Record of meeting 1 February 2012

Present: David R, Robyn, Dave C, Geoff, Leonie, Wendy, Garry

News
Garry – cousin visited and told about the ‘family tree’
Wendy – no good news but things are okay
David R – swimming, running – all is good.
Robyn – showed the plans for her new house and spoke of the benefits, which are fantastic, at the ‘village’.
Geoff – went to Sydney for a CD release/launch ‘concert' – music was wonderful. The pianist was Ambre Hammond and the bandolean player Marcelo Maio (Argentinian).
David C – daughter news – all are well and good
Leonie – had quotes for the garden in the new house but plans keep changing to fit the needs of her husband but fortunately it is not a big block

Words of the Day
Wendy – paraphernalia – personal articles reserved by law for a married woman – all your personal things.
Garry – Prognostication - A statement about or prior knowledge of the future.
David – pragmatic – dealing with things realistically and practical ways.
Leonie – droll = queer or old – quaintly amusing,
Robyn = misocapnist
misocapnist 1. A person who hates smoking or the smell of tobacco smoke. 2. A reference to anyone who hates tobacco smoke in any form.
Geoff = apposite = appropriate/suitable
1. Strikingly appropriate and relevant.
David C – onerous = on·er·ous ( n r- s, n r-). adj. 1. Troublesome or oppressive; burdensome.

Quick Write – 15 minutes because of complexity of the words of the day.

David C – story of a woman who had been murdered
Geoff – a story of his son’s marriage and his matriarchal wife.
Leonie – continuation of an old story of Madelaine.
Garry - Isn’t this year flying by so quickly?
Wendy – a great little poem
David R – a fun poem
Robyn – a short story but good.

HOMEWORK - an ‘enlightening’ moment
Garry – first solo landing.
David R – another great poem– a ‘brain implosion’
Robyn – a good story – at the supermarket – 10% discount.
David C – The Letter – grandparents – shock and sadness – finding an ‘old’ letter sent from the battlefields of Egypt.
Geoff – read one of his poems Brief Transcendence.
Sharing of writings and poems
Geoff shared a few pages from his story that he has been writing.
A poem shared by Garry that he received through the internet
General discussion –
An interesting discussion about the ‘benefits’ of the Writers group – how it is a ‘positive’ influence on members.
There was enough time left to do an activity.

A 5 minute quick write on ‘A bad hair day' was fun

Homework due 8 February 2012
Infectious – (the word can be used in any way you want to write about it.)

Record of meeting 25 January 2012

Present: Geoff, Gary, Trish, Leonie, David R, Terry, Robyn, Helene

News: Leonie came to the church last week as her computer was in the shop being fixed and did not know the meeting was at Helene's house. Trish has had more visitors since they moved in on 5 January. Gary is concerned about the dollar is going up. Geoff’s son has a permanent job in the UK. Helene went to the Huskie Fair on Saturday night. Robyn is looking for a good real estate agent to list her house. Terry’s youngest grandson is looking forward to starting primary school on Tuesday. David’s eldest daughter is 42 today.

Word of the day:
Geoff - anomie = from the Greek word meaning reaction against society control. Helene – quarks = the building blocks which build up matter, i.e., they are seen as the "elementary particles". Robyn steppes = Russian grassy treeless plain. Terry – peon = a person doing work that requires little skill. David R – labile = liable to change characterised by emotions easily aroused also used in chemistry. David R – platitudes = a remark or statement used to often. Leonie – ergonomic = the study of efficiency of work. Trish – pastiche = a hodgepodge, a work that copies other styles. Gary – epiphanies = a striking appearance, a revelation.

We wrote some funny short stories and poems from the words of the day.

Homework
Helene wrote a poem about her life at aged 20. Geoff had great plans for study, travel and marriage at age 20. Gary wrote about his life with Aboriginal people in the WA desert. Trish read the story of her life in the 60’s when she strutted around London with her friend Wendy. Leonie read a letter to her 20 year old self her advice was to learn to say no. David R wrote about gorillas, children and Aunty GG at the zoo. Terry the times they are a changing, Dawn Fraser, Mandela, Germaine Greer, I am woman, Beach Boys, The Beatles, Gordon Chater, Baby boomers and rebels. David R read a poem about his retirement plan.

