The Gallery : Ugly

This blog post is for the Weekly Gallery that Tara over at "Sticky Fingers" is running.   Use a picture you already have or a picture that you've taken especially for the theme that best fits the prompt.  Post it on your blog and write about it.

 This week's theme is "Ugly" and it's all my fault.  I'm sorry... *embarassed face*

However, what I have seen is conversations on Twitter that have emerged around the definition of "ugly"; what I see as ugly, someone will think is utterly beautiful and vice versa.

Here is my "UGLY" photo for this weeks Gallery:

This is my journey to work.  All motorway... in front, behind, with the occasional stretch of traffic cones thrown in for a bit of variety.  The motorway network in this country is extremely useful but is just lengths of tarmac with a few lengths of white paint dotted around and however much I love my work, the journey there and back is the same old stretch of tarmac every single day.

Related Links:
This weeks Gallery entries can be found >>> here <<<

Time Travel Turmoil

So, Paula at Battling On has devised a new meme that involves a bit of time travel.  Here are the rules:

If you had access to the Tardis and were able to tumble through time and space to visit a younger version of yourself, what advice/words of wisdom/fashion & beauty policing would you pass on?

There’s no limit on the number of younger versions of yourself you can visit, but play fair…there’s only one Tardis so don’t hog it for the whole day.

When you’re done, tag as many (or as few) people as you like, link back to me and pass it on…

First of all, I'm going to travel back to 30th March 2010 and to Paula's meme and swap the TARDIS for a Delorean.  An 80's chick has got to time travel in style... 
And knowing all about the Spacetime Continuum I have to be very careful where I go and what I do.   We cannot mess with history or the future; it is the law of Doc Brown.


As I power up the Delorean and get the speed up to 88 miles per hour, I think about where I'm going to go next.  Back to the 1980's seems appropriate and a high school music lesson:

September 1985, a Tuesday, 3rd lesson, Music:

Mr Walsh:  Would anyone like to learn how to play an instrument?  We have an array of lessons to pick from but can arrange anything if you have any suggestions.

A 13-year-old me:  Yes sir, I'd like to learn the flute.

The 37-year-old me jumps out of the Delorean and shouts, "NO!! Learn to play the double bass.  It's so much cooler."

I climb back into the Delorean and whiz on over to 1988 - a Saturday evening in late August.  I park down a small alley way just off the town square, find the car that I'm looking for and pop one of the tyres.  I then drive off down the alley, turn the corner slowly and watch myself run across the road and catch the bus home.  What I have just done is stopped myself from getting run over and allowed myself to attend the athletics trials meeting for Lancashire the following day.  Who knows what could have been...
(this incident was the inspiration for this short story)

Finally I decide to jump forward just a few years to 11th July 1992 - my wedding day.  I hover around at the back of the crowd and soak up the atmosphere.  I was far too preoccupied with other thoughts that day to think about enjoying myself.  Three weeks earlier we had found out that our daughter had Cancer and she had been allowed home from hospital for just one day so that she could be with us whilst we got married.  She was due back that same night so that the staff could prepare her for a major operation the following day.  My wedding day was intense and emotional for very unusual reasons.

As I have time-travelled to three different places in my life, I will pass on the meme to three people:

Heather at Eggs, Cream and Honey

Rosie Scribble (because she's tagged me in another meme)

Rachel Cotterill (because I stole a blog post theme from her last week)

Step Ball Change, Jeté and... Jazz Hands

Oooohhhh I'm one of the first recipients of a brand new meme called "I Heart TV"- it is the brainchild of Dawn, a.k.a The Moiderer.  She's after some new television programmes to watch (although I suspect she will be severely disappointed in my very predictable choice).

First, the rules of the meme, as usual:

• Name your absolute favourite TV programme
• You can NOT have more than one!
• Describe the general gist of the programme
• Explain what about it makes it your favourite (and therefore why someone else would want to watch it
• Link back to me here (and to The Moiderer on the original blog post)
• Tag 2 other people

Pineapple Studios (picture credit: Sky.com):
where careers are made, dreams are broken, bitching is an
Olympic sport and everyone is fabulous

If you're not already watching Pineapple Dance Studios (Sunday, Sky 1, 6pm) then you should be.  Thanks to programmes like this and Glee, musical theatre and dance is ever-popular again.


Pineapple Dance Studios is in it's 30th year of business and cameras have been invited to follow the lives of the larger-than-life characters that both work there and pass through their doors.  


