Monday 22 October 2012

Getting creative with the challenges.


I'm getting back into my creative processes in a big way whilst being umenployed and doing a lot of experimentation with different craft methods. Obviously I'm still making and (eventually) selling my jewellery, but I've been knitting again and trying out patchwork. I joined a craft group last month called "Crafty So and Sews" who meet down the road from home.  We do a themed project every month and this month's was Halloween. I had a go at making a patchwork hanging with felt applique and started first with hand stitching and then machine work and embroidery to finish it off. I'm quite pleased with the results. I get to unveil it on thursday at the meeting.

 I'm also planning on making preserves and chutneys for family and friends. I'm looking up recipes and working out what I'm going to need. I suppose its a way to keep myself busy and use some of my spare time doing something practical. It also gives me more practical items to add to presents for later in the year. My younger Brother moves out to live with his girlfriend at the end of the month (my folks are having a street party to celebrate... only joking) I'm going to do them a few bits for their new place but am stuck for ideas. Was thinking about making cheese straws, breadsticks and salsa type dips and something with some of my home grown chillis and a bottle of wine. Any other ideas would be so welcome.

Monday 8 October 2012

getting stuff done, an update,

am trying to change my approach to projects now. Admittedly I have about ten things I need to sort out right now and no way of prioritising them. these include,


  • finishing the Sins trilogy (Mine and Husbeast's horror series)
  • finishing the crochet projects I've stashed upstairs for future use.
  • making the scarves from the knitting kits I bought from the 99p shop a couple of weeks back.
  • finishing that scraper foil set I bought last weekend in a fit of boredom.
  • reading most of the books I've set aside upstairs.
  • planning and making my new jewellery ranges 
  • top to bottom cleaning of our flat including washing the carpets.
  • setting up the overlocker with black thread and testing it out.
  • making the cloaks for sale that i've been ignoring since last year.
  • sorting out the boxes from the front door hallway and cleaning out the cupboard under the stairs.

Friday 21 September 2012

Starting new things.

I have this innate ability to start projects, get bored of them and cast them aside, especially when my mood is low or I'm distracted by real life infiltrating my spare time. I am a mass of unfinished projects forever put on hold or simply cast by the wayside for something newer, more interesting or easier to do.  I jump to the next project gaily then run out of steam pretty quickly which in my growing awareness of my habits is infuriating me.

I am trying to change my approach to projects now. Admittedly I have about ten things I need to sort out right now and no way of prioritising them. these include,

  • finishing the Sins trilogy (Mine and Husbeast's horror series)
  • finishing the crochet projects I've stashed upstairs for future use.
  • making the scarves from the knitting kits I bought from the 99p shop a couple of weeks back.
  • finishing that scraper foil set I bought last weekend in a fit of boredom.
  • reading most of the books I've set aside upstairs.
  • planning and making my new jewellery ranges 
  • top to bottom cleaning of our flat including washing the carpets.
  • setting up the overlocker with black thread and testing it out.
  • making the cloaks for sale that i've been ignoring since last year.
  • sorting out the boxes from the front door hallway and cleaning out the cupboard under the stairs.
Not to mention the fact I have started researching and writing a gluten free cookbook as something to do in the evenings whilst Husbeast works out modifiers and stats for his RPG.

A new start is needed, no more procrastination, finishing what I've started and seeing it through to its conclusion. 

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Today has mostly be brought to you by...

Music is such a big part of my life, I can't live without it, it helps me with my anxiety issues (especially on public transport), lulls me to sleep and provides a soundtrack to my day.

These songs are some of my daily staples,

(apologies that half of these aren't official videos, youtube is a pain in the rear


)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday 17 September 2012

Is there anything like an original genre anymore?

#21 on the list is to write in an entirely new genre.

I have to question though, in an industry that completely compartmentalizes literature are there any original genres left? especially amidst so many sub genre definitions. I look at the themes and characters that typify popular fiction and think well, people are repeating that which they think is new and fresh when in reality there are only so many story lines and so many character profiles out there. I know this is nothing new, borrowing themes and stories from older texts has been accepted even in Shakespeare's day. I wouldn't establish it as out and out plagiarism, more a nod to what has gone before, but it makes me despair that there is little to no originality in literature anymore just story repetition and trendy genres.

