Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Goal setting for 2014, Increasing readership on blogs

Previous posts have been placed on this blog in order to bring some different media in so that I can gauge whether it's increasing my readership. 
Results are inconclusive at this stage. 












I had some good luck yesterday and if it comes off, it will be very interesting. 
A French art student who is attending an exclusive University called ENSAAMA Paris contacted me and asked if she could have an internship in June/July of next year, as she saw my mosaic work on the web and liked it. 

 
 Gorgeous facade of this prestigeous looking university in Paris.


 I have plans for some largish projects, making sculptures, then mosaicing them for my sunken garden during winter months. 

I am going to a workshop on dargit (paperclay and concrete) sculpture making in the middle of January, so I'll have at least one sculpture ready. 
It's labour intensive mosaicing 3D things so I really need help but  because it's not income producing I won't be paying anyone. 

This could be a way of achieving this goal. 
I will be able to document her visit in the form of  newspaper article writing and blogging. 
I may be able to take her around to the Catholic Schools that I have helped design mosaics for.
  It may be nice for her to meet the art teacher at John Paul College and see what their students are doing.
 I will need to seek permission for this.

Now I  just want to attract someone who can help with my bookwork, housework,  newsletter writing and database formation and all will be well. 
An Italian woman for an internship would be great in the future. 

If you set up good networks with these people it could help in getting residencies on other countries. 
Residencies are a great idea for professional development. 

At the moment I'm flat out trying to get everything finished before the holidays. 
 I haven't made my Christmas cards yet, so I'm running late.
I might make them New Years Eve cards. 

 I've given my Christmas presents to my  parents when they popped in for lunch today and now I  am looking forward to a lovely, peaceful, relaxing Christmas and holiday with just Graham, (my husband) and me.
 He has a stressful job and is not really into making small talk or socialising so for the past two years we have elected to have Christmas by ourselves in exotic locations and I can tell you that I absolutley adore doing this. 
It's so relaxing.

There are no disagreements and you don't end up feeling bloated and crabby. 
We usually combine it with lots of walking and quite often I will do some little arty project.
There are long silences, you don't always need to be talking flat out to communicate. 

 I always find that the best relationships and friendships I have are enjoyable when there are only two people at a time in it.
 It's so satisfying not to have to put up with group dynamics.
I'm ok  if I'm a group as long as I'm teaching it. 
If I'm with too many people for too long, I start to feel exhausted.

I am envisaging a crayfish or prawn salad for Christmas dinner with perhaps an oyster mornay for a starter and for dessert, fresh berries and plain unsweetened yoghurt.  

A picnic would be nice followed by a swim and reading my book on how to write better poetry.  I may write some haiku. On holiday I usually do a visual dairy about where I am.

We don't want anything fattening or unhealthy to eat because it takes too long to work all that stuff off and you just come back from holidays feeling tired, depressed and unmotivated. 
I don't drink alcohol so I won't have a fuzzy head. 

I may go to midnight mass. I'll definitely be going to mass on the Sundays as I like to see what churches are like in other places.

I bought the Booker Prize winner novel by Eleanor Catton; The Luminaries a couple of weeks ago. 
I have had her book Rehearsal for several years and loved it. 
I've read that twice.
It was very mysterious and beautifully constructed. 
 I read one chapter of Luminaries and I had to put it down because it gave me a headache plus an arm ache because it was so heavy. 
 I read another chapter but I still couldn't engage with it so I  gave it to my father when they visited and he was wrapt. 

I know his reading taste and I'm sure he won't like it either but I'm pretty sure my mother will. 

I read a lot of non-fiction and so does my father.
 Fiction has to be really well constructed succint and  snappy to engage me.
 I just become agitated with repetition or sloppy construction.

Anyway I know I'm having an unorthodox Christmas and holiday because it's supposed to be a time with lots of family, eating, drinking, laughing and lazing around. But I'm  super happy with what we have planned which will be exciting and adventurous. 

 







 



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