Record of meeting 4 June 2014

                    

ATTENDING WERE:

Dave, Terry, Pam, Helene, Wendy, Margaret, Elizabeth,

 Cath, Jo and Geoff.  

Loraine from the Coffs Harbour Writers Group was a guest.

 

NEWS.

Dave - A recap of See Change weekend and enjoyed Poets breckie.

Terry - Sold his trailer sailer. [It’s a yacht to us landlubbers.]

Pam - Has a new dog arriving, a cavalier spaniel named Henry.

Helene - Went to see a movie Gardening for the soul.

Wendy - Quiet week.

Margaret - Film festival in Sydney.

Elizabeth - A horror police story.

Cath - Found a stray dog, threw sticks for it until the pound came and took him home.

Jo - Strange animal in her garden, Could it be a UFO?

Geoff - Enjoyed Book Shop readings at See Change.

 

WORD OF THE DAY.

Phlegmatic - Not easily excited.

Poignant -Touching, moving.

Ascribe - Contributing, belonging.

Hellcat - Spiteful woman

In cahoots - Conspiring

Empathy - Understanding

Risible - Provoking laughter

Mucilaginous - Slimy

Laconic -Succinct

Formidable - Exciting Fearful

Peremptory - Commanding no refusal

We did a quick write using the word of the days.

 

READING OF HOMEWORK.

Dave. A war story of danger and a frog.

Terry. The dangers of growing up and talking to girls.

Pam. Hand to hand combat with spiders galore.

Helene. Keeping safe - too safe.

Margaret. A story of war and peace in Sarajevo.

Gary. Budget woes.

Cath. A tale of love gone wrong.

Jo. An eventful outing, saving a little boys life.

 

Loraine spoke about the Coffs Harbour Writers Group, and took a group photo of us to put into their news letter.

 

HOMEWORK

 As soon as she/he walked in she/he felt the tension.

Recorded by Wendy and posted by Helene

 

Record of meeting 28 May 2014

News

Melissa-enjoying volunteering at radio station
Pam- enjoyed having visitors, kangaroos were well behaved too!
Helene- went to Canberra to see grand son
Trish- ongoing issues with throat specialist
Elizabeth-nada, except for an eye injection
Cath- surveyed about electricity, turned out to be shocking!
Jo- car issues, that'll do
Geoff- new owner of a MacBook
Leonie- saw a baby kangaroo and it's mama over her back fence; planning a trip to see rellies
David C.- read poetry at Angel's cafe, ready to perform at BooBook for See Change
Margaret- went to Hill End and Cowra, also was in hospital, not as much fun

Lots of health issues for some of our members - wishing everyone speedy recoveries and healing.


Words of the day

glasnost-openness
importune-to beg, harass
stony-stone like, pitiless
gratuity- a gift, a tip
enterprise- a large undertaking
sequacious-to follow, consecutive
boondoggle-to do work of little value in order to look busy
cosplay-costume play; a performance art where people wear costumes
orison-prayer
misanthropic-hatred of all
macabre-from the grave

We then did a quick write using the above words.

Homework: disability

Garry - Disability, a short story about an aunt
Jo - Come On I'll Take You For a Nice Walk, short story about a frog
Elizabeth- The Character With a Disability, true story recollecting people in her life
Helene - Disability In Training, a shocking true story
Margaret - Disable  Enable  Delete, short story recollecting world events
Pam - A Dreadful Affliction, a true story about a lack of navigation skills
David C. - The Ghost of John Wayne and True Grit, short story about a robbery
Leonie - One At a Time, a short story from a previous homework topic

The following people are attending the Trivia Night on Friday:
Jo
Melissa
Terry
David C.
Cath
Geoff
Holly
Elizabeth

Exercise

Words and 'There' Meanings -Matching words to their meanings

Homework

That was by far the most dangerous thing I've ever ......





Recorded by Melissa posted by Helene

Meeting 21st May 2014

Attendance:  Jo, Wendy, Cathy, Pam, Elizabeth, Helene, Geoff, David C.

News of the Week. 

