chap in the USA. You do not win any money, and any donations go to building schools and libraries etc.http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Anyway, I just thought I would pop in here to say why I have not been posting. Speak again soon!

Add Comment
 
Frying Tonight! 08/19/2009
 
I wrote the following on my 24.COM blog and apparently made people's mouths water. One chap even decided to abandon the curry he had made to go round to the fish and chip shop. Such is the power of the written word...

Am I frying tonight? No, probably not. The title just popped into my head, followed closely by a craving for British Chish 'n Fips; oooh, yum.

When I lived in Randburg there were two British Chippies, which I obviously frequented. They cooked their fish and chips, not in oil, as is the favoured way nowadays, but in lard, which is the old fashioned way, and boy, did the batter go nice and crispy and golden, and the chips - well, there is nothing quite like chips from a British chip shop. They shipped the lard in from overseas in big buckets as I recall.

At any rate, my point is, why is there no British Chippy down here in Cape Town? I would have thought they would do well; all the other fish places seem to do pretty well, and we are a seaside, fishy style place let's face it. Fish 'n chips with mushy peas and the odd pickled onion, and tomato sauce. Oh, I wish... shame mouth and salivary glands, not to mention the pleasure centres of my brain and the taste buds on my tongue, you will just have to mentally taste it all.

Just thought I would share those mouth watering - for an Englishman at any rate - thoughts.
2 Comments
 
Cranking It Up! 08/19/2009
 
I might be 61 but I definitely belong to the modern generation!

Telkom strike or no Telkom strike the internet has got progressively slower and slower over the last week, and I am so frustrated that I want to scream! No wonder we are stressed these days. I expect things related to technology to work instantly - and in particular anything internet/computer orientated. I feel as if I have been chewing madly on a giant wad of chewing gum - you know when your jaw aches from trying to chew such a huge wad?
Add Comment
 
 
Wrote this in my blog on 24.COM. They have changed the site again and I have to say I do not like the look of it. So I wrote...

I will try this editor first but I don't like the look of the new Blog site. Personal opinion I know! Hmm, well, one gets used to changes fairly soon, so lets hope this is one of those. I guess they have to justify employment of people in times like these.

Anyway, moving on...

Facebook and the various applications sitting within it were sooooooooooooooo slow and highly irritating, so, I shut the whole lot down in the end and downloaded all those horrendous updates that MS delight in sending one. Took a while, had to shut the router off and back on again and so on and so forth, so I got on and did my writing exercise - actually WRITING WITH A PEN ON PAPER, quelle horreur! Here is what I wrote...

So, here I am scribbling on old paper! Can you guess why? It's because my laptop the net or Telkom, who knows, is messing me around. I hate writing with a pen/pencil. I get cramp, and  I have to slow my thoughts down to accomodate AND I keep losing my thread, because I do not have the benefit of a keyboard memory to store the flow as I get ahead of my thought outflow.  Plus, this is scribble, not nice and neat! I hate that. I take my hat off to writers of old who sat for hours on end writing with a pencil in a poor, cold and badly lit garret.

Now, what was I going to write? See, I have already lost some wonderful thoughts whilst writing this. Grrrrrrr. Still, maybe this is a good exercise if only for the fact that it made me think of that!

How many words did Alison say? Hmm. I really enjoyed that class the other day; the time went so quickly though. How I wish I had my house and car paid for so I could write more. I so enjoy it. I always have. I am probably not a good writer, but I ENJOY it, and that, after all, is the main thing.
Add Comment
 
 

Hi Everyone!
I have not had time to blog for a while - have been busy with work; needs must when the Devil drives!

I don't know about you, but I cannot get over the weather we have had thus far this winter. It has, for the most part, been more like Spring. I know we have had a couple of cold spells, but I have not had to use a heater yet this winter and have not filled the gas bottle for it.

I read, yesterday, that we might be heading for a drought though, because of the weak El Niño that is expected, leastways, I thnk it was El Niño and not La Niña - more on that just now. The more you look into weather patterns and how they drive our lives, the more interesting it is. Not so long ago being a weatherman was considered a boring job for the most part by those of us not directly involved, but I do feel that for anyone who is interested in the whole climate change thing, this tune might have changed somewhat.

El Niño and La Niña are different aspects of the weather systems we have on this planet. El Niño being the WARMING of the sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, whilst La Niña is the COOLING of the sea surface temperatures in the same area. These two systems affect much of the weather on our planet, through introducing cycles of wet and dry. Take a look on the South African Weather site http://www.weathersa.co.za/ for more detailed information. Fascinating stuff, as are most of the geological and atmospheric happenings to do with our world and the cosmos.

The SA Weather site has an almost interactive weather forecasting system online now, and lots of interesting 'stuff'. Take a look, why don't you?

As ever, stay safe out there in the world - it is a live place, full of surprises.

