Broken Heart Art

 

This was an interesting post taking us through the design process from the beginning to the finished product.

 

More Here

Coffee Rings Everywhere

Here is what this blogger has to say for herself:

I am a Mother, a Home-maker, a Full-time Working Woman. I run, I take photographs, I garden, I read, I crochet, I drink numerous cups of tea. My day is as crammed as my handbag- with bits and pieces threatening to fall out all the time.

 

I would love to sit on a sunny porch and write, but I don't even have enough time to visit my favourite blogs. I should not be writing. I just do not have the time to. But when has that ever stopped the thoughts from coming?

And so, I compromise. I express my thoughts in a hundred words. I capture moments with my camera. I get by, till I get time for more.

 

Because her life is busy and time is short, she writes dribbles  A dribble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

 

  READ MORE

 

 

Maximum Verbosity

A reader of science fiction who loves Dr Who.

 

 

A woman on her own, introverted and able to talk about it, who gets flustered about the plumbing and who knows something about outer space..

So what is she going to make of the new Dr Who on Christmas Day?


MORE HERE

Here`s a link to Susan Cain and The Power of Introverts

This is a Blog about Books....And Life

This blogger writes about her struggles to write. She is a Christian and also writes about her dislike of what she calls Christian fiction. She calls this type of book, Candyland, and she does not want to write them or read them.

Here is what she has to say:

I don’t agonize over every word. I don’t worry about offending anyone, but neither do I intentionally set out to do so. I’ve been around long enough to know that no matter how hard you try, somebody out there is going to find something to pick on and get their knickers in a twist over. It happens. I’m not perfect and neither are my characters. As I’ve said before, (in this blog post) I won’t pretty it up and put a bow on it. Sure, there’s a market for those Candyland type books, but I don’t read them and I don’t want to write them.

 

Further into the blog she has a picture of her manuscript and writes about the work she is going to have to do to get it right. "Every word counts," she says. Now she is agonising over every word. She does not see the contradiction.

There is no failsafe method in this madness. At least I haven’t found one. Remember Harry Potter? Rejected how many times? I will probably never know what I’m doing wrong, but I darn well better be sure I know what I’m doing right. And that takes work. It takes commitment. It takes courage and yes, a certain kind of craziness to do what I do. And keep doing it. No guarantees.

More HERE

View from the Stalls

Here is a blog about theatre going and reviews in Central Scotland.

 

 

The above post is a review of the `Glasgow Girls.`

 

Cleverly, David Greig's book mocks the very idea of a musical based on a group of schoolgirls campaigning against the treatment of asylum seekers in Glasgow - and some characters are happier than others to find themselves on stage. Considering that the cast all play multiple roles (and at times themselves) it sounds on paper as if it could get very complicated, very quickly, but helped by some superfast costume changes it hangs together seamlessly.

From Wikipedia:

 

The Glasgow Girls are a group of seven young women in Glasgow, Scotland, who have highlighted the poor treatment of failed asylum seekers. Named by two of its members Amal Azzudin and Roza Salih, the group was established by the group who were all members of Drumchapel High School in Glasgow in response to the detention of one of their friends, Agnesa Murselaj. Publicity grew as the girls challenged the First Minister and publicly voiced their concerns as more children at their school were dawn raided, detained and deported.

After visiting the Scottish Parliament twice, The Glasgow Girls obtained cross-party support on the issue.

The group won the Scottish Campaign of the Year Award in 2005 at the annual Scottish politician of the year ceremony for their hard work. However, it did not stop them from demanding to know just what had happened to the "protocol" Jack McConnell that had promised to obtain from the Home Office that social services, education services, and the Immigration police would be consulted before the removal of a family.
Two documentaries have been made by the BBC about their campaign, one of which won the Nations and Regions Award in the Amnesty International UK Media Awards.[1]
In 2013 a musical was released at the Stratford East Theatre depicting the life of the Glasgow Girls.

 

 

More HERE

 

 

For THEATRE AND SHOWS IN GLASGOW

 

 

Ramblings of a free mind

This blog is written by a businessman from India interested in marketing, reading, cricket and certain applications on the Internet.

 

 

The above post contains a talk given by Steve Jobs, of Apple fame, at a Stanford University graduation ceremony. His talk consists of three stories from his own life. More HERE

 

For Cringley`s fascinating history of the nerds who developed the personal computer:    http://www.pbs.org/nerds/part1.html

 

 

A Blog from New Zealand

Here is a blog, one of two and you can easily go from one to the other, without a name, but does have beautiful photographs of New Zealand. Unfortunately Dave has either run out of inspiration or his new job is going to mean he`s too busy to blog.

