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Archive for January, 2013

Writing Wednesday week # 5/13

Posted in Writing Wednesdays, tagged , , , , , , on 01/30/2013| 5 Comments »

I thought I’d share some more writing quotes today. Enjoy :)

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.
Benjamin Franklin

Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very”; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. Mark Twain

That element of surprise is what I look for when I am writing. It is my way of judging what I am doing – which is never an easy thing to do. V. S. Naipaul

I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done. Steven Wright

I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me.
Anna Quindlen

My stories run up and bite me on the leg – I respond by writing down everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off.
Ray Bradbury

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Magnificent Monday week # 5/13

Posted in Magnificent Mondays, tagged , , on 01/28/2013| 4 Comments »

Good Monday morning to you all :)

A little (or big) reminder for you all this week. This picture has done the rounds many times over the years, but the message is still the same today as it was back then.

What Matters Most Is How You See Yourself

For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now? James Allen

Have a great week.

DJ

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Family Fridays week # 4/13

Posted in Family Fridays, tagged , , , , , on 01/25/2013| 9 Comments »

How do you fill the aching hole in your heart when someone you love is no longer there? My dear Aunt Phyllis passed away in her sleep, just as the doctors said she would. She had a fall at home, and what they found when they got her to hospital, was that she probably had 1 – 3 months to live. She was 74.

Who’s going to make me biscuits and gravy when I go back to the US? Who’s going to introduce me to such wonderful and strange foods like Chicken Fried Steak, and Fried Cornmeal Mush with Ham?

Oklahoma RoseIt never occurred to me that it would end like this. In the back of my mind I always thought that one day I would be showing her the sights of Perth and taking her to our famous Kings Park and doing the tree-top walk. This picture is of the newest rose in my rose garden, the Oklahoma. She will be buried in Oklahoma today.

I am reminded of a verse in the bible: (NIV) Ecclesiastes 3: 1,2. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die…

Our sadness will soon be replaced with Joy. We have a new grandchild due to be born any day now, and plans are in full swing. The nursery is ready, the pram scrubbed clean, the soft toys all washed, the baby car seat in their car ready. Grandma and Grandad (us) are on standby to look after the other children.

Thank you Lord, that there is a time to mourn and a time to be glad. And thank you for the people who crisscross our lives.

DJ

(c) DJ Stutley 2013

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Writing Wednesdays week # 4/13

Posted in Writing Wednesdays, tagged , , , , , , , , on 01/23/2013| 5 Comments »

Today I thought I’d share some opening lines:

‘Someone’s coming,’ Taji yells. I reach Taji first. Not because I’m the fastest. I’m good at many things but running isn’t one of them. (Samuri Kids by Sandy Fussell)

‘Stay with Aunt Kat!’ Ash looked at his mother in disbelief. ‘No Way!’ (Crazy Kat by Marg McAlister)

It’s so quiet. I don’t know what the time is, maybe two o’clock, three o’clock. I think I’ve been asleep for a couple of hours; I’m not sure. (Checkers by John Marsden)

The previous body shop manager at Marcus Ford- ‘The Best Deals in Dixie’-was fired for wearing a coffee-stained shirt to work. That the stain hadn’t occurred until after he’d been on the job for two hours didn’t matter. (At All Costs by John Gilstrap)

Ryan was nearly killed twice in half an hour. He left the taxi a few blocks short of his destination. (Patriot Games by Tom Clancy)

At liftoff, Matt Eversmann said a Hail Mary. He was curled into a seat between two helicopter crew chiefs, the knees of his long legs up to his shoulders. (Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden)

True love came to me one crisp late autumn morning when the sky had lost the faded blue of the long hot summer and taken on the deeper colour of winter yet to come. (WHITETHORN by Bryce Courtenay)

Ok. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. It’s only a VISA bill. It’s a piece of paper; a few numbers. I mean, just how scary can a few numbers be? (Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella)

I love opening lines in books, and often it is the first page that determines if I will read more. During my school writing workshops, one of my favourite activities is to read an opening paragraph, and get the students to re write it with their opening lines showing three ways of starting a story. Speech, action, description.

Do you have a favourite opening line of a book?

 DJ

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Magnificent Monday week # 4/13

Posted in Magnificent Mondays, tagged , , , , , , , on 01/21/2013| 6 Comments »

Good Monday Morning :) When I started typing this I thought, ‘Week number four? That can’t be right.’ So I checked on my calendar… yes, we are in week 4 of 2013. How did that happen? 

gladiesI always start the week with a walk around my garden, where I pick a flower or two to bring into the house. This little activity gives me so much pleasure as I place the vase (sometimes two) in pride of place depending on how I feel at the time, and what I have picked. Single roses go in a small vase on the dining table. Gladioli go in the tall thin vase, and on the counter against the wall. Bunches of flowers go in the matching vases in the front room.

Last year we planted about 50 gladioli bulbs and they started blooming with the first one picked on March 27th, 2012. Back in August, I posted in my blog that I had picked the last one – but I was wrong! Three weeks later they started blooming again and haven’t stopped.

Thank you, Lord, for the beauty and simple pleasure of picking flowers.

DJ

(C) DJ Stutley 2013

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Family Fridays week # 3/13

Posted in Family Fridays, tagged , , , , , , on 01/18/2013| 7 Comments »

Old Shoes

Change is in the air  house mind heart? Maybe heart is a better word.

shoesI have carried this pair of shoes around for 25 years. They were my mother’s. When she died, I took this pair of cream shoes and a pair of ankle boots that were hers. The ankle boots fitted my daughter perfectly and she still has them. The cream shoes were too big for her, and they are a touch too small for me, which is why I’ve never worn them. But I kept them because they were my mother’s and they looked nice, and maybe one day they would fit me. (what was I thinking?) She hardly wore these shoes, and the price tag is still visible inside the shoe. $59.99 twenty five years ago – that’s an expensive pair of shoes. The inside sole says ‘Leather upper’ and the writing stamped on the sole of the shoe is not in English, so they must be an imported shoe. 

I think it’s time I got rid of the shoes. Maybe not. Just put them back and deal with it next year. Let’s face it – after all this time, I don’t think my feet will shrink enough to wear them comfortably. But then, if I have those bones fused in my right foot, my foot will be shorter. Short enough to wear the shoe? What good will one shoe be? Do I need a pair of cream courtshoes? No. But I might one day. I’ve never needed a pair of cream courtshoes. Will I need a pair of cream courtshoes in the future? Maybe I should keep them. Do I have other things that were my mother’s? Yes. But not any of her shoes. Do the shoes mean anything to me? No. Other than the fact that they were her shoes. I never saw her wear them.

I will get rid of the shoes. 

Sometimes it is hard to let go of things. Especially if you don’t understand the reason you want to hang onto them. Goodbye, shoes :)

DJ

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Writing Wednesday week # 3/13

Posted in Writing Wednesdays, tagged , , , , , , , on 01/16/2013| 3 Comments »

Today’s post is taken from a fellow blogger, Zack A Tack.

Health Problems for Writers

Hi Dudes,Writers are prone to certain health problems that may not be experienced by the majority of people. They spend long hours at the computer and usually during the daytime, so they do not get out in the sun much. This can easily lead to a Vitamin D deficiency that can cause ugly symptoms such as joint aches, bladder problems and depression.

In addition, they can suffer from RSI in the fingers and wrists and problems of poor posture, if they don’t see to it that they are sitting properly. Some of these problems can be alleviated by getting ergonomic chairs and keyboards, but the chairs are only good if you take the trouble to put them at the right height to the desk. I find a cushion with a cut-out at the back is great to help prevent tailbone soreness.

Eyestrain is another likely irritation for writers. Anyone who spends long hours staring at screen or blank page will eventually suffer eyestrain and possibly need glasses. It is wise to spend five minutes in every hour to look out the window at something in the distance just to keep those eye muscles from atrophy.

So writers beware! Create balance in your life and get your Vit. D levels checked to maintain your health. It is more pleasant to stay healthy than to try and get your health back after too long without doing the right things.

till later dudes

Zack.

Look after yourselves…

DJ

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