ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY AND ARC - APRIL 2013

Good morning, if you've happened here to read my review for the Artists Reading Challenge for April 2013 and don't fancy reading my 'Rocking Your World' element of this post - then scroll down until you find the ARC - heading in bold, otherwise for the rest of my lovely Rockers and Rockettes good morning and how are you this fine Friday - tis Rocking Your World Time

OK time to reflect on the last seven days, pull out the silver linings, note the positives and the moments that made life all that bit more enjoyable!  This may be a dig deep week - but we'll see...

1. Blue skies - now that's always a positive 
2. Slightly warmer days
3. Spring cleaning the office - not necessarily the spring cleaning bit - but the bit when you walk in later on to find it all clean and tidy - now that I can cope with! 
4. Our first barbecue of the year - let's hope we can manage many more! 
5. Our first outdoor fire of the year, sitting next to an outdoor fire, wrapped in blankets, glass of wine in one hand, hubby and child next to me and a starry night - now there really is nothing finer than that in my book! 
6. Freshly washed bed covers - smell lovely! 
7. Freshly washed bath sheets that have been on the line! 
8. Managing an art page in amongst these very long work days
9. Crazy walks around a local supermarket on a Monday with my Mum, sister and niece, I'm sure the staff think we've been let out of somewhere for a wander around!
10. Sister for second guessing a conversation my Mum was having on the phone completely correctly and us rolling with laughter about it! 
11. My Mum re-naming two of her children with what could only be considered potentially derogatory names - however, it did have us giggling!  I had no idea that my sister was an "eyebrow university waller" - who'd have known!
12. Said 12 year old for getting a postcard from school indicating that he is doing really well (I'm liking all this mail from school - fabulous stuff). 
13. A certain photo company having a great discount last weekend that meant that the 350 photos that I've just ordered shouldn't (fingers crossed etc) break the bank! 
14. Hubby for sorting out my bag the other day that had broken and me now having a credit note to go and spend - mmmm shopping! 
15. Jack Reacher DVD - saw it at the cinema and enjoyed and thoroughly enjoyed it on DVD this week, I like the edgy element to the character!
16. I forgot to mention our trip to see Oblivion at the cinema last week so I'm going to add that to my Rocking post this week because it really was fantastic and given half a chance I'd go and see it again!

Nope that wasn't a dig deep week at all was it!  So there you go, another Rocking post, if you fancy joining in, pop a post together, pop back and link up at the bottom, leave a comment and we'll come and visit!  Now on with the ARC post...

ARC APRIL 2013

This month's book was Snuff by Terry Pratchett (TP), an author whose books adorn at least two shelves on our bookshelves upstairs, we've always been discworld fans but I've had this book an age and given my change in taste and type of book I wondered if it would still be a good read.  Now don't get me wrong as an avid fan it doesn't mean that I always find his books an easy read, I often find you are better off disengaging your brain and just reading until your subconscious catches up and you've fathomed out what's going on.

Snuff started really well, I was engaging in the story, grasping the characters and enjoying the read, albeit that initially I was reading only short bursts of a few pages at a time.  This one is back to one of my favourite TP characters Commander Vimes of the Ank Morpork City Watch, however, in this one he's off on holiday!   The book was overall a good read, there were areas when I felt I was starting to lose the plot a little, but the characters are so colourful and charming that I kept reading regardless.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book, the build up to the ending, the giggles that it brought and expect no doubt to re-read it in the future.  

My art this month is yet again another journal page (becoming something of a habit) albeit more prescriptive on the journal style than the previous few months.  I centred the page around a key character in the book who was called Tears of a Mushroom (not that she was a mushroom or a person technically speaking) - so I hope you'll understand why my page has a crying mushroom on it!  Next month's book is one of the Morganville Vampire books, a series I've been reading on and off for a few years I'll let you know what I think of that in next months review! 