  MORE HERE

 

 

                                     

Seven Hills

I`m not arty or crafty but I enjoy others who enjoy this sort of thing and write about it with illustrations:

This post was particularly good.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Design Your Life

Does anyone else think the democratization of design has gotten a little out of hand? Or maybe I mean the ubiquitization of design. I'm all for Target and its "design for all" mantra if it means I can get cute home goods instead of the plastic, "country casual" look from my youth, always featuring the color-choice troika of dusty rose, dusty blue, and off-white. But more and more there seems to be a lot of pressure for every aspect of one's life to be ... designed.

I first noticed an ad for the new magazine Blueprint from the folks at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia with a sense of foreboding. I should have been excited: they essentially had me in the crosshairs of their market segmentation. But the photograph of a geeky-chic model couple perched on their sleek, modern sofa screamed "focus group." It was trying much too hard. She with her bangs, indie ringer tee, and tapestry ballet flats. He with an ironic smirk, a collared shirt, and jeans, as though to say, "I am not so pretentious that I will overdress at my casual computer-industry workplace, but I am ambitious, so the quality of my casual clothes is really good." And a big framed photo of the couple's quirky pet dachshund hanging over the sofa.

I might be secretly curious about what the magazine had to offer, but I wouldn't be caught dead reading it in public.

I went back and forth for a minute when I saw it for sale at Walgreens. Then I decided I really wanted to see what Martha's staff thinks of my edgy-with-disposable-income generation, and how exactly the magazine would position itself.

Here's what Blueprint appears to think of us:

1) We have bad manners. How many "Do"s and "Don't"s does an aging hipster need? However many, it's more don'ts than dos, it seems. When you're at a party, don't cut down the hostess. Don't start thank you notes with the words "thank you." There's even an entire feature called "Behave Yourself" (don't double-dip, don't litter ...). I'm not sure whether it's meant to instruct its gentle readership or make us feel smug that we, too, recognize each heinous faux pas. Either way, it's clear that Blueprint thinks someone's in need of some etiquette training.

2) We're not interested in DIY. Wait, really? I thought this was the one admirable distinguishing characteristic of Gen Y. (Or am I Gen X? Gen XY? Somebody somehow missed my exact age group. We may have disposable income, but apparently not enough.) There's a big feature on making your own charm bracelets and necklaces ... without any info on actually making the jewelry. No diagrams of needle-nose pliers, jump rings, or clasp options. (This so completely goes against the grain of the Martha ethic, I almost wonder if that lady who walked out of the prison is an imposter.) The make-a-purse feature consists of instructions on tying a few knots in a scarf to make a sort of hobo sack. A clever idea, but one for hurried, impatient types, not someone who might be interested in investing time in a craft project.

3) We don't cook. The "entertaining" feature tells you how to buy pre-made stuff and arrange it on a table so it looks like party food.

4) We're cultural and intellectual dimwits. Blueprint suggests a list of seven hip albums to choose from when I arrange my next cocktail party, ranging from Beck to Serge Gainsbourg. It informs me that, just in case I was wondering, the expression "mano a mano" does not mean "man to man." Announcing "I'm all about ..." whatever it is you're all about is deemed "tired," but adding "-tastic" to the end of a word ("This brie is cheese-tastic!") is "inspired." Not only do I feel patronized, I feel patronized by a publication that thinks "tired" is a fresh and original heading for an In/Out list.

I would like this magazine more if it started with an assumed base-level of intelligence and personal taste on the part of its readers. Obviously someone who buys this magazine at least cares about aesthetic matters, even if they feel the need for some guidance. Perhaps the magazine truly is targeting absolute beginners, those who want to live in a West Elm catalog but don't know where to start, but even if that's the case, I can't imagine anyone would find the publication's condescending tone appealing.

Even worse than the assumption of cluelessness is the apparent assumption of laziness. The selection of features suggests that while we may care about looking like we have our lives together - care desperately, it seems - we'll be damned if we have to work for it. The overall aim of this magazine seems to be to tell its audience not how to "design" a life, but how to purchase one.

And conveniently enough, a modest but notable number of the suggested products in Blueprint's pages are made by one branch or another of Martha Stewart Living.

Tobitoon Blog

For anybody who is still interested in cartoons or who used to watch cartoons as a child - who didn`t? -, this blog should have some interest.

