Diabolical Clay

The Blurb

I take a lot of photos and most of them are just sitting around in folders on my desktop not doing anything. I thought that a dedicated post once a week would be a good way to share some of these photos that otherwise wouldn’t be seen by anyone other than me.

I am also remarkably absent minded and I put photos into folders and think that I will publish them later on and then then I never do.

So I have started a photo meme that anyone can join in and play as well. The rules are so simple as to be virtually non existent.

Just add your name and URL to the Mr Linky.

Publish your photos on your blog using the “Sunday Selections” title.

Link back here to me.

Easy Peasy.

The Photos

I adore ladybirds, I remember being fascinated by these little insects as a small child and the fascination has not waned. I have hundreds of ladybird photos saved in various folders in my computer and I still go out to the honeysuckle and snap away for ages.

These photos all have something about them that appeal to me. They are not technically correct photos, my images never are, but I think these photos all have soul.

That is the question I am posing this morning my lovelies.

I wrote briefly about the importance of an up to date blogroll in October 2010 after I lost access to my google account for a couple of days. Not having access to my google mail was an annoying glitch.

Not having access to the hundreds of blogs that are in my google reader was slightly more problematic as my google reader is my archival tool. I use  google reader to store those blogs that I am invested in, as well as the blogs that are a bit more obscure. I have some beautiful blogs stored there, that have long since closed down and all that is left of these blogs are the ghost of their words in my reader. I have numerous ceramic blogs with interesting posts starred for ease of  reference. The same goes for news and tech blogs, environmental sites and all the myriad other blogs that I am interested in across the whole sphere of political and philosophical divides.

Once I had lost access to all the items in my reader, I felt quite bereft for a few moments until I remembered my blogroll. Then I started to breathe again.

My blogroll doesn’t list all the blogs I read, as I am seriously disorganised and easily distracted. I always think to to update the blogroll,when my hands are covered in clay or I am driving the car. Once I am home again seated at the computer I faff about on twitter or google plus and the blogroll is forgotten again.

Some bloggers only include their friends on their blogroll, or only include the blogs they read and comment on. Other bloggers treat their blog roll like an internet version of an honour board with only the most worthy of blogs being placed reverently on the gold plated triple A list. I am sure us lesser bloggers must be required to ring the hidden bell three times and chant a secret phrase before being allowed to reverently gaze upon these lists, but I digress.

Back to the question at hand, A blogroll to have or not to have?

How do you use your blogrolls? Are they an important blogging tool allowing new bloggers access to a myriad of other blogs?

Do you use them simply to store all your must reads and advertise your blogging preferences.Or had you not really thought about a blogroll before I asked you this question?

On an average day I will have about 3 or 4 people who leave my blog via my blogroll. Once or twice a month I will have people stay on the blogroll page for a couple of hours clicking merrily away.

I have now run out of puff  and will press publish as I am very interested in your answers.

The Australian Women Bloggers Directory is a valuable resource and I would highly recommend that all women bloggers in Australia add your blog to this list.

Now I know that some people are uncomfortable with a list that also ranks a blog but I would urge you to put your misgivings as well as your ego aside and submit your blog to the list.

I would recommend that you look past the numbers aspect of the Australian Women Bloggers Directory and embrace the list as the valuable tool that it is.

When I first started blogging there were not that many female bloggers in Australia and they were very hard to find.  When I googled blogs or female bloggers all I found were American bloggers and they were mostly mommy bloggers to boot. I wasn’t interested in mummy blogs at all as I had done my time at the coal face. I was no longer drowning under the weight of snot and nappies, my days of being plagued by the eternal questions regarding loss of identity and motherhood were far behind me and most importantly of all I had finally caught up on all my sleep.

Quite by accident in 2007 I stumbled upon this list of the Top Australian blogs.

This list gave me access to a whole plethora of blogs and by looking at these bloggers, blogrolls I could then click on blogs that had interesting looking names. Also by reading the comment section of some of these Australian blogs I could follow interesting commenters back to their blogs and so build blog friendships.

The rest as you know is now history, we are rocketing along towards the close of 2011 and the Australian blogosphere has exploded, with new blogs popping up every day.

The Australian Women Bloggers Directory  offers a list of  blogs by category, so that anyone can find blogs that are suited to your own interests.

So what are you waiting for my lovelies? Go and add your blog if you haven’t already and then have a click through the categories and check out some of the talented women writing online .

Also if you click over to my blog roll and your blog is not listed there please leave me a comment and I will add you.

Even though 43 isn’t the answer, it is still a pretty cool number.

The Blurb

I take a lot of photos and most of them are just sitting around in folders on my desktop not doing anything. I thought that a dedicated post once a week would be a good way to share some of these photos that otherwise wouldn’t be seen by anyone other than me.

I am also remarkably absent minded and I put photos into folders and think that I will publish them later on and then then I never do.

So I have started a photo meme that anyone can join in and play as well. The rules are so simple as to be virtually non existent.

Just add your name and URL to the Mr Linky.

Publish your photos on your blog using the “Sunday Selections” title.

Link back here to me.

Easy Peasy.

The Photos

I attended the Pro Blogger training day in Melbourne last week and I am so pleased that I did. The panels were informative and interesting, the day was well organised and the networking was invaluable. I made new friendships and cemented old friendships with blood oaths and bony duck pieces. I think I met the real inventor of the internet and there wasn’t a deafening squeee within earshot.

I took copious amounts of notes and they are scrawled over five pages in my current visual diary. Most of the notes I took are ideas for future blog posts, or reminders to myself to actually get onto those minor tweaks that I have been meaning to do for ages. Like update my ceramic gallery and add a photo gallery of my favourite photos.

I am fairly happy with how my blog is going at the moment as I am not trying to turn my blog into a business. My blog is my voice, it is my connection to the world. Through my blog I am able to indulge my sense of the ridiculous as well as my ZOMBIE KLOUT. I am able to tell my stories and listen in turn to your stories.

I can blog about what I am interested in, what I am doing, what my concerns are and I know that I will always get valuable feedback, as well as invaluable support and hand holding from you my lovelies.

I am thinking about having a reader survey to find out what you are all interested in, but I also know that I will probably take ages to get around to it so if you feel inclined can you give me some feedback in the comments section. Anonymously if you like.

Let me know what you would like me to write more about, publish more or less photos, or if there is anything that you think I can be doing better here. That sort of feedback is invaluable because even though I can read peoples minds, I cant do it without being in the same room as them.

Considering that all Douglas Adams fans know that 42 is the answer, I am seriously pleased to be able to host the 42nd episode of Sunday Selections. Even though I am not sure if you can call a blog post an episode it still sounds pretty cool.

So without further ado here is the intro with the rules

The Blurb

I take a lot of photos and most of them are just sitting around in folders on my desktop not doing anything. I thought that a dedicated post once a week would be a good way to share some of these photos that otherwise wouldn’t be seen by anyone other than me.

I am also remarkably absent minded and I put photos into folders and think that I will publish them later on and then then I never do.

So I have started a photo meme that anyone can join in and play as well. The rules are so simple as to be virtually non existent.

Just add your name and URL to the Mr Linky.

Publish your photos on your blog using the “Sunday Selections” title.

Link back here to me.

Easy Peasy.

The Photos

My grand son, Isaac gave me a kiss yesterday. This might not seem like a very big deal to most people, but to me it was one of those golden moments, where I was left with the taste of strawberry lollypops on my lips and love in my heart.

This was my very first proper kiss, willingly given and I will store this memory up and savour it.

Isaac is 33 months old and he has Autism. Isaac does not like to be touched.

When I visit, he will eventually come and sit next to me on the couch but if I go to stroke his hair or touch his hand he pulls away from me. So we sit side by side and talk of small things.

My grand daughter, Amy on the other hand launches herself at me and sits on my lap and chatters incessantly about things that matter to a five year old. Her dragon fly mind, flits from subject to subject and I relate very strongly to this child.

I look at Amy’s sensory seeking behaviours and I see myself mirrored there, I like to touch things to see how they feel. I like to occasionally touch people as I am talking to them as it gives me a better sense of who they are. I like to feel the world breathing with me.

Quite by chance I had bumped into my daughter Veronica at a shopping centre, as she was getting ready to leave, Amy gave me a big hug and a kiss, I looked at Isaac and said, “C’mon Isaac give Nanny a kiss goodbye”

Isaac actually walked over to me, raised his little face to mine and gave me a proper kiss right on the lips.

A proper kiss.

On the lips.

It was sweet.

As he raised his face to mine everything slowed down, there was only this little boy who I love with all my heart and I,

In that moment, just for that split second it was only the two of us. I gently kissed my grandson and Isaac kissed me in return.

I will savour the memory of this kiss as I reckon it will have to do me for a while.

Now my lovelies that I have shared my joy, I must finish packing my bags and head to the airport.

I am attending the problogger event in Melbourne tomorrow and if you are there and want to say hello I will be the one floating two inches above the floor with my memory full of strawberry kisses.

Good morning internet, how are you this morning? I woke up this morning and the first thing I thought of was that last night, I publicly announced that I am participating in the Worlds Greatest Shave next year. I have been known to cook up some seriously harebrained schemes late on a Saturday night before this one.  The difference being that all those other schemes generally involved alcohol and ran out of puff when I woke up on Sunday and remembered what I had done and then hoped like hell that no-one remembered my rash promises.

This scheme is neither harebrained nor rash. I am committed.

So my lovelies, shall we make a date for Saturday the 17th of March 2012 and I will shave off my hair if we reach my goal of $5000

Now back to today’s business of sharing photos that might otherwise be consigned to spending the rest of their days in a dusty folder in a forgotten hard drive.

The Blurb

I take a lot of photos and most of them are just sitting around in folders on my desktop not doing anything. I thought that a dedicated post once a week would be a good way to share some of these photos that otherwise wouldn’t be seen by anyone other than me.

I am also remarkably absent minded and I put photos into folders and think that I will publish them later on and then then I never do.

So I have started a photo meme that anyone can join in and play as well. The rules are so simple as to be virtually non existent.

Just add your name and URL to the Mr Linky.

Publish your photos on your blog using the “Sunday Selections” title.

Link back here to me.

Easy Peasy.

The Photos

I am joining in with Shae’s things I know meme again this week because I know a lot of things and this is one way for me to share them without sounding like a know it all.

I know that reading Shae’s blog post this morning where she declares that she is farticus made me smile. No woman, I AM FARTICUS!

I know that small things often have a very big impact.

I commented on a post written by Eden Riley the other week and Eden sent me the shell she had photographed. This tiny tiny shell only a bit bigger than my thumbnail will soon have inspired a whole series of work.I pinched this photo from Eden’s blog.

When I am absentmindedly doodling, or when I let myself be transported to the quiet space within, these swirls in the shell are a recurring feature in my art work. Whether they are lines drawn in the clay with a wet finger, while I am thinking of other things or pen marks on the back of an envelope drawn while I am on hold to centrelink. These marks are always there just below the surface. I asked Eden for the shell because I liked the tiny blue swirl on the flat side and thought to use that as decoration in a pot. The  ridges and swirls on the underside of the shell were an unexpected bonus and I felt slightly disjointed for a while as I thought about beauty and destruction. I felt very strongly that the Earth Mother was saying, “See Kimmy, here I am again, listen to me,you need to make work of the earth.

I am trying not to listen to the planet as it screams at me to make more work, as it takes me such a long time to recover.I have held myself back from making any earth pots as the energy it takes is enormous. I am faffing about making bread and butter items for the shop, instead of dead bird bowls. I am more concerned with paying my rent than paying my dues and I have deliberately kept my shoes on to minimise the humming in my soul as the birds keep on dying.

This next series of photos illustrate what I mean. The post is here if you want to read about it Blood and Ashes, Oil and Despair. I couldn’t get the birds out of my head. The dead birds nagged at me until I made the work. And it took me weeks to recover from the making.

I know I started this post out on a humourous note declaring that, “No Shae, I AM Farticus!” and then I went to a darker place. It was as unexpected a journey to me my dear internets, as it was to you. I had just planned to touch lightly on the surface issue of friendships and small things making large differences when, “Bam” the birds ambushed me.

And so, here we are together again internet, just you and I on the cusp of another journey. I think I would like you to hold my hand please.