Continuing on with writing posts. . .here's a neat link with photos on various writers rooms (UK writers I believe). . .http://books.guardian.co.uk/writersrooms
Wednesday 30 April 2008
Writers Rooms
Continuing on with writing posts. . .here's a neat link with photos on various writers rooms (UK writers I believe). . .http://books.guardian.co.uk/writersrooms
Monday 28 April 2008
Journal, Notebook, and the Need to Write
Are you someone who loves notebooks and journals? I love them. I can't go into a bookstore or art store without browsing the notebooks. I find I am pretty hard to please on them. Only certain ones will do.My latest notebook fad is the Moleskine ones. I don't recall seeing these in the states. That's not to say they aren't there though. I did see some similar but not this exact brand. It's a great book and quite well known in artist/writer type circles. In the UK, you can pick them up at Waterstones bookstores (online too if you want to order from the US). A bunch of different ones - plain, ruled, various sizes and so on. It's hard to pick.
Finally you pick one you like - whether Moleskine or otherwise. Then what? Do you journal? I find keeping a journal too much. I do like to journal now and again. My notebook sort of takes on a scrapbook sort of life. Writings, bit and pieces I tape in, glue in. Sketches. Doodles. A little bit of everything really. I just find I have a constant need to write things. Not every day. More of a 'as they come' sort of activity. It unclutters my mind.
That brings me to a few blogs I like listed below. If you like seeing creative notebooks, search around the archives on these sites. Really neat ideas. It just makes me want to get my Moleskine out and jot something - anything - down!
http://www.moleskinerie.com/my_moleskine/index.html
http://notebookism.com/
It's All a Mystery
Friday 25 April 2008
Big Cats and Foxes
I've been having some weird fox things happen to me this past week. I'm starting to be a little concerned about this.
Eyes in the Night -
This has happened to me twice. I let Penny outside in the backyard to do her business. I wait a few minutes, then open the door to look for her. Our yard is not fenced. It goes from grass to woods, and the neighbors on one side are only separated from us by a line of shrub-like trees. I mostly have to monitor Penny outside because of my neighbors constant need to put bread out in the middle of their yard. This is for the birds. Penny thinks it is for her. And since dachshunds are the type of dog that will eat until they explode, she has to be monitored. Anyway, back to the eyes. I open the door to get her back in the house. She's not anywhere in my sight. Darn. Get the flashlight. Since the woods are at the back of the yard, it is pitch black out there. I can see out about 20ft or so, then darkness. I call Penny and shine the light out there. Suddenly, I see 2 eyeballs in the light at the edge of the woods. Oh good, there she is. She starts running towards me. As she moves forward, I realize I am STILL seeing eyeballs back there at the edge of the woods. Wait. Penny is running across the yard, I can see that it is her as she nears. What the heck is that back there in the woods?! Cat or fox? I don't know. That was the first episode.
Second episode happened last week. Same thing, I shine the flashlight out there looking for Penny hopefully somewhere in the yard. I see her eyeballs. 'Come on, Penny!' I yell. She starts running towards me. Suddenly, rustle rustle near the bush 10ft from the door. Out pops. . .Penny! Huh?! Penny is running towards me down the yard. . .isn't she? No. She's here by the house. Then WHAT is that animal out there?! It gets closer but it's so dark out I still can't make out what it is. Suddenly, it dives for the neighbors shrub line and disappears. I could make out something red like and in the size realm of a cat or fox. Hmmm.
Jumanji Revisited -
Have you seen the movie 'Jumanji'? One of my favorite scenes is when the aunt is stopped in her car and this whole line of stampeding animals goes by then the rhino comes by about 5 seconds later and she is just watching it run by. The look on her face as she turns her head from left to right both times just cracks me up.
