Words of a Wikkid Woman

MOVING TO WORDPRESS

2009-05-21T21:58:00.004+01:00

So the time has come to say GOODBYE to Blogger. I have move all posts (except this one) over to my new home at

Words of a Wikkid Woman

at wordpress, so same name different URL.

As I've posted before the main reason for the move is the relative restrictions on Blogger, mostly with layout and creativity.

I want to include more of my writing and with Wordpress I have the option of creating extra pages for this purpose.

I hope any readers will follow the blog at it's new address, but as I'm writing mainly for my own enjoyment i won't be offended if you don't.

So in case you need the url again, here it is

Words of a Wikkid Woman

So long, Farwell, Auf Wiedersehen etc.

Catching up with JAFF

2009-05-06T18:38:00.000+01:00

I’ve finally been able to catch up on some JAFF (Jane Austen Fan Fiction) stories. Since leaving the UK in November I haven’t had much time for the world of Darcy, Elizabeth et al., not only because I have had limited internet time, but also because my favorite JAFF site has been down. HG (Hyacinth Gardens) is sorely missed, although it looks like the site might come alive again in the next few weeks. Fingers and toes crossed!!!!
For now I’m getting my fix from AHA (A Happy Assembly) at www.meryton.com, a lot of my HG favorites post there and it’s given me a chance to discover a few I haven’t read before ;) I’m trying to mix the more angst ridden stories with more fluffy ones, although I find both types make me cry for different reasons of course. I must say it’s getting a little annoying to always cry at the drop of a hat, but I suppose after 20 years of it I should resign myself to the truth, I’m a soppy, emotional, hopeless romantic.

I finally found the courage to watch The Duchess a week or so back, and predictably cried my eyes out. Not being a big Keira fan, I can’t forgive her Godawful Elizabeth Bennet, I didn’t want to watch her make a mockery of G.’s life, but thankfully she was REALLY GOOD (More than I can say about Kirstin Dunst as Marie Antoinette, but I won’t digress even further). Poor G. such a sad story, sad life. What really PI**ED me off when the trailers were showing last year was the Princess Di angle. Seriously what was the point of that? G.’s life was interesting enough, I would say far more interesting than Princess Di’s (although I love her too), and there should be no need to exploit Princess Di’s memory to get the cinema crowds in.

Anyway back to the original topic, JAFF. I’m currently reading a few different WIPs, mostly moderns as I tend to get annoyed with the Regency that get facts etc. wrong. Unless they come particularly recommended I stay away until they are complete and then browse the comments.
A modern story I’ve been reading for a while now is Miscommunication by JulietR, it was posted on HG until it went down, but luckily it’s also found on AHA. It’s a typical P&P (Pride and Prejudice) fan fic, with Lizzy and Darcy on center stage. However it starts on an interesting premise; Darcy has married his terminally ill cousin Anne, this is to give her a few good years away from Lady Cath and experience some good things before her time comes. Lizzy meets Darcy in Anne’s finally year, and Lizzy and Anne develop a sort of friendship. Then after Anne dies (well a while later, we do have all the usual problems, Wickham, Hunsford and so on), Darcy and Lizzy start going out. And that’s where we are at for now. Not sure how much is left now but it must be coming to a close I’m sure. It’s such a delight to read, and I really appreciate the footnotes at the end of each post, save me having to google things to find out what they are. In any case it is a story I would highly recommend. It’s low on angst, the times when it does look a bit dicey everything is quickly resolved. It is so well written, some chapters will have you laughing, others crying and some will have you doing both.
Another modern I’m reading is Forgotten First Impressions by Excentryke, which has recently cranked up the angst with a heartbreaking plot twist. The premise of the story is that Elizabeth is a single mother living in New York with her sister Jane and friend Charlotte. Her daughter Mabel is the result of one night of passion with a man Lizzy can’t remember, not really anyway, when she was in college. Enter Darcy who had his heart broken many years back by a woman he fell instantly for and shared a passionate night with. See where this is going? Well your guess would be right but the twists and turns that take us to these revelations are very entertaining. I won’t say more about it except it’s got a crazy, delusional Jane in it. I thought I’d seen the bitchiest Jane of all times in one of Amber’s (HG Queen) stories (can’t remember the name right now), but this Jane is just amazingly cruel. You have to read it, but if you are an angst weenie maybe you should stay away for a little while, the author has said things will start to resolve now but how quickly is anyone’s guess. I don’t mind though, I’d go mad without a regular serving of angst.
The next story I want to bring to your attention is Cherchez La Femme by Irene, another modern where a M.E. called Esther Brighton is framed by persons unknown and convicted of a drug trafficking charge. However instead of going to jail she is recruited by the CIA to work in a spec ops division, where she can put her M.E. skills to good use. Goodbye Esther Brighton, hello Elizabeth Bennet. I love the premise, it’s well written and well thought out, and I can’t wait to see how it all works out.
A modern with a different story and main character is The Modern Caroline Bingley by Excentryke. It features; you’ve guessed it, Caroline Bingley and starts the day before Darcy marries Elizabeth. I’ve only read two chapters so far, but eagerly looking forward to more (I know there have been a few more posted). Caro’s love interest (I assume) is a guy called Max, and he seems to have his own personal baggage. And Caro of course needs a cargo plane of her very own to carry all her baggage. As I said it’s promising, mainly because Caroline is made human and is not being passed off as some sort of ridiculous caricature. Definitely a story to watch.

