Home again, and my first vlog
So, this weekend we went to the Lake District...and it was wonderful! I loved it the first time we went, several years ago, but I loved the area we went to this time (just outside Cockermouth, near Keswick) even more. The incredible, rumpled hills, wild and rocky and covered with scree and massive outcroppings that jut out at strange angles; the glittering lakes, the pebbled beaches, and the pine trees everywhere (so rare for England and so beloved by me, since I come from a pine-tree-filled state).
Of course, we were about 3 hours into our journey when we realized we had left the digital camera at home. ARGH!
But the upside is: remember how I made a resolution earlier this year that I must, must, must overcome my video phobia and teach myself to vlog? Well, I was sitting on a beach by Crummock Water on Sunday, soaking up the beauty and the isolation like an infusion of pure serenity while Patrick and Maya and MrD were off on a hike...and it hit me: this was my chance to follow that resolution AND get to share some pictures of the Lake District with you guys after all. So I picked up our little Flip movie camera, figured out how to aim it, and pressed "record". The vlog is about 50 seconds long, it's totally amateur (oooh, wobbly camera!) and, well...remember that other video I posted, the reading I did for Shimmer Magazine? For that one, I put on make-up, I brushed my hair, I dressed up and I practiced what I was going to say, then did multiple takes.
This time? Not so much. Nope, this was a single-take effort on the spur of the moment, I hadn't thought beforehand about what I would say, and I'm makeup-free and desperately in need of a haircut...but what the heck. If you want to know what I look and sound like in real life and we've never met, this is about as close as we're going to come. And anyway, at least the landscape is really, really pretty. :) So, I'm going to be brave and post this after all:
Oh, and the best part of this weekend? From the moment we drove past our first lake, story ideas started spinning and sparkling in my head. We only had time to do one-hour writing sessions, and only on two days, Saturday and Sunday - but I wrote more of Kat Book 3 in those 2 days than I had in the last two weeks! Going away to a beautiful spot = the best way to fight writers' block that I know. I was really sad to have to come home so soon, but oh, I loved being there...and we've definitely got to go back there again ASAP. :)
Of course, we were about 3 hours into our journey when we realized we had left the digital camera at home. ARGH!
But the upside is: remember how I made a resolution earlier this year that I must, must, must overcome my video phobia and teach myself to vlog? Well, I was sitting on a beach by Crummock Water on Sunday, soaking up the beauty and the isolation like an infusion of pure serenity while Patrick and Maya and MrD were off on a hike...and it hit me: this was my chance to follow that resolution AND get to share some pictures of the Lake District with you guys after all. So I picked up our little Flip movie camera, figured out how to aim it, and pressed "record". The vlog is about 50 seconds long, it's totally amateur (oooh, wobbly camera!) and, well...remember that other video I posted, the reading I did for Shimmer Magazine? For that one, I put on make-up, I brushed my hair, I dressed up and I practiced what I was going to say, then did multiple takes.
This time? Not so much. Nope, this was a single-take effort on the spur of the moment, I hadn't thought beforehand about what I would say, and I'm makeup-free and desperately in need of a haircut...but what the heck. If you want to know what I look and sound like in real life and we've never met, this is about as close as we're going to come. And anyway, at least the landscape is really, really pretty. :) So, I'm going to be brave and post this after all:
Click to viewOh, and the best part of this weekend? From the moment we drove past our first lake, story ideas started spinning and sparkling in my head. We only had time to do one-hour writing sessions, and only on two days, Saturday and Sunday - but I wrote more of Kat Book 3 in those 2 days than I had in the last two weeks! Going away to a beautiful spot = the best way to fight writers' block that I know. I was really sad to have to come home so soon, but oh, I loved being there...and we've definitely got to go back there again ASAP. :)