Writers Group Minutes.
20th Oct 10
Brags.
Terry bragging about understanding some scientific points and he liked that he understood it easier.
Dave C. he had a win with Center link. This doesn't happen very often but he was allowed to keep what he earned on a small job.
Eva Brown. Bought an alarm clock.
Cath Rose. Went to the dentist and is fine. Whoopee.
Robyn Learning all about bowls but doesn't play she is a martyr to help Joe.
Mandy. Writing well and up to the last chapter on the romance story and has done several childrens stories.
David Rudder. Dave has a skin cancer for several months and has had lots of treatment on it. Had a second opinion and now has had an operation to have a large area excised and now has several cancers so is having further treatment.

Word of the day.
Terry' Minacious: Menacing or threatening.
David C.: Congruous and Incongruous. One means in agreement and get along with people. Incongruous sort means the opposite.
Eva: Discountenance. Refuse to approve of or to disturb the composure of something.
Cathy: Titivate. To make smart or adorn.
Mandy: Seraphically. An angelic being associated with light and purity.
David Rudder.: Anachronism. A noun a thing belonging to a period of time. Something being old fashioned.
Eclectic. Adj. deriving ideas from a wide and diverse source.
Cycle of life. Homework.
Eva called hers the Cycle of life.
David C wrote. Food for Thought.
Terry Cycle of life homework.
David Rudder. Jarvis Bay
Mandy Byrne. Cottonwool and Television
Roby: Cycle of life.
Group Exercise. Words to make up. David won with a score of 21.
Quick Write.
Using the words defeat, gears, nosey, handy, bestows, shindig, and starting with the words. You'll never guess what the psychic said to me….

MEETING 13-10-10

Attendance: David C; David R; Mandy; Wendy; Helene; Terry; Jo; Eva; Vala; Cath; Robyn.

Welcome to new member Eva.

Brags:
Helene: 2 hours 2 minutes driving on New Nerriga Road from Canberra to Vincentia.
Cath: has completed her Christmas shopping.
David R: had been driving an unregistered car since August – is this the onset of Alzheimer’s?
Terry: amazed at expertise of grandchildren in playing numbers game.
Jo: Has found someone who will conduct a mental forum in Nowra.
Eva: Has arrived!
David C: has been cured from his Alzheimer’s found a long lost CD narrated story in a very long winded fashion – we all think it was more a lucky find.
Vala: Now has Word 7.

Word of the Day:
Undulate: to cause to move in a smooth wavelike fashion.
Jactation: extreme tossing and turning and twitching.
Mort: the note sounded on a hunting horn to announce death of a deer.
Parody: a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature.
Philander: to carry on a sexual affair.
Consonant: harmonious in agreement.
Apropos: being at once opportune and to the point.
Floccinaucinihilipilification: Latin little or no value – Perhaps little or no value would be simpler (he he).
Deuteronomy: a second law.
Detritus: the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up.
Charybdis: Greek mythology, two monsters that guarded the narrow passage through which Odysseus had to sail in his wanderings. On one shore was Scylla, a monster with six snaky heads, on the opposite shore was Charybdis, the personification of a whirlpool.
Hypothalamus: part of the brain.

Homework – Children’s Story:
Helene: The Princess Castle;
Mandy: Miggly;
Cath: Timid Tim;
David R: Nana - 6th Anniversary Poem and Joey;
Terry: Poem;
Jo: Musical Appreciation;
Eva: Alphabet Walk and Countdown with Colour;
David C: Sibling Rivalry – Hook and Twist;
Robyn: Birthday Party.

Exercise – Game Word Power and Short Write – Evil Intentions – no homework??

Meeting held on Wed. 6th October 2010
Attending: Mandy, Wendy, Helene, Cath,Robyn, Jo, Terry
Brags:
Jo...made a special effort in assessing TV ads...many annoy her...we agreed...
Cath...rece'd a new water meter for free??? lucky duck
Helene...came back from Canberra via the new road 92
Wendy...had a rear ender accident in Ulladulla...all okay
Mandy...sent off her entry for Finch Memoirs competition...259 pages, 69760 words...a task and a half but she did it. Well done.