The other night I was cutting through a residential area in my car on the way home. It's late. It's dark. Not a soul around or even any cars. It's just quiet houses and me. I come to a T type of stop and have to go left or right. As I look left, I see this dog trotting down the sidewalk across the road from me. He's all alone. Just mildly trotting down the sidewalk. I sit and watch for a second to make sure he isn't going to cross the street in front of me. He doesn't. He just continues down the sidewalk like he's out for some nightly stroll around the neighborhood. As I watch him go from left to right, I see as he gets in my headlights that he is not a dog. He is a fox. This is my Jumanji moment. Just sitting watching this fox trot down the sidewalk in front of me as he never leaves the sidewalk and just continues down it until he is out of sight.
Back to the backyard. Cats. We have a number of cats who think they own this yard. They walk through. They sit in the grass. They hang out under the trees. They stare at the bird feeders. They are annoying. What they don't do is run. These cats are HUGE. Big old tomcats. A white one, a black one, a browny one. All big and all not scared of anything. Penny tries to chase them once in a while. They just hold their ground. Not scared. Not worried that a 30lb brown slow moving torpedo is heading right at them. I think they only move because Penny is making so much noise that it hurts their ears. (People two roads over can probably hear Penny barking. They make up for their size with their voice. Come to think of it, I've met a fair amount of short people who fit that description too.)
So, I'm now on the hunt for finding out what exactly is in the woods. Cat or fox? I was hoping it was something exciting like a badger. But I'm sure it is probably just one of those big cats wandering around at night like they do. Mr. TeamKing has a good laugh ever time he sees me grab the flashlight like some psychotic housewife looking for intruders. Oh well, glad I entertain someone.
Eyes in the Night -
This has happened to me twice. I let Penny outside in the backyard to do her business. I wait a few minutes, then open the door to look for her. Our yard is not fenced. It goes from grass to woods, and the neighbors on one side are only separated from us by a line of shrub-like trees. I mostly have to monitor Penny outside because of my neighbors constant need to put bread out in the middle of their yard. This is for the birds. Penny thinks it is for her. And since dachshunds are the type of dog that will eat until they explode, she has to be monitored. Anyway, back to the eyes. I open the door to get her back in the house. She's not anywhere in my sight. Darn. Get the flashlight. Since the woods are at the back of the yard, it is pitch black out there. I can see out about 20ft or so, then darkness. I call Penny and shine the light out there. Suddenly, I see 2 eyeballs in the light at the edge of the woods. Oh good, there she is. She starts running towards me. As she moves forward, I realize I am STILL seeing eyeballs back there at the edge of the woods. Wait. Penny is running across the yard, I can see that it is her as she nears. What the heck is that back there in the woods?! Cat or fox? I don't know. That was the first episode.
Second episode happened last week. Same thing, I shine the flashlight out there looking for Penny hopefully somewhere in the yard. I see her eyeballs. 'Come on, Penny!' I yell. She starts running towards me. Suddenly, rustle rustle near the bush 10ft from the door. Out pops. . .Penny! Huh?! Penny is running towards me down the yard. . .isn't she? No. She's here by the house. Then WHAT is that animal out there?! It gets closer but it's so dark out I still can't make out what it is. Suddenly, it dives for the neighbors shrub line and disappears. I could make out something red like and in the size realm of a cat or fox. Hmmm.
Jumanji Revisited -
Have you seen the movie 'Jumanji'? One of my favorite scenes is when the aunt is stopped in her car and this whole line of stampeding animals goes by then the rhino comes by about 5 seconds later and she is just watching it run by. The look on her face as she turns her head from left to right both times just cracks me up.
The other night I was cutting through a residential area in my car on the way home. It's late. It's dark. Not a soul around or even any cars. It's just quiet houses and me. I come to a T type of stop and have to go left or right. As I look left, I see this dog trotting down the sidewalk across the road from me. He's all alone. Just mildly trotting down the sidewalk. I sit and watch for a second to make sure he isn't going to cross the street in front of me. He doesn't. He just continues down the sidewalk like he's out for some nightly stroll around the neighborhood. As I watch him go from left to right, I see as he gets in my headlights that he is not a dog. He is a fox. This is my Jumanji moment. Just sitting watching this fox trot down the sidewalk in front of me as he never leaves the sidewalk and just continues down it until he is out of sight.
