Category: Uncategorized

Haddon Musings’ Feminist Friday – Malala Yousafzai

Wonderful post from Stevie Turner about the inspiring Malala Yousafzi, a determined activist and Nobel prize winner championing female education. Definitely one to reblog.

Stevie Turner's avatarStevie Turner

This week I’m going to write about the youngest ever Nobel Prize winner – Malala Yousafzai, a determined activist for female education in her native Swat Valley in Northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.

Malala was born on 12th July 1997, the eldest of 3 children.  She was educated mostly by her father Ziauddin, a poet, school owner, and an educational activist himself, running a chain of private schools.  She once stated to an interviewer that she would like to become a doctor, although later her father encouraged her to become a politician instead.  He would allow her to stay up late and talk about politics after her two brothers had been sent to bed.

In September 2008 her father took her to Peshawar to speak at the local press club.  In a speech covered by newspapers and TV she stated ‘How dare the…

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Meet Poet Al Lane on Tell Me a Story

Meet poet Al Lane on Annette’s blogbtalk radio tomorrow April 15th, don’t forget to put it in your diary. Al has a wonderful poetry blog which I love, so reblogging this today. 🙂

Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitude

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This is my photo for Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge – the theme this week is Solitude.

It is of Brighton beach – I took it ages ago when I went there with my hubby for a weekend away. So I wasn’t alone, but the beach was pretty deserted. Just me and my man! This photo really captured a moment of solitude to me, as I stared out to the ocean and surrendered my thoughts to the power of the sea. It is never to be taken for granted, the sea is a mighty force, even on Brighton seafront!

If I had to be alone anywhere it would be beside the sea.

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To join in with Hugh’s challenge follow the link:

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http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2016/04/05/hughs-weekly-photo-challenge-week-20-solitude/

On Saturday I will be featuring Brighton in my #WeekendCoffeeShare post so do keep an eye out for that…….

Also I’d like to mention that the first few chapters of my novel, The Curse of Time are now on Wattpad:  https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/67166165-the-curse-of-time

Thanks to everyone who has visited me on Wattpad and tweeted about it, I really do appreciate it.

Before I go I’d just like to ask: Do you love the sea too? Do you have a favourite seaside town? Happiest beach memory?

Bye for now,

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https://www.instagram.com/kyrosmagica/

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Weekend Coffee Share: NCS YES LIVE and London Delights

 

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Hi,

If we were having coffee I’d say that my favourite has to be a Cappucino with lots of chocolate on top, perhaps shaped in a frothy heart. What’s yours? Do come and sit by me on this comfy sofa – I’ve got quite a story to tell you.. There are lots of photos of London that I want to show you – Camden, and Covent Garden too, so don’t gulp down your coffee and disappear, or you’ll miss out on all the fun. Oh, and there’s also a little something about NCS Live in London- my daughter won a couple of tickets.

So first things first, guess what, Diana’s Weekend Coffee Share post is now so popular it has been featured on The Daily Post. Wow, isn’t that fantastic! Well done to her. Here’s the link to her blog to see her post about that:

http://parttimemonster.com/2016/03/31/if-we-were-having-coffee-4/

What have I been up to? I’ve made a decision this week – decision? Really? Whoa….. Yes, I did. I knocked that old procrastination into submission and put up my prologue and the first few chapters of my novel, The Curse of Time on Wattpad, so here’s the link to that if you’d like a nose.

Do feel free to comment, and give feedback/constructive criticism – Wattpad link:  https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/67166165-the-curse-of-time

I’ve had such an amazing response to my share my post request:  https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2016/03/27/help-please-sharewattpad-the-curse-of-time-prologue/

So a big thank you to all that have been so kind as to do a shout out for me: the twitter response has been fantastic.  I’m really thankful to have so many blogging buddies. And a big thank you in particular to Graeme, (who I met last year at the Blogger’s Bash,) who has so kindly given me oodles of feedback on my Prologue. Apparently he’s a bit of a fan of prologues. So do pop over to Graeme’s blog and say hi. He’s a keen sailor and his blog theme at the moment is water based posts, which I’m a big fan off – : http://graemecumming.net/

Enough of my waffleitis, I promised you some photos and a commentary about my recent trip to London so here goes:

Take a look at these Camden shop fronts, aren’t they amazing?

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When you get a bit hungry, and thirsty but money is a bit tight where better than Wetherspoons for a drink and a meal?

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This beauty caught my eye, obscuring just about everything else!
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A lovely view greeted us.:
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So eye catching:
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The International Food Market in Camden was something else but very crowded, and my eldest daughter isn’t too keen on crowds, though she did manage to get a quick mouthful of some free grub!  Here’s a quick snap as we’re leaving….
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Travel in style in Covent Garden, perhaps a horse and cart?
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This is when things got a bit silvery…. watch in awe…
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Silver man’s tipping his cap.

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And….

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I don’t know how Silver man did that! He must have so much upper body strength to support himself on a spade. Maybe he’s magical.. But what amuses me is the reaction of the bystanders to the left of him – those two young men, their reactions particularly the one wearing the stripy top. His reaction when the silver man tips his cap before doing his twirl is classic – he does a whoa…. and backs off in shock! Did you see it in the previous photo?

It’s been such an exciting week. No kidding…. My youngest daughter won a ticket to NCS YES Live & the NCS Awards 2016, “a show that celebrates the NCS social action stars of today and the future! It’s time to honour the 58,000 inspiring NCS grads of 2015 who dedicated more than 1.8m hours towards social action, raising more than £1.3m for good causes across England and Northern Ireland. Bring on the music and the fun!”

The show was headliner-ed by Tinie Tempah, with youtubers Ali-A, Emma Blackery, Emma Canham, and Jake Boys : http://yeslive.ncsyes.co.uk/youtubers/

She was so excited!! Boy did it show! She was buzzing…

My eldest daughter also did NCS but it was a fairly low key event then compared to now. It has become so much more of a big deal. Nevertheless she loved it too, and perhaps that encouraged my youngest to join in with the NCS program too.

If you’re 15 – 17 and would like to find out more about taking part in NCS. Here’s the link to this great opportunity: http://www.ncsyes.co.uk/

“National Citizen Service (NCS) is an experience you really don’t want to miss. If you’re 15 to 17 years-old, this is your chance to embark on exhilarating challenges, make your mark and build skills for work and life. More than 200,000 young people have already said YES to NCS. Don’t. Miss. Out.”

Isn’t my daughter such a lucky girl? Perhaps I should get her to choose some lottery numbers this week….. Who knows, could be an idea… She brought along her friend to NCS Live, and the two of them absolutely loved it. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend as I’m not sixteen!  Instead I had the opportunity to go with my eldest daughter, (who is on holiday from Uni,) and have a fun packed day in London – It’s my holiday time too as I’m working term time at the moment.  Lucky old me!

We had a fantastic time hopping on and off the tube to Camden, Covent Garden, Oxford Circus and rounded off the night with an Italian dinner at Prezzo’s. It was such a fun packed but exhausting day. We didn’t get home until nearly midnight!! The funniest part of our day out had to be after we met up with the two NCS ‘ers at you guessed it at Top Shop. We took the Tottenham Court Road to our intended restaurant, near the London Palladium. My eldest daughter was heading up the stairs in the tube and then screeched. We all stopped in our tracks wondering what had made her scream. When we saw the tiny culprit we all joined in screaming… it was a tiny rat, or was it a mouse? Who knows….. anyway this poor creature was running down the stairs to greet my daughter as she was going up. Perhaps the response it got in return made this creature more scared of us than we were of it!! So I reckon I could claim that rat or mouse was our headliner!!! Boy did we scream….We have all the luck! Tinie Tempah eat your heart out.

That was a lovely cuppa. Sorry for being such a chatterbox, that last Tinie Tempah joke was a bit crazy you know me… Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing coffee with me.

Hope you enjoyed my Weekend Coffee Share.

Do pop over and join in the fun at Part Time Monster:

http://parttimemonster.com/2016/03/26/weekendcoffeeshare-32616/

Do feel free to comment. Have you been to Camden? Or Covent Garden? Do you often visit London? What is your favourite coffee, tea, beverage, or coffee shop?

Bye for now.

You know when the barista asks you if you want a small, medium or large tea or coffee… I think I need a large one today! I’ve forgotten to have breakfast again!

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge – Gap

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This silver dude who I came across in Covent Garden seemed like the obvious choice for Hugh’s Challenge this week which was to – “take a photo of a gap. It could be a gap between two buildings or maybe that gap in your garden fence. Maybe there’s a gap that your pet dog squeezes through or a gap that a child has between two of their teeth.”

Well he certainly can hold his own in a gap, no doubt about that one! Quite amazing perhaps he’s blessed with a silver sliver of magic….

