I'm on holidays :)

Did I mention that I'm on holidays? I am - just so you all know....

What do I have planned?

I'm off to visit my brother and my nephews this week for a week, before returning to finish up editing and writing an END to my Nanowrimo piece I wrote last year. I'm going to re-read over it while I'm at my brothers so the storyline is fresh in my head, then I'll write an ending that MAY or MAY NOT lead to a sequel... I've been thinking of various ways to end it while I've been staring at the ceiling at nights.

I've also been thinking of story arcs for my 2010 Nano project, in which the main protagonist is to be called "Scott" in honour of 'Scoman' who is #Rad :)

Right now I'm in the process of packing to go to the back of beyond. Packing kinda sucks in a way, I've never been a huge fan of it, and I always leave it to the last minute, thus forgetting something, you'd think I'd have learnt by now!!

Anyway - I just wanted to pop my head up and say 'hello' and mention that I'm on Holidays!!!!

I'll try and be more diligent with my posts while I'm *cough* on holidays!!!

That's all I've got.

Noticeable absence

Dear Readers:

I have been somewhat absent with the blog entries of late, which I apologise for. I've been up to my neck in Uni work, which is all coming to an end a little too quickly with far too high a work load. But I WILL be back to my regular schedule of bitching about people who can't indicate on roundabouts, through to rude people in the line at the post office and of course other shit that I chose to just moan about... So I'll be back to normal in no time. 21st of May readers... Final day of semester and a 3,500 word essay....

Cheers
Sal :)

Double post I know - my bad but it kinda seemed odd to pin this onto the end of the Jess amazing talent post... Meh deal with it ;P

I am surrounded by talent

I'm a writing major, so it's expected that others in my class will have some exceptional talent. I gave some feedback to a girl today. Her name is Jessica. I won't put her surname up because if she's anything like me. She probably likes her anonymity.

I'll just post you the feedback I have just posted to her piece. She only gave us a snippet (You're limited to about 500 words in the workshop) she was a little concerned it was too graphic to workshop (it will make sense when you read what I wrote below)

Her piece is about child abuse. I've e-mailed her to ask if I can read the full piece, because as you can see from my feedback I offered her. She is a truly gifted and talented writer, and is able to write beautiful words on a subject that is horrendous.

*********************************

Hi Jess,

I don't think this is too graphic to workshop. I think you have taken the essence of what is child abuse and given it substance for others to experience. (If you get what I'm trying to say. Sort of like putting flesh onto the bones.)

I was particularly taken by the following lines in your piece:

"froze the breath in my lungs and seemed to suck the air out of the entire room"

I could almost feel this gasp in my own chest and sense the feeling of everything around you kinda spinning out of control as those things that trigger a memory take over. This was very powerful, and I personally feel you really grabbed your audience here, and let them in a way know just what sort of ride you are about to take them on. Well done.

Then you gave us this line:

'I slammed the lid down on that memory, thrusting it back into that compartment in my brain, were it lurks, biding its time'.

So well written as to what we as human beings do when we try and shut out a memory, I thought the 'where it lurks, biding its time' was just a magnificent way to describe this.

"I felt the burning pressure behind my eyes that warns that tears are imminent, and I tasted acid bile at the back of my throat as I fought the nausea."

Again the description here of that burning feeling we get when we're trying desperately not to cave into the emotions that are causing us heartache enough to make us cry. (I don't know about anyone else, but my eyes don't 'burn' when I have happy tears, but they do burn like fire as I fight to restrain the unhappy tears) Again Jess, the way in which you use words to paint an image is beautiful, even when the image being portrayed is horrendous.

Well done on a truly remarkable piece. I look forward to a future where I can pull a book from a shelf with the authors name Jessica on it, and proudly say. "I went to Uni with her!"

******************

Like I said I'm surrounded by talent.

That's all I've got.

Twenty days to go

I have twenty days to go until I finish Uni for this semester. In those twenty days I have the following things due:

Genre creative piece re-write (2,000 words)
Sociology report on Asylum Seekers (2,500 words)
Genre assignment on.... Genre! (2,000 words)
Themes and cultures major essay (3,500 words)

+ some 'stuff' for the online contribution which is just Q & A really.

So what did I achieve today? NOTHING Not a thing. I did ZERO Uni work today, instead I watched TV, took my dog for a walk, cooked, did some washing, and generally just did sweet FA. Why? Because today I just didn't give a fuck about Uni, or what's due or word counts, or any of that shit. I just took some time out for me, and I feel better for it. I'll get back into it tomorrow, I'll punch out the usual shit I punch out for assignments. THEN on the 21st of May. When the final assignment is handed in for this semester. I'll re-assess my life and work out just what the fuck I'm wanting to do / achieve / live for.


That's all I've got.