Back to the backyard. Cats. We have a number of cats who think they own this yard. They walk through. They sit in the grass. They hang out under the trees. They stare at the bird feeders. They are annoying. What they don't do is run. These cats are HUGE. Big old tomcats. A white one, a black one, a browny one. All big and all not scared of anything. Penny tries to chase them once in a while. They just hold their ground. Not scared. Not worried that a 30lb brown slow moving torpedo is heading right at them. I think they only move because Penny is making so much noise that it hurts their ears. (People two roads over can probably hear Penny barking. They make up for their size with their voice. Come to think of it, I've met a fair amount of short people who fit that description too.)
So, I'm now on the hunt for finding out what exactly is in the woods. Cat or fox? I was hoping it was something exciting like a badger. But I'm sure it is probably just one of those big cats wandering around at night like they do. Mr. TeamKing has a good laugh ever time he sees me grab the flashlight like some psychotic housewife looking for intruders. Oh well, glad I entertain someone.
Friday 18 April 2008
Viva Italia!
With kids still on term break last week, we took advantage of grandparents and scooted over to Italy for 5 days visiting Venice, Florence, and Pisa. Weather could have been better (only one really nice day), but the crowds were very manageable, thus a trade-off.
We also came to realize that at this stage in the game, we're past the backpacking through Europe idealogy. We're on the 'save up your money, get a good hotel, and eat out at the best restaurants you can' stage. Oh yeah. That's the way to go for sure!
We also came to realize that at this stage in the game, we're past the backpacking through Europe idealogy. We're on the 'save up your money, get a good hotel, and eat out at the best restaurants you can' stage. Oh yeah. That's the way to go for sure!
Wednesday 16 April 2008
Your Favorite Blogs & the NY Times Crossword
Continuing on the last post . . .
I love hearing about new and fun blogs. Got any good ones you really like? Tell me! Tell me!
Of course, most blogs tend to be specific to a certain area, i.e. computer lovers writing about computer stuff. Or, if they aren't specific, then they are sort of what I call 'a day in the life' blogs. Someone writing about what they did today, etc. These can be great either because you like the person, or you just enjoy their writing - meaning they could write about anything and you'd read it.
The blogs I follow tend to be the specific kind. Usually I pick up on a blog after becoming interested in a new subject.
Case in point: The New York Times Crossword Puzzle
After watching the movie, Wordplay, I started getting interested in crossword puzzles. I have fond memories of my grandma sitting in her comfy rocking chair in her bedroom in the afternoons and working the daily puzzle in the newspaper. But I never was interested in doing them myself. Never. But after the movie, I found out that my mom does the crosswords, and my cousin, and my other grandma used to do them too, and so on. . .hmmm. Give it a go, I said.
We don't get the paper daily here like we did in Houston, so I had to find another source for puzzles. Enter the NY Times. The cream of the crop in crosswords. Yep, you can get an online crossword only subscription and get the daily puzzle. (Not to confuse with the NY Times puzzles you get in your local papers - those are syndicated and run something like 1-2wks behind when they originally appeared in the Times.) So, now I'm ATTEMPTING the crossword puzzle daily. Since these are like serious level puzzles, I definately need some help. After digging around a bit, I found some good blogs where the real fans do the puzzles daily and then report on it in their blog. I love it! Not only can I get help on answers, but they tend to explain the puzzles theme.
http://madness--crosswordandotherwise.blogspot.com/
http://www.xwordblog.com/
Now that's the sort of blogs I like - ones that address whatever hobby, interest, project, commentary, etc. I'm interested in.
I'll dig around and list some others I like concerning letterboxing/geocaching/related activities.
