I think I’ve always cared about people. My mom used to say I had a soft heart. I like films that you would class as weepies, ones that bought a tear to your eyes. I’d sit on the sofa with my mom and have a good cry.
So I’m motivated to try and support people. I wonder if that is just a perpetuation of a female role model ? It certainly was pushed when we had our careers guidance. It was suggested I went into nursing, I which didn’t set well. Why not a doctor? Anyway by then my motivation had changed. I wanted to be an artist, and for forty years I’ve pursued that role. Not to be famous. Not to make money, but to create art (and care about people).
I’m going to choose ten starring James Stewart rather than lots of random films…
Mr Smith goes to Washington (an honest politician).
Harvey (costarring an invisible rabbit)
It’s a wonderful life, with Clarence (an Angel)
Destry Rides again (cowboy)
The Philadelphia story,
Winchester ’73 (cowboy)
No Highway in the sky (about metal fatigue in a plane)
The Glenn Miller story
Vertigo (Hitchcock film)
Rear Window (Hitchcock film)
There are many more but these are ones I remember. There is a filmography on Wikipedia with more details of his films. He was an amazing actor and I loved his films from an early age.
I write this blog, and I’ve written college work recently. I tried writing a children’s book for my final major project and took it to a small publishers a few weeks ago but haven’t heard back from them yet. The story is a little adventure, but described in limerick form (I do a regular limerick challenge on WordPress that gave me the idea.)
Apart from that I can describe myself as anything other than a bit of a blogger. And I don’t write anything of any length.
So what do I get? I like the creativity it allows me, this is a bit like a diary and people have kindly read what I write. I guess I’m quite middle of the road, but a bit eccentric? What I write is often what I’m hearing in my head as I write. Is that normal? Anyway it’s almost another week. Take care.
My mural based on a ceramic design called Umbrella by Clarice Cliffe.
Stoke-on-Trent is a city built on Art and crafts. From Wedgwood and Brindley and the industrial revolution.
Ceramics were the main manufactured goods in the city. So much so that it became known as ‘the Potteries’. Different pottery owners experimenting with different materials, trying to make pots that could stand up to the quality of Chinese wares.
Manufacturers had water, clay and coal from the local area. Pots were transported out of the city on the newly built canals that linked it to the rest of England and then on to the world.
Designs were transfer printed onto plates and cups, opening up cheaper wares to the general public. But other work was hand painted and lined with gold and other precious metals.
What was needed to make all the pottery? Workers, making, turning, transfer printing, painting. Numerous jobs including the famous Saggar Makers bottom knocker. (You can Google this). The work couldn’t be completed without skilled labour that could translate designs into reality. Some female paintresses were allowed to sign their names to their work. Like Susie Cooper and Clarice Cliffe.
So much skill in one city. Burslem school of art taught many of the artists that were to work in the ceramic trades. One famous artist, Arthur Berry, became a fine artist and writer and play writer. He was one of my tutors at college. That’s why I love this place.
Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone? Is that the old saying?
I come from a humourous town. Where I lived people took pleasure in telling long and I silly stories. They liked word play and puns. We would howl with laughter over some of the daft jokes people told.
Now, laughter is a little less frequent but still enjoyable. That’s partly because where I live now has a different sense of humour, harder, more direct. But I will not relinquish my old style. I might come over as sarcastic, but it can be very funny. (Just too tired to think of a joke now!)
I’ve got to the age where I take each day as it comes. I don’t plan so much because something will always come up and bite you just when you think things are going to be OK so you moderate your expectations.
A few years ago I had plans to finish work and become a successful artist. I am an artist, just not very successful! But I don’t intend to be a business entrepreneur. I paint and draw for pleasure not fame.
I wish I had the skills to plan goals, but when I used to be questioned at job interviews… Where do you see yourself in 5 years I was daft enough to say “still here”. I guess I like a modicum of security.
If you are going to make goals for yourself enjoy them, they may be simple or complex, just look after yourself. X
Our smoke alarm went off twice today. No smoke, no fire, no heat. I will buy a new battery. But it might be a spider has moved in and it’s feet have tickled the sensor? I think I read it can happen.
We have two more in the house and they are both working. So I feel safe and everything is ready for action.
The plan is
Wake up if the alarm goes off.
Wake hubby
Go downstairs if safe,
If not try and get out of the bedroom window.
The only problem
I’m too old to climb!
I don’t have a ladder.
So turn everything off at bedtime!
Have keys in the lock so I don’t have to find them!
I don’t see what or which word I can object to? There are many words in this world that people use, sometimes a lot of people use the same word, but how can I object? Isn’t that censorship? I hate prejudice, and would not use such words, but sometimes they have to be spoken to explain their use, their critical importance in a conversation.
It’s hard to explain what I mean. But if someone were to use a derogatory comment then they might need to be prosecuted for it’s use. How can you take action if the word is not repeated? It’s a conundrum. The word might be ambiguous on the one hand or too direct on the other, in which case it might not be allowed.
Some words thankfully go out of fashion. I’m glad they have, but it doesn’t mean that there’s others that are also lost shouldn’t be saved.
I guess I’m on the fence for this prompt. Enough said?
I like light classical music, piano sonatas, even film scores.
I don’t always know the name of the musical piece, or the composer, one of my worst skills is answering music quiz questions. But it doesn’t matter what it is as long as it gives me a feeing of gentle calmness.
Singing with a choir has the same effect. Especially when we are practicing and not performing. I hear the other parts, soprano and alto, and try and meld my voice in with the others. It gives me a real sense of peace and quiet. Gentle Maori lullabies effect me, and sweet folk aires from ancient history. They are all really meditations. That and the breathing required to do it help make me feel at peace.
The industrial revolution in Britain and Europe began the transformation of alchemy to science. Inventions were happening and knowledge became more and more important.
As instruments improved things like telescopes and microscopes gave us a better understanding of the micro and macro aspects of life and the universe. We could see smaller and smaller living organisms, such as unicellular plants and animals, and then bacteria and finally viruses.
That understanding gave us vaccinations and antibiotics and began to initiate preventative medicine instead of simply trying to deal with the ravages of Plague and poxes.
There are many branches of science where humans have delved into how things work. They may have started as a philosophical perspective, such as Geography and Meteorology, but then deeper understanding of the underlying issues. Dinosaurs and fossils were discovered. The age of the the Earth extended from the supposed 6000 years since the biblical flood backwards over millions, then billions of years.
Meanwhile Issac Newton was discovering the ‘clockwork’ universe. Where stars moved in their courses. What then happened took decades and centuries, but scientists like Einstein changed the modern world.
I’ve been watching “The Ascent of Man”, by Jacob Bronowski, talking about all the changes and revolutionary things that happened in the last few centuries. It not only covers discoveries, but also how destructive factories could be to humanity. Thankfully not all manufacturers treated their workforces so badly.
I conclusion there is simply too much to discuss about sciences, it is impossible to understand all their aspects. But hopefully we can use science to improve our world, even if it’s only to work out methods that are less destructive to nature.
Mallaband-Brown 