Add Comment
 
 

A few weeks ago at our regular monthly meeting of the writers circle we had an interesting exercise where we were given a piece of paper on which we had to write various things, such as a colour etc. We then had to pass this to the person on the left, were given a few lines of writing and had to write something using these, incorporating the things listed on the piece of paper from the person on our right. I got some weird stuff like fig leaves - rotting, the colour orange, and the lines given to me had the name of someone with words like Goth and kif in. This is my short story created from those words and sentences. I called it Donovans Head:

"Donovan’s home was in his head. At least, that was where he truly felt at home.

The fact that it was autumn and this was 10 am on a Sunday morning, as he sat amongst the fragrant fig leaves piled up underneath the old fig tree in the corner of his parents garden, registered only fractionally on the edge of his awareness. As he became more engrossed in his latest purchase, a book by Stephanie Meyer about a vampire commune in Seattle, the strident cawing of a crow in the woods nearby only added to the feeling that he was a part of the story, of the commune. This was real, this was cool. In this world he could be who he wanted to be. If you were a vampire you could dress like a Goth and no one laughed or stared; no one looked at you as if you were weird or on drugs. You didn’t have to worry about the ‘ou toppies’ not lending you the car or letting you go clubbing. You could fly. Never mind about the video shop and the stupid ‘mommies’ looking at him; here, in this story, in his head, he belonged.

To look at Donovan, slumped amongst the leaves with the orange covered book clutched tightly in his hands, you might have been forgiven for thinking that he was a part of the story come to life. He was a study in Goth, with his carelessly arranged lanky legs, his black clothes and boots, and his hair dyed jet black to enhance the widows’ peak and the carefully arranged ‘kif’ hairstyle that he sported. His blunt fingernails were painted black and his long right incisor showed clearly as it protruded over his bottom lip in concentration.

Donovan had always lived in his head, in his imagination. His parents and sister had always found him rather strange with his vivid imagination, his interest in gothic stories and clothes. For Donovan this was not a fad; this was how he felt. He felt out of time and out of place. He hated the bright sun, and he always looked pale by comparison to the people around him. In the heat of the afternoon after school, and as he got older, if he was not working in the video store he was usually to be been found in his bedroom with the curtains drawn. His room was dark and cool, the walls covered in pictures of stylised vampires.

***
As he sank further into the heap of burred leaves and the story, the real Donovan floated free and became one with the theme of the story. The world inhabited by his corporeal body faded and he felt himself rising from the rustling leaves that had fallen into his coffin through the long ages he had slept. All around him others were rising as the dusk descended upon the region called Seattle. Few ordinary people had ever seen this part of Seattle, off Highway 406 and well hidden, and even fewer had returned to tell of it. This was an ancient and long unused town and cemetery, and now a vampire commune. Long years before this had been a small Western town, with buildings built from stone, many  buttressed into the rocks of the small massif that sheltered it from the world. The Indians had kept clear of the area. They spoke of bad spirits when settlers came, but the settlers who finally built the small town had ignored them, leaning to the view that the Indians were superstitious savages.

The bad spirits had proved to be real enough and gradually the people of the town succumbed to the wasting sickness, as they thought of it. The vampires, having thus increased in numbers, found the stone dwellings and cellars that abutted their previous catacombs useful, and infused with fresh, modern blood they moved into the New World. They lived, if one could use that term, feasting on the occasional lost hiker, but in the main drinking from animals in the surrounding country. Not many people realised that vampires did not have to drink human blood. In fact in this day and age with so many people sick from eating a modern diet the commune had mostly come to prefer blood from the wild creatures. It was rich, fresh and generally not badly tainted.

This vampire commune lived a more modern life than their ancestors, visiting towns, and Seattle city itself, during the hours between dusk and dawn to socialise and enjoy the night life. They had no need of human forms of transport but did, on occasion, borrow cars to drive around the city seeing the sites from a human perspective. What Donovan liked best about this, in the furthest corner of his mind now, was the fact that he was free from the restrictions place by having parents, having to work in a mundane job with lack of money, and, of course, not having transport. Dressed as Goths and Romantics the members of the commune enjoyed the cinema, eating out at restaurants, dining on Steak Tartar, blue steaks and the like - another thing not known about modern vampires. In particular they enjoyed clubbing since most clubs were dimly lit, full of young people dressed in all sorts of outfits. They did not look out of place here, and it was here that they could also recruit.

Donovan spotted the girl gyrating to the music on her own and appeared in front of her with just a thought. She had dark hair and was dressed as a Goth. She also appeared to be alone as he had seen no one interacting with her. She did not seem perturbed that he had appeared suddenly there in front of her matching her gyrations. Truth to tell Donovan’s vampire instincts had proved unerring. She was not unlike how he had been, lost and out of place in the modern world, as she danced allowing her imagination to take her away. Like Donovan laying amongst the fig leaves her body had been abandoned to allow her mind to roam free.

