I could have sworn I last posted about a week ago. Oh, my ageing brain.
Blame it the sudden chill in the air ~ I'm going into hibernation mode....
Still plugging away at the writing stuff ~ novel is a wee bit on the back burner, as a couple of other projects have jumped up out of nowhere and bitten me on the arse, so I'm giving those the attention they're demanding (in between sleeping, which is all I want to do at the minute.)
Still, I'm fearful that I've taken on a bit too much recently~ I'm taking evening classes in Counselling Skills, which I need to do in order to progress to the Counselling Psychology Msc I want to do ~ I hoped a psychology degree would be qualification enough, but noooooooooooooo, I have to take a sub-GCSE level course (their description, not me being elitist!) full of stuff that I already covered in my degree just to get a certificate that confirms that I already know this stuff. And I can't just miss the classes and sit the exam (which I could pass if I took it now ~ I got hold of a sample exam paper and mark scheme, and there was nothing on there that foxed me) because you need 80% attendance record to pass the course. So Thursdays are currently a 13 hour day for me :-(.
Hey, I may well sound like a snobby academic know-it-all, but it's so frustrating (not to mention boring) to sit through three hours of stuff you already know, whilst pretending that you don't already know it so as not to look like a show-off in front of the rest of class, and trying to resist the urge to correct the tutor's atrocious spelling on the board. Still, the other group members are mostly lovely, and it's very interesting to see what happens when you get such a varied mix of people with differing aspirations into a confined space, and one which seems to prompt an awful lot of emotional revelation.
In fact (magpie writer confession!) the group has given me an idea for a fiction project about a collection of people who come together under similar circumstances, and what happens to them as the course progresss. So I do spend a lot of time surreptiously storing lovely shiny nuggets of character detail and dialogue in my notebook. When Confessions from a Counselling Class rockets up the best-seller list you can all remind me that it wasn't a total waste of time :-)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
She was as easy as the TV Guide crossword
No, not another personal confession hot on the heels of my intravenous drug using hooker with malaria revelation, but one of the contenders for worst ever analogy.
Personally I think some on them are absolute genius, and I'd be proud to have written them, not least The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t. Says exactly what it needs to say ~ there's beauty in that there efficiency.
Workwise, the novel is still ticking along: I'm adding around 0.5-1% a day, so the progress ain't exactly zippy, but it be progress nonetheless. Of course, progress would be A LOT faster were it not for the curse of The Wire ~ BEST TV SHOW EVAH! Me & hub are rattling through the dvd's at a fair old rate (just about the start series 4 so no spoilers please!) and it's pretty much taken over my life. I even dream about it some nights. I'll be sad to get to the end, but then I'll have the consolation of seeing my friends, doing other stuff, and not announcing my entrance into every room with a McNulty-esque 'What the fuck did I do?' Doesn't go down well with gran as greetings go, that one......
That Calamity Physics book what I was reading is on the back burner at the mo ~ I'm speed reading as much Iain Banks as possible in preparation for seeing him at my local library next Friday ~ tried The Wasp Factory but I couldn't really stomach it, so I'm hoping a quick re-read of Complicity and The Crow Road will stand me in good enough stead during the Q&A, so that I'm not reduced to numpty-like statements such as 'errrr, I like your beard......'.
If you're really strapped for something to do tonight may I suggest that you partake of Rock of Love 2 with Bret Michaels (bloated , bewigged (ex?) member of eyeliner rockers Poison ~ anyone who can name anything by them other than ubiquitous 'Every Rose has its Thorn' will win themselves a slammin' pair of stretchy spandex skank pants) ~ every night, TMF, 9pm. Televised prostitution at it's very finest, folks.
Personally I think some on them are absolute genius, and I'd be proud to have written them, not least The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t. Says exactly what it needs to say ~ there's beauty in that there efficiency.
Workwise, the novel is still ticking along: I'm adding around 0.5-1% a day, so the progress ain't exactly zippy, but it be progress nonetheless. Of course, progress would be A LOT faster were it not for the curse of The Wire ~ BEST TV SHOW EVAH! Me & hub are rattling through the dvd's at a fair old rate (just about the start series 4 so no spoilers please!) and it's pretty much taken over my life. I even dream about it some nights. I'll be sad to get to the end, but then I'll have the consolation of seeing my friends, doing other stuff, and not announcing my entrance into every room with a McNulty-esque 'What the fuck did I do?' Doesn't go down well with gran as greetings go, that one......
That Calamity Physics book what I was reading is on the back burner at the mo ~ I'm speed reading as much Iain Banks as possible in preparation for seeing him at my local library next Friday ~ tried The Wasp Factory but I couldn't really stomach it, so I'm hoping a quick re-read of Complicity and The Crow Road will stand me in good enough stead during the Q&A, so that I'm not reduced to numpty-like statements such as 'errrr, I like your beard......'.
If you're really strapped for something to do tonight may I suggest that you partake of Rock of Love 2 with Bret Michaels (bloated , bewigged (ex?) member of eyeliner rockers Poison ~ anyone who can name anything by them other than ubiquitous 'Every Rose has its Thorn' will win themselves a slammin' pair of stretchy spandex skank pants) ~ every night, TMF, 9pm. Televised prostitution at it's very finest, folks.