Want to join the fun? Here’s what you need to do.

1. Take or choose a photo that you’ve taken which shows a gap in it. 
2. Create a new post on your blog entitled “Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge: Week 19 – “Gap”
3. Add the photo(s) you have taken to the post and tell us a little about what you are showing.
4. Create a pingback to this post or leave a link to your post in the comments section below so that other participants can view the post.

Do pop over to Hugh’s blog : http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2016/03/29/hughs-weekly-photography-challenge-week-19-gap/

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Hope you liked those amazing silver gaps of wonderment!

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

 

 

 

#Read about Guest #Author Judy Martin

A very interesting interview on The Story Reading Ape about our very own Judy Martin, (blogging as the delightfully witty and engaging Edwina’s Episodes,) who has recently released a poetry book – Rhymes of The Times. Do share and spread the word.

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Judy Martin 01What a privilege it is to be here on Chris’ blog amongst all these wonderful people. It is a wonderful opportunity for me to tell you a little about myself.

Well, my name is Judy. Actually, it is Judith but no one EVER calls me that, except perhaps my mum when I was younger and she was mad. My family and most of my friends call me Jude except one of my nieces who calls me Scrude sometimes (she likes to rhyme as well)! I get a bit cross though if my nieces and nephews they forget to add the ‘aunty’ on most of the time (even though some of them are in their 30s)!

Talking of my family, I am the second youngest of six children, which meant that I didn’t really get much of a chance to get a word in edgeways, especially as I was a shy…

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If a Place Called Writing Town Existed…#writerslife #writer #amwriting

Lucy at Blonde Write More tells us all about the amusing life of an author. Are you stuck in Procrastination Boulevard, or perhaps you spend too much time in Social Media Square. Wherever it is you hang out you are bound to recognise some of these writerly hot spots! Our end goal is always Literary Heights…. its a bit of a skyscraper journey but hopefully we’ll get there..

Jane Dougherty Poetry: Hourglass Challenge

I couldn’t resist doing some Hourglass poetry too, via Jane Dougherty’s Poetry Challenge:  https://janedougherty.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/poetry-challenge-20-hourglass-poetry/

More about the form: ten lines with a syllable count of 5.4.3.2.1.2.3.4.5, on Jane’s blog. Basically you end up with nine lines.

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True happiness lives

Simplicity

Lies in the

little

breaths

of life

Death clings on

Memories lived

Simple Moments Shared.

 

Hope you liked my hourglass poetry, it’s a bit of a paradoxical one about happiness too. Hope it doesn’t give you the heeby-geebies.

 

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

 

Quotes Challenge # 1, Stephen Chbosky

The lovely Heena tagged me to do the Three Days Three Quotes Challenge. Thank you Heena for inviting me!

For this challenge I thought I’d focus on quotes about happiness, so here’s my Day 1 quote:

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“There’s nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Nothing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons.”

“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.”

“It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life.”

― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Laughter’s the best indication of happiness ever invented! We can’t hope to laugh unless we are happy, and laughter has the most infectious quality to it.Happiness can’t exist without sadness, we wouldn’t know what happiness was unless we’d experienced its opposite. And of course there’s nothing like a kiss to make us happy.

If you haven’t read  The Perks of Being A Wallflower then I’d recommend that you do. I read it ages ago in 2013 – perhaps I need to read it again – and I rated it 4 stars. Unfortunately I didn’t review, as I read it before I started writing reviews.

Here’s the Goodreads Synopsis:

Charlie is a freshman.

And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can’t stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

This particular blog post follows on from a post I did about the things that make me happy, just in case you’ve missed it – here’s the link: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2016/03/06/sundayblogshare-happy-mothers-day-vibes/

RULES OF THIS CHALLENGE:

  1. Post three consecutive days
  2. You can pick one or three quotes per day
  3. Challenge three different bloggers per day

MY THREE NOMINEES FOR TODAY ARE:

  1. Debby’s blog  at http://dgkayewriter.com/
  2. Judy’s blog at http://edwinasepisodes.com/
  3. Svengliati Cara blog at https://tramontoalba.wordpress.com/

 

Thank you so much to Heena for inviting me to take part in the challenge.

Here’s the link to her lovely blog: http://heenarathorep.com/2016/02/24/quotes-challenge-1/

Bye for now,

Hope you have a blissful Monday ! Filled with sun rays of laughter, happiness, and lots of kisses!

 

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx