As if I were

November
November (Photo credit: Cape Cod Cyclist)

I was walking behind you

on the footpath

by the river

and I stopped for a moment because

I could see some wrens inside a shrub.

When I looked up

I saw you were

quite far away and  walking fast

as if you were already leaving me

and going on to

the next phase.

The sun shone on the playing field,

It was obscenely green for November,

as if to deny the end of the year

is getting nearer.

I left the wrens fluttering

inside the shrub

and hurried after you

as the swans eyed their five cygnets

and a few drops of rain

ran down my cheek

as if I were weeping

in the sunshine.

You looked smaller,

more determined,

as if anxious

to be off….

A thin poem

POETRY SOCIETY POSTCARD
POETRY SOCIETY POSTCARD (Photo credit: summonedbyfells)

I have to write

these very thin poems

because

my hand hurts

So,

if I make them thin

they look longer

as if I’ve written

much more

than I really have.

And also

it’s easier to read

a short line

than a very long one like I sometimes write when I get that feeling

of

wanting to tell you

the whole story.

But now

this way

You have plenty of lines

To read between.

See what I mean?

It gives you more

chance to invent it yourself

which means

I talk to you and you

talk to me

even when we can’t hear.

What is a poem so thin called?

I got my linear poetic licence now.

So I’ll write

as best I can

and listen for an answer!

Linear or non-linear.

As we say

It’s the thought that counts.

Tutorial. Working from a colour ground, using watercolour/Gouache

So beautiful.just look!

janetweightreed10's avatarMy Life as an Artist (2)

Given that we have entered a truly Brave New World, it is time to re-think everything.

Like everyone else my plans have been changed and so I will not be giving a course at the School in Portugal this April….however, what I plan to do is mimic my course here during the week of 15th til 22nd April which will include daily demonstrations  and tutorials. 

We will need to use our collective imaginations with regards to the wonderful atmosphere of the school, the fabulous people, food,  (including wine and ice cream:) and of course sunshine.   (http://www.artinthealgarve.com)

A watercolour of  courtyard from my course at the School last October…20191104_091721Meanwhile I will continue to give tutorials to hopefully keep everyone’s creative juices flowing during these most difficult of times.

 

Here I am using watercolour and designer gouache.

Watercolour is a transparent medium….Designer Gouache is an opaque watercolour medium. 

In this…

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Judgment is not measurable in numbers,so it does not exist!

 

A public demonstration of aerobic exercises
A public demonstration of aerobic exercises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Photo1745Well.I read the Times,The Guardian and The Independent yesterday.And all I remember is that pink coats and pnted trousers are in fashion  and that the USA has read all my posts and emails including myriads of love letters or love mails.Joan Collins was raped on a date at 17 and later married the man.Very mysterious.I read the I on S today and did half a crossword before doing aerobic exercise whilst lying  on my bed.Meanwhile the sun shines and my joints ache.It’s correlation ,not causation.Just because you fell downstairs  doesn’t mean that’s why your leg broke.It was a coincidence….this is philosophy of science!

And the biggest issue for some of us that staff  in hospitals are worried  the facilities  in  the NHS are already over stretched before winter has started.So if I get chest pain I shall all not go there;I’ll just pass over quietly.Since when is it good for me to lie on a trolly for 13 hours in a noisy corridor and be given morphine after the pain has gone better?Then when you do need it they won’t give it to you.I felt it was like Alice in Wonderland.Blunderland?They treat you by a rubric not by assessing your actual condition… that’s my view.
I think it’s for legal reasons.Judgment may be left out as it’s not measurable it does not exist

Literary friction

Reading the right type of novel makes you better at understanding people.And that must be good….
Reading Fifty Shades of … is not so useful  and if you buy some whips and such like,you are increasing your expenditure.Be creative.DIY.. use a hair ribbon.
Free  fantasy for all.Start now.. well later on…not yet
I looked at that book..I did not realise what it was.The first 3 pages seemed dull so I put it back on  Waterstones‘  table.I can’t write a novel so I shall write a limerick.. and before I get mad,why does my layout keep changing?Am I haunted?
LOVE YOUR KITTEN
There was an old lady from Britain
Whose love focussed on her cat’s kitten.
She gave it warm milk
Wrapped it in silk.
And now she is knitting four mittens.Is that literary?LITERARY LIMERICK?

A philosopher  is a person who thinks
While she washes up at the sink.
She turns over her mind
And lets it unwind…..
She writes all her thoughts down in ink.

CAN YOU TELL LIES?

