Meeting 15 April

There were 15 people there but somehow it didn´t seem as if there were very many. It was distinctly subdued, I thought.

Could it have anything to do with those who didn´t come? Are they really that noisy?
Perhaps it´s wisest not to say who sent their apologies... Anyway, due to being in the foothills of Alzheimer´s Light, I can´t remember in detail who said what about not being there. Just as well, really.

Although we were 15 present, it must have been a hard week since only 8 members had written anything. The threat of a Hot Pen loomed large, which may explain why Alan threw a question about poetry into the ring. Is a poem really a poem if you can´t put it to music, he asked. This caused a certain amount of animation in the group and the discussion was stretched as far as it would go without somebody actually breaking into song. Nik asserted himself once more and got us back on track. I think he had judged the discussion not to be going anywhere especially fruitful and decided that although Alan´s question was a perfectly valid one, maybe it was being dragged out to avoid the dreaded HP?

The topics for today were Shyness or Big Brother/Sister.
Three people chose these.

Chris J tried her hand at Limericks on the subject of Shyness, which went down quite well and which she enjoyed having a go at.

Brian wrote a piece inspired by Stanley Holloway´s Albert and the Lion, which linked to the subject by Albert´s parents declaring him a shy boy.
Delivered in what he claimed to be a Lancashire accent, he was challenged by Glyn, who was sure it was Yorkshire! Whichever it was, it was very funny. Ever the diplomat, Nik moved us on before the Wars of the Roses could break out again.

Anne B wrote a sinister poem, called Big Brother, about CCTVs and other features of modern life.

The other offerings were a mixed bag of different subjects.

Alan continued his story about Max in Hong Kong visiting Felix´s former mistress, Rachel. There was some discussion as to the age of the characters and in which period the story was set. It was felt this needed to be clarified.

Mary K wrote a poem about her wish to take up an exciting hobby, her rejection of surfing, except on the Web and finally her choice of Creative Writing. Thank goodness you chose that, Mary - we all appreciate your literary offerings every week!

Glyn continued his army tale, which never fails to cause hilarity, either a good old giggle or a sly snigger ( The latter mostly, I have to say, from the blokes, many of whom have done a stint in the armed forces).

Cynthia´s piece on the death of her lodger was good - the lodger turned out to be a mouse. It was the concensus that with a bit of tweaking to make it less obvious that an animal was involved, the resulting story would be excellent.

Joy recently become a granny, described the change in the roles of her son and herself, he now a parent, while she takes a step back from parent to grandparent. Very interesting perspective.

It was decided that since Jane has had her birthday in the UK while she´s been away (oops! now I´ve revealed who one of the noisy ones is!!), we should do something to mark the occasion. There´s a lovely pool outside. Would she object to being thrown in, one wonders?

Watch this space to find out.

Chris J