Author Archives: Scarlet

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About Scarlet

A refugee from Blogger.

Back!!!!

The deed is done and I am home!! AND, I have dragged myself from the fainting chaise to bring you an exciting new post!!
Oh my goodness, that was a scary weekend!! What did I learn from my experience ‘teaching’ [crikey those guys knew more than me, who am I kidding?] via Zoom? I learnt quite a bit about what not to do with lighting – and that the silence of a crowd is the most baffling thing on earth. Anyhow, I did a bit of this….

copperplay-calligraphy

….and once I got over my nerves I think it went okay – I have had some very kind feedback on Instagram. As previously mentioned – calligraphers are notoriously nice. Would I do it again? Ha! Probably not. Why not, I hear you scream – because a) I’m actually not supposed to talk at length because of my jaw issues – hell, I am still struggling with chewing, talking is simply adding insult to the injury, and b) My flipping awful South East London accent.

I watched and listened to some of the recording made of me demonstrating calligraphy. To put it simply, there is a vast disparity between the voice I use in my head and the voice that comes out of my mouth. In my head all the vowels and consonants are present, I speak clearly, I could almost be a BBC presenter. In reality – the vowels are rounded, some are complete circles, and, well, there are a lot of consonants missing in action. Unbearable. With this in mind, I am flirting with the idea of becoming entirely text based and giving up speech forever. I will still speak to the dog though, because he can’t read. I will save my jaw for eating food.

On the plus side, I can do a pretty mean Kate Nash impersonation.

Jolly news, or just plain scary?

You know how they say you should get out of your comfort zone every now and again? Well, at the end of February this is exactly what I will be doing. Erm…. I’m not sure how this happened, I blame the pandemic, BUT I have agreed to explain my calligraphy process to some lovely calligraphers via Zoom. Gulp. I know, crazy talk… I have been signed up by the European Pointed Pen Collective and details of my ‘course’ are HERE – soooo out of my comfort zone that it almost hurts! I’m sure I will be fine. Calligraphers are notoriously nice, AND THEY WILL forgive the squeaky voice, the peculiar accent, and hopefully for the hour they lose discussing where best to place a well turned tittle [tittle details are very important].

Anyhow, this is my big, scary news! What does this mean for my blog in February? Well I might put up some videos of me actually writing words, if WordPress is agreeable; and I might go missing in action for a bit as I will need to prepare; AND, I will probably also need some time on the fainting chaise with the smelling salts, or the gin, or the Diazepam….. IT WILL BE FINE – I am blind as a bat and can barely make out what the hell is going on on Zoom with or without my glasses! [This is a good thing]

So in February expect a bit more of this:-

calligraphy exchange

calligraphy exchange

Finally – Sunday Music!! I’ve chosen this, cos Jon gave me an ear worm.

Coming First

It has taken me many days to decide the ultimate winner of the ‘Did I Win Yet?’ competition, and some nights I have woken in a cold sweat wondering how I could resolve the conundrum, but I have finally made a decision. He may not be happy about it; he may fall to his knees in exasperation; he may flounce around for a bit and then go for a long walk to examine his groynes….but yes, the winner of the competition is Mr Devine! – Please be aware that you should never enter anything without accepting the very real possibility of coming first. And although Mr Devine is the ultimate winner, I still propose that we have some sort of Mr Lax festival in the future.

So that’s that then. I will be posting again at the weekend. I have news of the jolly variety! And an explanation as to why I might be posting less in February. Or I might be posting more – I haven’t quite figured that one out yet – though I might have it figured by July.

Meanwhile, I have been doing a lot of this sort of thing…

calligraphy-addressed-label-for envelope

collage-and-calligraphy-uk

….which is possibly why I haven’t been doing so much blog commenting.

And here is a tune…

Did I Win???

I know that everyone is desperate to know who won ‘The Did I Win Yet?’ competition. It has been tricky picking a winner. I was swamped with entries, plus chairs arrived at my backdoor with quotes written all over them – sadly these had to be disqualified as this is a virtual competition – I now have a three piece suite, a kitchen stool, and some sort of rickety Ikea affair to dispose of. Thank you!

