Gemma

Ah, the funeral was today. It was awful, sad, poignant, I sobbed my heart out.

Farewell to the trees,
and flowers,
To mountain, and stream, and dell,
Farewell to the glorious sunlight,
To the moon and stars, "Farewell"

Songbirds - October at the Bedford

Wow.

We had an amazing evening last night at the Bedford. We met up with scrummy Wordweaver and her hilariously funny partner, A for an evening of chat and good music. Niki hosted the show case and sounded incredibly sexy, complete with tonsilitus so she didn't sing with her co-partner in crime - Been. But she fizzed with energy and introduced the artists with humour and good grace.

A few people didn't show up to the gig, mostly because they were flat-out sick with flu, the other excuse was a heartbreaking break-up that very morning by one of the artists with her partner. However, this shaky start did not deter from a brilliant evening.

The highlights were Sweet Laredo - this duo from Brisol has a diversity that is utterly mesmerising. The lead singer, Sarah Scott and her accompanying good friend on guitar, Dan Coggins utterly rocked the house with a bit of country, a bit of jazzy rock a bit of gospel. Sarah is a funky lead singer - she grins, the audience grins, her humour is as infectious as is her vocals. She seriously belts out the songs with great gusto and from this small lady, comes a very big voice. Excellent stuff.

Niki introduced October next. I tried finding her on myspace but am not sure if I am missing a surname somewhere for her. Her music however is folksy, a bit angry, a bit cheeky and she will no doubt be someone to watch in the future as Niki read a few reviews from different folk festivals October had played at and they were all rave reviews. It would be interesting to watch this young 23 year old artist grow and see how far she makes it.

Eliza Wren Payne stepped up next - and my god, when I come back I want this girl's legs and talent. She is funny, quirky and her musical talent is something to boggle your mind. Her voice is light and airy with a range that astounds. Her songs, all written by her, carry a unique wistful quality that makes your eyes water. She stood there, her posture ramrod straight, guitar slung across her like shoulder, gave the audience this quirky grin and set off to entertain. Listening to her, I realised that Songbirds is doing something truly unique, showcasing talented young female artists. The exposure these young women are getting is increasing their profile in the music industry and slowly but surely they will make it big. We bought a copy of Eliza's 7 song album for a fiver and drove home listening to it. It is as funky and fun as she is, as quirky and a perfect "noise" for a cold winters evening. It was great.

Three young artists also performed, known as the Revelations. They are young, pretty and very talented. Eventhough I enjoyed their music, I wasn't struck by them as much as I was by say, Eliza or Sweet Laredo. Revelations have got a single coming out at the end of November and I wish them the best of luck. I think, once they have grown a bit, once they are more relaxed in their role as performers, they will be taking the music industry by storm. Their second set was much better than their first. You go girls and all the luck to you.

We drove home last night, filled with music and positive vibes - I have come to love our monthly music fixes with Niki and Been. Two great ladies who should both be receiving rewards for their service to the music industry.

Oh, and if Niki reads this - happy birthday for this coming Saturday! You don't look older than a fresh virginal 18 year old.

More words!!

Have written in excess of 11,ooo words. Mark has read it and professed it good. I am pleased. In the course of my research into all things Trojan and Spartan, I found this incredible poem.

Spartan Soldier

It is beautiful when a brave man of the front ranks,
falls and dies,
battling for his homeland,
and ghastly when a man flees
planted fields and city
and wanders begging
with his dear mother,aging father, little children and true wife.

He will be scorned in every new village,
reduced to want and loathsome poverty;
and shame
will brand his family line,
his noblefigure.
Derision and disaster will hound him.

A turncoat gets no respect or pity;
so let us battle for our country
and freely giveour lives
to save our darling children.

Young men, fight shield to shield
and never succumbto panic or miserable flight,
but steel the heart in your chests
with magnificence and courage.

Forget your own life
when you grapple with the enemy.

Never run
and let an old soldier collapse
whose legs have lost their power.

It is shocking when an old man lies
on the front line
before a youth:
an old warrior whose head is white
and beard gray, exhaling his strong soul
into the dust, clutching his bloody genitals
into his hands:
an abominable vision,
foul to see: his flesh naked.