How about you? Blogs? Blogs? Anyone?
I love hearing about new and fun blogs. Got any good ones you really like? Tell me! Tell me!
Of course, most blogs tend to be specific to a certain area, i.e. computer lovers writing about computer stuff. Or, if they aren't specific, then they are sort of what I call 'a day in the life' blogs. Someone writing about what they did today, etc. These can be great either because you like the person, or you just enjoy their writing - meaning they could write about anything and you'd read it.
The blogs I follow tend to be the specific kind. Usually I pick up on a blog after becoming interested in a new subject.
Case in point: The New York Times Crossword Puzzle
After watching the movie, Wordplay, I started getting interested in crossword puzzles. I have fond memories of my grandma sitting in her comfy rocking chair in her bedroom in the afternoons and working the daily puzzle in the newspaper. But I never was interested in doing them myself. Never. But after the movie, I found out that my mom does the crosswords, and my cousin, and my other grandma used to do them too, and so on. . .hmmm. Give it a go, I said.
We don't get the paper daily here like we did in Houston, so I had to find another source for puzzles. Enter the NY Times. The cream of the crop in crosswords. Yep, you can get an online crossword only subscription and get the daily puzzle. (Not to confuse with the NY Times puzzles you get in your local papers - those are syndicated and run something like 1-2wks behind when they originally appeared in the Times.) So, now I'm ATTEMPTING the crossword puzzle daily. Since these are like serious level puzzles, I definately need some help. After digging around a bit, I found some good blogs where the real fans do the puzzles daily and then report on it in their blog. I love it! Not only can I get help on answers, but they tend to explain the puzzles theme.
http://madness--crosswordandotherwise.blogspot.com/
http://www.xwordblog.com/
Now that's the sort of blogs I like - ones that address whatever hobby, interest, project, commentary, etc. I'm interested in.
I'll dig around and list some others I like concerning letterboxing/geocaching/related activities.
How about you? Blogs? Blogs? Anyone?
RSS - An Easy Out
I have to say that I find RSS a real pain. I don't know if its because I'm using and interacting with multiple sites, i.e. Yahoo and Google, but I just can't seem to get the feeds sent to me for the blogs I read. Boo.
So, I gave it up a long while back and just keep the links in my bookmarks and check in from time to time on blogs I like. Thankfully, sites like AtlasQuest can keep me current on the letterboxing blogs I follow - as I assume you do the same if you're reading this. But outside of AQ, I just can't seem to find the easy solution.
However, today I found some success. Check this out:
http://rssfwd.com/
You just put in the URL of the blog you want updates on, then you enter your email. Whenever a new entry is posted that blog, it's sent direct to your email! Ah! Success! The easy way to follow blogs - at least for people like me who are on broadband and email is always open and dings when a new message comes in. Ha-ha.
So, if you too just can't seem to sort out RSS, give the above link a try and see what you think. I'm sure there some good decent instructions on how to get RSS feeds the 'proper' way, but they tend to be more involved and technical than I feel up to attempting.
So, I gave it up a long while back and just keep the links in my bookmarks and check in from time to time on blogs I like. Thankfully, sites like AtlasQuest can keep me current on the letterboxing blogs I follow - as I assume you do the same if you're reading this. But outside of AQ, I just can't seem to find the easy solution.
However, today I found some success. Check this out:
http://rssfwd.com/
You just put in the URL of the blog you want updates on, then you enter your email. Whenever a new entry is posted that blog, it's sent direct to your email! Ah! Success! The easy way to follow blogs - at least for people like me who are on broadband and email is always open and dings when a new message comes in. Ha-ha.
So, if you too just can't seem to sort out RSS, give the above link a try and see what you think. I'm sure there some good decent instructions on how to get RSS feeds the 'proper' way, but they tend to be more involved and technical than I feel up to attempting.
