No big deal for you northerners but 22 hours in a tin can is kind of daunting for us Aussies. So tomorrow at 3:30pm I'll be nervously downing a gin and tonic or ten and feeling that horrible rush as a plane far too big to float screams down the runway at Kingsford Smith Airport and hoping it doesn't blow up like a frigging Concord.
No, I am not a good flyer but I am an awesome traveller. Clare's surprised at the lightness of my backpack.
However, once the light goes ping and I can move around the cabin I relinquish my control freak urges and relax but until then, the heart palpitates and the nerves frey. Today I've been a complete neuropuss. Combine that with an inability to smoke, tiny seats, alcohol only served with meals and the possibility of sitting next to the Christian Biker from Hell (oh yes that happened) and I'm a possible mess but it will be worth it.
For decades, I've wanted to visit Paris. Not sure why but on various trips to Europe Paris has eluded me so this time, my glorious first born is taking me there for a week, then down to Bordeaux to stay with a gorgeous man she went to school with followed by a week of not sure where, then a week in Tuscany with a backpack and a shared bathroom. I'm looking forward to it. Really I am.
Not sure about the posting situation, we're not taking a laptop but I'm sure I'll sate my addiction in some internet cafe at some point.
Thank you Adam and Amy for housesitting, snugglebug my Lily for me and feed old Laurie. Don't demolish the house.
As for the rest of you . . be good to each other. Miss me a little. Jeff, remember to vote for me on 10thDoM and well, if I crash and burn I'd like these for funeral songs. BYO lighters and crank it bitches.
I've often wondered about infidelity and the complications the subtefuge of having a husband and a lover might cause. I think it would take some intestinal fortitude for a man to deal with two women, especially if they're hot blooded Latin types:
ONE of the trapped Chilean miners is dreading his rescue after his wife met his secret mistress at the entrance to the San Jose mine.
Yonni Barrios' wife, Marta Salinas, and his lover, Susana Valenzuela, were both holding vigils for him outside the mine.
Ms Salinas, 56, was stunned and horrified when she heard Ms Valenzuela shouting his name amid a crowd of miners' loved ones.
However, she is determined not to give up her man to her love rival.
She told friends: "Barrios is my husband. He loves me and I am his devoted wife. This woman has no legitimacy."
But Ms Valenzuela said the 50-year-old miner, who she met on a training course five years ago, was planning to leave his wife for her. "We are in love. I'll wait for him," she said
As a dear friend of mine would say "Mmm hmmm?"
I bet he's not so disappointed about the prospect of a 90 day stay of execution.
Have a wonderful weekend darlings. The passport has been renewed, I am now officially on leave and counting down the hours. I'm still thinking of pinching Adam's laptop but trying to see if I can survive a month with little more than internet cafe's to sate my addiction! Also meeting the future in-laws on Sunday and have been warned to say nothing incriminating . . .really, doesn't he trust his mother?
In an attempt to foster a bit more quality from internet writers some time ago, Wings and JeffScape started The Tenth Daughter of Memory, a quasi-competitive collection of would-be creatives (writers, poets, illustrators, photographers) who attempt to win by posting an entry related to the nominated topic or muse. The winning entry then has the privilege of picking the next topic.
The original intention was not to concentrate on writing alone although contributions have tended to to focus more on the written word. As a result, a general expectation has arisen that contributors will receive honest critical feedback from their peers.
Not everyone is up for criticism but if you are, and you fancy some really constructive criticism you can now receive it at The Infanticide Exchange.
Here peers, published authors and professional readers and critics will help you kill your stories, your babies, because the ones that survive will be stronger.
Anyone who already reads Creative Infanticide will know the philosophy behind the term.
Anyone who wants to have honest feedback on their work is welcome to join the Infanticide Exchange. The blog is entirely private. It is invite only, does not show up on search engines, and will be a great place for those who want to be writers to receive honest, objective, feedback rather than the lovely but slightly over-flattering comments that tend to come via your blog.
There are rules, naturally since Jeffscape initiated the thing . . .
1. Your identity must be shared with everyone else on the blog. Nothing within The Infanticide Exchange is anonymous, and everyone gets to follow everyone else's career aspirations and progress.
2. Once you have put up a post, it cannot be removed.
I'm sure there are others but I'm trying to keep he who intimidates with complicated rules at bay.
Seriously, I've spent 15 years in a former life as a commercial copywriter and magazine editor and never wrote a single word of fiction. Had anyone told me I'd be doing this creative business 12 months ago, I'd have laughed in their general direction and hurled a herring at them.
However, writing and having someone help you shape your words, force you outside your comfort zone, point you in directions unforseen, is very rewarding and very challenging. Some of the contributors are published, others are seeking to be. One is a professional reader, editor and critical analyst, others are worthy peers. (Yes I do wonder what I'm doing in their company!)
It doesn't matter whether you're in the closet or a regular contributor to one of a myriad of creative blogs out there such as Magpie Tales or Theme Thursday this is the perfect opportunity to receive genuine constructive criticism and to hopefully improve and stretch your creative limits.
The Infanticide Exchange is up and running now, and the admins are Tom at Half-Moose with a Twist, Baino at Creative Infanticide, and JeffScape at Irreverent Irrelevance. Email one of us and we'll get you started.
If you're willing to partake in a bit of baby-killing, that is. I've just sent one of mine to the slaughter!
Now excuse me. Just 5 days to lift off (with a weekend in between) and Clare has mislaid her Aussie passport so we're scrambling for a replacement since they won't let her back in the country on her British. GAH! And I thought creative writing was stressful.
