Shock 1
Actually not really a shock - a pleasant surprise. Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the name of" reaching the no'1 spot in the UK singles chart for Christmas - all in aid of stopping another bland Simon Cowell X Factor "song" from taking the festive spot. Okay, I'm pretty sure some people reading this blog won't be fans of ROTM's music (and I personally would've loved a Christmas song to be the anti-Cowell weapon), but Cowell had to be stopped sooner or later and the smash the system theme of "Killing..." captured the imagination of the public. ROCK ON!!!
Shock 2
The tragic news of Brittany Murphy dying at the age of 32. A total shock.
Shock 3
Again not a shock, more of a "sods law". I (and several members of my family) have the flu just in time for Christmas. At least there's a couple more days to get it out of the system and on the bright side I've finished my shopping and have nearly wrapped up all the presents!!!
Awe
Awesome actually - less than 100 days to go until I'm in sunny Florida for the 6th time!!!!! Yeah for me and my family too!!!!!
Monday, 21 December 2009
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Feeling festive?
Little Ben's got in the spirit. Frequently throughout the day he walks up to people and says "oh oh oh, erry mistmas!" Bless :-)
Here's a picture of the festive little fellow last Christmas (at the grand age of 1)
Here's a picture of the festive little fellow last Christmas (at the grand age of 1)
Monday, 14 December 2009
In writing mode
After a few years out of the habit I've started writing again.
Writing time has always been limited, but with the two nippers running round the house and increased day-job demands the small amount of time available became almost non-existent. During the past 6 years I've written a few stories here and there, but they've felt forced, and the end result was stories I wasn't happy with and didn't have the time to work on them properly.
The challenges of parenthood has brought opportunities too. Over the last year I've somehow found time to write a couple of very short stories (for the young picture book market) and these went down well with the boys.
It's only recently that I decided to revisit one of them and put some effort into refining it and submitting it to a publisher, which has given me the buzz I've been missing.
Yesterday I sat down and wrote a new picture book story in 30 minutes, and after a review with my in-house Editor (handy having a teacher for a wife!) it was refined to the point of being fully satisfied with the story within 2 hours. A publisher has been identified and I'll be submitting that story in the next couple of days.
That'll be 2 submissions in a week!!! The only pain is waiting 6+ months and potentially never hearing anything.
Still, that gives me plenty of time to work on the next stories. I've already got 4 more in the pipeline and hope to complete them by the end of the year! :-)
The stories are now written for my boys; getting published will be a bonus! :-)
Visit MaJaTo Scribes
Writing time has always been limited, but with the two nippers running round the house and increased day-job demands the small amount of time available became almost non-existent. During the past 6 years I've written a few stories here and there, but they've felt forced, and the end result was stories I wasn't happy with and didn't have the time to work on them properly.
The challenges of parenthood has brought opportunities too. Over the last year I've somehow found time to write a couple of very short stories (for the young picture book market) and these went down well with the boys.
It's only recently that I decided to revisit one of them and put some effort into refining it and submitting it to a publisher, which has given me the buzz I've been missing.
Yesterday I sat down and wrote a new picture book story in 30 minutes, and after a review with my in-house Editor (handy having a teacher for a wife!) it was refined to the point of being fully satisfied with the story within 2 hours. A publisher has been identified and I'll be submitting that story in the next couple of days.
That'll be 2 submissions in a week!!! The only pain is waiting 6+ months and potentially never hearing anything.
Still, that gives me plenty of time to work on the next stories. I've already got 4 more in the pipeline and hope to complete them by the end of the year! :-)
The stories are now written for my boys; getting published will be a bonus! :-)
Visit MaJaTo Scribes
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Wear your old band t-shirt to work day! 4th December 2009
BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq has declared December 4th as the second Wear Your Old Band T-Shirt To Work Day. Oh, man, too much choice. Carter USM, Pixies, Frank Black, Nirvana, Pop Will Eat Itself, Mudhoney, Tanya Donelly, Honey Buzzards, Kingmaker, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins.....they're only the ones I can remember off the top of my head.....the list goes on and on and on....!
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