World Book Night

Saturday 5th March 2011 was World Book Night and to mark this event one million books were being given away to readers around the UK.  Quite something I must admit.

It made me wonder about books and reading though.  I know of people that never read a book.  People that never pick up those leaves of paper bound together.  There really are people who just dont enjoy reading! :O That is rather shocking dont you think?  It’s not that they are not fans of fiction, or that they dont want to read factual content.  No, they just dont want to read!  Amazing huh?

Ok, so I dont read half as much as I should or would like to.  But that’s more an issue to do with my lack of free time or my bad planning of the free time I do have.  I can spend hours with my head in a book – actually in lots of books – when I’m away on my holidays and I find that reading really is a good way to spend time.  To be able to absorb myself in something else, to learn about other things, or to simply be entertained is priceless.  So World Book Night is a good thing in my opinion as it might just encourage a few more people to pick up a few more pieces of paper and learn about a few more things.

Maybe one day I’ll get around to writing my own novel, but in the meantime I’ve a bookcase full of books to get through and a Kindle full of books as well.

Happy reading people

Blogging

Sometimes I just have a flash of inspiration.  A thought strikes me down.  Something I read makes me sit & ponder a moment.  And then, as I start to write, the words just come flooding out of me. My fingers run away with themselves.  Typing without breath.  Constructing sentence after sentence.  Bringing together all my thoughts into one place.

That’s what blogging is for me.

Sometimes I don’t have any ideas & I just sit and wonder “what can I write about today”.  And on days like that, when inspiration is really lacking, I find it hard.  It’s certainly not easy to just pluck an idea out of thin air and so sometimes I find I need some sort of prompting to help me find that idea, that flash of inspiration.

Writing really is cathartic.  Putting things down on paper, or on-screen in this case, really does make you feel good.  It gives you a sense of achievement and accomplishment.  The opportunity to make your own contribution to, effectively, the world, is awesome.

So for as long as I continue to find inspiration in the world around me, in the things I see, the people I meet, the experiences we share and the articles I read, I will continue to blog.  I hope that some of you at least will be inspired, challenged, or even just plain interested in some of these thoughts, and that you’ll continue to read what I have to say.

Singing the blues

Ok so today is Blue Monday, that day which apparently is the most miserable in the year.  The day when all our woes are upon us and we just want to give up, curl into a little ball, and hide away in a corner – praps under the duvet with a BIG bar of chocolate

Obviously on such an auspicious day as this the media is on hand.  Ready and willing to help. A bit ironic perhaps when we wouldn’t even know is was blue monday if it weren’t for the media informing us.   Hmm. Even the weather seems to have fallen foul to the trap.

So a glance down my RSS feeds this morning & a browse on the web quickly supplied a never-ending list of articles about this blue blue day, enlightening me as to all the reasons why today is just so bad.  Well I don’t like being told how to feel or how to behave and so my drive to do my own thing has been peeked into action.

An article in today’s Telegraph is much more upbeat and suggests some ways to get through blue monday.  Maybe some of these suggestions will strike a chord with you and will inspire you to do something different today, something small that will make you smile, a little thing which will just make today even better.

Me?  Well I like the solution the author gives that tells us “Today is the day you need to focus on the good things in your life. Before bedtime, write down all the things you have to be grateful for, as well as all the things that went well over the course of the day. Effective journal-writing captures the essence of your thoughts, provides reflection, allows for creativity, sharper memories, self-examination, and spiritual direction for a more complete person. Doing this also helps you wind down, ensuring a better night’s sleep.”

Interesting stuff.  And yes, I do find that writing things down is a good way to focus your thoughts and even to put things into perspective.  Actually that’s one of the reasons behind this very blog – because words shouldnt just be running marathons in your head, they should be encouraged to get out there, explore the world and meet others & to make happy sentences together

So don’t spend today singing the blues.  Put a smile on your face.  Think happy thoughts.  Get scribbling down on paper or electronically.  Be grateful for all those little things in life which really are good and for all those people who are around you to share them.

 

PostAWeek – ok, so now it’s PostADay!