Thursday 3 April 2008
Dartmoor Spring Meet - Sunday
After a crummy Saturday, I was feeling a bit bleak about Sunday. But I awoke to a beautiful blue sky day with scattered clouds. Yes! No rain! Of course, things like my boots were still wet. That was no good. But still, most everything was dry and I was ready to go. The meet didn't start until 10am so I took my time with a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then headed off to get a geocache I knew was along the way. Lovely walk to pick it up. Temps were warmer than Saturday too.
The distance from the hotel to the Lee Moor Public Hall was 4-5miles. Perfect. Except. . .that it was 'as the crow flies', which meant the sat nav was taking me on the infamous one-lane, high hedge rowed lanes. I HATE those roads. I suppose if you grew up with them, you don't think twice. But they make me tense with locals whizzing down them sight unseen. I decided I didn't want the stress and I wasn't in a hurry, so I took the long way around via Plymouth. Took twice as long, but it didn't matter.
So,I arrived around 10:30am or so. Cars
were already lining the road. Wow. This place must be big, I thought. Ha. Surprise to me - it wasn't. This little public hall venue is woefully undersized for the amount of people visiting. Stamping in was crowded and difficult and it was hard to see what was actually at each table unless you were right in front of it. I admit I'm spoiled after only attending US events - and all of those outside - space has never been an issue.
Anyway, I surprised to find the meet was part market & part meeting and stamping. Some folks had tables selling things: ink pads, logbooks, cut card stock for stamping, etc. Kountry Kit was there from Tavistock. (I love that place. We stayed in Tavistock on our first visit to Dartmoor and were so pleased to find this outfitter just down the road from the hotel. They have all the clothing and gear you could want PLUS have some stamps at their stores.) Some people/groups had tables where they were selling their charity walks - not to make a profit - these walks raise money for the various charities or local civic type groups who put out the boxes and maintain them.
I wandered around and ran into a few people I knew. Many others I recognized but didn't know their names. I guess the serious regulars were there. At one point I was stamping at a charity walk table paying for the walk when I realized that the man standing next to me was Godfrey Swinscow. Oh, how cool is that. I think I heard he was 89. A small man with a cane, he was just going from table to table like me and buying a few charity walks. I wondered if he actually still gets out as many of these are a bit strenuous, or if he was just supporting their causes. . .? Curious.
Finally, after buying the new letterbox catalog (now only put out once a year in the Spring) and the supplemental Travellers catalog (where I listed my two personal travellers I had in the US and still carry with me), it was time to get out of the packed room and get out to some boxes.
A quick look at the few walks I had and locations had me picking a walk around Cox Tor. This tor I remember for being quite popular with walkers because of its car park and easily accessible location. Normally I would have avoided places with people, but after being on my own yesterday, I welcomed others.
I was glad to see that it wasn't too populated. Lots of walkers around, but most of them weren't up as high as I was. As I got to the first box on the walk, I saw two men just leaving. I ended up following them for the first few boxes, but then a bit of distance got between us as I wandered off to get a nearby geocache. (I had to have one or two caches from Dartmoor!) The weather was just lovely. Sunny and breezy. At one box, I suddenly felt like I was being watched. Quick look. Yep. I had a small herd watching me stamp in. They didn't seem to be bothered at all - just curious.
Not long after losing the first pair, another pair caught up with me. It was the Dartmoor Jedi. A young couple from the area. They had a great dog that was trying to sniff out the boxes. How cool would that be?! We got the next bunch of boxes together and then separated again as I wandered off to find the second geocache along this letterbox walk.
Finally, as I neared the end of the walk - which circled the tor - I decided I had to go to the top and see the marker up there. Love those sorts of things. A quick walk up and then back to final box. It was time to go. The walk took a few hours to do, so it was like 5pm or so. Tea time? or cocktail hour? :)
I got back to my room and started sorting out my finds for the day and filling in the numbers I was missing. I guess it is a good system that everything is numbered and cataloged, but it does take a little getting used to - at least in relation to the US system. I finished up and packed up for the trip home on Monday.