But in a young man
all is beautiful when he still
possesses the shining flower of lovely youth.

Alive he is adored by men,
desired by women, and finest to look upon
when he falls dead in the forward clash.

Let each man spread his legs,
rooting them in the ground,
bite his teeth into his lips,
and hold.

Colour!

Check out this advert - the same guy who did the bouncing balls around San Fran - this is totally mind blowing stuff.

70,000 litres of paint
358 single bottle bombs
33 sextuple air cluster bombs
22 Triple hung cluster bombs
268 mortars
33 Triple Mortars
22 Double mortars
358 meters of weld
330 meters of steel pipe
57 km of copper wire

Sad news this morning:

I received such heart breaking news this morning. A young, beautiful, vibrant, funny, talented and special lady whom I used to work with at my previous company, had passed away.

She had meticulously planned for it, leaving a letter for her parents, booked herself into a hotel on Monday morning and taken an overdose of her grandmother's pills which she had kept from everyone. Together with a lot of alcohol she said goodbye to the world.

I am stunned. I have, admittedly, not spoken to her for about two months but had never for one nanosecond thought that she would be the type to commit suicide. Her funeral will be next week Thursday - having spoken with her dad, he said that the world had lost a very good actress as she kept up such an amazing front, only very rarely giving in to her depression. Her family, of course knew of her battle. The rest of us only glimpsed it.

Farewell sweetest friend, she of the bright laugh, the holidays in Italy, the mad singing of Abba songs, the irrepressable Barry Manilow fan. You will be missed, more than you will ever know. Its as if life has become a bit less bright without you.

I knew she liked Christina Rosetti's work and this poem I found for her.

I hope you have found the peace you sought.

When I Am Dead, My Dearest

When I am dead, my dearest,

Sing no sad songs for me;

Plant thou no roses at my head,

Nor shady cypress tree:

Be the green grass above me

With showers and dewdrops wet;

And if thou wilt, remember,

And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,

I shall not feel the rain;

I shall not hear the nightingale

Sing on, as if in pain:

And dreaming through the twilight

That doth not rise nor set,

Haply I may remember,

And haply may forget.

Words!

Pat on the shoulder to me today - after taking the dog for a walk, coming back, deciding that it would be a good idea to make chocolate muffins and then making a lunch of some toasties and watching Munic on Sky, Mark and I retired upstairs.

He continued killing things online, I wrote my little heart out. Around three thousand words. Good words too. Go me.

Nervous giggle.

Now for that crucial 97,000 words to go. Approximately.

Sumat to howl about

Hah - new look for the old site...realised I had the candy coloured look for almost a year and I am being faithful to my own lunacy and have decided to change it...it probably won't stay looking like this for very long either - eventough I love the look of the howling wolf, I am wondering if its me...

Anyway.

So, spent an interesting day mucking around with wireless broadband. Am sitting wireless on the couch in the lounge feeling very Johnny Mnemonic (without the creepy shit in my brain) wondering what tomorrow and the next 2 weeks will hold.

Yep. I am on holiday. As is the Mark. Two weeks. Our first holiday this year. For longer than a day, or two, for that matter.

So, in a stupid fit of insanity and inspired by an author whom I admire, I went and joined this November writing thing called Nanowrimo - National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. Its international. I have joined the London set. Apparently there is a bit of, you know, prestige to it as there is a thing called Word Wars - yep, country against country and within its counties against counties or states vs states. You get the idea. So exciting and scary. But fun. Nervous giggle.

Yep, I am completely insane, howling mad. But hey, as they say, it will force you to be creative and such like. And, the way I see it, it will help tremendously with just getting thoughts out there - its not quality that counts in this instance, but quality. Hmmm. I know. As a someone who likes writing and writing well enough not to go gagging over a bin at the quality of it, this is going to be tricksy. But fun. More nervous laughter...its been equated to a chess master playing speed chess - it messes you up. Just call me Lizzy Kasparoff.

