Sadly Satiated

I recently reviewed one of my favourite books, The Hunger Games. It was a gripping read that explored human hunger for violent entertainment (see 13 October blog entry if you missed it.) Somehow Suzanne Collins managed to turn this gratuitous story into one of love and hope.

Catching Fire is the sequel and while repeating the concepts of The Hunger Games, explored Katniss’ relationships with Gale and Peeta. It had a clever twist with the set-up of the arena, but an ending that suddenly made things seem a bit unreal. It’s not that The Hunger Games was realistic. You just imagined that society could be like that, especially when survival instincts kick in. When the ending was revealed with the hovercrafts, I sat back and thought, ‘now that’s a bit far fetched.’ I was still waiting for a resolution and ready to read the next book though.

Collins’ last book in The Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, unfortunately satiated me and I no longer have a hunger for this story. Mockingjay was based in zones and looked at survival below the ground and fighting between the districts. Katniss was the Mockingjay symbol, that was initiated through her friendship with Rue in book one and explored through costumes and actions in Catching Fire. She was the bird of hope for district 12. This theme was interwoven through Mockingjay, but to me it could have been further explored with people connected to Cinna or Rue.

The ending was inevitable and the final pages predictable. I was hoping for some great finale and all we got was the end of one reign and the continuation of another. It sets itself up for further books but I won’t be racing out to pre-order.

The Hunger Games trilogy was a brilliant concept and gave us a very memorable protagonist. Collins’ own connection with her father being a Vietnam War veteran gave the battle some depth and believability.

I was saving this book to read and expected to be reading well into the early morning like I did with the first two, but I put it down and picked it up a week later. Not a good sign of hunger.

Any way it’s back to my parenting book. I could use a few strategies after being house bound this week. The weekend is here…breathe.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Gastro Boy

Ah the sweet scent of spring. Lilacs, roses in bloom, lavender and Pineoclean!

Yes that’s right, Gastro is sweeping our house, with my son thundering in the bowl after school today (poor sweetie). My hub and I are probably next on the hit list and then it’s moving to a gut near you!

The medical definition for gastroenteritis is acute infectious syndrome of the stomach lining and intestines. The obvious symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.

Apparently many microorganisms produce it either by secreting toxins or by invading the gut walls. Sounds pleasant – NOT!

It’s a given that you’ll get it if you have children and it doesn’t matter how hygienic you are. It just makes it way into your gut (whether by air particles, hand holding or shopping trolley handles) and lets you know it’s there – quite suddenly!

Every person I know cringes at the mention of the word Gastro because they know its more accurate definition, which is:

Gastro is a bug that makes you and your loved ones feel like shit (pardon the pun), stuffs up your plans for the week. It creates a wave of mass household destruction. Soils linen, stains carpet, clogs up your plughole, cancels your waxing appointment, causes excessive icy-pole demanding, ruins your chances of a child-free day, eats into your cleaning product supplies, makes the house smell more like a hospital than a home and makes your child hungry, not hungry, throw up and hungry again.

I think I better contact Macquarie Dictionary – I could have found a new career, rewriting dictionary definitions.

Any way, I promise I’ll return to writing about books tomorrow night. Pap Smears and Gastro is too much information in one week.

I am reading Kathy Walker’s latest book after listening to her talk at our AGM about Self Esteem & Resilience and may have some parenting tips for you.

In the meantime – it’s time to glove-up and get out my trusty IKEA shower-curtain splash mat – oh the sweet smells of spring!

Space Invaders

I had the double whammy today – P.A.P smear and dental examination. Don’t worry, I will not be writing about my experiences. Thank Goodness!

I am intrigued by words such as these, or words associated with them and the way they sound. They are real ‘space invader’ words to my ears.

Drill. Smear. Moist. Saliva. Scrotum. Mucous. The list goes on...

Smear sounds dirty to me, like greasy hands down a pane of glass and drill sounds barbaric (not far from the truth where dentists are concerned.) Cervical test sounds much more kinder and sterile and teeth implement far less invasive. Wet also beats moist hands down, as does spit instead of saliva and any word is better than scrotum. Congestion has no ‘u’rgh in it. 

Is it the phonetics or is it all in the mind? Is there a word that makes you cringe? And I don’t just mean cross your legs ‘at the thought of it’ cringe.

The activities I took part in are not the most pleasant but like housework they have to be done. But do they have to sound so unwelcoming?

On the other hand there are some words that simply make you laugh. My daughter (who has just got over Gastro) was telling my hub about her friend also being sick and said: “Poor Alkira has a high beaver too.”

I believe beaver is a non invasive, bordering on cute sounding word. I do hope Alkira’s beaver (oops fever) subsides.

Pure Chocolate

I am a sucker for chocolate in any form or flavour. I especially love a decadent mud cake iced with ganache. I’d choose chocolate over lollies every time and can often be found snuggled up with a ‘not too hot’ cup of home-made hot chocolate – not to mention the Arnotts Chocolate Teddy Bear dipping biscuit.

There is another chocolate-coated love in my life and she has four paws and sleeps in the laundry. When I write my blog during daylight I can see her lapping up the rays as she lies on the grass. At night I can hear her breathing on the floor of the study. She is nine years old and her whiskers have greyed and her legs have stiffened, but Wonka is our faithful pet dog and very much a part of our family.

Wonka was our first born of the four-legged variety. She was the runt of the litter, a gentle and almost apologetic bitch. Her fur was a deep chocolate colour that rippled down her back when she was nervous. Her imbalanced ears flopped gently from her head and her belly was pale pink and distended from recently suckling her mother. She needed her mother and was too young to leave her warmth, but she was ours to take home.

My hub scooped her into his arms and she burrowed into his shirt, hiding her head under the collar. Her paws were tucked securely inside his hands. Her brown moist nose explored her new Dad, followed by a warm pink tongue and sharp puppy teeth. Tentative black eyes kept watching us from her shady hideout, slowly beckoned by sleep. Closing. Opening. Alert. Closing. Closed. Delicate lashes resting and an apprehensive pup, almost foetal, her heart racing against my husband’s chest.

Watching that little nose twitching and drawing in breath felt so natural. Only five weeks old and she was about to leave her mother, brothers and sister forever. Those eyes betrayed her fears when they were open but as she slept with her milky whiskers resting on Cliff’s arm, she gave herself to us completely. Trusting. Pure chocolate.


PS. Wonka's now 30kgs

Salami Army

We are finally getting the chance to unleash our spring wardrobes and flash a bit of skin – albeit very white. Skin is everywhere: Cleavages, toes, forearms, calves and yes, even some knees. Some skin is naturally glowing with colour, others have theirs chemically enhanced. There are quite a few legs that look like they are straight from the arctic. Then there’s my skin, aptly described by my younger sister (who shares the same type) as ‘salami skin’. Sunspots like flecks of fat, dotted with freckles and a pinkish after-sun glow. So salami you could make a pizza.

I always greet that first burst of sunshine with some trepidation. I have a fear of exposing those opaque (not to mention hairy) legs and unkempt toenails. Afraid my skin will ‘freckle up with my first rays. No one wants to look like salami.

When I was asked to describe my hand as a country with inhabitants for a writing assignment, the salami analogy helped me and I admit it is pretty out there but here it is below:

My Hand is a country

The landscape is dry but smooth, as though you could slide from one point to the next. There is a tangle of river systems and four large mountains, the fifth has eroded and is more like an undulating slope. Trees are dotted over the landscape and if you travel to the centre you are greeted with a criss-cross of opportunities and directions to follow. Some lead back to the Knuckle Mountain Ranges, others lead to the discovery of gold and precious stones. Any movement on the landscape causes the ocean to ripple across the country, moving to the borders before settling.

Inhabitants

Little Salami Men are unperturbed by the terrain, settling in creases and on mountains but they cannot conquer the centre region – Palm. There are opportunities in Palm for their colony and a good infrastructure could lead to gold and precious stones. However, sunlight is limited and the Little Salami Men’s growth and any possibility of inhabiting this region are severely impeded by the climate and terrain in Palm.

Belief System – Religion, Myths, Celebrations

Little Salami Men (or sunspots) are given their name because of their similar appearance to the fat flecks in a piece of salami. They worship the Sun God and believe that by being dedicated to the sun and her UVA & UVB warriors that they will have prominence and power.

They celebrate and welcome summer with great excitement. When word passes round that the inhabitants are to meet with the Sun God or Madam Bronze from Planet Solarium they soak in their UVA baths, munch on Soleil burgers and get ready to bask in the heat and glory.

However, they are threatened by sunscreen, a white creamy force that washes over unannounced in warm weather. There are great celebrations when they manage to thrive and resurface after the white wash. One such Little Salami man – ‘Salamad Ali’ is renowned for his sunscreen fighting and dodging. He holds his breath so he doesn’t absorb the UVA & UVB resistant force and then packs a punch when he roots himself to the terrain. He is a true champion of the country but the Cancer Council has a bounty on his head. 

And Don't Forget the Drumettes

Today, there was some confusion over a teeny little cut of chicken  and the correct name for it.

