Turning the page...

So, a new financial year and a new career, the highlight of which occurred, ironically, on Sunday 1 July.  Day One.  I spent three days on the Gold Coast last weekend for the Gold Coast Marathon weekend.  I go every year with my fabulous running group, Intraining.  In addition, I had asked the editor at ABC News Online if I could cover the event.  He amazingly said YES and suggested a "colour piece".  I armed myself with Spud's fairly basic SLR camera, my iPad and my notebook and headed off into the sunrise.  After lining up my First Ever Media Pass (!) I arranged to be at two press conferences on Friday afternoon and also arranged interviews with a couple of people I'd heard about through the organisers of the event.  The Elite Athlete press conference (my first) was my introduction to the world of sports journalism, with hordes of gigantic zoom lenses slung across journo bodies.  It was a little .... er.... intimidating.  I stayed on after that for the Indigenous Marathon Project presser and met some of the runners, who were all very friendly, if not a bit shy.  Interestingly, one of the girls is from Maningrida, Grace, and she pointed out some "locals" who had flown down to run (separately from the IMP group).  I went over and started chatting to them because, of course, my friend Swellgal has been working up there for five years or so and would know of them.  Well, as it turned out, this group had their own amazingly interesting running story.  They were a great bunch of people, working together and running together in rather trying conditions.  One of three, Gerard, has a blog: www.ironmanlegend.blogspot.com which he had just started about the day before I met him.  This guy knows A LOT about running.  This is them below, after they finished their various runs.

Exactly as were have been taught in journalism school, sometimes the best story is not the one standing right in front of you (the Indigenous Marathon Project) but the one you see when you least expect to (the Maningrida runners).  I am sure I will write about them some more in the future.  Saturday morning saw me run faster than I have ever run before.  I had been hoping to break 50min for the 10km,  my previous personal best having been 50:09.  So, I was really wired and ready to go and I DID IT!  I finished in 48:37.  It was The Very, Very Hardest Physical Thing I have ever done. I have never pushed myself so much. Running in the finish chute, I thought I would cark it.  The official (and hideous) photos are the evidence of my distress.  However, as soon as it was over, I was overjoyed.... of course.

Secondary to running so well, the highlight of my weekend was meeting the people I did and having the experiences I had while composing my story for the ABC.  It really required a lot of work and focus.  Meeting people, ensuring I got accurate information, fact-checking, photographing, writing the story and then trying to send it when the Media Centre had run out of WiFi...  I learned SO MUCH in those three days.  I got a really good finish line photo of the winner of the marathon but not without a battle!  I had a really great spot, right in the centre, until all these bossy, aggressive "snappers and shooters" with HUGE lenses elbowed in on me.  Luckily I had befriended an SES volunteer and he let me climb up onto the camera stand where I had a perfect view.

You can probably tell already, can't you, that I have Major Zoom Envy?  It wasn't until I was driving home that I heard from a friend that my story had been published on the front page of ABC News Online.  As you can probably imagine, I was extremely excited.  And I was trying to drive!!  I just couldn't believe it. I really couldn't.  It was absolutely the most fantastic thing that has happened to me so far in my journalism career.   I mean... the ABC!  That's not chicken feed you know!  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-01/diverse-bunch-flocks-to-gold-coast-marathon/4103252
After recovering from that thrill, Monday marked the first day of a one-week internship at the Murdoch-owned 'The Courier Mail' newspaper. I was to be working in the Online newsroom but it actually all seems to be blended together really.  I didn't note a real differentiation.  It was quite impossible to get an idea of how the newsroom works there in just one week.  However, day one and this was my desk:

