Avatar

Saw Avatar last night. It's certainly visually stunning, breathtaking. Not only the 3D, but the visualisation and artistic design of the planet, which comprises a vast luminous forest that glows at night, along with geological formations made of 'unobtanium' that has strange levetational properties, leading to amazing floating mountains.

The setting is so magnificent that it holds the film together, and I enjoyed it a lot, despite the fact that the plot was essentially predictable and cliched. Moreover, the main character annoyed the hell out of me for the first hour or so, because he's so damn stupid. But overall it's the classic hero's journey, as a human comes to value the culture of the indigenous people and fights for them against the greedy, violent humans who want to murder them all so they can mine the unobtanium.

I would certainly recommend seeing this in the cinema.

Sparkling solstice

Midsummer, once again. This year the longest day starts early for me with a Footsloggers training walk along the Maribyrnong River. A beautiful morning, bathed in sunshine. Coffee and scrambled eggs for second breakfast at the Boathouse cafe. And then, in the balmy evening, friends around for drinks and conversation. A sparkling solstice.

Niggle

I've had a fitness niggle this past week. It started last Thursday, when I developed a pain in my lower right shin during my morning walk to work. Skipping the gym, I limped home at the end of the day, but decided I needed to get it looked at. Particularly since even such mundane activities as shopping were causing fatigue and an aching pain, despite no dedicated exercise.

I was really lucky to get a podiatry appointment with a highly recommended practitioner - who is also the official Trailwalker podiatrist - through a cancellation on Tuesday. Somewhat conveniently, she operates out of a clinic in Bay Street Brighton. The consultation was focused on identifying the origin of the pain, and it turns out I have tight calf muscles, particularly on the right. This is causing overload on another muscle, which is crying out. It is, however, a bit of a mystery as to why it suddenly manifested, since I hadn't been doing anything out of the ordinary.

Anyway, I came away with many calf stretches and a physio appointment, which was yesterday. The same diagnosis was reached, and after an excruciating leg massage I came away with yet more stretches and instructions to walk to work today, after which I was to ice my ankle and tell her how it went. The good news is that I didn't have any pain and so I am cleared to walk to work every second day for the short term. Since I only have one more day and then I'm on leave for three weeks, this isn't going to be a huge issue.

So for the past week I have done zero exercise until today! And I've really noticed the difference in terms of how much time has been liberated. I haven't yet got back to writing, but I am definitely starting to unwind . . . the past couple of months have been full-on. However, rather than contemplating ditching this whole exercise malarkey (well, the gym part anyway) I'm actually looking forward to getting back into it.

So if I'm allowed to walk every second day, I'm going to skip tomorrow and target some sort of longish walk for Saturday, which will be followed by our next team training walk on Monday. All going well, I'll resume at the gym after that. Then I'm back at the physio on Wednesday to take stock . . . Better go do my final round of stretches for today!

Lots to do with a buzz in the brain

Despite the fact there's been no writing for weeks (again) I have been thinking a lot about my novel. Every so often I read over the last few chapters written and feel a swell of happiness when I realise that I actually still like most of it. There are of course frequent awkward sections to address in an editing pass, but I'm feeling as though I won't actually have to do another rewrite (as in start from blank 'sheet of paper'). It won't be finished by the end of the year (ROFL) but at least when I complete this draft, it will be complete, more or less.

You'd think this surge of satisfaction would be enough to have me sweeping everything non-novel related off my figurative plate with emphatic (yet also figurative) hand . . . but no. Still I am confronted by my TO DO list. This evening, for instance, I have spent a couple of hours first researching a certain Australian fantasy author, and then compiling a list of questions for her to answer via email, for the purpose of my Aussiecon 4 comms brainchild -- a newsletter targeted at 'newbies' who mistakenly think science fiction conventions are for nerds.

But even this process has re-inspired me; for this particular author, when still unpublished, attended a writing workshop with Tracey and I back in 1999. Now I look at her web site with her 7 published novels and 7 figure deals and think wistfully, 'if only'. Perhaps I would be forgiven if this evening's exercise had the reverse effect on my motivation levels, for 7 novels (with another 3 on the way) is a much better return after 10 years than ZERO . . . but surprisingly, it doesn't. I feel determined, a little energised, although still sadly time poor.

