State of the Flip
Having posted my link to my fundraising page on Facebook and LJ last night, I've already got £130 in sponsorship, which is AMAZING. It's really spurring me on, and now I understand why people do this.
It's 11 June already and I had thought about doing a 'post every day in June' project to try and force me to update here more often. But that's fallen by the wayside, clearly. Been feeling quite meh over the past few weeks and very much looking forward to a weekend off at the end of next week - a night out in London town with dalehead and then a weekend in Kent with my godson's family.
Having now submitted everything but my final big piece of work for my MA, the end really is now in sight. I'm re-writing and adding to my play for my final submission, which has to be handed in at the end of August. Last week I met with the person who's going to supervise my over the summer; she really gets what I'm doing, and I came away energised and full of ideas, which hardly ever happens. Oddly, despite feeling generally meh about life, I seem to have more writing mojo than I've ever had, with ideas popping into my head in a way that they haven't done for years.
Been reading a lot lately. Some books I'd highly recommend:
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, an Iranian woman academic who taught English Literature at universities through the 1970s and 80s in Tehran. She charts the gradual narrowing of what was permitted (especially for women) as religious tolerance decreased, and how it affected not just the wider issues, but the everyday experience of being a woman in that situation and just trying to get on with your life. Her writing style took a bit of getting used to, but once I had I absolutely loved it and lapped it up.
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. I've raved about this elsewhere, but it really is brilliant. Not only a page-turner of a story, but a real polemic about the rights of the individual in the digital age. I've always been of the opinion that 'if you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to worry about', but this made me completely rethink my ideas and that my next laptop will be running Linux.
The Long Song by Andrea Levy. The story of a slave girl in Jamaica around the time that the British were outlawing slavery. Wonderfully told and again, a real page-turner. Another polemic on human rights, but not in the least bit strident and full of imagery that really stays with you afterwards.
Oh, and I went to see Prometheus. A massive let-down. If you've seen it, I'd urge a perusal of a transcript of the film which addresses all those annoying niggles and generally hits the nail on the proverbial in a most hilarious fashion.
I'm going to try to post more often, I really am. Sometimes it feels as though nothing is happening that's worth recording, but there's always books. Or knitting.
It's 11 June already and I had thought about doing a 'post every day in June' project to try and force me to update here more often. But that's fallen by the wayside, clearly. Been feeling quite meh over the past few weeks and very much looking forward to a weekend off at the end of next week - a night out in London town with dalehead and then a weekend in Kent with my godson's family.
Having now submitted everything but my final big piece of work for my MA, the end really is now in sight. I'm re-writing and adding to my play for my final submission, which has to be handed in at the end of August. Last week I met with the person who's going to supervise my over the summer; she really gets what I'm doing, and I came away energised and full of ideas, which hardly ever happens. Oddly, despite feeling generally meh about life, I seem to have more writing mojo than I've ever had, with ideas popping into my head in a way that they haven't done for years.
Been reading a lot lately. Some books I'd highly recommend:
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, an Iranian woman academic who taught English Literature at universities through the 1970s and 80s in Tehran. She charts the gradual narrowing of what was permitted (especially for women) as religious tolerance decreased, and how it affected not just the wider issues, but the everyday experience of being a woman in that situation and just trying to get on with your life. Her writing style took a bit of getting used to, but once I had I absolutely loved it and lapped it up.
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. I've raved about this elsewhere, but it really is brilliant. Not only a page-turner of a story, but a real polemic about the rights of the individual in the digital age. I've always been of the opinion that 'if you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to worry about', but this made me completely rethink my ideas and that my next laptop will be running Linux.
The Long Song by Andrea Levy. The story of a slave girl in Jamaica around the time that the British were outlawing slavery. Wonderfully told and again, a real page-turner. Another polemic on human rights, but not in the least bit strident and full of imagery that really stays with you afterwards.
Oh, and I went to see Prometheus. A massive let-down. If you've seen it, I'd urge a perusal of a transcript of the film which addresses all those annoying niggles and generally hits the nail on the proverbial in a most hilarious fashion.
I'm going to try to post more often, I really am. Sometimes it feels as though nothing is happening that's worth recording, but there's always books. Or knitting.