The group discussed on the group’s printer and PC currently held by Mandy. Helene to find out from Mandy more about the model etc of the printer.

Reading, books etc

Geoff read more of his novel set in Japan a crisp description two characters meeting in a Japanese bar. David R spoke about the Australian writer Tim Winton. Trish spoke about meeting Tim Winton and the advice he gave her. Terry spoke about James Patterson’s writing of short chapters - which keeps the story moving quickly.

Homework
Write about an ephiphany or bright idea.

Record of meeting 18 January 2012

Present: Gary, David R, David C, Robyn, Geoff, Trish and Helene.

News: Geoff is going to Shropshire for his son’s wedding in October. Trish has another set of visitors and has been doing cross words to improve her mind. Garry saw $99 tickets to KL with Air Asia X and was motivated by David R's swimming. David R has been to Fitzroy Falls and stayed for a few days with a friend and enjoyed bushwalking there. He also went to the Tea Garden restaurant in Nowra and recommends it. David C went back to Dubbo and saw his 5 month old granddaughter Skye Blue. Robyn and Joe are planning to move to Valhalla Retirement Village in Chain Valley Bay where they will be able to build their own house.

Word of the day: Trish – placate = to calm, to made less angry or hostile. Geoff placify = a word made up from the John Howard era. Gary – hakalao = a stare in martial arts as in meditation seeing beyond the body. David R transcend = be or go beyond the range or limits from the Latin. David C – involuted = twisted and confused, to turn inward. Robyn – whittled – carve with a knife or reduce. Helene - Sanguine = naturally cheerful and hopeful.

Quick write

Geoff wrote about the diamond of an idea. Trish beer, body language and self confidence. Gary – an irate biker, 000 and the goodies. David R – deep fried chips and the party with Marty. David C – Johnny second in command of the business. Helene wrote about Marty the angry man.

Homework
Trish – a story a passion for dogs, fairies, gnomes and goblins. Gary wrote a letter to his granddaughter Skye written in 2017 delivered by Dr Who reminding her about revivification. David R – a poem about travel on a moon beam to Sydney for a primordial fling. David C – dreaming and running with the Queen of Fairies through the flowers to embrace in the wood cutters cottage. Helene wrote about the future with our borders closed to migration.

Books and other information: David R spoke about Canadian writer Margaret Atwood and her work and the similarities of growing up in Australia and Canada. David also spoke about the work of P D James. David C shared the sad story of his cheque book. Geoff spoke about enjoying the work of Joyce Carol Oates. Robyn reminded us about the Renaissance exhibition at the National Gallery.

Exercise:
Each person wrote one word on a page and passed to the next person to write a word starting with the last letter of the previous word. We passed the pages around the table twice. We then used the 14 words to write short stories. It was a fun exercise.

Homework:
Write a letter to yourself from your 20 year old self include your thoughts, ideas and attitudes at age 20.

Record of meeting 11 January 2012

Record of meeting 11 January 2012

Present: Gary, Mandy, Wendy, David R, Terry, Helene, Geoff, Robyn and welcome to Trish.

News: Wendy’s mother who is 88 will arrive at Wendy’s place soon for 6 weeks. Mandy had a lovely Christmas at the church with 30 people. Gary had a bird crash into a window at home and called the vet who will decide what to do with the bird. Geoff’s son proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas day. Helene talked about her positive experiences with Health Direct. Trish talked about her experiences of moving from the Blue Mountains to Vincentia. Robyn has been visiting her 93 year old mother in Sydney. Terry had contact from his son on Christmas Day. David had a relaxed Christmas and recently walked down to the beach and had a kilometre swim.