As for the rest of the holiday planned - not a clue. We will be going to a local Kent brewery though, for a tour and a tasting. Naturally this is for Mark as I can't stand the stuff myself but the way I see it: its an adventure, its local (Faversham) and its relatively cheap at £7! I also want to go to the Tate, British AND London Museum, the movies, walk along the river, maybe Brighton, maybe Cambridge and Oxford again. In fact, just everywhere and anywhere - and read a lot and sleep a lot and write as much as I can. Oh and tinker with the different websites. I even tinkered with My Favourite Books one too - go me!

Will no doubt be around to tell the world of the exciting life and times of Liz, Mark and Sparrow - on holiday.

Visits to the park

Early mornings, the park and some scenes that refreshes you for the day ahead...hmmmm. The pirate, well, he was accidental, but very cool.

Day off...

No Jeans for Genes day for me! I have got a day's holiday - a forced holiday because a) the gasman is coming around "sometime during the morning" and b) I get to go to the dentist in the pm. Yay me.

But, I am planning to use the time constructively to write. I finished in excess of two thousand plus words on Sunday, and I am keen on continuing. I have a clear idea of what I would like to happen - lets see if it does!

Other news is: I wore a scarf with my jacket today. I was icy cold when I took the Sparrowmaticus out to run in the park this morning and I couldn't bear the trip down to the station and not being warm...the train driver compensated though by having the heating on...off came the scarf and jacket.

I also saw two Irish wolf hounds in the park this morning - they were gorgeous. Sparrow felt intimidated by their size and ran away from them. I didn't spot the kestrel I have been trying to take pictures of all week, having spotted him each morning - the day I take my camera out...no sign of the bloody bird. Go figure.

On the way home Sparrow and I stumbled across a young boy dressed as a pirate - yep, dressed up as Cap'n Jack "Savvy" Sparrow, the young lad looked fab. He was all of seven or eight years old and looked fantastic. If I remember to download the pictures I will post it on here. Another reason to take your camera with you.

Got to work and realised that my boss has seriously no people skills at all. This put me in a foul temper and I refused to speak to anyone in my team till after lunch - also note that boss had gone out on a "mysterious" errand which helped loads. Just seeing him had me entertaining a large client folder in the face dropped from a great height. Try and explain that to the "death in service" insurance people. "Sorry, I was cleaning the file when it went off. Five times, crushing his skull." Yeah, I don't think anyone will believe me either.

On the other hand, the book swopping business seems to be up and running at work which is seriously good news - we have expanded to two boxes of books now - varied selection of chick lit, murder, mystery and thrillers to a few odd sci-fi books and a Umberto Ecco which I had read years ago in hard cover. Thrilling things! I love books. I am now known as Mrs. Waterstones - I vetoed the "Librarian" title as I didn't relish being linked with Terry Pratchett's Librarian from his disc world series...I know I am not hairy enough to be an urangatang.

All from me for now. Go day off!

Rescued books

On Saturday past we were on our way to friends, around a half a block away from our destination, we drove past a charity shop and they were throwing books out, into a skip. I was amazed, almost in tears! I jumped out of the car, after ringing our friend and ordering her to bring bags - we were rescuing books.

We got to the two skips to find a small crowd of people there already. We asked the charity shop manager what was going on: too many books to sell and to display, so they would rather throw them out than try and rehome them in other shops or recycle them.

Stunned and amazed we filled bags with really good quality books - from kiddies Disney books to an old edition of Ernest Hemingway's works, to a compiled journal of poetry to modern novels - it was a smorgasboard of books. I figure that between the two of us, Almay and I carried away around 100 books. So many people stopped by and the books they picked up were of such a wide range - everything from Word and Microsoft XP manuals to DIY books, to cookery books. It was good to see though...but incredibly sad.

I have started a book exchange at work and have taken a load of the rescued books in to find new homes. PD James, John Gresham, Stephen King - all these authors will soon have someone else to entertain.

Poor books - fortunately most of them are safe. I reckon they tossed out around seven hundred books in those two skips. I don't think, having seen that, that my books will be going to charity shops again. If I can find someone to take them off my hands, I would rather do that. When I saw it happen it was my own personal hell, you know. Never again, charity shops, will you get my treasures I deign not to keep. They will be exchanged or stored, instead.