Books, films and programmes that have informed my view of the world, my ideas on creativity and my approach to life.
LI Jan 2012 - The Glass Bead Game (Vintage Classics) by Hermann Hesse
WI Jan 2012 - The Killing - Season 1 [DVD] Starring Mirelle Enos, Joel Kinnaman, Billy Campbell, et al. (DVD- 2011)
WI Jan 2012 - Sherlock - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018ttws
WI Jan 2012 - http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-story-of-film-an-odyssey
Gorillas
WI Jan 2012 - How Art Made the World [DVD] (DVD - 2005)
We like exaggeration, we are persuadable, art comes from magic? bring people together to work on the same thing, feed them and water them, logo, costume, money, stamps, posters, make people think of you.
LI Jan 2012 - Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and Howard Jacobson
RI Jan 2012 - How to Draw and Sell Comic Strips by Alan McKenzie
dip pens, typical story structures
RI Jan 2012 - How to be an Artist by Michael Atavar
WI Dec 2011- Rivers And Tides - Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time [DVD] [2001] (DVD - 2006)
Natural obsession leading to material understanding - reminds me of James Gleick's biog of Newton
RI Dec 2011 - Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice by Matthew Syed
Natural talent is less important than10,000 hours of practice, aim just beyond your reach, praise hard work not cleverness.
RI Dec 2011 - Breakfast At Darcy's by Ali McNamara
Samhain, step by step, rely on the wonderfulness of others
RI Nov 2011 - The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Entrepreneurs, poets and the mysteries of success
WI Nov 2011 -BBC Imagine - Grayson Perry and the Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016ycnn
RI Aug 2011 - The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
RI Feb 2011 - Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
RI 2010 - Narcissus and Goldmund (Peter Owen Modern Classics) by Hermann Hesse
Different routes to knowledge
RI Nov 2010 - Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton
The value of the crit
RI 2010 - The Artist's Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self by Julia Cameron
Some approaches to overcoming blocks to creativity
RI 2009 - Isaac Newton by James Gleick
Innovation from observation
Thursday, 29 December 2011
2011 Greetings Cards
New year's resolution 2011 - produce my own greeting cards
Top Cat - created for Carrie to congratulate her on her new job :-)
Door mouse - message inside - Please accept this small mouse as a token of my love - idea for a valentines card.
Top Cat - created for Carrie to congratulate her on her new job :-)
Thank you card for Christmas 2011 - Could have different messages in the thought bubble - could have different pictures for different personalised cards - good for thank you cards or wedding cards :-)
Door mouse - message inside - Please accept this small mouse as a token of my love - idea for a valentines card.
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Excerpt from White Tiger
He was an old Muslim, with a ptich black face that was bedewed with sweat, like a begonia leaf after the rains, and a long white beard.
I said: "Can you read Urdu?"
He opened the book, cleared his throat and read, "'You were looking for the key for years but the door was always open!' Understand that?" He looked at me, wide furows on his black forehead.
"Yes Muslim uncle."
"Shut up, you liar. And listen."
He cleared his throat again.
"'You were looking for the key for years but the door was always open!'"
He closed the book. "That's called poetry. Now get lost."
"Please, Muslim uncle," I begged. "I'm just a rickshaw-puller's son from the Darkness. Tell me all about poetry. Who wrote the poem?"
He shook his head, but I kept flattering him, telling him how fine his beard was, how fair his skin was (Ha!), how it was obvious from his nose and forehead that he wasn't some pigherd who had converted but a true-blue Muslim who had flown here on a magic carpet all the way from Mecca, and he grunted with satisfaction.
He read me another poem, and another one....and he explained to me the true history of poetry, which is a kind of secret, a magic known only to wise men, Mr. Premier, I won't be saying anything new if I say that the history of the world is the history of a ten thousand year war of brains between the rich and the poor. Each side is eternally trying to hoodwink the other side: and it has been this way since the start of time.
The poor win a few battles (the peeing on the potted plants, the kicking of pet doogs, etc.) but of course the rich have won the war for ten thousand years. That's why, one day, some wise men, out of compassion for the poor, left them signs and symbols in poems, which appear to be about roses and pretty girls and things like that, but when understood correctly spill out the secrets that allow the poorest man on earth to conclude the ten thousand year old brain war on terms favorable to himself.
Now, the four greatest of these wise poets were Rumi, Iqbal, Mirza Galib, and another fellow whose name I was told but have forgotten. (Who was that fourth poet? It drives me crazy that I can't recal his name. If you know it send me an email.)
