A.C. Flory's Blog, page 17

Catching errors

One of the things I learned as an Indie writer was that changing the medium in which I read my writing makes the errors literally leap off the page. For example, going from a Word document to an epub, or vice versa. Suddenly, my brain has to read what’s actually written instead of what I expect to see.

And the same thing applies to tweaking graphics. The pic below is version 7, and I really thought I’d finally nailed it. Nope:

Click on the image to make it larger.

None of the errors I’ve highlighted are ‘big’ errors, but I literally didn’t see them while I was working on the graphic in Corel. The instant I exported the graphic and set it as my desktop…there they were, the errors I was not expecting to see.

I suspect that people who don’t work on graphics will probably shrug and go…’you can hardly see them!’ And that is true, the errors are small, but I bet a few people would notice, because those errors are like typos in a book. They may be small, and most people may not notice them, but some readers will, and Indies cannot afford to be judged ‘inferior’ to traditionally published authors.

So yes, those small imperfections do matter.

And therein ends today’s gripe. Have a great weekend,
Meeks

New Year’s Eve, 2023

WordPress informs me that I’ve now been blogging for twelve years, so that must mean this is my 12th New Year’s Eve post! Who’d a thunk, eh?

Many of the people I chatted to all those years ago have gone now, but some stalwarts remain, and they have become real friends, the kind you care about, and worry about, and miss when they suddenly go AWL. I am truly thankful that some of my oldest online friends are still here. I love you guys.

And I’m just as grateful for all the new-er friends I’ve made. Some are writers, some are readers, some are visual artists of various stripes, and some make beautiful things to eat and wear. The one thing all my friends have in common is a wicked sense of humour, and a goodness of heart that matches actions with words.

You all talk the talk and walk the walk.

Going into my 13th year as a blogger, I want to thank you all for just being you. When I feel as if humanity is a waste of oxygen, you make me realise that the good people far outweigh the bad. That is a gift beyond compare.

Love and Best Wishes for the New Year,
Meeks

Finland shows that homelessness is NOT inevitable

When I was young, Melbourne did have some rough sleepers, but they were few. Now, homeless people seem to be everywhere.

Is this an inevitable part of living in a big city?

No. It’s only inevitable if the responsibility for housing rests solely with ‘the market’. Why? Because ‘the market’ is only interested in profit, and there is no profit to be made from homeless people.

Homelessness is one of the inevitable results of neo-liberalism, the profit-driven, economic and political system that has been driving Western civilization since the ’80’s.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The video below shows how Finland has taken the ‘inevitable’ out of homelessness:

The first step was to realise that you need a home before you can improve your life. It seems so obvious: how can a person sleeping rough apply for a job when they:

can’t have a shower?can’t brush their teeth?can’t wash their clothes?can’t feed themselves?

How can they do anything positive when they have no hope?

If rough sleeping is rock bottom, then having a home is the way to stop falling.

But the ‘market’ doesn’t give a shit about people so it will never give people a home just because they need one. Neo-liberals would say that that is the job of government. But welfare has become a dirty word because we’ve been conditioned [by ‘the market’] into believing that those who need welfare deserve to be poor and hopeless.

There are now an awful lot of women aged 60 and up who have become homeless through no fault of their own. Many of them are from a generation that stayed at home to look after the kids. They have no super, some have no profitable job skills, and after the divorce, they have no homes either.

No, that’s not me. I may not have super, but I’ve always had a roof over my head and some pretty good IT skills. But caring duties kept me out of paid employment, so at 60 I found myself on welfare. I earned every penny of that welfare by being a volunteer teacher for five years, but as far as the market was concerned, I had no value.

How many women out there are in a similar boat? Left behind by the changing times, of no marketable value to anyone?

I personally know of a woman who ended up living in a boarding house because she had nowhere else to go. And she is still better off than those women forced to live on the streets.

So, the question is: whose fault is it?

When I was young, there were heaps of council flats, built and run by the government to provide affordable housing to those who needed it. Now, affordable housing is almost impossible to get because no one is building that kind of housing.

When ‘the market’ is left to its own devices, it prioritises profit over all else, most especially people. The ‘market’ cannot fix this problem because it is part of the reason the problem exists in the first place.

To fix the problem of homelessness, we have to start by acknowledging that in a modern, affluent society, a home is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. And if ‘the market’ won’t supply that necessity, then government must. Because no one deserves to die of neglect.

