Visit to Bendigo Art Gallery

'Man is the measure of all things
of the existence of what exists
and the non-existence of what does not exist.'
                                  (Protagoras)
We examined several pieces, to then write a short comment of a personal nature.
'The Grotesque Mask' really the face behind the mask, the inner feelings belying the outer exterior.
The professional mask I have worn for half a century which has hidden the pain of loss, abandonment, and betrayal. The huge difficulty of lifting the mask to get help to deal with potentially soul destroying situations. The joy in the discovery of another life, another personality, a new awareness and way of expression; a different path to tread gently, carefully, enjoying the space, the place, the opportunity.

'The Abstract Body' Symbolic portrayal.
My genes don't want to be an identical helix. They are screaming for a sense of individuality. Can't I just be me alone, not playing second fiddle to others! Imprisoned in an accident of birth, even now still trying to escape and discover is there a form that is only me, and be able to do things that only I can do. To become what only I can be, not abstract but unique, a concrete form.

Conversation

I wonder could it ever be said that social media
might have killed off face to face conversation?
Will Facebook, Twitter, texts and Wikipepia
replace vocabulary, grammar, even translation?
Where will wit, and humour be found, and
will we have anything for historians to treasure
in another two hundred years, or do we hand
our history to usb sticks--even dating pleasure
is all electronic so no wonder the divorce rate
and relationship breakdown occur every day.
So many people, anxious, depressed, and irate
taking anxiolytics, antidepressants and say
they can't cope with life, kids and mental
health is the problem--how strangely judgmental.

What is a writer's festival?

The event is different things to different people, different ways of looking at the same thing. People came because they read, like books, like authors, have questions to ask, want to hear answers from people who think. It is a social event, an exciting disruptive event, particularly in a small city like Bendigo.There is a charge, an energy  that is like a culturally rich and joyful bubble, that flows on even after the even is over till next year. Life can return to normal but there is the excitement of planning to attend the next festival, to be surrounded by like-minded people

Thursday night

Tonight many of us were spellbound listening to some very powerful words from an emotional Jacki French, Australian Children's Laureate. Speaking 'off the cuff' she told a harrowing story of her own dysfunctional childhood and her discovery of Socrates and all his wisdom, when aged seven, all on the anniversary of her sister's murder. She went on to outline just how much children need stories to be read to them, so they can learn to become readers.Then they are away--the power of a story. Jacki outlined the responsibilities of writers--to tell it like it is, so children can work out how to cope in a world full of conflict, violence, sex and drugs. She told how, while working with severely disturbed youth, how so many disadvantaged kids could be helped once they were taught to read. For everyone there is a magic book. A book where you just have to keep on turning the pages.

500 words: Right here, right now.

It is small. It is smooth. It is round, but it is behind my ear. How to get a look at it? I've tried a mirror, even a selfie but I can't get the angle right. Who am I kidding? I know it will be yet another Basal Cell Carcinoma. How many have I had already? I'm so careful now, now that it is too late. These are reminders of a youth spent in the sun, without a hat, without sleeves, without covering legs! A youth spent covered in freckles, running free, climbing trees, cricket in the street, swinging on a rope out over the river, to fall in, then splutter and swim to the edge, and do it all again.
But now I am older and wiser, and let's face it, a little bit sadder. For many years, I have practiced Thai Chi, and a few years ago added Qigong. I have learned to meditate, do deep breathing exercises, and even sing in a choir. At school, I really enjoyed any sport I could try. Basketball, Hockey, Badminton, Athletics, I tried them all. I even found myself in the Inter-varsity Badminton team, and that turned out to be a way to see Australia, as competition was held in a different University each year. I thought this would keep me fit and healthy.
No! Not so! The world is now a toxic place. The air is full of dust, grit and grime. The water is polluted, chlorinated, home to E Coli, while the earth is poisoned with a range of chemicals that it doesn't bear thinking about.We import poisoned food from overseas and everywhere is fast food, chocolate, 'soft drinks' and alcohol. Trying to find healthy food has become a real challenge. I frequent the Farmer's Markets, I even grow vegetables in pots, and wonder how honest is labelling in the supermarket?
I know that I am very personally responsible for my health. I am responsible for the choices I make. What I choose to eat, to drink, to wear, to do, these decide how healthy I am now, will be in three months or three years

Writers as...

Writers as:
Naturalists: Is a tree always a tree? What do you make of a leaf, a bird, or a lump of dirt? Can you describe a bee, a dog, or a horse? What about depicting a lamb, a cow, could that be a problem? Can your reader feel the breeze, smell the roses of perhaps the cold of the fallen snow?
Portrait painter: Portraits can be painted in words, depicting every emotion from bliss or joy to sadness or distress and all between. Can you capture the lift of an eyebrow, the texture of skin, the sparkle of an eye, the colour of hair the shape of an ear? Have you adequately described facial expression, anatomical form, odour, deformity and what of blood, sweat and tears?
Comedians: Can you encompass the levity, the satire, the repartee? Are you the joker, or the jester, the wit or the wag? Do you employ the double entendre, are you whimsical or jocular, perhaps farcical or even droll? Can you be comic, hilarious or playful?
Photographers: Have you recorded the detail, the precision, the accuracy? Is your picture true to life or are you chasing the negative, the shadow? Is your subject photogenic at all?
Linguists: Have you captured the lingua franca, the lingo, the slang, the accent of the time, the place, the situation?Does your wordplay dance to the appropriate music?
Just remember: the devil is in the detail!