Finding an early observation:  One thing I have noticed over my lifetime is that cartoons are not quite the same.  I remember the Disney cartoons and how I used to marvel at the skill of the artists and those soft flowing figures which passed frictionless into their surroundings. Cartoons changed at some point, obvious to my generation, because the characters no longer flowed like that. They became more jerky and jagged. Later cartoonists have modified these effects somewhat.

There are a stream of specialists in the cartooning industry.  There are those who deal with flow, movement and continuity and those who deal with the actual outlines of the characters.

 

 

More Here

From the Capital

I grabbed From the Capital  for no other reason than it was well written and seemed to be saying something although I could not quite understand it. Here`s a snapshot of the post.

 

 

 

Like other bloggers, he starts off prolific and then seems to slow down. Is that because life catches up with these bloggers? Silly question.

 

 

Deepak writes of far away places and although there are no photographs he brings each place to life with his observations.



Schlagerblog

This blog comes by way of the Schlagerboys who take a tongue in cheek look at the Eurovision Song Contest and aim to get as much publicity for themselves as they can in the process.

 

 

Lots of detail about the competition and plenty of glitzy photographs but unfortunately no music. 

So here is the link: Eurovision Song Contest 2013

For anybody with the patience the Schlagerboys can be spotted in the audience.

Djenne Djenno

Every now and then there`s a blog which raises an interest and after tracking back a little through the blog I found this from the blogger herself:

Before leaving for our holiday I wrote in my diary:

 

‘It is Christmas Eve 2005, nearly 6 in the morning.

 I will go to Africa on Boxing Day. Maybe I won’t come back. Something will happen in Africa, I think- something which will change, or end my life. ‘

I was right. Something did happen in Africa. I found a totally new life which lay there, waiting for me to discover it.

The blog can be found  HERE

kulpop

Not a very productive POP MUSIC BLOG but nicely set out.

Finding random blogs brings random information. The blogger is from Canada but one of the musicians mentioned on the first page is Danny Shah, 19 at the time, from Glasgow. I come from Glasgow but I had never heard of him but then I do not tune into pop music and he is still trying to make a name for himself

Here`s the link to his music channel on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWb_DmQYZfs&list=UUBz-s38Gge-wT7eyas7tGHw

The only boy in the house

This is a family blog but written by a Dad.

 

 

There is a simplicity about it and I like the sense of space. Wordpress does seem to allow line spacing that makes for an easier read. Posts are not too long and and are illustrated by a simple photograph.

 

Dad blogs about his two little girls and is amazed at how quickly they develop. What he is doing is building a record of their lives, those moments that stand out but which pass all too quickly. A nice way of doing it in this technological age.

 

The blog can be found HERE

 

 

 

 

Sitzblog 2

 I was able to navigate my way to the review of THE LOVELY BONES easily enough by hitting the tab at the top SITZBOOKS.

 

Here are some of his comments:

 

"The Good: It's a well-written book for the most part, and I was glad I finally got a chance to read it since I'd heard about it for a while. The story has sad, depressing elements mixed with a bit of suspense. Plus, it's set in the 70s, so that's cool although a bit inexplicable. Does Sebold think she's the Tarantino of bestselling books?

The not-so-good : The way Sebold wraps up the story wasn't terribly satisfying, in my opinion. Also, it's kind of creepy to think that dead people can follow us, watch our every move, and read our thoughts. That seems to have been a more interesting direction for this book, but it never quite went there."

  

 What interested me in what was Sebold`s first novel was that I had first read her autobiography which I found disappointing.  On the other hand, her novel was well written and structured and it was apparent she felt more comfortable in the world of fiction. Dead people cannot comment on the living I heard people say when they criticized the book but I felt they were taking things too literally. What this fictional device allowed Sebold to do was to engage with the characters in a much more intimate way. It actually opened up interesting possibilities for the narrative.

 

Creepy it was in places if you like that sort of thing, which I do, as long as it`s set in a warmer and more comfortable background.

 

Sitzblog

In Blogger and using the NEXT BLOG tab it`s possible to hit a blog at random and here`s one.

 

 

I immediately liked the colour and stayed for a while. Obviously masculine because of the colour but not the predictable black which made it interesting.

 

The blog was neat, but as I read the introduction the white typeface on the background did not work for me - it could have been better, but was not so distracting that it mattered very much. Scrolling down to get a feel for what this blog was about I noticed the list on the left. It was a list of books and to the right I noted the word REVIEW. So this blogger was a reader and liked to tell his readers what he thought about the books he read. I noted he had read THE LOVELY BONES by A Sebold..

 

I have read THE LOVELY BONES and was going to come back to have another look.

 

First impressions matter.