This may be my last rant for 2023, but I’ll keep calling out injustice wherever I see it.

Happy New Year,
Meeks

De-stress for Christmas!

Just breathe with the yellow ball. It’s weirdly satisfying, and the technique really does lower your blood pressure.

Now that we’re all calm-ish, I’d like to wish you all a safe and joyful Christmas.

Much love,
Meeks

There is no such thing as a ‘free market’

‘There can be no “free market” without government. The “free market” does not exist in the wilds beyond the reach of civilization.

Competition in the real wild is a contest for survival in which the largest and strongest typically win. As the 17th-century political philosopher Thomas Hobbes put it in his book Leviathan (chapter 13),

“[in nature] there is continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

Civilization, by contrast, is defined by rules.

Rules create markets, and governments generate the rules.

A market — any market — requires that government make and enforce the rules of the game. In most modern democracies, such rules emanate from legislatures, administrative agencies, and courts.

Government doesn’t “intrude” on the “free market.” It creates the market.’

Robert Reich: Why Capitalism is so rotten [Part 3]

The cost of living is sky-rocketing, yet at the same time, big companies are posting massive, truly eye-watering profits. And competition? Hah. A few giant companies are pretty much calling the shots, and governments follow meekly along.

In my not so humble view, corporations are the ‘great evil’ of this era, and governments are not intruding enough. Nowhere near enough.

I strong recommend that you reach Reich’s essays as they are simply brilliant.

Meeks

Farewell, The Drum

No, I’m not talking about a musical instrument. I’m talking about the only TV show I have watched religiously for over ten years. And today was the last show hosted by my favourite host – Ellen Fanning.

Overseas friends won’t have a clue what The Drum is about so you can have a quick read here.

For me, the cancellation of The Drum signals the end of an era, and the end of regular TV viewing. From here on in, I’ll get my political discussions online, but I already know that, unlike The Drum, the social media algorithms won’t be showing me a diverse range of views. That makes me sad.

I don’t know why the ABC pulled the plug on this insightful, and truly diverse discussion panel, but I think it’s a mistake. Sadly, I don’t think the decision makers on the ABC care what I think.

To Ellen Fanning, Julia Baird, Dan Bourchier, and all the wonderful, ordinary people who made up the panels over the years – thank you. You will be missed.

-hugs-
Meeks aka acflory

A music video and a how-to video

I just finished uploading my latest video to Youtube, and while I was there I had a listen to this amazing brother/sister duo singing The Prayer. I first heard this song sung by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion, so you can imagine my trepidation. How could a couple of unknowns compare to two such greats?

Here’s how. :

And in case you think they’re lip-syncing only, here’s a link to a video where they sing a capella [with second brother] :

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxD0Lx5kJ9iHV7mhZVeP331H56wsFmXBV2?si=HMrzsqJZVlEwFsh7

From the sublime to the…boring? lol My video is a how-to that will only interest people using Corel Draw X8 and VideoStudio Pro 2021, but it’s my most ambitious foray into online how-to video editing, so I’m posting it anyway.

Okay, that’s it for me. Have a great weekend everyone!

Meeks

Enough WordPress!

I’ve tried to be philosophical about the latest mess foisted on us by the ‘Happiness Engineers’, but enough is enough! This is what I had to face this morning:

Gripe #1 The slider for ‘Email me new posts’ works, I think, but I can’t seem to select any of the ‘how often’ options.

Gripe #2 Why do I have to keep making the same stupid selections time and time again? Isn’t once enough?

Gripe #3 And this is the straw that breaks my back – I click the ‘Reply’ button, it greys out, and….nothing happens.

Did I submit my reply or didn’t I?

I have no idea, but it’s still sitting there in the box, staring at me so I have to assume that I didn’t. Worse, when this happens, there is no way to let bloggers know that I /tried/ to reply but couldn’t.

Tools that don’t work, or only work intermittently, simply make users ANGRY. I’m angry.

Thanks for allowing me to vent,
Meeks

Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes

The video below is by a fellow Youtuber by the name of Icy. Icy’s daughter has Type 1 diabetes, that’s the genetic one:

I posted this comment on Icy’s video:

@acflory.writer

Happy Birthday. I can’t donate, but I will spread the word on my blog. I have two nephews with Type1 and an online friend in the US who has to import her insulin from Canada because that’s the only way she can afford to /live/. I was shocked when I learned that people in the US die because they can’t afford medication. I wish your daughter all the best for the future. My older nephew is in his thirties and his life with Type 1 has changed dramatically, for the better. I hope that by the time your daughter reaches her thirties, the current treatments for Type 1 will just be a horrible memory.