I’m not only reading moderns though, I do find my way into the regency section. The regency I’m reading at the moment is a sequel to the exquisitely written Teurig by MAB, and is called Love Will Find A Way. The story starts a few months after Lizzy and Darcy and Jane and Bingley are married. An important government document disappears, and the puzzle solving sisters are called upon by the government to continue their work. The opening premise has some similarities with a Sherlock Holmes story, where his brother seeks his help to find a missing document which could possibly cause war. From there though Love Will Find… follows its own path; finding the document might be what they are working towards, but what happens on the way is far more important. Darcy resents not being included in all aspects of Elizabeth’s life, and Lizzy is scared that she will lose herself if she surrenders everything. While it’s a cleverly written mystery, which I know will be as exciting and entertaining as Teurig, it is also a story about the trials of marriage and how to make it work (well at least I hope they will solve that issue in the end), and I eagerly await all new chapters.

While I’m having fun reading all these new stories I am missing a few from HG. A Mother’s Favorite Wish is one of them; though I’ve heard it’s also located outside HG so I will go hunting for it in the next few days. Another story I need to finish, and I know it’s finished at DWG (Derbyshire Writers Guild), is Shem’s The End Is The Beginning…. The last chapter I read was at the airport in Manchester before flying off to Abu Dhabi in November, and I can’t wait to read the whole thing. The premise was very original and I’m sure there is an older post about it, so I won’t harp on about it. Once I’ve read it all I’ll harp some more though (so now you are warned).

Now I feel I should reveal my reason for returning to JAFF after my long absence. Well I bought a book called The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough. It’s set 20 years after the end of P&P, and from the back cover write-up had an interesting premise. Well I can only say one thing; it was a pile of crap. The author must really hate P&P; I can see no other explanation. I never finished it; it was just too damn depressing and not really that well written. The characters are caricatures, nowhere near believable or realistic. It was surprising really as McCullough wrote The Thorn Birds, which was excellent. So maybe her strength lies in creating her own characters and not altering other peoples, as a fan fiction writer (I don’t care how accomplished the writer is, if you take other peoples characters it’s fan fic) she kinda sucks. Well in any case, my meeting with that terrible book made me flee back to the warm and fuzzy world of online JAFF, where some true gems are hidden.

In my next JAFF post I think I might concentrate on complete stories, and maybe do a top 10. We’ll see.

My First UAE Gig

2009-04-02T04:40:00.001+01:00

Well Saturday was the day for my first gig in abu dhabi. I went to see coldplay, and can I just say: They were amazing!! It was held in the grounds of the Emirates Palace hotel, half on the beach half on grass. As we trekked there ( and believe me it was a trek) the sky was lit several times by amazing lightening. The sky did not open up and drench us until we were in the concert area and waiting in the beer queue. It was over quickly though, and it did keep my pint filled up if slightly watered down. We only heard the last song from support band mercury Rev, but I'm sure they were good. Finally though Coldplay were on the stage and the heavens opened once again, heavier and wetter than before, the lightening seemed to flash in time with the music and made it just that bit greater, after all it NEVER rains in Abu Dhabi ;)
The band took the torrential downpour in their stride and supplied a few rain themed song (I'm singing in the rain tra-la-la-la and Rain drops are fall hum-hum). They played all their old hits and the audience sang and shouted back, though there were only a disappointing few songs from the VIVA album, which is actually my favorite of all of the.
In the end though it really did not matter, Coldplay were in excellent form and the gig was truely AWESOME!
Now co'mon KILLERS, give us a date!

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It's been a while

2009-01-26T13:38:00.002Z

My beloved blog, I have missed thee so much. Living without internet is a real pain and not something I'd recommend. However it is a self-inflicted problem as ordering the internet is something I could do instead of lazying about everyday.
Well enough of the self pity and loathing. This is just a quick update to say Hola, and to confirm that i am still among the living and enjoying Abu Dhabi and UAE VERY much.
The weather is great, quite cool at the moment, but summer is fast approaching. Apparently once we hit June leaving the air-conditioned comforts of your house is not an option, so we'll have to enjoy it while it lasts.
Well that's all for now, busy getting A210 stuff in order not to mention A215 so have enough to do but once internet is install I'll be back with a vengence.