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY AND DARCY'S READING CHALLENGE - A CASUAL VACANCY

If you've arrived to read my review for Darcy's Reading challenge - then scroll down to the bit which starts A CASUAL VACANCY, as the first part of my post is my Rocking Your World Element

OK peeps let's do this in list format, it's late on Thursday and I'm having to engage my brain - neither of which is a great mix!

1. A week off from work
2. Two yes I said two ice hockey matches to see Sheffield Steelers last weekend, not been in forever and we won both matches! 
3. Said 12 year old getting the 'ice hockey' bug - this I like! 
4. Time with my sister and my niece at the ice hockey! 
5. Time with my Mum making a mini book on Sunday and then finishing it on Monday
6. Keeping in contact with my Lil Bro! 
7. Said 12 year old being happy with his new phone! 
8. Having my hair cut
9. Hubby rocking my world as always, putting up with the mood swings I'm having with these crazy tablets, and coping with my general stupidity - thank you hun! 
10. Having a lie in - something we sometimes take for granted around here! 
11. Crafting time!
12. The Wednesday Whine girls keeping it real - thank you girls! 

It's been one of those weeks, where the time disappears but you can't quite put your finger on what you've done!  Overall it's been a good one, I hope yours has been too! 

If you fancy joining in pop yourself a post together and head back here to link up, we are a bit low on participants but I love to see others join in!  

Mr Linky is at the bottom of this post 

A CASUAL VACANCY

Well in hindsight picking what is probably the longest book during the shortest month was not my wisest of moves, I've struggled with fiction for years probably because once I'm caught up in a story I get completely absorbed, this book being no different by the 19th February I was only just 200 pages into the 501 page book, this morning I find myself collecting my thoughts on the book, having completed the same last night at 12.30am and today is the 20th - like I said I get absorbed.

So the review, having been
an avid J K Rowling fan it took some getting used to as a book, no wizards in sight for a starter, the first part of the book is, as would be expected well written but hard work trying to place the characters of which there are many.  The book is based on a fictional village called Pagford which has a long local political history with the nearest town Yarvil which has encroached on it's land by building social housing accommodation which has impacted on the local school.  The book doesn't centre on a single character but rather on the interactions between people.  The casual vacancy being the death of a local Parish Councillor which sets the scene for the political turmoil that follows.  Within the melee of characters you have school teachers and social workers, delicatessen owners, surgeon's and GP's, those that are on benefits, users of drugs the depth of characters is significant.  Those that were born there and those that were still deemed 'outsiders'.  You also have the difference between young and old, the teenagers in the book, developing their own characters and personalities and all that comes with growing up.

It's a book that makes you think, in 501 pages JK Rowling has summed up perfectly the sorts of issues that affect people every single day, it's easy to see that past circumstances have moulded each and every character, some are still tainted by it.  The book challenges you to make assumptions not because you are superior or better but because it's human nature to rationalise who someone is.  What it actually achieves is that we are who we are because of circumstances and choices sometimes beyond our control and that is what is the most deeply troubling aspect of the book.

The book is a page turner, you really want the story to 'come good' to be neat and tidy and happy, but the book is real life, it isn't neat and it isn't tidy or even happy in places, what it is is real.  It gives you a new perspective a deeper understanding and breaks those taboos that many choose no longer to talk about.

It's about chances and opportunities, it's about rare people giving others a chance, it's about the culture in which we now live and what lies ahead for future generations, its about consequences, from a personal level, to a local level to a national level.

Although at a national level you only touch on the implications of cut backs, the book shows at grass roots level the real impact.  Cutting local government funding, who in turn pull back the axe to fall on the services for the most vulnerable in society who in turn affect the lives of people needing help and in turn damage the next generation forever.  It's not far fetched it's reality and that's what probably made it all the more shocking.

It made me cry, I didn't laugh or even smile through the book, it's one where you nod and understand and 'get' what it's about but as the book draws to a close it did make me cry.  Circumstances and people, people and circumstances.

About three quarters of the way into the book I commented to my hubby that the book didn't actually have anyone that was happy and that I found frustrating because to reflect real life surely there must be people within that village who were happy?