I sent my dear dad off to the Victorian Market to buy me 100 chicken drumettes for a catering job and he came back with a hormone infused version. It was in actual fact 100 chicken drumsticks.

There were four bags full of giant chicken drumsticks. "You said drumettes...I got you them," Dad huffed.

He had everything on my list from butter lettuces to garlic, so it wasn't a 'And Don't Forget the Bacon' scenario. A slight variation in the word meant the difference between finger food and fist fodder.

Moral to the story - do your shopping yourself, or call the mini version another name. Did you know that drumettes aren't even legs? They are the fleshy part of the chicken wing that are shaped liked the legs (drumsticks). Wingdings?  Flaps? The names are rolling off my tongue.

It's no surprise to hear that Chicken Maryland is on the menu at Mum and Dad's on Sunday.

Quote it Low and Watch it Grow

I have a mission to make $1,700 on EBay to fund new charcoal carpet. I am so over brown! It’s a bit of a joke in my house but I will get there even if my carpet arrives next winter. We’ve just had the current carpets steam-cleaned so I guess I’m not that optimistic.

What is the secret to selling on EBay? Is it time, luck, the photo, or the written ad? I think it’s a combination of the above, but Lady Luck certainly plays a huge part. Prices rarely repeat and watchers may never become bidders. As my insightful real estate sister says, “quote it low and watch it grow.” I say make sure you insert the words gorgeous, lots of character, or quaint in there somewhere. It paints a cosy picture.

Time to get back on the ‘Bay’ and roll out that charcoal carpet.

Grab a bargain now!

PS I've omitted the part about poor ventilation. Not a priority in the good old days

Antique White Wooden Chest of Drawers – Gorgeous!

This chest of three well-sized drawers (with feet) has lots of character and would look perfect in a bedroom, or study. Perhaps change the knobs and modernize it for a feature in another part of the house.

It’s made of solid wood and has been painted semi gloss white. The insides of the drawers are the original wood colour and the porcelain knobs have sweet rose detail (see picture.)

There are some slight scratches and markings and minor cracks in the timber joins, but these add to its character.

You don’t find solid furniture for this price these days. Flat-pack furniture that is far inferior costs $100’s more!

Grab a bargain at this reasonable price for antique drawers.

Sorry we do not have the key that fits the key-hole.

Measurements:

Height: 71.5cm

Width: 80cm

Depth: 51cm

Happy Bidding!

Happy 50th Plus 1 Entry

I missed my 50^th blogging birthday (yesterday) so I am writing about it today instead, having now begun my climb towards the Century Bloggers Club.

I am really happy that I have written every Monday-Friday for 9 weeks. It’s been a lot of fun, probably good for my mind and spirit, and sometimes a challenge to get an entry up before midnight. Last night, I only just scraped in but I was preparing food for a 40^th, trying to workout how to analyse 59 kinder surveys by Friday and reading over a PowerPoint speech I have to give at the AGM. I can be forgiven for a little tardiness now and again.

Most bloggers get the three-month itch (yes it happens with blogs too). They start with enthusiasm and direction but this wanes by week 12 when they can’t get followers and the novelty has worn off. I know I have to do a lot more to get people following, but at the moment I am happy with my ‘Secret 7’ followers and the others that send texts and emails. I’ll try hard not to get that itch.

If I can help, enthuse, motivate or humour one person then it is worthwhile. Here’s to my blogging 50th – have a virtual champagne with me!

Hip Hip Hooray!

School Big Kid

I always get excited when the postie delivers our mail. Perhaps it’s a letter from an overseas friend or relative, a special invitation or a tax return?

Not on this occasion – a letter arrived addressed formally to my hub and I, inviting us to the prep orientation for our daughter’s impending school. SCHOOL! My little ‘almost five year old’ daughter is ready to take the plunge into the world of structured learning and is more excited by the uniform and matching hair ties. She’ll learn!

How will I explain to her that she can’t just sit and draw pictures of dogs and fairies all day, eat whenever she feels like it, or make a mess and leave it for someone else to pack up? That school is for the big kids and she is almost one of them.

I was initiated into school life when our son leapt excitedly and vicariously into the ‘five-day week information overload’ back in January. I was comforted by the thought that he was well and truly ready, having repeated Four Year Old Kinder, and in his opinion, had honed his cricketing skills. We had chosen a lovely nurturing school and it was time.

We hadn’t always been so sure of our plans. You get thrown a bucket of advice when making the decision ‘to send’ or ‘not to send’ to school. Some of it is ill-informed and you take it with a grain of salt. Other information helps you to make the right decision. What’s the Hurry? Reclaiming Childhood in an overscheduled world, by Kathy Walker, was one bit of solid and reaffirming advice. This book told me to trust my instincts.

