scribeswindow

Literary Blog Hop

2012-02-13T13:00:00.001+11:00

It's always been my theory that criticism is really just veiled autobiography; whenever someone writes about a piece of art, they're really just writing about themselves Chuck Klosterman

Do you agree?

I completely agree with this, and I don't think anyone can write an entirely objective review as everything that is read is subjective. No one person will read or interpret something the same way, therefore multiple meanings will always be inherent. For example, if you are reading something that say contains vampires, your idea of vampires may come from the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You may expect all vampires that are staked to turn into dust, and if they don't you may be vaguely disappointed. This vague disappointment may manifest into feeling a little disappointed in what you are reading.

Therefore the 'I' in reviewing is important to me, as I'm not going to make any bones that what I am reviewing or writing about is not going to be subjective. It could be as little as it being a book that I own as opposed to a library book. What stage in life I am in. A book that I may have read as a teenager will be a completely different book to me if I read it now. All this comes into play and influences the way you read. And there's no right or wrong way of doing this either.

Maybe what could be more important is consistency. That is, are you consistent with what you like and write about? In this regard, if you have someone following your reviews, they may do so because they find they have a like-minded interest in what you read too. So books you may have read or suggest could be something they will like also.

This question was brought to us by The Blue Bookcase, host of Literary Blog Hop. By the way, what a great question this month!

Theme Thursday

2012-02-04T08:53:00.004+11:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event hosted by Reading between the pages.

This week's theme: SEE

Wink, Vision, Roll etc.

Getting my balance, I stare at a man who has opened the door to a cabin on the other side of the corridor. The footsteps I heard were his. He stares back.

The illusion of murder, Carol McCleary.

What I've been reading lately...Wedding Season

2012-01-31T15:47:00.000+11:00

Sarah Stratford is a wedding planner hiding a rather inconvenient truth - she doesn't believe in love. Or not for herself, anyway. But as the confetti flutters away on the June breeze of yet another successful wedding she somehow finds herself agreeing to organise two more, on the same day and only two months away. And whilst her celebrity bride is all sweetness and light, her own sister soon starts driving her mad with her high expectations but very limited budget.

Luckily Sarah has two tried and tested friends on hand to help her. Elsa, an accomplished dress designer who likes to keep a very low profile and Bron, a multi-talented hairdresser who lives with her unreconstructed boyfriend and who'd like to go solo in more ways than one. They may be very good at their work but romance doesn't feature very highly in any of their lives.

As the big day draws near all three women find that patience is definitely a virtue in the marriage game. And as all their working hours are spent preparing for the wedding of the year plus one, they certainly haven't got any time to even think about love. Or have they?

Taken from book jacket

I wanted to like this book so much more than what I did. I'm a big fan of Katie Fforde's other books, but this one seemed a little lacklustre. I couldn't get solid images in my mind in regards to the characters and I think this was what made it harder for me to enjoy. Also, I may be wrong here, but I think this is the first time she's written a book with three main protagonists, alternating them through the chapters. The books I've read previously usually feature one character and maybe this allows the characters to be explored fully? Each girl seemed to have their fair share of self doubt and zaniness and maybe having three of them this way was too much? I feel so disloyal!

What I do want to say however, is if you're a Katie Fforde fan than by all means read it. You don't want a hole in your read list of an author you like. If you haven't read Katie Fforde, and you enjoy chicklit, particularly Marion Keyes or Lisa Jewell then I would recommend starting with a different title, such as Thyme out or Practically perfect. In fact looking at the page that lists her other novels I can see that really I've enjoyed all of them immensely. She's the type of writer that is akin to draping a really cosy blanket or doona over you.

Sarah stood by the lych-gate and surveyed the perfection of the summer morning. It was June and the sun was shining with the promise of a perfect day. The church was an early English gem, surrounded by closely mown, dew spangled grass, ancient lichen-covered gravestones and clipped yews. She'd already seen Sukie, the florist, who'd been there since dawn, and now some of her anxiety left her. Two years of work had come to fruition. It was all going to be all right. Then she screamed as someone appeared from behind a tombstone.

The Writing Formula

2012-01-28T14:31:00.000+11:00

I've always been organised (in a very messy way - you should see my home! - but in my defence it's full of newspapers and books) and I like to have my diary engagements written out neatly with the correct time beside events. I think in a logical manner, or it is to me, and try to be systematic with the way I do things. I love routine. Having children has allowed my love for routine to be de riguer. I'm not considered anal, rather it's a routine for children.

This is especially evident when at this time of year many may be embarking on brand new routines particularly as the new school year is starting. Well in Australia it is. I love to sit down with my diary in front of me and nut out what's happening in the coming week, month, or even months ahead. I love to say that on Monday we'll be dong this, Tuesday we shall be participating in that and so on. With the advent of kinder this has made it especially so.

I think this may now give you some sense of the orderly (but messy) life I lead. A few posts ago I wrote about storyboarding to aid in writing my novel. Well it seems to have worked! No, I haven't done anything as marvelous as actually finishing my novel, but I have structure now. After going through and writing a storyboard card for each 'scene' of my novel, I finally got to the end and had lots of ideas to pursue. I could write this part at this point, I could have this character do this here, and most importantly I had a reference to remember the names I'd chosen of minor characters.

What I have begun doing now, is writing a story board card for the next scene I want to write. And this has now become my writing formula. Because I know what's ahead, the writing is flowing, that particular word I want just springs to mind and I'm typing ever so fast. I don't think I've ever said this on my blog, but I've been blessed with fast touch typing skills. I can even do it with my eyes closed.

Anyway, I've been so pleased by this turn of events with my book I thought I'd blog about it. Especially as I have been writing I have neglected my blog. So, have any of you writers come across a routine or way of writing that helps keep you inspired?

What I've been reading lately....The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

2012-01-20T11:06:00.000+11:00

I was not completely candid with you in my last letter. In the interests of delicacy, I drew a veil on the true nature of that group and their founder, Elizabeth McKenna. But now, I see that I must reveal all.

World War 2. What do you think of when you read those words? To be honest I feel a little removed from it all. The only exposure I've ever had is through what I've read or watched. At school and at work we have always acknowledged Remembrance Day, but I never really thought about its significance until I had children. Holding a newborn baby in your arms and thinking about how precious that child is to you I was suddenly aware of the sacrafice; the toll it takes on any family who have to endure their loved ones going away to war.

Of all the things that happened during the war, sending children away to try to keep them safe was surely the most terrible. I don't know how the parents endured it. It defies the animal instinct to protect your young. I see myself becoming bearlike around Kit. Even when I'm not actually watching her I'm watching her. I f she's in any sort of danger (which she often is, given her taste in climbing), my hackles rise - I didn't even know I had hackles before - and I run to rescue her. When her enemy, the Vicar's nephew, threw plums at her, I roared at him. And through some queer sort of intuition I always know where she is. Just as I know where my hands are - and if I didn't, I'd be ill with worry. This is how the species survives, I suppose, but the war put a spanner in all that. How did the mothers of Guernsey live, not knowing where their children were? I can't imagine.

I think if you're a book blogger you will especially like this novel it as it reminded me of the sort of conversations or musings you would have and relate to others about what you read. We get to know the characters in this book through letters and at times you have to remind yourself that it is a work of fiction, so real does the writing seem. There is a real sense of the 1940's, evoked through the book's vernacular and imagery.

The author Mary Ann Shaffer was a seventy year old former Librarian and sadly she didn't get to see her book in print as she passed away in 2008. Sadly for us readers this means there won't be any more beautiful works coming from this author.

I knew this book was a bestseller when I bought it (actually for my mum for christmas!) and I can see why. However I will say that it did take me about a third way in to really get into it. To properly work out who's who, and this may seem off putting to some. However if you haven't read it then do so, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Theme Thursday

2012-01-20T10:25:00.001+11:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event hosted by Reading between the pages that will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)

This week's theme: Come (came, arrive, coming etc).

On the page, I'm perfectly charming, but that's just a trick I've learnt. It has nothing to do with me. At least, that's what I was thinking as the boat approached the pier. I had a cowardly impulse to throw my red cape overboard and pretend I was someone else.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows.

Literary sexism

2012-01-16T14:39:00.001+11:00

I read a piece of writing and within a paragraph or two I know whether it is by a woman or not. I think it is unequal to me.

V S Naipul

When I was working in libraries what was often commented upon by various staff is that men tend to only read men. I find this very interesting. Is this so? If you are male and reading this, do you predominantly only read male authors?

This post is piggy-backing off a recent article I read by journalist Jane Sullivan. This is what she has to say about the above quote.

He [Naipaul] talked about something called 'feminine tosh'. He didn't mean it in an unkind way, he added. He said this is because of women's "sentimentality, their narrow view of the world...And inevitably for a woman, she is not a complete master of a house, so that comes over in her writing, too". Who is this arrogant idiot, you might think? This sexist, chauvinist loon? Let's dismiss him at once. It's not as easy as that. The speaker is a man described as the greatest living writer of English prose.

I've had a quick look at the books waiting TBR sitting near my bed, fifteen in all. Eight of them are written by men. So I'm happy to say that what appears evident with me is that I'm about half-and-half.

Jane Sullivan also provides some insight as to what texts are being taught in schools. When I was in school we of course did read 'dead white men', but we did read lots of female writers too. Off the top of my head I can remember reading Nene Gare's The fringe dwellers; Playing Beattie Bow, Ruth Park; Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte; Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. There were of course many male writers we studied, including Shakespeare, however it never was seemingly only male.

An assignment that I did last year looked at some adolescent texts we would include in a Secondary English curriculum. I looked at Looking for Alibrandi, Melina Marchetta; Does my head look big in this?, Randa Abdel-Fattah; Callie, Ruth Park; Tomorrow when the war began, John Marsden and Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer. So out of five I had unconsciously chosen three female writers. These were books I felt drawn to and felt comfortable and enthusiastic about teaching. I also used Pride and prejudice as my main text. These books were all chosen for hypothetical classes.

So I'll end this post with two things. I promise to consciously try and be fair to both genders when I am teaching texts (and if I have the power to do the choosing). That is 50% for both. And I want to end with a final question. Are you drawn more to male writers than female?

Book Beginnings

2012-01-15T09:53:00.000+11:00

How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.

Mr Sidney Stark, Publisher
Stephens & Stark LTD
21 St James's Place
London SW1

8th January 1946

Dear Sidney,

Susan Scott is a wonder. We sold over forty copies of the book, which was very pleasant, but much more thrilling from my standpoint was the food. Susan managed to get hold of ration coupons for icing sugar and real eggs for the meringue. If all her literary luncheons are going to achieve these heights, I won't mind touring the country. Do you suppose that a lavish bonus could spur her on to butter? Let's try it - you may deduct the money from my royalties. Now for my grim news.

The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

Upon reading these first few lines, I first noticed the date. I was reading this on the exact same day! For some reason this gave me a good feeling that boded well for my coming read. The word rations (as well as the year 1946) immediately meant during the war. All I know about this book is that it's meant to be about books. Something I love. I also know it was a best seller.

In actual fact I gave this book to my mum the christmas before and she said she couldn't get into it. Terrible feeling when you've taken the time to choose a book for someone. Anyway, I took it to give it a try and it's been sitting there waiting for the best part of a year. I'll let you know how it goes.

What I've been reading lately...The elegance of the hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

2012-01-08T16:03:00.000+11:00

I was surprised when I first began reading this book because it wasn't what I expected. For reasons unknown, I was expecting a book written in a similar vein to McCall's 44 Scotland street. Or something like Candace Bushnell's book One fifth avenue . This means I was expecting some intelligent chick lit, or a microscopic view of the daily lives of the inhabitants of 7 Rue de Grenelle, a grand parisian apartment. This book however is about philosophy. Or specifically phenomenology. This is the study of the observation of consciousness.

Have you ever wondered why it is that you can observe your cat and know at the same time what he looks like from the front,behind, above and below - even though at the present moment you are perceiving him only from the front? It must be that your consciousness, without your even realising it, has been synthesising multiple perceptions of your cat from every possible angle, and has ended up creating this integral image of the cat that your sight, at that moment, could never give you.

Renee who is the concierge of the apartment building seems to apply her observations of the apartment's inhabitants. The book begins with Marx, and Marx of course is a wonderful way to begin as Renee scathingly points out the abyss between herself and the very rich bourgeois who live there. I don't think you can have a book about philosophy and not include Marx and indeed the juxtaposition of concierge Renee, Cleaning lady Manuela and the Parisian bourgeois residents works very well.

Whether you are a determinist or existentialist doesn't matter but what struck me is you would have to have some sort of knowledge of philosophy of these different ideologies to read this book. So I ask, can you read this book without knowing the work of Marx, Kant, Descartes or Husserl? Is this the extreme irony of the book, where the reader themselves must not be one of the masses to be able to get it? Is it a book written only for the intelligentsia that Renee appears to rail against?

Nevertheless the novel is filled with exquisite insight and writing. One of my favourite parts is Renee's description of drinking tea. Now I have blogged here before about the importance of coffee in my life. In our household coffee is taken very seriously. I've tried to describe its importance and the word I came up with was ritual. That is, I sit down once each day, usually around mid-morning, and this becomes my time. The following quote describes this sentiment aptly - and dare I say elegantly! When I read it I thought to myself, yes! That's exactly how it is. The author is talking about tea, but yet it translates to any beverage or brew you may partake of with enjoyment.

The tea ritual: such a precise repetition of the same gestures and the same tastes; accession to simple, authentic and refined sensations, a licence granted to all, at little cost, to become aristocrats of taste, because tea is the beverage of the wealthy and of the poor; the tea ritual, therefore, has the extraordinary virtue of introducing into the absurdity of our lives an aperture of serene harmony. Yes, the world may aspire to vacuousness, lost souls mourn beauty, insignificance surrounds us. Then let us drink a cup of tea. Silence descends, one hears the wind outside, the autumn leaves rustle and take flight, the cat sleeps in a warm pool of light. And with each swallow, time is sublimed.

One of the things that struck me is Renee's perception of class. They say that Australia is a classless society (personally I don't believe that as I think we do apply class in some ways) and I think that this made it difficult for me to comprehend why Renee adheres to class so much. But for this novel to work the distinction between class needs to examined. Indeed this novel is a philosophical examination of life. It is a beautiful book.

The book isn't only about the philosophy of the mundane. I promise there are characters and there is a plot. Aside from Renee there is twelve year old Paloma Josse, a privileged young girl living upstairs. Her thirteenth birthday is approaching and she plans to commit suicide. It appears she cannot abide the mundane of her wealthy family. A gifted child, she has hidden away her intelligence. When one of the neighbours dies, things change for both Renee and Paloma. How? You'll just have to read it to find out.

Literary Blog Hop

2012-01-07T16:06:00.000+11:00

Welcome to the Literary Blog Hop hosted by The Blue Bookcase!

This monthly blog hop is open to blogs that primarily feature book reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion.

Here's our question this week:

Do you like to supplement your reading with outside sources, like Sparknotes, academic articles, or other bloggers' reviews? Why or why not?

I supplement my reading by our Melbourne newspaper The Age, by reading any relevant articles to any novels I may be reading. I also get a monthly newsletter from a bookshop that could be described as more literary. So this is a good way to gain reviews through that.

I also check out websites like Book and Reader, Library Thing and Good Reads. I certainly check out a bloggers review on a book I'm interested if I come across it.

I don't seek out academic articles unless I'm researching an essay for a novel. I've never used sparknotes before.

This question is really interesting to me as I've been thinking of posting something along these lines. I believe that what's been described here is a more metafictional way of reading. Or I call that the how of reading. What I mean by this, is that we all make our own meaning by what we read and with so many more online tools or other references around we get to supplment this all the more. It encourages more reflexivity and we bring to the table what we already know as well.

As an aspiring secondary school teacher, I'm noticing more and more, that the younger generations are doing this. The author's bio, other works, related works or suggested books similar to what they're reading are literally at their fingertips.

Anyway, after writing all this I'm inspired all the more to go away and write the post I was sounding out in my head. :)

Studying Computer Games - The Narratology/Ludology debate

2012-01-07T11:06:00.005+11:00

This is following up on my post is the novel dead? As promised here is more on computer games in a classroom. Firstly definitions:

Ludology – argues that narrative or the story or plot is not the central structure of games.

Apologists believe that games have the potential to become great, just the right people aren’t making them.

Narratology – regards computers and games as merely a new medium of narrative or story potential.

Trivialists believe that computer games cannot be taken seriously by literary studies and therefore should not be taught in a classroom.

I am firmly on the side of Narratology and Apologists. I believe that games can sit alongside other texts, printed or not, and they can be consumed and learnt from and theorised about. I do think there are some great games out there, and I've played some great games, but I think that in a curriculum setting we could do more in devising games or ICT that can connect with students much much more. I'll be posting more about what sort of games I believe would be beneficial in a class in another post.

Espen Aarseth devised the terms apologists and trivialists and is a vocal Ludologist in the debate. What you are also reading about in this post is what's known as game theory.

However it could be argued that even the most orthodox ludologist must acknowledge that games do try to tell stories, or at least give the players the raw materials to construct the story themselves. Aarseth acknowledges this by dividing narrative into two levels: ‘description’ and ‘narration’. Games are rich in ‘description’, they show us visually and aurally the material the player requires in order to construct stories while they are poor at providing an over reaching narrative voice

(Apperley, 2010).

So, this brings me to the question, which side of the debate do you feel supports your own thinking regarding computer games being taught in school?

The final point I want to raise, is have all you readers out there think about what it is you read? Or perhaps a better term, what do you consume? This can be anything from books (of course!), to newspaper, blogs (again, of course!), movies, and all manner of things. Once you have done your mental list, take another moment to think about how you read.

I'm asking this of you because as readers we are always interpreting texts to make our own meaning. This is called decoding and Stuart Hall made this distinction in 1973. Therefore, when you are reading you are constructing meaning in an authored environment (Cavallari, Hedbury, Harper, (1992). I wholeheartedly believe in this sentiment and this is why I think that games do belong in a classroom. What do you think?

Images taken from some of my favourite adventure games found at Adventuregamers.com.

Apperley, T., (2010), What games studies can teach us about video games in the English and Literacy classroom, Australian journal of language and literacy, 33, 1. pp 12-23, Education Research Complete, Ebscohost.

Cavallari, B., Hedbury, J.G., & Harper, B., (1992), Adventure games in education: a review, Australian journal of educational technology, 8 (2), 172-184

Follow my book blog friday

2012-01-07T09:36:00.001+11:00

Theme Thursday

2012-01-06T11:20:00.002+11:00

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event hosted by Reading between the pages that will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)

This week's theme is NEW (fresh, newest, latest etc)

Just as teardrops, when they are large and round and compassionate, can leave a long strand washed clean of discord, the summer rain as it washes away the motionless dust can bring to a person's soul something like endless breathing. That is the way a summer rain can take hold in you - like a new heart, beating in time with another's.

The elegance of the hedgehog, Muriel Barbery

New Look

2012-01-05T10:36:00.000+11:00

Well Scribeswindow has a new look. I wasn't intending on it, but unfortunately the beautiful Header on my old look shrunk and I couldn't get it back to how it was.

So off I went to the fantastic designs by Itkupilli and as usual I wasn't disappointed. Anyway this is a Happy New Year post. Hope you all had a good one.

Book Beginnings

2012-01-04T19:24:00.000+11:00

"Marx has completely changed the way I view the world," declared the Pallieres boy this morning, although ordinarily he says nary a word to me.

I'm half way through this book, and I've already written a review of it. It's been one of those novels that just make you sit up and take notice, and it was a complete surprise as it wasn't what I was expecting. I will be posting a review soon, so stay tuned......

Notable Reads 2011

2011-12-31T14:20:00.001+11:00

Looking at this list now I can see just how remiss I have been in writing reviews. I've only reviewed a few of them. The books featuring on this list are not in any particular order and are books that I have found myself thinking about afterwards. To me this is the mark of good writing. I'm also happy to see that my reading has been very eclectic. So hopefully in 2012 my list will be even longer and I'll have more time to write reviews.

Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld

The windup girl, Paolo Bacigalupi

The somnambulist: a novel, Jonathan Barnes

Ender's game, Orson Scott Card

Soulless, Gail Carriger

The passage, Justin Cronin

The gargoyle, Andrew Davidson

Promises to keep: a novel, Jane Green

Justice Hall, Laurie R King

Perdido street station, China Mieville

The city and the city, China Mieville

Boneshaker, Cherie Priest

Hyperion, Dan Simmons

Giants of the frost, Kim Wilkins

The slap, Christos Tsiolkas

The elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery

Dark matter, Michelle Paver

Writing, Achievements and What's Ahead.

2011-12-30T15:42:00.000+11:00

I haven't written a post about writing in years. This is because other than this blog I haven't been writing. However, for some reason a few weeks ago I returned to a novel that I started in 2005. Having a chat to one of my son's speech therapists at a christmas do, I happened to mention this. She pointed out that this was probably due to the fact that after a year of writing academic essays for my course, my brain was suddenly freed up to begin focussing on the creative. As soon as she said it I realised that 'of course!' feeling that she was correct.

