"Two year Old Smoker"

I was unbelievably shocked and disturbed by the images plastered on the television screen of a two year old boy from Tianjin in China smoking cigarettes.

It was reported that this boy's father had encouraged his two year old son to smoke to alleviate hernia pain. How incredibly selfish is this father?

I am flabbergasted by the complete disregard for the health of his own child. Does this man not know of the dangers that smoking has on a fully grown adult let alone a child beginning their life?

This child was able to demonstrate that he could draw back and inhale the deadly concoction of chemicals. I could not stop looking at this poor child. His parents should be ashamed of their obvious compliance in this travesty against this child's human rights.

This is quite simply child abuse; I hope whichever television studio broke this story informed the parents of the danger they are placing their child in.

Now this child has a forty cigarette a day habit; a two year old addicted to nicotine!
I am distressed by the fact that man can be so cruel to fellow man. It seems to be that children seem to get placed in the crossfire.

In this case cruelty begins at home.

"Theory - Bullying Is Good For Your Children"

Okay who said bullying is good for our children? Well apparently a survey conducted recently stated that bullying encourages our children to become tougher. It helps our children be more assertive.

I am a parent of two now grown boys who have at times over the years been bullied in some form. For being the new kid, for maybe looking different in some way, or for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am sorry but you cannot tell a parent that it is for their child's own good to be bullied.

I can only speak from my experience but all children should be able to feel safe at home and at school. Sometimes I think these surveys are conducted to drum up controversy, to somehow get funding for these institutions who deliver this kind of drivel out into the public.

It is hard enough for some parents to get their children to want to go to school. I think this kind of survey is setting a bad precedent. It could contribute to school bullying programs becoming non existent.

Do we need to give anymore ammunition to classroom bullies?
Oh it is for your own good so chin up and carry on.
I do understand that bullying procedures at schools are hard to implement. However after so many visits and phone calls over the years to the schools my boys attended regarding bullying, I am appalled that we would now condone such behaviour.

Even paying out tax payers money for someone to produce such a survey is ludicrous.

Haven't we come along way in recognising bullying for what it really is?
We have all heard the stories about children committing suicide from constant bullying.
This survey has just put back all the good work that has been done in our schools.

It did state that they are referring to name calling and a little bit of push and shove.

Well with today's technology we have seen an increase in bullying via Internet sites and text
messaging; isn't that name calling?

This only reiterates why bullying programs are so important.

I think we are way beyond the name calling and the push and shove debate!

It is a serious social issue that deserves priority.

"Good Old Friday"

Isn't Friday the best day of the week?

I think just about everybody loves Friday's. The day of the week where everyone comes to work or school feeling happy!

Unlike the middle of the week, and of course the dreaded Monday's. Friday's are positively the happiest day of the week. Well I think they are anyway.

On Friday's you are aware that the weekend is near and it is time for relaxation. The weekend's thoughts revolve around whether you plan to rise from slumber early or late; you can decide not to rush off without eating a sumptuous breakfast and you don't have to wear the appropriate apparel. The weekend belongs to tracksuit pants, slippers and the newspaper.

Even though you are aware, somewhere in the back of your mind, that all the work will be there when you arrive on Monday, Friday's are designated for "what are you doing on the weekend?" conversations. It is the topic of choice.

Lets see, what am I doing? Well hopefully as little as possible. I somehow do not think I will get away with not doing any type of work over the weekend.

I would love to finish the novel I am reading, maybe start another from the stacks of books just waiting for my attention. I would like to catch up with my Mum as I am sure that she has forgotten what I look like. Finally I would like to spend Sunday with my husband and boys, maybe take a stroll or grab a bite to eat together.

This is a lot to fit into two days. Who else thinks that rallying for a three day weekend is the go?
Let's turn the dreaded Monday into another day of leisure. I do not like my chances!

All who read this blog should go forth and indulge, put on your comfy clothes, listen to your favourite music or just sleep the weekend away. Aren't Friday's great?

'Inspiration From Fellow Writers'

It is amazing how a simple assignment can inspire, even inform us in ways we didn't expect.
I am encouraged by the information I have obtained from listening to my fellow writers/students.

We have all been busy collaborating in little groups to put forward presentations about writing in some form. There have been so many different subjects but they all have something in common.

The parallels I experienced was the knowledge that there is so many ways to get your writing out into the world. Subjects from Poetry, Travel, Zines, Music, and of course your novels.

I have been inspired to get out there and develop my writing, networking and submission skills.

Clearly there is something said for cooperative team work. It is a rich, textured environment to throw ideas out there and it is the support and advice that is invaluable.

We will have more ideas placed in front of us in the next few weeks and I am looking forward to some more new ideas being presented.

It is the kinship of writers that I enjoy the most. Helping each other to succeed!

It is certainly a moral boost considering being a writer can be a lonely existence at times.