And then there are the recent inspirational efforts of my writing coven. Tracey, who achieved the 50,000 NaNoWriMo words last month. And Lisa, who subbed a short story today. We pledged about a month ago to report words at the end of each week . . . (more ROFL). And Foz, revelling in the UK on what could only be termed (for her) a writing sabatical, churning out nearly 30,000 words of a new novel in about three days! Maybe that should daunt me as well, because that's about 10 times faster than I can write on a good day, but once again, no, it rings sirens in my head that warn me to reprioritise and SOON.

For a writer doth write -- no? Not this writer, at present, unless you count the occasional blog post and work story (which I don't). This writer needs to clear some more of the TO DO list, and not let any more back onto it until some words have been churned out!

But I do feel encouraged by the fact that the buzz is still there at the back of my brain -- it's a hum that tells me when the time is right, when the way becomes clear, I will be able to launch into it. It's a much better place than where I was a few months ago, when I couldn't even remember what was happening in the story . . . (sorry, what did you say his name was?). In another week, I'll be on holiday, and although we all know it's a crazy time of year, I like to think that I'll be able to commit to writing something just about every day.

Two recent trailwalker events

I've been a little remiss in keeping this blog up to date about recent Trailwalker activities; however, we are keeping a team blog, where all the events are being documented.

Recent posts of note include:
Footsloggers finally find the trail: CP3 to CP4
Fundraising garage sale (Saturday 5 Dec)

Our next team walk is Monday 21 December, so I'm going to have to find some time to get a long walk in this coming Saturday morning . . . Meanwhile, I continue walking to work and cross training at Contours. I do feel as though my general fitness is improving, which is good.

Ripping heads (or 'a day in the garden')

There come times in life when you feel as though you are wrenched from one thing to another with barely time to take a breath. After a while, you get a headache and then you start ripping others' heads off. The funny thing is that I'm enjoying all the various activities I've taken on, when I consider them individually. But I am someone who needs downtime. Me time. And the constant pressure of my massive To Do list is starting to take its toll.

This weekend, I did manage to break the back of one item that has been bugging me for months -- my jungle in the back yard. I have lost track of the number of weekends when it was either too cold/wet, too hot, or I was too busy to spend the few hours required to rip into the weed-infested 'garden'. But somehow conditions were perfect yesterday, so I made the most of them. It was hard work, but satisfying, and the relief I feel when I glance out the window is significant.

Not that I'm there yet with the back yard . . . My lawn is still a disaster -- more weed than grass these days, alas. And there is much pruning and planting to be done. And ripping out of dead plants that haven't survived the drought. In recent years I've grown lettuce, tomatoes and various herbs, but I don't think I'm up for that this year. Who would have thought I'd have so much difficulty tending such a small garden as mine? Am seriously considering getting a gardener.

On the absolute upside, I can now cross off 'weed garden' from my list, despite the fact that 'weed lawn' and 'prune' remain. Next weekend, however, it will be time to swing into other activities, so who knows when I'll get back to the garden? I have the feeling that Sunday was it -- my day in the garden -- for a while at least.

Page Turners: Cannery Row

The last book for the Page Turners year was Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. It's a very thin book, more novella than novel, yet still I didn't manage to finish it before the meeting tonight. The problem was that I didn't start it until Tuesday evening, by which time it was all too too late.

What I did read, however (about 50 pages, or ~1/3), I rather enjoyed for the most part. It's set in a rather downbeat community on a small street lined with sardine fisheries in Monterey California. It revolves around the people living there, all of them quirky and struggling and yet strangely content. The main plot deals with a group of local bums wanting to 'do something nice' for Doc - a marine biologist who is arguably the most respectable and well-to-do in the community. Yet the chapters dealing with this are interspersed with myriad vignettes focusing on others who live there as well -- there's a couple who live in an abandoned boiler, the madame of a brothel, Frankie the kid with a troubled family life who befriends Doc, and many others I didn't get to meet.

I found the language and imagery used in the novel very evocative and powerful, and although I didn't identify with any of the characters, had sufficient interest in them to be quite entertained. Most have dubious morals and few are even likable, but on an intellectual level it held me.

I have to say, though, that it hasn't held me to the extent that I am going to finish it right away. I have a few other books waiting in the wings that I am dying to read, so Cannery Row, like most of my unfinished PT books, will be discarded at this point. It's frustrating to think of the number of books I have partially read, but when my reading time is so limited, as it is presently, I am going to prioritise the books that have me making excuses to read them.

We enjoyed a fairly animated discussion about the book this evening, but I didn't take any notes . . . I believe a majority had actually finished it for once, which always helps!

