Summary of the May 1st meeting

An interesting assignment with responses as varied as the group...surprise, surprise! Don's ten sentence story reflected on his experiences as a teacher with a female student who was challenging on many levels but who found her place in the school culture, herself and the world by the unusual vehicle of her safe sex presentation. A lot of this made possible with some nurturing and belief by Don. Years later, she invited him to her wedding and Univeresity grad. A touching story of connection and overcoming stigma and exclusion. Sue Shaw led us on an interesting journey with a letter from a certain Evelynn Rothschilds to the lesser 'vassals and serfs' to whom she shares her thoughts on many global issues and social commentary in a highly amusing fashion. Colin invited us in with his story about his ten fave authors gracing his bookshelves and how they had to earn their priveleged place there in his imagination with their wonderfully engaging characters and stories. Mike R. Read a close to real life story about a senior cadet in the Navy who had a dicey encounter at a Texan bar when he was on a break with his mates. A hot babe was involved, a threatening knife and rescue from his buddies. Truly a close encounter of the red neck kind. I shared a story about the life of a rock who was found by a young girl, brought home to her garden and her life and treasured by generations to come. We finished off with a writing exercise starting with the prompt,'If I had more energy I would...' The group responses included, 'gardening, singing, walking, learning, connecting with old friends,becoming an essayist, engaging in sports and fitness, pursuing dreams, cycle trips,and more!

April 17th Meeting Summary

'...and then there were six.'  Two gals, Heather and Sue Shaw, joined by Mike R. and 'Mikey', Don and Colin. We shared bits about our favourite authors, some of which were Mike Redfern's pick of Arthur Ransome of the famous 'Swallows and Amazon' Series, Sue who felt carried away by James Clavell even though he was a 'puke' she says. John Grisholm ranked as one of Colin's top five along with Wilbur Smith and Pierre Burton.  Don Davies recommended reading Khaled Hosseire(sorry for any misspellings gang) of the 'Kite Runner' fame. Mikey said he was too young yet to have a favourite author but was open to 'Poppa Charlie's input as a seasoned reader and our suggestions of which we gave him many!  I shared a different version of the Mother Goose author and the inner lives of the nursery rhyme characters.  Mikey then asked us to take something we had heard that day and write from it.    Don wrote about  his granddaughter who, at only 10 years of age, is already 'rolling in the deep' of her own musical talents which she shares with the world.  Colin was struck by the phrase' economy and environment' and waxed poetic for a bit.  Sue amused us as always with a quick and funny reflection sprung from, 'they don't make life jackets just to save lives'.  I wrote a couple of poems taken from a morning mediation book called 'The Cup of our Lives' and Mike responded to the CBC news that day of a tragic murder. Mikey took 'it's not too late to seek a newer world' from Alistair Maclean and the perspective change that wrought. See you soon word weavers!

Tuesday, April 3rd meeting summary

Tuesday night's meeting was fantastic! Both Mike and Colin produced very thoughtful and thought-provoking pieces on the topic "what if...?" I hope they go onward with these pieces, for they are certainly worthy of being published. "New" Mike played a few songs for us on his guitar:) Next meeting's assignment offered forth by "new" Mike is: A look into a favourite author's past:) Have fun with this one, writers! [Hm! Can I write anything at all without a :) or an exclamation mark? Or excessive commas? I doubt it! Is there a 12-Step Program for Over-Punctuating Anonymous?]

Take care!

Sue the Punctuator

Write On Meeting March 20 Report

Hey there, fellow writers,

Major excitement at last night's Write On meeting was the arrival in our midst of Mike Park, recently returned to Kimberley and keen to join our group which he learned about from Christine after reading issue #2 of our Write On Journal. Welcome, Mike! Good of you to bridge the generation gap and join us old scribblers. ( Exception noted re: "old" in the case of our female members!)

Present last night were Colin, Sue, Mike W., Mike R., and Mike Park. So, with three Mikes at the table, we decided to rename the group Mike On! Just joking.

Colin facilitated the meeting and we first read our assignments about "All the World's A Stage....".

Sue wrote humorously and passionately about the conflicts between the Tudor monarchs of Shakespeare's day. She knows an awful lot about the Tudors whom she describes as being rather like the Borgias.

Mike W. read the whole soliloquay, the Seven Ages of Man, as it is popularly called, and concluded Man is both actor and audience.

Mike R. wrote a short essay positing the same conclusion as Mike W. but pointing out that some people are also innovators and creators of new scenes in life's drama.

Colin reviewed all the possible audiences for Man's performances, including God, aliens, pets, and his own omniscient self, suggesting that people perform to please their particular audience.

Colin then had us write about "My Getaway" for 15 to 20 minutes.

Mike P. write about his music as the place he turned to in times of stress. Later he sang us a song in Spanish that he had just composed. Mike P. is writing in more than one genre!

Mike W.'s getaway was skiing, first in the Yukon and later on Mt. St. Anne in Quebec. He obviously is a ski nut (!) and hopes to move permanently to Kimberley to carry on his passion once he's sold his home in Missisauga.

Mike R. Wrote about returning to Belize in his imagination to escape the troublesome thoughts that keep him awake in the small hours of the morning.

Colin described his family's happy camping holidays on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.

Sorry, but I can't remember what Sue wrote about except that it led to an impassioned discussion of American conspiracies, a topic we will probably return to at another time. What was your Getaway, Sue?

Our next meeting is on April 3rd for which the writing assignment is up to 1200 words on the topic, "What If", set by Sue who will facilitate the meeting. Mike W. will probably not be there as he and his wife return to Ontario as soon as the ski hill closes. Mike R. will also not be there as he will be on holiday in the States. But there will still be one Mike at the table!!

Cheers!

Mike R.

missed meeting

Hi Fellow Writers:) Sorry I missed last meeting. Recovered now, so will make next meeting;) See you all then!

Feb. 7th summary

Four males and one female...a reverse harem! Sue Shaw was absent and we are sad to say that Susan D. is not returning this year due to other commitments. We welcome a new member, Colin to the fold and he was a good sport as we mostly edited more journal pieces after a humorous warm-up from Mike where we had to describe 10 people we know. Very entertaining and enlightening! Enjoy the mild temps out there folks and see you next week. Sorry for the tardy blog post and update.

Jan. 24th summary

Blustery night to meet! A nice supper was had at the Pedal and Tap where a few members ran into each other prior to the meeting. Mike and Susan were missed but hopefully will rejoin us again. Mike R. gave us a stimulating exercise about pairing down the use of excess modifiers which was enlightening! We read over a few pieces for the journal with some editing until calling it quits due to fatigue and brain drain. (me bad!) We will be gearing up for 'Cabin Fever Daze' once the journal is done. The snow continues to fall, the pens continue to write and the group continues to meet. Write On!