Saturday 30 July 2016

SoCS 30/7/16 - Art



If you would like to take part click here to visit Linda's site to post your link and find the links of other bloggers taking part. (The rules of the challenge are posted at the end of this post.)

 Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “art.” Write a post regarding “art,” be it an object or a name. Note: I’m not asking you to draw something, but if you’d like to, we’d love to see that too! Enjoy!

Hmm Art?  Well I don't have an artistic bone in my body so I definitely won't be posting pictures of any of my drawings.  Mainly because I don't draw.  Or paint, or sculpt or any other activity that constitutes art.  

But then what does constitute art?  It seems a very loose term given some of the modern art exhibits I've seen.  I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but often works of modern art are not in the least bit beautiful and, it seems to me, that it's a bit random as to how somebody can strive for years producing good paintings or sculptures for example but never get recognised as talented, and other people can throw a pile of bricks together or set up their (very messy) bed as a work of art and suddenly they are declared as masterpieces and the creators are famed and make fortunes.

Clearly there's no logic to it and of course art isn't logical although some works do follow logical patterns.  Give me a good landscape or portrait but don't give me a pile of s*&&t!

If my post offends you please accept my apology.  As I said, I'm not artistic but I do have an opinion and reserve the right to express it.


Here are the rules for this challenge:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!

Friday 29 July 2016

Friday Fave Five 29/7/16

http://susannesspace.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/fridays-fave-five-383.html

It's Friday so it's time to join in with Suzanne's Friday's Fave Five. 
 
It's a place to come on Fridays and think back over your week and just post about 5 favourite things from your week. It can be anything that tickled your fancy over the week. Favourite quotes, posts, happenings, scriptures, recipes, pictures, great internet finds, etc., etc.


If you want to take part or visit other Fave Five posts, click on the picture above to go to host Suzanne's site and check out the linky list.

Here are my 5 for this week:

1.  Family gatherings.  We had two last weekend.  Saturday we all got together to celebrate one of our nephew's 21st birthday plus his successful graduation from university.  His parents have a lovely house with a large garden and the weather was lovely so we were able to enjoy being outdoors.
The 3 youngest great niece and nephews, Poppy, Teddy and Flynn.
On Sunday one of our great nephews was baptised.  Another excuse for a get together.
Teddy slept through most of the proceedings - even when he got wet!

Poppy looking pleased with herself having pulled out her feeding tube.  A temporary relief for her.



2.  Friendships.  On Tuesday I got together with my "lunch ladies".  There are 4 of us who meet up regularly taking it in turn to host lunch.  Two of them are going through difficult times at the moment so it's good to be able to support them as I know they would support me if needed.

3.  Family support.  A few of us have set up a social network group this week to encourage each other as we attempt to get fit/lose weight or both!  I've been trying to walk every day and have succeeded this week but it's nice when we all report how we're doing and support one another.

4.  Reading.  It's good to have time to read.

5.  Car insurance.  Our car was damaged this week when a recovery truck crashed into our neighbour's car knocking it into ours.  Fortunately we're insured so the car is already at a garage to be repaired and we have a courtesy car in the meantime.


So a good week and our son and his wife are now safely back from a holiday in Vermont after attending a wedding in Syracuse.  It was nice to have the place to ourselves for a bit but it's also good to have them back.

Have a good weekend.

Friday Five News 29/7/16



This is a non-political post.  Hurray I hear you say.

So for LOCAL news I bring you this video clip of how to build a Crossrail train in 30 seconds.  Of course it takes a lot longer than that but it’s topical today as they began testing the new trains in Derby.  Crossrail, or the Elizabeth Line as it will be known, will be part of the London Underground system but it will also extend as far as Shenfield to the east and Reading to the west.  It will also connect to Heathrow.  The new trains will be air-conditioned and have Wi-Fi access.  They’ll need to be air-conditioned as although they can carry up to 1500 people only a third of that number can be seated. It’s particularly relevant to us as our local station is on the new line and when the service starts partial operation in May next year we will be on that first section of the line.  It won’t be fully open until 2019.  I’m looking forward to trying the trains out in person.

For an INTERNATIONAL story check out this smiling volcano in Hawaii.  It seems to be in quite an uninhabited area and it wasn’t reported as being a problem but I wouldn’t have wanted to get as close as some people seemed to be.   If you watch the video you can see some boats that are nearby but then spot the people on top of the cliffs!

In SPORT I’ve picked this article on inspirational people who are taking part in the RideLondon event this weekend.  Again it’s topical to me as we live so close to the Queen Elizabeth (Olympic) Park where the race will start.  If like me you’re a bit of a couch potato this might make you want to get on your bike!  (I am concentrating on building up my walking at the moment but I haven’t given up on the bike yet.)

