Christmas in July 2015

Nine of our most adventurous writers enjoyed our Christmas in July lunch at the Lodge. The food and service were great in a quiet pleasant environment.

Thank you one and all for your company. Special thanks to Wendy who organised the lunch and to Pauline who came bearing Christmas gifts.

Record of meeting 29 July 2015

Big news – Christmas in July lunch – 12 noon 

Friday 31 July 2015 – The Lodge Sanctuary Point

  

The writers

Wendy, Sarah, Clare, Helene, Pauline, Terry, Leonie, Cath

Words of the day

Totes = totally

Aloof = haughty or distant

Disconsolate = very unhappy

Hierogram = a sacred symbol

Proleptic = anticipatory answer

Kvetch = constant complaining slang

Eclectic = composed of different tastes

Ebullient = full of excitement and enthusiasm

Stories from words of the day

We created an eclectic range of ebullient stories from the words of the day - At the markets; I anticipated the Fair; Waiting for the lecture; All the praise; Threw it on the roof; My favourite book store; Wide range of ideas; and tattoos on her face.

Reading of homework

Five industrious writers read out interesting stories on the topics - Back to WA, Two police officers, The reunion of the class of 99, There’s someone in the room and I avoided Madeline.

Exercise 1 - Character building

We developed a character by deciding the name, age, marital status, what they eat for breakfast, TV shows, dreams, a secret, language used and body language.

We then wrote a short story about our character on the topics - By the kitchen sink, Sonia is jewel encrusted, The weight should fall off, Banter between neighbours on Pick Pocket Lane, Felicity was a loner, Thanks love and Blueberry yoghurt.

Exercise 2 - Seventeen 

We had fun creating a round table story starting with - When I was seventeen, regressing to age three, pocket money, favourite lollies, Saturday afternoon movies, chores and progressing to age 59.

Homework

Homeless

Record of meeting 22 July 2015

The writers

Wendy, Clare, Helene, Cath, Pauline, Terry, David C, Geoff, Elizabeth and welcome to Sarah

Words of the day

  

Forlorn = sad

Pique = annoyance

Salve = soothe

Flaunt = to display oneself

Egregious = conspicuously bad or offensive

Trattoria = an Italian style eating establishment

  

Tangential = divergent or merely touching on a matter

Zoanthropy = delusions of being an animal

Allegiant = loyal or faithful

  

Writing from words of the day

We used words of the day to create some animalistic stories - Dressed as a Polar Bear, The speaker, Jumped on the table, Wearing animal prints, Not part camel, Henry was a show off, Inflated his ego, Fur coat and balaclava, The cricket is over and Quality of the coffee.

Reading of homework

Five wishy stories were read out - Coins in a fountain; Why do we have three; The Wish family; John, Joe & me and Wealth, Health & self.

Discussions

• The many uses of WD 40 were discussed from using it to clean greasy hands to helping stiff joints.

• Terry recommended and brought in “The outcasts of Foolgarah” by Frank Hardy.

• Wendy will investigate booking a Christmas in July lunch on Friday 31 July at The Lodge Sanctuary Point - 12 noon. More details next week.

Exercise 1 - The travelling tale

Clare started a travelling tale with “There was a day when the sun didn’t shine”. We then went around the table continuing the story and leading to an amazing ending.

Exercise 2 - The basement

We used the theme of the basement to create some deep and dark stories - The old wooden house, I wish I had a basement, No basement for me, You have a day, First time here (3 word lines), $40K over budget, Dark and dingy, When it snows, Why cant I and The creepiest place.

Exercise 3 - The overcoat pocket

We looked inside our overcoat pockets and discovered - The torn lining of my coat, In the small bag, Red back spider, Old and smelly, To keep me warm, Letter in the pocket, My true love and You know how it goes.

Homework

I haven’t seen her/him for two years… 

Record of meeting 15 July 2015

The writers

Terry, Clare, Cathy, Helene, Leonie, David C

The words of the day

Livid = black and blue, furiously angry

Defalcate = to embezzle

Infra dig = unbecoming, demeaning

Hathos = pleasure of hating someone

Dross = impurity, waste matter

Rusticate = to expel temporarily from a college or send to the country

Writing from words of the day

We used our words of the day to create stories on the topics - Enjoyment, Retiring, Mean minded Treasurer, The defendant, Living in Queensland and Another way to infuriate.

Reading of homework

Five writers read out serious and funny homework stories - The influence of labels, Chilly morning coffee, The box syndrome, Living in a ticky tacky box and Working for the project. David C also read two old homework stories called Blow flies and Policing at its best.

Exercise 1- When I asked

Choose two nouns, two verbs, two adjectives and two names and write a story using all eight words starting with “When I asked”.

  

For this exercise the writers produced the following stories - His friend had gone mad, He didn’t know, Busy doing nothing, Such a mess, Freshly washed hair and What book?

Exercise 2 -The scream was loud

We defined the word Indaba and wrote a story starting with "The scream was loud"

We produced some interesting definitions from bar to goddess and created stories about - Shrill noise, The smell of brewed hops, The lion, The kitchen goddess, Possessed by a diva and The curse.