Donovan took her elbow and guided her to a dark corner where she finally raised her eyes to his. There was instant reaction in hers. Slightly shocked as she realised what was standing in front of her, then relaxing as her mind told her this was her imagination, and yet strangely drawn as if to kin. As Donovan introduced himself and she started talking he knew that this girl was on the same wavelength as him. He felt himself powerfully drawn to her and not just to be able to taste her coppery blood. She could be his, he felt this instinctively; she would come to him willingly.

Mostly vampires did not pair for eternity, but it was not unknown and was not frowned on. Because of their longevity and the fact that in the past they had not reproduced sexually, it just did not seem to be such an imperative. Donovan’s thoughts appeared to have shown on his face, and with no words spoken, a tacit agreement to leave the club seemed to have formed. They moved together towards the exit.

***
With a jerk Donovan came to, rustling the leaves he was laying in. Something had pulled him back; then he realised that it was dusk and standing over him was a girl with dark hair, dressed as a Goth.

She was holding her hand out to him."

1 Comment
 
 

I saw an article earlier today, on women24, about the lending of books, and reading the article set me thinking - what is it about borrowing people's stuff that then, seemingly, causes the borrowers to treat the borrowed item as if it is theirs to do as they wish with?

I refuse to lend out ANYTHING these days, and books, magazines, DVDs, Videos and records fall into that category. I have been bitten once too often. My books are not all pristine because I reread them, I love revisiting books I have enjoyed, but the people who always say, Oh, but I promise..., are, more often than not the ones who do not return them, return them damaged and then deny all knowledge of that or, when you ask about it, admit they have not yet read/watched whatever they took.

My mother used to have a little book that people had to sign in with the date when they borrowed but in the end she also stopped lending. It was the friends who could afford to buy said item who were the worst too!

I find the attitude of the borrowers is als. o so often churlish when you ask for the return of said item. I have even had it said to me, Oh, please, it was only a paperback, you can always buy another one! Excuse me!? No offer to replace it either. Worse still are those who say, Oh, my friend wanted to read it so I lent it to them and they haven't given it back yet / don't know where it is.

My partner was particularly prone to lending stuff of his out and never seemed to learn, but was extremely hurt when the stuff was not returned, and he knew my views on the subject, yet, whilst I was overseas, a friend wanted to borrow some of  MY books and videos and he lent them to the bloke. When I returned and pointed out that my stuff was missing, all he said was, well, he was really insistent that he would return them!

Needless to say, said items had been borrowed months before, and I insisted that he get them back right away and not to lend my stuff out again, but one video did not come back - surprise, surprise - it had never been borrowed apparently!!

I have, in the past, lost tools, a saddle, books, videos, party lights and various other things. Some things were borrowed and broken, returned that way with a comment like, well, it was not new anyway and so on, again, with no offer to replace or assist in the replacement. As I have said elsewhere here, very often the people who did the 'borrowing' had the money to buy these things anyway, but were not the slightest bit interested or caring in the fact that I could often not afford to replace the item they had so carelessly borrowed / used/ broken / lost /re-lent, but, try borrowing anything from them...! No ways, Jose!

People borrow, often with good intentions, but people are unreliable and it never ceases to amaze me to be honest.

So, as the saying goes, neither a lender or a borrower be...! Let me stop there...



Add Comment
 
 

Salamander may help amputees
2009-06-18 13:22

"Mexico City - Scientists are genetically modifying a bizarre looking Mexican salamander, which according to ancient mythology is a transformed Aztec god, in the hope its ability to regenerate body parts will one day help human amputees.

The 15-cm-long axolotl is nearly extinct in its only remaining habitat: It is a darling of researchers since it can regrow injured limbs, jaws, skin, organs and parts of its brain and spinal chord."

Rightho, this was interesting for me to read since we actually had one in a tank in our science lab at school. Guess when that was? No, knuckle head, not around the time of the Ark! It was a while ago though, but I can see the newish science classrooms and the tank overlooking, of all things, the kitchens! Not sure what the poor lonely axolotl thought of that but I remember being fascinated when our science teacher, whose name I cannot recall right now [she also bred budgies for show and was trying to breed a red one; thought you might be interested in that little gem!], told us about the regeneration abilities of this member of the salamander family. This would have been circa 1960, 49 or so years ago, and she said at the time that scientists were interested in them because of their regeneration abilities and the fact that this knowledge might help humans to regrow lost limbs in the future.

She knew that then, it is now 49 years later, and I find an article about this fascinating creature. But, I ask myself how it is that in 50 years, with all the things we have discovered and learnt to do during that time, scientists have not managed to use this knowledge to our benefit?

I would be interested in a reply from a scientist actually. I would also be interested too, to know why it has to be 'modified'? Really?

2 Comments