So happily I have returned to some characters from this novel. Almost like resuming old friendships. In 2005 I had written almost 30'000 words. Yep. That much. Then I came to a DEAD END. It was very frustrating, but as I re-read what I had written I suddenly had a thought. An an end came to me. Just like that. Now you must remember that I am still yet to write it. I'm not going to say anything else about this book, because I'm a big believer in not talking, but rather writing it. This was after I discovered the fifteen commandments about mystery writing, that I posted many years ago, that really can be said for any kind of writing. Ever since reading these commandments I've followed them and I find them helpful.

At the moment I am storyboarding my novel. Tedious but I think it needs to be done. I need to formulate it into some kind of plan and then I need to write it off the storyboards that will show the ending. Does anyone else write this way? I have never done so before, but I think it will work for me.

The only negative thing about being inspired to write this novel again? Not being able to blog as frequently as I wish.

So, in light of it being a New Year (almost), I want to reminisce on 2011 and what I hope to do in 2012.

2011

Knocked off a year of my Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching.
Began the renovation/extension of our home.
My amazing son began to truly talk. I can now have a conversation with him.
My daughter is another year older and a delight.
In my eyes my husband is still amazing after all these years.

So let me just take a moment to voice my appreciation and give thanks for everything I have.

2012

I hate to say resolutions, but I suppose really that's what this is.

We will be focussing on our extension/renovation this year.
I will finish my novel.
I will try to blog more.
My son begins four year old kinder and will continue his therapy. I hope he will continue to go from strength to strength.
As I am taking a break from study this year, I will have my daughter with me full time. We will be attending many playgroups. And parks. And the library.
Dare I say it? Okaaaay then. I will exercise more this year.......

What about you? What have you done this year that you would like to share? What do you hope to be doing next year?

Happy New Year everyone.

Follow my book blog friday

2011-12-30T14:54:00.006+11:00

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you! Now to make this #FF interesting we do a FEATURE blogger.

Question of the Week: The New Year is here -- and everyone wants to know your New Years Blogging Resolution! What are you going to try to revise, revamp and redo for 2012 on your blog?

My New Year's Blogging resolution would be try to blog more often. I've been very ad hoc with how often I blog particularly with book reviewing. I would like to become more systematic with it.

Literary Blog Hop

2011-12-19T13:21:00.000+11:00

Welcome to the Literary Blog Hop hosted by The Blue Bookcase!

This monthly blog hop is open to blogs that primarily feature book reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion.

Here's our question this week:

What work of literature would you recommend to someone who doesn't like literature?

Our answer comes from Christine-Chioma, who reviewed for The Blue Bookcase in early 2010. Now she's back! Her answer:

Yes, I did make up this question; mainly because whenever I hear people say they don’t like literature I immediately think of about ten different pieces of literature that I’m certain they’d enjoy. There’s obviously a great variety of people and tastes, likewise there is a large variety in works of literature. Depending on the literature-hating person, one of the first book I’d recommend would be The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. However, that would not be a good suggestion for some of my other friends and so in their cases I’d suggest The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. But the creative non-fiction element of that book might annoy some so clearly I would not suggest it to everyone. However, Peace Like A River by Leif Enger is the one book that I universally want to suggest whenever I hear that dreaded “I don’t like to read literature” or worse, “I only read books by Janet Evanovich”.

One of complaints I hear most about literature is that it requires “too much thinking”. Although smart and well-written, Peace Like a River is a book that does not take too much mental energy to read. The plot is captivating enough that despite serious topics and moral dilemmas, it is not overwhelming or heavy. In fact, the book is even funny at times due to its dynamic and multi-faceted characters who are easy to fall in love with (especially Swede!) Peace Like a River is a great introduction to literature because it’s the right balance of plot and character development. It’s a beautifully crafted novel that flows natural through themes that almost all can identify with: family,morals, love, individuality, tragedy, and fear.

What about you? What book would you unequivocally recommend to literature-shy friends? Why?

It all depends on who the person is. In the past I've given gifts to some friends who I think will enjoy more literary type books. One suggestion is The Eyre affair by Jasper Fforde. I think this is a fun way to read literature and if they haven't read some of the classics featured in this, then they can follow up by doing so.

I think Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery is a good choice.

For something Australian Peter Carey's A true history of the Kelly gang is a good read.

Or The Slap by Christos Tsoilkas that looks to be shaping up as a contemporary classic.

My final choice - and there are so many more - would be Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. The beauty of this is if your recipient enjoys it, there are so many more Du Maurier titles to succumb to.

what I've been reading lately...The city and the city by China Mieville

2011-12-19T08:27:00.000+11:00

I have terrible eyesight and I often feel as though my peripheral vision plays tricks on me. I think perhaps that this is why I was really able to visualise Mieville's book, The city and the city.

When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. To investigate, Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to its equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the vibrant city of Ul Qoma. But this is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a seeing of the unseen. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them more than their lives. What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities.

Taken from Amazon.com book descriptions.

Basically two cities, Beszel and Ul Qoma overlap each other and it is illegal, or you are in breach if you see the other city. So even though you do see you must immediately unsee. Not only must you unsee, but you must also unhear too. So if you hear a tramcar going by in the other city, you are in breach of doing so. How would they police that? I hear you ask. Well Breach - who are the entity that do the policing - are a force unto themselves, mystical and magical.

An elderly woman was walking slowly away from me in a shambling sway. She turned her head and looked at me. I was struck by her motion, and I met her eyes. I wondered if she wanted to tell me something. In my glance I took in her clothes, her way of walking, of holding herself, and looking. With a hard start, I realised that she was not on Gunter Strasz at all, and that I should not have seen her. Immediately and flustered I looked away, and she did the same, with the same speed.

I would describe this book as a police procedural whodunnit crossed with urban fantasy. China Mieville indeed pulls it off. He is extremely talented and I love reading his work. He's said before that he wants to transcend genres and write in as many of them as possible. This book is written in the first person through the eyes of Inspector Borlu investigating the case that leads him to an archeological site where he finds a major conspiracy between the two cities. Uncovering the conspiracy also means uncovering the murderer. The grittiness of the murder mystery is juxtaposed with the more fantastical or mystical elements. If you are a mystery reader, it's quite wonderful to read something so familiar that is yet unfamiliar.

Other books that I have read of his and enjoyed have been Perdido Street station and King rat. At the moment I'm lucky enough to be on the shorter end of my Mieville TBR list, and I'm sort of hugging this knowledge to myself and eking out each novel. He's just one of those writers that needs to be savoured.

Feature and Follow Friday

2011-12-16T14:43:00.000+11:00

If you are new to the #FF fun, Feature & Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

Question of the Week: When you've read a book, what do you do with it? (Keep it, give it away, donate it, sell it, swap it..?)

If it is a library book then obviously I return it, ditto borrowed books from friends and family. As I'm a Librarian I've spent most of my life doing this. However, over the last few years, circumstances have changed and I've been at home and we're also embarking on a major house renovation. I've told our architect about my (dream) wall of books, and he's happily obliged. So, even though it's still yet to be built - hopefully sometime next year - I've been slowly building up my own library of books. So all my recent purchases have been for me to keep.

Is the novel dead?

2011-12-11T18:52:00.001+11:00

Now that I have your attention via my post title, I'm asking this question more with a view on what is taught in English classrooms in high schools. Is there anyone here who believes that schools should only teach novels and plays? I'm going to assume that as many of you reading this may be book bloggers, that I'm talking to the converted. That is, you may have had great enjoyment in your English classes and this is good, because I want to ask what did you study in school? Was it only print text novels? Did you study plays - I have a feeling the majority of people would say yes with a particular emphasis on Shakespeare. How about movies? Television? Did anyone study computer games, or websites?

This post is about the idea of playing games in an English classroom and using it as a tool for teaching. Or viewing it as another text. My preference of game would be something that is in the Adventure genre. So this doesn't mean shoot em up games or role playing games, but rather interactive fiction. The idea is that you have a protagonist in the game and the user navigates the interface and propels the character through the game by means of dialogue with other characters and this then makes the narrative of the game move along. Sometimes these games are described as point-and-click. There are many examples of this genre that can be found at Adventuregamers.com, if anyone is interested in checking out some titles.

In a post I did a few months ago I talked about a teacher, Tim Rylands who has done just this, using games in a primary school setting. The game he chose was Myst. There's a link to his website and also some footage of his classes in action. What I love best about Tim Rylands teaching is how engaged his students are and the work they are producing.

The above site Adventure gamers has a forum and I proposed this question of what fellow gamers thought of playing them in classrooms. I was surprised at some of the negativity that some of these gamers showed. They didn't think that it was 'serious' enough to be studied and what exactly would students learn from them. What do you think? Of course there were many replies from gamers who had had the privilege of studying a game in class and said it had been a good experience. One comment said that sometimes teachers bring their own agenda into classrooms and force students to learn what the teacher is into. He cited rock music as an example of what he had to learn. I think that's a fair comment, and perhaps that is what I'm doing?

Anyway, this post is getting far too long and I've got heaps more I want to say on the subject. However, for now, if you have an opinion I would love to hear about it.

Follow my book blog friday

2011-12-09T16:04:00.002+11:00

Q: Keeping with the Spirit of Giving this season, what book do you think EVERYONE should read and if you could, you would buy it for all of your family and friends?

A: I think everyone should read J K Rowling's Harry Potter series. Starting with the first book of course!

Follow my book blog friday

2011-12-02T17:13:00.002+11:00

Well I'm going to start checking out more book blogs and I thought this would be a great way of doing it.

Oh and in answering the 'guestion', my biggest pet peeve is when the author's 'voice' doesn't do it for me. This could be because it just sound whining or a bit wishy washy to my mental ears. :)

Book Beginnings

2011-12-02T16:21:00.000+11:00

Mapp and Lucia by E F Benson

Though it was nearly a year since her husband's death, Emmeline Lucas (universally known to her friends as Lucia) still wore the deepest and most uncompromising mourning.

I'd never heard of E F Benson but liked the back blurb of this book. The beginning seems unsurprising to me in light of it being a classic. And the fact that Lucia is wearing mourning straightaway situates you back in history.

Theme Thursdays - place description

2011-12-01T14:23:00.003+11:00

Mapp and Lucia by E F Benson

They arrived at Tilling in the middle of the afternoon, entering it from the long level road that ran across the reclaimed marsh-land to the west. Blue was the sky overhead, complete with larks and small white clouds; the town lay basking in the hot June sunshine and its narrow streets abounded in red brick houses with tiled roofs, that shouted Queen Anne and George I in Lucia's enraptured ears, and made Georgie's fingers itch for his sketching tools.

"Dear Georgie, perfectly enchanting!" exclaimed Lucia. "I declare I feel at home already. Look, there's another lovely house. We must just drive to the end of this street, and then we'll inquire where Mallards is. The people, too, I like their looks. Faces full of interest. It's as if they expected us".

The car had stopped to allow a dray to turn into the High street from a steep cobbled way leading to the top of the hill. On the pavement at the corner was standing quite a group of Tillingites.

Theme Thursday

2011-12-01T13:17:00.000+11:00

Well here's another meme that I plan on following. It's called Theme Thursday and it's hosted by Reading between the pages.

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”
This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

Book beginnings

2011-12-01T12:14:00.000+11:00

Well 2012 is fast approaching and I'm thinking on embarking on a couple of reading challenges for next year. One challenge or meme that I've found is Book Beginnings hosted by A few more pages.

So on (hopefully most) Fridays I will post the first couple of lines of my current read and then follow up with first impressions and whether or not the book lived up to them. So happy blogging.

True crime or cozy crime?

2011-11-25T16:06:00.000+11:00

Has an author's private life ever influenced your reasons for reading or not reading their books?

My answer to this question is yes. When I was in my early twenties I was reading my way through the Thomas Pitt mysteries written by Anne Perry.

The Pitt series fall in the genre category of historical detective mystery, written during the Victorian period. I'd probably read a good six, seven maybe even closer to eight or ten titles when I discovered who she was.

Born Juliet Marion Hulme, she had committed a violent murder as a teenager in New Zealand. Suddenly Perry's mysteries didn't seem so cozy anymore. I think I may have tried to read another mystery of her's, but I couldn't get the bad taste out of my mouth.

The whole sorry saga is the story behind Peter Jackson's 1994 film Heavenly creatures. Kate Winslet portrays a teenage Hulme.

Hulme and her good friend Pauline Parker colluded to murder Parker's mother so that the teenage girl's wouldn't be separated after Parker's parents divorced. They conspired to lead Parker's mother down a remote pathway in a public park, and there planned to hit her with a brick within a stocking. Naively both girls thought one hit would do it, but it took many more hits before Parker's mother's brutal end. I don't know about you, but I really couldn't read another printed word by Perry after knowing this.

A new book has been written by Peter Graham, called So brilliantly clever, that tells the gory story.

I've only just now read a review of the book in my newspaper's literary section, and have not read it. And to tell you the truth I don't know if I want to read it. Anyway, if you like true crime, and I prefer my crime to be cozy, then you may want to check the story out. Or you may even want to check out some of Perry's works....

Blogging

2011-11-20T14:26:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post to say that I have started a new blog devoted towards my son's diagnosis of autism. So if you're at all interested, you will find some of our stories regarding ASD, that I promise will only be positive content, and resources for parents and teachers.
drumbeatsoutoftime.blogspot.com

This means that my Scribeswindow blog can be more book and writing oriented. Well that's the plan...... These things always blur as they do in life.

Happy reading.

What I've been reading lately...The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

2011-11-07T08:53:00.002+11:00

Really? I mean really? Does anyone out there know people like these characters? I certainly don't. And if you do, please comment below and tell me about them.

I found my paperback copy of The slap at my son's daycare bookclub. It's a copy that's been released along with the televised version on the ABC. My copy also includes a plethora of media quotes reviewing the book. A couple that caught my attention:

It's often said that the best politicians are those who can instinctively divine the zeitgeist of their country's centre. For the ones who can't, I would place The slap as mandatory bedside table reading. It's a perfect social document of what Australia is today. More importantly, it's also one hell of a read. The Australian

Again. Really? I wouldn't describe the events in this book as depicting an accurate social picture of Australia.

And this:

We are presented with a cast of characters whose situation reflects the affluent, insecure, globalised Australia of the early twenty-first century. Times Literary Supplement.

A blistering portrait of domestic life. Sun-Herald.

The description I liked best is from magazine Men's Style:

A gripping suburban fable.

It is from this premise that I have decided to view this book. I think that the people Tsiolkas writes about are more caricatures than anything else. And I think it is a fable, a cautionary tale almost, depicting a 'what if' about Australia's or really Melbourne's so called nanny-state.

Now if you haven't read the book there are spoilers ahead, so if what I've written so far entices you - and it is a fabulous book! - then please go and find this novel read it, and come back. I would love to hear your opinion.

The characters, even though unreal to me, did resonate. I think this is because of my age and the fact that I have young children? Not to say that it wouldn't resonate with others also. Rosie is the character I think about most. The fact that she still breast feeds her "just turned four" son sends shudders through me. I'm sorry, but that's just wrong. And before anyone spouts (no pun intended!) that breast feeding can end at any time, we live in a society where nutritious food is abundant. Some countries don't have that luxury, so of course breast feeding for as long as possible would be paramount. That's my opinion.

Hugo pulled away from Rosie's teat. 'No one is allowed to touch my body without my permission.' His voice was shrill and confident. Hector wondered where he'd learnt those words. From Rosie? At childcare? Were there community announcements on the frigging television?

This book brings together every tenet you believe in parenting. It is through Rosie's character that you question your own ideals on raising children. Do you smack them? Do you give them junk food? Do you set boundaries for them? Are you a good parent? Indeed it is through Rosie's insecurities as a parent that propels most of the conflict along. It makes you wonder if we as a society are giving too much merit and authority to institutions.

When is it appropriate to intervene when children are fighting? Or when children need disciplining? Is it so wrong that some parents are of the view that giving kids carte blanche to sort things out is the best way for them to play and learn? Is it so wrong to want to protect children and risk being described as a 'helicopter mum'? There will always be differing parenting styles.

The book of course is about a child that is slapped. What also resonated with me was the brilliant description of this scene. Tsiolkas is indeed a master.

He saw his cousin's raised arm, it spliced the air, and then he saw the open palm descend and strike the boy. The slap seemed to echo. It cracked the twilight.

Now I want you to say that last line out loud. This is what I find myself doing. Especially, for some reason, when I'm doing the dishes. Lovely sentence.

Tsiolkas also examines the idea of family and friendship in the book. Sometimes I think this book is only described as a social comment about parenting, but I think that at its real heart is the notion of 'blood is thicker than water'. He uses the friendship of the three girls, Aisha, Rosie and Anouk and juxtaposes it with the family relationship of cousins Hector and Harry, and of course the rest of the family. This is especially evident when at the courthouse, Rosie's reaction to Harry's uncle Manolis being there with Harry.

She went up to Hector's father and when she spoke her voice did not tremble but there was no missing her fury. You shouldn't be here. Aren't you ashamed? You shouldn't be here. Her spittle landed on his shirt.

At the time when I read this I thought to myself, what did she expect? That's his uncle. Of course he's going to be there. Later in the book the character Manolis echoes this sentiment, asking himself would he not be there for his brother's child? This seems to be what Tsoilkas is getting at. That family is what's important, and sometimes people convince themselves that friendship can be family too. The novel asks the question, can this be so?

There's a lot of ugliness in this book. That's why I asked the initial question of are there really people out there who exist in this way? I truly don't know of any. But taken away from this face value and seen as more of a fable of Australian society, I think Tsiolkas has written a fantastic book. I read this book just before bedtime, and every time wished I hadn't. I found it hard to put down, and when I did, sleep eluded me because I couldn't stop thinking about what I had read.

Even writing a post for this book has taken me weeks because I had to get my head around what I wanted to say, and I still feel like I've missed out on things. Don't miss out on this book. I've watched three episodes of the television series so far, and there are some changes, and I'm really glad that I went with the old adage of reading the book first before watching the story on screen.

Buffy, Buffy, Buffy, Buffy.

2011-10-24T16:26:00.001+11:00

Oh. I mean, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. You know, I actually do like your new show Ringer, but why oh why did you have to start the first episode with gothic statues, reminiscent of your OTHER show? And then, to end up in a fight. Where you lost? It felt traitorous. Let me just repeat though, I do like your new show.

But I want to lament the passing of your other character Buffy the vampire slayer. What a privilege to be able to play a feminist, kick-ass character such as Joss Whedon's creation, Buffy. For those of you who may not know this, Joss Whedon, amazing writer extraodinaire had a vision. It was of the "little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie" and subverting it. He wanted to create a hero, and thus, Buffy was born, a feminist hero that goes down those dark alleys and kills the monster, giving power to women everywhere. Well, at least that's what I like to think.

So, for anyone out there listening, or reading, this is my idea. I think we need to franchise the Buffy character and make movies - controlled by Joss Whedon. Unfortunately he doesn't have the rights to the character. As we now have other slayers, the movies can be narratives about their journeys. Feminists everywhere!

And before I close, I do want to say that I really like the new show Ringer, but I just wish that Sarah would consider Buffy again. That's my two cents.

Mission statement for GenXer's

2011-10-21T11:54:00.000+11:00

What I've been reading lately...Parnassus on wheels by Christopher Morley

2011-10-14T10:21:00.000+11:00

"Lord!" he said, "when you sell a man a book you don't sell him just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue-you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night-there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book I mean.

And so it goes. If you love books, then this novel, or novella, is for you. Written in 1917, I'd never heard of it, until I read somebody talking about The haunted bookshop by Morely over at Book and Reader. Apparently Parnassus on wheels is sort of a prelude. The thread that described The haunted bookshop, someone wrote of it as having 'drowsy alcoves' and I was hooked! So I looked it up on Library Thing. (BTW, if you haven't come across these sites before they are fabulous for a bibliophile!). A couple of weeks ago I picked up a copy at my library, and realised I'd discovered a gem, and I am still yet to read The haunted bookshop! So that has me excited all over again.

The story is about spinster Helen McGill, aged 39 (not so old these days!), living with her famous author brother on a farm, where out of the blue travelling bookseller Roger Mifflin turns up and sells her Parnassus, a complicated wagon bookstore. Helen gives readers a lovely practical voice, and talks about how her brother is always off having adventures and writing his stories, and so she decided that she wanted an adventure too!

A kind of anger came over me to think that I'd been living on that farm for nearly fifteen years-yes, sir, ever since I was twenty-five-and hardly ever been away except for that trip to Boston once a year to go shopping with cousin Edie.

The feminist in me whooped for joy when Helen takes off, leaving her brother Andrew to fend for himself - well kind of, she still makes sure other women around the area help out - to give a go at selling books. What I also liked is that Helen McGill is such an unlikely heroine, described as a 'home-keeping soul'. An adventure she certainly has, I'm not going to give too much away as I really want to say, do yourself a favour and read it for yourself.