A promotion to Website Editor on my first day!  I pitched a story idea on Monday and went out with a photographer to interview Rob de Castella and Lee Troop, two of Australia's most incredible and successful marathon runners and Olympians. It was a great story, I thought, though I realise now I wrote too much.  It didn't get used.  Neither did my Tuesday yarns.  By Wednesday I was thinking I was in a bit deep and, having nothing in particular to do, headed off to the city on the shuttle and found my own story.  It wasn't too hard to find a story as a major football show-down was on that night and the city was choked with fans.  However, I needed to find a new angle!  I interviewed a couple of people and wrote a few words (by this time I had learned to keep it tight!) but I was despairing of the quality/content until the sub-editor told me I was ON!
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/ian-goes-nuts-for-the-queensland-state-of-origin-rugby-league-side/story-e6freon6-1226416763554
Unbeknown to me, the other intern Claudia had been sent to town to cover the donuts story so my yarn just segued nicely with hers.  Hooray, I was starting to get the hang of this gig...
Thursday saw me attend the Supreme Court for the sentencing of a notorious triple-murderer.  It was a media scrum, which was an eye-opener in itself, but it was also extremely harrowing listening to the victim impact statements and examples of other gruesome murders used to illustrate prior sentences.  By the time I got home that evening, I was up for a BIG glass of red wine.  I don't actually know how a judge can stay "normal" if their career involves listening to sordid tales of savage cruelty all day.

Found this via Facebook and loved it.  It helped me face Friday...

After Thursday, I wondered what was in store for Friday and soon discovered, as I set off with a photographer to visit a potential crime suspect.  The idea was to try and get a statement from that person as to whether they had hired a lawyer and if so, possibly get a name. Ha!  I think they sent me along because they knew this bloke was never going to talk - and they were right.  I did learn however that one must always visit the "Ladies" before going out on a hunting mission and always carry a snack and some water in your handbag when travelling with an enthusiastic photographer.  I wrote a yarn, which was awkward because there was nothing newsworthy about what we were doing at all, but I felt I should provide something after three hours in the shrubbery.  Trying to write about nothing was a very good exercise however, reminding me that it wasn't about what I "thought" but about what I was actually seeing and hearing (ie nothing).  After learning the other intern had had another story published (about fashion week) I really felt down (read: D.I.V.A) thinking I was obviously totally crap at being a journalist.  Yada yada yada.  Spud soon sorted me out.  The editor at the Courier even told me it is quite normal for journos not to get a story published for up to three weeks!  So, I need to get over myself and ....

Last night I met up with my journalism mentor, Ernie, who was brutally honest with me about my ABC story, telling me I'd buried the lead and suggesting that the ABC only left it on the front page of the website for four days because they are too busy to remove it and they needed something to fill a hole.  YIKES!  I offered him my stainless steel filleting knife and asked him if he'd like to borrow that to really drive home the message.  I know, of course, that what he says is true but I'd been holding on to the ABC story as my proof that I can't be completely awful at journalism and he rather chopped it for me.  He wants me to re-write the ABC story with a different opening par, so that's my homework.  The thing is, I'm glad he was so honest.  I'm not going to learn a thing with someone pandering to me am I?
I've had a HUGE week of journalism.  As the Courier Mail editor said to me, the internship is about finding out if I really want to be a journalist and my answer is a resounding YES but...  I don't want to do stories of only 80 words that involve chasing people down streets.  I want to write people's stories.  Is that still journalism?  It's made me think about the different types of journalism and consider what defines "journalism"?  There are so many commendable journalists out there and so much more for me to learn.  I will just have to be patient, keep reading, keep writing and keep on keeping on! I have learned an enormous amount this week and am just so lucky to have had these opportunities  #luckyme
PS:  found this amazing photo-essay (?) re Marie Colvin this morning on the Vanity Fair website:  http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/08/marie-colvin-passport-photos#slide=1

One thing I can safely say is that Journalism Ain't for Sissies!  Ha.

  

Anxiety

My cousin, a writer in NYC, assures me the anxieties I experience related to my writing and my reading are all Completely Normal behaviours for a "real writer".  So... I think I feel better.  I am still going to put it Out There for the blog world however, and ask for advice.  Here is my query of the day:  How Can Anyone Read Everything One Should Be Reading Every Week?  Just the newspaper alone takes hours of reading.  What about the washing, the groceries, the ironing pile, the vacuuming...?  I don't even have kids to blame my lack of time upon!  All people tell me is how much reading I should be doing, yet I just can't seem to get on top of it all.  There are newspapers, blogs, magazines, books....  And when I start back at uni next semester, you can add journal articles, course handouts and textbooks to the list.  

