New Blogger

So blogger has upgraded to Blogger 4.90. Somewhat of a learning curve - including my 'nice' template that is no longer working with the new improvements. However I'll search out some templates that will work with new Blogger and all will be well in the world. The count down is on for all the Christians out there to celebrate Jesus, and for those of either other religious beliefs, or atheists, it's a chance to get cheap stuff on the boxing day sales. I personally am eyeing off an x-box - but then I think of the textbooks I will have to buy and the X-box gets put onto the back burner.... One day I shall own an x-box! That will be the day I make Thississcoman proud ;P Anyone else with blogger accounts, what are your thoughts on the new changes? That's all I've got. Sal :) P.S Be nice and feed my fish ;P

Post-Grad

Hello followers -

I've graduated my undergrad (ceremony not until May next year) and have been accepted into a Post-Grad in Librarian information management. So happy times

Hi

Hello faithful readers.

I'm alive... and just three subjects away from graduating. I've also applied for a post-grad in Information and Librarian Management.

I've received yet another rejection letter. However, this piece I'm not letting just be 'shelved' I'm far too proud of it.

Actually I'm planning on creating a website with my writing on it. Somewhere that I can send potential publishers too, so they can see what I am capable of. Some of pieces will be just extracts as there's always someone out there wanting to steal your work.

Anyway - I just wanted to check in, apologise once again for the lack of blogs, and thank you all for sticking around.

Sal

Writing Project Proposal

Hello readers ;)

Here is my 'rough' proposal for my final piece for my writing major. It's the proposal we have to submit. Once you read it it's kinda self explanatory.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Sal :)

**************************
Title:
Either:
a) Gender is undistinguished to love
b) The knots in the pit of her stomach attempt to stitch up the hole in her chest.

Summary:
The aim of this piece if to combine the skills I’ve learnt within my writing major to produce a piece that will hopefully showcase my writing ability. Area’s that have influenced me the most are writing from the edge, genre, and autobiography / memoir.

Rationale:

My piece will be collections of short journal entries – in the omniscient first person. It will tell of the struggle my main protagonist has with being a teenager and also coming to terms with her sexuality.

Issues / problems this piece will address include: Gender, sex, stereotypes, bullying, violence, hatred and oppression, through too emotions such as love, sadness (Depression), self-doubt and suicide.

By writing through stream of consciousness’ inspired by Virginia Wolfs ‘Mrs Dalloway’ the protagonists main thoughts will hopefully allow the reader an insight into the world of a teenager coming to grips with being in her teens which as we all know is hell, combined with the added weight of coming to terms with their sexuality. I plan to do this through a journal entry of the thoughts of the main protagonist, along with poetry and other ‘bits’ you’d find in someone journal. The poetry will allow for a 2nd and 3rd person ‘you, she, he’ to be voiced also. Perhaps letters from the main protagonists love interest, thus allowing an insight into ‘their’ perspective of this journey, which cannot be achieved with omniscient narrative.

The influences from a writing perspective will be drawn from some of the following:

Craig Raine: ‘A Martian Sends a Postcard Home’ influenced my writing with his visually descriptive piece, especially his line ‘Everyone’s pain has a different smell.’ (Raine, 1996, line 30). That is the type of essence in which I want to achieve within my writing.

Allowing others to feel, smell and taste my main protagonist’s emotions, to laugh and cry with them, and also have a feeling of wanting to help defend them in their life battles. If I can convey this and expose the darkness that surrounds this topic (Teenage gender and sexual identity issues) through my writing, then I feel that I have accomplished something over the past four years of my degree.

Others who have influences me within my writing genre selection are

Ken Bolton: ‘Talking to you’. – Examples of a ‘natural voice’

Gabrielle Prendergast: ‘White Christmas Eve’ – shows how language can express emotions through word. ‘I’m bending backwards. Spine explodes. A coiled spring into white wing’ (Prendergast, Citied in Smith, 2005, p.15)

Ruby Langford: ‘My Names’ - Shows how to apply progression within writing - Langford’s ideas of establishment of identity.

Gregory Corso: ‘The Mad Yak’ - Subjectivity within writing allows the perspective of the subject, their feelings, opinions and beliefs to be seen, or portrayed onto the page.

Inga Clendinnen: Memoirs are a very personal account of a journey that has taken place. “I turn the Kaleidoscope, a new pattern dances in the glass. It is all refractions, shifting plays of light on the fragments of memory.” (Clendinnen, 2000, p. 140) Clendinnen’s writing style allows the reader to be a companion on that journey, and gives a privileged view of private moments of her life.

Finola Moorehead: ‘A novel in ten lines’ Short and sharp from beginning middle and end in ten lines – it can be done. I plan to incorporate this into my piece.

Finally Hazel Smith: Smith asks us to think about ‘open-minded strategies with diverse outcomes.’ (Smith, 2005, vii). I hope to achieve this.