An education about boys . . .

It has been a very busy few months, but I have taken in a couple of movies. Here's a quick rundown:

The Boys are Back: Saw a preview screening of this Australian film some weeks before it was released. Clive Owen plays a man whose wife tragically dies, leaving him to raise and re-connect with their young son, somewhere in Adelaide. Matters are complicated when his other son from a previous marriage travels out from England to stay. It's a raw and well-acted film about boys and men (brother/brother relationships and father/son relationships) -- an interesting insight for women. It's definitely a character drama, with not a huge amount of action, although there was enough tension to get me onto the edge of my seat a couple of times.

An Education: Another free ticket! Set in the 1960s, this is about a 16-yr old English school girl, highly intelligent, who catches the eye of a socialite man in his 30s. She is wined and dined and exposed to an intoxicating world that makes her question the worth of her staid private education, where the only end-game for women seems to be a secretary, nurse or teacher. It's not a romance, more a coming of age story. I certainly enjoyed it, although it lacked the rawness, tension and emotion of The Boys are Back.

Orion rising

This evening I was walking home from the train station at around 11pm (roughly half an hour ago) and I saw the constellation of Orion for the first time this Summer.

Everytime this happens -- my first Summer glimpse of Orion, or my first Winter glimpse of Scorpio -- a thrill rushes through me. These two constellations mark the seasons as surely as anything. One day you look up and there they are, celestial signals, timeless, ageless.

It is of course not the first evening this year Orion has been visible rising in the eastern sky, but it is the first time I have seen it. I wasn't looking for it, but there it was.

Summer is finally here.

Week log: one up, one down

It seems like my life is one big checklist at the moment -- whether training, writing, housework, fundraising, blogging, or marcoms stuff for Aussiecon 4. Too many things to do and not enough time. It has come to the point where I am considering taking a day off work to actually get some things done!

Anyway, the point of this post is to provide a training and writing log for the week:

Writing: zero (Will have to reverse that this week with some morning stints, I think!)

Training: Walked to work & back three times, went to the gym three times, plus conquered the 1000 steps twice in the Dandenongs on Saturday morning. This last was fabulous. It felt great to get out early and achieve something before 9am! See our Footsloggers post here. I also discovered the merits of 'sports water' (mizone) on Friday afternoon. I'd had a couple of minor cramps during my gym workout after work, so decided I needed some electrolytes for the walk home . . . what I hadn't counted on was the sugar rush. Instead of dragging my weary self home, I fairly bounced all the way. I am still in awe at the difference in my energy levels. Will definitely do some more experimentation with other brands and formulas -- if possible, I would like to consume somewhat LESS than 28g of sugar per 700ml!

So a good training week, despite the lack of long walk, but a lousy writing week. Somehow it's always the writing that gets shafted.

Phillip Island Footsloggers

Our trailwalker team -- both walkers and support crew -- enjoyed a rather warm sojourn down at Philip Island this weekend. We congregated at my parents' beach house on Friday night/Saturday morning, before being dropped off at Rhyll, which marked the start of our walk. This is one of the benefits of having our support crew in attendance -- no car shuffling!

We walked along the beautiful Rhyll estuary, then down through Koala woodland, after which we traipsed along various roads on the island. One of the problems with Phillip Island as a trailwalker training destination is that all the pretty walks are short and disconnected. So although the first part of the walk was extremely picturesque, most of it was fairly dusty and dull. We joked that these long dusty roads were good practice for the notorious Warburton trail . . . In total, we walked around 17km, our longest walk to-date, and by the end felt we had well and truly earned the G&Ts (or chilled white wine) we were hankering for.

The rest of the weekend was spent in a far more leisurely fashion. We indulged in said G&Ts over lunch, then spent some time discussing our training schedule leading up to the event. We marked off dates and determined which sections of the trail we intend to tackle when, and discussed some of our training strategies. Importantly, we also planned the next phase of our fundraising schedule, identifying several events both before and after Christmas. Certainly there was also much eating and drinking too.

Today we had a relaxed day, walking in along the beach to Cowes for breakie -- my latest favourite is Cafe Laguna, where the coffee is marvellous. We sat out on the pavement, mostly in the shade, and secretly laughed at the poor suckers in the flashy-but-awful cafe across the road.

