My Other Blog - Friday, January 30th

My Other blog - Below is a preview - I mistakenly posted this entry here but will also put it in the visual image blog - come and have a look if you like,

It was the third day of 43 degree temperatures. It's getting to all of us. Photos show my messy desk at school and the very popular air conditioner which lives in my little corner of the staffroom. It has various silly old Xmas figurines arranged on top.

7 things Meme

Woops! I complained at the Bloggers Feast last night (La Camera, southbank, Melb.) that nobody had tagged me for the 7 things meme and my best buddy and web guru suzi tapp informed me that she had tagged me - and I hadn't read her blog carefully enough to notice! Even though I have listed her blog as a blog I read.So my cover has been blown. I'm only a tryhard blogger, not the genuine article - not that anyone said that, they were too polite. so anyway, here I go, a little bit of self indulgence down memory lane!
1. When I was 4yrs old I fell off the bikeshed roof into the chookyard and broke and dislocated my elbow. It took 3 operations to correct the damage,forcibly breathing in chloroform for the anaeasthetic - I had nightmare about it for years.
2. When I was 7yrs old my QLD family and I moved down to cold old Melbourne to live - Dad had a transfer and promotion with the Bankers and Traders Insurances Assessors.
3. At 10 years of age I badly wanted to be a ballerina, started calisthenics at the local church and joined a trampolining club where I learnt lots of tricks.My "tramp" teacher Mr Nick, also encouraged my singing and used to get me to perform songs at various events.
4. I simply adored calisthenics and continued to participate in competitions until after the birth of my 3rd child at age 35yrs.
5.My love of dancing and singing led me to get VERY involved with a number of school musicals over the years.
6.I met my husband when I was 16yrs at the Moorabbin Town Hall old time dancing, married 5 years later and have just notched up 36 years of marriage - omg!
7. I've been teaching English in the same high school for the last 20 years and am grateful for the advent of digital technology that has sparked up my pedagogy a little.
Now I tag Nina Davis, Lisa Dumicich, Marie jose Mills, Leigh Knight, Maya Abeyratne, Helen Evans plus 1 other that I still have to work out.

Rosalie Gascoigne

Forty Acre Block by Rosalie Gascoigne
Licensed by VISCOPY, Aust



All that Jazz,by Rosalie Gascoigne 1989
Sawn & split soft drink crates on plywood
The Corrigan Family Collection
Reproduced with the permission of the Rosalie Gascoigne Estate


Okay - so I'm not artistic in the least and I have not managed to educate myself well regarding our Australian artists. But that doesn't mean it's too late to discover the amazing talent and artistry out there. I discovered Rosalie Gascoigne, (1917 - 1999) today, at the Ian Potter Gallery, Federation square, Melbourne town. She worked with scraps of wood from old softdrink crates,discarded pieces of corrugated iron, old dismembered dolls, pieces of old patterned linoleum, pieces of broken yellow road signs with black lettering, old fence posts with holes for the wire etc etc and created these beautiful art works. The pictures here only hint at the startling beauty of her installations,
I have to thank my friend Mary for broadening my artistic awareness. Every so often she suggests an outing to an art gallery somewhere and I am indebted to her energy and cultural appreciation.

Rosalie GASCOIGNE (1917‑1999)
Dolly boxes (detail) c.1976
Wooden shelves, wooden boxes and plastic dolls
Collection of The University of Queensland, purchased 1979
© Rosalie Gascoigne, Licensed by VISCOPY, Australia, 2008

Helpful dictums

This is a sunset in Launceston that I captured on our Tasmanian trip last year. I thought it goes suitably with the 21 dictums I pinched from Jenny Luca's blog - http://jennylu.wordpress.com/ - who found it on a blog by someone called Garr - but I couldn't find his original blog. Anyway, I thought these twenty-one things learned from jazz and Zen were too good to lose track of -

1. In structure there is freedom and spontaneity.
2. Restraints and limitations can be great liberators.
3. Don’t ever force it; be ever natural.
4. Good intentions are key. Sincerity is king, and yet…
5. It’s not about you.
6. Listen more than speak.
7. Speak only when you have something to say, and then in the most economic way possible.
8. Your approach can be direct and subtle at the same time.
9. Fear is natural (and human), but work through it and past it. Don’t let fear hold you back.
10. Mistakes are part of it (do not worry about them).
11. Embrace the power of now, this moment.
12. Technique matters, but it’s not the most important element.
13. Make no pretenses; put up no facades.
14. Laugh, smile if you feel like it — why not?
15. Share yourself with others; make a contribution.
16. Simplicity is supremely beautiful, yet difficult to obtain.
17. Emptiness and silence are powerful elements of expression.
18. Remove the clutter, strive for absolute clarity.
19. If you think you have mastered it, you have already begun your descent.
20. Always be learning. Always be learning. Always be learning.
21. Curiosity is your greatest gift, nurture it (in yourself and in others)

....thank you Garr (and Jenny)

Goodnight sweetheart, goodnight

"Goodnight sweetheart" was the song performed at my grandmother's funeral by my son and daughter as we finally said goodbye to Daisy - 107 years and 8 months after she had first drawn breath. As I had written in the entry below, her death was a merciful release to a life that had become tedious and painful, but what a life! Up until about 4 years ago, Daisy was still taking a keen interest in life and she had been an amazing person in her prime. Here is a short extract from the words I offered at her funeral:
We’ll always remember ma for her enterprising and resourceful approach to life. She always found a way around a challenge and her busy and active mind and artistic hands were rarely idle. She was a clever and astute person with a strong sense of the entrepreneurial. I’ll leave it to my brother Peter to elaborate on some of these qualities in his tribute to ma but I’d like to relate a story that conveys ma’s strong sense of personal justice. She had recently met a handsome and strong young shearer by the name of Sam Walker who took her home to meet his mother. Mrs Walker, not one for delicate niceties, remarked to Daisy that she should have seen Sam’s previous girlfriend who really had some class about her. Daisy retorted, “Well, she wouldn’t fit in here would she? ” Needless to say, Daisy’s relationship with her future mother in law never became a particularly close one.
You’ve probably all heard the story of ma’s cheeky contribution to the republican debate – but I’ll just remind you of it. When asked by her carers at the Clarinda Centre would she like to apply for a telegram from the queen on the occasion of her 100th b’day, ma replied, “Bugger the queen, what’s she ever done for me? ”

The collection of photos you see in the bubbleshare was put together in a U-lead type presentation on a DVD to the accompaniment of "Daisy Daisy, give me your answer do" and we played songs from The Andrews Sisters as people entered the chapel. The organization of the funeral mainly fell to me but I was happy with the result and pleased to be able to use my technology skills to help with the celebration of my grandmother's life.

Daisy Britter - 14th April 1901 - 28th December 2008 - a celebration of a long life well lived

My 107 year old grandmother has mercifully be given her release having passed away on the 28th December. Here are the photos we used for a celebratory montage of her life at her funeral.
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