Geoff: entered the Newcastle Poetry Prize.  He said that the St. George's Basin Music Club is closing down, one Concert to go, late June, at Community Centre, Meriton Street.  

Cathy: Has issues with Telstra.  She has a lovely flowered top on, good enough to put in a vase!

Helene: Saw the movie 'The Other Woman'.

Wendy: Went to Greenwell Point.  Ate huge amount of fish.  Watched pelicans.

Pam: Went to Gerbera Farm.  Will devote her time to them in future.  Felt sorry for the Dorplar Sheep.

Elizabeth: Lost her cheque book - found non-posted birthday card in a drawer.  Went to see Great-grand-daughter, Lucy, ust had tonsils out.

Jo: Did nothing.

David: Went to Sydney - grand-daughter and grandson, baby-sitting.  Road travel wonderful.

Words of the Day

Cath:      asperity - terse style

Jo:         mural-resembling a wall

Helene:    char - cleaning lady, tea for British, to burn

Wendy:    paraphenalia - personal belongings or bits of equipment

Pam:       lacuna - blank space, small hole in bone, etc.

Elizabeth: isthmus - a narrow neck of land - ocean on both sides land

David:     disenchanted - disappointed - to cause disappointment

Geoff:     condone - to accept, to forgive

Writings from 'Word of the Day'

David: Sitting on the balcony - damned charlady interrupted his dreams = she put a spell on him.

Geoff: The budget - Hockey acts like a charlady.  The outlook is bleak, especially for youth.

Jo: Condoning behaviour of the group?  Never.

Elizabeth: Charlady disappoints - looking across at the isthmus.

Helene: Amity - a char - cleaned cousin's house - and a mural - nothing worth anything there though, except Save the Trees PLEASE.

Pam: A rough mural - no good, a bad job.

Wendy: Poem - a mural - a lacunafull of stuff on the wall.

Cath: Joan - doesn't appreciate char's lazy job.

Homework:  "The Gossip Column"

Garry: Stories from secret groups in the Bay and Basin area

Helene: Secrets from See Change
Jo:      A provincial gossiper's silly stuff.

David: Sang his column at first - question and answer style - don't eat chicken with fingers - eat fingers with chicken!  Glenn - girlfriend thinks he's being unfaithful.  Fat woman - should be stapled.  Fat people are lazy people. Sang off.  Uncle Arthur's problem page at end.

Cathy:  Wedding on Saturday - honeymooning in Tunisia.  Open day for students.  Radio, good, easy listening, people, holidays.  Real people.

There is a photograph display at Lady Denman, Long weekend, no entry fee.  More details available at Lady Denman I would think.

Pam showed us a word, 'charrette' a new word for most of us, and it is repeated in our local paper about four times, word has been picked up by Herald.  Confusing the issues?

We did a Write.  Fairy Stories, etc.

Apologies to all for the Write summing-up, there is no info.

Homework: Write about someone who has a disability. 

Meeting 14th May 2014

Present:  Elizabeth, Wendy, David C., Geoff, Jo, Cath, Helene

News 

David has had his bad back attended to.  Went to visit family in Sydney in the weekend and had a great time.

Geoff had a quiet life lately, he said.

Cath went swimming and made crumpets, no, not at the beach!  She introduced a Budget Survey for comment - no one interested at this time.

Helene went to Canberra, saw the grandchildren, otherwise been a quiet time.

Wendy went to the German Club for Mother's Day, ate German food.  Didn't like dumplings.

Elizabeth Family weekend - new great-grandchild, she told him how to grow up.

Jo sent her book chapters away.  We talked about being forgetful too.

Word of the Day.

David:      ingenious - clever

Jo:          hysterical - emotionally disturbed

Geoff:      hypothecate - money allocated for particular purpose

Helene:    moraine - debris from a glacier

Wendy:    eschew - put aside.

Elizabeth: domicile - dwelling place

Cathy:      garrulous- talkative

The stories from those words were:

Cath:  A noisy moraine should be safe.

Helene: Fiona destroyed her house, got away with it.

Wendy: Budget - a poem - politicians conniving.

Elizabeth: She had an idea - sell her house.

David: Someone named Moraine - was to get married - cancelled it.