Parnassus on wheels is a charming book, and the tone reminded me of Dodie Smith's I capture the castle and a little of L M Montgomery's Anne of Green gables series. Read it as an ode to the bookshops of yesteryear, a dying breed. There's a powerful message in this book, that words and reading are important. Wonderful.

"The world is full of great writers about literature," he said, "but they're all selfish and aristocratic. Addison, Lamb, Hazlitt, Emerson, Lowell-take anyone you choose-they all conceive the love of books as a rare and perfect mystery for the few-a thing of the secluded study where they can sit alone at night with a candle, and a cigar, and a glass of port on the table and a spaniel on the hearth-rug. What I say is, who has ever gone out into the high roads and hedges to bring literature to the plain man? To bring it home to his business and bosom, as somebody says? The farther into the country you go, the fewer and worse books you find. I've spent several years joggling around with this citadel of crime, and by the bones of Ben Ezra I don't think I ever found a really good book (except the Bible) at a farmhouse yet, unless I put it there myself. The mandarins of culture-what do they do to teach the common folk to read? It's no good writing down lists of books for farmers and compiling five-foot shelves; you've got to go out and visit the people yourself-take the books to them, talk to the teachers and bully the editors of country newspapers and farm magazines and tell the children stories-and then little by little you begin to get good books circulating in the veins of the nation"

House update

2011-10-07T13:41:00.000+11:00

You know that episode of Fawlty Towers, where Basil gets in the Irish builder who consequently removes the door into the dining room? Last week we had our own Irish concreters, not builders, come through to give us a quote. One was young - well about our age - and the other older. The Younger was besotted by our Jack Russell and had him describing his dog, just like ours, back home in Ireland. The older told us that his wife had just left him and thus needed a hug from me to compensate!

Before I go any further with the concreting quote, let me just update you on what's happening (or not happening) with our renovation/extension. My husband has succeeded in getting himself appointed with a Builder/Owner status. This is good, because we got some quotes from builders that just had us saying, thanks but no thanks. Our next option that we looked at is us managing the build ourselves. Or my husband doing it. I have faith in him that he will do a fantastic job. In fact, I think that if we go in this direction, by the end of it, he will look up - and all around him - and say, I built this.

So for the last few months, we've had all sorts of tradies come through our door. Structural engineers, electricians, carpenters, and now the concreters. Our quotes are slowly coming in, and yes it's going to be an expensive adventure, but we think we should manage it.

So back to the concreters. After obliging The Older with a quick hug, they proceeded outside where my husband showed them the site and access etc. Traipsing back inside, I once again had to give The Older a hug, and as they left, the Older told my husband that he'd have a 'ball-park figure' for him the next day. Once the front door closed we looked at each other and burst out laughing, and my husband did a very good impression from the Fawlty Towers episode.

Anyway, this leads me to the last update, that I've decided to take next year off from studying. The main reason is timing and secondary money. Currently the two children do two days of daycare whilst I go to classes. The daycare fees are killing us. If we didn't have to pay for an extension there wouldn't be a problem.

If I continued next year, it would mean that I would graduate with a view of working as a teacher in 2013. My son starts prep that same year, and I think it would be better to be more flexible as we go through transition into school. As he is on the spectrum, this could prove to be very important, and if I commit to a new job, then I don't think I'll have that flexibility. However, by taking 2012 off from studying, I can take my youngest out of daycare, and then in 2013, resume that final year that will then allow me to be around more in case I'm needed. It also means that my youngest can then take over my son's daycare hours and it won't make too much difference to the hip pocket.

So, like all parents, it's a big juggling act, but I think that this will be the best way to go.

Dear Christine,

2011-10-06T12:26:00.000+11:00

the girl with the pretty smiling face. I wish that you were here so I could shake you, only to somehow make you see what everyone else around you sees. And then I wish that I could give you a hug. Of reassurance. That perhaps you needed? Recently it was RUOK week, and maybe someone didn't ask you this?

I wish that you were able to hear what your friends have to say about you? The one's that you have left behind. Would you have decided to go if you knew what it is we all see about you, that you yourself couldn't? I don't think we'll ever know the answers.

But know this. I always thought of you as an accomplished woman. You seemed to have it together at such a young age when the rest of us were still in party mode. I know you've had your heart broken, but you still walked about with a smile on your face. I know you did appreciate life, or at least you seemed to. I know you liked to sing. I know that you were valued.

Today I know these things, and today I remember them. I wish I could have done more.

Your friend.

Conservative catholic or modern secular?

2011-10-01T17:01:00.000+10:00

There is an article in my newspaper, Do we really want a leader trapped in a bygone era? (01/10/2011) that is an edited extract from new book Tony Abbott: a man's man by Susan Mitchell.

It is important to remind ourselves that Tony Abbott is a 53-year-old former trainee Catholic priest, a former right-wing student activist, a former Liberal Party staffer, and an MP parachuted by John Howard into a safe Liberal seat. From an early age, he was mentored and trained by older men to become the man he is today - a product of a bygone era. Most of his ideas have been formed by men in all-male institutions or mostly male environments.

Can we believe in his political separation between church and state when Abbott boasted that eight Catholics in the Howard cabinet had overturned the Northern Territory's euthanasia law, buried gay marriage, stopped the ACT heroin safe injecting-rooms trial, and tried to reduce abortion numbers through pregnancy-support counselling that was openly anti-abortion?

When asked about the problem of businesses paying women an average 16 per cent less than they pay men in the same job, Abbott admitted that he was unaware that there was still a problem. When asked how he would get more women into politics, he said he did not have a solution.

Even though he is married with three daughters, he freely admits he has been mostly absent from the housework and child-rearing. Is it any wonder that he has no understanding of what Australian women, more than 50 per cent of the population, expect or need from a potential prime minister of their country?

The social and historic changes of the 1960s and 1970s have become firmly fixed in the social fabric of the nation - particularly those changes that affect the lives of women. What Abbott never understood, and still fails to understand today, is that a belief in a woman's right to make choices about her own body, and the belief that everyone has the right to equality despite their gender and sexuality, are not merely ''fashionable'' causes.

These rights are enshrined in legislation, and have been since the 1970s. They will not change, like the length of women's skirts do. To dismiss them alienates him from the women, and many men, who fought so hard in the past and are still fighting to achieve equality and fairness in and out of the workplace.

Women no longer accept that they are not entitled to the same opportunities as men, just as gays are refusing to be treated as second-class citizens, the elderly are agitating for the right to voluntary euthanasia, the young are demanding the development of stem-cell research, and eminent scientists throughout the world are certain that governments have to accept the reality of climate change and take immediate action to reduce carbon pollution or face the tragic consequences.

Abbott, a man of drive, cunning, ambition, and incorrigible determination, is now in a position where he could be leading our country come an election. But what if all his values and beliefs are more suited to the leadership of a conservative, Catholic institution than a modern, secular democracy? What if his attitudes to women are outdated and out of step with what they believe to be true about themselves and their own lives? What if the Australian people want a leader who embraces the future and is not trapped in the past?

The Saturday Age, 01/10/2011

I have long been concerned that Tony Abbott may one day become our Prime Minister. However, even though I personally agree with Susan Mitchell over the statements in this extract, what struck a chord with me was the question regarding a conservative Catholic religion and a modern secular democracy.

Recently I blogged about looking for a primary school for my son. I want to send my children to a local primary school, and we have the choice of either a Catholic or two government primary schools. Ultimately we have decided to enrol him (and later my daughter), in our local government primary school. However, I didn't find this was an easy choice, in fact it almost felt like going against the grain. Allow me to explain.

I have been raised a Catholic. Thirteen years of catholic (all girls) education, a grandmother who is very pious and took it upon herself to teach me the catechism and my husband also had a similar education to mine (although his was all boys) and was an altar boy in his teenage years. Both of us have turned away from the Catholic church, even though, eleven years ago, we were married in one. In fact it's the same church that I received the sacraments (communion and confirmation) and that my husband had served as an altar boy. I don't regret that at all, I have very fond memories of this beautiful bluestone church and it can even be described as a part of me. My son and daughter have been christened at this same church.

This is why, when choosing a school I found it hard to choose something other than catholic. This is why, when reading today Mitchell's words about today's society being modern secular I think my husband and I represent this new society. I had to ask myself, what sort of education do I want my children to have? I certainly don't want it to be dogmatic, one that includes missals and bibles. I want them to question what is around them. I want them to experience things and later on add value to society. I'm not saying that if you're Catholic you can't do all these things, but for me, the church just seems removed. I'm not getting anything out of it. To go to church would be a chore.

But I don't think I'm any less spiritual because of it.

Weighing up both schools, the government primary just seemed to offer more. During our meeting with the school principal, she said that the children at the school seem to be very socially aware, fair-minded, and I liked this. The school seemed to represent a modern secular society, and maybe this is why we chose it, because it meant finally taking that deep breath and actually admitting that this is what our family is. I was brought up as a conservative catholic, but as an adult, I am anything but.

What I've been reading lately....Soulless by Gail Carriger

2011-09-30T16:16:00.000+10:00

I think I have a thing for heroines who wield parasols as weapons. This is why I love Amelia Peabody so much and now Alexia Tarabotti, the newest heroine, without a soul, created by author Gail Carriger.

Carriger's book Soulless came to my attention through the literary section of my newspaper. The article talked about Steampunk, and this was the first time I'd ever heard of the term. After some researching, the steampunk genre seemed fascinating so I ended up devising a steampunk reading list. Fast forward to now, and I thought I'd post about this book, as it was such a fun, lighthearted romp, and I can't wait to read the next two books in the series.

I wasn't one of those people who jumped on the vampire and werewolf bandwagon (a la Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series). For some reason Meyer's books didn't appeal to me, and I'm not sure why, as I'm a massive Buffy fan. Maybe after Buffy, there's just no eclipsing it? Anyway, when I initially read that the novel included vampires and werewolves, I hesitated. Then one day, there it was, a paperback copy sitting on the bookshop's shelf, at a good price. Upon perusing, I read, Gail Carriger writes to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small town life for Europe and inadvertently acquired an education. She now resides in the Colonies with a harem of Armenian lovers and tea imported from London. I found this author description compelling so I bought the book.

For those who don't know, the Steampunk genre seeks to subvert real history and fictionalise an alternative often set during the Victorian era. The premise of Soulless is that spinster Alexia Tarabotti accidentally kills a vampire and Lord Maccon (a werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. Add to this Victorian social mores, a family that reminded me of the Bennett's and a healthy dose of romance and you have a good backdrop for a story. Alexia is also a strong heroine, and I liked the characters in the book. It's also good if you like corsets and bustles.

Alexia was embarrassed to find that she was reduced to shamefully sneaking out of her own home. It simply would not do to tell her mama she was paying a late-night call on a vampire hive.

Read it if you enjoy Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series and you want something with a light comedic touch or if all you've been reading lately are those heavy numbers and you need something different.

M M Kaye

2011-09-27T11:02:00.000+10:00

I was in year ten at high school (fifteen years old) when we were set an assignment to do book reports. This sort of thing is always my cup of tea and I remember I happily presented on Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy. Another girl in my class had read M M Kaye's Death in Berlin, and that was the beginning of the beginning.

If you haven't heard of M M Kaye or read any of her books, she wrote six detective novels reminiscent of Agatha Christie, Mary Stewart's mystery novels, Patricia Wentworth and Dorothy L Sayers.

Further to this is what I feel to be a bit of an affinity with M M Kaye, owing to the fact that she was born in India. Although I have lived my entire life in Australia, my background is Sri Lankan, or namely what is called a Burgher. What this (Dutch) term means, is that we Burgher's have Dutch/Portuguese/English ancestry in our blood, due to the fact that Sri Lanka was colonised by said countries. I've also married an Anglo Indian, and upon meeting his grandparents, on a trip many years ago to India, I felt as though I was sitting on some kind of tea plantation back in Colonial times sipping my afternoon tea with a spread of sandwiches etc in front of me. Yep, that's exactly how it was, you would hardly even think we were even in India. But I'm digressing.

I read Death in Berlin first. This was followed by The far pavilions.

To an impressionable young teenager, Kaye's heroes were certainly worthy of falling in love with. As the years went by I'd devoured everything that she had written only to want more. Unfortunately M M Kaye passed away in 2004, so that is not to be.

Every now and then I like to dip back into her detective novels, even though I know whodunit. Her three historical romance novels are probably more in the vein of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. So if you're after someone who writes with that Golden Age touch, M M Kaye comes highly recommended by this Blogger.

What I've been reading lately... Dark Matter

2011-09-25T13:56:00.001+10:00

Ooooh I love a good ghost story. And Michelle Paver's Dark Matter doesn't disappoint. I first read about this book in a review in the literary section of my newspaper. It's 1937, and five men set out to research a remote part of the Arctic called Gruhuken. Written in a diary format by explorer Jack, we read about his enthusiasm to be actually doing something that doesn't involve the looming second world war. Cast as the group's Wireless Operator, Jack describes the freezing cold, having to exit the warmth of their hut for polar temperatures and having each day become darker and darker as the inevitable polar night creeps upon them promising months of winter darkness.

Twilight. Behind the bird cliffs, the red glow of dawn, but to the west it was night: the cold glimmer of stars. The black bones of the mountains jutted through the snow. On the shore, the whale ribs glinted with frost, and the rocks sloping down to the sea were white and smooth. The water was dark purple, vivid and strange. Because of the cliffs, we couldn't see much. We saw the sky turn bloody and inflamed as the sun struggled to rise. We saw a sliver of fire. An abortive dawn. The sun sank back, defeated. Gone.

I mostly read this book at night just before bed. Deliciously fine if you're going to turn off your lamp and snuggle down to sleep, knowing that you're safe and sound, not so much if you need to visit the bathroom in an all-sleeping household.

Jack's journal tells us about a menacing presence that appears on the Arctic beach, malevolent, sorrowful and dangerous. My only gripe with this book was the language didn't evoke 1937 to me. The vernacular seemed much more contemporary. But this didn't steal anything away from the book itself.

Sadly (or maybe luckily depending how you look at it) I picked this book up for five bucks at the bookshop that replaced the one that shut down at my local shopping centre. Apparently all books sold there are now going to cost five dollars. So I'm not really going to complain too much if I'm able to pick up great stories for that price. If you like ghost stories definitely one to read.

The morning marathon

2011-09-14T11:29:00.000+10:00

I don't know about you, but I am absolutely exhausted by the time I have my kids dressed in the morning. Once their shoes are finally on I feel as though I've been through some marathon type race, and then I have to contemplate actually going out. Where to find the energy?

It all begins over the demands of what breakfast cereal they want. Followed by brushing teeth. I make them take turns as the thought of trying to brush both their teeth together in the bathroom (something my husband does regularly) is just too much for me to bear. Then it's the choosing of clothes and actually getting them to put it on. My daughter has hair brushing next, luckily my son wears his hair very short.

Then it's time to leave for the(insert chosen preference here) park, library, playgroup, zoo etc. I've taken to having morning tea at home. I repeatedly say to myself, wait until you've had your coffee and then you'll be ready. So, it's only then, once the caffeine has hit do I venture anywhere.

Once at a playgroup we attended, one mother confided to me that very morning she'd had a huge face-off showdown with her school aged daughter who wanted to wear a particular pair of shoes to school. Mum had won, so by the time she got to playgroup with her younger son, she was a frazzled wreck. It's not worth it, she said. I should have just given in.

But let me now just commend my two little angels in how they have managed to be ready for me to attend my 8am classes this semester. Luckily for me the daycare does breakfast, so that's taken a huge load off our morning. I awaken at 6am, get myself and my bag ready then proceed to wake them, plonking them both on the couch in front of ABC2. I let them slowly wake up and get their clothes ready. By the time I return to have them brush their teeth, they're both fully awake and excited to begin their day. Dressing seems to be fairly seamless and then it's out the door. I was so worried about how they were going to handle these early mornings, but they've both been fantastic.

Newsworthy

2011-09-11T17:32:00.001+10:00

I did it! I managed to read my weekend newspaper, nearly all parts, in one sitting. Granted the children were away visiting their grandfather for the afternoon, thus giving me the chance to burrow myself in all this crackling black and white glory. I love receiving my weekend newspaper, having it sit waiting for me somewhere in my front garden, depending on the aim of its thrower.

Today however, my paper did not arrive. There's nothing worse than going outside, morning coffee already cooling, looking under hedges and over the neighbour's fences just in case the rogue paper has made its way there. No paper. I had to go to the newsagency and actually purchase today's copy. Something I've not done for a long time.

Hands up if you're guilty of leaving your newspaper sitting around, building up with the intent of reading, having them sit forlornly with paper edges curling away? I have. Much to the chagrin of my husband. He always threatens to throw them in the bin and I overreact screaming like a banshee at him. I haven't read my favourite columnists yet! Sometimes the pile builds up so high that I guiltily throw them away myself.

There are only two parts I put straight into the recyling. The sports section and business section. I have no interest in those subjects whatsoever. Depending on what mood I'm in the careers section may also leave our home unopened. I save the actual news part to read over my morning coffee, and I usually intend to read the rest in the afternoon. But who has these afternoons to spare anymore? As I said earlier I only managed it because the children were away and I was severely procrastinating from finishing off an assignment due soon.

So joy of joy, I have finished the papers this weekend. I only attempt the weekend papers. I used to get the whole week delivered, and the pile sitting awaiting me then was indeed formidable. But of course that was pre-children and now I only make time for what matters. The books and arts section of course.

A fairly eclectic bunch

2011-09-05T15:08:00.000+10:00

Over the weekend I read about the website, I write like that analyses your writing and compares it to other authors. Of course I couldn't wait to try it out, and the results proved surprising, well at least they did to me.

I analysed several pieces and most of them are on here as blog posts, so if you're interested and can be bothered you're welcome to check them and see if you agree.

Alchemy of the macabre (i) - Dan Brown
Alchemy of the macabre (ii) - Charles Dickens
Alchemy of the macabre (iii) - Charles Dickens
Alchemy of the macabre (iv) - Mary Shelley
Interesting how each chapter, more or less, had different writers! I will say I'm flattered by the comparison and I was going for gothic, but I was trying to emulate Daphne DuMaurier.

The mediamakers - Margaret Mitchell. When I tried to read Gone with the Wind, sadly I couldn't get into it. Mind you, I had by then watched the movie many times over.

Flight from Amsterdam to Heathrow - William Gibson. His work The Difference Engine has been on my To Be Read list for some time now, but I'm yet to read anything by him.

Weekend at Amsterdam - H P Lovecraft, always been meaning to read his work, and now will have to push him further up the list.

The Netherlands - Emmen and the fictitius bicycle tour - Cory Doctorow, never heard of this writer, but looked him up on Librarything and realised that I enjoy his style of writing, so have now added him to my To Be Read folder.

What I've been reading lately - Eucalyptus by Murray Bail - Margaret Mitchell

What I've been reading lately - If on a winter's night by Italo Calvino - David Foster Wallace, I've never heard of this author and also looked him up on Librarything. Sounds enjoyable so will be reading him in the future.

I thought I'd do my most recent entry, Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld - and again got David Foster Wallace.

Finally I analysed my blog entry He has autism, as this is an extremely personal topic for me and therefore literally written from the heart. It was compared to Arthur Clarke.

So, I think a fairly electic bunch of writers and of course we must take these things we find on the internet with a grain of salt. I'm also of the opinion that my writing can be stylistically very different depending on what mood I am in. I'd also like to try an experiment of analysing an author's actual work and see if they get the same result! You would think they would as surely the analyser would have their work copied into the program?

If you try out the analyser for yourself, please let me know in the comments box what result you got as I'd be keen to know.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

2011-09-02T21:54:00.000+10:00

I'm up to the bit where I want to slap the protagonist. I'm half-way through and this novel has been leading up to it. Lee Fiora is an unsure teenage girl writing from the vantage point of being older and experienced, so as a reader you really hope that she's matured by the time she's reached adulthood. Now I'm making it sound as though I'm not enjoying this book, but really I am. In fact I've been going to bed really tired and I can't put it down, so consequently I'm waking up each morning not having had enough sleep.

The book cover said that the novel was The OC meets Donna Tartt's The Secret History. I've never watched The OC, (but I have watched 90210, both the old - retro - and now in its newest guise, so it's probably similar) however I have read The Secret History and that was another novel I really enjoyed. I agree with that statement. It's also a little bit Chilton, the school that Rory Gilmore attends in The Gilmore Girls.

Lee Fiora almost seems like she has a split personality. She describes her home life with her parents and two brothers as almost hip, fun to be in and her dad's irreverent charm. When she's at her prestigious New England school Ault, she seemingly undergoes some kind of personality transplant leaving her almost devoid of any emotion. And when she does allow some emotion to seep through the facade she revels in her classmates reaction of her. Too weird, but then I suppose that's what teenage angst can be seen as too?

Good novel and worth reading, especially if you do like the above tv shows and Tartt's novel.

Dress-ups

2011-08-29T16:03:00.000+10:00

This week when I went to pick up my kids from their daycare there was a sign on my son's room door announcing that next week will be 'Dress Up Week'! Oh goody, something extra for me to do. Just to clarify I am in no way craftily creative, so me making costumes just doesn't work. In fact, that's the sort of thing my husband is great at, but he probably won't have enough time this weekend to make anything.

