Record of meeting 15 June 2016

The writers

Wendy, Cath, Helene, Elizabeth, Terry, Lynn, Di

Words of the day

Unkempt – scruffy

Infinity – endless space

Moribund – point of death

Philander – to flirt or womanise

Detritus – disintegrated soils and silt

Incorrigible – unable to be corrected, beyond hope

Mumbo-jumbo – grotesque idol or meaningless language

Writing from words of the day

The  scruffy incorrigible writers created a range of stories as follows - Cath – to dance, Helene – Coco Bango, Wendy – Throw away your shopping trolley, Terry – Politician’s rave on, Elizabeth – Flowers in the garden,

Lynne – Done and Di – Donald Trump.

Reading of homework

Helene – Winter wonderland

Exercise

We wandered down Memory Lane to remember the tastes -

Lynne – a first taste never forgotten, Elizabeth – Cod liver oil, Terry – Plum jam, Wendy – Special dinner, Helene – Granny Smith apples and Di – Syrup of figs at Boarding school.

Homework

A comedy in winter

Record of meeting 8 June 2016

The writers

Wendy and Cath

Apologies

Roslyn, David C, Terry, Helene, Di, Juan, etc

Homework

The same as last week - Winter

Record of meeting 1 June 2016

Winter and comedy

The writers

The brave and hardy attending on the first day of Winter - Wendy, Juan, Helene, and Diane

The words of the day

Fuzzy – hazy, blurry, indistinct

Crestfallen – dejected

Introvert – looking inwards

Balderdash – senseless talk or writing nonsense

Writing from words of the day

The hardy writers grabbed the words of the day and created the following - Helene - Computer users, Diane - Not part of the human race, Juan - I tend to forget and Wendy - After a flagon of wine.

Reading of homework

The dedicated writers read out the following homework - Helene – In the dirt, Wendy – limerick Plain Jane, Juan – A nice gift in 1786 and Winter time; and Diane – I’d jump about.

Exercise - Dementia

We used the letters of the word Dementia to start sentences to write a short story or poem. Helene – Mickey Mouse Club, Juan – Absolute garbage, Diane – Terrorism and Wendy – Eat your vegetables.

Exercise - Muse - Inspiration for a creative artist

The muse of music

We described our muse and how our creativity is inspired by our muse as follows - Helene – my muse glides like a model, Wendy – I am my own muse, Juan – my mother muse and Diane – A beautiful women.

Homework

Write something about winter  

Record of meeting 25 May 2016

Farewell to May and poetry

The writers

Wendy, Cath, Helene, Diane, Juan

The Words of the day

Linger – loiter

Ambulant – walking      

Apoplectic – furious, cranky

Apathy – couldn’t care less

Pugnacious – aggressive, belligerent

Writing from words of the day

The elite group of five writers took the words of the day and pugnaciously created the following stories – Wet or dry – Helene, Status Quo – Cath, I woke at 6 am – Juan, Government debate – Diane and  Dressed as a clown – Wendy.

Reading of homework

Four writers read out wonderful homework -

 Helene – My male ancestors, Wendy – I wish I was a woman from the male perspective, Diane – How many mistakes 

and Juan – A newly made mother.

Exercise

We took the phrase “I can’t put my finger on it” and wrote

Helene – My finger went red, Wendy – pimple on my spine, Diane – A dream, Juan – Who cares and Cath – the word wont come.

Homework

What would you do if you won $1,000.  

Write as a poem or 

on the winter comedy theme for June.  

Record of meeting 18 May 2016

May - Many more poems

The writers

Wendy, Juan, Helene, Cath, Lynn, Elizabeth

The words of the day

Cosset = to pamper

Abstruse = hard to understand

Erratic = unpredictable, irregular

Memory = recalled or kept in mind

Phalanx = closely grouped mass of people

Aberration = to deviate from the norm

Writing from words of the day

The writers used memory to turn the words of the day into a range of erratic stories - The gym instructor, The favoured child, Regaining consciousness, 
The only boy, A wall, and A long time ago

Reading of homework

Four writers read their homework as follows - Juan – I wish I had stayed silent, Elizabeth - An unusual Taxi in Barcelona and Helene – Mr Faux Pas

Exercise 1 - The view from the window

We wrote poems describing the view from a widow. Helene – many windows, Wendy – I stand on my chair, Juan – My face and memories, Elizabeth – Gazing outside, Lynn – the tattered lace curtains 

 and from Cath – two impressive poems Autumn too soon and Play in the sun.

