Record of meeting 13 February 2013

Present

David R, Garry, David C, Leonie, Lyn, Trish, Terry, Cath, Wendy, Helene and welcome to Maria

News

David C’s brothers will be visiting soon from the UK. Garry brought in an item about the Masai people where he once lived. David R highlight of the week was Sing Australia meeting. Wendy is going to Tarago for a picnic with her car club. Cath has been stripping off wallpaper. Terry bought a 1976 Triumph 2500 classic car last week. Maria moved here 30 years ago and has moved back to the area recently. Trish has been in touch with her cousin in England who reminds her of her dad. Lyn’s son has a new job and she is working on a new exhibition at the Lady Denman. Leonie has no news.

 

Words of the day

Quixitous = romantic notion, idealistic

Mendacity – dishonesty, deceit, lies, deception

Sully = to soil or dirty

Facile = pliant, easily gained, docile

Pettifogging = to quibble, or use cheap or mean ways in law

Acquiesce = to agree without protesting

Wax = to become angry at insinuation

Nuance = subtle difference or distinction or response

Conniption = fit of range or hysteria

Damascian conversion = the penny dropped

Disruption = answering phone call

 

Writing from words of the day

 David R – Wayne was waxed – a very funny poem

Helene – Madge the beautician

Wendy – Love can make you mendacious

Cath – Jim was violent

Terry – you can be king

Maria – called to dinner

Trish – Going crazy

Lyn – No time to relax with a quick write

Leonie – the meeting

David C – McDonald a scoundrel – very well written

Garry – Fifi waxed the table and became CFO – a very good story

Reading of homework

Trish – lessons from Adele including a very honest family portrait

Lyn – the slob at the kitchen bench – a great story

Leonie – thoughts from the past – a lovely story

David C – exemption from National Service

Garry – I love living in Thailand – a great letter

David R – Late delivery – like a letter in a bottle

Helene – Fifi has Music Appropriation Disease

 

Reading

Terry – more of the story of McCord

David R – read from “The infinite Plan” by Isabel Allende from Chile, also read his poems Alphabetical – about the group, Reflections and Liaisons both about love

 

Homework

 Valentine

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record of meeting 6 February 2013

Present

Garry, David C, Geoff, Robyn, Jo, Cath, Trish, Leonie, Wendy, Helene, Lynn, David R

News

This week Garry learnt about using Listerine to deter mosquitoes. David C is on new medication for his Sweets Syndrome. Geoff had a letters published between Nick Minchin and himself. Robyn’s husband had a pacemaker inserted. Jo has deterred rats with dead rats and squealing rats. Cath went for trip on the bus to Nowra for $2.50. Trish is promoting Sing Australia. Leonie cleared out her garage and could not stop. Wendy went to Wagga at 6 am, had a picnic and came home by 4:30 pm. Helene had a massage and went back to Aqua. Lynn went to work, and went to Nowra for a test but had to come home. David R went to a Cancer recovery group dinner and enjoyed it.

 Words of the day

Uncouth – lacking in social skills, foul-mouthed

Sanctimonious – self righteous, pretending to be religious, pious

Hebetude = mental lethargy, dullness of mind

Sangfroid = calm and cool

Volte-face = about turn, about face, u turn

Wane = to decrease in strength

Melliferous = yielding or producing honey

Punctilious = conscientious, on time, careful about small details

Halcyon = calm, peace and happiness

Irredentist = people who want to rewrite history, recovery of Italian places

Scepticism = theory in philosophy that absolute knowledge is impossible

Maxim = a proverb, rule of conduct, established principle

 Stories from words of the day

Geoff – Tony Abbott

Robyn – leaving the country

Jo – judged according to their crimes

Cath – it’s obvious

Trish – getting the contract

Leonie – needs more honey

Wendy – the whole truth

Helene – religion

Lynn – the lad of minimum effort

David R – sprayed Listerine

Garry – a difficult problem

David C – Bullshit

 

Reading of homework

David C – turned around lots of old wife’s tales and waiting

Garry – waiting and thinking leads to loving waiting

David R – three wives tails and I used to be a waiter

Lynn – the little hand waiting and shuffling along a bench

Helene – waiting for Godo

Wendy – a magic lotion – a great poem

Leonie – waiting for a baby

Trish – waiting for pests

Cath – waiting for news

Jo – a special Christmas tree

 

Reading

Geoff – letters to the editor about Tony Abbott and Nick Minchin

David R – Inspiration a poem about a recovery group – the sick heal the healthy

 

Exercise

We completed a circular write with a few gems included.

 

Homework

 You have just received a letter that was written 10 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record of meeting 30 January 2013

Present

Terry, Garry, Leonie, Jo, Wendy, Trish, Helene, Cath, Geoff and welcome back to Lyn

 

News

Leonie has finished her garden and it survived the rain. Garry’s niece had an accident with her horse. Lyn worked last week at the museum. Geoff saw the movie Life of Pi. Helene has a new sewing machine and sewed some curtain linings. Wendy has gone back to Aqua lite twice a week and has been on two picnics during the week. Cath has been stripping off wall paper. Terry research for his novel has found that dentists in the US are putting micro chips in people’s teeth for tracking. Trish mentioned the case of the teenager missing for two months in the bush. Jo also read about the missing boy. 