Then we cleaned up the house and dispersed early to mid afternoon. But not before mixing up our 12 boxes of fundraising chocolates: giant freddos & caramelo koalas, strawberry freddos and boost bars.

In all, it was a lovely weekend, and great that our two support crew team members could come along as well. We are all getting along really well, and now that we have our fundraising and training planned, it's just a matter of forging ahead and making it all happen.

Island Idyll

Another four days down at the island and I'm feeling nice and relaxed. The great revelation has been my new Dodo mobile broadband, enabling me to go online while I'm away. So here I am, sitting in our beach house, feeling connected.

The main purpose of this long weekend away was to get some writing and walking done, as well as general relaxing. It's been a nice mix of cosy chats, companionable walks, targeted writing time. We've practised using the cappuccino maker too -- a good holiday activity.

Yesterday I took a drive around the island to work out a good 'long walk' route for when the Trailwalker team comes down here next weekend. Phillip Island is not really set up for 20km walks! Most of the picturesque walks are 3-5km in length, so I'm trying to figure out the best way of linking them up.

On the writing front it's been moderately productive. I've actually had a better week in general, getting up early Mon-Wed to write before breakfast, so to cap this off with some more output this weekend has been good. I feel as though I'm getting back into the swing of it, although am still facing an enormous number of distractions. Will try to keep up the pre-breakfast sessions.

I've been doing a fair degree of reading as well (or, rather, listening). Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is getting better as at goes on. And I've been very much enjoying the audio of The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton. Will blog on this properly when I've finished it.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Yes, well.

I was actually looking forward to reading this. I thought it sounded clever and funny. From a quick browse through the illustrations -- Elizabeth kicking zombies in the head, Lady Catherine keeping legions of ninjas etc -- it sounded vastly entertaining.

It's not.

In fact, I'm not sure I can finish it. For one thing, at its heart the novel is an abridged version of P&P. Abridged = BAD. I feel as though the abridgement has been done by someone with little respect for Austen and the essence of the novel. It has slashed scenes to the bare minimum -- to the point that the BBC six-part TV series actually features more of the story and original dialogue.

Worse -- far far worse -- it has actually changed some of the dialogue tags. For example, instead of having Caroline Bingley expound on the various attributes of the truly accomplished lady, it gives this speech to Darcy. Oh, so wrong. Nor do I like the snide remarks inserted into the mouths of various characters. In the same Caroline/Darcy conversation, Darcy actually says all these rude things to Caroline, which she blithely ignores, keeping to her original dialogue. And in another scene Mr Bennett verbally abuses Mrs Bennett to her face, in a once-again one-sided edit.

And this is before I even get to the zombies.

Actually, I can forgive the zombie insertions more easily. They are, after all, the premise of the book. It's quite interesting to read the diversions in the story to accommodate zombie attacks etc. My main problem with them is an insurmountable one: they are simply too ancillary to the main storyline. Without tampering with the overall storyline (in the manner of Lost in Austen for example) the zombies cannot actually influence anything. They become nothing more than a backdrop to the main story of P&P.

I think I would have liked the whole book better had it started off in the true P&P manner, introduced zombies, and then diverged, more and more as the zombies actually had impact, caused characters to make different choices etc. I think it would have been more fun to write as well. As it is, it's little more than a editing job. Glimmers of creativity hidden like flecks of gold in a chunk of rock. Or maybe the reverse (pockets of impurities in a gold nugget).

This is actually our Page Turners book for this month. I don't think it'll matter if I don't finish it, although I would like to make it up to the Lady Catherine scenes with her ninjas. And I may skip ahead to read key scenes like proposal #1 and the delicious scenes at Pemberley. Hmmm.

Trailwalker update

Team Footsloggers leaped to the head of the fundraising leaderboard for the first few weeks, raising $800 without even really trying, thanks to the donations of kind friends and family; but now we have slipped back to 3rd overall with some impressive fundraising action from "Twisted Sisters" and "Iron Ladies". (It's nice to see the all-girl teams setting the pace in any event!)

We might nevertheless pat ourselves on the back for providing incentive to others to get into action! But we're not finished yet, with some fundraising ideas in their infancy and still heaps of time to make it to our planned $5K.

On the training front, we've been doing it solo for the past couple of weeks as well as next weekend, with a team weekend planned at Phillip Island 7-8 November. I find it easy enough to accumulate km in short bursts, but going out for longer walks on my own is not so fun and I've managed to find all sorts of reasons to avoid doing so. It will be good to have a weekend away with the girls.

We are blogging about Trailwalker in more detail at our Footslogger site, so check in regularly for all the insight from not just me, but Lisa and Emma also (so far . . .).

Immersion (part 2)

I'm back from my immersion weekend and so far so good. I admit there was a fair degree of procrastination on Saturday in the form of a walk into town to get coffee and groceries, then I spent 3.5 hours reading the previous 13 chapters (37,000 words) aloud to myself -- just to get in the mood and remember what I was on about, you understand! (Ended up hoarse . . . )

So at about 6:30pm on Saturday evening I was finally ready to actually start writing something. Which I did. And then again this morning. All I need to do now is keep plugging away, a little a day. The key is maintaining momentum.

The good news: I actually enjoyed reading though chapters 15 to 27. Maybe there's hope for the story yet.
The bad news: I am stupidly behind the self-imposed schedule I concocted in around May. According to that I should be writing chapter 43 this week, rather than chapter 28. Hmmm.

Immersion

This coming weekend I am going down to the island for a period of writing immersion. The very thought of it makes me smile. And feel relieved. It has been too long since I've spent time with my characters in their world, and they feel like shadow creatures, rather than the flesh and blood they once were.

I have let my life get out of control a little bit. I allowed a natural distance from the story to form while I prepared my Hachette submission, but failed to regain the ground, and instead let it slip further and further away like a boat that has slipped its mooring. It is too far away now for a simple tug, and I will have to haul and haul and haul on a water-logged rope to get it back again.

It may happen that I spend hours reading back over what I have previously written, and simply thinking. I may need to pick up a pen and try to tap into the creative part of my brain using free writing techniques. But whatever it takes, I will be spending time in that world and that story -- something that has not happened in a few months.

I admit that for the past 6 weeks, I have been fairly obsessed with Trailwalker. Between that and dabbling with voluntary communications for Aussiecon 4, I have had little brain space left for anything else. And while I will probably spend a little time this weekend on both these things -- going for one or two purposeful walks, and developing up some copy for a promotional flyer -- I intend to spend the great majority of time on my novel.

I certainly do not regret taking on these additional activities. I believe both will be enlivening experiences, and Trailwalker in particular is for such a worthwhile cause. But I do want to get some balance back. Writing is key element of my overall character, and I feel that when I'm not writing there is something missing. I'm not quite whole. This weekend is about finding my way again.

Brighton to Beaumaris

Well, Footsloggers team training is now officially underway. For the first time since the adventure began, all four of us donned runners and daypacks on Sunday for a stroll along the picturesque beach path from Brighton to Beaumaris. Dodging numerous cyclists and the occasional jogger, we soaked up the gorgeous spring sunshine and started to put ourselves through our paces. The only notable absentee was Orinoco, our womble team mascot, who slept in.

For my part, I was wearing my new trailrunners and camelbak hydration pack, and both proved comfortable with no sore spots. The fact that I am prone to blisters and was walking in new-ish shoes, might go some way to prove the worth of the expensive thorlo socks!

Our specific destination was the Ricketts Point cafe, where we met our support crew teamleader for lunch. It was a lovely reward after the morning’s exertions, and great that we can start to get our support crew involved. Yes, OK, it was also a convenient way of getting back to our starting point!

In total, we walked about 15km in 3h 12 mins, which is a speed of 4.7kph. Next team training will hopefully be a weekend down at Philip Island in early November. The plan is to spend a day at Wilson’s Prom doing “hills” and a day/night walking around the island. In the meantime, I’m thinking it might be good to go check out the 1000 steps . . .

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Tonight I have relived on DVD one of my old favourites -- the 1982 British TV version of The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour and Ian McKellen.

The first time I saw this movie I was a teenager, trusted by my parents to keep all in order with my siblings while they went out. This movie was on TV, and finished waaaay past my bed time (~11pm vs ~9pm). Stupidly, I worried that if mum and dad had come home to find me still up watching TV, there would be hell to pay. So I watched almost the entire movie from my bedroom door (which was in view of the TV, if remotely), intending to scurry off to bed if I heard them come home.

Of course, this was in the days before remote controls, and I daresay had they arrived home to find the TV still on, they might have twigged. Assuming, that is, they hadn't already spotted my hasty retreat.

As it happened, they didn't come home until after the movie had finished, meaning that I could have watched the entire movie from the comfort of the sofa. I still cannot believe how hen-hearted I was! This incident is one I will never ever forget.

