C.M. Simpson's Blog, page 176
December 1, 2014
Gardening - or Fitting in the Fitness
From a reader's perspective: How many writers do we know of who have died of heart attacks, suffer the problems associated with being overweight, or have diabetes? It's a bit of a worry, isn't it? I mean, if our favourite writers don't look after themselves, then they might not be able to write, or finish, their next book. And that would make a lot of us really sad. And not just because of the loss of a book, but because of the loss of another bright point in our lives.
From a writer's perspective: How many writing days have you lost to a headache, or to just feeling blah, or because your blood pressure was playing up, or because, for some reason, your vision was a bit blurry and you just couldn't see the words? How many times do you look in the mirror and wonder where all the love handles came from... and when they arrived? How much do you wonder if you'll ever be able to get down to a healthy weight and if you should even bother? And how many times have you started and exercise program only to have it cut short because, well, exercise just made you feel so much worse than no exercise - and, besides, it ate into your writing time?
I'm not going to answer any of these questions, but it did dawn on me that I should probably do something about my utter lack of fitness. You know, feel better, write better... or so I hope.
So, I started walking every day... and then I stopped. Why? Because there was just so much else to do! I wanted to garden, for a start. And I was worried about overdoing it. Sitting at an office desk for an eight-hour work day, or sitting in class, on the bus, in the car, and then sitting at home to write assignments or another novel, for more than a few years, has taken its toll.
So, I took another look at what I wanted, and got into the gardening, because:
I hate having tasks nagging at me, hate it;It's a nice garden; it deserves to be pretty;I love gardening;Gardening uses more muscles than walking.And I found out the following:
I really do like gardening;Gardening really does use more muscles than walking;I can use fixed tasks to make sure I don't do too much at once and cripple myself for the next day;I feel better after a half hour of gardening than I do after a half hour of walking; andI like the way the garden is starting to look.So, I think I'll take a bit of time each week, to talk gardening and maybe show you how its growing. Tuesdays, I think. Mondays, I'll keep exploring different types of writing, and Wednesdays are for the birds... or spiders... or whatever else I find interesting enough to photograph.
This is where I'm at in the first garden section:
and this is where I'm going next:
From a writer's perspective: How many writing days have you lost to a headache, or to just feeling blah, or because your blood pressure was playing up, or because, for some reason, your vision was a bit blurry and you just couldn't see the words? How many times do you look in the mirror and wonder where all the love handles came from... and when they arrived? How much do you wonder if you'll ever be able to get down to a healthy weight and if you should even bother? And how many times have you started and exercise program only to have it cut short because, well, exercise just made you feel so much worse than no exercise - and, besides, it ate into your writing time?
I'm not going to answer any of these questions, but it did dawn on me that I should probably do something about my utter lack of fitness. You know, feel better, write better... or so I hope.
So, I started walking every day... and then I stopped. Why? Because there was just so much else to do! I wanted to garden, for a start. And I was worried about overdoing it. Sitting at an office desk for an eight-hour work day, or sitting in class, on the bus, in the car, and then sitting at home to write assignments or another novel, for more than a few years, has taken its toll.
So, I took another look at what I wanted, and got into the gardening, because:
I hate having tasks nagging at me, hate it;It's a nice garden; it deserves to be pretty;I love gardening;Gardening uses more muscles than walking.And I found out the following:
I really do like gardening;Gardening really does use more muscles than walking;I can use fixed tasks to make sure I don't do too much at once and cripple myself for the next day;I feel better after a half hour of gardening than I do after a half hour of walking; andI like the way the garden is starting to look.So, I think I'll take a bit of time each week, to talk gardening and maybe show you how its growing. Tuesdays, I think. Mondays, I'll keep exploring different types of writing, and Wednesdays are for the birds... or spiders... or whatever else I find interesting enough to photograph.
This is where I'm at in the first garden section:
and this is where I'm going next:
November 30, 2014
Poetry Challenge—Introducing the Acrostic Form 2: The Name Acrostic
Sometimes acrostic poems form a name. Here is a simple one based around a Greek myth:
More than anything you lovedIts surface brightly gleamingDinars, bullion, jewellery, bars of goldAs though they could all beauty holdSo your price of learning is oft told
Why don’t you give it a try? Try writing at least one acrostic, using a name for inspiration, every day this week.
You can find out more about how to write acrostics from the following sites:
http://www.kathimitchell.com/poemtypes.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostichttp://poetry.about.com/od/poeticforms/g/abecedarian.htmhttp://classiclit.about.com/od/literaryterms/g/aa_abcedarianpo.htmhttp://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/acrostic/http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/acrosticterm.htmhttp://www.edu.pe.ca/stjean/playing%20with%20poetry/Hickey/acrostic.htmhttp://www.poetry4kids.com/blog/lessons/how-to-write-an-acrostic-poem/
November 29, 2014
Progress Report: Week 4 November 2014
Stuff got done, this week – YAY. And this in spite of a strained back and light dose of flu, so I count the completions an achievement. Let’s see if I can do even better next week.