Word of the day:
Terry – politic - to be wise in looking after ones interest. Robyn maltreat
Trish – indulgence. Helene – Apparatchik = is a Russian colloquial term for a member of the Communist Party or government. Geoff – execrate = abuse, denounce. Gary – neuroplasticity = the brains ability to change itself. Mandy evolve = gradual development. Wendy splenetic – spiteful or irritable. David R – somatic = of or relating to the body from 18th century Greek.

We used the above words to write short stories and poems about Flying first class, A trip to Jupiter and My dog. The scribe was so busy concentrating she forgot to record the other marvellous topics.

Homework
Helene - A story of children, fairies and pixies in a bush garden. Trish - Silver shoes and newly forming wings, wings of pansy petals, broken wings. Robyn – five generations at New Year. Terry – the aggressive yellow gnomes. David R – dresses made of petals. Wendy – fairies in the closet. Mandy – a dogs view of fairies in the garden. Gary – A Prince and Princess and a warty toad at Deserts Billabong. Geoff wrote three funny stories of fairies and gnomes encounters with Immigration and Customs.

Books and movies: David talked about Martha Grimes crime writer well written stories of detective Richard Jury available from the local library. Terry watched the movies of Stig Larson. David recommended the movie Midnight in Paris.

Homework – write a letter from the future

BAY AND BASIN WRITERS GROUP 

Summary of meeting held 14th December 2011

 Note: There was no meeting last week (7th Dec)

Attending. Mandy Byrne. Leone Worthy. Robin Kellner. Gary Homes. Dave Cargill.

Group News.

Dave. Short news that turned into a discussion on the S.A.S. very informative nothing to do with writing except if you wanted to know about it for your story. It began when we discussed I.Q.s we do digress but it was interesting.

Robyn. The good news is her husband is free of cancer. And she needs to have cataracts removed. Hopefully she will get it soon..

Leone. Her house is nearly ready to live in but she doesn't believe it, after so long.

She has to have some treatment on her neck for a pressure problem.

Gary. Things are going well for his sister.

Mandy. Had an SVT attack but the doctor said he likes people like me as it is something they can treat instantly. So after running a marathon without using my legs I soon recovered.. One good thing my husband is now willing to move into a retirement village, it gave him such a fright..

Dave. Life is good no worries.

Word of the  Day.

Leone. Skulk.  moves stealthily to keep concealed and avoid detection.

Gary. Destiny or Fate. Gary wonders about the word. Is our life pre distend.

Mandy. Frivolity adjective or Frivolous verb. not serious of sensible in content or attitude. acts rather  silly, or. unworthy of serious or sensible treatment.

Dave. Supercilious. Pompous or arrogant. Over bearing in your attitude.

Robyn. Hereditary. A trait or mannerism. Something passed down in your genes.

Quick Write on above words.

Mandy's Quick Write.

She had a frivolous nature, no one took her seriously and she was totally unreliable. My mother always said her destiny would catch up with her one day and smack her in the mouth. She would simper in that supercilious manner she often adopted as if she was special, and we were nothing. Her husband would skulk away and I felt so sorry for the poor man, fancy having her for a wife.

When I met her twenty years later I was astounded to note her daughter had the same hereditary traits or mannerism. How awful to pass on such terrible mannerisms or was it her genes maybe. My plump daughter looked me up and down and said well so did you, look at me. I should have kept my mouth shut.

 The others all gave an interesting and very different slant on these words. Gary's was quite deep and meaningful.

Homework. It was on the word Restraint.

Leone. She had a lot of trouble finding a way to do this homework. In the end she explained the word Restraint putting it into many different sentences. It brought forward memories of her father dying and the restraints the medical service put on helping her father to meet his death. It made her very bitter that they could not help him to die quickly, it was so hard for all her family.

Dave. Wrote about the parking officer who was abused by an old couple. A twist at the end.

Gary Wrote about fighting when he was at school and how he was expected to restrain from fighting.

Mandy.  Went looking for her restraint after being told to by her teacher and wondered why she never found it.

Stopped for afternoon tea.

For those who read this and were not there, you missed out on a nice cherry tart and homemade apple cakes.

