Been a long time...

Oops. It's been so long I've forgotten my password and sign in! Oh the pressure I'll be having from WOW. She's crashed for the night and it's about my turn but if I don't post I'll be in bad trouble.

So....

Strolled today for half hour, in the fog, hoping for inspiration. It was stirring but it's been a laid back weekend. Back into journalism. Jeeze is it great to be back writing, interviewing people. The ideas do just flow into fiction too. It's nice to once again sit at the computer and have the ideas just fly. It's about time too as lots of upcoming possibilities to get that work out there. So for any of you writers, ensure you keep sending out. No matter what it is. Heard a great interview with Irish writer Colum McCann on RTE Lyric, I think it was, this past Friday - Art Zone. Had to grab this quote as it is how I write. It's my way of journeying whilst writing/mining for nuggets and more.

"The dirty little secret of writing is you don't always know where you're going," Colum McCann, RTE Art Zone interview Aug. 2009.

That's the part I love about the writing process. You can start out one way and end up miles away from it. Or, the person you once thought was the one telling the story wasn't. It's another character within. Oh, the twists and turns....

Enjoy and happy writing...

Poems vs. Prose

In my personal opinion, poems are prose. At least to me. I mean, I write poems, and people say they are good, and they have been published. But really? All I am writing is a paragraph. I just break up the lines in odd places, to make the poem look creative, and free-style.
Then there are rhyming poems. I write them too. I think rhyming poems should be funny, because when a poem has rhyme and rhythm, humour just feels right in it. So, yeah, peoms are an art form. I'm not saying they aren't. And I'm not saying not they aren't hard to write. Poets are often perfectionists, in my opinion, who edit a poem so no one can tell it was edited, and maybe no one can see all the literary devices and all that were used, but everyone (mostly) can appreciate it none the less.
Sometimes I just think people read too much into a poem. There was one I wrote, about a ship in a storm, and a fiddler. We had been asked to write a simile-poem comparing two dissimilar objects, like the poem (I can't remember the name, and I Googled the content, but once again, couldn't find it), about a woman in a wheelchair and how her fingers were like a pianist's fingers, so graceful.
Anyway, I wrote a rhyming poem, which I quite liked, and was about a ship in a storm, and a fiddler, and the beat of the music matched the strength of the waves... Anyway, a girl told me she really enjoyed it because she thought it was ingenious how "the ship and the fiddler were both being controlled by the waves" and I stood there, kind of hanging my mouth open, thinking, 'Oh? That's what it's about. Huh.'
Because I wasn't really thinking anything much when I wrote it, just trying out lines to see if they fit, and rhymed and all. So then, I was thinking, is that true with all poems? Or is it unique to mine? And maybe that theme of the controlling waves was the true theme, and I subconsciously added it to the poem. Hmmm.

Fiji Water

Taken by Magpie372

Earlier I was looking at 'Today on Aol,' and happened to see a story about Fiji Water. I just had to look, as I had had a hilarious experience regarding Fiji water before.
I kept seeing Fiji Water in the stores and, because of its odd shape, happened to notice it often. I actually bought it once, but it tasted horrible. I suppose it was because it was mineral water. It tasted like someone had ground up a few stones into powder and mixed it in so you couldn't see it.
Its shape really does stand out, being a rectangle. The only other bottle I've seen shaped like that contained - well let me share the story first.
So I was eating lunch in school, and saw this girl a few tables over drinking Fiji Water - like I said, I notice it a lot because of its odd shape. Anyway, lunch ended, and everyone walked down the hallway to return to their classrooms. That same girl happened to have the classroom across from mine, so we were near to each other. Well, her teacher was walking outside the classroom, and she sees the bottle.
'What's that?' she asks, trying to sound innocent, but I knew what she was thinking.
'It's Fiji Water' the girl said, and of course explained the whole extra-minerals, good-for-you sort of stuff.
Her teacher seemed pretty relieved.
Why? Well obviously she had had the same thought I had when I first saw it. The bottle sure looks like a bottle of vodka.

Blogging

I had a post planned and even began to write it, but then realised I shouldn't. It is ten past eleven, and I am getting up at six.
So tomorrow I will post it, entitled Fiji Water.
I wanted to make this short note as I am making an effort to keep this blog daily. So, what is it now? Well, it is interesting I shall say. I think that with more effort I could blog every day and not just about stupid things and fluff either.
MM has not posted again in a while, and there was a long period where I didn't either. I amn't pressuring her too much as she just doesn't enjoy it.
I only started the blog in the first place because I read in a magazine that it is good for a writer to have good promotional skills, etc. And a blog is a really good way to ensure people like your writing, plus it gives you publicity, blah blah blah. I didn't think I would like blogging, but I do, immensely.
And that is all I will post, because, though I want to post more, I am so tired my eyes can't stay open.

Blue, Pink, and Yellow (And Rubber Bands)

I was just looking at my foot, and I felt something odd on my sock. It was a rubber band. It is, however, a mystery as to how it got there. In my mind, there are two options. One; I stepped on it. I don't feel that this is true, as the rubber band is practically glued to the sock. Two; DD tried to wash the pair of socks, and had a mishap somewhere along the line. Yep, I have a huge feeling that is the correct one.
Just recently I came into the kitchen (location of washer, dryer, and fridge), and he was there, trying to open a large bottle. The door of the washer was open, and I understood he was about to start a wash. "I can't get the soap open!" he said, frantically twisting the cap. Just as he looked down and read "apply pressure and twist clockwise," and was about to open the bottle and pour it in, I realised the awful truth. "Stop, that's bleach!" I yelled. Luckily he did stop, and the clothes were saved. He insists, and I am prone to agree, that he is just not cut out for housework.
This led us to another discussion about what exactly 'cut out for' means. I am of the mindset that it has something to do with paper dolls. DD said, "If you cut out a fireman, you can't expect him to be good at housework, can you? Only fighting fires."
I am personally fascinated with the origins of expressions, idioms, phrases and some words.
Threshold, for instance, has its roots in the fifteen hundreds, when floors were covered in thresh(straw). This was cleaned out every so often, and had the bonus of soaking up spills of all sorts. Anyway, what with people walking in and out, the thresh tended to gravitate toward the doorway, and fall outside. What to do? Well, put up a board across the door at floor level to keep the thresh in, effectively, a "threshold".
Now to today's REAL topic; baby clothes. They are blue for a boy, pink for a girl, and yellow for a we-don't know-yet or a we-aren't-telling. But what about all the other colours? There are so many. I noticed this when my aunt asked MM and I to buy some ribbon for a baby blanket she was making. They had the cutest one that said "tiny hands, tiny feet" with little pictures of little footprints and hands all along. Well they only had it in three colours: blue, yellow, and pink. Why? What about tomboys? What about boys who like pink, and girls who like blue? And how would you like it if your baby blanket was yellow? Oh, well they didn't even know what sex I was, or they wanted to stay 'neutral' when choosing clothes for me.
Then I thought maybe it's so people can tell what the baby is. Sometimes it's hard right away. So people who see a pink blanket know it's a girl, and people who see a blue blanket know it's a boy, and people who see a yellow blanket ask. And if you have twins, you can tell them apart by their blankets. So maybe it is a good thing. However, one has to ask, why baby blue? What about baby pink and baby yellow?

Crosswords, Vocabulary, and Ideas

I have a few comments to make about the title of this post. Firstly: things are better in threes, aren't they? Say, chocolate bars. But maybe not trips to the dentist. (Shouldn't have said that. Haven't been in a long time, and the guilt!). I think I read somewhere that titles should be three words. Or maybe that was for articles? And the words should be (alliterated?). That is, the phrase should be alliteration. It attracts the reader because usually the three words describe the content of the piece very well, and occasionally have the added bonus of being humorous.
Secondly, I have a comment to make about the "extra" comma before the 'and'. I personally feel that that comma should be included. Since I already mentioned how I like to write dialogue the exact way it is said, I say the same with lists. Not putting that comma is like saying 'bananas' and then as an afterthought, not even in the same sentence, 'oranges and apples.' (Bananas is one of those stumper words that I can never spell. Surprisingly, I read that one of the most commonly mispelt words is not actually "mispelt" itself, but rather "doughnut.") I have had two teachers in the same year; one said her pet hate was to not have pupils put in that comma. Then I handed up an essay to the other. The thing she marked wrong? That comma. Grr. And I got a 99%, rather than the deserved 100%.
Thirdly, the actual content of the post (Yay! Finally). Okay. Starting from... the last word. Ideas. I seem to come up with an awful lot of ideas of things to blog about while in bed, trying to fall asleep. So...what to do? Well, last night I wrote down the two ideas I had. (Guess what they were? Crosswords and...*I run to check the notebook* baby clothes. Okay, bye bye baby clothes. But anyway...crosswords.) And then, today I am blogging about them. So 'hey' I thought. If I write down these ideas, then maybe the blog really will go daily. (It's like it's a newspaper. A weekly at the moment.)
Crosswords; I happen to do a lot. I rather like them. They expand your vocabulary (Yes, that is the other topic). I get mine from here. They may be rather hard. Not difficult, I mean bite-your-lip-and-growl "I knew that was the @#$%^ answer, but why didn't they say 32 down was two words?"-annoying. Actually, I don't find that personally true. That's MM and DD's department. They go ballistic when that happens. Which it often does. So...anyway. The crosswords aren't high quality, the clues/answers are repeated, and they don't say how many letters are in the answer, or how many words the answer is. But there is a new crossword every day, a print function, and if you miss a day, there is the archive.
Lastly, vocabulary. I like expanding my vocabulary. However, I find it annoying when people don't understand the words I use. Likewise, I find it annoying when people use words I don't understand. So, there is no way to win except to know your synonyms and antonyms well, and always make an effort to expand your vocabulary.
Hopefully next post will be tomorrow. Subject already determined: baby clothes.
-Aoife
P.S. MM post again.