From the novel The White Tiger by the Indian novelist Aravind Adiga, 2008 The Free Press, a division of Simon & Shuster, Inc.
I said: "Can you read Urdu?"
He opened the book, cleared his throat and read, "'You were looking for the key for years but the door was always open!' Understand that?" He looked at me, wide furows on his black forehead.
"Yes Muslim uncle."
"Shut up, you liar. And listen."
He cleared his throat again.
"'You were looking for the key for years but the door was always open!'"
He closed the book. "That's called poetry. Now get lost."
"Please, Muslim uncle," I begged. "I'm just a rickshaw-puller's son from the Darkness. Tell me all about poetry. Who wrote the poem?"
He shook his head, but I kept flattering him, telling him how fine his beard was, how fair his skin was (Ha!), how it was obvious from his nose and forehead that he wasn't some pigherd who had converted but a true-blue Muslim who had flown here on a magic carpet all the way from Mecca, and he grunted with satisfaction.
He read me another poem, and another one....and he explained to me the true history of poetry, which is a kind of secret, a magic known only to wise men, Mr. Premier, I won't be saying anything new if I say that the history of the world is the history of a ten thousand year war of brains between the rich and the poor. Each side is eternally trying to hoodwink the other side: and it has been this way since the start of time.
The poor win a few battles (the peeing on the potted plants, the kicking of pet doogs, etc.) but of course the rich have won the war for ten thousand years. That's why, one day, some wise men, out of compassion for the poor, left them signs and symbols in poems, which appear to be about roses and pretty girls and things like that, but when understood correctly spill out the secrets that allow the poorest man on earth to conclude the ten thousand year old brain war on terms favorable to himself.
Now, the four greatest of these wise poets were Rumi, Iqbal, Mirza Galib, and another fellow whose name I was told but have forgotten. (Who was that fourth poet? It drives me crazy that I can't recal his name. If you know it send me an email.)
From the novel The White Tiger by the Indian novelist Aravind Adiga, 2008 The Free Press, a division of Simon & Shuster, Inc.
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Oh Boys!
31st October 2011 - Hector James and Felix Jack my sons are born
Paradigm shift - I can only feel, I don't have words to describe it. I have relied on others to do so for me.
Thank you to Marisa for saying 'suddenly it seems that everything in the universe is suddenly exactly where it should be'
Thank you to Tim for saying that 'suddenly it seems that there is an extra dimension in the world'...I am reminded of the experience of seeing a magic eye picture for the first time, except that the picture is my life, it is the experience of seeing my life in an extra dimension, not just an external image.
Thank you to Kate Bush for Aerial. Hector and Felix are my sea and my sky. They are my suns. and Aerial has given me a frame to that moment so that I can revisit it.
Paradigm shift - I can only feel, I don't have words to describe it. I have relied on others to do so for me.
Thank you to Marisa for saying 'suddenly it seems that everything in the universe is suddenly exactly where it should be'
Thank you to Tim for saying that 'suddenly it seems that there is an extra dimension in the world'...I am reminded of the experience of seeing a magic eye picture for the first time, except that the picture is my life, it is the experience of seeing my life in an extra dimension, not just an external image.
Thank you to Kate Bush for Aerial. Hector and Felix are my sea and my sky. They are my suns. and Aerial has given me a frame to that moment so that I can revisit it.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Preserving the Orchard's Harvests
Producing palatable presents - for those requiring the prevention of rot (particularly the cabin fever variety)
Put a date in your calendar (in october ish) to forage for sloe berries and apples
No matter what the weather, (in fact it's even more refreshing in the wind and rain) go and collect a bucket or two load
NB it may be useful to bring a step ladder or a stool - keep your harvest location secret
2 recipes for sloe berry produce
Sloe gin recipe
Put a date in your calendar (in october ish) to forage for sloe berries and apples
No matter what the weather, (in fact it's even more refreshing in the wind and rain) go and collect a bucket or two load
NB it may be useful to bring a step ladder or a stool - keep your harvest location secret
2 recipes for sloe berry produce
- Apple and sloe berry Jelly (v v tasty especially with meat and root vegetables)
- Sloe gin by Si (below)
Sloe gin recipe
- Wash sloes and freeze (when ready to make gin, take sloes from freezer and defrost)
- Sterilise some bottles
- Fill a bottle to 2/3 full with sloe berries (no need to prick berries as this sometimes makes the gin cloudy) - remember to weigh the sloes before putting them in the bottle
- pour 1/2 the weight of the sloes in granulated sugar into the bottle
- Fill the rest of the bottle with gin and seal the bottle
- Turn the bottles daily until the sugar's dissolved
- Leave to rest for a minimum of 6 weeks before drinking
- After a year decant the sloe gin from the bottle (this will ensure that the sloe gin doesn't go off)
- Soak the sloe gin berries in sherry for another yummy drink
A Heavenly Yarn from the Orchard
A remedy for those in need of inspiration
A simple graft for the protection of future harvests
WARNING: Crochet is addictive
THANK YOU- to Norma for two beautiful knitted baby blankets and to Tracey for the crocheted baby blankets to keep the boys warm this winter.