OverviewNew words produced: 5,956Old words revised: 13,604Works completed: 0Works revised: 0Covers created: 0Works published: 1 (1 release platforms)Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 2,151Tier 1 TasksChapbook14B: added 1,700 words (as Carlie Simonsen)AcademicEssay3: editedTier 4 TasksTweenNovel1A: added 3,000 wordsPublishing TasksCreated 10 blog posts for this blog;Formatted and Uploaded 365 Days of Poetry to Amazon as an e-book for Kindle.New ArrivalsNo new arrivals this week; I am working on completing current pieces. I have a lot to catch up on.
November 28, 2014
Australian Spiders Like Dark Places
They do.
A camera bag is a dark place.
This one made me drop the lens it was sitting on.
No, I didn't get bit.
Of course, I was shaking, so most of the pictures I took straight after were blurred. This, one though, seems to indicate it might have been some kind of wolf spider.
Unfortunately, these were the best I could do. We did get a vague measurement - my son held the ruler - so this one wasn't terribly big.
But it was annoyed at being herded by a ruler and photographed.
A camera bag is a dark place.
This one made me drop the lens it was sitting on.
No, I didn't get bit.
Of course, I was shaking, so most of the pictures I took straight after were blurred. This, one though, seems to indicate it might have been some kind of wolf spider.
Unfortunately, these were the best I could do. We did get a vague measurement - my son held the ruler - so this one wasn't terribly big.
But it was annoyed at being herded by a ruler and photographed.
November 27, 2014
Books Read in October 2014
Yeah, I know... it's a bit delayed. I only managed to read one book in October this year:
November 26, 2014
Progress Report: Weeks 3 November 2014
Well, we’ve had a couple of hectic months over here, which resulted in a late release and not a lot of writing. No writing was achieved in October or the first half of November.
I have also been undertaking NaNoWriMo, but as the dust of finishing work and completing the university year has settled, I have been making some adjustments. I will not complete NaNo this year. That does not, however, mean I have not been writing.Achievements for the last week are as follows:Overview
New words produced: 18,082Old words revised: 63,492Works completed: 0Works revised: 7 (1 collection, 2 short works for inclusion in future collections, 4 short stand-alone works which will also be incorporated in future collections)Covers created: 0Works published: 1 (1 release platforms)Works submitted: 0Competitions Entered: 0Bloggery: 301
Publishing TasksCreated 3 blog posts for this blog;Created 2 blog posts for the C.M. Simpson Publishing blog;Published 365 Days of Poetry to Smashwords.
New Arrivals The following new ideas arrived this week:
YANovel25A (Hani’s Story): about a young woman whose world is suddenly populated by elves and trolls when magic returns to the world. Part of the pixie-dust and otherworld settings belonging to Carlie Simonsen.
The following ideas were rediscovered and revised in preparation for publication :
Poem444 (Summary of Tragedy): a poem about a young girl’s burial;AcademicEssay3 (Basofi’s Story): a science fiction story about a young man becoming an adult and choosing his future;AcademicEssay4;AcademicEssay5;AcademicEssay6.
November 25, 2014
Australian Birds: White-Faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)
An early morning walk helps you find so many things. I first saw this white-faced heron wading down a culvert at dusk. This time, I saw it by a small lake:
And then it flew past a cattle egret on the way to new fishing grounds.
Where it settled down enough to allow me some zoomed-in shots.
You can find out more about the white-faced heron at the following sites:
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/speci....
And then it flew past a cattle egret on the way to new fishing grounds.
Where it settled down enough to allow me some zoomed-in shots.
You can find out more about the white-faced heron at the following sites:
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/speci....
November 20, 2014
NaNoWriMo Update
We... are... getting there.
19 November 2014:Words for the Day: 0Word Total: 14,02614 November 2014:First Sentence Written: The queen did not answer Hani's question right away, and when Hani took another step after her, Prince Kallanden reached out and grabbed her arm.
Last Sentence Written: Slowly, Hani opened her sketchbook at a new page, and began to draw.Words for the Day: 4,056 Word Total: 18,082
19 November 2014:Words for the Day: 0Word Total: 14,02614 November 2014:First Sentence Written: The queen did not answer Hani's question right away, and when Hani took another step after her, Prince Kallanden reached out and grabbed her arm.
Last Sentence Written: Slowly, Hani opened her sketchbook at a new page, and began to draw.Words for the Day: 4,056 Word Total: 18,082
November 18, 2014
Australian Birds: Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus)
On a grey morning walk, I had just about given up on finding more birds to photograph, when I noticed a little bird diving down to where a culvert let out into a larger drain. A second bird darted into the tree above, and stayed long enough for me to take a few shots of it. This was my first encounter with a striated pardalote in Canberra.
To find out more information on these tiny birds, you can visit the following sites:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~BAJAN/Pardalotes/Striated%20Pardalote.htm;http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/striated-pardalote;http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Pardalotus-striatus.
To find out more information on these tiny birds, you can visit the following sites:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~BAJAN/Pardalotes/Striated%20Pardalote.htm;http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/striated-pardalote;http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Pardalotus-striatus.