Last week I mention Idris Elba in connection with James Bond and Idris crops up again in ENTERTAINMENT news as his latest film, Bastille Day, has been pulled following the recent events in Nice.  It seems the film was a bit too close to real life events.  I can understand the decision but it must be hard on all those who’ve worked on it to see it come to nothing.

Oops that was verging on the political and so is the story about the latest Whitehall cat.  If you do want to know more about Gladstone click here otherwise for MISCELLANEOUS  I bring you this music article on 11 song lyrics you probably won’t understand if you’re under 30.  Unfortunately I do remember transistor radios, televisions that only had 2 channels (yes 2!) cameras that used film, cassette tapes, video tapes, payphones, pagers and Woolworths.  The article is quite long but it’s pointing out how some song lyrics haven’t stood the test of time, particularly due to the advances in technology.  There’s also an interesting take on some Morrissey lyrics but as I promised not to talk about politics today I can’t possibly comment! (See #3 on the list if you can’t resist.)

All links are courtesy of the BBC website. Opinions are my own.

Have a great weekend.

A-Z Road Trip - Day 4 - 29/7/16

Post A-to-Z Road Trip 2016 

Today is day 4 of my A-Z Road trip, visiting those bloggers who also signed up.  You can check out the complete list here

I'm trying to visit at least 5 blogs on the list per week and post my thoughts here on my blog.  These are my thoughts and while I hope not to be less than constructively critical I definitely don't want to cause anyone offence.

I'm working through the even numbers first so today I'm continuing at:

#32 A quiet girl's musings of a world that talks too much

Well I started this post yesterday and got sidetracked with cooking dinner and when I returned to it today I got totally sidetracked by Ericka's blog.  Her theme for the A-Z Challenge was to have no theme so her posts were totally random and varied and I found myself working my way through them.  It helped that there was a tab on the page detailing the posts.

Ericka is an avid reader and takes part in several challenges that are updated on the blog which is worth checking out.

Unfortunately the prolonged stop there has thrown my schedule out.  I have a list of jobs as long as my arm plus my regular Friday blog posts to get done.  Hopefully I can get out on the road trip again over the weekend.

Wednesday 27 July 2016

Wednesday Hodgepodge 27/7/16



Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at 

Pop over there to see other posts and if you want to join in add the link to your Hodgepodge blog post to the Linky List at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list.
Have fun!    

1. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your summer so far? Why?
(1=eh and 10=best summer ever)

Probably a 6 about now – it’s been a long time coming weather wise and haven’t got any real holidays planned but it’s set to improve as we have 3 weddings and a family get together holiday before the end of August, so by then it’ll probably be a 9-10.
2. July 26th is National Aunts and Uncles Day. Did you have many aunts and uncles growing up? Were you especially close to any one or maybe all of them? Are you an aunt? (or uncle for the men who join here on Wednesdays) Share a favourite memory relating to one of your own aunts or uncles or relating to a niece or nephew who call you Aunt (or Uncle).

Well I had 3 sets of aunts and uncles on both my Mum and Dad’s sides of the family so 12 in all.  We were closer to those on Mum’s side and have many happy memories of holidays with them.  I was probably closer to the parents of my cousin Jill who is more like a sister to me as we often spent time together during school holidays.

I have 24 nieces and nephews including those on hubby’s side of the family and 11 great nieces and nephews. 
3. What's your favourite food dipped in chocolate? What's your favourite food dipped in cheese?
Salted caramel dipped in chocolate and I’d pass on the cheese.

4. When were you last astonished by something? Explain.  
Sunday night.  A recovery truck hit our neighbour’s car so hard it forced it into our car and we never heard a thing.  Fortunately another neighbour alerted us to the situation.
5. Surf board, paddle board, ironing board, Pinterest board, score board, clip board, bulletin board...which board have you most recently encountered?
That would be the ironing board!

6. What's your favourite story from scripture? Why that story?   
The Good Samaritan.  It’s one I remember easily and something I hope to be when I can.
7. If you were to travel from the east coast to the west coast in your own country, which five cities would you most want to see?

Well I’m going to cheat here and say North to South and then West (The UK is not very wide!)

John O’Groats / Aberdeen

Glasgow

Durham

Bath

Land’s End / Exeter

The ideal journey would be John O’Groats to Lands End but they’re not cities.
8. Insert your own random thought here.

Is it too late to nominate Michelle Obama for your President?  (Great speech at the DNC) Nice responses only please.