I think I've just seen God. He came in the miraculous form of a stop-motion film that has made me want to give up everything I'm doing and make a film myself.
The video came via the e-mails I get from the lovely people at Innocent Smoothies, and I watched it as a way to procrastinate. It starts a little slow, but then it just has some really great ideas and a funny little story.
I wish I was a musician and I could get this guy to do the video for my next single. I wish I had any way to give this guy a job. He's a genius who just made my day.
Friday, 24 April 2009
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Librivox
I believe I'm probably the very last person on earth to hear about this, but I just learned about Librivox.
I'm a bad sleeper and I find that the only way I can drift off is to listen to an audiobook. I choose my book carefully - it has to be something I don't actually want to read (because I want to save those books to hold in my hands and curl up around their lovely printy inkiness) but it has to be something I would consider reading if I were very short of books and had no access to others.
It's a bit of a hassle to go to the library to get these and then again to return them, so I was quite excited at the thought of Librivox.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it - downloading the books is quite a slow process and the catalogue isn't that easy to browse. Most significantly though, the voices of the people who record the books are just those of regular folk. The readers change every chapter and they're of variable quality, which I think would annoy me if I were sitting and listening to the whole thing. But it is better than a computer generated voice, and it's very easy to access, and after all, I do just listen to the books in little snippets.
I have a recording of EB White reading his Charlotte's Web, it is one of the most pleasing and comforting sounds I know. So, while I think I'll find Librivox useful when the library is feeling very far away or their selection isn't inspiring me, I think that the power of a good voice reading a book very well will always be an irresistible lure to me.
I'm a bad sleeper and I find that the only way I can drift off is to listen to an audiobook. I choose my book carefully - it has to be something I don't actually want to read (because I want to save those books to hold in my hands and curl up around their lovely printy inkiness) but it has to be something I would consider reading if I were very short of books and had no access to others.
It's a bit of a hassle to go to the library to get these and then again to return them, so I was quite excited at the thought of Librivox.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it - downloading the books is quite a slow process and the catalogue isn't that easy to browse. Most significantly though, the voices of the people who record the books are just those of regular folk. The readers change every chapter and they're of variable quality, which I think would annoy me if I were sitting and listening to the whole thing. But it is better than a computer generated voice, and it's very easy to access, and after all, I do just listen to the books in little snippets.
I have a recording of EB White reading his Charlotte's Web, it is one of the most pleasing and comforting sounds I know. So, while I think I'll find Librivox useful when the library is feeling very far away or their selection isn't inspiring me, I think that the power of a good voice reading a book very well will always be an irresistible lure to me.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
I'm back
I've been away for a while - in the woods - living deliberately and sucking some marrow. I've got a good lot of writing done - the opening to the novel I'm working on. I also walked a lot and I can feel the muscles are more pronounced in my legs - it makes me feel a mixture of tired and invincible.
I got back to this new most beautiful of blogs by the most beautiful of people. It's just stuff apparently, but it's the best sort of stuff: THIS is STUFF.
I'm still in need of sleep, cold nights in the caravan left me with a lot of catching up to do. But it's nice to go to sleep in a world with such beautiful stuff in it.
I got back to this new most beautiful of blogs by the most beautiful of people. It's just stuff apparently, but it's the best sort of stuff: THIS is STUFF.
I'm still in need of sleep, cold nights in the caravan left me with a lot of catching up to do. But it's nice to go to sleep in a world with such beautiful stuff in it.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
On-line magazine
Much as I will champion the cause of the printed magazine, I will admit that on-line stuff is easier to explore. Granted, most of the stuff you find is of questionnable quality, but once in a while you do find something good. The only thing that annoys me is that when I find the good magazine I wish I could have it in front of me - I hate reading on the screen, the computer is the place I come for work and correspondence, not where I come to relax with a good story or article.