The homework  

Three wishes

Record of meeting 8 July 2015

The brave writers

Wendy, Clare, Helene, Elizabeth, Geoff, Leonie, Terry

The eye catching words of the day 

Fiasco = ridiculous failure

Ice blink

Exigency = urgent need

Vanquished = conquer

Ice blink = luminous appearance on the horizon caused by a reflection of ice

Volition = wish, will, decision, choice, desire, preference, option

Bunkum = non-sense, insincere or foolish talk

Fervid = intense enthusiasm to an excessive degree

We used words of the day to create a range of stories - The crocodile tamer, Talking sense, No fight back, Life at the North Pole, Fathers advice, Before dinner and Words on paper.

Reading of homework

Three brave writers read their homework on the topic “wildlife can eat you”, with the brilliant - What else am I to do - a poem from Clare, Please don’t feed the bears by Leonie and So wild and free from Helene.

Future activities

Wendy reported on the costs of river cruises and it was decided to have a Christmas in July lunch probably at the Lodge in Sanctuary Point. More details next week.

Terry suggested devoting one meeting each month to conduct workshops.  Terry is seeking further information from a writing group in Adelaide with a view to us conducting workshops – in particular about performance poetry. The idea would be to write a poem or short story and present to the group using voice, language, costumes etc to communicate the message.

Exercise 

We wrote on the topic - Conversations in my head. An excellent range of stories were read out - Good, evil and myself; A free offer; On Center court; Thought preparation; More options and What a beautiful day.

Homework

Write about putting people in boxes – have you put people in boxes or have you been put in a box – categorised by appearance, age, disability, communication skills, assets etc

Record of meeting 1 July 2015

The writers

David R, Helene, Wendy, Clare, Terry, Leonie, Geoff, Lynn, Cath 

The words of the day

Cohort = group of people of common interest, band of associates

Tippet = scarf of fur, band of silk, used in fishing

Adulate = to flatter or admire excessively

Evanescent = vanishing, transitory

Transpire = something happened or took place, give off water vapour

Velleity = wish or inclination not strong enough to take action

Loving cup = two or three handled cup to share

Unkempt = untidy hair

Rue = to repent

The writing from words of the day

We created an array of stories and poems on the topics - Around the Pope, The end, The red haired woman, From union days, The banquet, I’m scruffy, Cold sores, Social wrecks and Pop groups.

The reading of home work

Six dedicated writers read out their homework with the titles - Ode to the socks – a clever poem, The unfaithful sock, I lost my twin – a fun poem, Santa’s coming – a children’s story, The explorer ode and Where are my socks.

After our readings we heard some solutions for securing straying socks from several writers.

Other reading

David R read his poem about climate change. Later Clare read her poem The ballard of the onion – a tear making tale.

Exercise - Red shoe, guitar and a unique cake

We used the trio of subjects to cook up great stories - The brightly lit stage, A big decision, There’s no place like home, The man in red shoes, Baby shoes, My kitchen apron, In our living room, The shoe cake – very funny poem and The glitter on the shoe cake.

Exercise – The last time I saw …………………

We wrote about Parkes NSW, An elephant, My toes, Her, my primary school, Maureen, Paris, Stewart and my body,

Exercise – 5 minute TV advertisement for asparagus

We created high quality advertisements on the topics - High in fibre, It’s slim, Put in a blender, Promises of being sharply, Better than Brussels sprouts, Vitamin B without the fuss, You too can be slim, Give your taste buds a treat and Rather eat tyre off a bike.

Homework

In my country dinner eats you

Record of meeting 24 June 2015

The writers

Wendy, David R, Clare, Helene, Pauline, Cath, Elizabeth, David C, Lynn, Terry, Geoff

The words of the day

Clandestine = Kept secret or private

Atrocious = wicked or brutal or bad taste

Nebbish = a timid or ineffectual man

Scuttle = cause a ship to sink or run horridly

Pernicious = deadly or wicked

Meditation = think deeply about something

Paroxysm = sudden outburst

Freegan = a recycler of food

Cavil = to raise irritating petty objection

Abderian = silly laughter, incessant merriment

Bunker = military fortification etc

The stories from words of the day

We created pernicious stories about - Taken away by the police, Peaches on the beaches, The meeting, Overcome, The balls, The Immigration Minister, Reasons for his outburst, Ferdinand and local government, A Group of politicians, A wet paper bag and Seeping through me

The reading of homework

Eight hardy writers read out their homework on the topics - It’s all in a name, Stop that jiggly dance, Peace and the log fire, Run away for biscuits and Brie, Memories by the sea, A trickle of sand, Stories with Meals on wheels and Clancy’s contemplation

Discussions and ideas

Pauline read out her impressions on the movie “Still Alice” which led to a discussion on the topic of dementia.

Geoff reminded us about the 2015 Miles Franklin award to Sofie Lagana for “The eye of the sheep” and the New Copyright Internet law recently passed.

David R read his humorous poem - The black stump and David C read his 500 word story Lost and found.

The exercises

1. Why I write?

We expressed various reasons for our writing - I can’t say, To avoid calculating my tax, Some thing new, Ideas to give, To keep in touch through a blog, I have to write, To be remembered, An outlet for the information in my brain, An inner fight, Natural expression and Challenge and improvement.

2. An interesting character from the past

A sheep with one eye and three legs, Wedding cakes and sheep’s eyes, Bah humbug, A man with a tattoo on his head helped me, A comb over, Protector of the castle, The boss is in the office, Emma was an intense person, Cosmic at the Lady Denman, Gives a wink and The jail bird.

Homework

The lost sock