Category: A – Z Challenge 2013

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

O is for OMG and other Exclamations!

paulaacton2 Comments

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Let he who is without sin cast the first stone…well it won’t be me I am guilty as most of us are for random exclamations and text short cuts,  I confess I lol and occasional Lmao and very very rarely I roflmao.  I know it is lazy, a quick easy way to convey emotional responses to humour, the same way OMG demonstrates, surprise, shock or disbelief.   The thing is it would be very easy to dismiss them simply as text speak and having no value but is that fair, when you think about books, TV series and films they are littered with catch phrases we know that the use of which will immediately be recognised as having a specific meaning.

So I decided to share a few of those catchphrases which we know and love so well..

I have a cunning plan

 

EXTERMINATE!!! (Hilarious)

 

This time next year we’ll be millionaires…

 

I could probably go on for hours but now lets hear a few of yours, what sayings have automatic meaning for you??????

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

N is for News

paulaacton7 Comments

20130210-230657I had actually chosen a different subject for today but as I had not actually written the post I felt compelled to change it.

Yesterday tragedy struck, in struck in Boston not aimed at politicians, or the military but at thousands of normal people who have spent hours training to fund raise for good causes and charities, people running in memory of their lost loved ones, running for the betterment of mankind.  The were attacked by cowards, people who set bombs then walk away innocent are slaughtered.

I do not know who will claim responsibility nor if the people responsible have been captured as one feed has suggested.  It is very easy to get caught up in the speculations and theories which fly around immediately after this sort of event, I have already seem posts on Facebook which have been proved to be false or misinformed which have the potential to add to families grief who are already worried or suffering this is one example hoax.

I think when tragedy strikes we have a duty to be careful what we share, we should sent our sympathies and respects generally but be wary of sharing photos claiming to show victims , even should they have the right person we have know way of knowing if they have the families consent, once a name and photo have been shown on the news that many be acceptable to share but would you want to see your loved ones face all over social media if you hadn’t been informed yet or worse still if they actually had the wrong person.

There are plenty of pictures that you can share to show your respect and support but please stop and think before you hit share. Pick one of the many like this one and know you share your feelings and are considering those of others.

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A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

M is for Mementoes

paulaacton4 Comments

20130210-230657We live in a digital age and the reality is that for many reasons actual momentoes have become fewer and further between until we reach a time in our lives when we start to reflect on years gone by.

For our parents generation there were lots though the value of them was not always recognised, those hand written letters, postcards, precious photographs that could be held in the had or placed in a frame.  We went through the 80’s when interior designers encouraged people to throw away they knick knacks and curios and go minimalist, now photos are stored on computer, on the internet, messages are sent the same way and old fashioned snail mail suffers for its lack of immediacy.

But once the flush of youth has gone and we look back we begin to desire tangible objects that we can hold in our hands and that is where companies like the wonderful Bespoke Affairs come into their own.  Let me state I am not being paid for this I just happened to have met the wonderful lady who runs this small business via fundraising for Charlie I asked if she could donate and she was generous enough to say yes and is donating this lovely box like this one for the auction at Charlie’s ball…

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Compared to some prizes it may not seem much but when you consider this is an amazing woman trying to bring up her kids plus set up a business on her own you realise that this is much more than a box it is symbol of support from one mother to another, the person who wins it at auction not only gets a wonderful box, they become part of a story, a story that links strangers not just around this country but around the world.

907256_10151568377473834_585881876_nBespoke Affairs sells loads of different things most of which are adorned with sayings and reminders of the need for us to reach out to each other and that in our interactions we create memories and the value of those we make,  I could not help but end up buying a book mark for my daughter and Freda generously discounted allowing me to grab one for myself…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMy daughter chose the white one while I was pleased to end up with the black one as the sentiment means a lot to me, please feel free to take a look at Freda’s Facebook store here

After meeting Freda to thank her for her donation in person I went to meet me daughter with the rest of the family to have dinner out, I took a few minutes to sit in the sun and scribble a few notes OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAbefore creating a few more memories of our own, I have seen a few photo frames I rather like so now to decide on which photos I want to pop in them. xx

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

L is for Lust

paulaacton8 Comments

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Now I know what your thinking, I am going to talk about our characters getting down and dirty but your wrong.  The lust I am talking about is the one we want to stimulate in our readers. now again you might be thinking but I don’t write Erotica why do I want my readers lusting well bear with me.

For certain genres when they evoke lust it is literally but for many of us we actually want to illicit the same responses we just don’t realise it.  When you think about lust you think of the actual sex act but that is not what I am actually talking about, many foodies now talk about ‘food porn’ where descriptions and photos of food actually make their mouth water, and this is in part the same sort of thing we wish to achieve.

Think about what happens when when you lust after something, your heart starts to beat just a little faster, the blood pumps through your veins a little quicker, a flush spreads across your skin.  You are hooked, you can’t turn away you want more, your breath becomes shallower and more rapid as you focus on the object of your desire.