Mandy read a chapter of her novel she is writing.

We then discussed bullying and how it effected us as children.

This is the last meeting till the second Wednesday in January. The 11th.I believe.

Our Condolences to our fellow writer Helene who lost her son ten days ago. Our thoughts and love go to her. God keep you Helene. We sent flowers and Helene appreciated receiving them.

Homework.

Flowers, Fairies and Gnomes.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR.

Record of meeting 30 November 2011

Present: Geoff, Mandy, Wendy, David R, Terry, David C, Robyn, Helene, Leonie.

News:  Mandy swore at some she should not have sworn at but all is forgiven. Wendy is going to the cherry festival in Young for 3 days, David R has had a kind angel to put on his surgical socks each morning. Terry watched the Polar Express DVD and really enjoyed it. David C has spent 3 glorious days with his daughter Kirsten. Robyn has returned from the best 4 weeks holiday in Tuncurry. Helene has had two trips to Canberra in the last week. Leonie’s kitchen is almost finished and has booked a removal date.

Words of the day:

Geoff – redound – to have an effect for good or ill, affects something, back and forth. Mandy paraphernalia – a collection of miscellaneous goods, given to a woman by her husband before marriage. Wendy – equable – tranquil or steady.  David R - hubris – excessive pride or self confidence leading to nemesis. Terry – felicitate – to express good wishes, well chosen for the occasion. David C – callous – a noun or adjective hard. Robyn – narcarcistic. Helene pursed – to pucker or contract the lips into folds or wrinkles. Leonie – ostensible – to conceal the real, pretentious

We used our words of the day to write about a difficult meeting, marriage, sorting an inheritance, Lord Gaylord, felicitations for a wife, a poem about the group, a poem of bile from the Bitch of Balmain and a bedroom incident.

Reading of homework

David R – Chris Must – two poems one about son in law Chris Must and Christmas cheer plus Views from my rear window from McLafferty’s inspiration. Wendy a poem called Sorry about giving up Christmas.  Mandy - Don’t you just love Christmas? -  a story of her family Christmas. Geoff - shared a story of his son attending Sunday school. Leonie - Christmas day - truancy from a social Christmas gathering. Helene – treasured memories. David C – Santa Claus in the bush a reading from A B Patterson.  Terry – a Christmas Poem.

Project reading

Geoff read his short story called Restraint – a wonderful description of a car accident, stolen money and a mystery letter.

Come to our meeting to find out who am I in the writing group?

I was a supporting act for John Farnham 

I removed my own braces
Black humour is my downfall 
I collect miniature clocks
I have an IQ of 154
I wanted to be a detective
I supported my student days playing in pop bands
I love tomato sauce on crumpets
I delivered a baby
My mother sang opera
I did Psychic card readings
I won a sailing championship at Avalon
I used to Tap dance

Homework

Write a story or poem on the topic of restraint due 14 December our last meeting this year.

Christmas cheer 

Let Mandy know if you want to attend the church for Christmas day lunch for $5.

Reminder our group Christmas lunch on Wednesday 7 December at 12:30 pm. Contact Wendy for further details.

Record of meeting 23 November 2011

ATTENDING.

Mandy, Wendy, Dave C, Leonie, Geoff

Short News Spot.

Wendy. Today Wendy has been married 49yrs and a very happy marriage it has been. Congratulations.

Dave. Dave bragged about being 70 in 2012 and he is going on a cruise to celebrate. Best of all it is all paid for. We all would like to join him. One of his brother in laws found a bay window for him to put in his house and he was thrilled to get one so cheap.

Leonie. Her kitchen in her new house is on the move and may be finished by Friday. Fingers crossed.

Geoff. Had sad news a friend passed away and he has funerals to attend. Always a sad time.

Mandy. Feeling a bit up tight and wanting to run away from her responsibilities in the church. She will come back for writers though.

WORD OF THE DAY

WENDY: Cahoots. Partnership or league often in crime or something shady.

Mandy: Spondulicks slang for money. Also Dottle. The remains of tobacco in the pipe bowl the little bit or dottle.