Exercise 2 – Sunday afternoon

The writers captured Sunday afternoon feeling in the following poems

Helene – I want to wake up, Wendy – We can swear, Juan – A glorious day, Elizabeth – What to do, Lynn – Smoke curls and Cath – Children run.

Homework

Write a poem from the perspective of your opposite gender 

Record of meeting 11 May 2016

 More May poetry

The writers

 Juan, Marg, Helene, Terry, Cath, Roslyn, Cath, Di with a quick visit from David C

The words of the day

Garrulous – talkative

Magnitude – importance

Disintegrate – fall apart

Faux pas – a social blunder

Specious – plausible

Nexus – a tie, connection, link

Contrariwise – on the other hand

Pontificate – express opinion in a pompous and dogmatic way

Writing from words of the day

The writers did not disintegrate with the magnitude of the task and created a range of stories as follows; Roslyn – The meeting, Marg – Heard everywhere, Cath – It had begun, Di – People in power, Helene – Political characters, Terry – an argument and Juan – Love and hope.

Reading of homework

Using the bush theme the writers read out the following homework poems and stories - Marg - The kangaroo and billy tea, Roslyn – Blue mountains 5 short poems, Juan – A dry country, Terry – A trip away, Helene – Bush life and Di – A wobbly walk way.

Readings

Terry read out Clancy @the overflow based on the poem Clancy of the Overflow by A B Patterson.

Roslyn read out “The noble old tree” written by Juan

Haiku poetry

We explored Haiku poetry a traditional form of Japanese poetry consisting of 3 lines. The first and last lines have 5 syllables and the middle line 7 syllables. The lines rarely rhyme. This exercise kept us quiet working hard and counting.

Homework

A poem about a Faux pas 

Record of meeting 4 May 2016

May is poetry month

The writers attending

Helene, Wendy, Juan, Elizabeth, Lynn, Elizabeth, Di and welcome to Marg

The words of the day

Hirsute – hairy 

Clock – timepiece

Spectrum – range, band

Perchance – by accident

Icon – sacred picture, etc

Flimflam – idle nonsense

Obdurate – stubborn, unyielding

Stories from words of the day

We took the words of the day and 

produced some hirsute flimflam iconic stories and poems - 

Harry the biker, Aurora borealis, 

The sneer, The janitor, Living in fear, 

Can you see this guy and The old man.

Reading of homework

Four writers read out homework as follows - Air an acrostic poem from Helene, Speed bump ahead from Wendy, Flying high & The orgy two poems from Juan and Collecting the eggs from Elizabeth.

Exercise - Superstition

We used the word Superstition to create an acrostic poem with three word sentences. The writers created a range of excellent poems on the topics; Send in witches – Helene, So much stress – Diane, Afraid of the dark – Elizabeth, Sexy hairy person, - Marg, So my mum – Lynn, Superstition is good – Juan and Silly me mum - Wendy.

Exercise - Terrible two

The writers created a two year old character and wrote about her thoughts and ideas.

Helene – the PMs grand daughter; Wendy – My brother Naughty boy; Juan – Its my own bum; Lynn – I’m not happy; Marg – I am brown; Elizabeth – One day I will be big and Diane – I take no notice.

Exercise 3 - Initials

We took the initials of our names to write a poem or story either about ourselves or another topic.

Helene – Live another life, Diane – Elegant Elli, Elizabeth – Sue, Marg – flying high, Lynn – Art and learning, Juan – Just the people I want to talk to and Feeling great & Wendy – Why aren’t I six feet tall?

Homework

Write a bush poem