Then you turn the page and realise you haven’t taken a breath for the last thirty seconds.  What your reader is lusting after are your words, the images you create in their mind for them.  They want the characters you make real to them, almost like a drug they want more, the want the rush that a great story gives.

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges · Poetry

K is for a Kiss

paulaacton13 Comments

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A kiss is just a kiss or is that really true,

A kiss can be a doorway to a thousand possibilities,

A kiss can be a remembrance of so many yesterdays.

A kiss can bond two souls as one or tear them wide apart.

A kiss can be pure and chaste a symbol of pure love

Or a kiss can be sensual, filled with passion

A beginning for so much more.

A kiss can be so many things but the truth be told

The only thing a kiss can never be

Is just a kiss.

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

J is for Joseph Salmon

paulaacton6 Comments

20130210-230657Today is a very special letter for me as it is the first charity I ever actively took an interest in helping, don’t get me wrong have done the whole couple of quid via direct debit bit before but this was the first charity I went out of my way to attend fundraisers for and right now am selling raffle tickets for.

Some of you may have read a little about the charity here when I attended the Comedy Evening last year. I am not going t go into too much detail about what happened to them here partly as I have asked Neil – Joseph’s dad – a couple of questions and secondly as I think it deserves so much more than just a quick post here.

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Okay so here are the couple of brief questions I asked Neil…

Your charity is a little different to most in that rather than offering support it offers actual financial help to those who have lost children, what made you decide to take that route?

After Joseph died, we spoke to other people who had also lost a child and it became clear that whilst there were several charities for emotional support, there wasn’t anything for the financial side of things. In particular, funerals and headstones which are a considerable cost for which, as parents, we don’t plan for.

When a child dies many of us – me included – automatically empathise more with the mother in most cases, do you feel dads are expected to handle grief better?

I think we all, male or female, handle grief in different ways although many Dads will feel reluctant to show emotion and will try to be “the strong one.”

What fund-raising events are you most looking forward to this year? Will there be another comedy evening?

We have a busy year of fund-raising ahead including another Curry Night at the Shama and a Casino Night at the Woodman, Thunderbridge. All the details of our upcoming events are here –

http://www.thejosephsalmontrust.org.uk/?page_id=561

Now you guys know that I have been nagging you for signatures on Charlie’s Petition but now I have a bigger favour to ask…

I simply ask that if you can spare a pound or a dollar you help raise a little money not only because this is an amazing charity but also to help some personal friends of mine help a charity which was there for them in their darkest hour.  Allow me to introduce you to Harley..

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Sorry if that seemed a cruel trick to play but it was that sort of cruelty that fate played upon one of my best friends Debbie, you see Harley was her first grandchild, his existence was discovered shortly after she lost her mum to cancer and was the shining star that gave the whole family something positive to focus on in a time of pain. Debbie’s daughter had an fairly easy pregnancy nothing to concern anyone, forty weeks came and went and Harley was in no rush it seemed to leave the safety of mummys tummy, everything was normal no need for concern.

Ten a couple of days before she was due to be induced, the post went up on Facebook that labour had started, Debbie was so excited at the prospect of meeting her grandson for the first time, and I sent her a message and headed off to work expecting to return to photo’s of a beaming family.

Instead I returned to silence, no returns to questions on her wall asking about progress, no pictures, then I saw the inbox message and it was heartbreaking.  Not only had my friend lost her grandchild but she had had to hold her daughter in her arms while a pain tore through her that she could not fix.  Harvey never took a breath or opened his eyes but no child was ever so loved as he was.

Everyone knows how expensive new babies are, they take ever penny preparing for their arrival, not only did the family have to face the shattering of their dreams but also now worry about how to give their angel a decent send off, and that is where Joseph Salmon’s legacy steps in and embraces not only the grieving parents but their whole family.  They understand not only the pain but the practicalities, they are the charity you never want anyone to need but are eternally thankful for if you know a family they help.

Harvey’s dad Blair is running the Manchester 10k Raising money for the Trust if you can give anything please please I beg you do so, help the Joseph Salmon Trust help more families whose nightmares have come true.

Blairs Just Giving Page

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

I is for Insanity.

paulaacton10 Comments

20130210-230657I guessed most people would do imagination for this one so I wanted to different.

Only writers can openly discuss things which would get most members of the public sectioned without batting an eye lid at what they are saying.

We all talk about hearing voices, our characters living in our heads, we even at times complain about them refusing to act as we would wish.  If anyone else talked with such conviction about the voices in their head then you can be sure people around them would be taking action.

And all that is before we get to our imaginary friend the muse, you know the one who we spend hours searching for, post comments lamenting when she deserts us, and rarely we sing her praises when she delivers.

There is a fine line between writer and psychopath, a few may even be borderline only staying on the right side because they have writing as an outlet. When you consider the not only the voices but the visions and ideas that form our every day existence, you can begin to understand the insanity we live with to provide the reader with a good story.  So next time you read a book by you favourite author and think ‘how did the dream that up?’ be glad you are meeting them on the page and they have that outlet and that you are not meeting them alone at night in a dark alley.