The Waiting Game

2008-11-12T22:55:00.001Z

It's been a month now since I last saw my hubbie, and at the moment I'm eagerly waiting for my visa to come through so I can join him in Abu Dhabi. How ridiculous is it to be married for 5 days before your brand new husband leaves the country? I'm just really fed up with it now.
At least my writing course keeps me busy, I'm really enjoying it dispite the near disaster of not being able to submit the first eTMA. Luckily my tutor was very helpful, and I was able to submit it a few days later instead, crisis averted. I just hope it was worth reading, I'm so nervous about getting it back, what if I don't have what it takes to be a writer? Apparently it's due back on Friday, until then I will have to continue my fretting and sleepless nights. I have this meavy lump in my chest thinking she is going to hate it.
In other news nanowrimo is going really well, yesterday I hit the 50,000 mark which means i'm more than half way to my target of 100,000 nifty spiffing words ;) I love writing this story, it's like 3 years of thinking coming together making it all fit nicely with each other.
Tomorrow is the last day of the working week in abu dhabi so if I have no visa news then it will be Sunday at the earliest that I will know. Fingers crossed everyone

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Goodbye My Little Gerbils

2008-11-07T00:02:00.001Z

So the day I knew had to come has arrived. The day I say a very sad farwell to my two gorgeous gerbils. I've been trying to rehome them for about a month now, asked everyone I know, and some I don't, but no one has been able. I called all the animal sanctuaries and pet shops who rehome, but no joy, not until last night when I called the pet shops again and Pets at Home in Bromborough had space available.
So off we went today, my MIL and I, with the cages in the back. The trip over the water was surprisingly uneventful, we didn't even get lost once :)
The pet shop and the people could not have been nicer, they were so helpful, put Bongo and Wentworth right into the huge clean display tank and put me to ease explaining they would not be split up and adopters were vetted before they could take them home. The big cage came with them so if their new family wanted and had room for it they could put them in there.
It was kind of heartbreaking to see them running around so carefree and happy, I'm sure they won't miss me at all, but it's also good because I knew they were not scared and would adapt nicely.
I'm really going to miss them, they were amazing company, always pottering about so you knew you weren't alone and always willing to be picked up and cuddled for comfort ;)
So here's to Bongo and Wentworth, the two most amazing gerbils in the world. Who ever adopts them I hope you give them a wonderful, loving home.

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US Election 2008

2008-11-05T00:38:00.001Z

Well it's finally here, the presidential election of 2008. Doesn't it feel like the run up has been going on for years? And why on earth do we care so much? I have no ties to America, but I'm so excited. I would be devestated if granpa McCain won, the US needs a change and the Republicans have had their chance. I might have been more receptive towards a new R president if he/she appeared able to lead, but McCain just seems like a reenergised Bush. Factual gaffs and messed up speeches is again the order of business, I'm sure there must be as many McCain making a fool of himself on YouTube as there are Bush ones, and who wants that to be their presidents legacy?
In this time of economic upheaval what America needs the most is a strong president who is going to be taken seriously. They need an inspiring speaker, who will fire them up and introduce change as a good thing. Barack Obama is all these things, and will be the best thing for America NOW

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My first few haikus

2008-09-30T19:25:00.000+01:00

So I figured I should finally try my hand at this marvel that is the Haiku poem
Following just the bare guidelines of 3 lines with 5-7-5 syllables here is what i got

Haiku 1

Wedding dress hangs there
Seven days till the big day
Nerves creating havoc

Haiku 2

Sun is not shining
Eyelids won't open, feeling heavy.
Bedtime has arrived

Haiku 3

Blue sky, sun is out.
Chilly winds, cold hands, cold nose;
Winter approaching

Now be dreadfully honest

Tutor group open

2008-09-25T14:05:00.000+01:00

Well my tutor group is finally open and I was the first one to post YAY :)
Everyone is currently introducing themselves and it seems like a diverse group at the moment, no men yet though. I hope it's relatively active, although I'm not getting my hopes up, either way I will be as active as I possibly can, can't really ask for anything else.

I continued with my rutine of freewrites and clusters today, clusters seem a bit easier and the freewrites are more random. I chose the words from some Word of the Day sites, I know there used to be a word promt site somewhere but can't find it. It would be quite useful to get a new word sent every day, I've also started keeping a little commentary after I finish my excersises, just saying how I found it, why my ideas flowed like that ect. Might come in handy at a later date but if not it's still writing isn't it :)

Right back to work now.

Oh and I might migrate over to wordpress in a few week (think I'll leave it till after the wedding), it just seems a more creative templete than blogger. But you will all have lots of warn ing before the complete change over

Almost ready to start

2008-09-24T13:50:00.000+01:00

Well I have my course materials, I can get in to the course forums and I've been allocated a tutor and tutorials. All that is missing is the tutor group forums and Divine inspiration, although I'll be happy to just get the first one
After getting my TMA08 score today I can put A103 behind me (I don't really fear that i got less than 30% on 09, so nothing more to worry about), THANK THE HIGHER BEINGS, is all I can say. It will definitely NOT go down in the history books as my favorite OU course (hmm what am I unwittingly saying there?) TMA08 earned me a respectable 79%, which with 600 words missing I can't be unhappy about.

