Camera Club Honours

Last year I joined a camera club, Queensland Camera Group, to meet like-minded people and learn to improve my photos. The club is full of enthusiastic friendly people inspired by a love for photography. There are monthly club competitions and seminars by guest speakers teaching us about different aspects of photography. I have entered some of my photos over the last few months achieving an "Acceptance" and receiving some helpful tips from judges on improvement. This month, I am very excited to have achieved two "Honours" from judge Anne Russell. In January I did a weekend course on Digital Photography at the Queensland College of Art, at Southbank which I very much enjoyed and learned a great deal. I took several photos during that weekend and two of them were the ones which got "Honours" at this month's competition - "Yeller Propeller" and "Fountain or Ashtray?" So now I am "honoured" to be part of the group to have won "Merits" or "Honours" and therefore featured in "Club Competitions" gallery. There you will find my photos among a number of outstanding photographs by other club members. I am very proud to be among them and am sure you will enjoy them all too.

Losing Weight

Like many other people at the start of the year, I have begun a weight loss program at my local YMCA gym. After putting up with a very unattractive spare tyre around my middle, I was determined to do something. So I've rejoined the gym for an intense 12-week weight loss program. I was told the first two weeks are the hardest, especially with the diet which is mainly protein, fruit and vegetables - no carbohydrates. The diet is difficult but I'm getting used to it. The best thing is that one day a week I can eat whatever I like. I've begun dreaming about food. Part of the program is walking at least 10,000 steps a day and I've now gotten into a routine of getting up and doing about 6,000 steps before breakfast (protein shake and fruit). I also drink lots of water which is okay and something I've always done anyway. Our group of about 10 has two sessions per week at the gym with our personal trainer and I'm enjoying that. So I really feel I'm getting somewhere and may even get to my target weight of 60 kgs by the end of the 12 weeks. The gym took a "before" photo side-on in all my pot belly glory. I feel like one those sad people on those "lifestyle" shows(which I emphasise I don't usually watch!) who are cajoled into pushing themselves. Fortunately our personal trainer is very sweet and doesn't bully us into submission. I've already lost about 2 kgs so that's some progress. But gee I look forward to my "free" day when I can indulge without a guilty conscience.

P.S. no the photo is not me - it's a promotional photo from the gym (but it could be me in 12 weeks - fingers crossed!)

Muriel Bath

I've completed my oral history project on Muriel Bath which you can see on my web site. She is a remarkable spritely 99 year old womanwho has had an incredibly interesting life. She was an officer in the WRANS during World War II and then was one of the first policewomen working in Queensland. She wasn't sure she would last, as she tells in the video clip. This was an era when there was a place for "style". Muriel wore hat and gloves (not a uniform) to work. In 1948 when she married, it was a race against time to have the ceremony over before 8.00 pm (after which it was illegal to marry), as the wedding cars didn't arrive. Muriel is a treasure-house of wonderful stories and I wish her good health so that she makes it to her 100th birthday later in the year. I feel privileged to have met her.

Atonement

Terry and I went to see Atonement this week. I had read the book a few years ago and remembered most of what it was about, but had forgotten the ending. Consequently I cried buckets. Terry didn't like it - too gloomy. It was a clever story and the ending was "right". There have been a few articles in the papers and on-line about what "atonement" means and whether it is ever truly achieved. In this movie, based on the book by Ian McEwan, a young girl witnesses an act which she misinterprets then lies about one of the people she saw, then spends the rest of her life trying to make things right. The moral? We must always be conscious of the consequences of our actions and try not to hurt people.

Alan Roaf

I've just completed my oral history project on Alan Roaf, an international rowing coach based in Canada. He was significant in Queensland rowing as a head coach and mentor for Queensland in the 1980s. His expertise was again called upon recently when he was asked to review Queensland rowing. You can read the interview on my web site. I'm going to try adding video to this blog - click the "Play" button below.

Happy New Year

Well I survived the stress of Christmas and catering for 23 relatives for Christmas dinner and ended up enjoying the experience. It's always easier looking back than forward when faced with the prospect of feeding and entertaining 23 people!! Everyone seemed to have a good time. We had a lovely ham from the local butcher (see photo of Terry carving). My sister and husband brought a roasted turkey which went down a treat. Terry also barbecued chicken and sausages. We had lots of salads, vegetables, cakes, desserts which many guests brought along to contribute to the mountain of food - lots of good cooks in the family. We fit everyone in the garage for our meal and we were blessed with unusually cool weather for Brisbane's summer.

Terry and I had a very quiet New Year - early to bed. Now 2008 has begun and everything is back to normal.

Indian salesmen

For the second time in as many days a handsome young Indian man has rung my doorbell trying to persuade me to change my service provider for electricity and then telephone. They were very polite but spoke imperfect English and were walking from door to door looking for customers. I did not engage with them, telling them I wasn't interested, but I wondered if they were recently transplanted from a call centre in Bangalore.

Do Telstra and AGL really think this marketing strategy is going to work!! These poor young men have been inflicted on Australian households probably because we're all now entered on the Do Not Call Register. I cannot see how this is going to win customers for these companies. When I don't want to receive phone calls, I turn off my phone - but now they're ringing my doorbell on a Saturday afternoon (when I'm having a nap)! I'll be ringing these companies on Monday morning to advise them that this new strategy is hardly likely to endear them to the public. Makes you wonder who came up with this stupid idea!!