Ironically it talks about the overcommitted child (I won’t tell you that I raced from dancing to basketball practice tonight,) and how we need to let kids play more.

The book is set out in sections from valuing our children, understanding their behaviour and social and emotional readiness, choosing schools, talking to the principal, and the transition process. The underlying message is that self-esteem is important and if a child feels pressured to perform when they are not at that developmental stage, it can be detrimental to their learning and acceptance of school.

We made the right call with our son and our daughter will no doubt find her place too. It’s a great read and empowers you to make that decision…"up in the morning and off to school.”

Making Your Mark

There is nothing more frustrating than reaching an exciting point in my book and the phone rings, my daughter needs me to tie ribbons in Soft Puppy’s ears NOW, or I really have to be somewhere and I cannot read another page. How will I know where I am up to?

I’ve always been a ‘dog earer’* and just fold down the corner of the book page. If I’ve borrowed the book, a trusty shopping receipt is always waiting to be sandwiched between two suspenseful pages. But I also have a steady supply of bookmarks. Some are freebies and others have a lot of sentimental value, like my laminated Mother’s Day bookmark gifts. The Twelve Apostles from the Great Ocean Rd, given to me by my father in-law, is a keeper. I even have a bookmark that my best friend in Year 7 gave to me with a little message. They don’t call me a hoarder for nothing.

The humble bookmark was used in monasteries in medieval times to hold back the Papyrus scrolls. Most of the bookmarks were made of vellum or leather and were either like its strip form today or a clip on triangle.

In the 17^th and 18^th century bookmarks were generally made of silk and attached to the book spine, like several hardcover books or diaries today. They later evolved into hand-stitched bookmarks, gold, brass, ivory and mother of pearl and other materials.**

In this century, bookmark is a term used for marking and saving your favourite websites. Even though today, the old fashioned bookmark has become a fashion accessory available in every shade of the rainbow, it still has the same simple purpose – to mark the point where you have stopped reading (and often in my case, fallen asleep.)

They say that wrinkles give you character. I think that’s why I like ‘dog ears’ in my book so much. 

* Dog ear – is the expression for folding the top corner of a book page to mark your reading point. The folded page resembles a dog’s ear.

** History Source: Mirage Bookmark

Grey Day - For Who?

“There is a crack in everything…that’s how the light gets in”

Every weekday, I tap out some sort of thoughts in my blog. Often I have a book to chat about or a quirky idea about reading. Perhaps even some of my creative writing. But sometimes inspiration comes from the simplest of sources, such as an article in Woman’s Day magazine.

Yes, I am really showing my Desperate Housewife true colours here. I sat in the hairdressers (I haven’t been since May,) and self-indulgently whinged about my sudden sprouting of grey hairs. All my hairdresser (who is nearer to 40 than I am,) could say was “wait till you get them in other places!”

That said, I grabbed my magazine while my W3 coded hair dye sent those stray greys into oblivion. It was a bit of a sobering 20 minutes. Firstly, I read an article about a Viennese women kidnapped when she was 8 and held captive in a dungeon for 10 years. She was beaten senselessly for picking up the wrong tool or crying too much. How could anyone ever recover?

Then I stumbled on this article about Kristian Anderson. He is an ordinary Aussie facing a dreadful battle with bowel and liver cancer. What does this guy do for his wife’s 35^th birthday? He creates a video with written cardboard prompt cards and the help of his two sons and puts together a lasting sequence of messages for his wife: “I’ll keep my mouth shut and speak with my heart.” “From, then until now I have loved you.” “You’re beautiful.”

Then I went to his blog (and so should you.)

 www.howthelightgetsin.net    

Scroll down and watch his 4-minute video – a beautiful display of his love with mainly words.

“As long as I live, my heart will belong to you, no matter what comes our way.”

Need I say more?

Hunger to Win…and Live - Book Review

Imagine if you were sixteen, on the cusp of adult life and your name was drawn out of the hat…to fight until death.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is not something I would usually read but I was assured it was a thrilling book and not too much B.A.G.*. It is after all a young adults’ story.

I’m now reading the trilogy, The Mocking Jay, and think this is one of the most thought provoking series I have read.

I don’t want to give away the The Hunger Games' plot, so will skim over the story. It is about reality TV in the future and like Marsden’s Tomorrow series, tackles the what if’s?

Society has broken down, as we know it and is ruled by the Capitol. They create this spectacle called The Hunger Games to entertain their own district. The conscripted 24 children must fight to death. The last person alive gets immunity.