There are a number of mags that come in the dowloadable PDF format, but it still somehow doesn't feel as good as a little bound magazine. I don't feel as though shuffling through pieces of paper or scrolling down a screen does justice to the effort that people have put into producing their work.
From the Manchester Lit List I found this great magazine: Incorporating Writing. Now if only I could have this bound up nicely to carry around or share with my friends then everything would be perfect.
There are a number of mags that come in the dowloadable PDF format, but it still somehow doesn't feel as good as a little bound magazine. I don't feel as though shuffling through pieces of paper or scrolling down a screen does justice to the effort that people have put into producing their work.
From the Manchester Lit List I found this great magazine: Incorporating Writing. Now if only I could have this bound up nicely to carry around or share with my friends then everything would be perfect.
Felting
I mentioned my Etsy shop below. As an extension of that I've joined an Etsy team, FeltingTeam, and I now contribute to their blog. It's got some really great felting info on there and some of my favourite Etsy shops are part of it. Hopefully the members will help me find a way to increase my profile and get some sales. My absolute favourite member is Arlene Watson, who does some incredible nuno-felting.
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Crafting
I've been pretty busy recently, as well as making the cupcake purse I mentioned previously, I also had to make a new bag because my old one fell apart.
On top of those personal projects I've been knitting my stip for the ArtYarn project, which is based at the wonderful Craft and Design Centre in Manchester. For the project you need to knit or crochet a strip which is 7cm by 40cm and either take it in to the craft centre office on the first floor of the Craft and Design Centre or you can post it to Manchester Craft and Design Centre, 17 Oak St, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 5JD, England, UK.
People from all over the world are taking part in order to 'celebrate the many versatilities and techniques of knitting and crochet from around the world'. I've knitted my piece, and naturally its pink and fluffy - they do say 'the brighter and wackier the better'.
On top of those personal projects I've been knitting my stip for the ArtYarn project, which is based at the wonderful Craft and Design Centre in Manchester. For the project you need to knit or crochet a strip which is 7cm by 40cm and either take it in to the craft centre office on the first floor of the Craft and Design Centre or you can post it to Manchester Craft and Design Centre, 17 Oak St, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 5JD, England, UK.
People from all over the world are taking part in order to 'celebrate the many versatilities and techniques of knitting and crochet from around the world'. I've knitted my piece, and naturally its pink and fluffy - they do say 'the brighter and wackier the better'.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Whip Up
I love all sorts of crafts, possibly to the point of addiction. Blame it on my need to be creative when I have writer's block, blame it on my parents sending me to Brownies from age 7 - my brown owl was virtually a pusher when it came to crafts.
Anyway, whatever it is, I'm sick, I have a room full of millions of pretty papers, wools, yarns, ribbons, beads, and anything else you can think of to make things from.
I don't think I'll be getting better anytime soon because I had the good/mis-fortune to find an amazing craft website which has page after page of new crafty ideas. It's called Whip Up - only check it if you have a lot of time on your hands, or if you don't but you're sick like me.
I found the site yesterday evening and went straight to my craft supplies to make a super-cute cupcake felt purse. I know it's wrong, but it felt so good!
Anyway, whatever it is, I'm sick, I have a room full of millions of pretty papers, wools, yarns, ribbons, beads, and anything else you can think of to make things from.
I don't think I'll be getting better anytime soon because I had the good/mis-fortune to find an amazing craft website which has page after page of new crafty ideas. It's called Whip Up - only check it if you have a lot of time on your hands, or if you don't but you're sick like me.
I found the site yesterday evening and went straight to my craft supplies to make a super-cute cupcake felt purse. I know it's wrong, but it felt so good!
Saturday, 28 March 2009
I've been out and about all week gathering lots of inspiration from a wide variety of Manchestery cultural things. As well as the reading on tuesday I've been to the Cube gallery and the Whitworth. Not sure I can cope with all the excitement, I think I'm going to just keep my head under the duvet all weekend.
The Cube was yesterday, I went to the preview of their Capture Manchester exhibition. It was about 600 different people's views of Manchester. Naturally there were lots of images that were virtually the same, but there were also some amazing photos that made me want to find the part of town they're taken in. In the main part of the gallery as you walk in there's also an exhibition by John Davies of his spectacular landscape shots, including some around Manchester. Davies has convinced me that it actually is grim up north, but I still love it.
The Whitworth was the day before. I went with a photographer friend who wanted to visit the Subversive Spaces exhibition, I didn't really know what to expect but I was totally floored. It is really inspiring to look at the work of the surrealists and see how they focused their ideas into what they felt was the essence of what was important and then put that into their art. It really made me want to just sit down and think about what I'm doing with my writing and why. It features a really interesting piece by Gregor Schneider called Kinderzimmer which I don't want to say too much about because I think it's best experienced with no expectations. I loved it, my photographer friend hated it and the third person with us was somewhere in between. We all agreed that no matter if you liked it or not it really made you think.
Well it has been a busy week so now I'm off to relax with some Marxist literary theory and be lulled into a sense of gentle indignation about how bourgeois everything is, apparently even historical fiction.
The Cube was yesterday, I went to the preview of their Capture Manchester exhibition. It was about 600 different people's views of Manchester. Naturally there were lots of images that were virtually the same, but there were also some amazing photos that made me want to find the part of town they're taken in. In the main part of the gallery as you walk in there's also an exhibition by John Davies of his spectacular landscape shots, including some around Manchester. Davies has convinced me that it actually is grim up north, but I still love it.
The Whitworth was the day before. I went with a photographer friend who wanted to visit the Subversive Spaces exhibition, I didn't really know what to expect but I was totally floored. It is really inspiring to look at the work of the surrealists and see how they focused their ideas into what they felt was the essence of what was important and then put that into their art. It really made me want to just sit down and think about what I'm doing with my writing and why. It features a really interesting piece by Gregor Schneider called Kinderzimmer which I don't want to say too much about because I think it's best experienced with no expectations. I loved it, my photographer friend hated it and the third person with us was somewhere in between. We all agreed that no matter if you liked it or not it really made you think.
Well it has been a busy week so now I'm off to relax with some Marxist literary theory and be lulled into a sense of gentle indignation about how bourgeois everything is, apparently even historical fiction.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
readings and felting
Something about writing
Last night was the March outing of the incedibly popular No Point in Not Being Friends. Thanks to Chris Killen we had a slot for readings from Bewilderbliss, which went down well. If you want to read more about the night visit my blog ManchesterWriting.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Something personal
This is the first thing that I want to collect onto here - my etsy site:
I've been felting for about a year now and though I do a lot of crafts (to keep the creative part of my mind ticking over when I'm struggling to write) this one's my favourite. Maybe it's got something to do with how much I'd love to paint but how frustrating I find it to spend ages dabbing watercolours onto paper just to come out with something that looks like a five year old did it. Felting's a lot like painting in relation to the importance of colour and composition. It's also a lot more fun and hands on so I can work out the tension of writer's block.
If you want to know a little more about felting click here.
Last night was the March outing of the incedibly popular No Point in Not Being Friends. Thanks to Chris Killen we had a slot for readings from Bewilderbliss, which went down well. If you want to read more about the night visit my blog ManchesterWriting.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Something personal
This is the first thing that I want to collect onto here - my etsy site:
I've been felting for about a year now and though I do a lot of crafts (to keep the creative part of my mind ticking over when I'm struggling to write) this one's my favourite. Maybe it's got something to do with how much I'd love to paint but how frustrating I find it to spend ages dabbing watercolours onto paper just to come out with something that looks like a five year old did it. Felting's a lot like painting in relation to the importance of colour and composition. It's also a lot more fun and hands on so I can work out the tension of writer's block.
If you want to know a little more about felting click here.
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