I've had a little look in the BRB (Big Red Book), done a few clusters and freewrites. I definitely prefer the freewrites, I get a much better mind flow when doing them, with the clusters I struggle and it is very forced. Saying that though I don't think my freewrites are very free, I can't seem to just from word association to word association but stick with one theme. Hopefully the tutor won't mind too much, I guess that is one of the things I'll have to ask about once the tutor group gets going

P&P - Hunsford - Drabblefest 39

2008-09-18T20:34:00.003+01:00

Theme: Use at least one song title or a line of song lyrics anywhere in your drabble about a JA character – any song (including children's songs and opera arias), any time period.

P&P - Hunsford

Darcy looked at her, the emotions struggling in his eyes before he exclaimed, “You must allow me to tell you that You’re the one that I want!”

He eloquently told her how her inferiority and her family’s behaviour did not matter, although it was a carefully considered factor.

He was coming to the end of his declaration now, though his speech was no less passionate then when he began,
“I know my family will say forget that girl and find another, One of your own kind, Stick to your own kind!
“But I've crossed the line from mad to sane, A thousand times and back again. I love you baby, I'm in chains.
"Hey lady, will you marry me?"

Lizzy allowed a suitable pause before replying to his plea, though the anger in her eyes should have warn of what was to come,
“I don't give a damn about my reputation; I never said I wanted to improve my station.
“To live with you would only mean heartache for me
“But I’ll say a little prayer for you, because you will probably need it.”

Be it ever so humble there is no place like...Longbourn - Drabblefest 38

2008-09-18T20:34:00.002+01:00

Theme: think about a JA character's home. How does Darcy feel about coming home to Pemberley, or Colonel Fitzwilliam after a year at war, or Mr Rushworth when he shows a visitor his new improvements to Sotherton, or Willoughby when he has guests at Combe Magna? What makes a house a home Just use the word "home" anywhere in the drabble!
BONUS CHALLENGE: this theme's vote was very close, so... for an extra, in addition to the word "home," include in your drabble some form of the word Mama – mother, Mom, Mummy, Ma, stepmother, godmother, fairy godmother, grandma.

Be it ever so humble there is no place like...Longbourn

,""I thought this day would never come he said rubbing his hands gleefully together, "no silly, young girls or chattering, vulgar Mrs Bennet to ruin the peace."

The servants were milling about, carrying a multitude of boxes into the house, so he decide to retire into his library. He poured himself a nice measure of brandy and sat down in the worn old leather chair.

"God's in his heaven, all's right with the world," he muttered satisfied.

There was a knock at the door, and he looked up, "My dear, what can I do for you?"

The female at the door smiled, "I just wanted to let you know that everything has been moved in now. I was going to go call on my mother, if you do not mind."

He smiled back, "Of course I don't mind, please give everyone my best." She nodded and turned to leave when he called again, "Oh Charlotte, why do you not ask your mama and the rest of the family to come and dine with us tomorrow evening?"

"I will," she said and left.

William Collins leaned back and surveyed his domain, certainly it was nothing to Rosings, but the staircase and fireplace were hansome enough, there were windows aplenty and most importantly it was home.

Wanted - Drabblefest 36

2008-09-18T20:34:00.001+01:00

Theme: MATCHMAKER, MAKE ME A MATCH: PERSONAL ADS
Write a personal ad for a JA character looking for love. Regency, modern, any time period.

This was my very first drabble

Wanted...
P&P - Regency

“Accomplished, sophisticated and fashionable young lady seeks wealthy, distinguished gentleman for marriage; age not an issue, title preferred but negotiable.You must have a great fondness for all things orange, abhor the countryside and not be seduced by a pair of fine eyes.”

Caroline put down her quill for a moment, what else would she want in a potential husband? Maybe something about his looks? No, that was as irrelevant as his age, ancient and rich would do just fine, she could cut quite a dash as a rich, young widow.

She knew she was a catch, after all she had no embarrassing relatives unlike the Bennets who seemed to collect vulgar family members. No, Caroline needed to find a husband before her brother married Jane Bennet and her family was irrevocably connected to the Bingleys.

She put quill to paper once more.

"No seconds sons, clergymen, officers or anyone, at all, connected with trade need reply.If interested please call at Grosvenor Street Monday - Friday at 2 o’clock, your suitability will then be assessed by myself and Mrs Hurst."

Caroline looked at the finished letter; yes that was perfect now all she had to do was send it of and wait for her wave of suitors.

I am not a happy bunny!!!!!

2008-09-18T20:34:00.000+01:00

(wonder why people started saying that?) I am currently in the Siberia of OU study. The forums won't let me in, not through the FC client and not through StudentHome, in fact it would even allow me to go to http://www.open.ac.uk/ . Mr Line has been joking about my OU forum addiction for a few months now, but today it's really shown it self. I feel I might as well go to bed, as I have nothing better to do. Which, ok, is quite silly coz I have a whole lot of things to do. I have now abandoned my darling Mac mini to Mr Line, and have stolen his green Alien to play around with. It's huge compared to the very small mac, but I love the color. It also runs Vista which I'm not very used to so it's nice using it every now and again.
Anyway Mr Line called OU tech support who were very helpful, but it was only as he mentioned our broadband provider in passing that we got to the route of the mystery. It appears Virgin now has a connectivity issue with the OU, which has only just been reported and this should hopefully be fixed by tomorrow, saturday at the latest (personally I have no faith in Virgin sorting anything out so will not place any bets on how quickly the issue is solved). We (Mr Line) also called Virgin, who were the most unhelpful b*****ds imaginable. Glad we'll be rid of them in Abu Dhabi!!