There is inevitable death and destruction, but underlying this corrupt and controlling world is a story of love and family and fighting to win to be in their arms again.

“Someone’s screaming, a long high-pitched scream that never breaks for breath. I have a vague idea it might be me.”

There is a beautiful friendship created in this adverse situation between the main character Katniss and a younger girl Rue

“Rue has decided to trust me wholeheartedly. I know this because as soon as we stop talking, she snuggles up against me and falls asleep.”

I would think twice about letting my teenager read it because it is confronting and the protagonist is their own age having to kill other children. For an adult, is makes us think about how hungry we are to see and read about violence. The makeup, lights and costumes just emphasise how much we think life is a spectacle. Sometimes this can be at any cost.


Rating: 10 all the way

PS Do you like my weapon picture - my original work? Not bad for an unco. artist.

*B.A.G. – blood and guts

Couch Critics

As the Commonwealth Games draws to a close, we can reflect on a fantastic display of athleticism, commitment, talent and sportsmanship*.

Tonight, I sat riveted to the screen as the Hockeyroos** won gold on a tense penalty shoot-out. I cried when Geoff Huegill made a golden comeback and Sally Pearson clinched victory in the hurdles. I even sat up many a night to watch medals snatched from our grasp.

As spectators, we like to coach from the sideline. Cheering. Pumping fists and, in our house, squealing. We love the glory but can also be harsh critics. How many times do we think, ‘oh that was easy, I could have done that?’ There’s so much pressure sitting on the couch – not!

Competitors from a variety of nations have impressed me with their accomplishments: Canadian divers, English and Indian runners and the New Zealand hockey team - not to mention our Australian gymnasts.

I am also in awe of the way most athletes hold their head in defeat. Embrace a friend. Kiss a competitor’s coach. Smile when their dream is momentarily shattered. The friendships seem genuine and they share the same humility. Some people I know need to take a leaf out of their book.

The cloud of doubt cast over these Games has long passed. Terrorism, incomplete buildings, debris in the pool, unruly crowds and rats chewing through camera cables can happen anywhere. We need to remember that India is a third world nation and have done a great job in hosting and supporting this event.

Australians may even rewrite history with this as their most successful Commonwealth Games ever…wait and see.

* Sportman/womanship (just too long to fit into sentence)

** Hockeyroos - Australian ladies hockey team

Eat,Pray, Lacks Guts

Isn’t it funny when we have kids, how the small things excite us? Nappies on special, putting on a dress instead of tracksuit pants and having a great washing day when everything dries and doesn’t have to be hung around the home like a Chinese laundry. Sounds sad but there are lots of ‘tragics’ out there smiling and stripping beds like me at the first glimpse of a sunny day.

Eat, pray, love by Elizabeth Gilbert, a book and current film, targets women (like me) who need to stop and smell the fragrant waft of washing powder. The only problem is this book is also about airing her dirty laundry. I wasn’t impressed that Gilbert spent chapters discussing her divorce and fickle relationships. Who cares?

I found this book self-indulgent. There are only so many mantras and chants you can read about. I enjoy yoga and meditation and understand the spiritual element to it, but I don’t need 348 pages to illustrate this point. One chapter on inner release would have been quite sufficient.

Here’s a summary:

Eat

Gilbert travels to Italy after a bitter divorce and attempts to learn the language. She meets new people, hunts down the best pizza in Naples and has a breakdown and spirals into depression.

Pray

Lots of meditation, mung beans and more silence…yawn yawn

Love

I didn’t mind the last section. It took me a lot of perseverance to get there. Gilbert meets a medicine guru who shows his appreciation for the small things in life. She binds a special ‘lotions and potions’ book passed down from generations that is almost in tatters. He is truly overjoyed. She also does a good deed by buying land for some Indonesian friends. She’s not a totally self-centred bitch. Predictably she meets the man of her dreams – hence the love part.

The language bored me. The book lacked guts and poetry like my recent reads. I’m sure Julia Roberts will make it a romantic chick flick that I may enjoy. As for the book, it will gather dust on my shelves. It’s a great title and was given to me by a gorgeous and thoughtful friend, but I think I’d prefer to sniff my washing than read it again.

Overall 5.5 out of 10

In the Shadows - Book Review

On recommendation, I picked up this sepia book with a faceless man lurking near a lamppost, entitled The Shadow of the Wind and expected something eerie and ghostlike – and got it. I also got a beautifully written novel that cleverly involved the narrator, a young boy called Daniel.

