Meeting 10th Feb. 2010

In attendance: David C, Jo, Melissa, Cath, Mary, Wendy, Mandy, Terry and a first time visitor Cathy…a science fiction writer…welcome Cathy
Brags.
David…not quite ready to toss the caber but doing well. Jo… informed us of a competition being run by the Cancer Council…stories, poems, films, about your cancer experience. Some good prizes.
Melissa..about to start teaching a course on Cultural Communications at Tafe Nowra…needs speakers from other cultures to talk. Cath……has renewed her passport…perhaps readying herself for that elusive first book award? Wendy…a question…why is Susan Boyle referred to as a spinster yet Kylie Minogue, just four years younger is not? Mandy…happy to be still alive…
Terry…...Reverse brag…car broken into, window smashed…expensive…bugger

Words
David…Plenipotentiary…an envoy or agent with full power to act on your behalf
Pleonasm….using more words than necessary…redundant words
Jo… uproariously…laughing really loud, tumultuous
Melissa...inchoate…not fully developed, incomplete, …policy on the run?
Cath……odiferous…strong scented, pungent
Mary….galvanised…stimulate with an electric current ( galvanise into action)
Wendy...perigrinate…wandering, traveling from place to place (on foot?)
Cathy….mute…one who is silent, an oriental slave who is unable to speak
Terry…degustation…the act of tasting (a 7 course degustation dinner)

Homework
About the old sugar and spice phrase referred to when talking about girls… Mary…about schoolgirl bucking the system…right or wrong? Cath…about a tomboy/ rebel young girl Melissa…poem about a couple unable to have children…tried a witch…ended up with puppies Jo…poem about Rainbows…to find rainbow’s end…just clutching at straws David…Poem/music lyrics…Melissa’s song for Pink…very good Terry…an essay on the reverse discrimination towards the male of our society today Mandy…’tongue in cheek’ or maybe not…the inverse of Terry’s essay Wendy…a poem…about the pain of waxing…funny as always

Exercises by Melissa…who always gives a lot of thought to this aspect
1) an exercise on ‘kindred relationships’ …associative powers with word groups…
e.g. what is the link between the following words…bug, rest, fellow, cover…answer is ‘bed’
2) the second part of the exercise was to use all of these linked words in a sentence.
A lot of fun and some sentences which actually made sense.

QuickWrite
Using Melissa’s ‘writer’s block’ we had to write about…fertility
Typically a wide range of poetry and prose with varying approaches to the subject.

Homework for next week…
Describe the worst date you ever experienced…make it as humourous as you can…it doesn’t have to be true…just funny

Next week…Facilitator is Helene Exercise is Mary…Homework is Cath
See you there ….Terry