Journal Entries
I'm Twelve Today
Posted Jul 25, 2015
After all these years I have finally remembered my h2g2 birthday on the actual day
Ace's Welcome F132503?thread=299642
We should really have a cross fingers smiley
I have enjoyed logging on here and I hope it continues forever.
to all
F 
S
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Latest reply: Jul 25, 2015
Adventure!
Posted Apr 11, 2015
I just spent the morning in a 'cattle call', something I haven't done in over 20 years.
For those outside the film industry it is usually called an 'open casting opportunity'
When producing a film there are usually hundreds of people needed to fill in the background of various scenes. They need to be dressed and made-up for the time period of the film, and be ready to perform the same actions many times until the director is satisfied with everyone’s performance.
The film (The Infiltrator) started shooting in London last January, proceeded to Paris, and is scheduled to be concluded in early May at Tampa. It is a story about the exposure of the Colombian drug lords.
As always the casting concluded with 'Don't call us, we may call you'.
If anything interesting comes from this I will post a follow-up report
Not as exciting as staring 'The Chaser', but I take what I can get
F S
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Latest reply: Apr 11, 2015
NaJoPoMo #30 30 days hath November
Posted Nov 30, 2014
We are already at the end of the Month, I only have to press the 'Store' button to complete the challenge!
Back on day 16 cactuscafe asked me a few questions about my writing the Leib stories. I thought this might be a good time to reflect over the last month.
The first decision I had to make was whether or not to commit to the project. I started by creating a folder in my h2g2 directory for NoJoPoMo. I then opened my text program (I use open Office, but that is not important) I made sure my spell check was set to British English, added a few blank lines and added my signature to the bottom. and saved the file as 00. I added a blank header line with the number 01 I saved a half dozen more copies numbered 01 to 06.
I then went back to 00 and wrote out my message for the sign-up thread. I still had no idea what I would write about so I just saved it on the hard drive. and started looking for interesting topics.
Fortunately November the first was on a Saturday so I could spend most of the day working on journals before I had to commit at F22143516 . I suppose no one will be surprised that I keep a few history book at hand. With a half dozen titles selected, and a few subjects in the back of my mind for when I needed to use them, I told my wife it was going to be a very busy month and I posted my message about noon.
I have tried to keep at least an Entry or two ahead, in case there was an evening when I could not spend an hour or two on the computer. I have tried to keep each post to between 300 and 600 words. I do reserve the right to post each day based on local time. 5 hours makes a huge difference.
When I first started I did not intend, or even think of, including the Leib stories, but I am glad I did. The Spanish explores were always my 'ace in the hole'.
The challenge of selecting a topic is always difficult, not because there are too few possibilities, but rather that there are so many to choose from. I have tried to make each one interesting and entertaining.
I personally liked using the Journal format, it makes it quite easy to review past postings as I go, and it keeps the comments under the proper section. The main drawback for me is not being able to edit the posting afterwards. I find myself previewing a half dozen times, making minor corrections and there still some word or punctuation mark you see after it's posted that you wish you could change.
If anyone does not want to read my postings it only takes a few keystrokes to unsubscribe, really I won't mind. I will be unhappy if you insist on being rude to the other guests in my thread.
It has been great to get back into regular writing. Hopefully I will get a few Entries into Peer Review in the near future.
Thank you for reading, I hope you have found at least a few of them entertaining.
F S
PS I do apologize for not responding to all of the fine Entries and postings I have read, thank you all for your time and efforts.
Discuss this Journal entry [6]
Latest reply: Nov 30, 2014
NaJoPoMo #29 Eclectic
Posted Nov 29, 2014
A word for the day, 'Eclectic' forgive me if I am boring you, but I do not see any good entries on the subject.
It occurred to me that my Entries here could be described by this term. (both Journal and Guide)
In philosophy, music, teaching, design and many other collections of ideas, an eclectic approach is a combination of what you consider to be the best of several different schools of thought.
'You can not pick and choose what you like' is a common phrase that is rejected by an eclectic approach. Classical structure requires all things in a collection to have shared roots. A musical collection that contains Classical, Jazz, Big Band and Rock and Roll selections is eclectic.
When I was younger we were poor and tended to furnish our rooms with whatever we could find, at garage sales, second hand stores and the discount bargain aisles. Styles that matched were a luxury, chairs, tables, bookcases and the rest were a necessity. When asked about our decor we would tell people we used the style of 'Good Will' modern (Good Will is a charity in the US that sells items people donate to help disabled workers).
Then I took a course in interior design! The prestigious 'Beaux-Arts' school in Paris decided in the late 19th century that mixing and combining styles was the art form of the future. We had moved into the bold confident style that was sweeping the world, and we didn't even know
Now, when I get up from the laptop on my Georgian desk, walk past my wife's over-stuffed recliner and the flat screen television to fetch a book from my glass fronted Edwardian bookcase, I know I have achieved a true modern decor. And it is still cheaper then buying a matched suite at the local furniture store. I have even added an electric Franklin stove (with built in heater) to sit on my colonial dry-sink as the weather turns a bit chilly.
F S
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Latest reply: Nov 29, 2014
NaJoPoMo #28 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Posted Nov 28, 2014
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings is arguably Florida's favourite author. Like so many in the State, she relocated here from 'up north' and made it her home.
She was born on 8 August, 1896 in the city of Washington DC. Her father was an attorney who worked in the Federal Patent Office. Marjorie spent her summers on the family farm in nearby Maryland where she learned to work on the farm and the pleasures of a rural life. She started writing at a young age and had several letters and stories published in the Washington Post newspaper as a young teen.
After her father passed away in 1913, she and her mother moved to Wisconsin, to be near her mother's family, who also ran a farm. Marjorie attended the University to study drama and writing. It was there she met Charles Rawlings. She moved to New York City during World War I. In 1919 she married Charles Rawlings, who was also a writer. They spent 10 years working together at a newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky.
Then, in 1928, Marjorie's mother died and left her a small inheritance. It was enough to let her purchase a 72 acre orange grove and farm in the small settlement of Cross Creek, Florida. Her home is about a 30 minute drive north of the city of Ocala. She split her time between working the farm and writing. She also took time the to meet her neighbours and listen to their stories and gossip.
After five years living in the remote country Charles had had enough and insisted on returning to the citiy, they were divorced in 1933. Marjorie continued tending the farm and started writing about the land and her neighbours.
Her most famous novel is almost certainly 'The Yearling' which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. It is the story of a 12 year old boy and his pet deer. In the end he learns about the responsibilities of adulthood. Her descriptions of the land in Central Florida are almost as important as the people living there.
In her semi-biographical novel 'Cross Creek' she raised the ire of one neighbour, who she considered to be a close friend. The neighbour sued her for libel over one of the passages she felt identified her as the character in the story. Marjory won the initial case, but on appeal, the court awarded the complainant a single dollar in damages. Although she continued to write, she no longer placed any of her stories in the back country of Florida.
In 1941 she married Norton Baskin and moved into his hotel in St Augustine. She continued her writing while he managed the hotel.
On 15 December, 1953 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine, Florida.
Her home in Cross Creek is open for visitors as a State Historic Site, for a modest fee you can visit and tour the cottage and barn, as well as a walk through part of the grove.
F
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Latest reply: Nov 28, 2014
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