machines, orange hair and scary monday

 

It is interesting when stuff goes wrong on the computer and cyberspace.

This week has been interesting.

Ignore the old curse ‘may you live in interesting times’, nothing major happened. My albertareads blog went haywire. Putting widgets into footer areas which didn’t exist! And leaving a bar advertising the theme across the top of the blog. The first I fixed eventually after applying some diminishing brain cells and logic to the problem. But the theme advert I had no way of working out.

Help.
I called the forum.
Please Help me.
They did splendidly.

They were all sure it was wrong code – I never touch the code I told them, I did not know how to check it.

Please Help.
They did.
It was two bits of stray code they put it right.
I am smiling again.

Before that happened my computer presented a totally blank screen. Nothing. Zilch. Switch on /off. Tightened connections. Switched of  at main. Walked away. Left the machine.

Phoned computer people, after many different calls I was told to read out the serial number.
Where?
Underneath machine.

Thought I needed to unscrew, searched for screw driver small enough to do, then when actually managed it he told me shouldn’t have done that. So had to screw back in.! Finding battery was easy actually. Thought one of clasps was looser than other – after he had vanished into a broken connection I got to thinking about loose catches. Turned machine on again & voila, working just fine, battery was loose was all.

Not the Internet though, had to wait two more days before that decided to come back to me.

Did I tell you have changed my hair from turquoise and pink to orange and copper!:)

still remains of blue in there will get brighter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have news, big news for me anyway. Tomorrow – Monday 9th I am going to a local reading group to discuss Ellen’s Tale with them.

Scary Monday!

I hate talking in public with the problem I have with getting words in the wrong order, and not being able to elucidate what I am thinking, but they assure me it wont be like a ‘talk’, just sitting around chatting. I think I can manage that- hope anyway. I do know two of them so that will help. Wish me luck please:)

ROW80 THIS WEEK

 I wanted to start serious editing this month and it is amazing what can be done if no access to Internet is available:) However the backlog of commenting, emails etc that can accumulate in that short time is amazing.I have been trying to create an order to The Children’s Tale it has been written in bits over three years, through illness and depression, has changed it’s format twice and I have decided to pull it back to the format the others were written in, which will mean changing tenses all the way through!

WRITING:

I have been editing and on The Children’s Tale I clocked up just over 8,000 words of 2nd revision stage. So spelling, repeated words, basic punctuation, tenses and order has been established. Needs polishing next time round
On my memoirs (based on blogging) I have done my final edits on one section (approx 13,000) running spell check through again, checking for punctuation and missing words. Needs my friend from forever/editor’s tender touch now:)

Blogging:

Missed out a bit this week as I wasn’t up on cyberspace to post them. I sang from ballroom to choir and quoted Chesterton and Mused on Monday all the others remained in my Scrivener file down here
Researching: Been working hard on A-Z challenge in April and have the theme, plus 37 subjects could use. Now to weed out some and then try and match them to the alphabet.

Networking: managed to catch up on stuff I must do and am beginning to comment where I don’t have too.

Others: Still trying to build up numbers on my new Twitter http://twitter.com @al_berta_ross if any would like to follow me on that one as well would be most grateful:)

Reading: after my readathon last month I took time out to read three urban fantasies for light relief. Had to re-read Ellen’s Tale again for tomorrow.

Life: Haven’t had much time for self this week, but managed another two scrumbles, didn’t really like my last journal page so am practicing re-cycling and painted it all over- very liberating. Got out twice but been too cold for me.

Hope everyone had a trouble free week and all the best for this coming one:)

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Brainstorming, reading. Writing?

A trifle behind this week as had friend from forever/editor staying at beginning, although we managed to keep away from writing until the end some useful brainstorming was managed.

Have finished the month well ahead of reading goals with 13 book out of my 75 planned. Not resting on those particular laurels, it’s January, it’s cold and I am confined to the house. I know when the weather improves I won’t have so much time to read.

 

 

 This Week ROW80

Writing: been research reading, brainstorming, counts? Oh yes:)

Blogging: Only Three Thing Thursday on Kissafrog
Author’s Quotes and short piece on the A rolling stone proverb   and it’s change over the years
Been researching refugees, and written a short blog about the subject
Have,though, managed to catch up and have next week’s posts drafted.

