Leigh’s Scribblings

Tonight I have been chatting with some of my fellow students in the OU forum.  I can see myself getting quite addicted to it.

It really is true that it’s a comfort making contact with others in the same boat.  Studying alone at home can be an isolating experience; the idea of online conferencing is to take the ‘distance’ out of distance learning.

It was my first visit to the forum tonight, and I was rather overwhelmed wading through the volume of posts on there.  When you sign up for something like this, you kind of think it’s just you and it’s almost a surprise to see all these other names.

Sometimes forums can be cliquey, but everyone I’ve conversed with on the OU one thus far has been friendly.  People have the same worries and questions; there is no need to fear ‘sounding thick.’  I feel that just spending an hour online conferencing has broken the ice.

It’s also a comfort, daft as it sounds, knowing that other course members have other things going on in their lives.  There are folks with families, demanding jobs and other commitments that they have to juggle alongside studies.  That’s the beauty of the OU.  Nobody expects us to be full-time scholars.  If everybody else can do it, so can I.  I have no excuse not to do well.

Tomorrow we’ll find out to which tutor groups we have been allocated, and be divided off into tutor group forums for discussion about specific parts of the course.  The tutor groups consist of only about 20 people, so at least it should be easier keeping track of posts on those forums than on the general course one which has about 800 members!

I’m nervous, I have a lot to get through in the next 12 weeks, yet another part of me is loving this course already.  It’s a great thrill knowing I’m doing something for me.  Anything I gain from it will be mine, and nobody can take it away.

Ooh, I could write so much here!  I just hope I’m as prolific with the activities on the course.

The OU Start Writing Fiction course website went live on Wednesday (15 Oct).  I have spent today reading through it in detail.  Oh wow, am I going to get time to breathe once this course starts a week today?!  There seems sooo much to it.

There are five blocks to work through, each comprising several short exercises, plus the two eTMAs [electronic tutor marked assignments] on which my ultimate mark will be dependent.  Students are also encouraged to participate in online forums and conferencing.

I suppose when you embark on something like this there are always fears.  That you won’t cope with it, that everyone else will be cleverer than you, etc.  I feel like I’m starting school all over again.  It is all very daunting.

At the same time, though, I can’t help feeling excited and positive.  Some of the activities look fun, and should stimulate my far too latent creativity.  I have said before that I am very goal-driven and need tasks on which to focus.  When I have something to do, I do it.

2008 has been a washout year for me writing wise, so I sincerely hope the course will help me get 2009 off to a much more productive start.  If this won’t get me writing again, frankly nothing will.

On Thursday I saw the wonderful Queen + Paul Rodgers at the NIA in Brum.  They were, as Craig Revel Horwood might say on Strictly, “a-ma-ZING!!”

We heard Queen classics like We Will Rock You, A Kind of Magic, I Want It All, I’m In Love With My Car, new ones C-lebrity, Say It’s Not True and Cosmos Rockin’ and the Paul Rodgers (Free and Bad Company) hits All Right Now and Bad Company.

Paul, by the way, really is the perfect frontman.  He makes no attempts to ‘do a Freddie’ by being camp, but has brought his individual style to the mix, which for me really works.  He, Brian and Roger took turns on lead vocals, and were all fantastic in their own exceptional ways.

I was chuffed to bits when Brian’s guitar solo encompassed two of our wedding songs.  Brighton Rock segued into the beautiful Bijou, an album track from Innuendo, to which I walked tremulously down the aisle.  It comprises a long instrumental climaxing with a Freddie vocal which on Thursday was accompanied by footage of him – always poignant at these events.  This in turn flowed into Last Horizon, the gorgeous Brian instrumental which our friend Ben played as we signed our register.  It was a real ‘hug your husband and sway cheesily along at a gig’ moment.

The only downside to the night was that I HATE driving into the city, with a passion.  The concert traffic was monstrous, coupled with the fact most of the nearest car parks were full, so we endured a panicky journey and then a breathless sprint (oh, my little lungs) into the arena fearing we’d missed the first couple of numbers.  Luckily it started 20 minutes late and we missed nothing.

I slept barely a wink that night, partly due to general hyped-up post-concert feelings and partly due to being full of cold and snuffly.  I was consequently falling asleep at my desk on Friday.  Still, nights like that are well worth a touch of fatigue at work.

What a wonderful thing Facebook can be!  My old school friend Sally has posted a few fifth-form piccies from 1993- including this poodle perm-ridden gem below – which have got me feeling all nostalgic:

Can you spot the former Miss Rowley amongst this wacky bunch?

