#MondayBlogs: Good Luck With Exams!!

For #MondayBlogs hastag on twitter, @RachelintheOC, I’m sharing something very close to my heart, some Good Luck Wishes.

What kind of Good luck Wishes? The kind that means that your blogging break gets forgotten for a tiny moment. I’m currently on a blogging break, but I couldn’t resist giving everyone a bit of encouragement before the forthcoming exams. My youngest daughter Georgina will be sitting her GCSE mock exams next week so studying is very much a focus of my and her attention at the moment! Believe me all this helping her with Maths is driving me a bit crazy! Maths seriously gives me a headache! So, I thought I’d try to do something a bit creative to counter the logic of Maths, to balance the right and left side of my brain! I had a bit of a dilemma as I can’t draw or paint, though I do dabble in photography, so, with that in mind I’m sharing a piece of art that I photographed, a floral piece, that my daughter Natasha Mallon did while at school studying GCSE Art.

So Good Luck to everyone studying, doing coursework and exams at schools, colleges and universities. Keep focused and positive, work hard, eat well, hydrate, breathe and stay calm, remember it is just a short spell of hard work and then you can party and have lots of fun!

Next Monday I will be sharing another #MondayBlogs art post to inspire you to achieve your very best.

Best of Luck, keep on smiling. This applies to those doing #Nanowrimo too, Good luck, I wish I was doing it too but life at the moment is just too busy!!

Here’s my contribution to the exam timetable I’ve been getting up and cracking a few eggs in the morning, omelettes or fried egg and bacon sounds good!

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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November 9, 2015 6

3 Day Quote Challenge: Day 3

I have been tagged by Janice who blogs at On the land to participate in the ‘3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge’.

Many thanks to Janice for inviting me to participate in this challenge. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking part.

Janice blogs about our world and how important it is to care and nourish it: Caring About Our World; Reflecting About Life. She hopes to encourage us to move towards a cleaner, more sustainable future and away from the worst consequences of climate change.

If you pop over to Janice’s blog you will get a sense of just how passionately she feels about this wonderful world in which we live: https://ontheland.wordpress.com/2015/10/14/3-days-3-quotes-challenge-thich-nhat-hanh-love-letter-to-the-earth-bewow-writers-quote-Wednesday/

The rules for the 3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge:

1. Thank the blogger, who nominated you.

2. Share one new quote on three consecutive days on your blog. They can be from anywhere, anyone, or anything that inspires you… Which means, it can be from yourself, too!

3. On each of the three days, nominate 3 more bloggers to carry on this mission impossible endeavor (if they dare!).

So for my final day I’m considering a much sought after emotion: happiness.

What is happiness? Can I attempt to write a quote about happiness, in a few select words?

Here’s my quote:

Happiness is simply beautiful unforgettable moments captured and shared with like minded individuals, family and friends, a life truly lived.

Perhaps it is easy to see why I have used the word shared in my quote, because as humans we have a need to love and to be loved. But why would I consider adding captured? My answer lies in the very fleeting nature of life itself, and the fact that life is often interrupted by outside influences which bombard, confuse and distract us. So we have to capture those wonderful fleeting experiences while we can!

In those moments when I am doing Tai Chi, I can sometimes drift into a state of blissful harmony. It is a shared moment, as the hall is full of other people doing Tai Chi too. Unfortunately it doesn’t always happen, if I am feeling particularly stressed before I start a class it can be difficult to achieve. Equally it can be extremely hard to master if I have drank too much stimulating coffee beforehand too! But sometimes I do manage to get into the Tai Chi zone. When this happens it is marvellous but it can have unexpected effects. Sometimes I am so relaxed after Tai Chi that I find it difficult to return to focusing on the everyday things that I need to do! The other day I was reversing out of the car park after a Tai Chi session and I nearly had an accident, I didn’t notice the car behind me backing out! So perhaps, taking a moment to re-focus is a good idea after Tai Chi, as it works on a much deeper level than normal exercise, if you do it right! I’ve been practising Tai Chi for eight years, and I am now at Continuing level. Often I find myself wanting to fall asleep after two hours of Tai Chi, it must be my bodies way of saying it wants to shut down and re-balance itself. This is also true if you go for an Aromatherapy massage, or a holistic treatment, often you feel in need of a pampering rest afterwards, and a big glass or two of detoxing water doesn’t go a amiss.