IN OTHER NEWS, the A215 materials have landed and the course website/forums have opened (fat load of good that does me at the moment). The amount of messages pasted in just 2 days though is amazing, I've been keeping up through work pc and iPhone (very trusty iPhone), but people post so quickly it's hard to keep up. No tutor news yet, though I'm sure that will come up in the next week or so, hope my tutorgroup buddies from A103 will be in the same tutor group, at least we won't all be total strangers. And I'm also crossing my fingers that the first day school will be before I head to UAE (and it's not on my wedding day).
Talking of wedding days we will actually decide this tomorrow, we're heading into town early and going to the registry office to give notice of marriage. Once I know the exact date the stress can begin, not too bothered before then Wedding dress is decided, going to buy it next friday, I have a hairstyle in mind, got an appointment at hairdressers to see how realistic it is to get my hair that way. So just need shoes, a wrap, flowers and rings, oh and clothes for Mr Line (he refused the Mr Darcy look, oh well thinking cap back on). I'm thinking a morning suit for him though, will have to go and source prices on the weekend.

Right, think it's think for some more drabble postage, don't forget to tell me what you think

Brain Washed - Drabblefest 12

2008-09-14T23:05:00.000+01:00

Theme: People may love each other deeply, but somewhere there is a line to be drawn: “I’ll do anything for you, give up all that I have, EXCEPT….” Your task as drabble author: what is that line, and who refuses to cross it? And will they change their mind? Ideas: “I love you but not your cat,” “I love you but I won’t give up the remote control,” "I love you but please don't sing to me," “I love you but that was the last piece of chocolate!”

Brain Washed

Mr Darcy stood next to her holding her hand and cupping her face, "My darling, you know my feelings for you. I love you, dearly, but I abhor that orange colour you persist in wearing."

Caroline gasped, "I had no idea my dear Mr Darcy. I shall never wear the colour again." She was mortified, Caroline had always supposed orange was one of Darcy's favorite colours, after all he loved tangerins. From that day forward though she burned her orange dresses and wore blues and greens instead, they seemed to be what the gentleman himself like the most.

Mr Darcy continued to visit her every night, though strange requests were made. One night he said, "I love you Caroline, but I think you need to give your niece and nephews some pin money, they are excellent children."

Caroline who hated the little vermin was shocked, but she needed to keep Darcy happy, "Of course, I will give them a ten pound note each."

Caroline was startled out of her dream by a fierce cry of "YES!", and saw her two nephews and niece laughing in the corner. Instantly she knew what had happened, the children had been whispering these things to her every night. It had all been a dream.

Protecting the Innocent - Drabblefest 11

2008-09-14T22:56:00.000+01:00

Theme: Who's talking - is someone talking to himself/herself, or to others, or to a painting or other object, or to an animal? Is the person sane, lying, honest, sarcastic? And who's listening.... is it a maid or butler, a parent or child, a villain?

Protecting the Innocent

Mr Bennet passed his daughters bedrooms on his way to his own bedchamber, from one room there were giggles and a lot of snorting. He shook his head, they were undoubtedly the two sillyest girls in England. From Lizzy and Janes room he just heard hushed voices, he was about to move on when he heard a gasp. His natuaral curiosity, which he had passed on to his favorite, made his stay outside their door and listen.

"...and the letter was so honest, giving me all the particulars. I cannot believe we were so deceived by Mr Wickham, to think he would seduce innocent young ladies, and as a means of revenge. He truly is the lowest creature. He would have eloped with the poor girl to Gretna, and all for her fortune. Thank God he was stopped. She was only 15 then you know," Lizzy said animated.

"But perhaps it was not as bad as all that, might not the story have been exaggerated? Perhaps his sister did not tell the whole story, and he is unaware of this?" Jane said, though with little conviction.

"This will not do," said Elizabeth. "You never will be able to make both of them good for any thing. Take your choice, but you must be satisfied with only one. There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just enough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has been shifting about pretty much."

Mr Bennet stayed no longer, but neither did he retire to his bedchamber. Instead he went again to his study and proceeded to write a letter.

To Colonel Forster,
_____shire Militia,
Meryton

Colonel Forster,

I have some disturbing news regarding one of your officers, specifically one George Wickham...

Mr Bennet sealed the letter, it would be delivered on the morrow, and then their neighbourhood would be rid of the man. He did not know who the poor girl Lizzy and Jane had talked about was, but he knew it could have easily been one of his girls if they had larger dowrys, and he would not let such a black guard loose amongst the innocent ladies of Meryton.

