Record of meeting 9 October 2013

Present

Elizabeth, Terry, Cath, Melissa, Wendy, Helene, Margaret, Trish, Leonie, Geoff, David C, Jo

 

News

Margaret had a wonderful weekend, Trish went to Sydney last week, Leonie’s sister has moved to Mexico, Geoff has a grand daughter – the parents work for Westpac and have terrific parental leave. David C had fun doing the blog last week and played at Lady Denman last weekend. Elizabeth went to Tullamore to meet her grand daughter. Terry’s son in law bought a catamaran for family activities. Cath went to Creswell and to Hyams Beach on the bus and leant how to get lower 3rd party insurance. Wendy and husband are having a breakfast for bike riders. Helene went to Appin to collect her grandson from camp and had lunch at Mt Ousley with wonderful views.

 

Words of the day

Reticent = restrained or reserved

Fillip = a finger movement or compensation, a boost stimulation or enjoyment

Ambiguous = doubtful statement

Haar = cold sea fog

Muse = spirit that inspires poetry or art

Quell = to overcome, suppress

Outlandish = bizarre or unfamiliar

Pediculus = infected with lice

Frolic = a light-hearted, fun, often silly activity

Poke = push or thrust with a finger or stick

Panache = élan

 

Writing from words of the day

We created a raft of great stories and poems including - I am musing, The muse came through the window, Crabs and seaweed, going to housie, No enjoyment, David C - I’m known for my wit or half of it – the stolen walking stick, A thick skull, An annoying man, The lousy hat, James mother and Phillips naked frolic.

 

Homework

The assembled group read a great batch of stories about Smoking cigars, Not what it seems, Cheer for the bad guys a great poem from Trish, Sandwiches and cakes, What will she do - an amusing story from Jo, Wrinkled and old, The day the king died – a great story from Melissa in a southern accent, Behind the potted palm, Unrequited love and The dream from Garry.

Reading

Melissa talked about the Steven Pressfield book she has read “The war of art” - about writers block which he calls procrastination and how to overcome resistance. Think not what have I written today but what have I resisted.

 Terry – read us a poem about Aussie poets.

We had a discussion about writing fiction and stories based on fact.  We also discussed the benefits of writing about what we know and the use of research & imagination.

 

Quick write

We made lists of five firsts and five lasts in our lives and then shared our impressive, funny and sad lists. We covered such topics as jelly, kisses, jobs, school, cars, food, family, pets, reading, mowing and movies and too many more to mention.

Homework

Dumpster dive - Take an hour and collect trash from the road, beach or your house. Select a piece of trash and write about it. Bring the trash with you next week  if its healthy to do so.