Before I disclose the finalists let me first deal with section 1 of the competition – the quiz.

Q1. Many years ago Ms Scarlet had a dream about Mr Lax. In this dream Mr Lax instructed Ms Scarlet to do what?

The answer is: b) Mind the gap. [Well done Rimpy!]

Q2. What does LX mean?

To be fair I have no idea. So any answer is a winner! Yes, trick question, cunning, eh???

And now, [DRUMROLL] the finalists:-

Starting with Melanie, with pertinent quote from George Eliot.
Very neat, Melanie. A gold star for you for composition, cursive, and a festive spirit.

Next up – Mr Devine with an even more pertinent quote…

With this entry you are spoiling me, Mr Devine! I like your style! Very individual.

Next is Rimpy, who actually remembered my dream about Mr Lax! Were you in it too, Rimpy? Were you on the London Underground that evening? Anyhow, this is Rimpy’s creative entry….

Shakespeare! And there’s a nice cursive beneath that rush job – take your time Rimps!

Finally, and with much fanfare, I bring you Mistress Maddie with plenty of glamour and some lively curlicues…. nice chair…

Of course they are all winners for simply entering the competition, and if they would like to leave their addresses at reception, then they will all receive something jolly through their letter boxes in the very near future. Obviously, I do have to pick an overall winner for this competition to continue, so… hmmm…I think it should be…. well…. who do you think it should be?

Deadline

Before I rant and rave about the deadline, let me first rant and rave about WordPress. It is subtle, I know, but when I looked at my blog this morning the template had changed! I didn’t do it! Maybe Charmaine has been on the fiddle and tinkered with something under the bonnet? Rest assured that I am enfumed. YES, ENFUMED.

Meanwhile, the reason for this post – other than I haven’t written one for a week – is that I have only received TWO entries for the DID I WIN YET competition. Seriously, I wasn’t expecting such enthusiasm, it’s not like there is anything else going on in the world. The deadline for entries is Sunday 10th January, or thereabouts, I can be flexible. Please send your entries to me via my email address that is somewhere obvious on this blog/website. DO NOT MAKE ME THREATEN YOU WITH A FLOCK OF STARLINGS, or my appalling taste in music. I will announce the winner/s on Sunday 17th January.

And furthermore…. I have a meme for you from the olden days of 2008. What was the first vinyl single you ever bought? Slap it on your blog and tell us about it.

This was mine:-

Farewell 2020….

….and good riddance. I was going to write some sort of review of my blogging year, but it mostly consisted of storms in February; wild trampolines; a lot of whinging regarding an ongoing cold; and a lot of whining about my teeth. That was it. I was going to contact my doctor today regarding some other complaint, but now I’ve forgotten what it was – possibly something to do with still not being able to chew properly, or somesuch. I’m sure he will be pleased not to hear from me as I’m guessing he might have more pressing matters to attend to.

Meanwhile, I have been asked to judge a Haiku competition. No, I haven’t a clue why either – something to do with Charmaine living it large on a neighbouring Crossword blog, HERE, with cousin Batarde. I have read all the entries, my favourite is by Dtw42 [I accept the edit because I am kind like that and can’t add up either] and is as follows:-

Slate-grey Basingstoke skies;

cold, yet still no snow. The

duvet’s siren call.

I am hoping I am not responsible for supplying the prize?! It’s been one of those years where I’ve said yes to FAR TOO MUCH, and I am STILL suffering the consequences.

And talking of snow…. IT IS SNOWING HERE!!!! I did have a video to upload but none of my devices or apps are talking to each other, perhaps they have locked down to avoid some sort of hideous virus?

So a tune instead – I have been playing this a lot this month, sort of festive, cheerful and the closest I’ll get to a party tonight….

Ha! And I still have that necklace!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! May it live up to all our expectations!!!

Oh my goodness – did it work? Did I not break anything? Well this must be a first. Crikey.