Today's pile on my dining room table...  

Added to this is the research I am trying to do regarding writing my news story for the Gold Coast Marathon. I really want to make sure I get it right, first time.  And I am due to write two more columns for the running magazines so need to do some research for those - and then, of course, I have a (fabulous) job to go to.  I am tired just writing this.  I appreciate that I am just moaning and griping but I would love to hear how other people tackle this issue.  I am actually finding it easier to write than to read!  

Speaking of all things related to the subject of "English", I discovered last night at a friend's 50th birthday that one of the surgeons I know came top in high-school English for the Entire Country and has a letter from the Prime Minister to prove it.  I was utterly shocked because, while I appreciate he is clever, he reads trashy tabloid newspapers, partakes in totally dubious social activities, has scary taste in music and carries on like he barely made it through school!  I am so jealous - and secretly very impressed too.  It goes to show that everyone has hidden talents and that you certainly can't judge a book by its cover!

Good coffee served by Jesse is a highlight of my old job

I spent two days this week at my old job, doing holiday relief while one the girls was away.  It all came rushing back to me - the life of a plastic surgery secretary.  Some of my favourite patients came in, which was lovely.  Even though I love my old boss and my co-workers, all it really did was reassure me 140% that I have completely made the right decision to kick out now and follow my dream to be a journalist.  I am also not going to renew my nursing registration this year, after having been registered for the past 25 years.  Gulp.  

Remember the whole "bluesky" concept from my last post?  I photographed this earlier in the week and tweeted it to some of my new co-workers.  Then I went into the coffee shop only to learn that the brand is Blue Sky Coffee.  Isn't than .... kismet?  So, MY "bluesky" is that one day I will be as great a journalist as some of the people I work with.  Part of me wants it all NOW - the knowledge and the experience.  But half of the excitement and joy is the learning as I go along.  I am just impatient.  I want to know what Sally Sara and Annabel Crabb know. I want to be as clever and as talented as them and hundreds of other incredible journalists out there.  I want Alan Rusbridger to offer me an internship at The Guardian. I want to be the Kununurra "bureau-chief". I want to win a Walkley Award for brilliant writing.  See? I want it all.  

This photo came to me via a friend who posted it via http://www.daretodemand.org/

As for my running group, it is going really well, with about eight new beginner runners coming along each Saturday morning.  Everyone seems to really enjoy themselves, which I believe is due to the camaraderie and the views along the river - oh, and the breakfast afterwards.  I never get over that fantastic feeling of seeing them improve each week.  It does so much for confidence and self-esteem - to see yourself achieve feats you never imagined to be possible.  Two weeks until the Gold Coast Marathon weekend!  Okay, I know what you are all thinking now - if I hadn't spent this time blogging, I could have finished reading at least one section of the Sydney Morning Herald.  Yes, yes, yes....  It's all about choices, I realise. I am just not very astute at making the correct choices.  Thanks for any feedback that comes along with regard to my Dilemma of the Day! 

The Shifting Sands of Time

Have I used this title before?  About sand and all that?  Well, it is appropriate for today as I have just spent the weekend at Noosa, doing the Noosa Half Marathon with my group of "beginner runners" that one year ago could barely run 10kms. I was like Mother Duck with her brood toddling along behind - except that they all ran ahead of me, with me squawking out reminders about not going too fast.  My irritating words of wisdom came to fruition however at about the 18km mark when they were utterly wrecked.  Luckily they all had just enough juice to cross the finish line with me coming in at the rear, beaming from ear to ear.  Their excitement and happiness was so infectious that I'd just about do it all again just for the Feelgood Factor.  

We stayed in a great apartment overlooking Noosa where we carb-loaded on grape sandwiches and ice-cream.  Yes, okay, so I'm sure the dieticians and sports physiologists out there are probably groaning but we're right into dietary experimentation and gratification here!

A word of warning - the grape sandwich did't really work. Badly needed peanut butter to improve it I think.