So I’ve signed up to the WordPress challenge to post every day in 2011.  I hope I’ll be able to stick to this and will try my best (apart from when I’m away and wont have access to a computer) and so despite originally choosing the weekly challenge I’ve now changed to the daily one instead.  I’ll also be taking a photo every day in 2011 - even if I dont actually get to post them each day.

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to stick to the challenge.  After all how hard can it be?  It is only writing, isnt it?  Hmm, only lol

If you already read my blog, I hope you’ll encourage me with comments and likes, and good will along the way.

Moonflowers

Time, or the lack of it

It’s amazing how we have so much time, I mean 24 hours in a day isnt bad, is it? and yet despite all this time, somehow we never seem to have enough of it!  Not enough time to keep in touch with friends and loved ones; not enough time to write that letter, to make that phone call; not enough time to sit & read a book or perhaps a newspaper; not enough time to go to the gym – or perhaps that’s a lack of motivation?  Hmm

Anyway, I’ve found myself rather lacking in time over the past few weeks.  I seem to have got rather caught up in life and living and this has meant I’ve neglected my blog and havent actually posted for a while.  I’ve found I’ve missed that.  Funny how you can miss something so seemingly unimportant, is it?

I’ve lots of ideas in my head, lots of posts in process, but I just wanted to throw my thoughts about time onto here whilst I’m contemplating some of them further.  Time, never enough of it and yet sometimes far too much.  Weird huh?

and the millionth winner is …

Today, the millionth English word has been unveiled. Suspense has been gathering all week – well ok for me it’s only been over the last couple of hours since I heard about this imminent announcement, but still

To be honest, I’m a little disheartened to learn that it’s actually an American group who are going to make this decision.  Yes, American, those of the land of the free who regularly subject great injury & infliction upon our great English language.

Nonetheless, I did wonder what those powers that be would extol on us?  What would they deem to be a word worthy of being added to our potential vocabulary.  I say potential because apparently the average person actually only uses a vocab of about 3000 words!  Quite a waste considering the wealth of options which is seems are available.   Why say colourful when you can say iridescent? (I do like that word)  Why not use irascible instead of angry?  After all Shakespeare had a vocab of some 27,000 words and Victor Hugo, well he stretched his to some 45,000!

A few months ago I wrote about how it was now not pc to use Latin words in everyday life, that we are excluding people by doing so.  Are we not then pandering to those of a lower common denominator, not endeavouring to educate and inform and encourage them to extend their knowledge?  Hmm, if we carried on like that, we’d still be cavemen, using sticks & stones & dressed in rags.  No, I think it’s our duty to educate our children, to help them to become better than us, to increase their options & provide them with even better opportunities than we had.  Granted language might not be the only way to do this, but it’s a good place to start.

Anyway, back to the topic in hand.  That millionth word.  Are you wondering what it is yet?

Well I’m pleased to announce that the newest word in the English language is …  wait for it  …

Web 2.0

Are you as underwhelmed as I am?

I must admit I was hoping for something a bit more original, something interesting, something which told a story.  But I guess this is very much a word of our times, isnt it?  In this techy age in which we live, we are constantly bombarded by new terminology and expressions, constantly seeing words introduced which illustrate the technology around us which we are learning to accept as everyday life.  After all, how many of us google? or surf? or even blog?  So I supposed – reluctantly- that Web 2.0 is another illustration of that world in which we live, of life today.

I’m passionate about words and language and all those things.  After all, they are the essence of communication, the very heart of our conversations.  I believe we should try to increase our personal vocabulary and learn more.  I would even go so far as to say we shouldnt just concentrate on English, but that we should learn other languages as well.  After all communication breaks down boundaries and what better way to communicate but to talk – but that’s a whole different post.

So go forth and talk and learn!

Passionate writing

I read recently how someone said that it doesn’t matter what it is you write about, just be passionate about it.

Well I like to think that’s what this blog is all about – my thoughts are stirred by things I’m passionate about and they make me want to write, to express those emotions in black & white.  If you hunt online, there are even articles out there telling you how to do it!

Writing is meant to be cathartic and I’ve found that to be true.  Writing about the things that stir my soul …? well it works for me.

How about you?  What are you passionate about?