Geoff: Hysterical attacks on Labour

Jo: An ingenious plot, to live on Mt. Everest.

Homework:  'One at a Time'

Pam sent hers: Temptation, misspent youth, influencing what the inmates are not to watch or hear on TV - Addicts - can it work.

Elizabeth: Lying in bed.  Grandson arrives. The dog plus, the three of them had a 'cricket game'.

Jo: The cat and pills.

David: What's next - an older man - wait for change - one day at a time

Helene: Poem - Wisdom and Happiness - one day at a time - writing - sharing- laughing.  Where is wisdom?

David spoke about Seymour Wells, and history.

Helene read out a letter from Gary.

We did a progressive write on Song and Dance.

Then we did an exercise from a textbook putting words into pertinent places.

The next week's homework is 'Write a Gossip Column'.

Meeting notes for 7th May 2014

Info.
David C.....Has had back issues gathering firewood...not 25 any more
Wendy.......Saw Brian Cadd and Glen Shorrock...terrific show
Terry..........May is birthday month...busy time
Lynn..........House sitting for Robyn and Joe
Helene.......Has laptop problems
Pam...........Just enjoying life in the Bay and Basin area
Elizabeth...Went to Collector Pumpkin Festival...now knows where Collector is
Cath...........Been minding 3 cats...oops lost one...found it again....hooray
Geoff.........Went to ukelele group for first time, also demonstration against ABC cuts proposed
David R.....Been further investigating David C's treasure chest.

Words of the Day
Pam.............parkour......training system utilising obstacles
Elizabeth.....gillie..........man attending a person who is hunting or fishing
Cath............cacophony..raucus, mixed noise, harsh discord
Geoff..........runcible......splayd like spoon with a cutting edge
David R..... prerogative..a right or privilege
David C..... scurrilous....use of vulgar abusive language, defamatory, untrue
Wendy....... laconic........terse, man of few words
Terry.........  nebulous.....vague, lacking definite form
Lynn.........  trapse..........walk idly or wearily without reaching a goal

Stories/poems from these words
Again a wide variation of ideas including parliament, traipsing through forests, lots of birds and  
gillies, and the odd commando unit.

Homework readings        (letters to/from the battle front)
Lynn..........Vietnam, a mate loses his life
Terry..........Poem about a soldier 5000 miles away and dying in Afghanistan
Wendy........lightened the moment with a tongue in cheek letter from a wife carrying on about her
                   "tough" life at home while husband plays soldier with his mates.
David C.....A real "Dear John" letter, and the mystery of astrological forecasts and Snoopy.
David R.....poem...from the front
Geoff.........a story re Chile that has lit the candle of interest in Geoff planning a visit.
Elizabeth..."Dear John" letter to a young man caught up in the moment and regretting his actions
Pam...........Letter from the front ...the Middle East...emotional
Leonie.......Isn't there another way...conversation not confrontation

General
*  Update re "Wild about Words"...those wishing to participate in reading their own work need to contact Sue or Boobook book shop.

Exercise..a quickwrite

"Write from the viewpoint of someone who committed a murder today but...do not mention the murder."
What a talented bunch we are. Efforts included...One a day, Shopping not stabbing, Doing Bertie in,
The blacksmith and the bloodied hand, Lime and the six foot holes, Done Kitty in...your job to bury her, Don't mess with me, Killed Joyce...or Killjoy?, Got to get away now,

Homework 

"One at a time"

Meeting notes 30 April 2014

Okay—Okay—Okay- It’s me again, even hiding behind Geoff I was found and the Mantle of Minutes Taker was thrust upon my effervescent head {ever known me to be effer wasn’t}.

 Present; Terry, Melissa, Lynn, Cath, Jo, Elizabeth, Leonie, David C, Geoff, Mary, Pam, David R, Wendy.

Info. 

Lynn.              House sitting

Jo.                   Trouble keeping her story on track.

Cath               Not letting the grass grow under her feet

Elizabeth       Too wise to be scammed / her daughter touring USA

Leonie            Back to nature at Bendalong beach

David C          Chest complaint now all good.