I was a shy, gawky kid who hated school, yet in that pic I look relatively comfortable and one of the gang.  That is actually quite a revelation to me.  I was such a wallflower.  It was unusual for me to make it on to any pictures at all.

I was bullied throughout high school (not by any of those girls above), which was a very isolating experience, but not everyone at my school was a Vicky Pollard.  I also had a fair number of friends (many of whom I am back in touch with via Facebook).

Perhaps I wasn’t as dorky as I imagined?

I showed Sally’s pictures to my workmates at lunchtime.  It felt good actually, to be sharing these images of my past with my contemporary friends.  We had a good giggle over some of the hair ‘styles’ of the day – whatever were we thinking with all those fizzy curls?!

This somehow led us into a conversation about first boyfriends (we are all female).  It was quite interesting really, and a relatively unusual subject matter for us.  The discussion was not a nasty rant about vile exes, but rather a fond (yes, perhaps rose-tinted) sharing of stories about crushes and dates and adolescent snogs.

After decades have elapsed you can laugh about your first love; wonder what the hell you saw in a guy for whom you would have quite cheerfully died at 17.

We are all of diverse ages in the office, though a lot of our experiences were relatively similar.  It was funny how a few of us commented on not being able to clearly recall the distinct characters of these men for whom we would have died.

It just shows that at that age the notion of ‘going out with someone’ was more important than actually enjoying intense companionship with a compatible partner.  It didn’t always matter what came out of the guy’s mouth, so long as he was hunky (haven’t used that word for years) and taking you out.  Yes, first love can be shallow.  You are so insecure, and irrationally terrified of ending up on the shelf.

My mum and I thoroughly enjoyed South Staffordshire Musical Theatre Company’s production of Oklahoma this afternoon, at the Grand Theatre in ‘Hi Ho’ Wolverhampton.  I love am-dram.  I love theatre in general.  I love being entertained.

I actually won the tickets, in a competition in the programme of this particular group’s 2007 show, Singin’ in the Rain.  Since Singin’ in the Rain is one of my all-time favourite films, I easily answered the 10 questions about it.

I was told back in December that I’d won the tickets for the company’s next production, and can’t believe how quickly this came around.  Unfortunately, though, there wasn’t an Oklahoma-themed quiz in the programme this time around!

Whilst in town I did a spot of shopping.  I bought a Christening present for little Tom Howard, the very cute son of two of our closest friends.  I really hope Tom, or rather his lovely parents (since he is only nine months), love the gift next Sunday.  I can’t say what it is, of course, in case they’re reading!

I’ve been to a few shows lately actually.  Last night Nath and I were at Symphony Hall in Brum to see the CBSO playing the works of the great film composer John Williams.  They really are a superb orchestra, a credit to our city, and that stirring film music is simply breathtaking heard live, especially with the wonderful Symphony Hall acoustics.

We heard the legendary ‘feem toons’ from such classics as Indiana Jones, Superman, Jaws, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, JFK, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Schindler’s List, ET and of course Star Wars.

During the latter, we were treated to an appearance by some Storm Troopers and even Darth Vader, whose menacing presence loomed behind the choir stalls, conducting along with the CBSO’s MD Michael Seal!  I love it when classical musicians have a bit of fun like that.  Just goes to show classical does not have to equal highbrow and inaccessible.

On Monday (the 6th) I saw one of my favourite 80s bands, OMD, also at Symphony Hall, with my friends Ros and Warren.  I’ll always have a soft spot for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, who were the first band I ever saw live, back in 1993 when I was but a callow gal of 16.

Well 15 years on, they are as brilliant as ever.  Andy McCluskey truly is the king of dad dancing, and is as energetic and passionate at 49 as pop stars half his age.

I’ve already got a few things booked for next year too.  I’ve got another three at Symphony Hall – Anton du Beke and Erin Boag, the CBSO playing the works of Gershwin and the CBSO again playing music from Oscar-winning movies, conducted by Carl Davis – and then the Strictly Come Dancing live tour at the NEC.

I have started, if you are interested, a blog on my OU student homepage.  The first entry is in essesnce a rehash of a few of my recent posts on here, but I intend to update it as my studies progress.

I might as well take advantage of that free facility to record how/if I grow as a person as I immerse myself in attempts to write above-primary school quality fiction.

http://learn.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?user=462870

I have spent the day immersing myself in my OU course material.  Literally the whole day.  There is a LOT to it.