We're being urged to rummage around op shops, find bits of fabric at home (we don't have that sort of stuff), dress up in costumes they already have or come in traditional dress, also something we don't have lying around. So off to the shops I headed and bought my son a costume. It is a lovely commercial representation of Lightning McQueen, a character my son absolutely adores.

The whole notion of dress up week is exploring the notion of identity. Our classroom teacher has observed many of the students pretending to be superheroes, or good or bad characters and she hopes that the dressing up will lead to some thought provoking questions where they can explore different emotions. Not bad for a bunch of four year olds.

I haven't shown my son his costume yet. I squirrelled it away into the top part of his wardrobe, but I think that perhaps we can do a big unveiling tonight and let him try it on as he's supposed to wear it tomorrow. I'm just hoping that I can somehow get him to wriggle out of it later for bathtime......

My style is......

2011-08-23T12:52:00.000+10:00

There's a regular segment in my Sunday newspaper - The Sunday Age M magazine - called 'Streetseen'. This segment seemingly plucks everyday people from the street and asks them who they are and what they're wearing. I'm always fascinated that these people can answer the question: My style is? They do so with such bravado, such confidence.

This got me thinking. How would I describe my style? This week's paper had a PHD Monash university student describing herself as academic chic. That's what I want to be! Unfortunately I'm far from it. Academic chic to me means tailored trousers, tweed, vests, feminine blouses with pencil skirts, structured clothes and good quality leather footwear. The sort of clothing you most definitely won't wear in a sandpit.

In trying to describe my style I came up with a few ideas: comfortable sportswear; doesn't need ironing; Can I pick up the kids in this?; OMG I need to go shopping, this will have to do; OMG I need to put a wash on, this will have to do; fashion for the curvacious.

So as you can see, I don't think a journalist would approach me on the street, as I probably wouldn't meet their criteria. But I will say that I admire a person who can straight out describe their fashion sense. Personally I find it difficult to put my finger on it, so to be able to say that your style is say, androgynous, gypsy hippie, tea-party or trendy vintage takes a great deal of really knowing yourself and being able to express it.

When Australia has to do it's homework

2011-08-04T17:54:00.000+10:00

Next Tuesday the 9th of August 2011 is Census night. This is when, presumably, the whole of Australia fills out a form, in our case it's the household form, providing details that can then be used as information to create a better Australia.

Personally I don't have a problem with a Census, but that's because I have Socialist leanings. Somewhere deep down I truly believe that the government is working for us. And also, for some reason I don't mind filling out the form.

The last Census was done on the 7 August 2006, and this got me thinking about how much has changed for me. In this year's Census, I will be providing details about my two young children, and that I am not working, but studying. My husband's details I don't think have changed too much, other than providing a different age. This also got me thinking, how does the Census reflect how much women's lives go through chapters?

Census time in 2006, I didn't have children, I was working and I was at the very end of my final year in my degree. I remember filling out the bit for highest qualification achieved, and feeling a little annoyed that I was a few months away from that. This time round of course I can with great glee put down a BA but again I won't be able to put down my Post-graduate qualification until the next Census.

The Census before that was the year after we got married. So essentially we were newly-weds, working hard, and having just bought a house had the mortgage looming over us. Each time I have filled out the Census form I have lived and am living in a different household. Yes it has been in the same house, but the whole dynamic each time is completely different. The time before that I was still living at home, I suppose my mum filled in the form on my behalf.

So, next Tuesday the nation will sit down and do its homework, that is fill in their forms, and I wonder how many other people see the changes and twists and turns that their life has taken too?

Renovation

2011-08-01T13:51:00.000+10:00

This Sunday I lined up with some friends to try and inspect the houses on this season's The Block.

After queueing, easily for a couple of hours, we were then told that they were closing down the site. Disappointment reigned, however, oddly was feeling very positive as the couple of hours in the line were full of great conversation with friends. It did help that the day was stunning, sunshine and blue sky.

I was especially keen to see Josh and Jenna's place because they have used honed bluestone, the floor finish that we have chosen for our place. We wanted a floor that would work inside for a changeable space and downstairs bathroom, as well as being used to extend to the outside for our courtyard. I specified honed bluestone a couple of months ago to the architect and wanted to see how it looked laid down - of course I'm now going to walk around stating that they copied my idea!

Also, update on our renovation. We have finally tendered out to builders last week, and awaiting quotes. I think our final decision will rest on price, of course, and the rapport we have with the builder when we meet them. Now I feel like we're getting somewhere!

Reading list about the Autism Spectrum

2011-07-18T12:13:00.000+10:00

I'm starting to devise a new reading list to learn more about people's experiences with the Autism spectrum. I'm specifically looking for uplifting titles, stories that explore and champion the diversity of people who are regarded as different. I don't want to read any more books about the spectrum that categorise it, or list characteristics to look out for, or how to over come it. I want to read about people who have discovered their talents and achieved things, been supported and can describe their lives as something to be proud of. There aren't many books like this around. On searching I've come across depressing titles such as, Daniel isn't talking; Let me hear your voice: a family's triumph over autism; Pretending to be normal: living with Aspergers syndrome; The out of sync child; overcoming autism; the empty fortress; Facing autism; children with starving brains, and so on. Now I can't say that I've read any of these titles, so I really cannot say with any authority that they don't contain uplifting messages, but I find most of these titles depressing.

Today I began reading the first book on my burgeoning list, Be different: adventures of a free-range Aspergian with practical advice for Aspergians, misfits, families and teachers. I know, a really long title.

It's written by John Elder Robison, brother of the famous author Augusten Burroughs, and after reading only the introduction, I can already tell that it ticks all the boxes that I am after. Feel good, tick. Experiences, tick. How life has been for him, tick. Robison himself says, "There's so much talk about the disability of Aspberger's, so much focus on what kids who are different can't do, that I thought it was time for a book about what they CAN do". I read that sentence this afternoon, and had an eye-opening moment. This is exactly what I've been after.

I blogged not too long ago that I was beginning to tell people that my son has been diagnosed with autism. This is because I feel less anxious. A year ago I was devastated, and couldn't see beyond the spectrum that was being described to me. The black and white characteristics that were blurring and blinding me to my son who is just magnificent. All mother's say that I know, but try saying it when you have spent time de-valuing a person who means so much to you. When you think that it's all just hopeless and that there is no future. I now see the amazing memory he has, the astounding capacity of loving all of us, his cheeky sense of humour, and the quiet pride that comes from his knowing his alphabet, daily increasing numbers into the hundreds and all those hues of colours.

I don't worry so much. So now I'm looking for further supportive arguments to that fact. I want to hear the stories. I am ready to hear the stories.

Besides Robison's work, I have also come across, The game of my life: the story of challenge, triumph and growing up Autistic by Jason J-Mac McElwain; Born on a blue day: inside the extraordinary mind of an autistic savant (yes I know the title does still sound depressing but I read commentary that really it's uplifting)by Daniel Tammet; Thinking in pictures: and other reports of my life with autism by Temple Grandin; and Send in the idiots: stories from the other side of autism by Kamran Nazeer.

The last reading list I devised was on Steampunk as I was keen to explore this genre. I love embarking on new reading list. I'll let you know how it goes.

Listening to wondrous words

2011-07-15T13:12:00.000+10:00

Yesterday my four year old son read on his own for the first time. He's been showing some interest in reading and six months ago I embarked on a program (of my own devising) to teach him to read. Six months ago he wasn't ready. But yesterday, there was focus, and interest and success! And listening to him saying the words on the page was fantastic. I'm unbelievably buoyed by this, as a year ago I was wondering if I would ever hear him speak, let alone read!

I've decided to use two books to start the reading process. One is a book I bought ages ago of the Dick and Jane series. I learned to read using these books as well as the Peter and Jane ladybird books.

As well as these books I'm going to use dr Seuss. This is a great series using phonics that are fun and memorable. Well we'll do more reading this afternoon and hopefully we'll continue to make progress. I'm very excited for him as I know that he's about to open a very special door.

My Steampunk reading list

2011-07-14T12:31:00.000+10:00

For some reason I thought I'd posted this list ages ago, but hadn't. So here it is. I've read probably three quarters of the titles so far, and they all have varying merit, but if you're a fan of the genre, or want to try some different reading, most of the books here are good reads - stand out being China Mieville. Literary genius.

Boneshaker Priest

The Windup Girl Bacigalupi

The monstrumologist Yancey

Flora Segunda Wilce

The glass books of the dream eaters vol. 2 Dahlquist

The dark volume Dahlquist

The manual of detection Berry

The somnambulist: a novel Barnes

The court of the air Hunt

The meaning of night Cox

The league of extraordinary gentleman Moore

Thomas Riley Valentino

Chenda and the airship Brifman Bush

Gaslight grimoire

Anti ice Baxter

The difference engine Gibson & Sterling

Perdido street station Mieville

The steampunk trilogy Di Filippo

The grand ellipse Volsky

Mairedon the magician Wrede

The strangely beautiful tale of miss percy parker Hieber

The dancers at the end of time Moorcock

Neverwhere Gaiman

Whitechapel gods Peters

King rat Mieville

The name game

2011-07-13T14:25:00.000+10:00

Being in the chapter of life, that is raising two small children, I meet lots of other mums. I meet them at Playgroups, daycare, kinder, the park, all those places that young families frequent. As a result I'm suddenly finding myself having to remember two to three names at a time. Allow me to explain. My oldest son is now four, and my daughter has just turned two. So this means over the last few years when I've met say, Joanna, I've also met her oldest, Matthew and his sibling Sam. Sometimes there may even be a third name to remember, this name accompanied by said littlie in a pram. Over time this translates to a lot of name-remembering! And I do also appreciate the fact that this happens vice-versa.

Yesterday I bumped into a mum that I had previously met at a playgroup easily three years ago. She also lives one street away from me. I knew she was expecting her third child in May, and had spent the intervening two months wondering if she'd had a boy or a girl and how they were all doing. So I was pleased to see her at the shops yesterday, and happily greeted her, saying 'congratulations, Gabby!' We then spoke for a couple of minutes, all things mum, when she then gently corrected me saying her name is Gina and her oldest girl is Gabby. OMG!

This means for three years I've been calling her Gabby in my mind. When she said this to me yesterday, I also did a flash mental stocktake and realised that I'd never really said her name to her (maybe there was a small part of me that knew it was incorrect?) but that she has always greeted me by my name. I felt really bad.

But then I got to thinking. I know that not all the other mum's I've met remember my name - though mostly they seem to. However my name is fairly memorable as a very famous song has been written about it and people always sing it to me. Gina was not upset or offended in any way, and I know that I'll never forget her name again. So in the last twenty-four hours I've been going over all the mum's names that I know, as well as their children. I figure that many of them will be around for a while, their children being friends with mine, and that really I should make more of an effort of remembering.

A Long-ago Promise

2011-07-09T14:30:00.000+10:00

I have this vivid memory of standing on the asphalt netball court of my primary school playground and announcing grandly to a fellow classmate that my ambition was to write a book. Looking back I must have easily been around grade four. Perhaps grade five? To this day I don't know where that statement came from. I love writing and still hold the lofty ambition of one day actually writing a published novel of some kind, but to say that at such a young age?

I achieved my Arts degree later in life, I was an older student, being thirty years old, and majored in Literature, doing this precisely before having my first child. The study came later on in life, mostly because I felt unsupported in my home life with my academic studies when I was in high school. But I try not to lay all the blame at parental feet because I'm a true believer that you are what you make of it. If you say you're going to do something then do it. When I started my degree my grandmother was adamant that I kept telling her that one day I was going to write and be a journalist. When I was in high school I harboured ambitions to study journalism but it was not to be - and truthfully I don't think I'm cut out for that particular profession.

In the last fifteen or so years I've been noticing something. Almost everything I have set out to do, I have done. It's been a lot of incremental things; getting married, buying a house, having children, studying, traveling, and now the extension. I have slowly set goals for myself and looking back I can see that I have achieved most of them. All except this one.

So even though I uttered that grandiose statement in my pre-pubescent years, I feel that I should hold myself accountable to it. I remember reading or hearing somewhere that the average age of an author is 50. I'm 38, so I reckon that I've got a bit more time up my sleeve to make that statement come true.

Today I read in the paper that 'Late-blooming' authors had won two of the Prime Minister's Literary awards. I was heartened to read this. Stephen Daisley is 56 and wrote the winning novel Traitor.

It's his first book but he says he's been writing for 20 years. Another winner Rod Moss, 63, won the non-fiction award for The hard light of day.

I've not read either book, but on reading the article about their winning books, reminded me of a long ago promise I made to myself. And it made me wonder, perhaps these first time published authors have blogs too?

Feeling stagnant

2011-07-08T14:51:00.000+10:00

It feels as if the whole world has been asking me, what's happening with your house? It's frustrating me to no end. We were hoping to begin our renovation/extension by June and it's now July. By now we should be living on a building site! What is the hold up? Even I can't answer this question clearly. At the moment it feels as though our architect is paying us lip-service and wanting to show us a whole lot of pretty drawings.

At present we are waiting for the specifications that will go on the contract so we can tender the plans out to builders. (At least that's my understanding). Yesterday we got more drawings with specifications on materials etc, but the costing still had not been done. A few things that had been talked about at our last meeting had been ommitted. Also our architect seems to have handed over the project to the person who works for him. We're not too fussed about that, because he's very good and has had some great ideas. But me thinks that our architect has gone on to bigger and better projects now that he's at the tail end of advising us.

Tonight I'm out to dinner and the movies with some girlfriends, and I'm bracing myself for the inevitable questions. I've already had a telephone conversation with my mum today discussing it, and I'm soooo over it. I just want to hear builders on the premises - even if it is at 7.30am.

The questions are inevitable because everyone knows that a) we live in a small house; b) we have two small children who are GROWING; c) they're curious; and d) they may be thinking we don't have the money to start - not the case, it's sitting there waiting to be used!

I'm going to post about this in a week's time with the notion of starting a timeline of exactly how long this is taking. Either I will be pleasantly surprised that things are moving along, or incredibly depressed that we still remain stagnant.

Butterfly or Bear?

2011-07-07T14:53:00.000+10:00

I keep on hearing that we human beings are social animals. So then I ask myself, why is it that I am sometimes happiest, holed away at home, existing through a day-to-day routine developed by me, and sometimes not even jutting my nose out the door? I like nothing better than to be inside with a Do Not Disturb sign affixed. Unfortunately my two littlies ignore this sign consistently.

In fact, if it wasn't for my two children I think I could spend days at a time indoors and be perfectly happy. I wasn't always like this. Or was I? This is a question I keep asking myself. Have I always been so insular?

I don't think it's particularly good to be this way, especially when you do go outside and find yourself rapidly blinking from the bright light. In fact on those days that I do make an effort I always come away with some sense of exhilaration from having had some kind of human contact. But maybe this is so, because of having days on end at home prior to venturing out of doors?

The other thing is that I'm not socially shy. I can hold my end of a conversation. I can also usually fill in the gaps left in a conversation. This then makes me think that I'm at odds with myself. Take the other day for example. The kids were dropped off at daycare and I easily spent a half hour there stopping to chat with various carers as I slowly exited the building. I always have something to say. This was followed by two chatty phone calls. Then I went and visited another mum who is recuperating from an operation. All before lunch! I was quite tired in the afternoon, consequently spending two hours watching television recordings of my choosing. I loved it. Maybe even more so than the conversations I'd had earlier in the morning.

So, yes, we probably are social animals at best, but I think that we also would like to be a bit like bears who hibernate through winter. All for one's sanity of course. Or at least mine.

8am! Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-01T13:34:00.000+10:00

I'm on semester break at the moment from uni. A few days ago semester two's timetable was released, and I'm going from a cushy two day a week - eleven to three - classes to two 8am starts. This is going to kill me!!! I have been blessed with two good sleepers. My son was sleeping through the night at four months and my daughter was three months. On our days of daycare and kinder I normally wake them up at around 7.30am. If we don't go anywhere ( I call it alarm-free days) then we wake up sometime between 8 and 9am. Yes, even with young children I get sleep-ins.

I've also had to ask for a day change at their daycare. My god it's like pulling teeth. But I wasn't taking no for an answer. Mind you, I'm still waiting for an answer! The director of the center asked me what would happen if she couldn't find them spots? I said I'd have to turn to my mum, but as she lives a half-hour away, it would prove to be difficult. Now to top it all off both my classes begin at 8am. The earliest I've ever had to be somewhere was 8.30am, and that was for my last job before having children.

I'm not looking forward to the early mornings, but who knows, maybe I will be completely turned around for the better.

Sugar and spice and all things nice.

2011-06-29T13:20:00.001+10:00

Apparently I'm on the fast track to type 2 diabetes. We hear so much about this everyday now in the media and how it's sweeping the nation at epidemic proportions. The thing is I'm not sure if I'm worried. That really does sound ludicrous, and seeing it in black and white just seems insane. How can I possibly not be worried? It's not that I'm not worried at all, it's more because the idea of it just seems so removed from my everyday life. Occasionally I get a niggly reminder, if say I read about it in the paper, or see it on TV, or feel really bloated and not a hundred percent, my first thoughts are, oh my god, it's a diabetes thing and I'm all unhealthy.

A couple of months ago I was contacted to participate in a series of sessions called 'Life'(or something like that), that's been run through the hospital where I had my children. Since I had gestational diabetes, the government is running a program and scooping up the gestational diabetic mothers in the hope to educate and stave off this disease. I've been to two sessions so far, and I'm yet to learn something new. I don't mean to sound all arrogant and know-it-all, but I really feel as if I'm being talked at a bit - by a very lovely knowledgeable girl. I just wish it was a bit more interactive for us participants.

The other thing that I really hate is the assumption that if you're overweight - unfortunately for me this is so - you eat junk food. For the record - and because it makes me sound really good - I rarely eat junk food. I prefer to cook from scratch, and I like to use whole ingredients. I must also say that I'm no angel and there will be times when I do eat some junk, but it's not often, and I know when I'm being 'bad'.

Our takeout meals tend to be curries and thai food, or Chinese, vietnamese. We don't go to cafe's as much as we used to because of having small children.

I love salads. I love steamed vegetables. I love salad sandwiches, and I hate the taste of butter or margarine on my bread. However, if I have toast I love to put lashings of butter on it so it melts into a lovely greasy pool. But I don't have toast very often. I should eat more fruit. I try to eat low GI when possible. I don't drink soft drinks or alcohol. Having a father who was an alcoholic does something to you, and as a result I only drink water. All my friends think I'm strange for doing so, and if people who don't know me too well, see that I'm only partaking the clear stuff, give me knowing looks as though I'm pregnant and not telling.

My biggest vice is my one daily coffee (and I've blogged about the significance of my daily brew before) that I teaspoon three sugars into. Yes, three. If I'm buying a takeaway coffee and the barista asks if I want sugar, I lean over the counter conspiratorially and very quietly say, yes please, three. And then I lean back with a sheepish look on my face. My reasoning is that since I have only one coffee a day I can have three, since I'm not stacking up on the sugar intake through multiple cups throughout the day.

Now here's my downfall. Portion size. So yes, I probably do make various healthy meals, but boy do I eat large serves of the stuff. Have you seen the new government ad campaign, all about swapping it? Well I've sort of being trying to do this in the last couple of weeks, but I'm still yet to be more consistent about it. I also need to exercise more. At the moment I'm averaging only twice a week with my exercise regime and that's no where near enough.

I'm very all or nothing when it comes to exercise. I find that I have to really prioritise it for it to happen. Since my teenage years I reckon I've tried it all. I've done the high impact and low impact aerobics; the Tummy Hips and Thighs; Step (I love step but after having children find it really hard now); Pilates (boring); yoga (ditto); Spinning (a favourite!); pump (another fave!); body step (not as good as 'traditional' step classes); swimming (too time consuming with the whole taking clothes on and off); and I have done running many years ago. I've found that nothing beats walking. So that's what I've been trying now. Ideally I would like to add a spinning class and pump class a week to my walking regime, and I think I'd be on a good run (pardon the pun) with my exercise. But where to find the time?

I'm sure everyone has this problem. Where to find the time to exercise. My husband leaves for work super early in the morning and gets home around 5pm. So early morning is out. When he's home is when I'm cooking dinner for the family. This leaves all my walking to happen in my day-to-day routine. So I walk the kids to daycare and kinder. I walk to the shops. In fact I rarely use the car at all during the week. When time is permitting I do take the dog out for one hour walks, but this may happen only twice a week.

Next week a nutritionist is coming to speak to my Life group and I'm sure there will be a session on exercise as well. At our first session measurements were taken so now I need to really focus because she's going to check after five weeks and then again in six months if we've all made any progress.

