One year on tomorrow

I can't believe that it was a year ago tomorrow that the bombings in London happened. It seems so long ago. You just get on with life because you have to. I feel lucky that no one i know was hurt or even killed that day. Alot of people can't say that and sometimes i feel bad that we were alright. As a scrapbooker i had to get it in a album to remind myself and also future generations how awful it was on that day. So i did these LO's


I think that they speak for themselves and are powerful and make you think even a year on.
In a way it seems so unreal. I don't know about the rest of you but between 9 and 10 in the morning my thoughts will be with everyone that was injured or lost a loved one. I may even light a candle.

This morning

I caught an interesting interview on ITV's This Morning today about blogging. I knew that it was popular but didn't know how much until i saw this. I copied the following from the This Morning website

Bloggers are the fastest-growing group of writers in the world. Every day, around 70,000 people - that's one person per second - begins a 'blog': a diary published on the Internet. Many are intensely personal affairs, essentially no different to pen-and-paper journals people have kept for centuries... except they're published instantaneously on the web for the whole world to see. But it isn't just young male geeks doing it - a sizeable proportion of blogs are by women and over-30's.

Proving that truth can indeed be stranger than fiction, playwright Oliver Mann has compiled a play entirely extracted from real blogs, premiering next month at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He joins us now to talk about the blogging phenomenon.

'Bloggers - Real Internet Diaries', daily at 3.10pm, Smirnoff Underbelly, Edinburgh (3rd - 27th August)

www.seebloggers.com

What is a blog?

"The most straightforward definition is 'online diary'," Oliver says. "But it's really just a type of web-site which allows its author to update content very easily, with each entry showing a date and time. So it lends itself well to personal diaries, but blogs can be used for all sorts of things. The word 'blog' is an abbreviation for 'weblog'"

What is a post?

'Posts' are individual entries submitted to a blog

What is the blogroll?

The 'blogroll' is the column on the side of some blogs which links through to all the author's favourite blogs

What is the blogosphere?

Blogosphere' is the term used to describe the online community engendered through blogging

There are dozens of sites to choose from when setting up a blog, but amongst the most popular are blogger.com (owned by Google), livejournal.com, and wordpress.com - all of whom offer free accounts.

www.blogger.com

www.wordpress.com

www.livejournal.com

About Oliver’s Play

Bloggers - Real Internet Diaries is the world's first stage-play entirely extracted from real British blogs. In the script, 10 'characters', played by 5 actors (they all double-up) take turns in addressing the audience in thematically-interlinked monologues. Characters include an agarophobic sex chatline operator (!), a nymphomaniac mum of three, a woman who obsesses about her teenage son, and a predatory bisexual buisnessman.

Oliver first had the idea for the play after discovering the blog of a contemporary of his from school. "My flat-mate and I both went to the same secondary school," he says. "A newsletter goes round; alumni write in and say what they're up to. One day this guy who was a bit of a peripheral character at school, a nerd really, wrote in saying, 'I've got a blog, check it out'. And we had that sort of macabre curiosity- we had to look him up. Turns out he was having a rubbish time - he was at University, as a mature student, but he was depressed, and still a virgin and so on. And, the thing was, there was this girl he liked who clearly liked him, reading between the lines, but he didn't seem to know it! We got completely hooked, constantly checking back for updates to see how this relationship developed. We started reading it out to each other. And that's when I thought, 'hold on, this is just like soap opera. It would be fantastic to recreate this feeling of intimacy in the theatre.”

I think that will be a great play and i'd love to see it but it's to far away so unless it comes down here or on television i'll never see it.

New look

Well what do you think of it. I was getting bored of the old look so I thought it was time for a change. I'm trying to find the right picture for the background and soon as I have it will look more like home. So bare with me while I get it sorted and looking the way I want it.

One thing I have done is to add a lot more links to blogs. I pop into these every now and then. I can't list everyone, if I did it would go on forever.

Art journal

I've been thinking about starting one for
ages and have finally got around to it.
This first one was inspired by Elsie Flannigan (an amazing us scrapbooker). I saw it on her blog and just had to have a go. I pinched alot of the ideas as she far more talented than me.

This second one is just of flowers that I've cut out.
I will do more pages as I can get arty with them or should I say try and get arty.

Blogthings

I saw this on a friends blog and just had to do it. It surprised me as i thought i was weirder that that.

You Are 50% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

You are Milk Chocolate

A total dreamer, you spend most of your time with your head in the clouds. You often think of the future, and you are always working toward your ideal life. Also nostelgic, you rarely forget a meaningful moment... even those from long ago.

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

I had a look at the site and it has some really fun stuff on it. Above are the two i've chosen for now but will do another one soon.

Dare time

Well it's that time again. This week it's "make a wish". Here's my effort at it. The journaling says "I wish that I will only get better with my scrapbooking and altered art. That I will have lots of really good ideas.
I wish to meet and get to know my online friends better.
I wish to go to an all day crop once a month for the foreseeable future.
I wish to go to as many retreats as I possibly can. June 2006"
I'm pleased with the way that this turned out, it is very minimal for me.

Today I went to the crop in Gosport and I had a really good day. I didn't get much done but I didn't think I would. Hopefully I will get to go to the next one.

I called Dom to say goodnight to him but he wasn't at all interested in talking to me, so I know he's happy. He's home tomorrow to shatter the peace and quite.

Peaceful

It's been a peaceful evening as DS is at my mum's till sunday. I've been getting ready for the crop that i'm going to tomorrow. I think i have everything sorted and ready to go. I have to leave at about 9am to get there for ten as i have to get a bus then a boat then another bus. I live in portsmouth, i don't drive (so i have to use public transport) and this crop is in Gosport so i have to get the ferry over then another bus the other side. I'm looking forward to this. I don't think i'll get much done. I have a LO to do and i want to do some ATC's that i have and idea for, i may even start my art journal. Well we'll see as i may just chat all day.

ATC's are Artist Trading Cards. Small pieces of art work originally designed to showcase an artist's work, these little (3.5 x 2.5ins) cards have become a craze in the papercraft world. They cannot be sold, but only traded one for one with other makers. It's fun to collect little bits or original artwork from all over the world.

Been a while

Well it's been a few days since I last posted but not a lot has happened. I now have a date for Dom to see the surgeon which is the 14th July, then we'll know what's going to happen with that.
I have been getting my house straight with the help of my mum. The garden is looking better than it was but to be honest that wasn't difficult. The sitting room has finally been finished, it had just a little bit of painting to do. That room just needs a new curtain rail up and new nets (the cats have killed the ones that are up there at the moment) but most likely voiles. My bathroom is going to be done soon which will be great. I need to put lino down as I hate having carpet in there, also new towel rails and shower curtain and it will be great. I'm looking forward to it. In the holidays DS is going to have his bedroom repainted, so it will be red and blue. It has to be done as he has drawn on the walls.

Tonight I'm going to watch Battlestar Galactica. This is on freeview for the first time. I loved watching the original. I do know that they have changed the sex of one of the main characters which just seems a little odd to me. Well I see what it's like and if I don't like it I don't have to watch it do I?

This weekend should be good as Dom is going to stay with my mum for two nights, Friday and Saturday. I'm going to a crop during the day on Saturday in Gosport. But I won't know what to do with myself in the evening. I'll try and think of something.

Internet

It's been a week since I last posted. On Tuesday my phone line went down which meant that I was without my landline and internet connection. I hated not being able to get online. Yesterday the engineer came out and fixed it for me. So I can now surf till my little hearts content.

Pink

I recently heard this song called "Who Knew" by Pink and I love it. So when I saw that I could get a free video link of it for my blog I did just that. Isn't great.

I also need to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my mum today and I hope she enjoys her weekend away.

New Glasses

These are the new glasses that i got yesterday. As it had been about two years since my last eye test I decided that it was time to get them looked at again. So I made an appointment with my local Specsavers for 10.10am. They were running late which wasn't a problem. When i was seen i found out that i have Astigmatism. My perscription had changed, he said that in one way it was worse and another better. My right eye is worse than my left. I was taken downstairs to choose my new frames which i did very quickly. The frames were fitted and measurements taken. The girl doing it said i'll just phone the lab and see if your len's are instock, she called and came back and said "They will be ready for you after 12.30pm, see you then." The time then was just after 11am. I went back just after 12.30pm and they were ready for me so I wore them home. I was realy pleased with the service

It's Monday

Today was the first day back after half term and Ds seemed to like being back. After school it was home to change and then dash to the swimming pool for his lesson. The lesson was good and he seems to be improving. He's getting across the pool faster on his front but he needs to keep his legs up. He's not too keen on swimming on his back as he doesn't like to put his head all the way back. It will get there in the end. There was one point that he just wasn't moving, he was hold a float out in front of him and kicking his legs but not going anywhere it was so funny. I don't think he saw me laughing.

Tonight was my monthly evening crop 7-10pm which was very enjoyable and great to see everyone. I didn't do much but I did pain a bottle holder that will go in my scraproom when done. So far I have just painted it purple, now I'm going to decorate it. I have a feeling it will have flowers all over it.

Sad News

This morning I heard that one of the best scrapbook shops has closed its doors forever. Canny Crafts in Wales are no more. Anne and James who own it are wonderful and I had the pleasure of meeting them in January when I went on their retreat. I wish them all the best for the future.

To Gunwharf

On friday we went to meet my mum (Janjan to Dom) and Phoebe (my niece) to go to the cinema and have lunch and see the boats. We saw Ice Age2 which was brill and can't wait for it to come out on video so we can see it again. After the film we went for lunch which was very nice and even Dom ate all his (burger and chips).
The Volvo Ocean Race has been in portsmouth from the middle of May and this was departure day. It was busy down there and we saw some of the wondering around. I wish them all the best in the rest of the race.

It being friday it means one thing an eviction from the Big Brother house. I was so please that Sezer was evicted as he was such a waste of space. Luckerly lots of people agreed. I think that the next person to go swhould be Grace as she is such a cow calling most of the housemates freaks and herself normal. She is no way normal. I could go on all day but i won't.

I saw Jon Bon Jovi on the Jonathan Ross show and is just so sexy. I can't believe that he's in his mid-fourties and has been with his wife for 26 years. I also love the new single which is called "Who says you can't go Home" I think i maybe buying this.

Today i cut Dom's hair and i think that it looks alright even if i say so myself. Will take a photo and upload tomorrow.

Teeth marks

Well in the early hours of this morning this happened. This is Magic.

I only put them down for a minute. So now the arms have teeth marks, it's a good thing i'm due to get my eyes tested soon. Cats don't you just love em?