Anyway, I recorded the movie onto video the next time it was on TV, and have watched it many many times. A few years ago I tracked it down on DVD. It's amazing how many of the lines I still remember. I put it on tonight because I thought I had seen it so many times that it would be a good background movie, while I carried on about the house doing various domestic bits and pieces. Nope! It had been a couple of years and it still had the power to glue me to the screen.

The movie has dated of course, and now I can spot soooo many plot holes that were I watching it for the first time today I daresay I would consider it worse than bad. But it's an old favourite, and it always will be. It has adventure, costume, romance . . . everything!

Progress

Had some nice feedback from the Queensland Writers Centre this week. Although I still have not been accepted into the manuscript development workshop, I did discover that I made the 'long list', which has been published on the QWC web site. This is definitely better than nothing, although since they only took 8 in the end, I can assume that I am still somewhat off the mark. But this is progress!

Book: Necropolis

The October Page Turners book for discussion was Necropolis (Book four of The Power of Five), by Anthony Horowitz. It's unashamedly YA (or younger) and targeted at boys. This is a relief, because if it were an adult novel with women as an intended audience, it failed dismally!

For my part, I found it a trifle dull. The characters were not that engaging, and the action not that exciting. Moreover, the YA writing style, which over-explained everything, as well as the omniscient point of view irritated me excessively.

I don't believe anyone in our reading group was particularly enthralled by it, and about the most interesting discussion topic was the difference between this, which clearly doesn't translate well for the adult reader, and other YA novels (such as Harry Potter, for example -- but there are many others), which do.

Introducing Footsloggers

Registrations for Trailwalker opened today and I stayed up past midnight last night to ensure we were registered first thing. So now I can reveal our team name: Footsloggers.

Our Trailwalker team space, where we will be blogging as a team about our experiences, can be found here. Online donations to Oxfam at this site will be gratefully accepted.

We have pledged to raise $5000 for Oxfam, owing to the crafty Oxfam people setting this as the minimum for the first round of registrations. We have been far too excited and keyed up to wait until the end of the month (when those pledging $1000 can register), so there will be a massive fundraising effort in the months to come . . .

We have also set ourselves an ambitious target time of 30 hours to complete the event. Not sure about that one yet!

First team training is next weekend (11 Oct), when we will attempt a ~14km walk along the beach from Elwood to Beaumaris, with the reward being lunch at Ricketts Point. I am really looking forward to that, because then it will really feel as though we're on our way!

Time to get on with it

It's been over two months since I subbed the first 50p of my manuscript for the Hachette Australia manuscript development program, and aside from my brief 'words blooming' in early September, I haven't written a cursed thing.

For weeks I have been searching for a way back into the zone, trying to find a decent expanse of time, knowing I desperately need an immersion weekend down at the island. I believe I have identified an appropriate weekend (still over two weeks away) and hope madly that nothing comes up to prevent me from going down there. For, although I continue to plan and scheme for writing time at home, I fear I will need that weekend down at the island to kick-start my brain again.

Somewhat perversely, I am feeling relieved just now, having heard I was unsuccessful in my submission for the Hachette program. Of course I am disappointed (although not nearly as gutted as last time), but I can't help but think that had I been compelled to sub the rest of the novel (partly still in first draft format) it would have felt rather pointless to continue rewriting. As it is, I am back in isolation again, all on my own. It's now completely up to me what happens from here, and I should be able to just get on with it!

Movie: The Ugly Truth

The Ugly Truth was an entertaining Friday night chick flick -- funny, undemanding of my brain, certainly romantic. Perfect Friday night fare. Starring Katherine Heigl, it explores the age-old question of whether a girl needs to put on an act to get a guy, or whether true love will find her if she stays true to herself.

The basic premise is that Heigl plays a TV morning show producer whose network forces her to put up with a new segment called 'The Ugly Truth', in which our hero proceeds to advise viewers on relationships from his somewhat bitter and twisted experience . . . (men only think about sex, they don't want deep and meaningful conversation, they want thin beautiful women only etc etc). The segment is an instant hit, much to our heroine's disgust, but she is reluctantly won over and allows him to coach her in the ways to obtain a date/relationship with her gorgeous new doctor neighbour . . . you can probably guess the rest.