I still didn't have enough to get my 200 badge, but I'm close. Just need another trip over there - I'm thinking I might be back for the fall meet .
The distance from the hotel to the Lee Moor Public Hall was 4-5miles. Perfect. Except. . .that it was 'as the crow flies', which meant the sat nav was taking me on the infamous one-lane, high hedge rowed lanes. I HATE those roads. I suppose if you grew up with them, you don't think twice. But they make me tense with locals whizzing down them sight unseen. I decided I didn't want the stress and I wasn't in a hurry, so I took the long way around via Plymouth. Took twice as long, but it didn't matter.
So,I arrived around 10:30am or so. Cars
were already lining the road. Wow. This place must be big, I thought. Ha. Surprise to me - it wasn't. This little public hall venue is woefully undersized for the amount of people visiting. Stamping in was crowded and difficult and it was hard to see what was actually at each table unless you were right in front of it. I admit I'm spoiled after only attending US events - and all of those outside - space has never been an issue.
Anyway, I surprised to find the meet was part market & part meeting and stamping. Some folks had tables selling things: ink pads, logbooks, cut card stock for stamping, etc. Kountry Kit was there from Tavistock. (I love that place. We stayed in Tavistock on our first visit to Dartmoor and were so pleased to find this outfitter just down the road from the hotel. They have all the clothing and gear you could want PLUS have some stamps at their stores.) Some people/groups had tables where they were selling their charity walks - not to make a profit - these walks raise money for the various charities or local civic type groups who put out the boxes and maintain them.
I wandered around and ran into a few people I knew. Many others I recognized but didn't know their names. I guess the serious regulars were there. At one point I was stamping at a charity walk table paying for the walk when I realized that the man standing next to me was Godfrey Swinscow. Oh, how cool is that. I think I heard he was 89. A small man with a cane, he was just going from table to table like me and buying a few charity walks. I wondered if he actually still gets out as many of these are a bit strenuous, or if he was just supporting their causes. . .? Curious.
Finally, after buying the new letterbox catalog (now only put out once a year in the Spring) and the supplemental Travellers catalog (where I listed my two personal travellers I had in the US and still carry with me), it was time to get out of the packed room and get out to some boxes.
A quick look at the few walks I had and locations had me picking a walk around Cox Tor. This tor I remember for being quite popular with walkers because of its car park and easily accessible location. Normally I would have avoided places with people, but after being on my own yesterday, I welcomed others.
I was glad to see that it wasn't too populated. Lots of walkers around, but most of them weren't up as high as I was. As I got to the first box on the walk, I saw two men just leaving. I ended up following them for the first few boxes, but then a bit of distance got between us as I wandered off to get a nearby geocache. (I had to have one or two caches from Dartmoor!) The weather was just lovely. Sunny and breezy. At one box, I suddenly felt like I was being watched. Quick look. Yep. I had a small herd watching me stamp in. They didn't seem to be bothered at all - just curious.
Not long after losing the first pair, another pair caught up with me. It was the Dartmoor Jedi. A young couple from the area. They had a great dog that was trying to sniff out the boxes. How cool would that be?! We got the next bunch of boxes together and then separated again as I wandered off to find the second geocache along this letterbox walk.
Finally, as I neared the end of the walk - which circled the tor - I decided I had to go to the top and see the marker up there. Love those sorts of things. A quick walk up and then back to final box. It was time to go. The walk took a few hours to do, so it was like 5pm or so. Tea time? or cocktail hour? :)I got back to my room and started sorting out my finds for the day and filling in the numbers I was missing. I guess it is a good system that everything is numbered and cataloged, but it does take a little getting used to - at least in relation to the US system. I finished up and packed up for the trip home on Monday.
I still didn't have enough to get my 200 badge, but I'm close. Just need another trip over there - I'm thinking I might be back for the fall meet .
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