No longer a bookworm

I've been an avid reader all my life - I read fast and devoured book after book, usually having several lying around the house at once, ready to be picked up whenever I had a moment. On cars and trains (although I can't do the car reading any more - age has made me travel sick!), walking along the street, while cooking, in fact, any excuse.

But now? I still read, but so much less than in the past - my excuse? well, three kids and a husband who need looking after would come first, second would be my scrapbooking hobby which has eroded into my reading time, but thirdly would be the internet - I love having so much stuff at the touch of a keyboard. Yes! I google and I'm not ashamed to admit it - I've found things I could never have hoped to see at the local library or bookshop, wonderful, interesting, mind-opening things which I have been happy to encounter - blogs, native american poetry, vintage photographs, word definitions, travel information...........

I have come of age in the internet world.

Cyber Rows - Why?

I'm not a confrontational person. In fact, I chicken out of rows as I hate them. Really bad in a marriage as it is hard to get anything resolved without clearing the air sometimes and my lovely husband doesn't do rows either - more of the ostrich type - 'if you bury your head long enough she'll shut up'!

But rows with strangers on websites and chatrooms? What is that all about? I can't imagine summoning up enough anger or energy to have a row online, or insult someone I don't know (apart from people in the public eye of course! but that's different, and they don't know anyway LOL). I mean, why not just switch off? You don't even get the satisfaction of seeing the impact of your statements.

My theory is that for some people it's actually easier to have a row online than be brave enough to front issues in real life so all that pent up anger, frustration and bitterness comes out on a bunch of strangers who ultimately they are not accountable to.

My reaction? Get a life! Walk away - but then I would, wouldn't I?

Panorama pictures

I'm feeling smug today as I learnt a new skill (?) over the weekend - well 2 actually. The first one was at a crop on Saturday when I had a play with wonderful Adirondack inkpads, rubber stamps and a spritzer - thanks Katie from Cre8tiveonline for a wonderful class - to make brushless watercolour images which are scrummy. But my newest skill is stitching photographs using software to make a panorama. I learnt how to do this, sent them off printing and now have 2 pictures of Rome for an album I am doing for friends - 12" wide.




I can feel a whole new set of photos and LOs coming..... :)

Gone cropping

I went to a crop yesterday in Hastings - the Natural Born Scrappers were feverishly cropping away - nice to meet people with an interest like me - everyone else thinks I am mad and frowns at the jargon. I could ramble away to my heart's content about Bazzill v. Prism, eyelet setters, St. Tim etc without anyone even blinking. However, all my best efforts came to a screaming halt about 4.30 as I RAN OUT OF PHOTOS! - a cardinal sin in the scrapping world - how could this happen? Well, it did! so my output was slowed, but I did benefit by talking to other people, helping out a bit and finishing off some bits and pieces. I had a great day - and loved taking a break with people who speak my language before coming back to the real world - the one where I take my photos!

Water

I wrote to our sponsor child today because it's her birthday soon and it takes a while for things to get translated, then our water went off, then I heard a programme on Radio 5 about more starvation in Africa and how Live 8 had no impact out there and then another bit about water shortages here and I started thinking about how we can alter life in more ways than one.

Altering is about craft in my vocab, right? but really we can have an impact on the planet in other ways too. I feel guilty about having so much when so many people don't, and taking for granted things that are such a struggle for so many others. It just made me think that I wanted to contribute to altering others' lives as well in so far as I can.

Font Springcleaning

I love fonts. I have hundreds on my computer and love journalling in different kinds of fonts despite the limitations of my cheap and nasty printer. But like anything tastes change and today I felt the urge to purge and have been going through my fonts, many of which languish in zipfiles unloved since the day I downloaded them.

I guess some people do this with shoes or other retail items, but my guilty secret is font downloading.
Today I am cleansed! Detoxed! and ready to go searching for more beautiful fonts (just don't tell anyone).