Some people can’t fantasise
I wonder if they can tell lies?
Reverie  suits  me…
I daydream at tea.
Maybe my followers are spies?

Terry Eagleton reviews ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins · LRB 19 October 2006

Amin Mughal امین مغل's avatarAmin Mughal Links

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n20/terry-eagleton/lunging-flailing-mispunching
An old piece of writing by Terry Eagleton, but it would be useful to read it in the context of the raging debate between reason and faith.

View original post

Norman Mailer biography in LRB

Andrew O’Hagan reviews ‘Norman Mailer’ by J. Michael Lennon · LRB 7 November 2013.

I strongly recommend signing up for the LRB… read their blog and more.

Uncut Cover CD November 2013
Uncut Cover CD November 2013 (Photo credit: Brett Jordan)

Booklovers don’t miss it

Related articles

It’s one law for the banks, another for the rest of us

Very well written… read it and think

roymayall's avatarGoing Postal

vince

Locust

Vince Cable’s efforts to keep the Royal Mail in the hands of “blue chip investors” and away from “spivs and speculators” was delivered a blow this week when it emerged that the Children’s Investment Fund has taken a 5.8 per cent stake in the company following its privatisation earlier in the month.

The fund was founded by Chris Hohn, described as a “locust” by German politicians, and damned by the former CEO of Deutsche Börse, Werner Seifert, for his part in scuppering a previous business deal.

The London-based hedge fund has bought 58.2m shares or 5.8pc of Royal Mail. Under stock exchange rules, TCI had to declare its stake when it reached 5pc of the company. The threshold was reached on Friday.

Mr Cable has often criticised hedge funds for being short term investors and has repeatedly insisted that Royal Mail would be sold only to “long-term…

View original post 545 more words

A TED conversation on thinking

http://www.ted.com/conversations/13165/what_is_thinking_how_thin.html

I am still wondering about thinking…. and this is very good and has good links too.But the more I ponder the

more puzzled I get.Is that good?

Top book blog

Top book blog

This is highly thought of by many literary journals

Funny Jokes : Saying The Right Thing

JOKE
JOKE (Photo credit: bertknot)

 

Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends
Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Funny Jokes : Saying The Right Thing.

Grey wheezes…

Image

An old lady may love who she pleases;
And get up to some very grey wheezes.
For nobody looks
Not even the spooks..
As with a feather she tickles and teases.

But whips are considered low class.
Ladies,please let that thought pass.
A hug and a kiss
Is what lone persons miss.
So why can’t we do it en masse?

Literary Fractions and other Fictions

11257109-old-mosaic
Reading the right type of novel makes you better at understanding people.And that must be good.
Reading Fifty Shades in not so useful  and if you buy some whips and suchlike
you are increasing your expenditure.Be creative.DIY
Free  fantasy for all.Start now.. well later on…
I looked at that book..I did not realise what it was.The first 3 pages seemed dull so I out it back on  Waterstones‘  table.I can’t write a novel so I shall write a limerick
LOVE YOUR KITTEN
There was an old lady from Britain
Whose love focussed on her cat’s kitten.
She gave it warm milk
Wrapped it in silk.
And now she is knitting four mittens.Is that literary?
LITERARY LIMERICK?A philosopher  is a person who thinks
While she washes up at the sink.
She turns over her mind
And lets it unwind…..
She writes all her thoughts down in ink.

CAN YOU TELL LIES?

Some people can’t fantasise
I wonder if they can’t tell lies?
Reveries  suits  me…
I daydream at tea.
Maybe my best friends are spies?

LITERARY OR POPULAR FICTION?

political-pictures-darth-vader-blasphemy-style

This  is  verygood.[I was just practising how to do a lnk there!I am  not fully trained in editing.]
This is an interesting article about the difference between literary and popular fiction.I have written a few short stories but always wanted to write a novel.
I love Nicholas Freeling.His  novels are written as detective stories but they qualify as literary fiction.I especially like,Dresden Green.
You can get a full  list of his novels via the link above.I shall be mulling over the thought of writing this weekend and looking a people walking by as I stroll along.
Why do we women wear such clothes?Why is “feminine” a bad word… like flowered dresses?How can one reconcile feminism with femininity?We don’t all want abortions like Simone de Beauvoir.
The other day I wore a dress and my partner said,Auntie E!
Not a compliment is it?I was wondering how good my imagination is.It’s based on experience

The line of your lips

Big Love
Big Love (Photo credit: UMTAD)

The line of your lips is finely made,
as suffering accepted has transmuted pain
into a sculptor who
has given you much beauty;
yet the pain has shaped too
the eyes setting,
as if a slight question waits
in the back of your mind
asking,is this right?
and I perceive this and how you may suddenly tremble
with a memory too piercing;
yet how you love
the world so broken,
so humane
so vulnerable
so strong.
what are you saying to me?
I gather you ask me this of me:
Tell me it’s good to be alive.

And I do.

Family Portraits Changes Vol 1 Book Tour with Gillian Felix

Good for book lovers

Teresa Beasley's avatar

Author bio

Gillian Felix

Gillian Felix has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil. She enjoys creating characters that could be your next-door neighbor, but would you want them as your neighbor is another story.

Originally from the island of Trinidad and Tobago, Miss Felix moved to the United States in 1998. Since then she has been involved in the entertainment industry for over fifteen years. Her experience ranges from script supervisor to production manager on many independent features. She is trained in the Meisner and Stanislavski technique of acting, which she credits as an asset to her character development and writing.

Miss Felix is an entrepreneur and advocate for children’s and women’s rights.

Q & A with Gillian Felix

How did you become a writer?

I have always written. As a kid creative writing was one of my favorite subjects. I got my highest marks in that…

View original post 1,232 more words

Vivan Gornick reviews Hannan Arendt’s first 30 years of writing

hannaarendtsudomenica16ye8

vivian-gornick_0

http://bostonreview.net/vivian-gornick-hannah-arendt-on-being-jewish

I came across this because I am interested in Vivian Gornick’s writing but as it is about Hanna Arendt that makes it doubly interesting.I find it hard to comprehend the development of Israel and why some Jewish people are so against it.This clarifies it a little

‘Reading Minds’ Through Literary Fiction

This is a find

DigitalPlato's avatarWP Writers Group

Fiction Matters, February 2008
This is what I enjoy most from reading fiction — reading or probing the minds of characters

Difference between popular and literary fiction
‘Popular fiction tends to be focused on plot, says , professor of psychology at The New School for Social Research in New York, and the characters are rather stereotypical. “You open a book of what we call popular fiction and you know from the get-go who is going to be the good guy and the bad guy.”

‘Literary fiction, in contrast, focuses on the psychology and inner life of the characters, he says. And importantly, characters in literary fiction are left somewhat incomplete. Readers have to watch what they do and infer what they are thinking and feeling…’
full story

The Shaping of Modern Culture During WWII
How the Unlikely WWII Friendship of a Scientist & a Philosopher Shaped Modern Culture
‘What makes a good life, a…

View original post 273 more words

Thinking burns calories…And get a thyroid check

 

Brain
Brain (Photo credit: skpy)

 

Sudoku layout
Sudoku layout (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=thinking-hard-calories/

 

Will learning maths make you thin?Or doing Su Doku?

 

In 2002 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.Had had it 10 years untreated.After beginning treatment I found Su Doku were much easier!!

 

 

 

 

Literary fiction and empathy

Do read this..

blackcountrylibrarian's avatarblackcountrylibrarian

I read Rose Tremain’s “The Road Home” about a year ago and it’s one of those books that changed the way I think and feel about certain things. It’s a story about a man, Lev, whose wife has died and who moves to London from Eastern Europe to try and earn some money to send back home to his family. I can’t remember many of the details but the sadness, anger and fear Lev feels were so powerfully written that they’re still with me and surface whenever I meet or read about someone who’s moved here for economic reasons.

No newspaper article or TV documentary about economic migration has ever affected me like this but I never thought about it much until my daughter sent me a link to an article about some new research that found that reading literary fiction makes us better at understanding other people’s emotions. They talk about “writerly” fiction that leaves gaps for…

View original post 120 more words

My old man swears by it

Coffee cup
Coffee cup (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

I woke up today.Again!What an achievement.I gave myself a gold star.I paid my Access card bill on the phone.It said I owed them 2p
2p… that seems odd…I am unsure if I used the card being as I’ve been so poorly.So I paid that with my debit card… well,I don’t want to pay interest..even on 2p it  could compound
I drank 5 mugs of tea..then 2 mugs of coffee…I bought 6 jars of coffee from Amazon.
I opened my email and answered some comments on a poetry website. that was time consuming.Then I moved by WP blog to Blogger and my Blogger to WP I opened three email accounts on cuckoo and boogle and tried to send myself a few nice messages and photos.
After that I lost myself in thought.Is it a Brown Study?I went into the bathroom.The wall looks dusty…do you dust walls?I looked at some winter woollens drying on coat hangers…My merino wool trousers have got a hole in them.Darning !
Can’t believe it’s November 1st.I got out my new camera.I’ve no idea of the specs but it’s red!.I got it in Argos.I feel it’s my duty to get the economy going.My phone is not downloading photos any more.
I think I’ll go out but my throat is still sore.Seems permanent.
Anyway.my old man got out the phone and bought himself some new trousers…men!

Next he’ll want a new overcoat made of yak hair or moose fur… he’s very metriculous about clothing.I said to him,
It’s puffin’ riduckulous.Eff stuff!
Now look here,he shouted I don’t want you swearing again,you little chugger.
I think he meant blogger..
I said,if I feel like swearing I’ll move to another country.
Which one? he demanded
Any where women can swear in the langue du jour…I did O level French
So that rules out the Arabs I guess.How about Jews?Do they let women swear in Israel?After all they do National Service.
That is something you might consider,my old man said.You could become part of a Mission to ask forgiveness for the Crusades.

But I could not swear then.

No,but they would swear at you!

So I’d pick up some naughty words?Just one problem,they’d be Hebrew or some other foreign language,No doubt many read English on the web.But they don;t get the pronunciation right.

Blurdy Elle.

Wott de ye cawl this .A besom? I’ce seen better on a cat…

I say old man,Good Lord.

Fork off.

Wot crarp.

Varmints!

Reed my hi
How about Horstralia… they all swear there.In English.Horstralian English
He’s getting too sharp.He needs sandpapering and flying
Now I want 4 more mugs and some tea.I’m worn out writing like this just to please the rosey sharkers on the interket
I have not been to the loo yet but if I go I shall publish it here first.So watch this space

Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear? The Catch 22 Timewarp Conspiracy

Intriguing

Old Jules's avatarSo Far From Heaven

This might be the most important text you’ve ever read.

It’s certainly more important than Dick and Jane and their dog named Spot whatever they might be up to these days in Centerville, Ohio.  And anything else you might have read since then probably wasn’t all that important.  Instruction manuals written by English-as-a-second-language tech writers in Malaisia, labels on boxes of muffin-mix, even novels by Stephen King aren’t as important as this.

If you are like me you have to think hard to remember characters and dialogues in books you haven’t read in half-century.  But I’ve been waiting that long for Joseph Hellers prophetic novel, Catch 22, to get caught up with by events.

Yossarian to the mental ward physician:  “Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?”

Pages later, to Orr:  “Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?”

Yossarian to Major Major Major Major, pages later:   “Where…

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Share your favorite book titles/authors

I was thinking last night that I would love it if anyone wants to share their favorite authors.I suggest that you can do this by putting a comment on  the About Me page.I got one from one person which gave me the ideaImage

HOW BLOGGING CAN HELP A WRITER

Georgee eliot

http://janefriedman.com/2011/08/24/blogging-for-writers/

This is a very good blog to have a look at at the weekend

for any  aspiring writer

Why did the boy stand on the burning check?

Words
Words (Photo credit: sirwiseowl)
Fire Burning
Fire Burning (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t keep petting me.I get too delighted

Why is rain wet?

And  top of the bill was the  Sinner,Cain Man2

Do you  like creative haughtiness?

Do you hate your food?

Where is the saint in a love affair?

I love.Amen to that twit.

Join Twytter and swear  an oath daily.Free for all.No begging,

Eat peas with the stork,please.

I like a man in a masque

What face shall I put on today?/

I wonder who you aren’t

Don’t tell the truth about your tarts.

Her arts are almost disdainful.

You are a disgrace to my homily.

No preaching  bullshit

How many lovers are a bluff?

Do you like to eat crumbs in bed?Bird needed

Why People Fail at Life

A fascinating place

Jakob Scheel's avatar

Unfortunately, I have a long history of failing. I know, I know…life is hard and we all fail from time to time. Its inevitable, because no one is perfect.  But at the stage in life I am at right now, I will have to admit to myself that I’ve taken some really dumb decisions over the years.

View original post 274 more words

Iolo Technologies Reviews and Complaints @ Pissed Consumer

Iolo Technologies Reviews and Complaints @ Pissed Consumer.

 

I had a bad experience with them and am unsure if they are a genuine company or not;they were it appeared on Dell’s website but Dell said it was a fake!

The Hidden Gifts of the Financial Crisis | Building Relationship Skills

 

 

b4c57-dscf0471My own work

 

 

The Hidden Gifts of the Financial Crisis | Building Relationship Skills.

Worth looking at