In the US, the cost of insulin is so high that poor people either can’t afford to buy it, or have to ‘ration’ it…simply to stay alive. That is wrong, morally wrong. Here in Australia, we have a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme [PBS]. Medications on the PBS are heavily subsidised to ensure that lives come first, not profits.

Research into Type 1 is making the lives of sufferers less onerous, but there is still a very long way to go. If you can afford to donate to the research, please do.

Many thanks,
Meeks

Do Giraffes Have Horns?

To answer that question, allow me to hand the blog over to Robbie Cheadle, one of the most creative people I know. Not only does she write, create fondant [icing] art, paint, make Youtube videos, and take amazing wild-life photographs, she is also a fabulous Mum who knows a heck of a lot about giraffes! [And hyenas]Take it away, Robbie. Why giraffes?

Giraffes are my favourite Southern African animal. I love them because they have beautiful liquid eyes, long eyelashes, and are graceful. I call them the classical dancers of the veld.

One of my most memorable interactions with a giraffe occurred during a visit to Pilanesburg National Park in the NorthWest province of South Africa. A male giraffe came right up to my side of the safari vehicle and said hello.

How do I know it was a male giraffe? Look carefully at the picture and you will see that the ossicones (columnar or conical skin-covered bone structures on the heads of giraffes) are bald.

Male giraffe saying hello

Both male and female giraffes have ossicones which are cartilages hardened to bone. Giraffes are the only mammal to have horns from birth although the ossicones of a baby giraffe (calf) are not attached to the skull at birth. The horns lie flat on their heads like soft cartilage. This is to prevent injury to the mother during birth. Soon after birth, the ossicones begin to grow and change from cartilage to bone and by the time the giraffe reaches sexual maturity at the age of 3 to 5 years, the ossicones will comprise of only bone and will be fully attached to the skull.

The ossicones of a female giraffe are thin and tufted with hair while those of males are thicker and become bald on top due to fighting or necking. Male giraffes fight by swinging their long necks at each other hence the name of necking. The process of fighting causes the bones of the ossicones and skull of male giraffes to continue to gather boney deposits that add weight over time. This enables the male giraffe to deliver heavier blows during necking contests.

A giraffe’s ossicones also help to distinguish species of giraffe. Some giraffe species grow additional ossicones on their heads. The northern giraffe and reticulated giraffe are both species that tend to grow prominent additional horns.

A beautiful giraffe in the late afternoon at the Pilanesburg National Park

Thanks, Robbie. I’ve always admired giraffes but knew nothing at all about them. And I bet I wasn’t the only one. Which brings me to ‘Neema the Misfit Giraffe’:

I know Neema is meant for children aged 2 – 9, but I suspect a lot of adults would learn a thing or two about giraffes as well. What is the story about?

Neema is different from her fellow giraffes. Their lack of understanding make her feel unwelcome. Neema sets off on a journey to find new friends.

Includes illustrations, photographs, and links to video footage of giraffes, as well as fun giraffe facts.

‘Neema the Misfit Giraffe’ is going to be very popular with kids and adults alike, but before I provide links to the book, I’d like to say how impressed I am with your artwork, Robbie. I was gobsmacked to learn that you painted Neema’s cover, but then I had a look at your art gallery and fell in love with this:

I confess that I’m one of those people who can spend hours watching cat videos on Youtube, so of course I fell in love with this big boy! I was rather taken with the hippo too.

Okay, for those who don’t know Robbie, this is her bio:

Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published fourteen children’s book and two poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The eleven Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie and Michael Cheadle have recently launched their new Southern African Safari Adventures series. This series is aimed at teaching young children about the wonders of Southern African wildlife in an engaging and interesting way. Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews.

And now for those links I promised. You can connect with Robbie on:

Website

https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

Blog

https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

Twitter

Tweets by bakeandwrite

YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVyFo_OJLPqFa9ZhHnCfHUA

This is the trailer Robbie created for Neema:

Youtube trailer for ‘Neema the Misfit Giraffe’.

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15584446.Robbie_Cheadle

And last but not least, some purchase links for Neema:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Thanks, Robbie. I’ve really enjoyed this post and I’m sure everyone else will too.

cheers,
Meeks