 

Words of the day

Inadvertently – not intentioned

Auto-didactic – self taught

Solicit – to seek favour, request

Android – robot, zombie, resembling a human

Stymied – to filibuster, to thwart

Wraith – shadowy, ghostly

Brusque – abrupt, blunt

Skein – flock of geese in flight & yarn wound in a loose coil

Seesaw – to move up and down, vacillate, reciprocating motion

 

Writing from words of the day

Geoff – Tony Abbott

Lyn – a poem about being encouraged to provide a word

Garry – a beautiful morning

Leonie – a comparison

Jo – a king with a skein of words

Trish – in an ally way

Terry – rather be in the creek

Cath – thoughts on the seesaw

Wendy – oh crap

Helene – Byron the robot

 

Reading of homework

Garry – still love you nana

Leonie – does this count as a table

Jo – the old wives club

Trish – my friend Callum

Terry – Chapter two from his novel

Wendy – Lie’s - a brilliant poem

 

Helene - where are the old wives

Geoff – Readers Digest tales

 

Reading

Jo - How to explain oldness

 

Invitation

Isabel Mac Callum invites you to celebrate the publication of “Life is what you make it” an expose of her life to be launched by Joanna Gash MP at the Nowra Library ,Berry Street Nowra, at 11:30 am Monday 25 February 2013. Light refreshments. $10 from each $25 signed book to Anglicare Shoalhaven Community Care

 

Quick write - Life is what you make it

Jo – life as a fish

Trish – the head I have now

Terry – listen to what I say

Cath – tragedy versus challenge

Wendy – the easy life

Helene – life is fun

Geoff – a journey

Lyn – doing what I want

Garry – life in Africa

Homework

Waiting ……

 

 

 

Record of meeting 23 January 2013

Present

David R, Garry, Terry, Wendy, Helene, Leonie, David C, Geoff, Cath

 

News

Geoff – the fires and the weather. David C – been there, done that - looks tanned from Iodine and potassium treatment and uses baby powder for his rash from Sweets Syndrome. Leonie has been working on the garden near her clothes line. Garry had a call from his mother to say was having a biopsy for breast cancer.  David R has bought a cam corder on line at the site www.oo.com.au and recommended the price and service. Helene took her grand daughter to Sydney and had a great trip. Wendy’s 13 year old dog died recently and she misses him. Cath was awakened by her mobile early this morning and told us a joke. Terry has been investigating poisons for his novel.

 

Words of the day

Astute – shrewd, smart

Prandial – pertaining to a meal

Purpose – the reason

Prerogative – exclusive right of privilege, natural gift of advantage making one superior (from Latin)

Pecuniary – relating to or connected with money

Ameliorate – to heal, remedy or improve

Solipsism – nothing but self

Remorseless – pitiless, cruel, resentful

Middling – moderate, average

Writing from words of the day

 

David C – a political comment. Geoff – health threats. Terry – sad clowns in a rusty Holden ute. Cath – struggling. Wendy – looked like a fool Helene – a good GP. David R – the egotist and the poisoned pancake. Garry – the $150 hamburger.  Leonie – the menu.

Reading homework

Wendy – Parts replacement – a brilliant poem about surgery Terry – The smell of a police station David C – Identical twins x 2 Leonie – Madeline and the necklace. Garry – before the rains the circle of life and pies at the cricket. David R – replacement therapy.  Helene – friend are irreplaceable.

Pecuniary discussions

Discussion on using funds for prizes, publishing an Anthology, training etc but no decision was made.

Reading

David R read two poems one about Burma and the other titled Restless.

 

Homework

Old wives tales

 

 

 

Meeting 16th January 2013

Attendees

Wendy, Terry, Cath, Jo, Leonie, Garry, Geoff, David C, David R.

News

David R gave an amazing report on when he was swimming from Orion Beach he saw dolphins teaching the young ones how to breathe by flipping them into the air. He also told us how a pod of dolphins had kept a kangaroo afloat until it was rescued by a girl in a kayak and brought to shore.

Leonie had an amazing story of how when her mum was going to send a quilt that the ‘sender’ sent a photo to show their address and in the photo sent was Leonie’s father who had passed away some years ago – amazing.

Geoff had been off the road for 2 weeks with a radiator problem

Jo – another amazing story for today – she had, Googled, ‘sandshoes’ and had a link to the Kingsgrove Slasher. When she tried to go to the link she got a message, ‘Protected Site’ and couldn’t get in.

Cath went to Vincentia High to support the school garden and brought some tomatoes to share today

Terry shared about how his research was going for his new novel – a bit scary!!!

Wendy told us getting new spectacles.

Garry reported on another health problem

David C told us the progress with his medical situation and also invited us to attend a gig he is involved with: a Bush band

Coastal Waters Retirement Village

Australia Day, 26^th January,

Time: 10.30 to 12.00

Words of the day

Loquacious; clement; infer; vituperative; toady; salacious; conjecture; dystopia; torpid

HOMEWORK

All shared interesting stories and poems on the topic:

After the door closed and the footsteps stopped……

READINGS

David R shared some poems

Geoff shared a part of a novel he is writing

David C shared some documents that are over 100 years old but in good condition.

