Paris People

I have found Paris to be a city full of surprises and creativity. Below are just some of the people and characters who I feel have helped to build its romantic reputation.

 

Josephine Baker

There were two big loves in Josephine Baker's life; 'my country and Paris'. Originally from America, she made her name performing exotic dance routines in the Folies Bergere. She spied for the allies during World War Two, was prominant in the Civil Rights movement after the war and adopted twelve children from all over the world. I think she was an extraordinary woman who lived an extraordinary life.

Brigitte Bardot

I drew a lot of pictures of Brigitte Bardot when I was a teenager. She was just so beautiful and also very French and Parisian.

Jim Morrison

The Doors are mostly associated with West Coast USA; California and Los Angeles in particular. However Jim Morrison died in Paris and is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetary with many notable European creatives such as Oscar Wilde, Theodore Gericault and Frederic Chopin.

Amelie

Amelie is one of my favourite films. The Parisians in this film are quite unglamourous and unsophisticated. I love the attention to detail and the real pleasure in small things taken by Amelie and the young man she falls in love with.

 

Christine from Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera is a powerful story that has been told many times on stage and screen. Our way in to the strange world under the Paris Opera house is Christine Daae, the obsessive love of the deformed and masked 'opera ghost'.

Satine from Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge is a brilliant exhuberant musical celebrating truth, beauty, freedom and love. Nicole Kidman's portrayal of the showgirl Satine is, I feel, both sensitive and mesmerizing.

Richard's Things Notecards

One day, when I was waiting for the gas engineer to arrive, I took the opportunity to produce twenty drawings to illustrate my song 'Richard's things'. With the aid of Movie Maker I was able to put the drawings into a montage to accompany my demo recording. Recently I put my 'Richard's Things' drawings onto note-cards. I have sold a few of these cards on my 'ALF Creations @ the Star Heart Cafe' craft stall.

ALF & Audrey @ Kew

   

 

My family has had a lot of connection to Kew Gardens over the years. My dad used to work here and now his ashes are scattered here, I used to work next door and visit the place in my lunch breaks, the whole family pay a visit to Kew, getting on for once a year. Now our connection feels even stronger, as my mum has had one of her pictures chosen for an exhibition celebrating the reopening of the newly restored temperate house. All in all, it was a proud and pleasing day, not to mention a gloriously sunny one.

     

    

Breathe

Life has been running away from me and my family this year. In order for us not to get totally swept away and end up broken on the shore, I have had to have a drastic rethink about my life. A big change has been to start pursuing ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) properly and to adopt more Buddhism into my everyday life. The above book contains everyday exercises to promote self-awareness and mindfulness. Breathe is split into Being (Breath and Body Scan exercises), Feeling and Thinking (acceptance, defusion and expansion techniques, also Tonglen and the Observing Self). The last section is called Doing and contains mindfulness exercises to help you get the most from everyday life. Below is an eight weeks Mindfulness Programme I have been working on to help me and my family. Of course we might still get swept away and end up broken on the shore, but maybe a mixture of Buddhism, Stoicism, ACT, mindfulness, (very liberal) Christianity and maybe even a few friends (!) and a bit of art, music and writing might help us to cope better with whatever might come our way.

Mindful Colouring and Doodling

     

Life has been very stressful lately and one of the ways my daughter and I have been de-stressing is to take part in mindful doodling and colouring at the local leisure centre. Above are my initial doodles and colouring. Below are two mindful doodles based on Buddhist philosophy.

       

This doodle is based on the fruits of the spirit as explained by St Paul in Galatians. I thought these spirit fruits would work well in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, as these are the sort of values I would like to fill my life with.

 Below are two of my mindful doodles mindfully coloured in.

     

Angel Writers Reading List

In 2013 when I decided to start a blog I spent several months deciding how I could conceivably keep going about every two weeks for at least five years. Eventually I came up with the idea of using the short stories I had written in the 1990s as a springboard for ideas for each month of the year. The idea developed into a story itself which revolved around a year in the life of the Angel Writers Group. These are the themes for each month of the year as dictated by the work of my imaginary group.

January’s story is ‘Consumed’ and its themes are music and solitude.

The February story is ‘Lucy’s Lucky Dress’ with the themes of romance and poetry.

March is ‘Duchess Doom’ concerned with technology and games.

April is ‘The Gathering’ and its themes are family and parenthood.

May’s story is called ‘Deja Vu’ and has the themes of groups and inspiration.

June’s themes are nature and seasons for the story ‘Living Rooms’.

July is ‘Image Makers’ and its themes education and travel.

August’s story is the ‘Institute of New Food’ with its themes of work and identity.

September’s story is ‘The Creature’ with the themes of childhood and spirituality.

October’s themes are retirement and pastimes and its story ‘The Number 13 to Gravesend’.

November’s story is 'Urusla’s pets' which has the themes of animals and fairytales.

December’s story is ‘The Need Fairy’ and its themes dreams and space.

As well as writing their own material the group also read the work of other, well known authors. This is the list of stories the group read over the course of one year and one month, they are spooky tales of the supernatural.

      1. The bus conductor by EF Benson
2. The bloody chamber by Angela Carter
3. The listeners by Walter de la Mare
4. The veldt by Ray Bradbury
5. Disturbances in Angier Street by JS Le Fanu
6. The man whom the trees loved by Algernon Blackwood
7. The fall of the house of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
8. The ghouls by R Chetwynd Hayes
9. Number 13 by MR Jam

      10. Dracula’s guest by Bram Stoke 

      11. The blue lenses by Daphne Du Maurier.

      12. The signalman by Charles Dickens 

      13. The Little Matchgirl by Hans Christian Anderson

The beginnings of the group and their ideas can be found in my story ‘The Angel’s Retreat'.