Geoff              Reading a good book about the women of the Eureka Stockade

Mary              Read an Email she had received.

Pam                Stamps for pensioners 60c at the Post Office

David R          Enjoyed his break, at his cabin near Gerrong

Wendy           Going to see Brian Cadd

Terry              Attended ANZAC dawn service at HMAS Creswell

Melissa          Having trouble containing herself, going to see Rick Springfield.

WoTD

Terry              Slake                   To quench or satisfy

Wendy           Charlatan             Imposter

David R          Foozle                Clumsy ---Botched

Pam                Rambunctious     Rowdy---uncontrollable

Mary              Malapropism       Comical misuse of words

Geoff              Elicit                  Draw out—extract

David C          Ire                      Anger ---resentment

Leonie            Assivism            Resemblance to a distant relative or event

Elizabeth       Bollard               Concrete or wooden pillar or harbour post

Cath               Ilk                      Similar characteristics

Jo                    Seduction         To entice –win over

Lynn               Allude               Infer in a round about way

Melisa            Grimalkin          A female cat ---an ill tempered old hag

Quick Write from WoTD

Terry              Hoist the mainsail               Melissa            Car park seduction

Lynn               Iron Lady                               Jo                    Swan song

Cath               Ship shape                            Elizabeth       Lion hunting

Leonie---Geoff---David C                       Similar theme, political, attack the government

Mary              Words of wisdom                Pam                Good use of words

David R          Poetic licence          

Good response all round

Homework.

Lynn               Invitation to a lady for dinner

Jo                    The unfinished house / cat lover

Elizabeth       An enthralling walk down memory lane

Leonie            Step out of a photograph

Geoff              Hector and the Silent Bus

Mary              Homeless Harry Field

Pam                Country lawyer in the big smoke.

David R          Interception

David C          A brilliant story worthy of a Pullet prize

Afternoon Tea

Exercise         A play on words using name association

Homework    A letter to/from a soldier.    

Record of meeting 23 April 2014

Words of the day

Inadmissible = not allowed

Postern = back door or gate

Illicit = unlawful

Marvellous = wonderful

Precarious = doubtful, perilous

Scintilla = a small amount

Innocuous = harmless

Discern = perceive with a mind

Bliss = ecstasy, delight

Writing from words of the day

Using our short list of words we created amazing stories on the themes of The spider, The little scoundrel, A small list is good, Sly grog business, No remorse, The fight and The precarious gate.

Homework

Some of those present shared stories about A cock and bull story, The millionaire, The closeness of neighbours, Dreams, Tales from Poppa Possum and The Queen size bed.

Exercise

From an exercise provided by Leonie we considered a list of characteristic and then created a story displaying the characteristics.

David C wrote a story of a creature of habit, Pam an attractive 40 something woman, Cath looking for a solution, Lynn told the story of Sarah who arrived on a bride ship, Terry wrote about a young girl’s coming of age, Helene told about Sally who did a little skip. Geoff described and discussed the main female character from his Japanese novel.  Mary wrote about Harry’s pain and regrets.

Homework

Develop a character or use an existing one. Write the story of meeting your character in a specific location - describe the city, location, year, season, furnishings, others present. Remember to use aroma, noise, tactile objects, music and atmosphere to add to your description.

Wild about words

The See change 2014 winter arts festival booklet is now available from businesses in the local area. The festival provides 63 activities including music, exhibitions, activities and workshops to choose from.  Activities of interest include

Item 42 Trivia night of literary sophistication Huskisson Community Centre, Dent Street Huskisson 6- 10 pm Friday 30 May BYO drinks & snacks

I have bookings from David & Cathy, Melissa & Scott, Geoff & Holly, Jo & Lyn which I will pass on to Sue.

Item 45 Book busk Boobook on Owen, 68 Owen Street Huskisson.

Book in to read 5 – 10 minutes of your favourite book, bring props and dress up.  Book in advance with Boobooks on 4441 8585 - Gold coin donation

Item 47 Local writers read their work, Boobook on Owen, 68 Owen Street, Huskisson

Share 10 minutes of your stories in a supportive environment. Book in advance with Boobook on 4441 8585