40 Day Blog Jog - Day 27 - Tour Scotland

While we're on the subject of Scotland, let me introduce to you Sandy Stevenson.

I want Sandy's job - roaming the Scottish countryside, taking photos of this beautiful country where we live...
Sometimes he gets into trouble with the police, but for the most part he's having a glorious time.

I just know when you're finished looking at his photos and videos, if you haven't been to Scotland yet, you're going to start working on a plan to get here.


http://tour-scotland-photographs.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 26 - The PK Perspective

Let me tell you something about jogging - it's damn hard work! I think my 40 Day Blog Jog has now become more like 60 days with many breaks in between!

Anyway - here we are at Day 26 with The PK Perspective.

The PK Perspective is two photographers, Ian and Sarah who give you the best shots of central Scotland.
Ian's latest pics and update of his motorcycle tour of Scotland are really fantastic. Anyone reading this who has not visited Scotland yet, I'm sure will have no doubt that they need to put it on their bucket list immediately.

Go on over to The PK Perspective and check out some awesome photography of Scotland.

http://pkperspective.co.uk/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 25 - BLUESTOCKING MUM

It can be very hard when you're having a rough time to tell the world.
But sometimes knowing that the world is listening and feeling along with you, nodding its head in agreement and understanding, is what makes the load just that little bit lighter.
I hope that's what Debbie White feels when she so open and honestly talks about the ups and downs of what's going on in her life.

I've been there  - I know what it feels like. Many of you reading this will know too.

Hang in there, Debbie. All will be well. And thank you for sharing.

http://gonnabepublishedoneday.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 23 - bright young thing

Alright - here we are back to the blog jogging and next stop is bright young thing.

I came across this blog when I was on blogger one day and took to clicking the next blog tab.
I have not been too successful doing that - for some or other reason it seems to spit out all the churchy ones - not that I have anything against churches or anything...it's just not quite what I'm looking for. That and knitting patterns.

But, on this particular day, in between the churches and the knitting patterns (and how to make ornaments with shells - I kid you not!) I found this one.

My favourite blogs are the ones where people talk about stuff. You know, life and stuff. Feelings, what's happening, what's not happening... The kind of stuff we all go through that some people take the time to write about.
That's what I like to read. It makes me feel connected - just to the world, really and everything and everyone that goes on in it.

So go over to bright young thing and read about her stuff.

Dear Reader,

Please excuse me for being absent as I was
Travelling extensively,
Being sick,
And started working again.
Things have been a bit hectic.

However, I am reasonably back on track (is this at all possible?) so, I will be back
tomorrow and will continue doing my blog jog. I still have some awesome blogs to introduce to you, so please come back and see what is in store.

Regards,
Nicola

PS) This reminds me of the letters my mother would write to my teacher when I had been sick. Dear Miss Botha, Please excuse Nicola for being absent yesterday as she had diarrhoea.
It always amazed my eight year old brain that she could spell that word off the top of her head.

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 22 - The Elephant in the Waiting Room

The Elephant in the Waiting Room is Sally Zigmond's blog.
Sally writes short stories and is the author of Hope Against Hope.
I love reading her blog, of course, else I wouldn't have it as part of my Blog Jog (which incidentally, has been a bit harder than I thought).
I met Sally at the Writer's Festival in York earlier this year. She is a lovely lady. She's approachable, kind, no-nonsense and had great advice about writing.


http://theelephantinthewritingroom.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 20 - D.J. Kirkby

D. J. Kirkby is a registered midwife, teaching midwifery two days per week and working three days per week for her local Public Health department. At the age of 40, she was diagnosed with a form of autism called Asperger syndrome, in addition to dyslexia and dyspraxia.  She has had short stories published in several anthologies. Writing under her academic surname she has had numerous articles accepted for publication, was a monthly columnist for FMA-UK magazine, and is now their midwifery expert on pregnancy and childbirth.  She is available for interviews, and to write articles on Asperger’s, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and midwifery.  Without Alice is her first novel.