Visit shop to pick up yarn and hooks unless you have some already.
Raid drawers to find an old button
Go to Crafty Anna's Blogspot to see free apple cozy pattern
Use You tube to learn how to crochet
Make apple cozies till you are totally exhausted
Sleep determindly and with conviction
Repeat until you find you have re-awoken to the root of your inpsiration
Then act on inspiration
WARNING: Crochet is addictive
THANK YOU- to Norma for two beautiful knitted baby blankets and to Tracey for the crocheted baby blankets to keep the boys warm this winter.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Select the right palette of words
I totally under-estimated how long and how hard it would be to write text for my 'book'.
I'm currently on re-write version 6 (or so)
I'm really grateful to Hazel for her feedback....she's taking the 'this isn't working' approach to editing rather than the 'change it in this way' approach. Never having worked with anyone to edit anything before I'm finding it really helpful.
Firstly the time between re-writes, when you're not looking at it is good ( I reckon my sub-concious does a great deal without explaining how)
Secondly the type of feedback means that all the decisions about how to change the text are mine, so I'm not beginning to feel detached from it.
Best bit of feedback for me so far was - 'The language is very grey at the moment, whereas the pictures are very colourful. How about visiting a dictionary / thesaurus and collecting some favourite words and then playing around with them for a bit.'
It has amazed me how limited my vocabulary has become over a decade of writing finance papers and emails for work and little else. Each of the new juicy words I re/discover feels so refreshing! and each new word I use opens up new vistas in the text.
People keep asking me who my story is for... At the moment it feels like it's for myself...This is really not a very commercial proposition I know!.....I have started using words which are just not fashionable for children's stories which is what you might expect the story was if you glancingly picked it up. I like to think that it doesn't completely matter if you recognise the words or not, that they should be tasty enough for you to get some flavour from them anyhow. I like to think that there are other people in the world with not dissimilar tastes / interests to me and that maybe that means it's okay to be totally self-indulgent! I like to think that it doesn't matter that I don't know in advance what I'm doing and that it's okay to make stuff up as I go along. Actually thinking about it....I think it's just that this is all I can do, and the only way I can do it, dress it up how I like.
I'm currently on re-write version 6 (or so)
I'm really grateful to Hazel for her feedback....she's taking the 'this isn't working' approach to editing rather than the 'change it in this way' approach. Never having worked with anyone to edit anything before I'm finding it really helpful.
Firstly the time between re-writes, when you're not looking at it is good ( I reckon my sub-concious does a great deal without explaining how)
Secondly the type of feedback means that all the decisions about how to change the text are mine, so I'm not beginning to feel detached from it.
Best bit of feedback for me so far was - 'The language is very grey at the moment, whereas the pictures are very colourful. How about visiting a dictionary / thesaurus and collecting some favourite words and then playing around with them for a bit.'
It has amazed me how limited my vocabulary has become over a decade of writing finance papers and emails for work and little else. Each of the new juicy words I re/discover feels so refreshing! and each new word I use opens up new vistas in the text.
People keep asking me who my story is for... At the moment it feels like it's for myself...This is really not a very commercial proposition I know!.....I have started using words which are just not fashionable for children's stories which is what you might expect the story was if you glancingly picked it up. I like to think that it doesn't completely matter if you recognise the words or not, that they should be tasty enough for you to get some flavour from them anyhow. I like to think that there are other people in the world with not dissimilar tastes / interests to me and that maybe that means it's okay to be totally self-indulgent! I like to think that it doesn't matter that I don't know in advance what I'm doing and that it's okay to make stuff up as I go along. Actually thinking about it....I think it's just that this is all I can do, and the only way I can do it, dress it up how I like.
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