We LOVE you Massimo's Gelateria, Hasting St, Noosa

The Noosa Winter Festival is such a great event!  It's not hideously crowded, the course is gorgeously scenic and the weather was mind-blowingly perfect.  It's a definite half-marathon MUST-DO.   After the run, we girls all went for lunch and I was lucky to meet a couple of TV journos!  They were lovely and were genuinely interested in my (developing) journalism career, even giving me their business card for my "contacts box".  

with Kay McGrath of Channel 7

I was very careful not to fawn or slather in their presence but it is so awe-inspiring to meet these women who have played such an important role in Queensland journalism.  Then, this afternoon I see that Michael Crutcher (editor) and Des Houghton (journalist) of the Courier-Mail both re-tweeted me!  Oh dear.... do I sound like I am still in my Bay City Rollers adulation phase?  Yikes.  Well, it's just really, really exciting to think that I may have something to say that stimulates a well-respected media type to want to interact with me.  It gives me HOPE and encouragement that I too, can be a Respected Quality Journalist - one day (soon).

My Noosa sunset photo taken last night with the iPhone

So, all in all, I have had a brilliant and fun weekend doing what I love most - running and helping other runners "dig deep" and find their inner ooomph.   I can't help reflecting on how LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY I am!  I am feeling particularly reflective and "deep" about this topic currently as this week I learned my running buddy, a 32 year-old mother of two little boys, has a Stage 3 rectal tumour and has a Very, Very long, arduous, stressful and heartbreaking time ahead of her - but rather than get down about it, she is being incredibly positive.  I've given her the heads up on booking her chemo appointments for early in the day.  Unfortunately, there are so many people have chemo in day centres that the clinic just runs later and later.  I remember from when I was nursing in one...  Then yesterday our neighbour was admitted to hospital with Guillain-Barre Syndrome which has come on very suddenly, over the past week.  I went to see him in hospital this afternoon and he can no longer move his right leg.  It is beyond distressing.  Both of these people are young and fit.  All I can think is how every day is so precious and we are so lucky to be healthy.  We hear it over and over so it becomes meaningless but Every Day is to be Treasured 110%!!  

Paddling on the river at Noosa

Sunshine Beach this morning

I need to sign off now and get on with studying for my Ethics exam and also focusing on a research question for my 3500-word Theories of Journalism essay.  Amazingly, we have been learning about the portrayal of journalism in film so there might be the chance to watch movies for HOMEWORK!!!  I watched "All the President's Men" the other day and seeing the rotary dial telephones was so ... weird.  The youthful Robert Redford was pleasant though really, were men wearing their trousers THAT high in 1972?  And I almost choked on my corn chip when Bob Woodward (Redford) was trawling through 'phone books in the library trying to find someone's address.  Oh how quickly we forget LBG (Life Before Google).

Jen's Excellent Adventure

Hi readers!

It's 4:24am and I am finally getting a chance to write my blog about my wonderful, yet tortuous weekend away doing what I love best - running! 

I am reminiscing about my whereabouts at this same time last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We were getting up each morning at 3:15am, ready to start running at about 4:45.  Come to think of it, why actually did we need to get up so early?  With 60 Intraining members involved, I am guessing it was to get all of us organised in time!  What a logistical nightmare but our fab coach Linda and everyone involved in organising things did a great job and no-one was left by the side of the road (which would have been really easy to do…)

The start was at Griffith University campus at Mt Gravatt where the sight of a mobile coffee van brought a song to the hearts of many semi-conscious runners.  Obviously the guy running it had some sense of community spirit (or was just a savvy businessman) because he popped up again at Beaudesert later in the morning and again in Gatton at the end of the weekend and was always a very welcome sight considering all any of has consumed prior to seeing him was water and perhaps a 6am piece of chocolate caramel slice.  

From there it was all aboard the Love Bus to Beaudesert where the first leg of the relay started.  For me, doing my first relay, I was totally confused but soon got the hang of it.  Some of the team had run a criterium leg in Mt Gravatt and now the actual relay was to start, involving tagging and tutus.  Yes, tutus.  The Red Tutu was our baton.  It added a particularly enticing touch to the event and showcased several pairs of great legs over the weekend.  