From a great height

The shit is falling on me from a great height :(

That GPA I was talking about the other week.... Seems that's not the only class I'm managing to fuck up! I submitted an essay for theories and text the other week. This subject is by far the hardest I've ever done, so I've put a lot of time and effort into it, trying to get my head around the theories in which this subject breaks down, things like, Identity, subjectivity, displacement, ethics, communication (Insert very long list of 'theories' in here - or Google Derrida, Foucault or Harraway that will explain a lot!)

With that in mind, I submitted my 'proposal' for what my major essay will be about. I got the mark back today. (I'll get the physical paper in my hand Thursday when I goto Uni) I got a pass - Take note of the (-) sign!! Which means... You passed, but only by a bee's dick! It's a 1/2 grade higher then a pass conceited which means (You're fucked, and you've failed!!) so I guess there's that... My biggest problem is... I put a lot into that paper, and I only 'just' passed it. This is not good :( If I fail this subject, well I'm fucked if I fail it.. I don't know what the fuck I'll do then. As it's one of a final two subjects for my writing degree!

All I can do now is wait and see what the lecturer wrote on the feedback and see what the fuck I'm doing wrong. Option One case scenario.. I just don't understand what I'm suppose to be doing. Option Two case scenario.... I'm just fucking stupid! (I'm going with option one) On a bright side... Yes there is light at the end of this dark theories tunnel. The final major essay isn't due for three weeks. SO in theory I can get feedback Thursday, speak to the tutor / lecturer if need be, and sort out my shit for the final assignment. Otherwise that PASS I was worried about in the Genre class with the lectures from hell will be nothing compared to this.

I'm out
That's all I've got.

Why are the shitty memories the ones that are always on replay?

I’ve got that suffocating feeling again, like I’m stuck in a deep pit, and while air is able to fill my lungs, the oxygen just isn’t travelling through to the rest of my body. This huge weight seems to be dragging me down, and the more I try to fight and pull against it the more I struggle.

I’ve came to a realisation today as to why I never complete anything. I get bored easily. If I’m lucky and can sneak into that forward propelling motion of achievement regarding getting an assignment done, then I often surprise myself by the amount of work I can get done in a day. Each time that happens, I think to myself – now if I could just do that more often, I’d have my stuff sorted out and I’d get more time to do what I wanted, instead of feeling like I’m chained to this desk, endlessly looking at information I really don’t understand, yet attempting to make it sound like I do.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want someone to just hand me my degree. I want to say I worked hard to get it, but some days, like today, I think to myself – what the fuck are you doing? Will this all amount to anything? Or am I just wandering off on a tangent of something that takes my fancy like I always do. I remember a ‘friend’ and I use that term very lightly, used to tell me I was the most indecisive person he knew. I couldn’t make a decision and stick to it. I disagreed of course, but that one comment of ‘you’re so indecisive’ has stuck with me, and I was told that over ten years ago, that now I’m beginning to think, was he right? (This ‘friend’ is now on the list of I’ll prove you wrong you fuck!)

Another moment of your mind fucking with you! Memories are great, but I seem to have the shitty ones on replay :(


That’s all I’ve got.

A quick test of your typing ability... with your eyes shut.

I was in the kitchen today making a cup of tea and my mum was typing an e-mail to which she said to me – I can’t find the L key it’s run away. My answer was third line down four from the right, as I continued to make my cup of tea, all in my stride, as though I was telling someone how to turn on a tap!

My mum then does the ‘wow that’s amazing I bet you could type with your eyes closed…… (You know where this is heading.)

So I had a crack at writing something, anything with my eyes closed.
This is what I managed to come up with (This is not edited in anyway, this is how it came out after typing with my eyes closed.)

This is me attempting to write with my eyes cloed. I’m not sure just how this will go, but I’m haing a crack.

Not bad really, when I think about it, a couple of typos there.

If someone asked me tomorrow, where is the N on a keyboard, I’d have to think about it, I know where L is because L is in Sal and I use L a lot, but N isn’t high on my list of characters I use every day. So I’d have to stop and think about it, visualise it in my mind. I know N is on the bottom row / or 4th line down, as I’ve just used the letter N a few times in that last sentence.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this blog post now, as I just watched auto correct, correct a word I spelt wrong as I typed it. So maybe my ability to type with my eyes shut is really quite bad, and it’s the auto-correct that has got me over the line.

The researcher in me would state that I’d need to put in place the same sentence structure for each of you, so we all had to type the same thing, so we can evenly compare how we all type with our eyes closed.

Eyes closed typing and touch typing is different, as you’re watching the screen as you touch type (Which is what I’m doing right now) so you know if you’ve got the correct letters. Eyes closed though…. Totally different story.

So I ask you blog readers to ‘have a crack’ at typing with your eyes closed with the following sentence below, so we’ll all get the same results to compare.

*This is me attempting to write with my eyes closed. I’m not sure just how this will go, but I’m having a crack*

Stick em in the comment’s and no cheating.

That’s all I’ve got.