I read widely but currently write in the horror and fantasy genre and I see this in proliferation. releases follow patterns,  I took a look in Waterstones at these sections and out of all the books typical themes/character the rise of the Paranormal Romance section has been one that I have watched with interest. Books like the "Twilight series" (makes me feel dirty just typing that without swearing), Charlaine Harris' "Sookie Stackhouse" books and the raft of other authors who have jumped onto the bandwagon for lucrative sales. They have followed authors like Kelley Armstrong whose Otherworld books got me back into horror books and at the time had inspired me that there was something other than the prolific writers like Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Fantasy follows similar thematic repetitions. There was a trend of Pauper turned powerful Mage books particularly in the past few years probably started originally by David and Leigh Eddings.

 I got bored of adult fantasy/horror books for some time and got into Young Adult fiction because there was at least some originality with the ideas coming through,. Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl" books, Darren Shan, Percy Jackson, have given me some hope for literature but there is a lot out there that doesn't pique my interest because it all reads the same. In Young Adult fiction though there is an underlying current of what the next "Harry Potter" of their subset will be, although no formal contender to the crown has come to the same level of sales and renown. I would peg books like "The Hunger Games" in this category but although they have a lucrative film deal, Panem and the deprivations of the Hunger Games world don't necessarily outweigh the imagination that is inspired by Hogwarts.But I digress,

Trendy themes also outweigh quality writing. Look at the current phenomenon of "50 Shades of Grey," which originated (allegedly) from Twilight fanfiction and reads like a shopping list of adjectives with some naughty words interspersed. Its main selling point is the frisson of an illicit dom/sub relationship. It has achieved through word of mouth from bored housewives/horny students/bandwagon jumpers what Mills and Boon have been quietly publishing in mass numbers for decades. It is acceptable smut which would have been unheard of in the decades where "Fanny Hill" and "Lady Chatterley's Lover" were banned. It has also refreshed the market for sex toys and bondage gear by its readership longing to try out what they'd just read about. It engenders though all that is wrong about modern literature and the disposable gratification of modern readership especially when if statistics are to be believed literacy is at an all time low.

So what can I surmise from all of this, I have to avoid the current trends, so vampires, werewolves, robots, "mummy porn", trauma stories and most of the fantasy stereotype themes are out. I am considering Young Adult or some type of researched fiction piece.  Any other suggestions - post in the comments,.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Today didn't start all that well...

I overslept for the first time in a long while. I was supposed to be at my training course at 11am but only surfaced around 11.30am. I had to rush about, remember to eat soemthing and finally got my ass down there by 1pm still in a half dopey state. At least today became productive. I did my ECDL word-processing module exam and scored 94% and then 99% on my assignments and then started on my Excel module.

 I've spent part of this evening doing the plod of searching for a day job and cooking something epic for dinner. Husbeast is a roast potato fiend, there are no such things as leftovers when I cook them. I am cooking them with some chicken wrapped in bacon and embracing domesticity by getting more washing done whilst listening to Smodcast in the background www.smodcast.com I've currently got the latest "Fatman on Batman" podcast on at the moment and I'm going to get into the routine of doing some writing later. I am aiming to do at least 500 words a night where possible and do more if I can.

Aside from domesticity I have been doing a little thinking.There's a cliched saying about turning into one's mother and I am halfway between embracing this inevitability and sometimes I feel like it's tempered with the fact I have equal influence with my father's odd little quirks as well. He has this habit of picking up odd things off the pavement if it looks shiny or interesting. I've capitalised on this myself - have found money this way before including a very shiny pound coin earlier today. I should be concerned that I have to work on using fewer one word sentences and having the odd "brainfart" with word finding like he does occasionally. Dad is the king of malapropisms - Titanum becomes "tittitanium", a latte used to be a "latex" and when I used to slope upstairs to ignore the world as a teenager I was always called "anti-unsociable" From Mum I suppose I'm truly embracing my inner child though not to her extent. Mum is admittedly on her umpteenth childhood especially as she's been working with children for nearly twenty years.

 I suppose it's all a learning curve, I need to take things less seriously and become not necessarily more childish, but still have a sense of childish wonder and fun in situations, make myself understood and take notice of my surroundings because the small details can lead to something lucrative or interesting coming along.

Monday 10 September 2012

Weighing in for the first time.

