Festive

Lots to report, but too little time here in the Folknet cafe, as there are many other things going on. I will update fully when I get home, but there are some highlights.
Yesterday I was very excited to meet Kate Rusby, and get her to sign my copy of her new album, which is only available at the fest until September, when it comes out in shops. She was lovely and cheerful and very tiny. She later played the main stage, which was excellent, as expected.
I've also really enjoyed the Oysterband, and Rachel Unthank & the Winterset, who we have seen twice, once on the main stage and then today in the club tent. Beautiful harmonies. And I had a good dance to the Oysterband.
This morning we went to Martin Simpson's guitar workshop, which was inspiring and brilliant and fun, and later we saw him perform on the main stage, which was also really good.
So it's all fun here. Although, it having dried up and been gorgeous and almost mud-free, it then rained ALL last night, so there was mud again today. And some crazy person woke us up playing a banjo all around the campsite at 6am, which was both irritating and amusing.
Anyway, off to enjoy the last evening. Farewell for now...

Festival blogging

At the folk festival. So far it's rained torrentially, but we had already got the tent set up by then, thank goodness, so we sat in a little cocoon and read and sketched and listened to the rain on the roof. Very cosy.

So far we have found lots of things to purchase, but not bought all of them yet. Also saw Mabon who played funky accordian and fiddle stuff. There is lots of mud.

We ate veggie chilli with cheese, sour cream and cajun fries, gorgeous. Later a crepe with chocolate and nuts, and iced, freshly squeezed lemonade. Oh yes. Festival food rocks.

Folking

I am off tomorrow morning to the Cambridge folk festival, yey! I'm hoping it doesn't rain much, although a little bit would be OK, because then I can wear my new pirate wellies.

Besides them, the tent is all ready, and I have my notebook. I just need to choose some books to read, and I'll be all set. Looking forward to chilling out and listening to funky music for a few days.

Yee-hah.

Apparently, sexism is still "rife"

The Guardian has a not so shocking article about how sexism is still rife. Yes, we all know this. However, I suppose it's something that this is getting some attention in mainstream media, instead of ignorant articles about how feminism is irrelevant now.

"Sex equality will take generations to achieve at the current "painfully slow" rate of progress, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) said today in a final report before being wound up by the government after more than 30 years fighting gender bias across British society."

There are also other linked articles down the left hand side of the page that are worth a look.

Obviously

I read the book, of course. I didn't go at midnight because I was the only person who wanted to go who lived anywhere near me that I knew, and I thought going by myself would be a bit sad. So I picked up my copy on Saturday morning, when we went out to get the rest of the stuff for the folk festival. I started reading around 2pm, finished around 10pm with a half hour break. So 7 and a half hours, pretty good.

I enjoyed it a lot. I don't think JK Rowling is a brilliant writer, she's certainly nothing compared to Phillip Pullman. And you don't come away from reading her books thinking about important life issues. But she's a fantastic storyteller, and sometimes that's enough. Especially for a children's book.

Anyway, now I'm back working on my writing course. Life writing now. Not sure how it's going yet, we'll see in a few days.

Fighting sexism day by day

Mr. Huntress has been fighting against sexism this week, of which I am proud. He was buying me a Pirates of the Caribbean notebook in the Disney store, and the assistant was putting it into a blue bag.
Assistant: "Is it for a boy or a girl?"
Mr. H (not admitting it's for a 26 year old woman): "It's for a girl".
Assistant: "OK" (Gets out pink bag and starts putting the notebook into that)
Mr. H: "I'd rather you didn't do that, it's really sexist."
Assistant puts notebook back into blue bag.

And people say boys and girls aren't treated differently anymore. I especially love that the assistant clearly thought to begin with that because it was a Pirates related item and not the Little Mermaid, that it must be for a boy. Stupid sexist Disney store.

Also, feast your eyes on The Guardian's 50 Years of the Women's Page G2 special. Lots of interesting articles.

AND, somehow, I got 83 on my poetry assignment. I still can't believe it. It's shockingly good. Yey!

Oh yes

I have seen "Order of the Phoenix". And all I have to say is.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

OK, a few things I meant to draw attention to yesterday, but didn't, because by the time the poetry was finished, I was too tired to bother.

52 Projects has a nice post on things you can do to keep yourself writing, and find inspiration, which I enjoyed reading. I used to read the 52 projects blog ages ago, and had somehow lost it, so I was glad to discover it again via Moleskinerie.

Friday's Guardian had an article about the rise of feminist magazines, which I enjoyed, especially as it was written by Jess McCabe of The F-Word, one of my favourite feminist sites. The F-Word has also recently put up its first podcast, which is worth a listen.

Since I've managed to hand the poetry in, I spent the day wandering around my city, eating lunch in one of my favourite cafes, and then, after a brief rest at home, doing a good workout at the gym. And now I'm going to have a Lush bath, and a face mask, and read the latest Robin Hobb book. Lovely.

Finally!

Poetry assignment is finished and submitted. Thank goodness that's over. Now I can go back to wonderful prose.

And now I need sleep.

Spent the weekend watching all the tennis, which was excellent and the men's final was really gripping. I wanted Nadal to win though, so was disappointed with the result. I really enjoyed the match though, they both played some fantastic tennis.

Also worked lots on the poetry and managed, eventually, to write a sonnet. Bah. I hate the stuff. Can't wait until it's all done.

Links Update

I've added many links down the side of the page, and tried to give the blog-list something resembling organisation as it's now in alphabetical order. Woo!

That's all for now, I'm meant to be working on the poetry. Pah.

The Guardian today has a good article about Nancy Drew and childhood heroines, which I enjoyed reading. Mainly, I think, because Nancy Drew was one of my major childhood heroines. I think she's probably less relevant to girls growing up today since there are loads more books with decent female characters, especially Phillip Pullman's stuff, but when I was smaller there were much fewer. And I still like Nancy Drew very much.

Bleh...

Am feeling generally fed up at the moment, mostly due to being extremely tired and having to deal with the tediums of the real world after having had an excellent holiday, but also because it appears nowhere in the UK does an MA in Women's Studies via distance learning, which is something I'd really like to do. The OU is brilliant, but it just doesn't do the stuff I want to do next, once I've done the writing course.

Bah.

Pictures

My favourites from the holiday. The beach in Greneda:


Palm trees on Maracas beach, Trinidad:

And sunset over Port of Spain:

Pity I'm back at work now...

*sigh*