I read the course guidebook a few days ago; today I waded through the accompanying audio CD and transcript, and anthology of short stories and novel extracts which have been chosen to demonstrate various aspects of the writing craft (character, narrative, etc).

The hour-long CD contains interviews with the likes of as Louis de Bernières (who wrote Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, a novel special to me as a famous passage from it was our wedding reading) and Alex Garland (The Beach), about their inspiration and tips for successful writing.

The anthology contains works by such diverse authors as Ernest Hemingway, Henry James, Laurie Lee, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dashiell Hammett and Toni Morrison.  I’ve enjoyed reading them.  Swotty as it sounds, I’ve been inspired to do a spot of Wiki research into the writers and their works.

It’s almost like doing A-level English again, but…well…enjoyable.

My team triumphed in Wednesday’s charity quiz night!  Not that I like to boast, but…well let’s say I’ve had trouble getting my head through the door for the last couple of days!!

We competed in rounds about general knowledge, books, TV, sport, music, advertising slogans, lines from films (we were given a line and asked to identify both the film and the actor who delivered it) and two picture rounds, in which we were given 20 pictures in each case and asked to identify respectively celebrities and capital cities.

Universally Challenged emerged the proud victors with a whopping 93 points.  It was such a buzz.  You may have discerned that my confidence has not been sky-high of late, so doing well at something like this gave me a welcome boost.

Our prizes were a selection of wines, to be divvied between the team as we wished.  The bottle I plumped for was a yummy M&S raspberry and pear chardonnay, which I shall be cracking open tonight.  Cheers!

The quiz was a work do in aid of our charity for the year, Home-Start Sutton Coldfield.  This sort of thing is a very new venture for us.  We are a very small law firm, and for our first major corporate event it was a great success.  We managed to attract 12 teams, each consisting of up to six people.  The entrance fees and raffle raised an impressive £310.

It was an excellent event, with a fun atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to the next one.  There is something rather addictive about a quiz.

And the fundraising continues.  Today was Jeans for Genes Day, so we did our bit by paying £1 to wear what used to be known as ‘mufti’ to work.

I started to have a wade through my Open University stuff last night.  It was like (very) old times, going through the course book with my highlighter pens, illuminating the mega important paragraphs. 

I am still rather daunted by the sheer volume of the paperwork – though slightly less terrified now I’ve dared open the cellophane it came in and know a bit more about what the course entails.

I shall need to become very adept at time management.  It is recommended that I devote six hours a week to my studies – mind you, compare that with my A-level homework which took up in excess of 20 hours of my week!  Then again, when I was a sixth former I was a shy girl with no life.

I have worked out a timetable for myself, to accommodate my coursework while still taking account of everyday activities and social life.  The whole point of the OU is that it is geared towards adult distance learners, who are juggling studies with jobs, families, etc.

I plan to devote two hours on Monday and Tuesday evenings, an hour on Wednesday and Friday mornings and at least two to three hours at the weekend (either the Saturday or Sunday, whichever day proves quieter for me that particular week).

I’ve tried to be realistic, factoring in periods when I’ll be doing tai chi, walking, shopping, attending concerts, spending time with my husband, socialising with friends, or for any other reason it won’t be practically possible for me to sit down and work.

I do not intend to be half-hearted about this venture, though.  I have signed up to the OU for a reason, and paid good money to do so, and will not be aiming for anything less than brilliant results.

I was never a straight A girl, my GCSE and A-level results were fair to middling – but then I found it hard applying myself to academic studies in which I had no interest.  I have a passion for writing, and the Start Writing Fiction course is a project I have chosen to pursue.  It would be so wonderful if I could pass it with exemplary marks.

If I fail now, I’ll be scraping my confidence out of the sewers.  I certainly don’t see myself being able to write again.

The course, which begins on 25th October, is a short one, at 12 weeks, so is going to be intensive and undoubtedly at times stressful.  There seems an awful lot to cram into six hours a week, what with working on assignments, reading the course material, working through the audio CD and taking part in online conferences with fellow tutor group members (the course is entirely Internet-based).  I intend to give it my all.

I will not slack, with half an eye on the telly.  Last night I actually completely forgot to watch one of my favourite programmes, Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, such was my engrossment in the course book.  I took that as a good sign.  At least I may not be easily distracted from the tasks in hand!

My hubby – bless him – knows he is going to have to be understanding.  He’ll be aware of the times when I need to do uninterrupted study, as well as when it’s our ‘us’ time.  I shall not be neglecting him – nor shall I be antisocial where friends are concerned!

Anyway, it’s quiz night tonight.  Wish me luck…