Words:
Mandy...denominate...to give a name to something, to call or describe
Wendy...mussicate...to (silently) move the lips as if speaking out loud, to mime
Helene...brio...to be vigorous, lively
Cath...amorphous...without definition or shape
Robyn...skirmish...a minor battle
Jo...till...much discussion os use and spelling,
milquetoast...an extremely timid person
cleave...to split with a cutting blow
bascinet...a pointed full face helmet..bassinet...a hooded baby's basket
Terry...retronym...a new name for an object to differentiate it from a more recent
version...eg. guitar...now acoustic guitar and electric guitar

Homework...anything arising out of last week's exercise on unusual facts
Helene...you use more calories to eat celery than it contains????
Wendy..."One of those days"...a poem...funny as always
Mandy...read a synopsis of her memoir entry.
Terry..."The Cockroach"...interesting analysis of humanities future issues with this
well-to-be-feared insect.
Jo..."Worms"...a poem and a good one too.
Robyn...re cockroaches and the ends her mum went to to exclude the buggers from her
house...very funny.
Cath..."JB"...a story about Jeremy Benthem's skeleton

General...
1) Discussion about our weekly agenda and things we could do
2) Re new Anthology...Terry to talk to Sanc. Point Printing about printing it
Stapled back okay...cover to be a photo of contributors???
3) Re blog...look at putting a piece in the "About" re our group
4)...add the blog address to our entry in the "About"
5)...Price still shown as $5 per week in the "About"...fix
6)...review the recipe book w/- story/poem
7)...modify the blog general description if possible

Quick Write..."spending purgatory with..."...an interesting range of stories/poems

Homework...Write a children's story...age to 12...open to any ideas

Wednesday, 29.9.10

Present: Melissa, Mandy, Terry, David C, Cathy, Jo, Robyn

Brag:
Terry read the prologue and first chapter of a story by one of us (Jo actually), the beginning of a book she has been looking at for some time. (It was so good that I felt I had to read it out). All agreed it is a terrific standard. We encourage Jo to focus on getting this story finished. Make us proud Jo.
Jo expressed opinions on community aid.
Cathy's grandson Rudd's band is in another grand final. Good, good luck.
David C discovered that garlic bread slices are better if they are put in the sandwich maker.
Melissa talked about her teaching efforts and frustrations with poor response to her efforts.Also spoke of her lyric works and recent competitions she has entered. We were awfully glad to see her and wish her luck.
Mandy is editing her memoir competition entry of many, many thousands of words.
Robyn said goodbye to her son's house. Before she came back she tried the bidet for the first time, well, said goodbye to it. This excited her as she had never used one before. It had 'Hyundai' on the back of it. ?? For fast women?
Well, that started up a feast of for instances, what about ... Terry drinking from a finger bowl in a restaurant when he was l6 and didn't know better, Mandy washing her feet in the bidet of a side-by-side suite when she thought that's what everyone did. (Oh, to be young - I don't think!).

Words

Mandy: eunuch, castrated male usually caring for a harem.
Terry: conundrum: no origin of this word is known...a conundrum in itself
contumacious: stubbornly rebellious
Jo: insolation: exposed to sunlight, sunstroke
jardiniere: a stand/pot,
crestfallen: disappointed at failure, dejected.
tryst: suspicious meeting
Cathy: mactation: killing of a sacrificial victim
David: mercurial: quick, electric
wraith: a ghostly figure

Homework

'The Sign of Virgo': Robyn. Nanna's house, including animals and Joey the cockatoo. Her house smelled as old houses do. Nanna told her about her dressing table things, old things - she wishes she could travel back to Nanna's time.
David C: 'Sibling Rivalry':At his grandma's funeral on a rainy day. He expected tension as from old. His twin brother and he are different. David goes in, has the key to his grandma's house. Fond memories, yet sadness. In the drawer is a parchment. 'I leave the cottage to the boys ....' to be continued.
Cathy: 'Memories': Lisa had to act upon Nanna's death. Money left to charity. Lisa opened a drawer. Nothing special - but wait - an envelope drops out, addressed to Lisa. A card from Nanna, thinking of Lisa even now.
Jo: 'Inside My Grandmother's Drawer': a real life drama, one which would never have been written if this subject had not been set for homework, and it is gratifying that it is written: it should have been.
Mandy: 'The Drawer': Found a diaphragm, other items in the drawer, her grandma told her why everything was there. Very earthy old lady. She is old and near the end. Everything comes out, so the heroine thinks that she will go the way of her grandma and she makes a good living and inherits money also.
Terry: 'A Life Unknown': His grandma, when he was a child - genealogy was the drawer opener and disclosed a strong woman who never bent under her considerable load. She raised great children.