We have met Artistic Director, Louie Spence who has to be seen to be believed - camper than Christmas and can not walk anywhere - he performs a jeté, a chassé and a rond de jambe en l'air as though it's the most natural way to walk down a corridor at work.  As we follow him on his route through the studios we spy Mark Battershall, dance teacher and choreographer, putting the brand new Pineapple Dance Group (PDG) through their paces in readiness for their promotional video and calendar shoot.  Also using a studio further along is Tricia Walsh-Smith, who's telephone conversation about her divorce went viral on YouTube - she is participating in a dance class in readiness for the release of her new single.  And finally we have Andrew Stone, lead singer of who IS Starman - the soon-to-be-massive electro-pop group.  I could write a whole blog post about Andrew and his fabulousness but there is already a fan blog dedicated to that so I shall just quote him instead:

"I'm not IN showbusiness, I AM showbusiness.  It is what I am"

Andrew Stone, Starman

Whilst you are sat watching this programme, wondering if it is a spoof, the dulcet tones of Michael Buerk waft through the speakers.  Now you're really confused!  You sit there, waiting for a charity telephone number to scroll across the bottom of the screen, then you actually hear what Mr Buerk is saying as we are watching a group of very buff lads audition for a part in a pop video:

(deadpan)  "It's not about looking 'hench'.  These boys will need to bust some fly moves if they want to get some swagger on in the Fe-Nix video"

Say what? *falls over laughing*  Pure genius.


Along with back-flipping policemen, Louie sprinkling talcum powder onto someone's birthday cake, random Fame-esque dance scenes and the word 'Pineapple' pixelated out on everyone's tracksuits (no, I don't understand why either) there is just so much more.  You will sit there laughing one moment and slack-jawed then next.  It has to be seen to be believed...

In the words of Tricia Walsh Smith - It's BONKERS!!!

To carry this on, I tag:

Make Do Mum

Marathon Mummy

( I really wanted to tag Louie Spence but I don't think he'd join in)

Daft for Craft

I was reading a blog post by Rachel called "My Knitting Box" and had to admire her stash of knitting needles (watch out eBay, here I come...) and she asked readers how they organise their hobbies.

I'm a crafter of many descriptions, although I seem to have found my niche with cross-stitch and knitting.  Here on the left, we have my cross-stitch box (into which some general sewing equipment has migrated) along with a few cross-stitch kits, tubes of beads, sequins, odd strands of ribbon, etc.  On the right, we have what used to be my "current project" bag but seems to have been overtaken by my knitting.  As you can see, I've done a bit more with the baby cardigan (we now have a full body and one sleeve) and I was going to do something with the black and red wool but it was so long ago, I've forgotten what it was.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  In my sewing box I've got about 5 crochet hooks but I've never tried crocheting... maybe that's how I should use up the red and black wool?


I've also been upstairs and dug out another great big bag of bits and pieces that languishes at the bottom of the wardrobe.  In there were more cross-stitch threads (this box needs replenishing, as you can see), almost a full set of Cross-Stitch Magic magazines (I think there's about 3 issues missing, now discontinued I believe) and all the charts and transfers that came with them.

         

I would love a room of my own - it would have a desk where I could spread out my study books and not have to pack them up each time we wanted to eat (the kitchen table is currently my favoured study area), there would be rows of shelves for books and built in cupboards/drawers for all my craft items and no-one else would be allowed in there unless explicitly invited.

I'm going to Hell for this blog post...

...but as it's Good Friday there is an important message to be told...

Oh look... The new dance group from Pineapple Studios: 
Jesus And The Disciples 

And finally... the reason I can post these pictures...

Have a lovely Easter weekend

A Whole Hour? Just For Me?

If I was ever given an hour just for me - no interruptions guaranteed -  then I'd do one of two things:

1. I would switch everything off and lie on the floor.  Prone.  I would listen to the silence and attempt to listen to it for as long as possible.  Nothing sexual or spiritual or unusual - just lie there and be at one with myself.  There is always noise around me - the whirring of computers and printers, the sound of chattering, the television or radio, cars driving past, birds tweeting and there is always someone or something that needs my attention whether at work or at home.  I'm always the first one up and often the last one to bed at night just so that I can have those precious few minutes on my own but, again,  I am usually doing something - filling the washing machine, answering emails, tweaking an assignment that's nearing its deadline, washing up a couple of cups.  But that's what being me is all about.  If I actually did get time to myself, after a short while, I'd be hunting round for something to do.  An hour is just enough, thank you very much.
2. I would read every single un-read post in my Google Reader, soaking up each word, searching for inspiration, admiring the talent out there, giving each and every piece of writing the time that it deserves.  Someone took the time to write those words for me and you to read; we should take the time to appreciate them - and even respond if we feel that those words have affected us in any way.

This blog post was written for Workshop #19, Prompt 1 - We lost an hour over the weekend into the mysterious ether of the universe.  Imagine you could get it back to use whenever you wanted.  When would you 'spend' it and what would you do with it? - run by Josie at Sleep Is For The Weak and you can find all the other Workshop posts >> here <<

Related posts:

http://typecast2000.blogspot.com/2010/02/long-division-can-just-chunk-off.html

http://typecast2000.blogspot.com/2010/02/twitch-and-bitch.html 
http://typecast2000.blogspot.com/2010/03/contemplating-my-belly-button.html