Given that it is increasingly difficult to turn off and relax in this modern world in which we find ourselves, we could all benefit enormously from finding some personal way of capturing those quiet moments of reflection and Tai Chi is my way of doing that, a bit of walking meditation if you like, a dance of the soul. A difficult dance of the soul to learn, there are one hundred and eight moves but when you do master it, it’s well worth the effort! But for everyone their quiet meditation, or blissful moment can be different, as individuals we must all find our own dance of the soul that is perfect for us.

Coming full circle is my next question.

What inspired this post? It all began with Gandhi’s simple but thought provoking quote about the nature of happiness:

Happiness is when what you think,

what you say,

and what you do are in harmony.

Gandhi

Happiness is not fame and fortune, popularity, or materialism it is simply being a much simpler person, stripping back expectations perhaps, and living in harmony.

So to finish the 3 day 3 quote challenge I’ve written a humorous haiku inspired by Gandhi’s words:

My nominees:

For the last day I’m not going to nominate anyone in particular. I’m going to break the rules a bit, because I went to Tai Chi yesterday and I slept like a log, so I’m still in fuzzy brain mode and sometimes rules can be a bit restrictive! Anyone who would like to take part, please do join in!

Or just come and chat and tell us your perfect way to find a moment’s happiness.

Hope you liked my final day’s quote and my haiku too!!

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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October 23, 2015 7

#MondayBlogs: A New Term Begins: The New Term Blues

A new term begins, a bit like the branches of this beautiful tree it proposes many opportunities but also separates too. We are now back to our little group of three and I expect it will take some getting used to again.

The journey to Brighton on Saturday luckily wasn’t fraught with too many issues. We arrived on the seafront, but found that we couldn’t locate the venue to pick up my daughter’s keys! We asked a local taxi driver but she didn’t seem to have a clue so we turned the car around and managed to work it out ourselves. The weather was so blustery, as I left the car, my hair was blown all over the place, and somehow the force of the wind managed to undo my necklace! Luckily I noticed and saved it from being stolen by the wind. I walked in with my daughter and she presented her form only to be told that she needed ID to pick up her keys! Back out into the wind again, no sign of my husband or our car, he’d gone to do a loop around as this area is strictly double yellow lines, no parking allowed. So we waited, and waited, and waited. By this time I was needing the toilet! At last he reappeared, we went back armed with her ID. Problem solved. Or was it? The door wouldn’t open. UGH. Luckily we spied one of the housing advisors and she opened it for us. At last my daughter was presented with a key! Success. Off we went.

Now this is when events became even more entertaining, remember we are in Brighton and in Brighton all sorts of funny things happen, I kid you not. On the way up the hill to her new abode, which by the way is a cute terraced house, with a garden, we saw a bunch of students pushing an enormous wheeled crate up the hill, full of a truck load of moving in stuff, there even happened to be a TV in there! This made me laugh, typical students! I remember once my other half and his then student pals lifted a cooker through the streets of Edinburgh up to their flat too! How times have changed, nowadays students are much more sophisticated, and inventive, none of this brawn, just brain, a wheeled crate is much more enterprising. Anyway, I do hope that they managed to get up the hill okay! After saying our goodbyes, wonder of wonders, an even stranger sight caught my eye. We were stuck at a junction waiting to turn right, the bus on the road ahead stopped, a man hobbled out on his crutches and popped into the off licence for his weekly supply of alcohol, the bus waited patiently and he hobbled back on with his stash at the ready! I’ve never seen that anywhere else in the world, that’s for sure. A Brighton speciality bus service, methinks….

So back to this tree, I sat underneath it in a pub in Blackheath, in London, with my youngest daughter and as I looked up I stared at its magnificent splendour. It must be one of the most striking trees I’ve ever seen. It was lit up with fairy lights, and its branches curved and twisted, in a dramatic fashion, as if it was saying look at me. If it could speak I’m sure it would say, “Aren’t I the most poetic tree you’ve ever seen?”

