Boo!

Is anybody in here? I keep checking in but it is a little quiet. Maybe you are all asleep? Or scribing away at some great manuscripts? S-S-h-h-h-h-h! Deb

How to upload a video on blogger

I have followed the instructions on this video from YouTube but have altered the default size 320 x 266 in the code to 410 x 332 to fit this layout. This appears twice in the Edit Html code, so both must be altered.

Test Video 69MB Quicktime

This video, created from footage taken at Waterloo Station during the 7/7/2008 Tango Commute was uploaded this morning between 9.30am and 9.55am. That is how long the 69MB file took to upload on my connection, which is broadband and is currently tested at 7.1Mbps download. Uploads test at 0.7Mbps.

Blogger accepts AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, Real and Windows Media, 100 MB maximum size.

The default video size is 320x266px. I have altered it to 410x332px in 'Edit html'. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a button for viewing blogger videos at full screen, so I have uploaded it to YouTube and then copied and pasted the code here. The next post describes the process for uploading videos to blogger and using YouTube videos.

Flag of Convenience

The store that stocked my staple fare —

why I patronised them for many a year —

stealthily dropped each one by one,

because at selling they'd not score.

The reason I shopped there has gone.

Convenience store it is no more.

I now stop for staples at several shops

as in days of yore, before the store

proclaimed its convenience.

In those days there used to be a weird

building that styled itself publicly

convenient, but that has disappeared.

It was always piss-poor.

Endings...

I am sorry that I did not come to the meeting last night and that I will not be coming next week. I regret that I didn't say farewell at our last meeting now as it proved to be the last one for me. I have not been doing any creative writing for the past couple of weeks as I have to concentrate on other projects especially the moving to Spain one! I will be keeping in touch with you via the website and the blog and I hope to have something to share with you during my time away. That is certainly the plan!

I have had an amazing time with you all and I want you to know how much the group has helped me. So it is thank you time:

Thank you

Gale for being such an inspirational tutor and for giving me the wonderful opportunity to perform at Shuffle.

Stephen for getting the group started and keeping it all going. I have really enjoyed your work - especially your history of England saga!

David for the lifts and for all the wonderful work you do with the website and the blog. I know how many hours it takes up and how much care and creativity you put into making it what it is. I am also in awe of how much you are also able to write and how good it is - not going to mention the limericks!

Peter for being such an inspiration in how you deal with the everyday effects of your Aspergers and how it gives you such a unique writing voice. You have made me laugh and you have made me cry with your insights.

Pippa for being a friend and for being excited for me with my move to Spain. I long to read more about your life and your travels as they are so fascinating. You too are an inspiration to me.

Annie for being my lovely neighbourhood friend and for sharing so much over the last few months. I enjoy your work and your use of language and will treasure our times together.

Ewa for being so lovely and such joyful company. The day we spent with you and your family at Easter was such fun and I loved reading their work too on the blog. I was often touched by your writing about your childhood as we clearly had similar experiences. I look forward to reading more.

Sheila and Mike, I have not got to know so well but I have enjoyed our times together.

Gosh, this has turned into a bit of a speech!

I hope that you all manage to keep the group going somehow - especially as I want to come back next year if you will have me!

DO read my blog if you can and do come and see me if you are ever in Spain.

Hasta luego!

Debbiex

PS on a practical note my new email address is deborahespiers@gmail.com

An England poem by Grace Nichols

Outward from Hull

The gulls of Hull
the train pulling out -
a metallic snake
along the estuary
leaving behind
the forceful ghost
of Wilberforce
the confluence
of the Hull and the Humber.
Brough, Selby, Doncaster.
how many times
have I sat this way, England,
gazing out at the leafless
names of trees, at cathedrals
I still haven't seen -
our inter-city boa pushing
through the deepening night -
the wet black roots
of the country.
Suddenly, for some
unearthly reason,
it falters, then stops -
an inexplicable
paralysis of rhythm -
the broach of a small town
gleaming in the distance -
the eels and eels
of branching tracks.

O England -
provincial as Larkin
omnivorous as Shakespeare.

Grace Nichols


I really like the imagery in this poem - the snake is a great metaphor for the train. I have posted this here rather than bring copies to the class. Grace Nichols was born in 1950 in Guyana and now lives in England. Her debut collection, I is a Long-memoried woman won the Commonwealth Poetry prize in 1983.

Help needed!

I have got into a google knot since I changed my email address and now this blog is not on my dashboard on my google account. Help needed oh webmaster! I am not faceless but I am lost!

Human Replacement and Repair Inc

Spares and Parts Department

We are sorry you wear out.

Our driver tried to deliver/collect/install

your part/s. today: LEGS (2) — RECON

Date: 13/12/2019. Time: 10.35am

Please contact us to make another appointment.