To follow this bandwagon from it's first trundle out the barn doors, take a look at these (recommended) posts: John Barleycorn Must Die, Terri Windling's Studio, a mermaid in the attic and Ravenwood Forest. Or just hop on now and ride along with me while I give you my tuppence worth.
We (an organic web of blogs within the ww web) have been pondering the whys of blogging; what it does for us as people, as artists, as earners, and what we can give through it.
For me, it's a kind of apprenticeship. I am upfront about still being in the process of 'finding my wings' and through this wonderful network of words I find inspiration, tuition, encouragement and discussion to broaden and deepen my writing and visual art. I think I'm trying to say that I find friends here. And I very much want to say that I offer friendship here. Maybe that's the heart of it.
Unzip your doors and come make a fire with me.
Bring marshmallows!
I'm learning from those of you who have been flying with strength and grace for many years (and thank you, thank you for that), but I, too, have some things which I know; thoughts, creations, perspectives, which are uniquely my own and may, perhaps, be a help to someone following behind me. Our dust-trail caravan stretches far in both directions.
Here are two of the most useful posts I have discovered on my recent ether-travels:
For writers, here is an interview with Stuart Aken, about publishing on Kindle.
And for artists, a fascinating and insightful piece by Graham Hanks on modern colour theory - it may not be what you expect!
Because I have a secret dictionary addiction, I fancy drawing attention to a magnificent 'word for the day'. Today's offering is:
pettifogging : quibbling over insignificant details.
This word is on the endangered list, so your challenge is to use it sometime today, to keep it alive and well.
And my stone for the day:
Rain quenches the earth,
Gives shoots a root-up,
Bulges buds to bursting;
Drenches my sadness through
So I must peel it off
And be glad.
And speaking of gladness, a special thank you to Claire de La Luz for making me top of her favourites list. What a pleasure :o).
And speaking of gladness, a special thank you to Claire de La Luz for making me top of her favourites list. What a pleasure :o).
What really makes you smile?
You do indeed have things that which you know! Many things to be sure,
ReplyDeleteof which I am delighted to take part in whenever I visit your blog. There I said it. The dreaded word everyone has been pettifogging about. Whatever its called I'm glad of its existence as I have met many wonderful, creative thinkers such as yourself and the lovely Claire de La Luz as you have mentioned. You are wonderful, hilarious at times, and gifted.
Its such fun and inspiration to see how this meme is cascading and tumbling onwards through a myriad of magical blogs. I first came here with the stones and have enjoyed every visit since, thank you so much for your creativity and expression here!
ReplyDeleteAh, Ramona, would you please come to my house and say such things at the beginning of every day? As ever, much thankfulness from me to you.
ReplyDeleteAnd to you, Alice. Lovely to hear from you. Just had a peek at your site - reminded me of a trans friend I was sad to lose touch with some years ago. Happy adventuring :o).
Pettifogging! Love it...I suspect I am a Grand Pettifogger (I'm sure my hubby would think so)! Wonderful to visit you and continue the Feast over here, and I'm bringing apples to make toffee apples over the fire, because I love them!
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine. And, I should be clear, sausages are also welcome :o).
ReplyDeleteI love blogging about blogging! My favorite thing is that I've created this evolving art piece that reflects my creativity and influences- and my art piece interacts with other people's art pieces! It's very exciting.
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely love to come hang out in your tent and roast all kinds oa tasties over the fire. Sometimes I feel bittersweet that there is this group of people that I feel so connected to- but they're far away from me :(
Just the same, I'm so happy and blessed to be making friends with so many amazing, creative people, yourself included.
XOXO,
Claire
Thank you Claire. But could we build the fire outside the tent, please? Just kidding. Love the eclecticism of your blog. x
ReplyDeleteI love this: "Rain quenches the earth, Gives shoots a root-up..." in your
ReplyDeletestone for the day.
And, I too, am surely a "pettifogger". I also love words and listen to a public radio program here every Saturday evening that is a great thing if you love words. I bet you could find it streaming, its called
Says You, and I listen on WGBH Boston, but, I think it has its own web site now. Its a word-game show, very funny at times.
PS, I love words so much I get a REAL kick out of the word verification words and sometimes try to remember them, some would make great names!
ReplyDeleteThanks Valerianna, good to hear form you :o). Words totally rock and I often chortle at the verification words. Once I got 'prick in', but only a telephone engineer was home with me, so I didn't mention it.
ReplyDeleteI may have heard of Says You. Thanks for the tip.
I'm rather fond of 'poodlefaker', it's been causing me to smile since I discovered it way back in the 1970's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the book tip.You may like Shaun Tan's work, just posted on him.
A marvelous word, Von, and I checked out Shaun Tan - really unafraid of keeping his colour tones in a narrow band; inspiring. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDelete