Valentine's Day?

Oh dear! I'm afraid I missed it. Again.

The Journey of 100,000 words begins with “Chapter One” – one word at a time.

When I first thought about signing up for a PhD, I was going to do it in Literature, looking at Sandra Cisneros and her use of bilingualism in her texts, but I also knew that if I did a PhD in literature, I’d never get my own novel written. So I opted for Creative Writing instead, for 2 reasons:

1. I wanted to write a novel and figured doing it for a PhD would mean I had someone pushing me forward, i.e. my supervisors.
2. I figured the best way to learn how to write a novel would be to write one.

I also secretly thought that it would be a slightly easier route. It never ceases to amaze me just how wrong I can be - not to mention naive!

I get the impression that a lot of people think a PhD in writing is easier, after all, you just have to write a novel don’t you? And how difficult can that be? Well, in his book, On Writing: A memoir, Stephen King says, “Writing fiction, especially a long work of fiction, can be a difficult, lonely job; it’s like crossing the Atlantic in a bath tub.”(i) And that’s from one of the lucky ones who write because they actually enjoy it (as opposed to writers like me, who write because of some seemingly masochistic need).

King advises the would-be novelist to find a room without any distractions, like computer games (does Solitaire count?), or telephones etc. My office is full of distractions, but even if it wasn’t, I’d still find something to do. How can you sit down and write when the hallway needs hovering, or the dishes need doing, and so on and so on. And then there’s listen again on Radio 4 to catch up on…

When I realised I was in trouble I started this blog. I figured at the very least it would encourage me to write stuff – stuff that wasn’t a lecture, or a seminar plan. I called myself the Hesitant Scribe because when it comes to fiction I must have the worst working method going. While the non-fiction stuff is fine, the fiction is a killer. I end up hating every word I write, and when I read that some writers find writing ‘fun’ and ‘enjoyable’ – you know who you are – I have to ask myself why I’m putting myself through this. I hate writing fiction, and worse, I hate everything I write. That’s not a statement designed to get the sympathy vote, or evoke cries of but your stuff’s really good, it’s a genuine response. I write a paragraph and then re-write it until I’ve lost of sense of why I started it in the first place. I edit everything to death and then wonder why it takes me so long to get anything written! Luckily, I’m in good company when it comes to hating writing. When asked if she found any of her books especially easy to write, Rebecca West replied, “No, it’s a nauseating process. They’re none of them easy.”(ii)

Anyway, I tell my writing students to just write, worry about the editing later, and then fail to take my own advice. Well, no more! I’m giving myself permission to write utter crap – I’ll worry about the quality later when I start the second draft. I’m following the progress of the novel racers at Wordgirl’s Work in Progress, and hoping they’ll let me join them. Stephen King reckons on a 1,000 words a day and says that’s being magnanimous, and when asked by a radio talk-show host how he wrote, he replied “One word at a time.”(iii)

So that’s what I’m going to do. Wish me luck!

Refs for the interested!
(i) King, S. 2000 On Writing: A Memoir Hodder & Stoughton, p.167
(ii) West, W. in The Paris Review Interviews Vol 1 2007 Canongate. p.257
(iii) King, S. 2000 On Writing: A Memoir Hodder & Stoughton, p.121

Maktub Andalucia - One's to watch!

Maktub are a fantastic group from Andalucia, Spain. I met Muni, Antonio, and Kouki when I lived in Andalucia, ten years ago now. Maktub was formed in 2005, and since then they have grown and developed into what I think, is one of the best World Music groups around. They have a blend of flamenco, reggae, jazz, blues and soul that is just awesome - pure honey for your ears - even if you don't speak Spanish. If you do, you'll find the lyrics just as beautiful as the sounds they produce. I can't wait for them to finish recording their first album, and I think you'll love them as much as I do!

The band members are:

Ismael Tamayo - Voz Flamenca (Voice - Flamenco)
AleRagga - Voz Ragga (Voice - Reggae/Rap)
Muni Shakarchi - Guitarras (Guitars - electric and flamenco)
Rafael Belmonte - Bajo (Bass Guitar)
Javier Marín - Batería (Drums and Percussion)
Kouki Portellano - Piano (Piano)
Antonio Beltrán - Saxo (Saxophone)
Juan Pablo Magarían - Sonido (Sound)


This is 'Tu Corazon' filmed in a friend's house in Malaga.




You can watch more of their music videos at Maktub Andalucia on You Tube and find out more about the band and hear more tracks at Maktub Andalucia on Myspace.

Save our British Library - Keep it free!

I got this email at work and feel it's a really worthwhile cause! The email reads as follows:

Dear All,

With apologies for cross posting.

I am sure most of you are aware of the budget cuts the government is proposing to impose on the British Library. According to a press release on the BL website, these cuts may force the library to start charging for users to access the collections see here

If you think, as I do, that this is a really bad idea – please sign the online petition


And do tell your friends to sign it too!

According to their website, the BL is actively campaigning against the proposed cuts and Lynne Brindley has asked those who feel strongly about this issue to contact the library and explain "why the British Library is important to you and give us permission to use your letter in our campaign. Please e-mail chief-executive@bl.uk with your name, contact number and message, or write to Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB."

So if you have five minutes to spare, do send an e-mail or letter too.

Best wishes,

Joanna Bryant


I think this is a really good thing to do, so if you are a British Citizen, (including overseas), please take a few seconds to sign the petition - I have!

Thank you in advance!

Poorly Bunny!

Poorly bunny! At least she's eating again, which is good because apparently rabbits go into stasis if they don't eat, meaning their system shuts down and they die, leaving some very miserable children behind!



Still, she looks better than she did. The green stuff is a sort of Complan for bunnies, a liquid food that reeks to high heaven and won't go into, or come out of, the syringe thing the vet gave us. I did get some in, but it came out at high velocity and went about 6 feet past her mouth! Plan B: Wrap it in a towel and force feed with a spoon. It was like trying to feed a two year old mushy peas, only one with big sharp claws! So inbetween dosing the small child, and myself, with antibiotics, I've been force feeding the rabbit with the green gunge.

Last night she stopped breathing for a worrying few moments and then fell over - which didn't look too good I have to say - the teenager was in tears. Anyway, she made it through the night, and is even eating the green stuff off a spoon all by herself! Thank christ I haven't got a horse - I can't imagine wrapping one of them in a towel, and how would it fit under the piano stool!

Ice on your windscreen?

Next time you complain about having to de-ice your car - spare a thought for the inhabitants of Lake Leman, Versoix, Switzerland!









Pictures are from Sky and Summit. Go to their website and see more pics here

Beware of the Lurgy and Low Ceilings

The lurgy has descended upon my household like some biblical plague. The little one came home from school yesterday and promptly threw her guts up. I’m drowning in snot and mucus. Even the rabbit’s got snuffles! So today I have a sick child on the couch wrapped up in a blanket looking like Our Lady of Sorrows. The sick rabbit is sneezing under the piano stool and redecorating the carpet with various bodily fluids. She still looks very pissed off at having had 1ml of Baytril forced down her throat. Have you ever tried to dose a rabbit with antibiotics? My kitchen now has a white furry carpet complete with pretty red spots – of my blood. Only another 5 doses to go by which time I should have enough to knit up a sweater.


Excuse me while I sneeze…


Right – where was I? Oh yes, went to Manchester last night for my father in law’s 65th birthday, to a very nice restaurant - the Yang Sing. The decór is 1930s Shanghai, the food lovely and the staff very friendly. Apparently we’re moving into the Year of the Pig, so the waiter came and cooked spinach at the table. I tried not to sneeze on the food too much but the company did make me perk up temporarily.


In fact it was a great evening all round, despite having to drive all the way to Manchester and back. The only problem was that our table was positioned under the stairs and therefore a low slanting ceiling. And I knew about the ceiling because I sat under it for 4 hours. Nevertheless, I still managed to forget about it as we were leaving – a bit like the two year old who forgets that the corner of the table is at head height. What followed was a beautiful light show of twinkling stars and a rather large egg on the side of my head – an added extra at the Yang Sing.

Second Life

I just love this - from one of the people who use Second Life to get creative. It was uploaded to YouTube by Eric519 who I think is its creator.



You can read about Second Life at Pospsci.com or visit the Second Life Website. It scares the pants off me though, so I won't be joining just yet!

That's Enough Already - Hereuxville, Quebec

This is very interesting. You can read the original document, the 'Normes de vie' in English here. Or in French here.

What interests me is that nowhere in the document - and I read it twice in both languages - does it mention anyone in particular, and I do worry about the mentality of anyone who instantly assumes it is aimed at them! I mean what is wrong with clearly stating that it is not acceptable behaviour to "stone women to death in a public place" [le fait de tuer les femmes par lapidation sur la place publique] or circumcise them?! As for not allowing children to carry weapons "real or fake, symbolic or not" - well who but the very warped could argue with that, especially after incidents such as Columbine?! And what,exactly, is wrong with clearly stating that women have the same rights as men, or that "any form of violence towards children is not accepted"?

