December 31, 2011
Ursli is travelling
Now we are happily installed in our new apartment looking out over the valley to Assisi. There is just a dusting of snow on the mountains above Assisi. The sun is shining after a cloudy day yesterday. Ursli is thinking seriously and will begin writing and doodling tomorrow. Two and a half hours in the electricity and gas company premises was made bearable by the warmth and cosy leather chairs. New Year’s Eve… Fireworks and yummy food later, in Via Bartolo. It will be chilly out, and the streets will be full of people looking for fun. Watch this space for a new episode in the adventures of Ursli.
July 12, 2011
Any comments welcome- I invite you!
Although writing is indeed a solitary process, all writers like to believe that their words will someday somewhere touch a chord in someone’s heart or awaken some yearning, or provoke a giggle, or even a slight smile. Feeling generous and happy, last week I read the words from my new picture book ( as yet unpublished) to the gathering of my mother’s bookclub. A short sweet warm up, I thought. I enjoyed reading; they enjoyed hearing it.
A day or so later, kind Sasha (whose interesting life has brought her from Latvia to Albany) telephoned to say how the words were still ringing in her mind and she couldn’t wait to see it in print! Wasnt that a dear thing to do? I felt very inspired after that and have since created a whole new idea to work on.
While compliments are the desired form of comment, any are welcome. You may feel a tingling of anticipation or curiosity about what might emerge later this year, or sooner, if I go down the Smashwords path. You may feel pressured to squeeze out some sort of encouragement – don’t. Even your dry remarks or derogatory comments will only serve to spur me on to greater things. Whatever your mood- no swearing of course, only wit, feel free to engage in response or dialogue.
What to do with the snuffly wufflies
After a term of teaching, I am at home in bed with the Snuffly Wufflies. Of course that’s what happens when you have spent the last six weeks speaking to, or closed up in a room full of, Students with Colds. Naturally, the cold doesn’t hit you until your holidays arrive. Then the Snuffly Wufflies move in very cosily, like relatives you don’t want to see just now. Oh hello darling, they say, we’ve come to visit for a few days, maybe a week. You’re not busy are you? You’re on holidays, lucky you. We don’t mind if you don’t have a spare bed.
So, trip to Perth postponed, I am playing on my digital playground- on line checkers is fun, but wastes hours. The day is cool, not raining, perfect for gardening, cleaning, bushwalking, a stroll by the winter beach, a coffee at the Vancouver cafe after a brisk walk up and down the town’s hilly streets. Alas none of this for me. Looking out the window I am enjoying the peace and quiet, refusing to feel frustrated. The virtual world consoles me. It offers another tantalising possibility. Why don’t I just pop out an e book?
Smashwords advises that writers pay attention to the time honoured process of editing and reviewing until the product is as close to perfect as you can get it. Sensible advice. I see a lot of garbage on the net… lots of well meaning, sincerely created rubbish. But it’s fun to play. It beats lying in bed feeling sorry for myself and wishing I was out and about. I think I will enjoy a dabble. It will keep the Snuffly Wufflies off my back- they can’t get too cosy when I am busy pottering through online searches and comparing systems. They might even be happy if I write a book about them! Good thinking Ursli, I hear a little bell tinkling.
July 11, 2011
juicy things which are fun to sample
Facebook is the preeminent site for checking out new things, along with You Tube, both of which are so widely used they are mainstream-mainstream, right out there in the middle of the flow, no longer on the edges. Via facebook, James Baxter, a director of King of Nothing shows the world his art, his passion with a YOU Tube clip. Check it out on You Tube: King of Nothing Peace by Piece
March 3, 2011
a thought about identity
I am teaching about how writers construct identity- bizarre as that may seem- to my sixteen /seventeen year olds. I was telling them they could use metaphor.. so as an example I wrote
I am a new penny
I am a shining light…
which lead, without me thinking, to
I am the sound of shadow
I am your dream voice at night.
So I think I might work on those last two lines, which seem to me to be laden with possibility. This is me .. .thinking about expressing stuff… knowing what I mean and finding a way to do it.
for Sarah
Here is Charles http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/entertainment/poetry/profiles/poet_wright.html
westerly – style guide
1. Examine this extract from Westerly
2. See my comments which follow
In general, follow the Australian Government Printing Service style manual. Use: ‘ise’ rather then ‘ize’ ‘enquiry’ rather then ‘inquiry’
‘focuses’ rather then ‘focusses’
‘programme’ rather then ‘program’
retain the mute ‘e’ in ‘judgement’, ‘acknowledgement’,
LOOK carefully
Can you see what is incorrect about this extract?
10 points and a halo for grammarians if you get it. Westerly told me by email ( in response to mine) that they would look into it. I’m waiting to see when they fix it. Is this sad or wonderful? I’m inclined to think wonderful, obsessive, detailed and fixated by perfection in the thing that matters to me, language. I mean, where it matters, attention to the practical details of exactness. Or should I say, exactitude. Some people would say, this is just a minor thing. I would say – slippage, when it occurs, means everything is slipping away, slip sliding away. We should, at certain moments, retain our grip, especially on precision of meaning, even in little booklets such as Style Guides.
Love to my exact friends out there.
March 2, 2011
charles wright
It’s time to investigate Charles Wright who sits in his garden and thinks
see pbsnewshour.org
June 7, 2010
One year old today
Mmn Chocolate cake made by my dad!
Little Hailey turned One Year Old today.
She is very chirpy and her calm parents surround her with love.
Ursli's Blog 
April 30, 2012
Peace at Pallinup
Posted in Commentary at 12:09 pm by ursli
An afternoon journey to Miller’s Point left me refreshed and inspired. The open country on the way, the water birds in groups in the estuary, pelican wing flapping- the only sound to disturb the silence, a light rain, cliffs across the water, twisting paperbarks by the water’s edge, yellow brown sand, raindrops on the river…little things to notice and enjoy. Filling your mind with these washes away the angst and pressure of work, the stress of family relationships and the sense of rush that confuses. I will keep this picture of Pallinup as a touchstone. For real photos see Sarah Toa’s blog, listed in my Blogroll. She had a camera.
You will see what I mean.
Permalink Leave a Comment