Would I recommend it, absolutely, did I learn anything from it - it reminded me that those small gestures that we make to others are like the butterfly wings flapping that eventually cause the hurricane, we often don't see what those small gestures do, we don't see the impact or the benefit likewise we don't see the impact of an unkind word or an argument, it makes you realise that each and every one of us makes a difference, if you want yours to be a good one, make each of your interactions positive and considered and thought out.

The art was hard work, probably because I couldn't quite tell where I was coming from with it but this is my attempts this month, a journal page, the background writing was the word 'responsible' repeated over and over I think it sums it up!

Mr Linky for those joining in Rocking Your World

ROCKING YOUR WORLD & ARTFUL READERS

Good Morning one and all, if you find yourself here to see my first review in the Artful Readers challenge and don't fancy my normal Rocking ramblings then please scroll down - I've marked the start of my review in bold further down.  In the meantime morning to all my lovely rockers and rockettes out there - how was your week, let me know because it's

Wow what a week it's been as we lurch through January, I always find it the strangest of months if I'm honest but let's see what we've got to be grateful for this week.

First up is hubby and his idea of going for a walk to the next village, we live just less than 1 mile from the next village but the roads to it contain very little pavements and are mainly national speed limit roads, so we always venture by car on a safety basis.  A couple of years ago me and hubby went out for a meal there and walked back via a public footpath, but it was dark and we got sort of lost and so have never ventured that way since.  Until this last weekend, when we found ourselves in a winter wonderland but really fancying a walk out.  So when he suggested it and in keeping with one of my words of the year - spontaneous (the other word being reclaim), both me and said 12 year old said yes, expecting to only get part way there before having to return.  Little did we realise what a fabulous walk we would have.  Now don't get me wrong in parts the track is also a bridleway and the horses have churned up the ground so in wet weather you would need some seriously decent waterproof boots to get through, but in a frozen landscape we found the ground solid even if a little uneven!

Here is me and said 12 year old on the bridge across the stream.

The next village and arty shot by hubby 

 Another shot of the steam

And the tiny church (it isn't, but is a standing joke that the church is huge when you compare it to the population of the village).

Said 12 year old was somewhat grumpy about the walk, I think in the main because he didn't know how long it would be, however, the promise of a bowl of chips in the pub was enough to convince him to carry on - he didn't manage one of these bowls but two!  You can see that he's already ailing in the photo - he looks shattered and washed out!

I'm also grateful for Mr Robin - calling to us from the trees and hubby managing to capture a shot of him!

 And said 12 year old out in the snow, he seems to be growing up so fast these days!

 Next up is dedicated workers - this is what we saw on the way back from the village shop!

Other gratefuls this week are 

• An understanding boss when it came to a snow day and being poorly! 
• Central heating - how I love thee
• Facebook for allowing contact with people even when they live far away! 
• Digital cameras and instagram - I love both and between me and hubby we've managed some pretty awesome winter piccies that will be appearing on a scrapbook page very soon. 
• Finally Darcy's reading challenge which has seen me complete the first book in the challenge and create a piece of artwork that involved paint and my new gelli plate which I love! 

Right a quick 12 x 12 layout that I did as part of the UKS Cybercrop nearing the end of last year, I fought with this one the idea was great in my head, just didn't quite come to fruition, but it's done so I photographed it!   I'll put Mr Linky right at the bottom of the post, so it's easier to spot and add to rather than trying to find it mid-week. 

Hope you've had a grand week, if you want to know a little more about Rocking Your World posts, then have a read under the button on the right hand side.  

 ARTFUL READERS - 1ST REVIEW - CONFESSIONS OF A SUBMISSIVE

OK I have to admit it I was dubious about adding this book to the pile of 11 that had come relatively easily, I even considered a different book in opposition to this one, but that one wasn't a fictional read and I actually wanted a neat set of fictional books to attack this year.  I also have to admit that fiction is what I sometimes struggle with so to say I've managed to land myself with a book I could quite happily have bounced off the wall and dropped into the bin soooooooooooo many times is the understatement of the year.  Which book you're asking - 'confessions of a submissive'.

