Travel the World, Read a Book

    

Barcelona, Spain

    If I had been able to read from the day I was born there would still be books on my wish list, until the day I die. In my opinion there are so many fantastic books out there, there is  not enough time to read them all; unless I become a couch potato, that is.

    The opportunity though to read which ever book I want at any given time has always been there, because there have been libraries in the area I live in. As a child my mother took me to the local library every Saturday, whilst she browsed through the Mills & Boon titles, I checked out the shelves of the children's section.

    But there are areas in the UK where local councils believe that libraries are dispensable and as a way to save money the doors are closing, 10% are earmarked to close in the UK 2014-2015.

    I know the enjoyment reading over the years has given me, allowing me to escape into a fictional, or non-fictional world and I find it sad that not everyone sees it that way. Why is it that when money needs to be saved, the library is number one on the hit list? 


    Please on March 5th, World Book Day, let us keep reading and travel all the other worlds out there, fictional and real. www.worldbookday.com

Ring that Bell

   

Alexander's birthplace Edinburgh

    On March 3rd 1847, in Edinburgh, a baby boy was born who would change how the world would communicate with each other in the years to come; his name was Alexander Graham Bell.

    Without him there would be no telephones, modern fibre optics for broadband and we certainly wouldn't be using using Skype. Zukerberg, Gates, Samsung and others wouldn't be household names and their bank balances would most definitely be a little lighter.

Morayshire, where Alexander worked as a pupil teacher

    We can also thank him for metal detectors, the hydrofoil and there would be no record business without the work he did on the gramophone. Would there be the tape-recorder, hard drive, or floppy disc without his pioneering work? Who knows.

    Yes, we all have a lot to thank this scientist for, a man who only set out to make things easier for the deaf.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,  ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

                 

Mother Language, Plus One

Loch Venichar, Scotland

    One of the challenges that I've embraced since spending so much time in the Canary Islands, is learning the Spanish language. Not only can I now go about my every day business a lot easier, I can communicate better with old and new friends alike. Although we are all Europeans our cultures/customs are most deifinitely an ocean apart and the mixed history of our countries has impacted our views of life.

El Medano, Canary Islands

    It's been a real eye opening experience for me, learning a new language and from 2018, The ENA - National School of Administration, the school for France's futures leaders is insisting that speaking English as well as their mother language will be an essential. Will this be an essential for all future world leaders? We'll just have to wait and see.

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!

    I'm using this New Year to start a new project and new genre. I've completed plotting, synopsis and 10,000 words so far this week Writing a new genre is a challenge, but the enthusiasm is there and that's what it's all about. For me anyway. Wish me luck!

 GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!     

Family

    Because my parents knew very little about their families, other than those immediate, I traced back my family tree a number of years ago. I don't know what I expected to reveal, however I'm sure their was a little writers licence running wild in my imagination.

    I decided to do all the leg work myself and got a few surprises along the way, especially when I found out my great, great-grandfather was a ventriloquist.

    However, once I thought about it, what had I gained by the exercise? Other than satisfying my curiosity;
knowing my ancestors names and some background didn't actually change who I am today. The people in my life that I can truly call family aren't necessarily all  blood relatives; it's the love that we share that to me makes us family and gives me a sense of belonging.

P.S Afraid there were no pictures of the ventriloquist uncovered in my search!

Love Reveals Itself

It was one of those things that started with a crush.

Nothing in particular I wanted to rush.

On the 14th, there were no cards adorned with cupid.

That kind of thing I thought was stupid.

It was on the realisation that you were now my best friend, lover and soul mate, 

that gave me the clue.

Revealing to me, that I had fallen in love with you.

Zero Tolerance = Every Day

 

    We know that at present, children in some parts of the world are getting a pretty raw deal. However, there is one threat that girls need to be protected from in every country and that is FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).

    FGM is where partial, or all of the external female genitalia is removed, in most cases by a non-medical practitioner and  in a non-sterile environment. No, there are no sterile instruments, or anaesthetic involved and the scalpels are replaced by scissors, razors and broken glass.

    130 million women and girls have been mutilated in this way, in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle-East, with a further 30 million of under 15 year olds still at risk. In the UK and USA we can't bury our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't happen on our soil, because in the UK, 103,000, are known to have undergone FGM; with a further, 20,000, classed as being at risk. In the USA, 1/2 million are also said to be at risk, even although this practise as in the UK, is illegal.

    By 2050 it is estimated that if we do not stamp this barbaric practise out, a further 63 million girls worldwide will have had to go through this ordeal. On the 6th February 2015 it was, International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, but the zero tolerance has to be every day.