EXERCISE – a quick-write.

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

It was a fun time in stories and poems with one Writer using, Footprints ON the sand.

HOMEWORK

Replace or Replacement

Meeting 9 January 2013

Happy new year 2013

 In summer colours

David R, Wendy, Terry, Jo, Trish, Helene, Robyn, Garry, Cath

News

Jo told a funny story about a pet pig, Robyn enjoyed her 14 day cruise and had a balcony which was healthier, Garry was in hospital over Xmas for 9 days, David R is off to Chile in February, Helene went to the pool every day it was open, Wendy went to a party on New Years eve, Cath could not go to bed early on New Years Eve as her cat was under the bed, Cath also told us about the Writers Circle on Facebook, Terry put some stories on the Fan stories web site and had some feedback. Trish enjoyed hearing the comments and the stories about the fire – what did we talk about before the fires.

Jo told us about the FAW competitions and feedback opportunities available from March 2013 go to australianwritermagazine@gmail.com To get involved with Hive Television go to www.hivetv.wordpress.com

Words of the day

Catastrophic = disastrous, calamitous, appalling, terrible

Puerile = childish

Stultify = to bring to nought, appear foolish or absurd

Obstreperous = noisy, annoying

Sustainability = to maintain or prolong

Glorious = celebrated, exalted, delightful

Quirk = an artful evasion, flourish in drawing or writing, peculiarity of character or twist of fate

Adagio = a piece of music to be played slowly

Dichotomy = division or contrast between two things

Writing from words of the day

Robyn – the weather and the family. Garry – Dear John letter to a son. David R – a poem about a cat. Helene – the crèche.  Wendy – a poem half a brain. Cath – all or nothing. Terry – writing on the fence. Trish – The black dust. Jo – separate species.

Reading of homework

Garry – tell the truth. David C two poems – catastrophic warnings and cool change. Helene – Fifi’s new year’s resolution. Wendy brilliant poem– I’m posh. Terry – part of a future novel - I’ve had enough. Trish – read out a few funny resolutions she found on the internet.

Exercise

We each wrote what we were grateful for on a piece of paper. We then selected one of the folded pieces of paper and wrote about that topic.

The stories covered the topics of being grateful for

My adventures, My sister, Being alive – he passed because of the interference of God, Sydney Morning Herald meets all my needs, Mr Nobody, Small Mersey’s, Electricity, My body.

Homework

After the door closed and the footsteps died

Record of meeting 19 December 2012

Present

Jo, Leonie, Garry, Trish, David R, Helene, Geoff, Wendy, Terry, Mary, Cath

We started at 12 noon with our home baked Christmas lunch and played musical chairs to share the cool air.

 

News

Terry – told us about an item in the Senior News on Centrelink's supply computers for $300. Mary went to carols by candlelight in Nowra. Cath fixed her wobbly desk and decorated her outdoor pine tree. Jo got her electricity bill and is thinking about changing providers; she also had old letters returned to her. David R got a Xmas card from a family member he had not heard from for 15 years. Garry was taken to hospital on Sunday by ambulance and was treated very quickly. Trish gave advice when seeking treatment in hospital to get into a wheel chair to get treatment quickly. Leonie went to Canberra yesterday to the Gallery and saw works by Toulouse Lautrec. Helene had a week of pleasant meals out. Geoff worked at the Nowra School of Arts concert and it was a good event. Wendy went to a Christmas party at the Postman’s Tavern.

 

Words of the day

Premise = presuming to be true

Pimp = to pander

Dissemble = to retreat eg politician from a promise

Incipient = in the early stages

Bombastic = pompous, overbearing

Decoined = remove from popular use

Insanity = doing the same thing and expecting a different result

Reindeer = a Christmas animal

Nonpareil = without equal, small printing type

Apt = inclined, tendency

Resurrection = revival after disuse

 

Stories from words of the day

David – A generous Panda and money rolls in fine. Jo – A Christmas fairy a black Christmas tale. Cath – No use for reindeer. Mary – Reindeer want work-cover. Terry – he wanted to be a reindeer. Wendy – tried to decoin Christmas – a very funny but black Christmas poem. Geoff – economic policy. Leonie – the street drenched in Christmas lights. Helene – Ms Clause.  Trish – working in Darlinghurst true or not. Garry – Santas little helper.

 

Reading of homework

Helene – a very twisted Christmas. Trish – "If" is a strange word.  Garry –the Xmas ball. David R – Christmas is for children. Jo – Frogy come on for a nice walk. Cath told a story of her Christmas in the Philippines. Mary – a real beach Christmas delight. Terry – the crime and the Santa bike ride. Wendy – Bah Humbug and the Boxing day sales. Leonie – Father Christmas is getting tired – time for Father Christmas of the South - a great Australian story

 

Homework due 9 January 2013 – first meeting of the new year

New year’s resolutions or any other resolutions.

 

Merry Christmas and happy 2013 to all members and families