I must say the movie is not very flattering towards men, but the hero is engaging and undergoes his own journey to overcome past hurts and realise that he can actually find a meaningful relationship with a woman. Heigl is very funny (particularly in a scene in which she finds herself at a business dinner in vibrating underwear), and the chemistry between the two leads is pretty amazing, I thought (particularly in a scene where they dance). Not brain food or culture, but good for a laugh. (I notice it got pretty bad reviews, but I was in the mood to be entertained. What do people expect from a romcom?)

Consumed

I must admit that Trailwalker is consuming me right at the moment. It's almost all I can think about -- currently it's the list of gear I need to buy and my pre-Christmas training schedule.

Here's my current shopping list:

• backpack (possibly/probably a camelbak with hydration system)
• trailrunner shoes (?) or similar
• triathlon knicks
• shorts (to wear over the top)
• thorlo socks (1 pair to try)
• heart rate monitor
• MP3 player (new one)
• hat (all mine are either too flash or too daggy)
• appropriate tops (not sure what I want here, will probably experiment with a few different ones)

My pre-Christmas training schedule is pretty straightforward: walk to/from work 3 times a week (3.8km each way), plus a 10-15km walk somewhere on the weekend.

Gee, there's an awful lot of preparation involved in this! And we haven't even started on the fundraising!

Training begins

Today we embarked upon our first 'long walk' as an almost Trailwalker team. Three of us tramped around Studley Park (and surrounds) in a 13km figure of eight. We started at the Studley Park boathouse, looped out past the Fairfield boathouse, then returned via the Collingwood Children's Farm. It was a gorgeous day and our spirits were high.

Since we had previously decided to start our 'official' training on October 11, this was merely a 'preliminary' training walk, basically because we couldn't wait another 3 weeks. We/I wanted to get out there and walk together, get a feel for pace etc, and generally get into the mood. Now, despite the fact that we were a person short, it feels real.

We kept the pace pretty low today, not wanting to stretch ourselves too much just yet. We're feeling our way and testing our boundaries. Not all of us are regular walkers, so it will take a little time to build up speed as well as stamina and toughness. The 13km took us just under 3 hours, which is 4.3 km per hour. For me this was a very comfortable amble, and I am pleased to report I have no sore spots on my feet or anywhere else. In fact, I feel pretty good, just a little weary -- but pleasantly so.

Now we look ahead to the 11th and our first official team walk. We're not sure where this is going to be yet. In the meantime, I intend to keep up walks to work three times a week. So far, so good!

Pondering the home library

A large part of today's writing group brunch discussion seemed to centre around books, and the basis for keeping them. Being writers we are all book people, but we did speculate on what was to be considered a reasonable number to maintain in one's home library.

I have always been one to buy books. All through high school and university, books were perhaps the one thing I never held back on. If I wanted a book, I bought it. No questions. No guilt. I allowed myself this one vice, and read avidly, often until the wee hours of the morning. Sadly, I don't seem to read nearly as much these days. I suppose I am trying to fit too many other things in. However, I do still prefer to buy my reading group books, and any others that take my fancy. I always have a massive pile of books that I have not yet had the chance to read.

I love having a home library. I have purged occasionally over the years, so it's not a massive collection, but it is a reasonable size. Many books I have read more than once, or at least intend to; others I doubt I'll ever get around to reading again, but I keep them because I love having them there. They are mostly fiction, but not all. It has got to the point where I probably need to invest in a new bookshelf. (I can probably find space for one.) I could probably do with a purge as well. But somehow I know that if I sort through them, I will probably come away with a single small box full of around 10 books. The rest will all make it back onto the shelf!

But (and here is where we go back to today's brunch conversation), what do you do when you have seven loaded bookshelves and need to find room for someone else's almost as impressive collection? You start making wild declarations that you will cull your book collection to 100 books. (Ha!) Of course, we know this to be impossible, but it does raise certain points: why keep books that are readily available in libraries? Why keep books that you know you will not read again? Is there a need to keep duplicate copies of favourite books? What if said duplicate copies were both signed by the author?

My gut feeling in this situation would be to retain a book if I was in any doubt. (I confess I already have duplicate copies of some books!) There are plenty of books I know I won't read again, but don't particularly want to get rid of. But then, I don't have the above-mentioned space (or volume) issues. Despite the modest size of my house, I'm not yet in any danger of running out of bookshelf space. Until I do, I don't have to be ruthless. In fact, I'm far more likely at present to go buy another bookshelf!

Wordnik - does it represent birth or death?