 Well may you laugh at this sign but you have no idea how close to the truth it felt while running along beside it in 32 degree heat with the sun blasting down onto the melting road tar and 3kms to go before the comfort of the air-conditioned Love Bus… 

Speaking of the love, everyone decided not to like Team Victory - because they were So Fast!  They just blitzed everyone all the time AND worst of all, they did not wear tutus or blue sunglasses or use water pistols but instead, did stretches and warm downs and sensible things like that.  Booo…  To think there is a correlation between those activities and speed is ridiculous, I say! 

The day heated up like a switched on oven as the hours and kilometres clicked by so by the time I had my first run, I think it was about 11am which is really not the most suitable time to hit the tarmac, but how could I let the side down?  I was quite nervous but soon got into the swing of things - just because I was DESPERATE to get back on that bus and the only way that was going to happen was if I was to RUN to get to it!  My god.  Good grief.  It was hard, hard running.  It was so hot.  The road was radiating back incredibly intense heat.  The dry grass by the side of the road seemed to crackle as step by step I ticked off the metres.  When I got to a hill, I just put my head down and filled my brain with positive thoughts. If anything, this weekend really highlighted for me how much of running is psychological.  How much you need to convince yourself you can do it.  The legs were fine really (on Day One anyway) but my head was screaming at me.  Finally seeing the blessed orange cones and the red and white pompoms of my team, was one of the happiest moments of my life.  Yes, I know it sounds dramatic but… well, it's true.  I found that first leg to be more challenging than the marathon.  I certainly felt far more wrecked afterward!  And I only ran 4.9km!!

End of Day Two was here, where possibly, we drained the bar of all its beer….

 Our team was called The Village People

Can you see me smiling?  No, possibly not….  The other hazard (!) was the thousands of flies!  Amazingly, I only swallowed one all weekend but it sure made you think about your breathing.  Suddenly, nose breathing became very popular so that you didn't inhale one of the little blighters.  We ended up in Boonah on Friday afternoon where I ran a 3 x 1km criterium around the town as the locals cheered us on from the pub (where Al Jazeera news was playing on the telly in the public bar!  Too weird….)

We saw a lot of horseflesh over the weekend.  They look so magnificent running in their paddocks and me being the very horsy person I am (!) was seeing all sorts of poetic imagery in the galloping horses and the galloping runners until Kay just told me straight that they were  plain freaked out by all of us and the racket we were making.  

Remember Maverick, from my last blog post?  Well, he had a ball on the weekend, despite being kidnapped by the Star Wars team and held to ransom (note and all) and finally ending up in the arms of …. well, you'll see later.

Rathdowney and Boonah and that area were my favourite places over the weekend. It was so pretty!  On Saturday morning, I was lucky enough to have a running buddy, Jackie, so the pair of us were able to enjoy the view as we staggered and stumbled along the road, wondering what had happened to our legs which suddenly did not seem to want to work anymore!   

Food over the weekend was sporadic and taken On The Go most of the time.  Here's Tesso tucking in to her lunch, which she didn't get a chance to gobble before we were off on the next leg!  Luckily, the bus was well stocked with home-baked goodies. We had so much cake, biscuits and slice we could have set up a stall by the side of the road and funded our weekend I think! 

The sight of prime beef cattle, horses, some free range pigs, goats and lots and lots of birds was an added bonus.  Really, I can't reiterate how pretty it was out there and I will definitely be planning a weekend in the area some time in 2012.  

This is the School of Arts building at Yangan at dawn on Saturday. On the far left is the tiny little 'loo where I thought I would make a pitstop, until I discovered the women's stall was full of MEN so I made a hasty exit, but not before taking this photo of their very unique plumbing set up.

Activities on board the love bus involved rotating sweaty towels, reading trashy mags, eating and stirring eachother up mercilessly.  It was so muc fun and such total bliss to be on board after each leg that I am finding the bus is what I am missing most!   

