Rosie's Travels

A quote that moves me because it seems to sum up everything I've been through so far:

"Being Human 101: Make Mistake, Apologize, Fix Mistake, Learn From Mistake, Live a Bit, (repeat)."

From Megan Wallent, whose site describes her male-to-female transition in a way that is elegant, throughtful, and calm.

I just seem to make more mistakes, more frequently, than most. Ho hum.

Light dawns even at the lowest points, though, as I put my intentions out into the world and gradually, from unexpected corners, people respond.

I've been corresponding with a sympathetic writer who emailed me after I left a comment on her blog. Another friend has sent me a link for a job she thinks I'd be perfect at. Finally, out of all the CVs I've been sending, I have one definite and one possible interview for next week. And I've volunteered to help out at a couple of things ... more details to come if I'm accepted ...

And Project Snapshot 2007, for which I interviewed 3 Australian writers here on this very blog, has won the Ditmar Award it was nominated for. I am, officially, award-winning - a fact I have already added to my CV, and a certificate is on the way. I may have to take a photo of it. I have never been award-winning before, except when I was part of a winning pub quiz team and marched proudly home, bearing in triumph a tin of amaretti biscuits that no-one else fancied.

Congratulations to everyone else involved, and particularly to my fellow artiste, and to Alisa, the guiding genius behind Asif! Twelfth Planet Press, and so much else. Meeting such interesting people is inspirational. I don't know quite where the energy for all their projects (reading every Australian specfic short story published during the entire year, anyone?) comes from. There are some people, though, whose influence spreads wider than they realise, and who put good things into the world that didn't exist before they thought of them - and I'm grateful to know them.

Reading Patry Francis' words also puts me into a frame of mind that is at once thoughtful and grateful for the things I take for granted.

I think my advice for anyone going through a period of self-doubt would be to find somebody to say yes to you. About anything. When you feel helpless and as if your skills are not valued ... make an offer, whether it's lending a book or making a cake, and see how much more energised you feel when someone accepts it. No-one is going to call you up and request that you do them the honour of writing for them. You have to keep making those moves, and maybe one in ten or twenty or seventy-eight will say yes.

Experimental baking is making me happy ... as is granting wishes.

Labels: a good day, ASif, cooking, friends, grand plans, Inspiration, jobs, life lessons, Patry Francis, volunteering, writing

It was a surprisingly good weekend - I read the new Jasper Fforde book about Thursday Next, First Among Sequels. As always, I admire the startling twists and turns of his BookWorld and the parallel universe where Swindon is the most exciting city anywhere in Britain ... but honestly, I was a little disappointed. 16 years have passed since the previous book so instead of finding out about married life for Thursday and Landen, we jump forward and they're middle-aged parents with teenaged children. SpecOps has been officially disbanded, and Thursday has been lying about the true nature of her carpet-fitting job to her loving husband for many years. It just doesn't quite ring true.

I made it to the Perth Museum, which has a moving gallery telling stories of the Stolen Generation (more to come in a future post) and a colossal statue of a Tyrannosaurus Rex glowering down at you as you enter the gallery, its claws outstretched and jagged teeth dripping mucus. It's huge. You quail, looking up at it. And just as I was walking in, surrounded by families having an educational excursion for their toddlers and kids in pushchairs, the behemoth let out a ground-shaking roar. Now, I don't know if it's on a timer, or if there's some hidden curator snickering behind a screen who presses the "Growl" button when they see a group of susceptible looking children - but the response was panic. Shrieking, crying, needing to be picked up and bundled away ... that's the toddlers, not me, although I may have jumped a little.

I then took part in a random downtown drum circle (this is why I like Perth) and visited a couple of art galleries.

I am delighted to report that I finally moved out: I'm now in a much nicer (although more expensive) hostel. It's small - there are maybe 30 people there at the moment as opposed to over a hundred - and clean, and they grow their own herbs and mushrooms and have recycling facilities! It's surprising how few hostels do this, considering the amount of bottles and cans travellers seem to go through.

And in other news, I'm joining the ASif! crowd in an exciting one-week-only project. In 2005, Sydney writer Ben Peek interviewed 43 people on his blog to create a snapshot of Australian Speculative Fiction. This week, a group of ASif! reviewers are updating this, blogging interviews which will also be archived on ASif! as we go.

You can see the results so far at:
http://random-alex.livejournal.com/
http://girliejones.livejournal.com/
http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/
http://kaaronwarren.livejournal.com/
http://cassiphone.livejournal.com/

I'm very excited to be in such great company!

Labels: art, ASif, Australia and Aussie customs, dinosaurs, hostels, reading