I happened to hear part of a talkback radio show on the weekend about a web site called wordnik. It describes itself as: "An ongoing project devoted to discovering all the words and everything about them". Basically, it embraces all words, no matter how correct or invented -- so long as the word is in use somewhere, it's considered legitimate. Moreover, it's an interactive site, so you can record pronunciations, write definitions, make tags, mark as favourites etc. Rather an enjoyable procrastination site for a word-o-phile!

Much as I applaud the concept of a web site devoted to words, however, I can't help but feel a tug of resistance. Certainly this is how languages evolve, but one could argue they devolve as well (e.g. prevalence of orientated and obligated in modern use). Just how wild and free should a language be? Is it time to reject the artificial rules imposed on English way back when, and go with the flow? Or will abandoning restraint and a sense of 'correct' usage lead us back into the dark ages?

Chilling out at the Island

Had a fabulous weekend of R&R down at Phillip Island the past couple of days. The weather is finally warming up, and Saturday was a lovely day to be out and about, despite the wind. On Sunday, mindful of my trailwalker ambition, we embarked upon a longer walk than is perhaps customary for us down there. Instead of stopping in Cowes for coffee, as we had the previous day, we kept going past all the way to Silverleaves, where we enjoyed a lovely turkey bagel lunch, with coffee and apple & rhubarb crumble. Decadent. And then we walked home. It was an hour each way at a moderate pace -- purposeful without being spanking, a little faster than leisurely. It was the first time ever I didn't take my computer down to the beach with me, and it was lovely to walk, talk, chill out and watch a little netball and Anne of Green Gables on TV.

Team in training

It's official. We have a trailwalker team. However, I'm not going to reveal our team name here until we're registered, which won't be until October.

We had our first team meeting on Friday evening, when everyone met each other. It was one of those evenings when everybody had heaps of things to say, and we had so many things to talk about, that the energy in the room was stupendous. Training was one of the big ones: how often could we get our act together to train as a team? How far would we have to walk in training? What shoes should we wear? Where should we go for our training sessions?

Another item to discuss was whether or not we thought we needed to stop for sleep at any stage during the event. I think this is still unresolved. Part of me feels that we might as well have some sleep, because where's the sense in killing ourselves? We have already agreed that our goal is to finish, not break any special time barriers. But there is the consideration that if we sleep our muscles might seize up and we'd feel ten times worse. One possibility is to have showers (and possible naps) at the Olinda house of a friend of my family. Olinda is checkpoint 4, but is just under halfway, so it's probably too early for a nap, but maybe a shower would be beneficial.

We also talked about fundraising. I don't think we've come up with any bright ideas yet. And team T-shirts for us and our support crew. Of course.

In the end we decided two important things: our team name (TBA) and the date for our first official team training session, which is to be on Sunday October 11. We are to meet at Studley Park at 8am (OMG) and walk for 3 hours, before indulging in a yummy brunch. Emma is responsible for determining our route.

Having said that, we are sneaking in a preliminary walk this coming Sunday at a location yet to be decided. It seems that most or all of us are available this weekend after all, so the game is soon to be on!

And so it begins.

Diversions

Since my post on 'Words Blooming', where I announced to the world that I was writing again, I've been diverted yet again from my cause by several factors. I won't list them all here, despite the fact that they're all legitimate (except, perhaps, for Saturday's descent into wine swilling from 2pm), but I will mention two that are looming as potential ongoing threats to my writing time.

There's Trailwalker, of course. We haven't even kicked it all off yet (that's on Friday) but already I've been spending time reading up on it online. And once we start training on weekends, I can see the end of the 'idea' of Sunday writing sessions. I say the 'idea' because the reality is that I haven't written on a Sunday afternoon for months. (Shame)

Then there's Aussiecon 4. Sunday's comms meeting was good, because I managed to avoid committing myself to anything much. But this evening, I have put up my hand unbidden to do a media campaign. I have even spent the entire evening drafting up a document for people on the email list to read, filled with ideas and promises. What am I thinking? It's pride, pure and simple. I have been added to this list/subcommittee as the only person with publicity/media experience, and I don't want them all shaking their heads about how I'm not adding any value. So, I decided to take the bull by the horns and do what I do best -- conceptualise a campaign and volunteer to drive it. Of course, it's the type of campaign that could take as much or as little time as I like. But my pride is on the line here . . . I have no idea when I'm going to find time to do all this.

As well as write. Oh dear, oh dear.