Twitter Before His Time

What fascinates people about Twitter anyway? I think it's because humans are a nosy species. We want to know every detail of somebody else's life but have a definite idea that our own should be kept private.

With the fascination over the tiny details of somebody else's life, people can be grateful for what they "are not." And I put quotations because really, if they are that desperate to figure out what is not wrong with them, there must be a heck of a lot that is.
In fact, they only truthful statement one can make on twitter is; I'm typing my tweet right now.

The reason I bring this up is DD has told me the story of a man who "tweeted," by writing (longhand) in a journal exactly what he was doing at the moment (which is as impossible as twitter. I'm writing in my journal right now...)
His name was ... Anthropologists thought it would make a great tool to show how people lived in his time (to be read in the future, of course). However the ordinary public was sharp as nails and said it wasn't a true example because to do that in the first place one had to be insane. (Views have slightly changed, no?)

EDIT: DD and I both searched the web, but couldn't find hide nor hair of the man. His name or anything about him. There was nothing.

CSI For the Muse

Heard CSIireland.com is coming to Dublin! What a fab opportunity to check out crime scene investigations. Perfect for a short story or two. WOW isn't too thrilled! I'm amazed at the thoughts of the entire process of checking it out. Well, I plan on seeing it and participating. May be totally grossed out but will have those creative juices going ape. Have emptied the Spiddal Library, one of the best around with a fab librarian who's always got her eye out on a good read for you. And, she knows what your interests are. How neat to go in and find there's a stash ready and waiting - that your reading interests have been on her mind and she's been collecting steadily. Mind you myself and WOW will soon have read about every book there if we keep going as we are. Well, gotta head to check out some of those good reads. So, perhaps I've made WOW happy now with a posting! :)

Bank Holiday

Today is the August bank holiday.
Irish people seem to like holidays. Whether or not this holiday ever had a purpose beside getting off work, I don't know. Now it is just the "August bank holiday."
That certainly wouldn't happen in America. Every holiday there has a specific purpose though not many people are really aware of the purpose in great depth.
MM has finally posted again, as you may have noticed. She is getting better at posting.
Always a good word for me, I have noticed! She wants a deadline... So if by seven o' clock each evening, if she hasn't posted and has no good reason why, I will pester her.
That may not sound like a threat, but coming from me...It is. DD knows well, as I have been bothering him whilst he is playing his online poker. He could never play at a real table, because he makes odd noises of delight and disgust when he loses/wins.
He has just won a tournament. He wins a grand total of...five cents($). He requests that I mention he thinks he "will soon become a grand master at poker" like he "is currently a grand master at computers."

Right now I cannot get the tune 'On Top of Old Smokey' out of my head. Of course, after singing it, both DD and MM have it stuck in their heads as well. DD is whistling it now.

"I amaze myself!" DD shouts. He then does a little dance saying; "Go me! Go me!"
That's why he can't play poker at a real table. "I just won ten cents! First place in both tournaments I played!"
*sigh*

Ballinderreen Walk & Workshop

I'm under severe pressure from the WOW. Jeeze a deadline would be much easier. I just don't get this blogging thing and it doesn't really thrill me the same way it does WOW. Spent the day walking around a farm in Ballinderreen and it was a fab day. A bunch of us writers met, many thanks to our host and poet, Miceal Kearney who opened his home and farm to us all. And, even built us a shelter should the rain pour down as was expected! Miceal's poems, from the ones I read, are vibrant with outdoor, farm life. You can see the Oak, Hazel and Ash trees, feel their movements in the winds or glistening in the moon or sunlight. Thanks too to Brendan, Lisa and John who shared their creative work as we sat on the hewn tree bark chairs Miceal made for the occasion. You'd never have known we didn't all know each other. The connection was quick and worshop feedback right on the button: focused, professional and encouraging. So, if you're looking for a walk and workshop event in Galway anytime in the autumn, Miceal is hoping to host one again. Keep an eye out and ensure you've got your wellies, rain gear and manuscripts on hand. In the meantime, KEEP WRITING!

August Already

It's August already!
I haven't been posting, but I have a good reason why. I have decided that it is only worth posting if I have something worthwhile to say.
That means no more really short posts daily, rather longer ones less frequently. The 'daily' blog has now become just a figurehead name.
MM has not posted, though every time she is on the computer I remind her. I can't see what she finds wrong with it, though she is insisting it is "generational."
However, DD makes a very good point when he says there are lots of people posting who are of all ages.
I am happy at the moment because my story was published in Writer's Forum magazine, and my horoscope for August says to 'focus on the things that are going well and stop self-doubt', which I am prone to do. So I will focus on the writing, as that is obviously going very well. I just need a new story to send out.

If the next post is by me, and not MM, there will be trouble.