A blunt pencil a day keeps writer's block away

2011-06-24T12:30:00.000+10:00

I've always wanted to write a whodunnit novel. In fact a few years ago (before children) I even wrote out some hazy novel plots and started to write the first of a series. I wrote about fifteen thousand words and could see that my cozy mystery novel was sounding very chicklit. Now I love chicklit - and a chicklit novel with a mystery bent are great reads. But what I was finding is that my 'mystery plot', wasn't really that good. I tried all sorts of different elements to give some reason for the murder. Blackmail, a secret past, jealousy, money, but everything just seemed too wishy washy. So my mystery novel has been shelved now for a number of years.

Every now and then I get an idea for a story, and sometimes I go so far as starting to write something down. However these days I find that it just doesn't happen. I think having children saps you of all creative energy. If I do get an hour to myself to be in front of the computer it's invariably spent checking emails, facebook, different websites, writing the really fast blog post........

Last week I caught up with one of my uni friends who knew about my mystery novel. She asked what had become of it. Shamefacedly I had to admit that it had gone nowhere. I think if you like to write and your writing has gone nowhere, there is a bit of shame involved. But why is that so? Maybe it's all the time invested in the project gone to waste? Anyhow I told her that the only writing that gets done these days by me is in this blog. As her eyes lit up with interest I quickly continued that I don't like to tell friends about my blog. So much better to be mysterious about it all. Well it's not really me being mysterious because I suppose my friends would have to know that I'm writing a blog in the first place! I think that when you can write a blog with some anonymity it makes for easier writing. If I knew my audience I think I would feel really hampered in my writing. But at the same time sometimes I want to just quietly and gleefully say, to many people, that I have a blog.

I remember reading somewhere where Hemingway wrote that it was better to have a dull and blunt pencil. Something to that effect anyway. To apply this sentiment to a blog, I suppose I would have to be posting at least everyday, if not multiple times throughout the day. I don't have that sort of time. And I think my writing suffers for it. The more often you can write, the easier the words enter your head, the faster my fingers fly over the keyboard or the smoother my pen flows.

Still waiting but almost there.........

2011-06-17T16:06:00.000+10:00

Eleven years ago my husband and I bought a Victorian single-front weatherboard in inner-city Melbourne.

Three months later we tied the knot, and this was our first home. I loved my new house, it's charm, the beautiful iron lacework out the front, the fireplaces, the high ceilings with their mouldings and roses. I took great delight in showing it off to family and friends. We were so proud of our little home. Little being the optimum word! Although our house was small, it had a fairly deep backyard, and our neighbours were presently building their extension. Of course this sent ideas off in our heads, and over the years we would delightedly fantasise to each other what sort of extension we would add to our house. My husband would cut out pictures and house plans from the newspaper and magazines I brought home. I'd day dream about the cook's kitchen I would create, the colour scheme, what my personal library would look like.

After almost seven years I was pregnant with my son and we spent two years in Queensland. Our home up there was a glorious Queenslander with wrap around verandah's and unusual architectural ceilings. Returning home (for we rented out our pride and joy), I was pregnant with my second child, and the small home that had been big enough for the two of us was just oozing from the seams with all our stuff. The children shared one of the two rooms, and my husband quickly knocked together a storage shelter on the front verandah to contain the pram/s and other paraphernalia we had gathered throughout our lives. Babies have lots of things.

I still fiercely love our home, but even I could see the woodwork at the back rotting and falling away. The windows and doors allowed draughts into our rooms and with putting up baby gates it became so much more enclosed. What was cosy before, had become pressured and almost unbearable. Where once before I took such delight in showing my home to people, I now cringed when they could see the old carpet, the shower screen that needed replacing, the smallness of it all in trying to raise two children. In addition to all this, our home in Queensland was very spacious and we had bought an immense eight seater dining table that became pivotal in our family home. Moving back the table had to go into storage, and I miss it tremendously. Presently we have to go back to our old way of dining with plates on laps. My youngest still uses a high chair, and my oldest uses a children's table and chairs from Ikea. But still, we never would give it up.

Our fantasies of a renovation and extension were now to be a reality. Eight months after returning home, we engaged an architect and spent six months devising a home that to us is the culmination of our dreams. Our application to council took almost one year for it to be approved. Yes, ONE WHOLE YEAR. It's now six months since gaining that approval, and yet I'm still waiting. We are about 75% through with the architect and will soon be ready to contract a builder. I refuse to get excited just yet. I think once I'm woken up at 7am, on that first day the builders arrive I may just allow my self a moment of tingly anticipation.

We plan to live in our house whilst the extension is happening, reluctant to release our hold on our home. The building is being staged in such a way that it should allow for us to do this. Firstly we are building two rooms, a small study and bathroom directly on top of our existing house. The builders should have the side access in order to complete this. I think when the stairs are built this may be the most intrusive part so we may have to spend that time with family.

We are keeping the existing three front rooms, all in the hope of preserving those quaint ceiling cornices, mouldings and roses. All interior walls in the three front rooms, built sometime during the 1890's will be demolished. This is our second stage. Everyone keeps telling us, why don't we just demolish the whole thing and start again. I know it's going to be changed really beyond recognition, but there is something in keeping those Victorian fireplaces and part of those ceilings and walls. So even though it is a home that is taking on an aethetic of the 21st century, there is something there of the Victorian era. Call us sentimental, for that is exactly what it is, albeit an expensive sentiment. Once the walls are gone a brand new kitchen and open plan living and dining will be created.

Our final stage is the creation of an internal courtyard, with a brand new two storey building at the back, linked to the old building by a walk way. The upper storey of the new building will be our master bedroom and bathroom. The downstairs is a changeable space. Initially it will be entirely for the children, the walls lined with shelves for their toys and books. No furniture so they can skate and tricycle to their hearts content. When they are a little older we will add a television and comfy couches. Possibly a table.

Our walkway is for my wall of books. So instead of a room for my library I have an expanse of wall to contain my literary treasures.

So that is it. I have described in words what our home will become. It is eleven years of waiting, and we are still waiting, but I know what is to come.

Choosing a school

2011-06-10T12:46:00.000+10:00

When my son was approaching twelve months old, I had a frantic episode of researching private schools close by to our home and had them post out their school prospectus and enrolment forms. These actions were the culmination of talks I was having with other mum's who had children the same age as my son, and getting swept up in some kind of parenting vortex, I had somehow been convinced that enrolments must be done now, otherwise my son's future would be in jeopardy.

One mum was particularly smug, as she had enrolled her child at several private schools, and was even comparing which uniform would look best on her child. The prospectus' from several schools duly arrived home, and I set aside time each night to peruse each one, consequently ordering them in preference. As enrolling at each one cost $200 a pop, I then went about devising the best way to outlay this over the next few months.

For an unknown reason the enrolment forms tucked neatly in their respective prosectus folders sat on the desktop, and eventually had other things placed on top of them - as you do when you have a busy and messy desk such as mine. I didn't do any enrolments and my son is now just over four. I began to have a big long think about private school in the primary years. Was this what I wanted for my son? And now consequently my daughter? Was I going to join the parents ferrying their children to school in their four wheel drives?

In my mind's eye, I envisioned holding my children's small hands, one small figure on each side, walking to school. Looking around me, that meant a total of three primary schools that are in walking distance from my home. One is Catholic and the other two government. Anyway, it was this visual that stopped the private school enrolments in their tracks, and made me choose an alternative path. The plan now is to send them to one of these primary schools in walking distance from home and then do private schooling for their secondary years. I want them to take public transport from that time, thus ensuring some independence and new experiences.

I have now reached the time to investigate our three local primary schools. I have, what I've been describing to myself, a dual purpose in my school visits. I need to get to the Open day's, so I can hear the spiel about the school and take the tour, and then I need to make an appointment to chat about my son's special needs.

A few weeks ago, the two government primary schools held their open day's on the Tuesday and Wednesday respectively in the same week. I telephoned the Catholic primary school, to discover their Open day had been in the month earlier, so I made my appointment to discuss my Son's needs with the principal on the Monday.

Upon arriving at the Catholic primary, I was pleased to see that the Special Need's Coordinator had been alerted to the meeting and was also there. I did most of the talking, describing my son, his personality, behaviour and diagnosis. The welcoming vibe from both the Principal and Coordinator was enthusiastic and interested, and I went away feeling optimistic. I still need to get to an Open day, apparently there's another one in August, and I plan to then see the school's resources and spaces, and hopefully classes in action.

On the Tuesday I was punctual for the school tour at one of the government primary school's, and myself and a large group of parents were ushered into the Resource center, or Library. The Principal spoke for a good twenty minutes, explaining how the school worked, and about the brand spanking new building that was being built, making way for even more classrooms.

From there, three grade sixer's took myself and two other sets of parents around the school, where we saw classes in action. The students were a delight to talk to, and I came away thinking I would be happy to send my children to this school. The only thing, we're just outside of this school's zone.

I managed to catch the Principal, and he was able to set aside time there and then to talk about my son's special needs. After waiting a short ten minutes, we proceeded to his office. This is where I would describe the school as having some good things and some not so good things. I explained to the Principal about a Bridging program we were considering doing during first term of Prep, but he wasn't one bit interested in it. His biggest concern was that my son wouldn't be able to make those initial friendships in first term if he was spending that time away from the school. This of course makes ample sense. He also went on to outline how the school deals with transition for special needs children, and the different therapists they have access to etc. Basically if we were to send them to this school, we would have to rely solely on the way the school handled their special needs children, rather than have the additional outside help too.

Writing this down now I can see the merit in doing this, but I think I should point out that the Bridging program we're looking at doing is with the service that my son has been undertaking since he was two and a half. So there's a lot of trust built there, and reliance. However, as these services are early intervention, this will all end when my son turns seven and that means that all his special needs are then seen to by his school. At least that's how the government organises the funding. Overall I would describe the welcoming vibe in the Principal's office as moderate. It was also only after discussing all of the above that I said that we were just outside the zoning for the school, and it could be my imagination, but I think he was a little relieved that he's not obligated to take my son.

The final school that I saw that week was the other government primary school on Wednesday morning. I should say from the outset that at present this school is the current contender. When I arrived, there were parents everywhere! It was chaotic, it was noisy, it was disorganised. I was put into what I think was a group, but even now I'm unsure how that happened. I ended up just traipsing along behind some parents and found myself in a tour. The next thing I want to say, that although it was so crowded, and chaotic, I probably knew every third person that was there! This was parents from playgroup, parents from daycare and parents from kinder. It was such a warm, community feeling to have quick chats, smiles, knowing nods, as I was led through the school. We often bring our children to the school playground for a play on the equipment on the weekend, and the school abuts onto one of the local community centers. There is a Stephanie Alexander cooking and garden program. The size of the classrooms were massive, and I got to watch an impressive grade four maths class in action. I hated maths in school, but to me, even that looked fun! The noise level in the classrooms were extremely high, but looking around I could see that the children were 'on task' doing their work. Just like yesterday's government primary school, this one had a multi-age approach to teaching that I think will work well with my son. There were fantastic extra-curricular programs. It has a very small number of students, hence small class sizes. And lastly......As I was on my tour, I noticed another, led by a bright grade sixer - who had autism. I could tell. This boy could easily have been my son several years on. He would pause as he thought of what to say next, finger posturing as he did so, and then lead his tour group. I saw before me an articulate and confident young man. This was striking and heartening, what more could a mother with a special needs child ask for?

Anyway, after an extremely long post, I still have to tour the Catholic primary school and make an appointment to talk about my son's needs with the winning contender. I'm just hoping that conversation won't change things around. Choosing a school for any parent of any child is daunting, yet alone parents of a special needs child. Really I'd be happy for my children to go to any of these schools, but I'm so uplifted at the moment, that the school that I've found the most impressive, is my local government primary school, that we're zoned for. Oh, but the only thing, the school's uniform is just atrocious!!

Yes! 'Reading Counts' as learning!

2011-05-18T16:27:00.002+10:00

Back in the day when I was first studying to be a Librarian, one of my classes was on the history of libraries. I remember learning about Assurbanipal's library in ancient Nineveh, the Alexandrian Library

and the Vatican Library, to name just a few. Civilisations have always had libraries. In ancient times, during warfare, when a city was defeated, to gain it's library was a major coup.

Few could argue that Libraries are not a precious resource. Anne Firor Scott, in her article, writes about women and American libraries, and the sad fact that historians have not paid attention to the part women have played in establishing them. She writes, One great gap in library history is created by the failure of historians, so far, to make a systematic analysis of the part played by women's associations in creating public libraries. Perhaps 75 percent of such libraries were initiated by women's groups, often originally for their own use. Close study of this phenomenon would reveal a good deal about the growth of self-education and adult education as significant aspects of American culture (Scott, 1986).

An article found in the American newspaper, Los Angeles Times, exposes that currently school Librarians in the Unified State District, are being interrogated about their qualifications. The district are seeking to cost-cut their state education, and it looks as if the school libraries are easy targets.

The article written by Hector Tobar, witnesses the Librarian's interrogation:

Sandra Lagasse, for 20 years the librarian at White Middle School in Carson, arrived at the temporary courtroom Wednesday with copies of her lesson plans in Greek word origins and mythology.

On the witness stand, she described tutoring students in geometry and history, including subjects like the Hammurabi Code. Her multi-subject teaching credential was entered into evidence as "Exhibit 515."

Lagasse also described the "Reading Counts" program she runs in the library, in which every student in the school is assessed for reading skills.

"This is not a class, correct?" a school district attorney asked her during cross-examination.

"No," she said. "It is part of a class."

"There is no class at your school called 'Reading Counts'? Correct."

"No."

Lagasse endured her time on the stand with quiet dignity and confidence. She described how groups of up to 75 students file into her library — and how she works individually with many students.

The reason why the Librarians are being questioned in this manner, is because all Middle and High school Librarians need to have state teaching credentials. The catch here, however, is that they must have taught students within the last five years.

This article poses many questions. What is learning? Let's just say that you can go into schools and mete out zones where learning can occur. This would mean that within a school, no learning could ever occur on the playground. Or in the cafeteria (tuckshop) line. Or, as in this case, the library. Learning can only take place in classrooms. Personally I have a problem with that.

The other problem I have is the shameful disrespect shown to these Librarians who are qualified. It takes many years to gain a Library qualification and teaching qualification. Most Librarians are Post-graduates, and yet, in this instance, it all stands for nothing.

The reason why I quoted Scott's article earlier, about the role women have played in the history of our libraries, is because the Librarians' whose jobs are currently at risk, are mainly women. On the witness stand, one librarian at a time is summoned to explain why she — the vast majority are women — should be allowed to keep her job.

And I'm going to put this out there. If Libraries were mainly run and staffed by men, would this be happening? Libraries and Teaching seem to be a 'soft' profession. What makes it so? I want you to take a look at this picture.

This is a woman's, mother's and wife's job on the line here.

As someone who is a Librarian, studying to be a teacher, I feel devalued reading an article like this. A culture that values its libraries and schools, and the people who make that happen, is, in my opinion, a very fortunate culture. The final point I want to make is that I am writing about this article from Australia. I became aware of it on Facebook. Social media has played a role in ousting this shameful debacle, the world really is watching.

Anne Firor Scott. The Journal of Library History (1974-1987)Vol. 21, No. 2, Libraries, Books, & Culture II (Spring, 1986), pp. 400-405

The week ahead.

2011-05-15T13:36:00.001+10:00

Well Richard has flown away for two weeks for work. He will be visiting The US and Europe. I'm bracing myself for a hard week, but I'm utilising the help from my eighteen year old cousin who will stay and my father-in-law. Hopefully I won't get too overwhelmed!

This week I will be visiting three primary schools to discuss my son's enrolment in 2013. As he is special needs, high functioning autism, I'm interested to see what programs or aides they will have and discussing some of the programs that we are looking at. Hopefully I can find a good school that will be enthusiastic and helpful, and that we can strike a good balance in educating my son. I'll be visiting a different primary school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm feeling a bit apprehensive but excited as well. I'm sure all parents feel this way when their child begins school. The only thing I'm a bit disappointed over is that Richard can't be there for the open days either, but since we have a bit of time up our sleeves, I told him, I'll go check it out and then we can visit again together. I'm just hoping I don't hit a brick wall regarding the services we may need for my son. Will have to wait and see....

2011-05-12T13:24:00.000+10:00

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Reading to children

2011-05-10T13:13:00.000+10:00

When I was working in public libraries, particularly when I was lucky enough to conduct story time, I was often asked by parents, at what age should you start reading to children? My answer is, from the beginning. I followed my own advice and read to my son on the day I brought him home from the hospital. Beforehand I thought about what I would read. I couldn't see myself reading basic board books to him that showed shapes or letters of the alphabet or colours. I ended up deciding on the Mr Men series.

This was for three reasons. Firstly, they were small enough to hold together with a baby very comfortably. Secondly, the pictures were bright and colourful, therefore eyecatching. And thirdly, there was enough text for me to find reading these books enjoyable and it allowed for my son to listen to my voice. This is what I want to stress here to any parents reading this post. Reading to babies isn't about 'reading' to them. It is allowing for your child to listen to your voice. A baby residing in your tummy can hear at the twenty week mark. This means that he or she has been listening to your voice (and others) for a long time. There's a sense of security, it allows you to bond - and this certainly happened during our reading times, and it also exposes them to the cadence of your reading voice.

Now of course reading and writing and books are my favourite things and things to do. So I have never found reading to my babies/children a chore. It's something that I personally find exciting and enjoyable to do. When I was doing story time at public libraries, I found it very noticeable that the children who came along to these sessions and were consequently read to by library staff and parents, knew their letters, numbers and colours from a very early age. Clearly there are benefits to reading to children from a young age, but I don't want to jump on the bandwagon of this competitive pushing children along just so they can have some kind of academic advantage. My reasons for reading to babies and children is what I have already stated. It allows them to listen to you.

Presently I am reading some young adult novels for an assignment, that I intend to blog about at a later date. What I wanted to share with you today, was some picture books that we have gone on to after our My men books - and also the Little Miss series. Some favourites are:

A couple of standouts that have my son in fits of laughter are:

When I started reading to my son - and later my daughter - I never imagined that he would be diagnosed with autism. Looking back, I believe that reading to him has helped him. It calms him. It is a routine done every night after baths and just before bed, one that is looked forward to. He loves to choose what books to read, and giving him choice and teaching him to express what he wants is paramount in helping him engage with people. As part of his autism is a severe language delay, I have found some of the following titles invaluable in helping his speech. As I have been reading most of these books to him from a young age, and certainly before he was talking, it is safe to say that he knows them inside out. After some time, I realised that if I paused before saying the next word, as he knew full well what was to come, he would fill in the gaps. An example of this is with We're going on a bear hunt, by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.

Its rhythmn and repetitiveness is superb in aiding his speech. Often I would say, we're going on a.....and he would fill the gap. Eventually I was doing this for almost every line in the book. Other books that also worked well in doing this are:

I'm continually adding to our picture book library at home. I have five book boxes (they're actually the Huggies nappy boxes) that I rotate. We do one book from our collection and two books borrowed from the library. This way they're reading books and getting exposed to repetition, but they're also being exposed to new books as well. Sometimes we borrow some absolute gems from the library that I look out for to buy them as birthday gifts or christmas presents. I like to use books as rewards for good behaviour too, but as they are still so young this will probably happen more often as the years go on. The other reason why I love to read library books is that it prevents me from getting too bored as well. You see, I like to read these picture books too (just for myself) and there's nothing better than reading titles that you yourself enjoyed as a child. The very hungry caterpillar and Are you my mother are familiar favourites from my own childhood.

Great recent contemporary titles that I've found:

Out for dinner

2011-05-07T13:23:00.001+10:00

We had a lovely dinner last night for our anniversary at Fenix. Honestly I don't know why we don't go there more often as we don't live very far away. Oh yes. I just remembered. It's because of the rug rats!! I say that with great affection.

Upon arriving there's a large display of Mehigan's and Calombaris' new cook book.

We're greeted sincerely and warmly. In fact the food was excellent but I would say that the standout of the night was the service. The staff were very friendly but were happy to joke around with you as well, so this felt very genuine and made for a more homely dining experience.

I would describe the food as rustic. Bread and butter, of course, appeared first. For entree Richard had char grilled quail with sweet and sour cannelini beans, rosemary and thyme. The beans were beautiful with an intense smoky flavour. I didn't try the quail, but Richard said he was disappointed that it wasn't falling off the bone. My entree was salt and pepper calamari with a garlic aioli. I love aioli and the calamari was lovely and crisp, nicely salted with sliced red chilli's and coriander leaves scattered over the top. The chilli's gave a nice hint of heat to the dish.

For mains Richard had grilled swordfish with fresh borlotti beans and salsa verde. I just realised how much beans Richard consumed!!..... My main was the special of the day. Slow roasted suckling pig that came with apples and a buttery-herby sauce. We had a side dish of green beans with soft homemade ricotta. My pork was lovely but very very rich. The beans were a nice addition to it.

Dessert - yes I left room - was an apple souffle with rosemary ice cream for Richard. Richard said that the ice cream was extremely unusual. He described it as having an almost 'healthy' taste. I thought it a strange combination too, a little medicinal. Being a chocaholic I couldn't go past the bitter chocolate and olive mousse. This came as a large curl on my plate, festooned with oregano leaves and underneath was this kind of set gel that must have been the coffee and licorice part of the dish. I'm not a big fan of licorice so I didn't know what to expect. It didn't really taste very licorishy to me.