The book is about secrets of Barcelona’s past that intertwine with the present. A mystery about a book, ‘The Shadow of the Wind,’ and its characters is awoken after a visit to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and begins to impact on Daniel’s life.

True to its title, there is a lot of bleak imagery and vivid descriptions of darkness and light to convey people and experiences, ‘her hands wrote a curse on my skin that was to haunt me for years,’ and a stranger was ‘cocooned in his hollow laughter’ and her ‘voice pure crystal…so fragile.’

The author, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, was born in Spain and I can only explain his descriptions as intensely beautiful. He tends to personify elements of the weather or nature with ‘trees hugging the shadows’ and ‘windows…weeping with rain’ and simple but vivid ‘clouds bruised the sky.’

With my tendency to over describe, I loved the depth to Zafon’s writing and would liken his brilliance to Marcus Zuzak. The way he plays with mystery, murder and the magic of love, builds subplots on subplots. It is simply thrilling.

It took me a while to get to it on my bedside book pile and I would have liked to read it with more continuity. Despite the drawn out read it was as brilliant as my friend Ms Nil said.

Imagine if you uncovered dark secrets that were starting to replicate in your life. I’ll leave you with main character Julian’s words, ‘books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside of you.'

Life's Too Short To Wear Stilettos

There’s police tape cordoning off the entrance, chalk outlines of bodies and a few silver backs* waddling in. Morning Melodies meets massacre perhaps? What the heck. I have nothing to lose and every thing to gain. That’s how it was as I strutted in to listen to best selling crime writer Tara Moss.

“Life’s too short to live the same day twice” was Tara Moss’ opening line and she went on to illustrate her motto by telling us some of her life story.

I’ll have to admit that her modeling background made me dubious about her ability to write and present. I was gladly proven wrong. She was poised, driven, engaging and importantly funny. Not an ‘air-head’ comment to be heard.

Tara Moss was born in Vancouver Island, Canada and launched her first book at age 24 in North America.

By the age of ten she was obsessed with Stephen King and Halloween was her favourite celebration. She has always had a macabre story writing style, penning a story about a killer car that wiped out her classmates in primary school. I t is hardly surprising that she chose this genre to write in.

Tara was 6 foot by aged 14 and her good looks and height eventually sent her on to the catwalks of Milan and Paris. She had lived an idyllic life as a child but the illness and subsequent passing of her mother introduced her to death in a real sense. Life was too short so she set off to model.

Her desire to write had always gnawed at Tara and at aged 23 with her motto in mind and being disenchanted by the life of a model, she entered a manuscript in the Scarlet Stiletto competition. She commented that she had no confidence in her writing and because it was anonymous was relieved.

In 1998 that manuscript was shortlisted and she won a young writer’s award. Unlike the stories of years of rejection by publishers, Selwyn Anthony, agent for Colleeen McCullough contacted Tara to be her agent. She then created a novel bidding war and Harper Collins were the publishers to print her first novel Fettish. Five books later the rest is history.

If life is too short how do you live each day differently? Just ask Tara. She was mentored by the F.B.I, flew loops over the Opera house with the Roulettes, got a Private Investigator license, had L.A.P.D** training, had someone choke her until she was nearly unconscious and set her on fire  to experience ‘the victim’

I think the word inspire is a bit common but the word motivate sprang to mind when I listened to Tara. I am motivated to stick with my blog and try and make things happen. I even had the courage to go and chat to the lady that organized Tara’s appearance and get her agent’s number.

Unlike Tara, I don’t have a thriller hidden in my desk drawer, but it may just be an opportunity to get more of an insight into representing authors. She may also tell me to bugger off, but I have nothing to lose…

When it comes to the future there are those who make things happen;Those that wait for things to happen; And those that wonder what happened.

J. Richardson

A thought to ponder on: Why do we lack confidence in our ability when it’s about things we enjoy most?

*Silver backs is a nickname for senior citizens

** L.A.P.D – Los Angeles Police Department

Tweet Tweet

The Magpies are still flying high after their win. Technically they chortle but for the purpose of my blog picture they Tweet.  ‘Carn the Tweety Pie’s. It has a ring to it don’t you think?

It was clear that Samseed, my lecturer of the course yesterday, was a lot more focused on Search Engine Optimistaion than on Social Media. Shame. I really need to know how to optimize readership of my blog and all about the ‘tagging’ business. I know there is an author out there somewhere who needs help plugging their book.

Social media is word of mouth. It is chatty conversations, statements and shared personal information such as photographs and social news. Facebook is about building a community and having a platform to voice your opinion or rekindle friendships; hence the ‘invite a friend’ line. It as much about receiving information as it is about inadvertently reading or snooping for it. Just like I found a guy who I went to primary school with through my brother’s website.

