Something Special

Hi FAU Bloggers,

Today I've like you to write about a "special" thing you own. It could be something you were given or something you found or bought. In my case, the thing I'm going to write about is a stone one of my sisters gave me about 40 years ago. It's a piece of stone called Tiger Stone and it's rumoured to have physical, emotional and spiritual benefits. My sister gave it to me in 1983 when I moved to London to try my hand at being a musician. Tiger Stone is meant to enhance your will power, increase your confidence, and to protect against negative energy. I don't know how long I carried it around for but it's been with for 6 years in London, 4 or 5 years in Spain 4 years at Uni and a bunch of years in Chile. I like this stone for a number of reasons. The stone is polished, so it's smooth and cool to the touch, and I guess it's this that causes a calming effect. It has really interesting markings due to the grain of the stone. I like that it's small which makes it easy to carry around in your pocket. It has no monetary value (that I'm aware of :) so losing it isn't a worry either. Actually, I only came across the stone again a couple of weeks ago. My wife and I were doing some spring cleaning and I came across it in a box of trinkets. It was nice to find it as it brought back some happy memories. I also like the fact that this is, in many ways, a mundane object. Somehow, I feel the real value lies in the act of giving not in the object itself. The object elates to me as a person by someone I love and because it was given to me at a happy moment in my life when I was setting off to explore the world. 

I have lots of other "things" I love, such as my guitar or my computer, but I see these as expensive tools rather than something I class as special in a sentimental manner, or in a way that is more connected with emotions and feelings than a "regular possession."

Write about something special you own.

Say;

What the thing is,

When you got it,

How you got it,

What it looks like (or what characteristics it has),

Why you like it,

How it relates to you as a person.

Try to write at least 250 words. Mention anything else you thing is important or interesting. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

2 Photos of moments in life

 Hi FAU Bloggers.

Today I'd like to talk about 2 photos. I guess the world was very different when I was younger. Not many people I knew had a camera. Photos were for special occasions. We'd have a school photo or photos when cousins came to stay or if we went on holiday. When I was a child, photographs were taken on reels of film that needed to be developed. It was usually a couple of weeks before you could see the photo, look after the event had happened. Nowadays, everything is instant:)

This photo must be from the 1960's. I guess I must be about 7 or 8 years old but I can't be 100% sure. It's taken outside the house I grew up in from the age of 6 years old in Abbot's Nook, Chester. If I remember rightly, we were just playing in the street outside my house. My eldest sister, Terri, is in the background on the right hand side. I'm not sure who the other person is. Possibly a cousin. I think my eyes look like "anime eyes", sort of dark and upside down half-moon shape:) I remember the jumper I was wearing it was very warm (pure wool). The collar is quite retro.You don't see jumpers with that kind of collar very often these days. 

This next photo is about 12 years later in 1980. It was taken in a photo booth in Leeds where I'd gone to a music festival called Futurama. I went with one of my school friends. It was a really good 2-day festival of punk, post-punk and new wave. I doubt you would know any of the bands but Siouxsie and the Banshees, Echo & the Bunnymen, Soft Cell and The Psychedelic Furs were maybe the most well known. My hair was red (I think the hair colour was called "Fire") and my outfit consisted of jeans, T-shirt, Leather Jacket and diamanté earrings:) I remember meeting a famous Radio DJ at the train Station. 

I think the thing the photos have in common is that they were both happy times in my life.

Write about 2 photos of different moments in your life.

Write about each photo. Say:

How old you were,

Where you were,

What you were doing,

Who was with you.

Mention anything else you remember that is interesting or important.

Try to write at least 200 words.

Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.