I subjected myself to the 50 shades books last year, I didn't believe the hype but was intrigued as to why everyone had suddenly felt compelled to read these books.  I struggled through the first one (50 shades that is) and could understand why many abandoned at that point, but being a true Virgoan had to read the 'set' so I did and whilst I felt overall that they were OK I felt that the story was rushed and not true to life so when I saw a 'real 50 shades' book (which is how this book was advertised) I thought why not... little did I know.  I don't know how I can explain why I was so cross with it, but I think it's because, if that is the true life of a submissive then I don't understand why anyone would subject themselves to it, all I saw was a story of consenting violence which in parts seemed to verge on actual bodily harm.  I found I wanted to put the book down more than I wanted to pick it up, but didn't want to be beaten into submission by this book - forgive the pun.  So I battled on.

The book centres around the writer who openly expresses herself and her life as a submissive with her vanilla life sprinkled in for good measure.  She explains the non-emotional attachment relationships she has and then moves onto one where an emotional attachment is achieved but becomes so complex and contrived that it's difficult to see it ever achieving a long term status.  You're left wondering whether such extremes in her private life could eventually leave her permanently marked (I'm of the view that given the nature of some of these interludes she probably already has been and again I mean literally).  But what irritated me the most is whilst on one hand she's stating that she loves what she does, she spends most of her time crying to the point of sobbing and covering herself in her own mucus from all the crying - really that floats your boat? I just don't get it and there are occasions when the description in the story quite frankly would have led me to acts of rebellion towards her dominant partner!  I kid you not... so all I can tell you is if this is a real life 50 shades and the real life of a submissive you're all right you can keep it!  Now don't get me wrong I appreciate that everyone enjoys books for different reasons, for me I like to live in the story and be totally absorbed in it in order that the story becomes real, I think that's why I struggled so much with it, I didn't want to be part of this story.

Be warned if you do attempt this book then the language is extremely graphic and not for the faint hearted.

Will it become a permanent fixture on the bookcase - nope afraid not.  Am I glad I finished it - yes?  The sense of achievement of managing this challenge in 2013 is something I'm looking forward to, I'm just hoping the next book is a book I can rave about - now which one do I go for?

Finally the art, crikey this was hard to decide on?  Do I do a mail art postcard (I thought about it but could not for the life of me think of anyone who might actually want to receive it).  Do I do an art journal page or something else.  In the end I opted for the comfort of my art journal, the pages I've created have been done in my A5 journal and go across a double page.

I'm going to try and visit as many of the artful readers as I can, I hope your first book has been a great read and I'm looking forward to getting to know you all a little better as the year progresses!  Until next month!

MR LINKY FOR ROCKING YOUR WORLD POSTS 

Artful Reader's Club - The Reading Challenge

Good Morning and a Happy New Year to you all, I start this 1 January with a brand new challenge from Darcy - this time to get us reading more - something I could definitely do with!  So here is the photo of my books for this year a rather eclectic mix, some have been on my bookshelf for an age, some are new Christmas books, some were cheap buys and some were 'must reads' according to hubby.  The key to all of them is that I've been a reluctant reader for a while.  I know what I like to read and therefore read, re-read and read them some more, rarely leaving my comfort zone.  There were a couple of other contenders, Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' is something I wanted to read this year but didn't get around to it and would be a great December read in 2013 but I technically don't currently own it.  I also considered adding the next J R Ward book that will be released at some point this year, but I'll read that regardless and I feel that the challenge  is partly to do with reading things that we wouldn't normally.

First up on the list is The Diary of a Submissive, having subjected myself to the 50 Shades saga in 2012 this one is apparently written by a true life submissive, it got bought in one of those 2 for £7 deals when I couldn't identify anything else I fancied buying and has sat gathering dust ever since albeit probably only just over 2 months!

Let's just say it might make for some interesting art work!