Twitter is like a message with a Bcc: to the world. You can’t retract it once you Tweet and there is a word limit on your message. It is aimed to be the method of communication for those on the go because of its link to your mobile phone.

From a business perspective the best social network to get on board in LinkedIn. I am linked in but have done nothing with it yet. I’ll let you know how it goes.

To sum it all up, SEO marketing is about bringing customers to your site and social media marketing is about going where your prospective community is.

Here are some more interesting stats:

• The average time spent weekly on social networks is 6 hours, 52 minutes and 8 seconds

• 69 per cent of Australian social media users read blogs of some description

• 29 per cent of time spent on line is for Facebook

Some helpful and sites to look up:

www.geektools.com – domain availability

www.netfleet.com.au – domain availability

www.auda.org.au – regulates domains

www.google.com/addurl – indexing your website for free

www.google.com/guidelines – the do’s and do nots when using Google

www.dmoz.org – most popular directory

www.copyscape.com – to see if someone is copying the content of your website

I promise no more tech talk this week!

Up In The Morning And Off To School

Warning: Reading this may induce sleep, turn you into a gigabyte or may even inspire you to spruce up your website.

“Up in the morning and off to school,” is one of Dad’s annoying jingles. He used to stir us with it at the end of every school holiday. Once, my brothers even went as far as lying on the nature strip wrapped in doonas shouting it out as we drove off to school.

Twenty-eight years later, I set off to Nett School to take part in a one day course: Getting Your Business Online and Understanding Online Marketing.

On average we spend 20.2 hours online per month and Australians have spent 23 billion on online goods and services since 2008. Twitter grew 1067 per cent in Australia in the first half of 2009*. With that amount of online activity it’s essential that our website is fresh, linked and well researched.

I appreciate that I didn’t learn everything in one day but seven and a half hours gave me a good grounding in this area. We discussed domain names, web hosting and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) access. Our lecturer explained that it’s a great idea to tell people what you do in your domain name with keywords. For example if I was to create a website for my blog, I could have a domain name publicistforselfpublished.com.au Attaching my email to my domain is also advisable in case our service provider goes down.

We had to think about our websites and what is the objective of having it? How much our business depends on it and its functionality. My other job is of course overseeing our business website http://www.clearcutpropertyservices.com.au    

When we set up our business website we got a company called www.completeweb.com.au to provide the user-friendly software, tech support and upgrades. It was a good decision when we had babies and had limited time on the computer. It cost under $1000 for a static site and I even tried my skills at photography. I’ve just been a little lax in updating it and this course has spurred me to try some new ideas.

The course discussed generating online traffic in three different ways: Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Advertising and Social Media Marketing. We discussed getting your business details on a relevant directory, not using Flash because Google can’t read your data and putting key words in your URL, title, metatax etc is also very wise. It is also important to put key words on every web page (not just the first) because Google sorts your site page by page. Having a sitemap helps with your Google campaign and registering your business on Google Maps (and if possible attaching a review.) If you know someone with a popular site they can also create a link to your site that will aid in climbing the Google search remembering that not many people search beyond the first page of Google.

Google Analytics was another way to maximize your position and within that you can set up keywords and goals and see how many come to your site to read testimonials or certain pages. Google your competitors and see what key words they are using.

Finally, because I am sounding like a computer geek, indexing a website is advisable and this can be done for free on www.google.com/addurl

I’ll have to talk about social media and list some of the sites tomorrow night or we’ll all turn into gigabytes.

I am all Googled out!

*Check out Net School for courses. Statistics in this blog provided on this course  

The Storyteller

One of my most important roles every evening, besides trying to marry all the leftovers into something that resembles dinner, or packing up my daughter’s trail of destruction from her day of play, is to sit with my son and listen to him read from his reader.

I’m not the most patient of people. Jumping in on conversations, tooting the horn when I am picking someone up, and egging my slow eating family to completion. So when it comes to listening, I lack some etiquette. With the exception of story telling because I love to hear the narrative and see the expression on the face of the storyteller.

On the weekend, I slipped on my new wedge heels and mixed with the ‘just 30’s’ in trendy Port Melbourne. Apart from being flabbergasted at the cost of a social beer ($16 for a light and heavy beer,) I enjoyed chatting to my sister’s friends. One in particular, Jess, is a real character and a captivating storyteller

Jess is a city girl who enjoys her home comforts and I’m quite sure she originally backpacked with mascara and pumps on hand. After a trip to Queensland to visit a friend and a drunken night out with her friend’s friend, she ended up working at a remote cattle station in northern Queensland, three hours from Mt Isa.