That tree summed up how I feel about my daughter going into her second year at University, and my youngest starting her GCSE’s. This is going to be some year! They will have so many opportunities, and diverse paths that they might follow which will lead them in many directions, and if they work hard the sky’s the limit for what they might achieve. I do hope my eldest daughter has a bundle of fun, makes lots of new friends, and embraces each and every opportunity with a happy heart, and that my youngest daughter will have a wonderful year with much success, happiness, and fun too. There is the prom to look forward to, I know she will love this! A new dress, shoes, makeup and hair, that will put a smile on her face after all that hard work. As for me, I may have a touch of the new term blues but I’ll be okay, the leaves of that wise old tree whispered and told me so!

Are you suffering from the new term blues too? Do you have a child who has just left the nest to go to University? Do feel free to comment and share I’d love to hear from you.

Bye for now.

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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September 14, 2015 9

Edinburgh Festival: Photographs of My Art Gallery Visit

A fantastic motto to live your life by, Martin Creed’s message: Everything Is Going To Be Alright. Keep positive folks…. Yes, Everything is alright, my mum is doing really well after her operation, I’m so pleased, and relieved. She’s such a strong lady, I’m in awe of her really I am. My brother mentioned that he thought he’d have to wheel her out of the hospital after her operation but no my mum was up on her feet telling the nurses she wanted to go home! Amazing!

I thought I’d share with you this visit to the Scottish National Gallery Of Modern Art. It was one of the highlights of my trip to Edinburgh as I got a chance to go out with my mum, just the two of us, which was a treat in itself. She is still a bit delicate after her operation, no dancing for a while yet, so we had a coffee and a chat in the café and afterwards I did a super fast tour, while she read a book and had a well deserved rest.

I always like to pop into these two art galleries when I’m in Edinburgh. This time I just managed to go to Gallery One, but that’s alright as Gallery One is my favourite, it’s always full of inspiring art, has a lovely shop, and a coffee shop too. It is well worth a visit if you are ever in Edinburgh. Currently there is an exhibition of Roy Lichtenstein’s work at Gallery One, as part of Reflections, which is on until 10th January 2016 so still plenty time to see this free exhibition. The gallery is located at 75 Belford Road, Edinburgh, EH4 3DR, and is easily accessible via bus.

These images caught my eye as I went up the stairs, I liked the idea of looking through the window panes and seeing the view divided into six panes of awesomeness! So I nipped down to the café and told my mum that I wanted to take some photos, and then I popped up the stairs to snap these two images. Yes, I was running around that gallery like a sprinter. We were on a tight time frame, it really was a flying visit, as I was going out later in the day to the …….. yes you guessed it, the Book Festival.

Here’s another view of the same spot from the outside, with a Miró sculpture in the foreground.

Oh and on the way out…. I came face to face with the Sunken Statue, on the way to….. the bus stop!

Kind of sinister isn’t it? This is what happens to you if you spend too much time in art galleries you sink into the concrete of life and partially disappear! That unsuspecting lady and her child making their way out of the gallery better watch out, they’re heading for a Doctor Who moment if you ask me, they’re following the straight line to oblivion! Poor unsuspecting fools. Yes, the sunken statue doesn’t look too happy does he? Can’t blame him, whatever has happened to his nipples? They look hammered in. Must be the shock, poor chap!!

Links:

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/

http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/art399888

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/modern-one-23559/room-displays/reflections-creed-lewitt

http://martincreed.com/

Hope you enjoyed my post, have you been to any wonderful art galleries or sculpture parks recently? Or had any Doctor Who moments recently?

Do comment and let me know, I’d love to hear from you.

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

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August 26, 2015 16

Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Ruth Ozeki

It’s Writer’s Quote Wednesday, via Colleen at Silver Threading.

Here’s the link to her blog if you’d like to join in her open invitation to take part in Writer’s Quote Wednesday: http://silverthreading.com/2015/06/24/writers-quote-wednesday-silver-inspiration/

Well, what’s my quote going to be about this week?

