With Assurance And Confidence

The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it ­honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

Neil Gaiman’s Rules for Writing From the ever wonderful Brain Pickings. Also watch Neil Gaiman.

Not bad advice I’d say.

Sitting Up

He is a perfect example of sitting up with full attention. All his senses are alert. A truely wonderful companion to sit with as I type this.

It is just the purring that tells me there is something going on in that beautifully formed head. That and the gentle swish of his tail on the keyboard. Now I am wondering if he is trying to communicate something. Wanting to be let out perhaps.

Ah Smudge, you have grown mellow in your old age. And let’s face it, a tiny bit tubby too! And that’s about as personal as I am going to get. Yes, here sits a cat, the monastery cat, eyes lowered in repose.

Samsara – The Movie

SAMSARA is a Sanskrit word that means “the ever turning wheel of life” and is the point of departure for the filmmakers as they search for the elusive current of interconnection that runs through our lives. Filmed over a period of almost five years and in twenty-five countries, SAMSARA transports us to sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial sites, and natural wonders. By dispensing with dialogue and descriptive text, SAMSARA subverts our expectations of a traditional documentary, instead encouraging our own inner interpretations inspired by images and music that infuses the ancient with the modern.

Anybody see this?

Luminescent Splendor In The City

critter.jpg
Long haired Guinea Pig

It is always a delight to visit Warp and Woof Knitting (and so much more) Blog and today’s adventure had me reaching for my dark glasses (only joking). The photographs and text convey something way beyond what you see. A bright attitude of mind is an understatement. The author has light coming out of her onto the page and through her lovely knits. I wondered if anybody is spinning up the groomings from guinea pigs….

It would seem there is a project afoot to look through new eyes at beautiful Vancouver. Here it is in M’s worlds.

I have to “go into town” every day for the next few weeks, and as this involves a bit of rush hour driving and the (really minor) hassle of getting into the congested part of Vancouver, I thought I would make it even more worth while by exploring and appreciating this place. After twenty-six years here it could be that familiarity has bred, certainly not contempt, but maybe taking for granted what a lovely part of the world this is.
This beautiful city, with simple crochet.

27th August post – Here is a Medicine Buddha statue, a recent gift, along with more knitting happiness. I just wish I could get my photographs to look so stunning. Perhaps I make them too small these days and they lose the quality of luminescence. You haven’t dear friend!

And the Guinea pig photo is for a long time reader and her husband. All merit to you two in Vancouver and you two in Reading.

Build Your Own Hut – Bolt-hole

Wower! This looks right up my street.

Sunday 23rd September at 8.00 pm GMT. A new series with Kevin McCloud, of Grand Designs fame, starts off by building himself a bolt hole in the woods. Sound romantic? Read on….
Man Made Home Chanel 4 – this coming Sunday.

Kevin starts work on his hand made home by venturing into the bowels of London. With mains electricity and gas not an option for his bolt hole, Kevin hopes to make biodiesel for a lamp from the huge stinking ‘fatbergs’ that clog up the city’s sewers.

For the cabin’s structure, Kevin cuts down two ancient oaks, and starts putting together the wooden shell of the building.

He also experiments with a Wild West technique of splitting logs by gunpowder, and tries to make the whole cabin mobile because of planning regulations.

Is there anybody who could record the programs (four of them) onto a DVD please? Just drop me a line. Thanks 22/09 Somebody has offered thanks.