As part of the challenge I'm aiming to lose at least 30kg and keep it off over the year. I'll be updating this bit monthly because I don't want to obsess about it. Admittedly I am a big girl and I feel unhealthy at present because I've spent the past few months doing very little. It's a moot point. I have PCOS (polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) which means that weight loss is often difficult as my body is naturally insulin resistant which means that certain dieting fads aren't a good idea. I am going back into eating a Low GI diet which means more whole grain products, less sugar and eating foods that offer slow release sustained energy. Because I cannot afford a gym membership I've made it an aim to go on a long brisk walk each day and mess about on my Wii - we have Just Dance and Wii Sports. I am doing pretty well on this so far. Already told Husbeast I'll be going running with him by the end of this year.

Sunday 9 September 2012

Day 1 as a 30 year old. Need to act my shoe size* rather than my age.

(*size uk 7 by the way)

I spent most of yesterday hanging out with family, visiting Bluewater to buy a few books. Gamestation to buy Pandora's Tower on the Wii, having a meal at a gorgeous restaurant called Bartellas in Meopham (www.bartellas.com - if you're interested in going there, they also do a gluten free menu)  and then chilling out and having a relatively early night with my Husbeast.

Today we went down to Rochester and took photos around Rochester Castle and the Cathedral precincts,
Rochester Castle

In the Cathefral Precincts

walked through to Chatham and mall-ratted around the shops. I am keeping with my aim of doing more walking even though KFC beckoned for lunch. Got home and started on Pandora's Tower. I am not usually a console player so it's taking some time for me to get used to the controls although the anime graphics and playable imagery is impressive for most of the Wii games  I've seen so far. I got the special edition as well with the tin, art book and guide. It keeps me occupied whilst I lust after Guild Wars 2 as I neither have the cash for it, nor the PC adequate for it. Tonight we are watching tv, fussing over the furkids (they heard the rattle of a packet when dinner arrived and are extra inquisitive now) and I'm struggling with what else to write.





Maybe I need to write a bit more about me,

I am a self confessed nerd, mostly into horror, sci-fi and fantasy books. I play D and D weekly with friends, we play a system created by our D.M (which I won't describe in too much detail because he's looking to publish it one day) and collect tabletop RPG game books, share my Husbeast's sword collection and have a varied musical taste ranging from heavy metal, punk, gothic music and more mainstream stuff. I can talk gothic fiction themes til the cows come home and have regular manic creative blasts of energy which I'm currently focusing into my jewellery making and trying to set up my own business and maintaining my website,


I also write and have three novels on the go and a planned piece for NaNoWriMo for the first time ever although I've been plagued with writers block for a while which is slowly lifting. My other hobbies are cultivating chillis, rat wrangling (we have three very affectionate furkids) and needlework crafts (crochet, knitting and loom knitting.)

I am currently unemployed, and trying to find a day job for the time being to pay the boring things in life like rent and bills and finding alternatives to help me overcome anxiety and depression at times.

Monday 3 September 2012

Just Five days to go.


I'll be honest and say I'm feeling lousy with mood swings and anxieties, but that seems to be how my mind is coping with being out of work, fluctuating in depressive moods and with a short attention span for anything but books and making things and even then I have to be in the creative/bookworm mood. Saturday starts the clean slate and the beginning of the list. I am trying to work out how to do this. A daily posting? or do I do a weekly summary or something less structured. I also am trying to plan out some of the activities such as giving blood as they need registration first. I am going to try and get hold of a video camera to do some v-log posts along the way as it will break things up from the wall o' text format. 

I've set up the ticker for my weightloss goal. It's only a simple HTML thing from ticker factory, but it does the job well unless doing the ECDL course over the next few weeks gives me some insight into making my own one or a friend helps out.

Saturday 1 September 2012

The second 15.


  1.  Complete at least the first of the Sins trilogy.(not at the same time as NaNoWriMo) 
  2.  Walk 30 miles in one day. 
  3.   Learn how to Podcast. Produce a semi-regular posting
  4. Get back into art using a wide array of mediums. Create 3 pieces and exhibit them. Then sell them for charity.
  5. Take the time to hand make or put a unique spin on gifts for people.  
  6.    Write in an entirely new genre to you,   
  7.     Set up my own business and make enough to not need a “day job”  
  8.   Do some voluntary work.  
  9.   Practice random acts of kindness. (unfortunately a cliché but, the sentiment is there) 
  10.   Rediscover your inner child. 
  11. Embrace your spiritual side. (NOT meaning religion, but an awareness of self and place in the world.) 
  12.  Learn to function in this world despite the mental drain that is depression and find a therapeutic outlet   that isn’t necessarily medication or medically orientated CBT. 
  13. Set up a friends reunion and catch up with people that have been away for years.    
  14. Watch the sun set on 7th Sept 2013 and rise on 8th Sept 2013.  
  15.  Get the years experiences published in a print media.

Thursday 23 August 2012

Suggestions needed.

Ok readers out there, I need suggestions for the " do 30 new activities in the space of the year" bit of the list.  Firstly let me point out I am a wuss, so a suggestion like "Go on the UK's largest rollercoaster" would also count as my scary moment for that month. I am game for most things though.

Give me some good suggestions please.

Wednesday 22 August 2012

The first 15 on the List.


  1.  Lose 30lb in weight (and keep it off) stage 2 – if that’s too easy, lose 30kg
  2. Take 30 minutes each day to reflect on the positive and record it somewhere.
  3. Do 30 new activities in the space of a year.  
  4.  Keep a photo record and blog of the whole year.  
  5.     Do at least one thing a month that scares you.  
  6.    Practice a musical instrument and do a 30 min set by the end of the year at an open mic night.  
  7.    Give blood at least once. (no excuses, no more tattoos until it’s done) 
  8.   Learn 30 words /phrases in another language (not French, German or Spanish) and practice them on a native speaker. 
  9.  Travel as far as you can on £30.30 (and include the return journey). photograph the journey, destination and modes of transport used. (must use more than one type of public transport)  
  10. Whilst doing #9. Explore the area you’ve arrived at. Spend no more than £30.30 on food, presents for people and buy a memorable item to blog about. 
  11.  Cook a 3 course themed dinner for the whole family at the halfway point  
  12.  Raise at least £300.30 in the space of the year for Charity. Find new and inventive ways of raising the money. 
  13.  Spend more time with keeping in touch with friends and family, write actual letters and send them snail mail.  
  14.   Learn to accept that the person you were made you the woman you are today. Life experiences are valuable and not necessarily all positive. Ensure that you have learnt equally from the positive experiences and the negative ones. 
  15. Attempt NaNoWriMo in November.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Setting up the Just Giving Accounts.

With less than a month to go it's starting to feel real. I set up the Just Giving Accounts for the Charities I want to support and I'm still working on the List. Please feel free to donate to the charities. For some reason I can't put both Charities on the same page so here are the links below.

 For Ovarian Cancer Action go to,

https://www.justgiving.com/Emma-Pett82

For the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation go to,

https://www.justgiving.com/Emma-Pett1982

Please give generously because I will too and don't forget to gift aid donations.

Monday 13 August 2012

The Origins of the List

I turn 30 in just under a month on the 8th September. This past year has been a rollercoaster of grief, health issues, work issues and burn out and I felt just over a month ago that it was time for a change, time for a challenge and to do something worthwhile which is where the 30 things list came into being. I took some inspiration from this article,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2182280/A-modern-rite-passage-How-mother-set-13-year-old-son-13-ticklish-tasks-grown-was.html  which detailed a Mum's challenges to her 13 year old son as a means of teaching him valuable skills, pick up new hobbies and gain some independence and thought maybe I could learn some lessons from it and use them in my own way.

I started by thinking about what I wanted to achieve out of this, did I want wholly personal goals? Something altruistic? Did I want to share it with the world at large? I knew there were some goals that I needed to do, the first being raising money for Ovarian Cancer Research  (Ovarian Cancer Action) http://lovewomen.tributefunds.com/  and for a Lung Cancer charity http://www.roycastle.org. in memory of my Grandmother Elsie Bailey and my Mother in Law Elizabeth Pett who both passed away in September 2011. The second set of goals were to work upon my own health and well being as I have been troubled with anxiety and depression for some time and wanted to embrace a healthier and happier me. Other goals on the list are to promote communication, travel and creativity as well as learning new skills and a language. It is still a fluid work in progress. I have 17 of the 30 goals/tasks written up and am currently thinking of the remainder.

Ultimately by blogging about it I am looking for encouragement and support over the year. I can promise some entertaining posts, quirky observations, bad photography (still not great with a digital camera) and above all the chance to share my experiences with the world and come out of this unscathed.