Bron (above) and Scotty (below) were two of our fast runners.  I was the team caterpillar.  Possibly wearing Maverick's silver g-banger may have made me faster though….?  I must be honest and say that this little piece of "fashion" really does not suit him….  One has to ask, "who WOULD it suit?" 

Here are more of my speedy buds.  After the tag changeover, we would all hop back aboard the bus, yahooing and yelling encouragement from the bus windows as we drove past our runner and then we would stop further up the road, jump out of the bus and run to the side of the road to yell some more.  So, there was a lot of getting on and off the bus and standing on the very hot side of the road - but it was no trial when it was to cheer for our friends - and for other teams too, even Team Victory on occasion (if we actually SAW them)

One of the runners on the Intraining One team (the really fast team) was Clare Williams who recently came fifth in the Melbourne Marathon!  She is an amazing runner and happily posed for a photo with me so that you can all see why I will never be an elite runner.  My body is just too big!  I like eating cake!  I have no discipline!  

Intraining Team Three, also very fast (with the energy of youth… big sigh) had the kids' contingent who, as cute and sweet as they looked, were utterly ruthless and mischievous.  After kidnapping Maverick, they set about giving themselves food names.  Hence, Steph Steak, Hamish HamHam, Daniel Danish etc.  On Day Three, with very little enticement, I was easily persuaded to hand over Maverick in exchange for my very own food name, and ended up with Juicy written down my leg in pink zinc.  Needless to say, when my team mates discovered I had sold out so easily, basically pimping Maverick out, I was almost tossed off the bus! The heat made me do it!  And by Day 3, I would do almost anything for some zinc cream, so fearful was I of sunburn.

Throughout the weekend, Endeavour staff were there to provide us with sustenance in the form of bananas, yoghurts, flavoured milk, cereal and apples until Day 3 where, at Gatton, we got bacon and eggs!  Yummy!  

Thank you Endeavour and Gatton Scouts!

I think that possibly Day Three was the hardest.  I had the first leg of the morning and 4:45am found me lined up in the USQ campus at Toowoomba with about 12 men, about to race 5kms down the range.  I DID remind the men about chivalry and the old adage, "ladies before gentlemen" but they didn't seem to hear me and by the time we had left the uni, they were mere specks in the distance.  At least it was cool!  I discovered that I need to learn more about biomechanics (or whatever) because for some reason, once I got to the flat, I could not seem to make my legs go faster.  Anyway, rather than announce to my team that I had come last….  I put a positive spin on the whole sorry event and declared myself First Woman Across the Line!  

This was NOT my trophy however.  I did not win any trophies.  I just wanted to feel a trophy.  I wanted to discover whether holding a trophy aloft could really put strain on your shoulders (it doesn't).  Besides, it suits me, don't you think?  Day Three (Sunday) also meant a 5km run at 1pm along the old railway out of Lowood.  THAT was definitely my hardest run of the weekend.  It was Seriously HOT at that time, running along a light-coloured gravel path, with two nasty hills.  I didn't think trains could go up hills…. or was that just wishful thinking on my part?  Anyway, I rallied every single positive thought I could muster and luckily, because I was running with Temony, I was able to mutter and groan positive encouragement to her as we ran along, all the time convincing myself that I was having a Really, Really fun time!  Discovering at the end that we'd all taken a wrong turn and run an extra 700metres AND an extra hill might have caused me to do something crazy but I just had nothing left in my tank and all I could do was whimper….

And it was here at the finish line, at Fernvale, that we found Maverick.  In the clutches of funny, funny Di who spent the entire weekend handing out water to Team Three in various crazy outfits.  Saturday had been spent wearing this Catwoman suit and Sunday she was a fully outfitted bride, right down to the horseshoe, and complemented by a sign saying, "Just Looking" with her mobile number underneath!  She was so hysterical!  I bet Team Victory wished she'd been THEIR water person….