Something very important, and precious. It’s a tiny word but it means so much, it holds so much potential in its four simple letters: LIFE. So make sure that word reaches the stars, take it travelling, sightseeing, swimming, partying, dancing, laughing, hoola-hooping, theatre-going, cinema fancying, eating. Take it whenever and wherever you want to go, don’t leave it at home sulking. Let it enjoy the company of friends, and family, challenge that word to do things it never thought would be possible. That word is all there is and all that matters. Keep it Entertained! Nurtured! Loved! Happy! Smiling!

“Life is fleeting. Don’t waste a single minute of your precious life. Wake up now! And now! And now!”

Ruth Ozeki. A Tale for the Time Being.

Well, one line says it all, Ruth Ozeki is absolutely spot on. One life – live it to the full – don’t squander a single minute. Live it Right now! And Now! And Now! And Now!

About Ruth Ozeki (taken from her website):

Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest.

Her first two novels, My Year of Meats (1998) and All Over Creation (2003), have been translated into 11 languages and published in 14 countries.

Her most recent work, A Tale for the Time-Being (2013), was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and will be published in over thirty countries.

Ruth’s documentary and dramatic independent films, including Halving the Bones, have been shown on PBS, at the Sundance Film Festival, and at colleges and universities across the country.

A longtime Buddhist practitioner, Ruth ordained in 2010 and is affiliated with the Brooklyn Zen Center and the Everyday Zen Foundation.

She lives in British Columbia and New York City.

http://www.ruthozeki.com/

I wrote a review for A tale for the time being way back when I had just started reviewing books.

Here’s the link to my 5 star mini review of A tale for the time being: https://mjmallon.com/2014/05/09/my-review-of-a-tale-for-the-time-being-by-ruth-ozeki/

Thanks for coming by. Come again soon.

Leave a comment I’d love it if you do.

Kyrosmagica xx

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June 24, 2015 4

My Friday Post: Spring in the Woods

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This Friday I thought I’d take you with me on a walk in my neighbouring Country Park woods, they are so beautiful and I regret that I don’t often take a moment to stop and really marvel at the beauty that is right on my doorstep. When the children were little we were always at the swing park, indulging in the delights of sunny picnics. But now my youngest daughter wouldn’t be seen there with her mother! That would be so embarrassing for her. She is fifteen so it’s to be expected! If she still wanted to hang out with me, I’d be wondering what was wrong. So, undaunted I decided to go on my own on Tuesday. Yes, I did just that, and was so glad that I did. It was a beautiful sunny day. Everyone was out enjoying the sunshine, eating ice creams, children were playing in the park, office workers were sneaking out for a crafty short break, and who could blame them? It was a glorious Spring day. I hadn’t realised just how warm it was and I was overdressed, in fact there were a few young men stripped to the waist, sunbathing, enjoying the sunshine. Definitely brightened up my day! I was tempted to snap them too, with a camera of course, but wasn’t sure how they would react so I’m afraid I only photographed the trees, a monument, and some cheeky shadows!

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Have a wonderful Friday, hope the sun is shining wherever you are. Enjoy your weekend.

Please feel free to connect, I love to talk about books, writing, haiku, photography, food, art, theatre, you name it, anything cultural and fun, I’m there.

Twitter @Marjorie_Mallon

and here:

Tumblr: http://kyrosmagica.tumblr.com/

and here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kyrosmagica

and here!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20419289-marje-mallon

Bye for now.

Marje @ Kyrosmagica. xx

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April 17, 2015 7

Broke? Travel Anyway.

Think you can’t do something, think again. I admire the adventurous spirit so had to reblog this: Travel with Storytime with John – a guy with such a can do, positive attitude, whatever he has I want to steal some!

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January 20, 2015 0

Giving Thanks

This is so lovely, had to reblog from Here I am.

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November 19, 2014 2

How easy is it to be grateful?

Reblogged from sfsoulspa. Sometimes we have to go through hard times to really appreciate what we have. Also it can happen that an unpleasant symptom can have a positive outcome, e.g. I suffer from ear problems which sometimes make me dizzy. This helped me write a scene in my novel in which the protagonist suffers a similiar episode (not brought on by mundane ear problems), you may want to read the book to find out what, when it is published.

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November 19, 2014 0