Returning to education after an extended break is empowering for the writer in me. It gives me a chance to brush up on my craft and to make new acquaintances.

Not to mention learn something I don't know!

I will get out there and tweak my writing and send it out into the world.

"There are no mistakes or failures, only lessons" - quote by Dennis Waitley

"An Environmental Gem"

I am a little bit behind the reviews for this book, but Varmints by Helen Ward & Marc Craste is an amazing piece of children's literature. I only picked it up today and after several readings of this wonderful book I am hooked. The medium used by the illustrator are images developed from Adobe Photoshop. I am so taken with the messages in this book.

The idea that is conveyed allows the reader/viewer take a good look at themselves. How we impact the environment and the devastating effect that comes from urban development.

This book is a social commentary about the way in which the human race overtakes the environment for its own gain. I must say that I am guilty of taking forgranted the fact that I can touch, smell and see Mother Nature at her best whenever I want. I know I am guilty of using products that have come from reaping the environment. At least I am willing to admit it!

This picture book is a beautiful example of how to use the medium to inform the masses. Straight to the heart of the future. Children are the future. These messages I hope will reach the next generation; our children and our children's children. We need more picture books that get straight to the issues. Confronting as they have been suggested; these are the issues that will challenge humanity in the future.

Maybe we can start the conversation about the impact of urban development. What is the plan for the future? Do we have one? We are already seeing the consequences of overpopulation; no water; no home grown food; the cutting down of trees; the fishing out of our oceans. Dare I say more? What happens next?

Picture books like Varmints teach our children how to be one with nature; how to be conscious of the impact they have on the environment and learn from our mistakes!

Not being scared to give our children a confronting picture book is only the first stage to empowering them with knowledge; sustainability is inevitable!

Read it, I know you will love it!

"There was once only the sound of the bees and the wind in the wiry grass" - Varmints by Helen Ward & Marc Craste- 2007, Koala Books.

"A Man's Home Is His Castle"

While watching a current affairs program last night, I was enraged!
I sat quietly and observed time and time again the avoidance of a politician to answer some simple questions.

The issue raised by the program was the governments ability to acquisition your land for whatever and whenever they like.

What is the point of dreaming the ideal, wanting the whole white picket fence, if they can come along and take it?

Why should we go through life, working our guts out to afford this dream, to only have it ripped out from under your nose.

The land that we thought was ours is simply not ours at all. We pay out our hardworking money to the banks in the hope that we are purchasing something we can call our own!
According to this story presented the government can come in and demand your land whenever they want it. What happened to "A Man's Home Is His Castle"?

Obviously this has been a false ideal; a lie, a tool used to lure us into buying safety, buying security. What security, if it not really ours?

Apparently a loop whole in the law allows companies to come in and place whatever they like on your land. In the end that patch of land belongs to them. No argument!

Interestingly enough the government have negotiated a deal with another country to supply them with a particular resource. This resource is abundant in certain areas. Amazingly this resource has supplies for the next 200 years!

What happens after that? What happens to the land once it has been reaped of all its resources?
What's to say these companies won't want to take more land from these same land owners.
According to the laws they are entitled to do so.

Just because you are entitled does not mean you have to!

The Minister who oversees these practices does not even know what the ramifications are for the environment! Does that not ring alarm bells?

I am horrified at the thought that home owners could be forced without compensation to give up that dream. Everything they have worked for and more could be potentially stripped from them.

I am sure that if it was known that your property had an abundant natural resource, they would acquisition it for the "good of the country".

Here is an example of the government taking what they want when they want without any thought to the consequences. I think there needs to be more tweaking of the laws that condone stealing of ones "Castle".

I thought we were advertising the Australian dream! Sorry my mistake!

"See No Evil, Hear No Evil"

Everyday the newspapers are full of stories relating to child abuse in some form or another: isn't the theory stated that if we see and hear it enough the issues become part of the very lives we lead! We have become desensitized to the very issue we despise.

Do not get me wrong I think we need to make these sorts of issues public, but can't we rally our politians and our law makers to stop making excuses for not implementing laws of punishment; ones which are parallel to the views of the people.

What is wrong with us that these criminals get less sentences for these horrific acts performed on children! Children! These are not consenting adults; these are children!

The sentences imposed on child abusers are sometimes less than someone who breaks into someones premises. What is wrong with this ideal? Just because it is reported on so much now doesn't give us the right to pretend it is not happening. What we don't see won't hurt us! Pretending it doesn't happen, does not keep our children safe or make the victims feel like they have obtained justice.

Well I think it is about time we made a stand for children around the world who have experienced mental, physical or sexual abuse; or maybe all of these.

The laws need to represent the crime committed; what price do we place on our children's mental and physical wellbeing: not top mention the right to their own sexuality.

Sexualisation of everything in society has deemed children fair game for these criminals. Technology has become a tool of sorts; one that can be used to lure our children into a world of depravity.

We have placed our children in harms way without any even realising it. Or is it that we don''t want to think it would happen to us!

If these criminals want to do this then give them a punishment that fits. Make the penalties harsher; justice should prevail.

Every human being has a right to their own safety, especially children!

Maybe our society needs to take a good look at itself!

The Art of Suffering Sea Sickness

Exhausted, emotions running wild, I am unlike anyone I have ever known!

Most people suffer a little sea sickness in their lifetime but manage to get over it! It is usually a childhood disease that you grow out of; isn't it?

Obtaining your licence to drive, gives you a reprieve from the nauseas family trips up winding mountains. Those trips in which your parents torture you with so it takes more than a week to recover from.

What if this isn't true. There must be other humans out there who have the same childhood condition long after they have passed puberty. In fact thirty years after puberty!

My trip entailed not the ocean but the bay; the journey only took forty minutes each way but extremely "green" I was.

I felt like Bugs Bunny in that cartoon when he is descending in a plane from 30, 000 feet. You catch him going blue, then green until he faints! Very funny cartoon I must say!

However at forty years old, I still cannot travel without reverting back to that ten year old child in the back seat of the car vomiting into a bag.

Again I stress that it was only in the bay!

I do not think that I will ever be able to take a cruise, to say Europe without never emerging from my cabin toilet.

I cannot read in a car or bus or plane and of course a ferry, I must sit and watch the distant horizon line so that I do not spend hours after with my head in the toilet.

I have tried all sorts of remedies from patches to bracelets to sniffing citrus. Everyone who finds out about my uncontrollable urge to throw up, has a remedy to cure it.

Is there any new remedies that have been discovered for people like me who cannot control their stomach?

I find that when I leave the boat I have to eat anything that contains salt, grease and sugar. This if not right, helps me feel better.

In this instance Chicken Parmagiana did the trick! All was well till I had to make the return trip!

Well it is the next day and besides feeling tired I am still battling the effects of sea sickness.

Is there any other bloggers who suffer as much as me?

Are boat, bus and plane rides all torture? Let's just place all moving transportation into the list as well.

I have learnt the hard lesson about not travelling on a boat mid winter.

I am sure I will recover from my escapade on the high seas of the bay soon!

The Demons in Mrs Dalloway

I have seen the movie too many times to count so I thought it was about time I read the book. Virginia Woolf's - Mrs Dalloway; Well what can I say, I am mesmerized at the language and the sheer emotions that the book evokes from me. You can't but take away a part of Virginia with you after each chapter.
This book is intense to say the least, but I cannot put it down.I am haunted by the torment in Woolf's writing. I think the book is reflecting the emotional turmoil of Virginia's own life; it includes feelings of such inadequacies; the emotions of the human condition and how they relate to the everyday.

It is so good to read the imperfections of each character, to find the inappropriate thoughts driven in all of them and to get a glimpse into the restraints of the society in which they reside.

I can picture Virginia in the character of Mrs Dalloway, I see the excruciating conformity, the resentment and the pain of existence in her words. Sometimes you get a glimpse of hope but then Virginia draws you back in; the depression of such tortured souls.

The impussiant character of Peter Walsh compared to the declining mind of Septimus Warren Smith; the workaholic Richard Dalloway to the indeterminate socialistic existence of Clarrisa Dalloway herself. This book is so intriguing. It transforms you to a time in history post World War One where soldiers were returning with inconceivable psychological trauma's. Clarissa is almost a female replica of Septimus; although she has torments of a different nature.

This novel has drawn me into an incredible world of propriety and traditonalism; a narrative about a woman who feels as if the life she leads is inane.

I find myself feeling every written word and its as if Woolf wants you to understand Clarissa's most secret thoughts. It is truly a novel worth delving into. One which will transport you to another place in time.

I must leave you now to continue my journey with Mrs Dalloway.

Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself......................... Virginia Woolf , 1923

If you haven't already read this classic novel then!

Go forth and indulge in the world of pretention, socialize with Clarissa!

Sleepy Sunday Morning

Everyday of the week is spent rushing here and driving there, I don't seem to have what they call down time! Don't get me wrong I do love my life however it all depends on that one day in the week where you body knows that it does not have to rise from the pillow!

Aren't Sunday mornings the best? It is as if every inch of your body is in relax mode, you cannot wake from the slumber until your body and mind is rested. To rise into the day and find a strip of light hitting you dead smack in the face. In comparison to waking when it is dark to start your day.

Waking to brunch at 11.30 am is great! Breakfast and Lunch rolled into one.

The only problem with this scenario is that you miss the best of the day and half of your Sunday is gone. It all revolves around balancing whether you want slumber on the one day you don't have to appear early; verses jumping out because this is what you do everyday.

The other downfall is that your body feels like it is still asleep; it takes almost the rest of your Sunday for your body to wake up!

Life is good though don't you think? I do however remember what it is like to have young children around to keep you from sleeping your Sunday away.

I guess this is what all parents aspire to, when they set out to have babies. The day that they can look after themselves and you can get up whenever you like!

I can tell you that when that day arrives it is heaven!

I think the slumber for one day a week outways missing the days dawn!

Mother's Day Memories

Isn't it interesting that the older you get the insignificant Mother's Day seems; especially when it comes to receiving presents. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy receiving presents but as my kids are now nearly grown I feel as if it can just be another day.I guess I am one of these people who enjoys giving rather than receiving!

One of the other things that is evident not only at Mother' Day but all major present giving times of the year; is the enormous amount of hysteria that happens to the human race just before the day. Everybody seems to go insane at the thought of not having a present ready on time. Oh No I haven't got a present! So everyone precedes to trample each other in the race to find something that they think the so called person will love.

I think the media and the advertising agents have a lot to answer for: the influence they have over the herds of humans who partake in the pilgrimage to shopping centres because if they don't the world will explode! We try to think we cannot be influenced by anyone, but now that Mother's Day has become this mass marketing ploy to separate us from our money we stick to it like a moth to the light!

All the catalogues we receive in our letterboxes presume that Mother's want another kitchen appliance, another pair of pyjamas and another pair of slippers! As if we want to live in the kitchen, slave over a new appliance, try to fit more pj's into an already full drawer and get the same old slippers each year!

Somehow I think we have forgotten the reason for Mother's Day, I am trying not to sound like I am preaching here, but we have! What happened to just being happy with the gifts from the school Mother's Day stalls, and the idea of spending quality time with the very members of the family who purchase these presents.

I know why! We are brainwashed into believing that it is never enough! More, More, More!
Consumerism in all it's glory is on show for all at your neighbourhood shopping centre.
We only have to look at the recycle centres to see that we consume way too much and just one look at your local tip will emphasis my point!

Where do I end this interesting topic? I know, I will be trying to mend my ways; not flying into the light will be an astronomical feat; we all have been programmed to spend and spend big!

So go forth and resist the temptation, a death defying feat I know.

Mother's Day without expensive presents.

How dare I even think it!

Oh well I will give it a try, next year!

'I Am A Blogger'

Now that I can officially call myself a blogger, what do I now talk about? I hear that people who blog; blog for all different reasons. Personal blogs, blogs about experiences, and blogs involving drivel. The world of participation in this form of mass communication is quite frankly thrilling!

Well this blog could involve all those things and more! What's in a name? I have been researching blog titles and am enthralled and astounded by the vast discriptive names people use. You are probably thinking well don't you have an interesting title. Well yes I do. I've included a bit of movie trivia combined with an analogy of sorts to writing.

"Tweaking" your work is only a small entity that relates to preparing, editing and distributing the fruits of your labour. It is what writers do!

The day in the life of a writer who is also a full time student; a student of literature; a student of professional writing and editing can leave little time to produce exceptional incite encased in a piece of work. However this blog with all its tweaking and all its drivel is of course a piece of work, an entity of its own, sent out into the world wide web for all to peruse.

The aim is for all you readers of blogs to obtain, something worthy from all this gibberish!
Along the way I hope to captivate you with subjects that affect us all. Maybe get some feedback from all the anonymous readership and develop a forum for the lives of student writers everywhere. World Wide would be good!

Lets break the perception of writers who sit alone at their computers! Lets start networking! We can learn and laugh from each other and hopefully develop friendships from all this drivel.

Seeing this kind of interaction allows the writer to express themselves without any contact, I will leave this blog with a quote from

Victor Borge: Laughter is the shortest distance between two people!

The Information Highway

Being a newby to the ' Information Highway', learning the ropes is exciting. What do I say? How do I say it? Developing a conversation without leaving my desk is somewhat daunting but nevertheless it is still a remarkable thoroughfare for discussion. It will be interesting to be one of the many who blog each and every day, week and year. Developing new topics and hoping to entice a readership who just might be interested in what I have to say.

You are probably thinking what is this person rambling on about. The information Highway has been here forever! Well for those of us who have taken a little longer to catch up; or maybe resisted the urge to leap it is a prospect that 'tweaks' the imagination.

So forth we go, jumping in with both feet; establishing myself as a blogger! Readers and Writers come one and all and see what this writer has to contribute. I may just warn you however that I do sometimes go on a tangent about issues I am passionate about and am particularly obsessed with all things writing. I find great delight in putting my two bobs worth in!

So lets see if this student of writing can grab your attention and hold it long enough for you to remember my blogs name. Go forth and 'tweak' your work, it makes us all develop our skills!