Geoff; Redolent. Reminding or reminiscent and something that can mean smelling strongly.

Leone: Chasten to subdue, or pursue or tell off.

Dave; Hyperbolic expressive or exaggerate.

Quick write using the above words.

Mandy's Quickwrite.

He was in cahoots with the outlaws, we all knew it but no one dared to say anything. The way he swaggered around town made our mother so mad. One time after an encounter with him she came back furious and slapped us kids then turned on dad. "That man is full of redolent, hyperbolic bullshit and he could take his spondulicks and stick it in his pipe," she yelled. Dad laughed and said it would never burn down to a dottle, probably choke him instead, mum said, "I hope it will suffocate him," she gave Dad one of her looks, he was chastened and hurriedly went out to feed the pigs.

HOMEWORK.

Dave, A poem on I remembered. Lovely memories of childhood.

Leone. Memories of her son and children. Memories only a mother has that takes us back to her own childhood. Some very moving passages.

Geoff. Robert Yates. a story about his foster uncle. Moving, very life like and descriptive.

Mandy. Relived a divorce, a new love and finding happiness. Life if good if you don't run away from it.

Wendy. A memory of her son trying to grow a moustache to raise money for Charity and it was so sparse he got paid by the hair instead. Very funny Poem.

Wendy read something from the net.

Where I have and have not been.

Quick write. Something Excruciating Uncomfortable.

Mandy's Quickwrite.

When I was thirteen I left England and sailed across the world to Singapore. It was the biggest adventure of my young life, it was also the most uncomfortable because I was sea sick from leaving Southampton till two weeks after I arrived in Singapore. The most annoying thing was all the wonderful events and parties on the ship I had missed, it was just so annoying to have to write to my friend and tell her I was ill. I never indulged in the crossing the equator party, the rides on camels I missed the feeding of the Barbary Apes in Gibralter. All the things I said I would do and didn't. What a wash out. Slowly I regained some of my strength and was very interested to find my dresses no longer fitted snuggly around me they were loose and for the first time in my life I was quite slim.

I went to school and that was very different. I would catch a bus at 6.30am and be in school for 7.30 and we finished at 1pm but they made us go on a Saturday, just to make sure we did the regulation hours.

I loved my new school and soon made friends. Our form teacher was a large bear of a man, Mr Dean and he liked me and didn't hit me with the board pointer or smack me over the head when I asked questions. This school treated you like a lady and it was wonderful.

Mr Dean asked me to stay behind one time and vigorously cleaned the black board. He was a big man and his bottom wobbled as he cleaned, it made me want to giggle. When he suddenly stopped and turned around he looked very stern and for a moment I thought he knew why I was smiling.

"Mandy,' he said in a deep nice way, "I don't want to embarrass you but er you are quite a well developed young woman. I think you need to wear a brassiere.' With that he nodded and walked out of the room.

Our classroom was made of basher leaves in the native style and the large panels that did as windows where propped open. I wished they would close and let me die quietly of mortification. I was so embarrassed and ran out to the toilets to look at my boobs. They were bigger than I remembered and when I told my mother she thought it very funny, she would! Girls didn't wear bra's, according to her till you went to work, like boys didn't wear long pants till they were working men. She gave me one of hers to try on and it nearly strangled me. I definitely needed a bra.

Poor Mr Dean it took us months to get over our embarrassment and regain our friendship. Bra's I discovered were excruciatingly uncomfortable.

We all did this subject in different ways and it was very interesting. As I was doing the minutes I left mine in.

Homework.

A Christmas Story - write something about your interpretation of Christmas.

Remember our Christmas Lunch on the 7th Dec at May's place ??? if you want to go and haven't told Wendy phone 4443 9741. Those who have been attending all year will be subsidised out of Club funds others are welcome if you book and you can pay separately.

Our last meeting will be on the 14th Dec till the 11th Jan 2012 when we start again. Anyone is welcome and new ideas and exercises are always acceptable.

Mandy.