It was a good night overall. It gave Richard and I a chance to spend some time together alone, and it's been a while since we've had that opportunity Oh, and I should probably also add that we had some Neighbour's stars at the next table. We watch Neighbours so they were immediately recognisable to us - of course we didn't let on, being the sophisticated couple that we are - there were about five cast members. So, I think we shall return to Fenix. I'm fortunate enough to actually have that part of the yarra river as my dog walking thoroughfare, so I was even thinking that we should stop off for a coffee too. With the rug rats of course.

Anniversary dinner

2011-05-06T16:07:00.000+10:00

Well we're off to Fenix tonight to celebrate our eleven year wedding anniversary.

This is the restaurant owned by Gary Mehigan from Masterchef Australia. This will be our second visit, our first was many years ago to celebrate our birthdays (they're one week apart). So, the babysitter is booked and it's been absolutely ages since we've been out to dinner, yet alone fine dining, so I'm really looking forward to it.

I have a small confession to make. Last year was our ten year anniversary (obviously) and we didn't do anything!!! I hate that that happened. We always celebrate our birthdays and anniversaries etc. It was just too hard with the kids. So this year, I've made it a point to actually go somewhere. I almost felt like being lazy and just staying at home, but if I do that I think it will be the start of setting a bad precedent. So, I promise to get all glammed up, and off we go. Aaaah a night of no cooking.

Death of a troubled soul

2011-05-05T15:55:00.000+10:00

Last year my father died exactly the way I thought he would. We had been out all day and returned home at about nine pm that evening. There was a message on the telephone from my aunt. The police had been in contact and she messaged to ask me to give them a call. My father lived in Sydney and we're in Melbourne. I called the required number. The neighbours hadn't seen my father for some time and had called the police. Upon investigating his home they found him face down on the floor of his bedroom. Later the coroner estimated that he had been there for up to three weeks.

Yes, you did read the above correctly. A phone call from the police telling me that my father had passed away was exactly how I envisaged the death of my dad. My father was an alcoholic and after twenty years of marriage my mother had had enough, divorced him and he then went to live in Sydney. He had some family up there, but after a few months even they were estranged from him. It was only after he moved there did that side of the family fully comprehend what he was like.

Do you know how sometimes in the media or in advertisements you see images of homeless people, or the jobless; down on their luck people? Or you hear stories of people dying in their homes and not being found for days - in this case weeks. I always used to look at these and think, that is my father.

As far as I know, my father always drank. During the day my brother and I learnt not to disturb him because he'd always get very annoyed. At night he was jovial and affectionate. I now know of course why my father had two sides to his personality.

As we got older our social life ground to a halt. Later my mother told me that it was too humiliating to go out and be with friends. Having to doctor a drunk home was no fun. He also felt the macho need of drink-driving us home. Insisted upon it. This was during the seventies and early eighties, so we didn't have the cautionary TAC ad campaigns back then. I'm not sure if they would have had an effect on him anyway.

I could never bring friends home. I wouldn't know what I would be walking into. When we were teenagers it was easier for my brother and I to just hang out at our friend's houses.

When I was twenty years old my mother decided enough was enough. My father wasn't a violent man, but one afternoon things did turn bad and he hit her over the head. That was literally the end. My mother had been back and forth our whole lives. Misguided relatives always thought it was better that she stay in her marriage than walk away. I try not to make her feel bad about this now - because I know she carries immense guilt for staying. She had a great job and could easily have supported us. She just found it hard emotionally and spiritually to be on her own.

When everything ended he moved to Sydney. He had a good outcome from the divorce financially, but within a handful of years all that money was completely gone. When it comes to my father my brother and I were on opposite ends of the spectrum. I always felt sorry for him and was easily manipulated. My brother despised him and at the end refused to talk to him. Thus I was always the go between.

I felt differently after I had my first child. I was much angrier with him. Feeling very vulnerable with a newborn, and able to watch my husband in awe at how he was a father to my son, I realised all the more what my brother and I had missed out on.

Towards the end I only saw him in person three or four times. He never looked well. He visited us twice after my son was born. Later both my husband and I commented that our home felt as if the life had been sucked out of it. He never got to meet my daughter. The last time I saw him I was pregnant with her and she was eighteen months old when he passed away. When I rang to speak to him on the telephone I was lucky if he was coherent. Often he would ring back the following morning. I think somewhere in his imbibed mind, it registered that I had tried to have a conversation with him. The consequent day he would deny that he had been drinking - it was on account of some medication he had been taking. I've heard many excuses over the years.

Of course we had to go to Sydney to organise the funeral. My father always harboured resentment for my husband. I think it was more a jealousy thing than anything else. A father and daughter thing. He always handled emotion in an immature fashion and this was conveyed by him entering our home and trying to be 'cock of the walk'. I always managed to keep the lid on this simmering pot between my father and husband, but looking back I wish I could tell my father, be nice, this is the person who will be paying for your funeral.

There weren't many people there. Thankfully my brother came without argument. I was bracing myself for the 'I'm not doing this on my own' speech. It was up to me to do the eulogy. There were some friends of his that he had recently re-connected with from his teenage years. I think they were a little shocked by what I said. I had to talk honestly. I said that I was angry with him for his selfishness because he was loved.

And here is the crux of the matter. No matter what, he was still my father and he was loved. When I think of my father I think of him as a troubled soul. My main emotion regarding his death is one of pity. Sadness of a life lived worthlessly. Sadness that he could not let go of his demons in life. I only hope now that where ever he is that he has found some peace.

Best of my love

2011-05-04T22:02:00.001+10:00

On Friday it will be our eleven year wedding anniversary. Since I've blogged before about my marriage proposal I thought I'd write about our wedding. We met during high school where he went to the boy's school across the road from my all girl's school. After much checking each other out on public transport, elbows dug into friends ribs to covertly point each other out and the inevitable flirting that followed, we were finally boyfriend and girlfriend.

We had a really long courtship. Too long really. We were sixteen when we met, engaged at twenty-five and married at twenty-seven. I will say that it gave us ample time to save! Anyway, we studied, worked, travelled, my mum kept saying we lived in each other's pockets, and then finally got around to the big day.

Our wedding took place in a bluestone church where my primary school was affiliated.

It's where I had my communion and confirmation. My husband also had ties with this church so we had a lot of history there.

Our ceremony was taking place at 1pm, and I had a gorgeous couture gown made by Angelina Baccini. We had a fairly large wedding party, four bridesmaids and groomsmen, and three flower girls. After the wedding ceremony we left for our photo's and headed to a cafe on Bridge road in Richmond. Sadly this cafe is now closed - or it's changed into a completely different one to what it was. By late afternoon we got to Werribee mansion where our reception was taking place.

Together with our wedding party we roamed around the gardens and allowed the photographers to take our 'strictly commanded' candid wedding photo's. At 6.30pm the reception started, and we lucked out with a sensational DJ that brought the house down with his music. It was literally one of the best nights of my life and unforgettable. The only thing that went wrong was that I forgot my written speech at home and had to hastily write something whilst I ate dinner.

So eleven years on from that day and night have been wonderful. I am going to add a however here. The first year of our marriage was the hardest. I honestly didn't think we were going to see our first anniversary. Anyway, we kept going. We've managed to buy some properties, excel at work and travel. We held off having children, but now we have two beautiful littlies.

So now, with our eleven year anniversary upon us I can sit and reflect ~~blog~~ about it all. Stop and truly see that I am blessed and appreciate what I have.

Happy anniversary babe. Even after all these years you still make my heart skip a beat and my skin hum. You once told me that I am your life, you are mine also.

Guilty Viewing

2011-04-28T14:47:00.002+10:00

My husband thinks I watch too much tv. Unfortunately I have to agree with him. I record nearly all my tv viewing digitally. This usually means that I can be as far behind as three weeks of current screenings of shows. Watching tv is my mind freeing itself. In other words, my veg out. I watch tv when the kids have gone to bed. My husband is also in bed earlier than me because he goes to work quite early in the mornings. I like to be a mindless couch potato for a minimum of one hour. Sometimes this can stretch to two or three. It depends on how tired I am. This is followed by reading in bed. Since having children this has become a typical nightly routine.

Back to my husband thinking I watch too much tv I thought I'd share some of the shows I currently have racked up waiting to watch. And at this point I'd also like to add that I love scrolling down my listed viewing options!

Brothers & Sisters

Caprica

Desperate Housewives

Grand Designs

Modern Family

Parenthood

Smallville

Spooks

Supernatural

Winners & Losers

Two shows that I do watch 'live' are:

And shows that I am eagerly awaiting:

Masterchef Australia

Offspring

Downton Abbey

Anything detective has me:

Or Period

And for now that's all I can think of. Yes, I know, that is a lot of viewing. Happily I can record my shows and watch them at my leisure.

I also have several TV DVD Box sets

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Angel

Anne of Green Gables

The Sopranos

The Gilmore Girls

Firefly

and Sex and the City

He has autism

2011-04-27T14:54:00.000+10:00

My son has autism. There I've said it. Today is his birthday and he's four. He only started talking last October - when he was three and a half. Suddenly it went from a handful of words to two words. It was usually a colour added. The 'black car'; the 'purple block; the 'brown book'. Now we have almost sentences. We're still waiting for the pronouns to be added.

He was diagnosed with high functioning autism just after he turned two. So he's 'just' on the spectrum was how it was explained to me. I was also told that a diagnosis is a good thing, because he will have access to early intervention.

When all this happened I had just had my daughter. My mother was convinced that I had post-natal depression. I don't know how many times I had to tell her I didn't. I was dealing with the fact my son has autism. It wasn't something that was going to go away.

So this brings me to now. It is almost two years since his diagnosis. Until now I've been walking around telling everyone he has a speech delay. Thus far this has sufficed. But now I can see the quizzical looks from people. The crinkling of the brow. The white elephant in the room when friends are there. They've noticed that something isn't quite right.

A few weeks ago I decided to start telling people. Last week I was at the library. We bumped into another mum whose son is in the same kinder group as my son. I blurted it out. And regretted it a heartbeat later. I had stupidly chosen the wrong person to tell this to. Of course she was completely unaware of the significance of me actually saying to her that he has autism. She probably thought I told this to everyone. I certainly said it with that impression. But oh how I regretted it. I went home with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that stayed with me for days. You're probably asking why was she the wrong person to say this to? It was her response. 'How is that working for you?' Seems an innocuous enough question. But it was the way it was posed. There wasn't the light in her eyes of, oh I get it, I get you, I know where you're coming from. She didn't have any idea what it was. I'm not laying any blame here, but I know that in my desperate bid to just say it out loud to someone, I had been too hasty.

Despite last week's declaration, today I told someone else. This person didn't say anything. But it was different. She got it. I could see it in her eyes. She had asked my son a question and he had chosen not to respond. The timing was right to intervene so I just said it. He has autism. No more was needed to be said.

It sounds as though I have told only two people in this world that my son has autism. That's not the case. Immediate family members know. Not all family. Just some. Some friends know. Some friends have guessed and we haven't said either way. There are many many people that I don't really want to tell. I'm not sure why, or at least not sure if I can articulate it properly. I think deep down it's because I don't want my son to be treated any differently.

So is my son different? He is and he isn't. Anyone reading this who has had some experience with autism will understand what I mean by that. It's such a hard thing to describe. It depends entirely whether or not he has made a connection with people. If a connection has been made then it's all magnificent. Often he does make a connection and this is why with the few people I have told their first response is often one of surprise.

I need to finish this post by getting a few things off my chest. The last two years I have internalised much. I haven't made any response to well intended comments, nor have I responded to hurtful statements, nor just plain ignorance. But what's a blog for if I can't now answer some of these things here?

So, here are my answers. No, it will not go away. Yes, he has got it. No, medicine will not help. Yes, he has multivitamins and god forbid let's not forget the daily dose of Omega 3. I know you mean well when you say that you can't tell off chidren like this, but my son is the same as any other child and must be disciplined if need be. How is it working for me? Very well. He loves kinder, he loves his day care, he loves his little sister and he makes friends just like any other child. You just need to give him a chance. Screaming no to him will not do any good. Why not try and lead him in a different direction? Yes, I know he has special needs but what do you want me to do? Lock him up in another room and throw away the key? Yes he knows his alphabet. He's known it since he was two. No he's not dumb. Yes he comprehends you. Yes he can have lollies or cake, I don't stop him from having sugar. Yes he eats fruit. If he didn't eat fruit that day maybe he didn't feel like it. I'm sorry he doesn't answer your questions but that's just the way he is. Yes I agree with you that his drawings are superb. Yes I know that all he talks about is cars. However, if it wasn't for Lightning McQueen would he have ever started talking? If you know he likes cars than talk to him about that. I promise you he'll respond. No don't give him biscuits and lollies all day because then he will behave badly. He's not naughty, he just doesn't know how to socialise properly. We're working on that.

And that's just it. We're working on it. Early Intervention is my life saver. Although they will probably never read this, and I have told them in the past, let me say again, thank you to our therapists. Without their help we would not be where we are today.

Oh. And yes, he will be going to school. So Happy Birthday my angel. I love you very much and I am the luckiest person in the world.

My wall of books

2011-04-26T14:30:00.000+10:00

Back to our renovation/extension plans. One of the things the architect and I have talked about is a wall of books. This is to be along a walkway that is designed to link our old house to the new part of the house. I'm very excited and spend lots of times visualising it. I imagine the shelving to be a little like this.

As it is a walkway there won't be any room for chairs and tables. It is literally along the entire wall so you should be able to walk along it and peruse titles. Filling this bookshelf also has me daydreaming excitedly. At present my collection would probably only number a third of what this wall could contain, and I'm just quietly sitting back thinking of all the lovely stories I'm going to slowly fill it with. I don't plan to do it in one rush, but rather spend years adding to my collection.

A coffee a day keeps cranky mum at bay.........

2011-04-22T09:37:00.007+10:00

I'm really into my coffee. I think I may have said this already a couple of times on this blog. I have one espresso a day - if I'm out it's a strong latte and if at home it's more of a macchiato. I'm so into my coffee that one year I even convinced myself that it was a good idea to buy a cafe. What a mistake that turned out to be. The cafe that is, not the coffee. That of course was the shit year.

I've been thinking about when I start teaching how am I going to get my espresso fix? This probably seems really inane but I get anxious about this. One of our lecturers was giving us some practical advice for when we go out into schools. She talked about putting money into the tearoom kitty. Not that I expected schools to have an espresso machine, but the thought of having to drink bad coffee everyday sends shudders down my spine. Or even worse, having to make use of the dreaded urn!

I have thought of a way around this dilemma. I have an old espresso machine - that makes a great coffee - that I can take with me to a school. It's portable enough. I think I will probably do just that when I actually start teaching at a permanent school. But, I'm a student teacher. This means I have to be ballsy enough to turn up to teaching rounds carrying my espresso machine with me (and all the accoutrements that go with of course). I think the other teachers will think I'm insane! As I'm studying part time I won't need to worry about this until next year when I actually do my teaching rounds - see I told you I get anxious about this and I'm already worrying. I'll let you know later down the track how the other teachers react to the appearance of my espresso machine. Because of course I will have to take it.

In the meantime I thought I'd share some places that I really enjoy a coffee at when I'm out and about. Not that that happens much nowadays with two very young children. I like to go to Boheme cafe on Bridge rd and another good one is Kojo Brown. Chimmy's bakery does a great one also. Some others I've discovered is Kanteen, Hektor Woodley's and when I'm in the city Journal and Degraves espresso bar.

Degraves espresso bar

Hektor Woodley's

Kanteen

Time spent teaching is never lost

2011-04-17T12:04:00.002+10:00

Considering the direction I am going I found this very inspiring.

I cannot imagine a day of my life without reading. This is why I studied literature in college. This is why I became a teacher: to share in grand conversations about books, to spread the joy, to initiate and welcome students into the fraternity, into what Frank Smith (1988) calls 'the club of clubs,' to travel with them into wondrously familiar or incredibly strange imaginative worlds.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. (1995). you gotta be the book: teaching engaged and reflective reading with adolescents, Teachers College Press, New York.

Autism awareness month

2011-04-16T08:47:00.002+10:00

Connecting with students in the classroom

2011-04-09T18:31:00.010+10:00

I have to do a presentation in a few weeks about getting today's student to connect in the English classroom. One idea I want to explore is using adventure games as texts. I prefer to call adventure games interactive fiction. How may playing an adventure game help students learn or advance their literacy you may ask? Well I see it as a unique way of looking at narrative. Other ways for a story to be propelled. Exploring characters. Using the game as a visual to encourage descriptive writing. Perhaps students could also explore an ICT component and try creating their own games? Also some games are based on books so it's a good way to look at the story telling on another platform. A good example of this is Bladerunner. Here students could examine the book, movie and the game and compare the three. Probably the best way to use games as tools is for creative writing. The following are some screen shots from a few games, and I think they're a fantastic visual for students to propel their own writing.

Blackmirror two

Bladerunner

Secret Files Tunguska

Syberia

Syberia

To add more food for thought here is a youtube post that talks about using games in the classroom to inspire creative writing. Importantly watch the students faces as they interact with the game Myst. Now that's connecting in the classroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZrkzXOV15k

The Passage

2011-04-01T21:16:00.003+11:00

The Passage by Justin Cronin, I would give four stars out of five. Great book, and I'm always one for a good horror tale. It lost one star, because when the second half of the book began and he introduced new characters I kept on forgetting who was who. They got a little lost in the storytelling. However towards the end things picked up well. Enjoyable.

Kitchen inspiration

2011-04-01T20:55:00.007+11:00

Here are some Kitchen photos I'm gaining inspiration from.
I'm loving the charcoal cupboards, but I want mine to be more bluish rather than grey. I think stainless steel appliances look great against this colour combination.

We have a fireplace that faces out in both our existing front rooms. Since we're demolishing walls, we're keeping the fireplace column in the middle of the open plan. This means that our kitchen will have a fireplace facing in. I think this will automatically give the kitchen a bit of a French Provincial feel. I also love the idea of the light fitting being a rustic wrought iron lantern type thing.

As well as this I like the idea of having some open shelves somewhere.......

Kitchen colours and materials

2011-04-01T17:17:00.006+11:00

As part of our renovation we've decided to go for a fairly monochrome colour scheme for our kitchen. The kitchen will be U shaped with a free standing stainless steel oven and stove and streamlined drawers and cabinetry on one side. On one wall is a large window and the sink and dishwasher will be there. I'm hoping to try and fit the fridge on this side too, but it will depend on the window size. On the right arm of the U shape is more windows and ample bench space.

This is the colour planned for the cabinetry.

For our benches we plan to use Caesar stone organic white

Splashback is marble

Finally the walls are to be half-strength Dulux Clotted cream

It's been a long long time - hinge post

2011-04-01T11:04:00.003+11:00

Okay, so I'll be the first to admit that this blog hasn't seen the light of day on my computer screen for quite some time. I'm going to call this post a bit of a hinge. Allow me to explain. I've been reading some of my older posts and my life has changed so much since then. I started the blog when I began my degree to 'publish' my writing. I was also working in a university library at the time. Well when I finished my degree I was pregnant with my first child. I graduated in March 2007 and my son was born in April. How's that for timing!!!

As well as this my husband was offered a position in Queensland that we took, so I resigned from my library job and the three of us lived on the Gold Coast for two years.
We returned home to Melbourne in 2009, to the same house as we rented it out, and my daughter was born a few months later. So really when you think about it, I was pregnant with my son when we moved to Queensland and had him up there, and did the opposite later, where I was pregnant with my daughter and moved back to Melbourne and had her here.
So life has been a whirl of playgroups, library outings, park play, gymbaroo, music maestro, kinder and daycare.

After four years of children's activities I've decided this year to focus a little bit more on myself and I've started my Masters in secondary teaching. This also means that in two years time I should be able to re enter the workforce as a teacher. A prospect I find very appealing. My methods are English and Humanities.
The other big news is that in a few months time we will be starting a major renovation/extension. Presently we are oozing out of the cracks of our house, that was just fine when it was the two of us, but now with our added offspring. Well, the sooner we add on these rooms the better. As we plan to live here whilst the building is happening I'm sure will provide much fodder for this blog.

Been a long long time

2009-11-01T10:36:00.001+11:00

Been a long time and I now have two children both under the age of three. Must lose weight!!!

The countdown is on

2006-12-22T14:04:00.000+11:00

Well I'll be moving to Queensland in January, and today is my last day at work. Christmas and New Year in Melbourne, lots of packing, and then moving North for the next few years.

I have mixed feelings about the move, so much so that I'm walking around saying, "it's only for a few years, it's only for a few years......" I'll be the mad woman walking around Queensland, pushing a pram (because I'm having a baby) with two dogs, repeating this mantra out loud to myself.

Fifteen commandments for mystery writer's who want to be published

2006-10-06T10:24:00.000+10:00

Brought to you by You can write mystery.