Networking: Triberr, Twitter x 2, Facebook and A Round of Words most days. Also Pinterest and Goodreads x 1

Reading: round up of books read this month;

Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers –    Reading Group
The Missing by Chris Mo                  Reading Group
The Age of Doubt by Andrea Camilleri –

Translated – Reading Group

Virgin Brides by Hua Gu- Translated
Maboingoin by Unknown- Translated – Literary Movement
Confessions by Saint Augustine of Hyppo-

Translated – Literary Movement

Discover your brand by Emlyn Chand-    N/Fic
Bonjour Blogger by Hayley Constantine- N/Fic
Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall –  N/Fic

Another Man’s War by Sam Childers – Research for WIP
War, Conflict and Play by Tina Bruce – Research “
Refugee Women by Susan Forbes Martin -Research “
A Thousand Sisters by Lisa J Shannon –  Research “

LIFE IN GENERAL: Exercise not too good the cold has kept me indoors most of the month(I have trouble with breathing if air is cold) so walks haven’t been taken:( Fail
Scrumbles have been made x 2
Art journal page has been done x 2
Too cold for Garden
Went out for delicious dinner with three friends

NEXT WEEK: Feb I set aside along with March to begin editing The Children’s Tale and Memoirs – finishing missing bits and melding together chapters. So that is the plan all month. Must make effort and get more contact with various groups I belong to here onlne. Have begun reading an urban fantasy for some light relief in the book department:)

I hope everyone had a good week and will have another this week:)

Free speech, words & ROW80 update

It has been a puzzling week for this old lady. Wrestling with the idea of censorship PC speak and free speech.the unfolding events in France has brought it to the fore. I had been contemplating the thin line last week when I joined the Banned Books Reading Challenge.   I was intrigued, when I read about it, to find so many of the books I had read and enjoyed through my life had been on a banned list somewhere or the other.

So I had thought I would read them again for this challenge and see if older eyes and experience than my teenage ones would be able to see where the offense had been. Now with the massacre in Paris my secure thoughts on the rights to free speech and censorship have taken another battering.

Censorship, free speech these are subjects all writers from whatever nation have to consider and consider well. We must be sure how we stand on these subjects but I find I no longer do and it is unsettling to say the least. I haven’t yet worked out my doubts and fears so will not say more at this point but soon I think I will have to write about it.

Words are still on my mind as my sister after a long absence from her braille machine discovered she had forgotten some contractions and because of an injured finger couldn’t read the braille so well. Her fingers are like our eyes. We are working our way through and with practice the contractions are back we can’t do anything about the finger yet. She is still on her voyage of discovery with words, who would have thought at her advanced!(not really) age she would suddenly discover the wonder of them – ‘tis nice:)

ROW80

Writing:
Only blogs this week, however, I have sorted out The Children’s Tale, thrown quite a bit out and am ready to hook up Dragon and go again – I have to have Dragon as wrists are bad at the moment. I have also sorted out in rough a couple more short stories.

Blogs:
Done well have posted

Hazel Gold  and Scrumbles, art Journals & counterpane.

Hopeless case moi     & The Adventure is the Unknown.

and here Words and Author’s quotes

Networking:
It is the beginning of the year when I regularly tidy up blogs and website but not quite there yet. Have managed to keep on top of commenting and have divided the places I network into groups so instead of trying to do them all every day – and failing!- I visit each group in turn over the week it is working out much better.

I tried to re-erect my 2nd twitter account but they had voided it because I had been absent so long(impatient shake of head:) so I had to start again from scratch. Have begun following people but it is a slow business. I was wondering if any ROWers could give me a follow while they are up there – this account is @al_berta_ross, it will be mainly about writing and reading plus reviewers, promos, challenges etc as opposed to the other one which includes many of my interests as well.

Reading :
Has been going well, two fiction and three non fiction this week. Have one more to read before Tuesday so no writing tomorrow!

Myself:
Produced another page in Art Journal52 – I am enjoying this.
Exercise, put in an extra walk and two climbs of the stair as well as usual walks but failed on the dancing ah well.
Ran my Living History group and realized I had been running it over 8 years now – seems hard to believe.
Wrists have been too painful to scrumble or sew my counterpane – shame

Not to bad a week – it has taken time to ease myself back into the whirlwind of cyberspace but the old enjoyment of it is returning:) hope everyone has a good week – keep smiling.