It was obvious from what was written, whether real or fictional, just how hard life was for women once, and what women did to earn money to feed their families - no judgement can be made, they did what they had to do.

Exercise: Slang words.

Good fun, especially for Melissa so we could tell her the .. mmm...more lively slang words...she's learning fast(Melissa is from USA). She is such a good sport too.

Next: Exercise: 50 Things Everyone Should Know. Now that was interesting.

One of them is incorrect. Discussion followed upon the scanning of the pages, and the papers were taken home to provide ideas for next week's homework. This is going to be interesting. Also sharpen yourselves because we are going to give Mandy's General Knowledge acquisition a good investigation.
See you all next week
Jo

September 22, 2010

Present: David R, David C, Wendy, Cath, Mandy, Robyn,Vala, Jo.

Brag:
Robyn showed beautiful photos of grandkids.
David C's brand new car goes too fast - got booked.
Vala went to gym-plank position, couldn't be a spider.
I wasn't there so that is the image I got.
Wendy got a new MP3 player for her birthday.
Mandy is no longer a scrabble addict. Is talking about the recipe book we never finished before .. provided information re writing contest, children's books writing. Bernadette is pregnant.
David R has finished moving from his old house.
Mandy has solved the problem of the club's printer.
Jo had a fainting fit - doctor asked her if she heard voices - no one laughed. She told them about the first 78 rpm records, that they were made from paper. I think they all waited for Jo to answer 'yes' to the doctor's question. Mmmm ... just wait ....
David R's battery went bung.

Word of the Day/W/Y

Cath fatuity - feeblemindedness, obstinate.
David C suffuse - to thaw out, facial blushing, eyes watering
Wendy quaggy, adj. - swampy
Mandy journey - from 'journeyman' (source), hired workman.
David R taxonomy - branch of science concerning something, a scheme of classification

Homework: 'The prickles on his neck told him ........'

Cathy: A man went through a field and was covered with thistles (the Scots kind) trying to get through his clothing.
David C: 'Six Hours to Live': A dirty bomb was exploded in the Warragamba Dam. Contaminated water. Disease. Waiting for 2M people to die. Looting occurred. Sydney's multicultural population were dying. But it had all been a joke.
Wendy: 'My Excuse': Poem about trying to write about a subject she can't cope with. She did cope very well with no idea of what it was she was doing well at.
Mandy: 'Brown Sugar' A part of a romance she is writing whereby one of the characters got prickles at the back of her neck when she really contemplated marriage.
David R; Poem 'Hair-raising moments'. An animal wants to eat a man - the gunslinger kills the beast - the bounty hunter was then under threat from the victim, who was still alive.
His second poem: 'The Briar Patch'. A former priest fights the outer world. Falls into a briar patch then St. Peter called him up. That didn't work either, he ended up in the prickly briars for good.
Jo: 'Can't You Understand That!' About men and their hairiness.

Then on to the Exercise. 'A Child in a Crib'.

This was so good and each person's so different that we should put them into a book. David R, Wendy, Vala and Robyn did it in poetic form.

On to another exercise, 'The Journey of a $5 Note'.

Vala was born then became redundant. David C went from the Mint, went with a lady whose purse was taken. Robyn was given back and forth. Cathy came from an ATM, wanted to be out and about. David R, a poem about passing around a note, risky business. Mandy, new note, springy, so experienced everything in the world. Jo ended up in a drug dealer's home and carried on financial dealings there.

Homework: 'You open a drawer in your dead grandmother's house. What do you find there? What emotions do you feel?'

Record of meeting 15 September 2010

Present – Terry, Jo, Cath, Vala, Helene, Wendy, Mandy

Brags – Helene cooked fennel with onion, sultanas, pine nuts, macaroni and cheese - very yummy but no samples to prove it
Wendy – went to the worst play in Nowra last week
Mandy - currently reading on The Turning by Tim Winton
Terry – made comment to a group about alcohol consumed by politicians in the workplace - a worthy initiative
Cath – has tulips up deep pink, red, yellow etc

Word of the day

Cath – maelstrom – great whirlpool or confused state
Jo – spoor – footprints, trail of the wild animal
Terry – abominate – extreme hate loathing. Sotto voce – soft voice
Mandy – brio – vigour - origin Italian
Wendy –obnubilate – to cloud over
Helene – forensic – having to do with courts of law or legal proceedings

Jo bought a cast of a paw print collected by her nephew in the bush. Mandy told an "ah" story about one of her dogs saving the other.

Homework readings

Jo – A universal garden – death on a new planet
Cath – A look into the future – music and robots
Vala – Headlines from the future
Helene – Science fiction it is no laugh
Wendy – Space aged family
Mandy – Is kicking her scrabble addiction so didn’t do her homework
Terry – Tiger – the tiger worm pit next door

Exercise

We played a game of Trivial pursuit in a maelstrom. Wendy, Helene and Vala were the winners by one throw of the dice. Mandy and team played with brio but felt obnubilated and requested a forensic investigation of the spoors.

Homework - The prickles on his neck told him he was …………..

8.9.10 meeting began l.l5 pm.
Present: Helene, Cathy, Wendy, David R., Jo, Vala, Mandy.

Brag.
David told us of a neighbour who was blown over by the wind in her ugg boots, trying to retrieve bunting. It isn't every day you can see this.
Mandy will get a wished-for shed as hers lost its roof in the wind. Her caravan went for a walk.
Wendy is going to Nowra Players to see a play.
Helene going on a cruise, not yet.
Cathy is wearing a very stylish boot because she would climb ladders to clean windows. She has broken a bone near her ankle, very yukky when you think of it.

Word of the week, or day, or year:
David: loquacious - talkative.
lascivious- feeling an overt sexual desire, lecherous, ribald, lewd.
Mandy: parsimony - mean-spirited about spending money.
Wendy: spinster - a woman who remains single beyond the usual age of marriage, or
a spinner.
distaff - a staff for holding wool.
Helene: feminism: advocacy of equal rights for women, esp. in politics, or presumed 'man's' domain.
Cathy: slake - satisfy an appetite, thirst, pertaining to lime.

Homework: 'Six hours to live'

David: a meteor is coming - a poem - colourful and mysterious - oh dear, he was drunk and didn't die.
Mandy: a story of the effects of the bombs as they advance across the country. Prime Minister Gillard seems to be there already.
Helene: Justin hears the news about a change in the law through a monitor. He packs up to go to Swanhaven. He finds he has 6 hours left. The world keeps turning as if nothing is happening.
Vala: A poem, what will she do in the six hours she has left? Decides that no one will remember her doings so why do anything. She ends up writing at the last minute about the last minute.
Cathy: An atomic bomb has been exploded. Everyone rushing around to find shelter and water and food. They pray. They embrace but the radio is on and the news is all bad. There is no escaping.
Jo: A reporter who reports the end in advance of it, describing what is ahead of him and all mankind - the last tree will be the last earth-like thing to go. Oh, oh, Prime Minister Gillard was there too. I should've said 'womankind' ... personkind ... phooey.

Cup of tea time ended up in picking out a man with a titty on the cover of a romance book, can't remember who has the kind of sight as to notice such things ... mmm

Then there were quik-rites. 'But that's not my real name'. All efforts as usual, very differently presented.

Then there was the exercise: 'Write a story in one line'. Everyone had a good idea of what had to be done. Interesting.

The homework was presented by Jo, and it was in the form of an excerpt, what is science fiction, that is, that science fiction is present each moment of your life. It was explained in the excerpt how that comes about. However, the writing parties have decided to do work of their own or do the s.f. which is not s.f. really, that is the point, everything at some time in history and future is s.f.- think of the wheel - once it was also.
Well, we will see what else comes about next week, but we are going to treat ourselves to a game of trivial pursuit which is apt, as we are all interested in keeping the brain active and games are excellent practices. We are going to divide into teams, wow, that'll be interesting. Hope we survive the afternoon!