Maybe I'm completely mad, but I thought it was a lovely, polite little document, and that the only people who would take offense would be those who believe those that stoning women etc. is perfectly normal! What happened to that old saying - 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do' - something some people clearly don't want to adhere to!

Education

From La Lengua comes the following; [English translation follows in the square brackets]

“Hoy, dando una clase de Lengua Castellana, ha venido a cuento hablar de la antigua Roma y de los acueductos. Y de cómo la ingeniería romana republicana e imperial les permitía realizar obras impresionantes hace 2.000 años. «Y no sólo hace 2.000 años -he continuado-, sino incluso hace más».

La mayoría de mis alumnos, de entre trece y quince años, me ha mirado con los ojos como platos. Finalmente, uno se ha atrevido a preguntar: «¿Hace más de 2.000 años?»”

[Today, giving a Castellano Language class, I began to tell the story of the Romans and their aqueducts. And how the engineers of the Roman Republic and Imperial States were able to realise such impressive works 2,000 years ago. “And not only 2,000 years ago,” I continued, “But even before that.”
The majority of my students, of between 13 and 15 years of age, looked at me with eyes like saucers. At last, one of them asked the question, “More than 2,000 years ago?”]

Even after explaining that the world is some 4,600 million years old, and that people have been around for a lot longer than the 2,007 years that follow the birth of Christ, his students still did not look convinced. What follows is a discussion of the education system in Spain, and asks how it is possible that those teenage children did not realise that the world has existed for more than 2,007 years. Furthermore, he goes on to say that it is the government’s fear of upsetting the various religions that has led to such a failure in the education of the young, and that is fostering the exact conditions that lead to fundamentalist behaviours. I had to respond, regardless of my paltry Spanish.

It is a truly terrifying thought that students anywhere could believe that the history of the world is only 2,007 years old, but sadly I can believe it. It is getting the same here in the UK. With government legislation constantly attacking educational practice, teaching is more and more about passing exams than developing critical thinking and fostering an inquiring mind. The government is more and more concerned about offending religions and cultures, continuing to narrow down the curriculum and impose yet more legislation/political correctness, to the point where stories such as The Three Little Pigs have been banned in some schools. (I guess that's another can of worms altogether, eh). There seems to be a growing fear of asking questions in case of offending someone or other. I'm not saying we shouldn't be aware of other cultures, and I am all in favour of promoting multi-culturalism, but it should not, must not, get in the way of allowing our children to do what they do best - ask and enquire about the world around them.


I trained as a primary teacher, have a teenage daughter, and teach at university level, so I’ve seen all age phases, and I am seeing a real failure in our education system. In England we have a National Curriculum that I fear is killing creativity in the classroom and murdering any sense of curiosity in our children due to over-prescribed subject areas and a constantly changing methodology. I cannot blame the teachers. They are struggling to meet targets, to have x number of exam passes etc or face losing their jobs/funding. I was so disappointed with the whole affair that I left primary and for a while, wanted to take my own children out of school!


But these problems, initiated in the early – and crucial - stages of education, are now filtering through to University level as well. I find a large proportion of my undergraduate students are unable to reason, or put forward an argument using evidence and research, let alone the decline in basic skills. Religion is another problem, as one student a few years ago took great offence when I was discussing the evolution of the vocal tract from apes to humans, saying they refused to be told they had evolved from a monkey. That aside, I find too many students, year on year, are increasingly narrow minded and lacking in basic written and verbal skills. Many of them have no concept of discovering answers for themselves and spend their first semester in shock at the fact that my job is to get them thinking, to give them avenues of enquiry to follow, to inspire them (one would hope!), and to turn them into independent learners, and not, as they all too often assume, to provide them with all the answers on a plate.


I don’t know what the answer is, but I’ve heard proposals that the voting age should be reduced to 16, which is a terrifying thought for a whole host of reasons, not least because if they can’t even manage to read two opposing statements, and understand that the statements are in opposition, how on earth are they going to be able to make decisions that should be based on an in depth critique of each political party’s ethics, beliefs and policies weighed up against their own infomed opinions.


I remember reading an article in The Times Educational Supplement some years ago, about it snowing outside a primary classroom window, and what a shame it was that the teachers were unable to take the children out into the yard, to get them exploring their world hands on, and inspiring them to ask questions. Instead the children remained inside being drilled for SATs tests, to meet government targets and attain Levels – and no doubt being kept safe from the inherent dangers of snow!


We, as teachers, need to battle against bureaucracy, and do what we do best; share our love of learning, foster the enquiring mind, share and explore the world around us, and venture into the past – even if that means before 2,007 years ago. How on earth can we expect the future generation to know where it is going if it doesn’t even know where it came from? I despair at times, I really do!