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

H is for Hospitals

paulaacton7 Comments

20130210-230657This post is a day late I am afraid and the reason is – partly – we had yet another hospital trip yesterday.  Admittedly the rest of the day was spent visiting my parents and grandma as I have to take the chance when the schools are closed and I am not working to fit visits in.

I have had both good and bad experiences with hospital, my first memory of a hospital visit was going to see my dad after he had a burst stomach ulcer, all I really remember of that was the huge tube coming out of his belly.

The next was to visit my grandad shortly before he passed away, I remember how tiny he looked in the expanse of white that was the bed.

The next visit was to casualty after slicing part of my thumb off chopping tomatoes, and the doctor telling me I had cut the nerve endings off so I shouldn’t be complaining it hurt.

The next visit was my longest stay with me as a patient, the emergency caesarian that brought my daughter into the world 7 weeks prem.

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A week later and after a few setbacks for both of us we headed home and I did not see the inside of a hospital until…

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Since Jacks birth in 2008 both he and I have been no strangers to hospitals, he has fought meningitis plus had an operation to remove is adanoids, constant visits to ENT, Paediatricians, Orthoptists, Speech Therapists and Physiotherapists.  For me two spinal operations plus on going Physiotherapy.

Then more recently as you know my dad has had a two month stay in hospital, I have seen almost every department going over the years fr one reason or another and while most doctors and nurses do an amazing job, there are some whose bed side manners leave much to be desired.  Doctors and nurses who make the patient feel stupid for bothering them and are clearly in the wrong job.  The NHS is far from perfect but from friends experiences better than systems in some other countries but there do need to be changes.

Why are our Facebook walls full of children needing to raise money to be treated abroad? Why in terms of medical research are we so far behind other countries?  I know that we have increases of population and people are living longer therefore using more resources but we have to start making changes and looking at long term solutions rather than short term savings.  Things like Umbilical Cord Donation (don’t worry am not giving the full lecture here) is ruled out as too expensive, but how much is a child’s life worth? Taking emotion out of it and put in from a financial view point the cost of a child’s life is actually extremely valuable, not only does saving a life negate expensive pallitive care in the final weeks or months but also consider the life time of potential that child has. No one knows what that child could grow up to be, a doctor, a scientist, and Olympian, they could inspire millions or just work in a shop, paying taxes and contributing to keep our country afloat.

Yes we are on the verge of ending up with an aged population with a too-small workforce to support them and the reason is we are letting too many of our children die to save a few pounds now.

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

G is for Ghosts

paulaacton17 Comments

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For those who have been following for a while and know that my WIP is a collection of ghost stories it will come as no surprise I am fascinated with ghosts.  It has been a while since I went on a ghost hunt but it really is a fascinating experience.  I am going to share a few of the things I have caught on camera and I shall leave you to draw you own conclusions.

The first couple were taken at Bolling Hall in Bradford on a brilliant night with Prestige Paranormal – if you live in the UK check them out and see if there is one near you Sam and the team are brilliant.

The first two pictures are taken in sequence the first there is no sign of an orb, in the second one appears after a request is made for a sign.

386559_3128652902428_768800659_nThe orb is just below the celiing beam to the right of the photo.  Another taken in Bolling Hall shows some form of movement above the crib, I spent quite a bit of time trying to recreate this and work out what could have caused it unsuccessfully, one suggestion was made that it could be a hair but I can assure you that my hair was tied back and did not appear on any of the other photos taken from the exact same position at the same time both before and after this shot.

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The next two were taken in a graveyard of a church with history back to the doomsday book, it is also the church I was christened in and where my granddad in buried, the graveyard there has always felt very welcoming but this particular day it felt more atmospheric than normal.

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The final one was taken when I visited Chatsworth, I had just been looking at a gravestone that had no markings but was near to one for beloved dogs owned by the family.  There was no fire in the area, it was 2 pm in the afternoon and though it was November it was not overly cold and no breath was showing and before anyone asks no I was not having a cig as there was no smoking in the grounds.

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So thats a few of my strange encounters now tell me yours….please check out my Fb page for a special ghost related question of the day and video

 

A - Z Challenge 2013 · Blog Challenges

F is for Fantasy and Fairy Tales

paulaacton2 Comments

20130210-230657Just a fairly quick post because as most of you know I am stuck at work on Saturdays for the main part of the day, then there was a small horse race that everyone got rather excited about.

There is a fine line between fantasy and what would be traditionally considered a fairy tale, the latter is generally aimed at children and encompasses some form of moral guidance or lesson but really when you think about it the same elements are present in most fantasy.

Like all stories they take you on a journey but in many cases this is far more literal in fantasy, where many stories include a quest or characters taking long journeys across treacherous terrains.  The main themes behind both are that no matter what the struggle good will overcome evil and that there are consequences for those who fail to follow moral guidelines.  Even the characters that inhabit the two genres are the same though generally in the fairy tale they may wear a little more clothing and not be quite as seductive.

I guess in many ways fantasy is fairy tales for grown ups, a place of good and evil, darkness and light, magic and mystery, an escape from reality where lessons are taught and learnt with swords and sorcery.