Jess proceeded to describe a place where she was to live and work from 5am – 6pm for a year. A week’s salary was $200, but she was fed, loved and stimulated by her experiences.

She learnt to ride a motorbike, prod and herd cattle, break-in horses, work in the sausage making part of the abattoir and even help with cow’s birthing.

The lone pub was 38km drive and all the extended family lived within a 2km radius that made for some interesting times. Snakes lived in the roof to keep the rats under control and bugs layered the floor every evening.

According to Jess, the first week was horrific getting use to the extreme conditions and being under the suspicious eyes of the farmer’s wives who assumed she came to steal their partners.

Known to butt in on a conversation, I was absorbed in her story and observed the way she drew back on her cigarette, scrunched her eyes and expressed with her hands. She showed me her naivety and courage in the same breath, while making us laugh. Now that’s a talented storyteller!

My son’s reading is a little stilted as he learns to connect the sounds, make blends and self correct with the illustrations. However, he is also telling a story and his little face lights up when he manages a whole page unassisted. His voice even peaks with an exclamation mark.

I have mentioned before that my hub and I have read to our children since they were tiny babies. One of the funniest times was when my hub couldn’t find a book so he picked up a baptismal bible (he’s not religious) and was reading aloud about sacrificing and killing and Old Testament stories. My son just gurgled in his cot. My point is that it’s irrelevant what was actually read. The reassuring and calming storytelling voice of my hub was all that mattered.

If you’d like a bedtime story as well, why not visit Dog’s Bar, 54 Ackland Street, St Kilda on a Tuesday evening 8-9.30pm and for free you can listen to a selection of Melbourne based writers telling stories from an old arm chair. For those who dare there is an open microphone to spin your own yarn.

For now, I am happy to listen to my son tell his story and hang on every spoken word.

Mrs Potato Head

I have absolute writer's block tonight. I've been distracted by kinder surveys, gold medals (not to mention debris) in the pool at the Commonwealth games and baking birthday cakes. Usually something springs to mind and I can tap out my blog. Tonight it's like a dried up dish cloth. I can leave you with a word from my Dictionary of Ridiculous Words - perissology. It means the use of more words than necessary. On that note it's time to put this potato to bed....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Our Patch – Companion Planting Book Review

I’m off to the market in the morning to select my spring veggies, which will hopefully be in my salad bowl by Christmas.

Two years ago I had a bumper crop with broccoli, beans, beets and healthy mixed lettuces, not to mention a tasty selection of organic tomatoes. The only problem was when I harvested my veggies; I disturbed am army of caterpillars residing in my broccoli. They thought it tasted pretty good too.

My hub and I have grown veggies since we bought our first home. Sometimes we only get a punnet of strawberries all season, or a small disfigured bunch of carrots. When we get surplus it gives us the biggest buzz. I put veggies into absolutely everything and even the dog gets a sneaky carrot grated into her dinner when the garden is flourishing. I barter with the neighbours. Here are some tomatoes – feel free to make chutney.  I put herbs in a jar to make the kitchen fresh and it’s great entertainment for the kids: “See who can pick the most cherry tomatoes” or “how many beans can you count?”

I try and rotate where I plant the veggies every spring and this year I am also armed with Companion Planting in Australia by Brenda Little.

This book is alphabetically set out, much like Stephanie Alexander’s A Cook’s Companion. It talks about vegetables, flowers that compliment veggies; pests that endeavor to stifle their growth and interesting facts or advice. Little has gathered this information from various gardeners, especially her late grandfather.

Some gardening books get carried away with fancy photos and long-winded descriptions. In Companion Planting in Australia, if I want to look up basil – I go to ‘B’ and it’s there. Simple. Basil keeps aphids; fruit fly, whitefly and the house hold blowfly at bay. I won’t have a citronella candle on my outdoor table this year; I’ll have a big pot of basil. It also happens to be my favourite herb.

I’ve learnt that strawberries are friends with sage and lettuces but dislike cabbage. Roses love to live with parsley and garlic (makes them smell sweeter) and camellias enjoy a tea bag or two on their roots. Potatoes team well with beans, cabbage, corn and marigolds and whatever you do, never plant mint near parsley.

I’ve already mapped out my veggies and may even introduce my standard Icebergs to a bit of continental parsley. Not so sure the garlic will compliment the fragrant lavender.

Sunshine is predicted for the weekend. Join me and plant your veggie family as well. You too could be eating Christmas ham and home grown tomatoes on toast. Yum!

PS They are my lettuces from 2008 in the picture - here's hoping this coming crop is as lush.