References:

Bolton, K. ‘Talking to you’, Talking to you, Rigmarole books, Clifton Hill. (Available to view online at: http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/bolton-ken/talking-to-you-0055017)

Clendinnen, I. 2001, Tiger's eye: a memoir, Scribner, The University of Virginia.

Corso, G. 1994, ‘The Mad Yak’, in Paul Hoover (ed.) Postmodern American poetry, Norton, New York.

Langford, R. 1988, ‘My Names’ in S Gunew and J Mahyuddin (eds), Beyond the Echo: Multicultural women’s writing, UQP, St Lucia, pp 91-93.

Moorehead, F. 1982, ‘A Novel in Ten Lines’, in Anna Gibbs and Alison Tilson (eds), Frictions: An Anthology of fiction by women, Sybylla, Fitzroy, p.201.

Prendergast, G. 1991, White Christmas eve’, Unpublished, Cited in Smith, Hazel 2005, The writing experiment: Strategies for innovative creative writing, Allen & Unwin, NSW

Raine, C. 1996, ‘A Martian Sends a Postcard Home’, in Margaret Ferguson et al. (eds), Norton Anthology of Poetry, 3rd Edition, Norton, New York and London, p.1397.

Smith, H. 2005, The writing experiment: Strategies for innovative creative writing, Allen & Unwin, NSW.

Woolf, V. 2008, Mrs Dalloway, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Finish line is in sight

Hello readers,

Thanks for sticking with me.

I'm about to embark on my final semester of Uni for my degree in writing. If I'm honest I'm a little 'WTF' about it all. It feels like it has come to an end so quickly yet - it's been almost four years of my life... Where the hell did those four years go? Other then in the consumption of Redbull and chocolate to 'get me through' those tough assignments.

This is the first time in my life I'm on the cusp of actually finishing something ever in my life. I've got 'bits' of various qualifications over the years from I.T through to graphic design etc. But never something that allows for letters to appear at the end of my name should I choose to put them there.

So plan of attack is to - update this more often and finish my degree.

That's all I've got
Sal ;)

See what happens when you don't pay attention

Hello followers...
The ones I have left. I lost a few while I've been away. Do I care that they have left? (a small chunk of my heart has broken off and has been lost forever!) Not really - if you're not wanting to stick about even when I'm absent then see ya!

I'll give you a brief update in the world of Sal

Back at Uni
A lot of Uni work
Parents had a car accident (They are ok thankfully)
Their car is a ride off
They are currently using my car
I'm walking places a lot more
Contemplating buying a new push bike
Been gaming - Both PC and PS3
Was unimpressed that I finished a game called "Homefront" in four hours yes FOUR hours from start to finish... fucking light weight game!
Have had general back and forth banter with @thisisscoman which is always amusing.
Spent time with my nephews
Dyed my hair blue for charity (raised $972.00) in the process


So there you have it - a 'Sal' update. I was tempted to do BEDA again (Blog everyday in April) but with the amount of Uni work I have on at the moment and falling behind with the situation with my parents accident. I just know I don't have the time to do an update every day. However I get two weeks off in June so I might have a blog-a thon then.

That's all I've got

Heeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooo

Hello Faithful readers.

I'm back..... *cue applause* I've just had the entire summer off... In that time I've done the following:
Watched various movies and caught up with various TV shows.
Had afternoon naps
Played video games both on PC and PS3
Spent time with my family
Wrote
Read books I wanted to read which included:
David Moody's Dog Blood
Aron Ralston: Between a rock and a hard place
Jeffery Archers: Twelve red herrings

Now Uni is back, so I'll be about more. I 'plan' to try and update more often.

History unfolds around us everyday in various forms. Yet today (The 22nd of February) we've seen yet another earthquake hit New Zealand. We watched protesters gunned down in Bahrain and things generally turn to shit in Libya once again. People have a tendency today to sprout the words 'oh the youth of today' I've been guilty of it myself. Tenagers and young twenty some-things in Australia or the west doing fuck all with their lives and just 'expecting' a hand out to live life as they choose.

Yet the youth in Egypt and now those in Libya are standing up and trying to get their voices to be heard in an attempt to create a better future for themselves. I think this action is remarkable. As an Australian I have an extremely easy life compared to those in Egypt and Libya. I'm very lucky in the sense of freedom I have within this country. So when a peaceful protest ends in violence. The UN needs to look very hard at their declarations of human rights. See the very clear breach of it and do something about it. Will there be another war out of all this protesting about corrupt governemenets? It's too early to tell, but as an Australian I feel that the Universal Declarations of Human Rights was put in place for a reason, and should countries break those basic human rights, then something needs to be done about it.


Yes I'm taking War, peace and international politics this semester. Yes I have an opnion. Yes I will share it on here. All comments/thoughts on anything I write here is very welcome good or bad.

Thanks for reading. That's all I've got.