tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post4964328836557516040..comments2023-06-28T22:58:28.247+10:00Comments on Sixth In Line: The first day of the yearElisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-71495558547514785462012-01-18T17:55:17.518+11:002012-01-18T17:55:17.518+11:00Hello? I repeat, the above comment concerning my d...Hello? I repeat, the above comment concerning my daughter at Venus Bay was intended for your posting "The White Wall of the Refrigerator". <br />Would you PLEASE put it there?<br />Sorry for my mistake.R.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04639593801088008224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-67247272497577939792012-01-18T14:27:19.047+11:002012-01-18T14:27:19.047+11:00Good. That's what my detractors are, they'...Good. That's what my detractors are, they're metaphorical. ha ha.R.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04639593801088008224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-75341696291702129772012-01-18T14:23:27.970+11:002012-01-18T14:23:27.970+11:00I think the Venus Bay comment is in the wrong post...I think the Venus Bay comment is in the wrong post. I meant it for the one about the fridge. <br />Can you put it there?R.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04639593801088008224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-42226075941957280022012-01-18T14:19:28.984+11:002012-01-18T14:19:28.984+11:00My daughter is an adult now, and as sociable as ev...My daughter is an adult now, and as sociable as ever. I kiss her on the forehead and really mean it. When she was about three years old we stayed in a caravan park at Venus Bay, right on the beach. She invited herself into a nearby caravan where there was a young couple with two kids, and an older woman who may have been an aunt or grannie. One day she (my daughter) went down to the beach with them and they should have checked with me because she told them I'd said it was okay but actually I didn't know a thing about it. Anyway they were leaving the next day, this crowd, and when they got back from the beach they all said goodbye to her. Then the older woman came forward, knelt and wrapped her arms around her. It lasted a while. <br />I've seen people hug someone but never with that sort of feeling, an immense sadness and so much love.R.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04639593801088008224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-91786220547288819152012-01-18T13:53:09.683+11:002012-01-18T13:53:09.683+11:00That's the term, Robert. Thanks. I doubt it ...That's the term, Robert. Thanks. I doubt it applies to you. Writing is not the same as speaking, though perhaps your detractors mean it metaphorically.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-25046054936125372352012-01-18T12:40:21.540+11:002012-01-18T12:40:21.540+11:00Tourette Syndrome. I've been accused of it. Ma...Tourette Syndrome. I've been accused of it. Mainly by blog ladies of matron vintage, latecomers to feminism. I'm a homophobe too, a racist, misogynist, and (how's this) a sociopath! Well poor old things, they've had to memorise these insults as part of the latte catechism. But their brains aren't sharp anymore. When you start dying your hair red and worrying about your middle-age spread rote is all you have left.R.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04639593801088008224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-1738780850982380372012-01-18T11:18:18.343+11:002012-01-18T11:18:18.343+11:00Thanks, Mary, for the link to your other blog. Nee...Thanks, Mary, for the link to your other blog. Needless to say, to you at least, I've been over there and I'm entranced.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-45801237778135533902012-01-18T11:16:48.131+11:002012-01-18T11:16:48.131+11:00I'd agree with these thoughts, Robert: that ol...I'd agree with these thoughts, Robert: that old demon self-censorship trips us up all the time, and yet...well we need some of it sometimes, otherwise we become like - what's that term? We become like those people who cannot hold back on unspoken thoughts. They can swear out of the blue uncontrollably. <br /><br />I've had a mental block here. I expect you'd know the word. I stumble on it all the time.<br /><br />Thanks, Robert.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-38489778714804477312012-01-17T23:35:39.049+11:002012-01-17T23:35:39.049+11:00Had to Google Babara Turner Vesselago, liked the ...Had to Google Babara Turner Vesselago, liked the look of her approach.<br /><br />Here is the url for my other blog, if you have time to look at it you will see the differences -- and some similarities! <br /><br />Polyphonic blogging, I like to think.<br /><br />http://africanalchemy.wordpress.com/Mary LAhttp://louisey.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-59908061633881966332012-01-17T23:33:29.474+11:002012-01-17T23:33:29.474+11:00Self censoring is why most writing fails. But it&#...Self censoring is why most writing fails. But it's absent when you're dreaming, or furious.R.