So, Linda has asked who is doing it again next year.  I haven't yet replied.  I suspect however, that with every passing day, my pendulum will swing towards a big old 'YES' because, despite the torture of the running, despite the heat and the sore legs, the exhaustion and the sunburn, it was one of the most fantastic weekends of my life.  I discovered a strength and toughness that I didn't think I had. I learned that I CAN do ANYTHING if I really try.  And in the end, all that effort and discomfort is really not that bad at all.  I learned to love my running buddies even more than I already did.  The team spirit and camaraderie was so inspiring.  Yes… as a famous man once said, "I vill be back".

Day One

Hi readers!  

So here I sit before my computer on what is to become my First Day as a Proper Writer (well, in my mind anyway).  I have been sure to attend to matters of personal hygiene so that I don't end up here at 4.30 this afternoon, in my PJ's surrounded by empty coffee cups and biscuit crumbs.  I have read - somewhere - that it is very important to dress and groom and approach the day with dignity and poise, two of my very strongest features (ha!). I have no lipstick on!  Nor earrings….

Okay, I'm ready.  I even have one of my signature GIANT flower brooches in situ.  As for coffee - how many cups can I have in one day?  I heard writers usually drinks lots of the stuff.  And if they smoke, there are ashtrays everywhere.  Thank goodness I don't but I do fear for discarded Chokito and Twix wrappers… As I look around my "den", it is not letting me down in the "dishevilled chaos" stakes.  I have piles of papers, magazines, filing and stationery stacked all over the floor and leaning precariously on the desk top.  This is all GOOD fodder for my brain cells.  Now, to overcome PROCRASTINATION (defined by my dictionary as to "put off doing something").  I fear this is due to a slight lack of confidence, or anxiety about trying to write that Walkley Award-winning article for my very first university submission.  Just relax….  Big breath in, big breath out, in… and out….  Should I put my glasses on?  Oh, the washing is ready to be hung out.  Maybe I will just drop an email to my friend Jenny in Texas….  These are all the excuses flying through my mind.  Yes okay, so I am writing right now, but that's not really the same, is it?

A beautiful park bench in Paris - would love one in my garden…

For those of you who are wondering about my sudden "official" writing status, let me tell you my EXTREMELY exciting news.  As you will recall from my rant in "GiddyUp Jen" prior to the Gold Coast Marathon, I fired off a letter to the editor of "Run 4 Your Life" magazine  to complain about what I felt to be a poor representation of the running community.  This week the editor wrote back to explain, whereby I countered with a few suggestions for the magazine about being more inclusive of average and novice runners.  He then wrote back basically OFFERING ME A REGULAR COLUMN IN THE MAGAZINE!!  It will be called "Beginner Bites" (my idea) and will be aimed at those runners, like me, who are not gazelles. And, there's even more.  I am going to be PAID!!  Can you believe it?  I am so happy and so excited and so scared and, and, and, well… just about speechless.  It is a life-long dream and it is starting to gather momentum.  Yippeee!  My first deadline is 20 September so, today I hope to write something, to get the ball rolling. I also have my profile piece to write for my Feature Writing assessment and of course, I can not forget my blog readers.  I LOVE TO WRITE!  How lucky am I?

So  now, as part of my procrastination plan, I could tell you about my evening at the Ekka last night.  The noise, the colours, the sights, the rides…..  I went with a friend and her three kids.  OMG.  What an eye-opener.  What a shock to my system.  I had fun though, despite the cake decorating pavilion being closed - and the dog pavilion.  There were fireworks, and teacup rides with a two year-old and even a strawberry ice-cream though one mouthful of blue fairy floss tipped me over the edge.  I won a dolphin toy at the clown thing and came home with a bag of licorice (which I will probably consume today in my angst)

A "small" serve of strawberry ice-cream.  How can people eat 16 of these in one day?

 Finest Queensland Brahmins

The prize-winning agriculture display 

I know I'm a nurse and all but the live sheep birthing display was a bit much and I had to run away with my eyes closed.  Even as I type this, my mouth is in a grimace…

Ha, ha!  Okay, see you later folks and time to start the Serious Stuff.  Should I get a glass of water first?  And this plastic seat is so hard. I  wonder if I have a cushion handy….