I. Thou shalt think like a professional starting now.

II. Thou shalt begin and keep going till you're
through.
Writing is rewriting. Let that give you confidence as you stumble along - you can
make it better after you finish a draft.

III. Thou shalt take your efforts and desires seriously.

IV. Thou shalt call it work.

V. Thou shalt write for yourself, not the market.

VI. Thou shalt not wait for visits from the muse.

VII. Thou shalt not ask whether you are good enough.

VIII. Thou shalt not intimidate yourself by comparing
your writing with a published and polished work.

IX. Thou shalt not worry whether your idea is new
enough.

X. Thou shalt not talk your idea away.
The words on the page will allow the reader to live your story. If you tell it to
someone the xperience will be completely different and disappointing.
XI. Thou shalt not self-censor at all during the first
draft.

XII. Thou shalt not risk writer's paralysis by looking
for the precise word or being afraid of sounding
dumb.

XIII. Thou shalt not believe that if writing's hard, you must be no good.

XIV. Thou shalt not set yourself up for failure with
impossible goals.

XV. Thou shalt not believe in writer's block.

Back to the drawing board

2006-08-18T13:53:00.000+10:00

It's all Agatha Christie's fault. The night before I began to read Dead Man's Folly. I'm only on chapter two and already I can see what's lacking in my own mystery novel. There are not enough suspects. I've been focussing so much on the actual villian that I've forgotten to introduce other possible villians and even to flesh out the other characters properly, aside from the heroine of course. What this means, is that I've had to work around the murdered character, and come up with possible murderers as well as motives etc. This has caused me to want to change some of the existing characters as well.

So, now I have to go and research once again. This time I'm researching characterisation. I did a little of this well before I started to write, but obviously not enough. I'm finding it difficult to strike a balance between the research aspect of writing and the actual writing. When do you know enough is enough? It looks as though I haven't done enough, otherwise I wouldn't need to go back to the drawing board so to speak to continue with the research.

So, this week I will continue with some research. I will decide who my cast of characters will be once and for all and what part exactly they play in my murder mystery.

Writing and the order of things

2006-08-09T15:20:00.000+10:00

I'm trying to organise myself and the way I write. Over my mid-year break I found this to be a fairly easy thing to do, but with other classes and work, I'm finding it difficult to find time to write, yet alone strike a balance between my other subjects and work

Something I discovered only recently, is that I can write from my head into the computer. Everything I wrote prior, was in long hand. A subject I did last semester called Electronic Writing, forced me to think differently in relation to writing. At first I found this idea really going against the grain, but over the break, I tried writing my story straight into the computer. Admittedly, there were bits and pieces that I had written in my journal and in an excercise book, specifically bought for the writing of my detective mystery. I found that I suddenly had a freedom of writing, and that my typing could keep up with the sentences coming out of my head. I didn't do my typing lessons in school in vain! So, with this tool, if you like, harnessed, I found I was able to write, add the bits and pieces from my journal, change things around, and more importantly, delete. Deleting writing is the hardest thing to do.

As the title of this post is 'writing and the order of things', I thought I would list a bit of a to-do-list. I need to research more. Not just write. Therefore, I will begin researching the following:

Historical journals from Australia's Victorian past. Dates approximately 1850 onwards
Old architecture in Australian rural towns

As well as the research, I need to keep writing. Otherwise I feel like I will lose the impetus of the story. That brings me to ordering my day. How to work writing around my other academic projects - that seems completely frivolous in comparison. I've struck upon the idea of writing on Saturday afternoons/evenings/nights. Unless my social life intervenes. Although, it is semester time so the social events should really be curtailed. Anyway, this seems like a good time to at least aim for. Thus, this post has now allowed me to get some sort of order in my mind in relation to my writing.

Literature/Media Project

2006-07-28T15:28:00.000+10:00

I have been asked to submit a Statement of Intention for this class this semester. The following is the statement:

HALM317 Literature/Media Project

Statement of Intention

I have been working on a detective mystery novel, off and on, for the past year. My Literature/Media Project will be continued writing of this novel, as well as conscientiously exploring the writing process. At present, the draft manuscript is close to 20’000 words, most of this writing taking place during the mid-year break 2006. My personal goal is to have the manuscript at least 50’000 words by the end of semester. I plan to use this project to structure my writing. I don’t expect my supervisor to read 50’000 words; therefore I will submit the following for assessment:

An outline of the plot
Profiles and brief biographies of the central characters
A bibliography and reference list of works consulted for the research of this novel
The first chapter as a final draft, or as near to it

My experience of this project will be documented on my weblog, http://scribeswindow.blogspot.com

My hope is that the above will give a good framework to continue the novel to completion.

Holland's Social Experiment: following the Dutch drug debate.

2005-12-22T11:45:00.001+11:00

Recently I was fortunate enough to visit The Netherlands. My two weeks there was during second semester at University, and whilst there I needed to find and write about a topic for a feature article for a journalism subject I was doing. This is my article.

Like an indulgent, eccentric uncle, Amsterdam is a European city, where people who want to legally smoke cannabis can do so openly in one of Holland’s coffeeshops, much to the concern of the city’s surrounding neighbours. These neighbouring countries take a harder stance against drugs that is at odds with Holland’s social experiment, where the Dutch believe their lax attitude is more compassionate and a better way.
One of the first places many of Holland’s tourists visit is Amsterdam’s coffeeshops. Located along the city’s canals and narrow streets, they display a green and white sticker on their windows, indicating that inside you will find a hash or weed menu. However, you don’t really need to see these stickers to know that you can get high within Amsterdam’s coffeeshops, as the sweet, pungent aroma emitted from them is clue enough. Glancing through one of the hash menus, I found offerings such as “Hawaiian Haze”, “Juicy Fruit”, and “Purple Power”. There are pre-rolled joints, weed from Morocco, indoor plants, outdoor plants and marijuana dubbed either local or foreign.
According to a display at the Amsterdam History Museum (Historisch Museum), the Netherlands have decriminalised soft drugs since 1976. This means that in Holland a blind eye is turned to the sale and use of up to five grams of marijuana.

The display also includes a video, where an American accented panel of experts debate the merits of Holland’s drug policy, the amended Opium Act of 1976.
Pietr, who works at the History Museum thinks that the Dutch government is becoming increasingly conservative. “All the time medical reports are coming, saying that the use of cannabis is not good. Personally I do not like the smell. I hate the smell of smoking. It is everywhere. I do not like it”.
The smoky marijuana smell is indeed everywhere. This is particularly noticeable when zigzagging through pedestrians and the throng visiting coffeeshops, trying to locate the Hash Marijuana Hemp Museum, finally finding a doorway flanked by Marijuana plants and that distinctive odour. The man accepting Euros for entry into the museum was extremely cagey in answering any questions. Standing beside him was a belligerent American woman, puffing a joint, the marijuana smell emitted from the museum clearly coming from her. Declining even first name basis to be used, the man behind the counter kept trying to usher me towards the disorganised displays in an effort to answer my questions. The man at one point became irritated at my use of the word “legalised”. With a shake of his head and a deep frown, he emphasised that marijuana use is “tolerated” not legalised. From then on, in all my conversations regarding soft drug use, I made sure I used the word, tolerated instead. He told me that households are allowed five plants, and there is continual pressure from the United Nations to stop it. “We do not drink alcohol. We smoke”. With a shrug he continued, “Smoking can be bad for you. You can get addicted. It’s never written down when somebody dies using it”. Then, giving me his one and only smile, “if politicians were to smoke it, there would be less problems”.
Most of the Hemp Museum’s displays were propagandist. Lots of yellow and brown cutout newspaper articles taped along the walls, citing headlines of human rights and the drug war. There was a display about Pot Pride Marches that also included a poster of a marching chant: “We’re here, we’re high. Get used to it”.
A few doors down, at the Tiani Hemp shop, I spoke to Jorge, who was much more forthcoming than the man at the Hemp Museum. Jorge has owned his hemp shop for thirty years or more, selling all the hemp products associated with the drug, but not the drug itself. “The hemp is used for a lot”, he told me, “plastic, material, shirts, soap, rope, everything”. He nods in satisfaction. “The tobacco and plastic companies stopped production of hemp because of plastic competition”.
Jorge also thought that becoming addicted was not true. “I have smoked for thirty years. If you want to believe them…. I believe myself. Smoking has been happening for thousands of years. There’s Indian culture, Arabic, Latino, Indigenous. I think of it as a cure. People who have asthma; it opens their lungs”. Jorge is often asked for the drug itself, many tourists coming to the shop thinking they can get it here. He directs them to the numerous coffeeshops surrounding his establishment.
According to the Dutch Justice Ministry, coffeeshops numbered 1’179 in 1997, and this has dropped to 754 in 2003. Jorge is concerned about this. “Since the sixties people are making a living from this. Making money. They grow it in their own homes. Some people grow in special places, but the police catch them, so they have to grow in their homes. It’s a family affair”. Jorge explains to me that the government will not renew or issue new licences. Consequently there is no new coffeeshops opening. However, more hemp shops, like Jorge’s, are started. “If the owner dies they won’t renew. This is how they stop it. Coffeeshops are fighting this by becoming an association or cooperative”. Then he adds, “Politicians like to keep quiet because it brings tourists to Holland. Hotels are full. Everybody that is here is happy. Other countries have a higher percentage of violence. In England they drink alcohol, they become aggressive, they fight. Here they smoke; they want to make love. Other countries drug addicted people die on the street. Here people have somewhere to go”.
There is certainly an argument here. The Dutch have always reasoned that the coffeeshops allow their authorities to keep a close eye on cannabis use. Their policy also includes low threshold treatment. This means that those with a drug problem are encouraged to seek help, and Holland’s drug programs are designed so minimal paperwork is involved and minimal demands are made. The Centre for Drug Research, University of Amsterdam (CEDRO) contends that cannabis use is substantially lower than often assumed. An article from the Journal of Health and Social Policy, debates the Dutch drug policy and asks if it can be used as a model for America. The Netherlands and the USA being two countries at distinct opposite sides when it comes to drug use. The Netherlands support ‘harm reduction’ whilst America prefers ‘supply reduction’. The latter policy promotes reducing drugs, and enforces strict sanctions on those who do not. To the consternation of many of Holland’s critics, drug use has had a negligibly small increase since 1976. In other parts of Europe and also America, there has been much increase, despite prohibition.
Jorge also enthusiastically tells me about the Cannabis Cup. The Cannabis Cup has been awarded for the last sixteen years to someone or a company providing excellence in marijuana samples. When the Cannabis Cup event is taking place, there are many tours frequenting the coffeeshops. An event some tourists may not want to miss.
Most Dutch people seem to advocate Holland’s ‘social experiment’. Further afield, in the small town of Emmen, about three hours journey from Amsterdam, I meet the Boer family. Invited for a traditional meal, I enter their awe-inspiring home – a completely renovated Dutch farmhouse, hundreds of years old, but brought into the twenty-first century. The Boer family have converted the farmhouse into liveable conditions, but it still has its imposing thatched roof, and inside, the black misshapen beams with their patina of age. Even here, miles away from Amsterdam’s coffeeshops, this topic created much debate from nine people seated around the dinner table.
Marius Boer, the eldest son in his twenties says, “it’s a good thing, and it keeps away criminal things. When it is allowed it is controllable. To go under, it will not be. Trading is done at a reasonable level, the legal price goes down. What’s the difference between alcohol and hemp? It’s a soft drug”.
Marius’ parents, Peter and Karen Boer agree, Karen saying, “It must be free and allowed. Whatever you want. Also the hard drugs. Problem is solved, the price drops to nothing”.
Peter talks about the production of marijuana. “A lot of energy is put into the growing. A lot of countries are looking at how Holland controls its drugs. You can buy equipment for three or four thousand Euros, and make it back in a year growing”.
“Less than a year”, Marius interjects. Everyone around the table nods.
Peter continues. “A room, lamps, ventilation. Power companies can see power being used in the meters, they can come and close you down”. The Boer family tell of one of their neighbours close by. His thatched roof had no snow on it! His home had big gates and also big dogs! Everyone laughs at the visual of a house with no snow on its roof, due to the heat inside, growing marijuana plants.
Robert, another guest says, “We should tolerate it. But I’ve never tried it”. I turn to him surprised. Robert who has lived in Holland all his life had never tried marijuana? Is this unusual, I ask? He shrugs in answer. Peter answers for him, “When it’s not seen under the table you can control it. That’s the tactics here. Holland is united thinking the same thing. When people deal in the street it is frowned upon. Why sell drugs on the street if you can get it in the shops?” He looks at Robert, “because it’s not experimental anymore”.
I ask Karen and Natasha, another guest, how they feel about children and marijuana. Karen responds first, “I hate it”. Henk, Natasha’s husband tells me, “I hope not, that they will use drugs”. Natasha says, “I am afraid of it, that they will use drugs”. At this point I see natural parental concern. Even though Holland’s society is tolerant about drugs, there is still an instinctive worry about their children.
Jacqueline, Marius’ girlfriend gives her opinion here. “I think it has to do with your social life and your friends. When I was in school I wasn’t in a group that experimented with drugs. The friends I had were very close, from the age of four. We were always the same group doing other things”.
Karen tells us, “At school, policemen stand there during breaks so that dealers don’t come”. Everyone frowns at the thought of drug dealers in the street.
There is a powerful argument of economics that Peter contends, “coffeeshops are closing. Nobody is interested anymore. When there is too much supply the price drops. There will be a peak for a short while. There were three or four coffeeshops in Emmen, but now two are closing because there is no interest anymore”.
Back in Amsterdam, walking the city’s streets, I see people milling about a doorway. Realising they are just watching table dancers I continue on my way, the hoots of jocularity fading as I go. Later I see a bicycle tour. A group of girls are about to embark, donned with party hats and pretty clothes, here for a hen’s weekend, the bride-to-be’s last hoorah. I pass wild bucks parties, groups of people from all cultures, roaming the streets, some clearly worse for wear, away from the usual humdrum of their working lives. I think of Jorge’s words: the tourists come; the hotels are full. Everyone is here in this all-encompassing party city, which Amsterdam is known for.

What I've been reading lately: If on a Winter's Night a Traveller (a postmodern essay.)

2005-12-13T12:10:00.001+11:00

To open a book is to invite the fictional world in. Readers always know when they are reading fiction. There are conventions and codes, an author to listen to, reading is a way to understand and think. The most challenging feature of postmodern writing is its insinuation of the fictionality of the world we live in. Readers are challenged when overt metafictional writers, such as Italo Calvino, choose to display the fictionality of their novels. This essay will focus on Italo Calvino’s novel, If on a winter’s night a traveller. It will explore metafiction, a type of postmodern writing and examine the conventions of fiction, deconstruction of language, the notion of an author and their precursors and the relationship between reading and writing. All this will reveal the fictionality within postmodern writing.

Italo Calvino is deliberate and determined to convey the notions and the intricacy in preparing a text. It is never forgotten that we are reading a book. There is an author, a scene set, a plot and characters to be met. Calvino intentionally allows the book’s contrivance to be seen. He asserts this from the very beginning in his opening chapter: “You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel” (Calvino, 1998, p.3), and later: “The novel begins in a railway station, a locomotive huffs, steam from a piston covers the opening of the chapter, a cloud of smoke hides part of the first paragraph” (Calvino,1998, p.10).

Although we are reading, we are never directly able to read for ourselves, someone else reads each narrative and this allows Calvino to highlight the novel’s constructs and conventions. “We are never allowed even the illusion of direct access to these stories: they are all mediated, which is just another way of saying that they are fabricated” (Brink, 1998, p.317). Through the eyes of others such as, the narrator; professor Uzzi-Tuzzi; Lotaria and Silas Flannery, we are made aware that this is a book and it has been made. Furthermore, we are told that even these readings have been read before, translated by the infamous Ermes Marana. The novel has been previously read, previously interpreted and constantly mediated.
Jacques Derrida, a postmodern theorist, examined the use of language. He saw language as deconstructed, disorderly and unstable. Language viewed this way allows for interpretation. Disorderly and unstable means that when language is used to represent, to each person that language can be different, therefore destabilised and unstructured. An author may have the best intentions to use language to represent one particular view, but this may not always be the case. Calvino emphasises this further in his novel.

“[The] act of reading…becomes simultaneously an act of radical destabilisation of language. Each of the readers in Calvino's novel reads the ‘same’ novel, yet experiences it as a ‘different’ novel; the whole process of reading unsettles fixed meanings” (Brink, 1998, p.314).

Derrida also used the theatre as an analogy to writing, to convey this idea.
“[An] author-creator who, absent and from afar, is armed with a text and keeps watch over, assembles, regulates the time or meaning of representation…He lets representation represent him through representatives, directors or actor, enslaved interpreters who…more or less directly represent the thought of the ‘creator’” (Ritzer, 2003, p. 584).

Similarly in fiction, language represents the thoughts of the creator and the reader is the interpreter. This is an important concept in postmodern writing. Also is the notion of previously read, previously interpreted, mediated, represented and then interpreted again and again. It is the idea of precursors. An author has read before. An author allows these ideas to influence their writing. The ideas are consequently mediated or represented and the reader, in turn, re-interprets these ideas. If the reader is also a writer, the cycle continues.
Calvino's If on a winter’s night a traveller uses the premise of precursors and portrays it through his novel by different chapters. The “novel offers an increasingly, dizzying experience of reading, with each chapter acting as supplement to what has gone before and as a preface to the next” (Brink, 1998 p. 320). Precursors are important to the idea of the author when it is explored. It questions the notion of ideas mediated, authors influenced, akin to Derrida’s notion of representation.

Calvino uses his character Marana to display this, where he deems authors irrelevant. (Calvino, 1998, p. 101) As if to say it is everyone’s and anyone’s idea.
“Marana often misrepresents what he sends to publishers, submitting manuscripts incorrectly titled and attributed and sometimes passing off insignificant works as major works. Marana is a kind of anti-authorial terrorist" (Gaggi, 1997, pp 56-57).

Michel Foucault examined the idea of author-function. Foucault, another postmodern theorist, looked at the way writers would seek to write what they believed to be an individual voice. However, Foucault asserts that the reading of any given text allows for inevitable interpretation. Multiple readings, changing an individual voice into a fractured voice:
“that the author-function is a construction that imposes ideological constraints upon the reading of a body of texts identified as being by a certain ‘author’…the subject of the author in particular – is a product of discourse rather than the origin of discourse” (Gaggi, 1997, p. 57).

A good illustration of this is Calvino’s idea of two writers, each struggling to write, and while imagining the other writes better, each begins to write as they imagine the other would, and consequently they write the same book.
Calvino goes on to include computers in his novel that are working to emulate the work of famous writers. Here he is “demystifying literature and the author” (Gaggi, 1997, p. 62). Calvino’s novel shows that an author's own discourse is a product and cannot be described as original, he shows it to be ‘fictional’.
Calvino allows the authorship of his own novel to be ambiguous. Calvino himself, a real author, allows himself to be a character. This questions the idea of what has been written and by whom? Marana’s deliberate attempt’s to steal, forge and misrepresent texts ensures that “reading will be freed from the constraints imposed on it by the aura of authorship” (Gaggi, 1997, p. 57). Roland Barths, also a postmodernist, asserts that in writing there is the ‘death of the author’. “The more the author appears, the less he or she exists. The more the author flaunts his or her presence in the novel, the more noticeable is his or her absence outside it” (Waugh, 1984, p. 134). Certainly Calvino is doing just this in his novel, and by doing so he is breaking the conventions of fiction writing.

“I have – no, the author has – been circling around the feminine presence, for several pages you have been expecting this female shadow to take shape the way female shadows take shape on the written page, and it is your expectation, reader, that drives the author towards her” (Calvino, 1998, p. 20).

If on a winter’s night a traveller is metafiction. Fiction about fiction, stories within stories. Linda Hutcheon writes about metafiction and she calls this narcissistic text. She talks about reading narrative and expectations a reader has. When these expectations are not met, she says writers know full well that they are overtly being self-conscious in their writing and the subverting and breaking of novelistic codes show this. (Hutcheon, 1984, p. 139) Thus far, Calvino has unsettled the author, the novel’s conventions and used the notion of precursors and this easily falls into Hutcheon’s theory of narcissistic text.

The book does not conform to a linear fashion. Instead Calvino allows it to be multi-linear. One story or chapter can lead to the next, but it can also lead to others, all at the same time and even re-trace itself back. An example of this is when the book’s narrator goes in search of the famous author Silas Flannery. Flannery describes his ideal reader, clearly evoking the character of Ludmilla. This image of Ludmilla connects her to the reading of all the previous chapters as well as future one’s and also within Flannery’s own writing. Indeed, Ludmilla’s character is a good example of portraying the novel as being multi-diagetic, where “stories successfully frame other stories often to the point of infinite regress (Cotrupi, 1991, p. 2 of 7)

As well as being multi-diagetic it has been argued that Ludmilla personifies the male reader’s erotic desire. There are three quests running alongside each other. The quest for Ludmilla; the quest for the desired perfect reading experience and the narrator’s quest to find his elusive narrative. Reading is spurred on by the desire to see what comes next. Ludmilla’s character is a metaphor for sexual conquest. (Cotrupi, 1991)
Calvino elaborates on the different types of readers. Ludmilla and Lotaria are contrasted.
“Ludmilla, the named and described female reader, clearly personifies the ideal reader in pointed contrast to Lotaria’s pseudoscientific, ideologically motivated, devalued, and degenerated readings of the texts” (Cotrupi, 1991, p. 3 of 7).
Further, Ludmilla talks of there being a boundary line for the reader when she refuses to accompany the narrator to the publishers. Ludmilla prefers to be just a reader on a quest within the fictional world only.
“There’s a boundary line: on one side are those who make books, on the other those who read them, so I take care always to remain on my side of the line. Otherwise, the unsullied pleasure of reading ends, or at least is transformed into something else, which is not what I want (Calvino, 1998, p. 93).

Calvino’s manipulation lays bare all the literal conventions of the novel and reveals its interior constructs, and also its exterior constructs. Many protagonists in the novel belong to the literary world, the realm of books. The writer; the reader; the publisher; the narrator; the bookshop owner; literary agents; the academic; the librarian; the plagiarist and the translator. He has incorporated all these into his storytelling. Writing fiction and the ‘real’ players all at once.

“Through these innovations Calvino has added another layer to the semantic density of fiction, incorporating within the narrative text not only an awareness of its own status as literary artefact or verbal construct but also an explicit self-engagement with its role as literary text, as the locus of human creative, perceptual and hermeneutic activities” (Cotrupi, 1991, p. 2 of 7)

Calvino exposing literary construction allows the book to be an overt metafictional novel, a narcissistic text. Calvino subverts the notion of the author, and deems them irrelevant. Where writers can write the exact same thing, but readers can read the exact same thing differently. For Calvino’s metafictional novel to succeed, he must alleviate the void between the fiction of the book and the real world. The reader must never forget that they are reading a book. Calvino does this by the ever-present reader reading over the shoulder of another. When a novel is opened and narrative begins, readers have expectations, but postmodern writing challenges this. Italo Calvino has succeeded in insinuating fictionality into his writing.

Feedback on my feature article

2005-12-05T12:01:00.000+11:00

I'm very excited!! I received an email from my lecturer for my journalism subject. This semester one of my assignments was to write a feature article, and because I was fortunate enough to accompany my husband to Holland I decided to write about the drug debate.

Her email reads: If you are receiving this email it means you wrote a fantastic feature article. In some cases I have made recommendations for you to publish in a different magazine/newspaper in my comments, but your article would certainly be of interest to Tabula Rasa [student magazine] as well.

When I read this I felt that warm fuzzy glow, the kind when you have succeeded in doing something well. Note she used the word "fantastic"!! I do plan to post the article in the coming weeks. There's nothing like the feeling of getting positive feedback from someone. It really does make all the difference.

singing the la la la's

2005-11-28T14:52:00.000+11:00

Well I did it. I joined a new choir. It was fantastic! I left feeling very welcomed. Also, I found out that the choir had only been going for a year, so everyone is still learning music. This meant that I was able to keep up and I actually was able to join in singing at my first rehearsal. That was a great feeling. I remember the last choir I was at, when I attended the first rehearsal I could only sit and listen, because everyone knew the music so well they just launched right into it. It took me ages to learn some of the songs, and even now I'm not sure if I had learnt all of the music.

About three years ago I auditioned for the Royal Philharmonic Choir. It was an audition that began brilliantly and then quickly went downhill. I should probably explain that I cannot sight read music. I have been in two choirs (now a third), but I have always been able to get on with an 'ear' to music, so to speak. I can sort of tell when to go up and down etc., but that's about it.

So, I went to the audition, not expecting much, but I thought I'd give it a go. The audition began with some scales. I normally sing Soprano, and can sing fairly high notes. As I continued going up in scales, I noticed the Pianist give the musical director a bit of a look, as if to say, not bad.

The second part of the audition was to sing a piece of music that I knew. I had brought along a French classical piece that I had sung in my previous choir. So, away I went, and I daresay that it went rather well.

The final part of the audition was to sight read some music. The Musical Director told me to go over to the stand where I found some classical German music. He then told me to sing the Alto part. This is when it got quite scary. There was absolutely no way I would be able to do this. He told me to proceed, and that 'Lars' will do. I quickly scanned the music, looking for 'Lars". The music began, and I felt my face grow hot because no matter how hard I looked I could not find 'lars', and therefore, where to begin. Entirely missing the cue to begin, the musical director began to sing the part, trying to be helpful. Just as he began to sing, it dawned on me that 'lars' meant sing 'la la la', and not worry about the words. I'm sure some of you reading this probably realised that's what he meant straightaway! Anway, it was perfectly obvious that I was having trouble reading and therefore singing the music, so the music director then asked me to clap the notes instead. Keen not to disappoint in anyway, I began clapping. The wrong notes. This time I noticed the pianist give him a look, but this was was clearly showing how unimpressed she was. The audition ended by him not looking me in the eyes, and uttering something along the lines of don't call us we'll call you. A few days later I received my rejection letter.

I like this new gospel choir that I've joined. They're nice and relaxed, with no music sight reading ability needed.

The things I can do.

2005-11-25T09:06:00.000+11:00

Well second year of my undergraduate degree is now officially over!! There's nothing like the feeling of walking away from that last exam of the year. This summer I have made some plans to do things that I have been putting off because of study. My previous post had my immense reading list that I am planning to get through. I am also planning on doing some writing. I have what I think (and hope) a mystery novel floating around in my head. I'm going to set a writing schedule for myself over the summer and see what comes of it. The other thing I am doing is joining a gospel choir. I have been involved with two different choirs over the years, and I left my last one because I began my degree and found I didn't have time for it. So, the other night I rang a contact number of a choir I found that rehearses literally just around the corner from my home. In fact it was interesting the way it came about.

On the weekend Richard and I were away for a rowing regatta out in country Victoria. (He's a rower). Richard was towing the rowboats, and as we left the rowing club, coming up the long drive, I noticed a lovely bluestone church on the corner and spent a few seconds admiring it. On the Monday at work - which is now very quiet because all the students are gone (except for summer school students) - I decided to get on the internet and see if I could find any choirs that rehearsed close to home. I found a handful, but the gospel choir really caught my eye. And what's more, they rehearse in the old bluestone church I had been admiring over the weekend. How fortuitous is that! Anyway, I am going to attend a rehearsal tonight after work for the first time. Hopefully it will be great. I'm really looking forward to giving my vocal chords something to do, they have been getting very hoarse from disuse. Also, because they practice on Thursday nights, I think I will be able to fit rehearsals in next year (or at least for first semester), because so far the class timetable has me at uni during the day, which will leave Thursday night free.

So those are my plans for the summer. Reading, writing and singing. I feel like I'm getting back to the basics of who I am. In the past three to four years I have been trying out different things, and finding that I either lose interest or it just doesn't feel right. I think you have to be really passionate about something for it to work properly. It's good to try out new things, but sometimes when there is so little time it can be better to focus on the things that you can do.

kennelling the Pooches

2005-11-24T11:17:00.000+11:00

Over the weekend Richard and I attended a rowing regatta out in the country. We put both our dogs in a kennel for the first time. This proved to be quite traumatic for me. I can just imagine what I'll be like when I have children!! (If and when).

Now one of my dogs was quite ok. Nelson is a terrier cross and we got him from the RSPCA three years ago. I get the impression he has been in kennels before, and certainly, the RSPCA is a kennel type of environment. Kaz, on the other hand, is a Jack Russell that we have had since she was eight weeks old. I'm very sad to report that her kennel experience was very traumatic for her. My mum went to collect them since the kennel closed at 5pm, and the last rowing race was 3pm. Therefore we would only return to Melbourne by 8pm. Anway, went to collect them from my mum's place, and my poor Kaz just would not take her eyes off us. It was as though if she blinked we would disappear. I was feeling very sorry for my pooch. Nelson on the other hand had lost his bark! When he sees other dogs he either wants them to come over to him or he go to them, so he can say a nice doggy hello. Kaz is the opposite. Because they were being kept together we had ticked the box saying to keep them separate from the other dogs. Poor Nelson. I think he must have barked for the whole weekend, shouting over to the other dogs that he just could not get to. The result? He lost his voice. Even though I felt bad about it, it was quite hilarious to listen to him bark when we got home. His bark is slowly getting back to normal now though.

We thought it would be a good idea to try out a kennel for them as we are going away in January, and also we are trying to find a 'good' kennel that we can trust. I think that if we go away camping on the next regattas we could take Kaz with us. Nelson hates camping. The bugs literally sends him bananas. He's been camping with us twice and both times we had to put him in the tent just to keep him sane. Also, he likes to wander and has selective hearing when being called. Kaz loves camping. She is very docile and will sit quietly with us. I think definitely for the next camping trip we will take her and put Nelson in the kennel and tick the box that allows him to socialise with the other dogs. He will have a fantastic holiday, and Kaz will happily sit with us and be the well behaved dog she is. Other than the camping I think next time we are away we may have to find someone to housesit and look after both of them. Which we have done before. Or, unfortunately for Kaz, it will be back to the kennel.

My reading list (so far!) I just seem to keep adding to it.......

2005-11-24T09:08:00.001+11:00

Well second year of my degree is almost over. I have one more exam to get through and then my summer begins. I still have my part time job to go to, but it's nice knowing I can relax for a few months and not worry about anything due in.

I've made a huge list of fiction books to read, not necessarily to be finished by the end of summer, but I can certainly make a start on it. I thought I might use this post to share my reading list. Please feel free to comment if you have read any of these titles and let me know what you think. But no spoilers please!!

1. The Rule of Four. Caldwell
2. Arthur & George. Barnes
3. Pride and Presience. Bebris

4. Espresso tales. McCall Smith
5. Vellum. Duncan
6. Pomegranate soup. Mehran
7. The Big Over Easy. Fforde
8. Hyde Park gate news: the stephen family newspaper. Woolf & Bell
9. A breath of snow and ashes. Gabaldon
10.The secret river. Grenville
11.To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee (re-read for my book discussion group)
12.Summer at Mount Hope. Ham
13.The Ghost Writer. Harwood
14.The book thief. Zusak
15.Knife of Dreams. Jordan
16.A thing of blood. Gott
17.Justice Hall. King
18.The city of falling angels. Berendt
19.A conspiracy of Paper. Liss
20.The book of lost books. Kelly

21.The Dante Club. Pearl
22.Great Books. Denby
23.The Apothecary's House. Mathews
24.The conjuror's bird. Davies
25.Seven Ancient Wonders. Reilly
26.Climbing the mango trees. Jaffrey

27.The Stone Ship. Raftos
28.Is history fiction? Curthoys & Docker
29.The Minotaur. Vine
30.Uncorrected proof: the true history of the Australian book scene. Anonymous
31.Suspense and Sensibility. Bebris
32.Italian joy. Coulson
33.The Italian Secretary. Carr
34.Sicilian summer. Johnston
35.Living Dangerously. Fforde
36.The Game. King
37.The Serpent on the Crown. Peters
38.The Historian. Kostova
39.The History of Love. Krauss

Well that's it so far. The bad thing is that each day I just seem to add to it. This list doesn't even include all the classics I try to get hold of as well! It's me playing catch up after two years so far of study, and letting my fiction reading take a backseat.

The travel bug strikes again!

2005-11-14T12:48:00.000+11:00

Well I'm all excited. I have the itinerary planned for our next trip, Im going to book tickets, accommodation and tours probably tomorrow. This is what we're going to be doing:

21 Jan Saturday - Leave Melbourne for Hervey Bay (Queensland)
Sunday - Hervey Bay
Monday - Day tour Lady Elliot Island, snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef
Tuesday - leave for 3 day Wilderness Safari on Fraser Island
Wednesday - Fraser Island
Thursday - Fraser Island, return Hervey Bay. (Australia Day)
Friday - Hervey Bay
Saturday - Hervey Bay and Uncle's birthday party (the whole reason why we're going!)
Sunday - Hervey Bay
Monday - Hervey Bay
Tuesday - return to Melbourne.

I'm feeling pretty satisfied about my planned itinerary. I've got a friend that I travelled with last year around Europe, and I had an itinerary all planned out about a couple of months before leaving. He was completely freaked out by it. Do you think that makes me a control freak? I just like to think that it's better to know what you're doing so that you get the most out of your time there. When I returned to work I had people coming up and saying, did you really do all that? Every thing you had on your itinerary? They seemed pretty amazed. I think it forces you to keep going, rather than spend time asking yourself where to next, and then by the time you get your act together half your day is gone. Also, I can't help it if I know what I like......and in case you're wondering, hubby is happy to just go with the flow. In fact over the weekend I overheard him tell someone that I had it all planned, and he seemed pretty pleased by that. :)

Definitely been bitten by the travel bug.

My shit year continued

2005-11-03T22:37:00.001+11:00

Well in my last post I mentioned that I was having staffing problems and that Amy was part of all that. One thing I did forget to mention about Amy, is that she was often late to work. I would arrive expecting her to be there or turn up soon after, and I would get a phone call an hour later saying she was at the doctor's! One time she didn't even call and turned up at 11am, rather than 8am, when she was supposed to start, saying that she had been to her friends house because her brother had just died. I know that sentence sounds callous on my part, but there are three reasons for that. Firstly, I was at the end of my patience with her. Secondly, she could at least have rung - she does have a mobile phone. I was beginning to worry about her, then when I found out she was ok, I got annoyed. Thirdly, a few days later I asked her if she was going to the funeral, and she replied that she was not. I would have greater sympathy for what happened if she had at least attended the funeral. By the end of the four months that I put up with her, I went through my diary where I jot down who was in for work for pay etc., and realised that this sort of behaviour was averaging at least once a week! I don't know why I put up with it for so long.

In addition to this, I had another staff member who worked every Thursday. His name was Joel - the wanna be actor/producer. He was the sort of person where if you told him to do something, you would have to ask about three times before it was done. I had come from an environment where if I asked a staff member to please do a job, it was done immediately, or at least prioritised accordingly.
Joel was often at least a few minutes late. This I don't mind so much, but there was one afternoon when he had come in and was busily talking to one of the other staff members. Being fairly quiet, I said to him that I was going to send him home. The time was ten minutes past two. He looked at the clock, turned to me and very cooly said, I'll work till 2.30pm and then go. He then turned back around to the other staff member and continued his conversation. That was it. I told him very calmly but forcefully, that no, he was finishing up now, and if he was concerned about the extra ten minutes past the hour, that we can put that down for all the times that he's late. Lucky for him he didn't answer me back, because I think I would have fired him on the spot.
Well, I'm going to unfortunately admit that I put up with this kind of behaviour from him for far too long.

One day I told him that I wanted to let him go, he actually pleaded with me and set about making a case as to how badly he needed the money etc. Me feeling sorry for him actually relented. I know, very bad management on my part! I will admit to that.
When I did finally make a firm stand and say that I was letting him go and there were going to be no 'buts' about it, he came in for his final pay check and walked into the back area where one of the other girls was cleaning the floor using bleach. Joel is the type of guy who wears his jean trouser legs well over his shoes dragging along the ground. You can guess what happened. The next day he brought in his jeans, nicely folded in a plastic bag, and proceeded to show me the damage the bleach had done. He then asked me to cough up $250 for them, as this was the amount he had paid for them. I told him no, and that because he had walked into the back area on his own accord, that was his bad luck. I well and truly had had enough of him by this stage.
To cut a long story short, I eventually did offer to pay him for it, but he didn't bother coming in for the money, so that was the end of that.
This all happened towards the end of our stay at the cafe. So, for the first four months I had to put up with Amy and for the latter part I was putting up with Joel. I think the final three months I was fairly stress free with regards to staff. Except for Tanya, who wasn't a bad worker, and is a lovely person, but she suffers from depression and that made things difficult. She would often use her children as excuses, and it's very hard to argue with that. How can you argue that work comes before family? Particularly as I don't believe in that.

On a personal note, one of the things I found hardest to deal with, was the fact that people thought I was stupid. It was an attitude that came from people time and time again. Just because you work behind a counter does not mean you are stupid and uneducated. I constantly found that I was justifyng myself. Richard and friends kept on telling me to just smile and take their money. In my previous job, I was always talking to borrowers. They respected my opinion. They would come and ask me for advice on what to read. I would help them with their research. I found at the cafe that I was not getting anything out of it. I would go home each night disatisfied with my job, with an aching body because I had been on my feet all day. Considering all my previous jobs were all government positions, I suppose I was a bit spoiled. I just didn't know how spoilt I was until I went into business for myself.

Well, a year went by,and we finally sold it!

Looking back it all seems a bit surreal. I literally have to ask myself, did I really do that? Did I work myself to the bone that much
Now, two years later, I am working a very comfortable job at a university library and I am studying an undergraduate degree to become a teacher. It all seems a world away from the cafe. So, that's the story of my shit year. I went into it, with optimism, excitement, big stars in my eyes, only to come away, deflated, sad and fairly teary. But, as they say, when a door closes a window opens, and that's exactly what's happened to me. I had been thinking of doing teaching for quite a few years, and that whole episode propelled me towards it.

My shit year

2005-10-27T09:36:00.001+10:00

I've been meaning to write a post about this for ages, although I try to put it to the back of my mind as much as possible, pretending it didn't happen.
Halfway through 2002, Richard and I had the opportunity to buy a cafe. We went spent all our hardearned money, everything saved, to take this opportunity, that really should be described as a whim. Big, big mistake!! Firstly, neither of us had made a coffee in our lives. My background is in libraries and he's an engineer. We decided that it would be best if he keeps his job (thankfully this was the brightest decision through the whole mess), and I consequently handed in my resignation where I was working and embarked on what I thought was going to be a great adventure.
At the end of six months I began to think, mmm, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. At the end of eight months, I was literally crying, saying I can't do this anymore! At the end of eleven months, I couldn't wait to get out of there, especially as by then it was up for sale, and I just wanted it over and done with.
To make matters worse, I also had staffing problems. My cousin's girlfriend (now fiancee as of last weekend), has worked in hospitality all her working life, and I thought it would be a good idea to bring her on board. Someone experienced who knows what they are doing. There were a couple of other part time staff members I also kept on, after buying the business. A few weeks into it all, I noticed that these two girls were getting irritated with, (we'll call her) Amy.

After spending a few days watching Amy, I noticed that she was extremely slow. Just before she started working for us, she confessed that she had a hearing problem. Knowing this, the penny suddenly dropped, it explained quite a lot over the years. Why, when you would be talking to her and she would have this blank look on her face. Well, this was what was happening at the cafe. Customers would ask her for something, and she wouldn't hear and stand there with a blank look on her face. I know that it's not her fault, but it was very frustrating to watch. Also, the set up we had was very different to where she had come from. Previously she would take down an order, give it to the chef, get people's drinks, and once the meal was ready carry it out to the patron. We had a sandwich bar, as part of the cafe, so if you took an order you had to make the sandwich and give it to the person. She was taking one order after another and not making anything! I think she expected the food to appear out of thin air.
As well as the problems with her work, I found that I was spending much more time with her. She began to tell me things. That she had a whole lot of money and in the next year she was going to buy a car for my cousin, her boyfriend (now fiancee!). What sort of house she was going to have. What sort of wedding, once they got engaged. That she could play the piano, as in she just has to listen to a song and could immediately play it by ear.
Now, I have always admitted to being gullible. If you tell me you have a yacht on the harbour, I will believe you. Why the hell shouldn't I. I ask you this, why the hell do people lie?
The way Amy talked, it became obvious to me that she must have quite a lot of money stashed away. One day, I said to her, if you don't mind me asking, how much money have you saved? Do you know what she told me? $200 thousand. I was flabberghasted! My response to her? Congratulations I told her. It's very hard to save that kind of money. You must be very disciplined. And on I went.....even now writing it, two years later, I sound so bloody foolish!
Anyway, the working situation didn't improve and we consequently had to let her go, especially as one of the other girls we had kept on was proving she was worth her weight in gold. At the same time, I happened to mention to my aunt, (her future mother-in-law) that Amy had all this money and was going to buy her son a car next year. You know what my aunt's response to that was? Bullshit! Yep. And then, I began to see the light. I felt like an absolute goose. I began to think of all the conversations that I'd had with her - everything that I believed, and then I got angry. Well, the shit hit the fan, so to speak. As well as the problem regarding her work at the cafe, she now had to deal with my family, as to everything she had been saying. And, she became belligerent about it. It's none of your business is what she would say when questioned. I had a phone call from her where she ranted to me that she didn't know that I was that kind of person. Hello?? That kind of person? She's the one going around telling porky pies!!
I've fully digressed from the rest of the story with the cafe, but now, in my retelling, i'm getting angry all over again! I think that the worst part, is that she didn't come to any family events anymore, and went on holiday with her family soon after. As a result I didn't get to vent. To tell her off and get it off my chest and then move on. Well, I'll have to do another post to continue the story about my shit year, because Amy was only part of it.