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04639593801088008224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-58073262310736393292012-01-17T20:33:14.344+11:002012-01-17T20:33:14.344+11:00I have moved on fro this post, this first day o th...I have moved on fro this post, this first day o the year, Mary, but not so far that I am not pleased to see you here. I agree: 'How do we blog in different voices?' I've come up against those who prefer the strictly autobiographical and others who enjoy the fictional. Others who are pleased to read whatever comes up and if it resonates they might respond and others still who prefer that I declare myself up front: what are you writing about here? they might ask. Let's not have any surprises. But I prefer the surprise element, otherwise why bother. <br /><br />That's one of the problems with the fixed community of bloggers. There are expectations that you maintain one set identity and any deviation is frowned upon. I prefer multiple perspectives and it's clear to me from what you write here that you do, too.<br /><br />Have you been to one of Barbara Turner Vesselago's 'freefall' workshops? - that's not to label or constrain you. I ask because of the word freefall in your blog title and because of the quality of your writing. <br /><br />Thanks, Mary,Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-90929600233374475802012-01-17T16:47:08.086+11:002012-01-17T16:47:08.086+11:00I read this post and went away to think about a re...I read this post and went away to think about a response and thought about it and then thought about it some more and of course you have long moved on.<br /><br />I began blogging in a discourse that was odd and ill-fitting but necessary because I was writing about recovery and found myself part of what could be called the recovery community of bloggers. It was helpful in some ways, talking about something I hadn't talked about before, but the discourse itself felt like a klutzy straitjacket.<br /><br />And I had started another blog while I was in Wales because I kept having these dreams and had some neo-pagan friends and so I wrote for them and found myself in the metaphorical hinterland of the neo-pagan discourse and community online. Another discourse with limitations and problems. How do we blog in different voices? Some friends/readers online recognise one voice but not the other, some liked both, some felt that blogging in different voices was inauthentic, some wondered why I didn't just writer from my daily reality.<br /><br />Not very different from my experience last year when I wrote a novella about a mermaid in the Karoo and my e-publisher said, 'You're writing genre fiction now not literary fiction,' Even though I was writing the same gritty kitchen sink stuff about betrayals and disappointment and economic motivations. This was speculative fiction and marketed as such. So there is a voice and there is discourse, what others perceive a blogger or author to be doing, the expectations, the level of disclosure, the tone.<br /><br />All protectiveness is perhaps ultimately self-protective and we try to outwit ourselves when we tell stories, when we let metaphor into the everyday. The trick is to get past the censor at the gate and that is the self who doesn't want the story told this way or that way.Mary LAhttp://louisey.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-22697558909682965262012-01-09T16:36:52.707+11:002012-01-09T16:36:52.707+11:00Very gracefully expressed: fine post.Very gracefully expressed: fine post.Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06506141014376919585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-73218550856300426832012-01-09T11:26:42.351+11:002012-01-09T11:26:42.351+11:00It was lovely meeting up with you again too Elisab...It was lovely meeting up with you again too Elisabeth. <br /><br />Hope the new year is treating you well.<br /><br />PandPandora Behrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17582255671962095503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-16150215968413521092012-01-07T17:51:57.358+11:002012-01-07T17:51:57.358+11:00I agree with you about the talent within the blogo...I agree with you about the talent within the blogosphere, Christine. It is amazing. <br /><br />And your mirror ball metaphor is apt for the multiplicity of perspectives that can be generated from one single scenario or issue.<br /><br />Thanks, Christine.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-41131087014206713152012-01-07T17:04:51.840+11:002012-01-07T17:04:51.840+11:00We are such multifaceted critters, us humans. I of...We are such multifaceted critters, us humans. I often use the metaphor of the 'mirrorball' to denote the multiple perspectives and lenses through which we all look, see and act. <br /><br />I try to maintain the privacy of those around me, particularly my family, unless they have granted direct permission. I have also deleted some posts because the thoughts therein were about extremely sensitive matters and could be misconstrued. Writing them though, assisted in my working them out. <br /><br />There is some amazing talent out there in the blogosphere.Christinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07641794618204577036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-43129063374012714592012-01-07T10:04:46.738+11:002012-01-07T10:04:46.738+11:00It's lovely to see you here 'Jane aka Indi...It's lovely to see you here 'Jane aka India'. <br /><br />You put it so well, this business of identity created online in order to speak freely and in ways that might otherwise be impossible. <br /><br />The truth can come in many forms and can sometimes seem quite contradictory. <br /><br />Thanks, India Banks, and welcome to my part of the blog world.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-39868995899693763692012-01-06T22:42:13.792+11:002012-01-06T22:42:13.792+11:00hello Elisabeth & thank you for opening my wor...hello Elisabeth & thank you for opening my world up to Australia. <br /><br />I love your style of writing. So unhurried and eloquent. Loved, too, the desription of the witching hour.<br /><br />About blogger identities - I agree that writing about our lives and the lives of our family & friends can be tricky business. I created the concept of India Banks NOT to hide any facts but to buy some freedom of speech as it were - I'm a teacher of tech saavy students who wants to write and connect with others in the world. <br /><br />So it's like when you meet someone and say My name is Jane but you can call me India -<br /><br />happy new year!!!phyllis nobleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07904749820148256361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-80678357319738996462012-01-06T21:34:18.292+11:002012-01-06T21:34:18.292+11:00I recognise the need to keep certain aspects of or...I recognise the need to keep certain aspects of or identity private in the blogopsphere, Persiflage and I agree with you it's a personal and idiosyncratic matter. There are some things we could not say out in the open and other things that are best left unsaid.<br /><br />I'm glad you've found some blog meetings helpful and especially glad that in this difficult past year you've found our comments, mine and other bloggers' comments, helpful. I find them that way ,too.<br /><br />Thanks, Persiflage.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-55995133714635748822012-01-06T21:29:30.635+11:002012-01-06T21:29:30.635+11:00I don't advertise my blog to friends and relat...I don't advertise my blog to friends and relatives either, Kirk. I see blog friendships as rather different and my focus, too, within the blogosphere is largely on the writing, but writing and content can readily be confused. <br /><br />So I understand your need and wish to keep your blog separate from your friendships, and I agree friendships are much harder work within the so-called real world than within the blogosphere. Friendships are so easy to come by and to lose within the blogosphere they have that artificial quality as a rule, but equally the can seem so real and significant. <br /><br />I find both are important in different ways. Thanks, Kirk.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-58303646992187853852012-01-06T21:22:05.217+11:002012-01-06T21:22:05.217+11:00Boundaries are funny things, Isabel, constructions...Boundaries are funny things, Isabel, constructions that arise out of human anxiety. They have their place but not too rigidly. See you tomorrow. Thanks, Isabel.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-38981708788254931502012-01-06T21:20:23.874+11:002012-01-06T21:20:23.874+11:00Davide, I'd be interested to read your poem/pr...Davide, I'd be interested to read your poem/prose when it's finished. <br /><br />In the meantime I can understand your being caught up in the evenings with your non-blog writing. I can also understand why you might dedicate what little time you have to David king's posts. He is masterful. <br /><br />Thanks, Davide, and happy New Year to you.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-3260336451831375222012-01-06T21:16:56.448+11:002012-01-06T21:16:56.448+11:00You might be right, Dusty. Maybe I need a distrac...You might be right, Dusty. Maybe I need a distraction on Tuesday nights, but I can't imagine any distraction large enough to take my mind off my concern about my daughter when she's 'out on the town', not now, not at her age. But maybe it's worth a try. Thanks, Dusty Who.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-1438539160824281962012-01-06T21:13:13.713+11:002012-01-06T21:13:13.713+11:00It sounds like a quiet new year for you, Ann, but ...It sounds like a quiet new year for you, Ann, but hopefully it was enjoyable for you and your son. Happy New Year to you. Thanks.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-59381411004310856462012-01-06T13:23:17.154+11:002012-01-06T13:23:17.154+11:00Anonymity in blogging is very dependent on persona...Anonymity in blogging is very dependent on personal circumstances. I chose to be anonymous for various reasons, but obviously privacy is paramount. Blogging has enabled me to write about my personal circumstances, in my marriage and step-relationships in a way that could not have been possible if I had identified myself and the family into which I married. And although I tell the truth, there are many things about which it is best to remain silent. No lies, but not total disclosure. This must be a common thing with blogging.<br /><br />As for meeting other bloggers, I have met several and am very happy to have done so. When minds and emotions meet, as they do so often here, it is natural to want to know the whole person.<br /><br />In this year of change, loss, bereavement and solitude, those who comment on my blog have become very precious to me, and I want to reach out to them.persiflagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05161607100227748374noreply@blogger.com