Journal | Not Designed to Juggle

Night wanderings

March 6, 2012 by Diane Becker

Something outside is making a noise, somewhere between a squeak, a miaow and a croak. Don’t know what it is, maybe a stray cat, a howling mouse or itinerant hedgehog. It’s night-time. I can’t see out so I choose to ignore it and concentrate on familiar noises inside the house. Feels right. Feels better. It’s 2am and I am reuniting things with their cables; sewing machine with foot pedal, eReader with USB, camera with download cable… I have NO idea […]

Categories: Journal • Tags: download cables, howling mice, Itinerant hedgehogs, Journal, Night Wanderings, Non-fiction

Gales, tornadoes and entropy

December 1, 2011 by Diane Becker

[Notes from 30 Nov] A day of gales and tornados – ‘like something I’ve never seen before … and then it just stopped,’ said a man in Stockport. I’m feeling mortal, which is why at 02.30 I’m still up, or at least awake and been watching a couple of videos of two Turner Prize nominees, sculptor Martin Boyce and painter, George Shaw. I’ve not looked at Boyce’s work before. His inspiration was a set of concrete trees made by French Modernist […]

Categories: Art, Journal • Tags: art, Creativity, George Shaw, Journal, Martin Boyce, Painting, Sculpture, Turner Prize 2011

Out of time

January 17, 2010 by Diane Becker

Still love this image. Did it around 2005 when we lived in York. I’d planned to do a whole series like this, but this was the only one I completed and because – thematically – it didn’t fit in with stuff I’m doing, I kept it hidden away. Not intentionally of course. It’s the same with the story I unearthed this afternoon. I’d been thinking about this particular story idea for a couple of years, wrote a first draft last […]

Categories: Journal, Photography • Tags: Journal, Out of Time, photograph

A big think about writing

December 1, 2009 by Diane Becker

I’ve been having a (post-NaNo) BIG THINK about my writing. I finished my last (OU) creative writing course in May (A363 Advanced Creative Writing) and though I’ve written a lot of words since then I have only submitted one short story (4000 words) – deemed ‘intriguing’ but ‘difficult to place’ by the editor I sent it to in June and who refrained from telling me until September that he wasn’t going to publish it. So I’ve sat on this story […]

Categories: Journal • Tags: alison macleod, doug coupland, elizabeth baines, Journal, new blog, salt publishing, short circuit a guide to the art of short fiction, tania hershman

Later on Day Four

November 4, 2009 by Diane Becker

7528 Had another splurge – boosted my word count for today and stopped before I hit the wall. By concentrating on one character a day I seem to be able to get into their heads better with links to the other characters I can develop later. Still not thinking too much about it … want to keep my writing fresh and let the ideas come tumbling out.

Categories: Journal • Tags: Journal, nanowrimo

Full moon

August 6, 2009 by Diane Becker

Up at 02:30, took this through the bathroom window (4 seconds exposure AND hand-held). Course results came through this morning – feeling distinctly pleased with myself. What else can I say … off to write and enjoy the day.

Categories: Journal, Photography • Tags: full moon, Journal, Photography