The softness of her kiss, the loudness of her scream - Drabblefest 9

2008-09-13T18:09:00.000+01:00

Theme: The theme is KISS. The drabble must involve a kiss, real or imaginary. it can be any kind of kiss — romantic, "just friends," even a kiss of death

The Softness of Her Kiss, The Loudness of Her Scream

"Oh Miss Elizabeth you must allow me to tell you how much I admire you. Almost from the first moment I lay my eyes on your alluring person I knew that you would have to be my wife, especially as Jane was already taken."

The young girl infront of him blushed prettily and smiled at him, so he continued, "Might I ask you for a kiss, as a token of our engagement?"

She nodded.

He pulled her closer to him and leaned down, attacking her mouth with his own. "Oh Mr Collins", he though heard her moan, and continued his attentions most ardently. Her lips wer so soft and sweet and her scream so piercing. Her scream?

Collins opened his eyes and saw to his dismay Mrs Bennet right in front of him, fighting him off.

"Mr Collins, pray remember I am already married," she wailed.

Mr Bennet snickered in the background, "I always said the gentlemen might like you best of all Mrs Bennet."

So whatcha think?

What is a Drabble?

2008-09-13T17:55:00.000+01:00

In Hyacinth Gardens a drabble is an up to 200 word story/scene etc where you are given a theme and have to write it with Jane Austen characters. It can be set in regency, modern times, future, sci-fi, fantasy, medieval, stone age etc, anything you want really. Sometimes there are stricter rules on time setting but usually you are free to do as you please. There are over 50 different themes posted, i've only done a few but am aiming to have them all done by the end of the year :)

The End Is Where We Start From

2008-09-13T17:25:00.000+01:00

Said by the ever wonderful Captain Jack Harkness of course and also the title of Shem's new story which you can read at HG, remember you have to sign up to read stories there, but then the JA FanFic posted there is among the best there is.
But more of that later, the end I'm starting from is the end of A103. It's been a long way coming, and I am so relieved to have it all done. Now I can consentrate on the creative writing which I've been harping on about for a while (oh had y9ou not noticed, sorry must aim to do more harping).
I bought the material for the course a while ago on eBay, and have looked at the different parts, but nothing in-dept. We haven't got our materials yet, some problem at the printers or something, but I had access to the PDFs for a while so have had a look at the TMA etc, and they don't look too intimidating :)
Being a bit bored today I thought I'd post my old HG drabbles, as not everyone will want to sign up there to read them.
Enjoy

The End Is Near

2008-08-31T20:17:00.000+01:00

Well thank the gods and goddesses for that. I personally cannot wait for A103 to finish, and to start A215. I've ordered some books for the new course, The Chambers Dictionary 2008 ed. and The Penguin Rhyming Dictionary amongst others, coz let's face it when it comes to poetry I need all the help I can get.
I think I spend more time on the A215 forums than A103, although I will really miss some of the people there, especially the Oxford Gang and the people I've met at Day Schools.
I'm not really in a typing mood today, I couldn't sleep last night and then when I finally fell asleep I didn't wake up till midday, and have been dreadfully tired all day.
Back to work tomorrow, more mindless tasks, working for people with less than half my intelligence. It's my own fault of course, I can do something about it, quit, apply for new jobs etc.

I just need to get my ass into gear!

Apologies for the layout...

2008-08-09T21:49:00.000+01:00

For anyone who has been on the blog in the last few days, you have my sincere apologies for the messiness. I have been experimenting with the template and it hasn't really been going very well so back to the old way for now.

TMA07 went in at 23:53 so that was quite nerve wrecking, have promised to myself that I won't do that again, TMA09 should be sent in by the end of August and I've scheduled myself to do TMA08 the first weekend of September, that way I can used the tutorial efforts of Oxford and the 60's Day school to best use.

At the moment I'm just looking forward to finishing A103, there is just too much on the course that doesn't interest me. My A215 registration is now showing on my StudentHome page, and OUSBA accepted by application for an account with was surprising but very very good. I'm not sure i would have been able to start A215 this year if I hadn't.

Still writing TMA07

2008-08-01T15:55:00.000+01:00

Yupp, fraid I am. The deadline is of course midnight tonight (1st of August) and so far my word count is 22 words. So that's just another 1478 left then, I have a great essay plan drawn up though and plenty of examples, but I just can't seem to get started. For anyone interested here is the essay title:

With careful reference to two of the works studied in Block 5, show how attributes traditionally associated with masculinity and femininity are contrasted.

Of course as I already blogged I chose WSS and DJ for my two works, which I don't regret at all because both are so full of examples. And herein lies my problem, where to start?
I have given each work 500 words, which I have a feeling will be way too little, but it just can't be helped. I was originally going to look at them side by side, but I'm saving that for the conclusion now, I think. I've further broken it down so that each work will either have two paragraphs of 250 words, or three paragraphs of 175 words (stealing a few words from the introduction).

Well I suppose I'd better got on with it, but I'll keep you posted on my progress, shall we say every two hours?

Blogging from my iPhone

2008-07-18T15:58:00.000+01:00

Well this is my first attempt at blogging from my brand new iPhone and it's going quite well, if I do say so myself. Yesterday was my bday the not so big 2 5. I had a nice relaxing day with my darling bf and tonite we're off for dinner with the IL's.
I hope my next entery will be longer this was more of a test really.
Until next time xxx

Posted with LifeCast

Eagerly anticipating my new course

2008-07-16T01:08:00.000+01:00

A215 Creative Writing was the reason I found the Open University in the first place. I was just going to do that one course, no thoughts of a degree or anything, until I started looking around the site. Of course I was hooked in an instant (of course), and started A103 first to ease my way in. Along the way I decided that a BA (Hons) in Literature sounded nifty so that is now the ultimate goal, though the other courses to reach it change now and again.

But back to the much anticipated A215, this morning I received the course material which I bought off eBay. That thought is got get a bit of a head start on the course material, especially as one month into the course it is of course NaNo time. So my plan before September would be
1. Work through "The Ode Less Travelled" by Stephen Fry
2. Work through Part 1 of the A215 work book
I've bought myself a special notebook to use for the course, and have slowly started filling it with various ideas, though I'm having a hard time of quitting my old habit of just opening a Scrivener template and writing an idea down :)
I'll let you know how if goes, as I think I've said before I'll post anything I write as an exercise from The ode... on here, can't vouch for how good it'll be though.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

2008-07-15T17:09:00.000+01:00

What is a sing a-long blog I hear you ask? Well it is Joss Whedon's newest creation, a super villain with a webcam and a need to sing. Neil Patrick Harris plays the horrible Doctor bent on world domination with the girl from the launderette (or is that laundromat). Either way, Mr Whedon (with a little help from his friends), has created a web-series in 3 acts featuring the aforementioned Doctor, Penny the Laundromat girl (played by Felicia Day) and the superhero, Captain Hammer, played by Nathan Fillion.

I had been looking forward to this for a few weeks to be honest, after spotting a post about it on one of the OU forums. The first act was posted this morning on the 15th, and certainly did not disappoint. It introduced the characters in orderly fashion, Captain Hammer was a riot, as arrogant and self obsessed as any true superhero would be, and Doctor Horrible was strangely sympathetic.
As the first act ended a love triangle emerged, and luckily we only have to wait until Thursday the 17th for Act 2.

For anyone wanting to view the spectacular show just go to Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
And you can read Joss Whedon's master plan here

It does seem to have crashed in the last few hours, if you're on facebook join the Dr Horrible page, they'll keep you updated. I'll let you know how Act 2 is :)

It's been a while

2008-07-14T20:06:00.000+01:00

It'd been a busy month and a bit, with work, studies and writing. Feel really bad about neglecting my blog especially as I have so much to say :0)
So since last time I've had TMA06 back, not as good as 05, but a respectable 75%. Quite happy with that considering I re wrote the whole thing after realizing I hadn't answered the question first time around.
Now we're on to TMA07 of course, the long awaited literature part of A103. I decided early on to use Wide Sargasso Sea a sort of prequel to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, telling the story of the so-called 'Mad Woman in the Attic'. Personally I'm not a fan of either novel, though I am becoming a bigger fan of WSS than JE. I think it is because I can't understand why JE goes back to Rochester in the end, she is independent at least, not obliged to listen to anyone, and still she goes back to a man who betrayed her and made a fool out of her. Now fair enough she did this for love (what other reason could there have been), but how can she trust him after knowing he locked his first wife away in the attic and pretended she didn't exist. What in theory is to stop him from doing the same to her if he ever wanted, by marrying him she would be relinquishing her independence again. Of course if Rochester looked like Toby Stephens, I might come running back as well :)

But back to TMA07, my second work to use for the essay is Strauss' Don Juan

I was really worried about doing the music piece at first, after all I'm not very musical in the academic sense of the word. But I've passed the course now and as long as I make the pass mark on the last three TMA's I'll be happy, so the time has come to experiment. What clinched it for me was the A103 study day in Manchester on the 12th, the lecturer on Don Juan, Graham Roberts, delivered an excellent lecture and made the whole process so much clearer and simplified. it was definitely a very helpful Day School.
I'm off work this week, so the plan is to get kicking with the essay, but knowing myself I'll find a way of leaving it to the last minute. 1st of August is the deadline, I'll let you know how it goes :)

While I've been neglecting my blog Doctor Who has finished, as usual the finale had me crying my eyes out. Catherine Tate was amazing, she definitely proved that the Doc Who peeps had chosen the right person to be the Doctor's companion. I'll write more about it later though, as I think it deserves it own posting.

In other news I've been writing on a few new ideas, not really much meat on them yet, but they are coming along. One looks to be a fairytale, or rather the story of a fairytale, the other one is a contemporary story, though not quite sure of the angle yet. So far there are just a couple of characters on some unrevealing scenes, but I am putting Scrivener to good use, figuring it out. I've also been spending my time typing up my old hand written Forgotten Enemy story. But more on that some other time.

I suppose it's time to sign off, more tomorrow if I'm good :)

Oh Doctor, My Doctor...

2008-05-31T22:43:00.000+01:00

Saturday is Doctor Who Day, and as usual it does not disappoint. Now who wouldn't want to live on a planet that was a library? God how amazing would that be, though of course in the Whoniverse it's not quite so idyllic. Why does Mr Moffat always feel like he needs to prey on our insecurities, "Blink" scared the living daylights out of me, I haven't been able to look at statues in the same way since. And "Silence in the Library" touches on the same kind of thing, something is in the shadows and if it gets you it will kill you, you can't see it and you can't fight it. So yeah, pretty terrifying. And of course it's a two-parter which mean I'll be biting my nails for another week.
It does bode well for next year though, I have loved Steven Moffats episodes, my favorites being "The Girl in The Fireplace" and the aforementioned "Blink", two amazing but oh so different episodes. "The Girl in..." is so lovely and so sad, I cry my eyes out every time I see it. And "Blink" just leave me in a state of terrified, though the human story in it is really good as well with more of those sad stories that pierce your soul. Guess I'll have to have the hankies ready for next series.
But back to "Silence...", judging by Moffat's earlier episodes I suppose next Saturday will be emotional, and hopefully a bit revealing. We have after all been introduced to Professor River Song who apparently is a 'special' friend of the Doc's from the future, except he doesn't know her yet. I personally can't wait to see where they are taking us with that, will have to watch Confidential now and see if more can be gleamed from it.

Just got my A103 TMA05 back...

2008-05-28T17:29:00.000+01:00

and it's time for a celebration. I got my highest score so far, 89%, so chuffed I don't know what to do (except maybe go and get some wine). I didn't work very hard on this one, and I definitely didn't think my TMA made sense, but it seems my tutor thought it did and who am I to argue with the good doctor? I just hope he isn't one of those nice markers who always give good grades, I mean it is quite a leap from the days of Avril. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what the next assignments are like. I have promised myself though that I will not be struggling with this one just beofre the submission date, I will be organized for once.
Back to TMA05, the comments Dr Tutor made were very helpful, though in places he seems to have found more insight than I though I had put in. It was definitely the philosophy part of the question with I had the best handle on, though it did better than I had expected and thought with the art part :)
Think my line-up for TMA09 will definitely be Literature and Philo, with Art History as the substitute if either of those prove a bit awkward.

Right off to get that wino

Trying to get into shape

2008-05-27T15:48:00.000+01:00

I have this on going battle with my body, I want it to slim down, it wants to eat (it usually wins). I really love food; cooking , eating, the whole she-bang, and I try really hard to keep it as health as I can. Lean meats, more veggies, less oil/butter, less sauces and less take away is the way forward I know, but we (esteemed bf and me) have found this hard in the past, we start out with good intentions, then a few weeks later we are back to where we started. I don't know what will make it different this time, maybe the fact that bf is more committed to the cause having found his shirts getting a bit tighter around the tummy area ;)

So following in the theme of getting fitter I went to the gym today on my lunch. Now I've been a member of Lifestyles for a while (about 2 years) but could could on one hand how many times I've gone to there, so a few months back I cancelled my membership. A while back though a woman's-only gym opened in my work's building, were you're supposed to do circuit training in 30 minute batches. So I tried that out today, and it was great, I felt really good when it finished and I'm looking forward to going again. I have a week long free trial, so gonna take advantage of that and then sign up, should be fun :) The gym is called Gymophobics (perfect for me then) and here is a link to the website should anyone be interested, http://www.gymophobics.co.uk/

The Queen of Blogs...

2008-05-26T19:52:00.000+01:00

Though unfortunately not the Queen of blogging, you would actually have to remember to post more than once in a blue moon for that title. This is my new start, trying to get my act together before starting A215 Creative Writing with the Open University in September. I'm hoping this will be a nice outlet for blogging about my day, writing and everything else :)

I also have two other reasons for doing this blog:
Firstly I have a dreadful habit of scribbling things down everywhere, and then end up loosing them, never to be seen again. So my plan is to now post some here, at least the more complete scribbleries.

Secondly, I'm terrible at doing writing exercises, I'll start them with the best of intentions, but not complete them. So with A215 in mind I'm gonna work my way through the writing exercises in Stephen Fry's The Ode Less Travelled, as poetry is a definite weakness of mine.

I usually write Historical Romance, which I'm scared will be frowned upon by A215 tutors as people tend to look down on you when yo mention this as your area, just to put the final nail in my coffin it is specifically Regency romance I write. There, I am out

I also write fantasy, modern and more traditional. The modern tends to be very BtVS, Angel, Charmed, Hex etc influenced, whereas for the more traditional my inspiration comes from David Eddings (Belgariad and Mallorean especially), though nowhere near that at the moment, as well as Elizabeth Moon and Papa Tolkien (though that really goes without saying)

Currently I'm studying A103 An Introduction to the Humanities with the OU, and loving it :) About half way through at the moment, so scarily getting towards the end. The ultimate goal is a BA (Hons) in Literature, which should take 3-4 years (I hope).

Well it's the end of another bank holiday, and time for bed, so this should be enough for now.