http://djkirkby.co.uk/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 19 - The Life And Times Of Kiki Dee

Marriage in all it's misery.

http://thelifeandtimesofkikidee.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 18 - Bah! to cancer

There is a saying in Afrikaans: Na lekker lag kom lekker huil. Which means after a good laugh comes a good cry.
So, yesterday we had a good laugh at everything Sheena Says - damn that woman is funny, but today we are onto something a lot more serious.
Stephanie Butland was diagnosed with cancer in November 2008.
I have read a few accounts of people who have had cancer, but there is something quite different about Stephanie's story. It has a lot to do with the way she thinks.

How I Said Bah! to cancer: A guide to thinking, laughing, living and dancing your way through, is due for publication in October this year. You can go here to preorder what I know is going to be an amazing read, because I was lucky enough for Stephanie to send me the beginning of the manuscript last year and it really is great.

This book tells how one woman said ‘Bah!’ to cancer through thinking strategies, a proactive approach to treatment, and a determination to keep the rest of her life going and retain a sense of humour (most of the time!). It shares everything she learnt along the way, from the nature of cancer cells and chemotherapy drugs, to how she was able to help her friends and family to help her. ‘I was never going to die from cancer. That hard lump peeping out of the top of my bra was aggressive but it was small enough to be contained, and I was young and strong and otherwise well. All the signs were good. Words like “lucky” and “caught in time” were thrown around like rice at a wedding. No, I was never going to die from cancer. But from the beginning, I never planned simply to survive it. Oh no. I was going to say a great big Bah! to it. Please, join in. Cancer? Bah!’

http://bahtocancer.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 17 - Sheena Says

Sheena says many, many funny things. The woman is a comic genius! I wish I could be that funny.
 I had a hard time trying to choose which one of her hilarious posts is my favourite. So, I didn't choose one. You'll have to go to her blog and read them all yourself.
Some of the best ones are her application for a job at the Aston Villa Football Club, the job application to Nasa and her genius idea of making money from a beer calendar.

Don't miss out on a really good laugh. Go see what Sheena has to say: http://sheenasays.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 16 - David Brydon

David Brydon, retired Canadian soldier,  describes himself as a Refuge Insomniac.
I describe him as a great poet.
I love poetry and am so envious of people that can write proper, meaningful poetry.
David Brydon in one of them.
Don't miss out: http://davidbrydonblog.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 15 - yTravel Blog

Okay - so this is a bit embarrassing. I knew I was going to have a busy week ahead, so I put all my Blog Jog posts together and selected the dates and times I wanted them posted and went off about my business. So - today when I thought best I get the next ones ready, I see that none of the posts are up! I have no idea how that happened, because I checked and it's all as it should be, but the posts are all still sitting very snugly in the unpublished section. It seems you can't expect your blog to keep jogging unless you are jogging along with it.

So, here I am today, in person, introducing yTravel Blog.
Caz & Craig have been traveling and living around the world since 1997.
Their blog contains a wealth of knowledge about traveling. There are great travel tips, stories about their travels, where they have lived, what they have done, tips on how to travel happily with children, etc.
It is one of the best travel blogs I have come across.

Go on over to them and enjoy their stories. http://www.ytravelblog.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 14 - After the petals have fallen

Losing a child is one of the most horrific things that can happen to a parent, if not the most horrific thing.
My eldest son died on the 9th of November 2007. I blog about that over here.

After the petals have fallen, is where Geves blogs about life after their daughter Juliette died from leukemia.
Unless you have lost a child, I can assure you that you have no idea what it is like. I can assure you that no matter how far your imagination can stretch, it cannot stretch that far, because no where in any human mind can you imagine a place so dark, so deep, so desperate until you actually end up there.

Be kind to people who have suffered such a tragic loss. Do not say things like "he/she is now in a better place, at least you have other children, I don't know how you cope!, I could never manage..." The list of what not to do and say goes on and on. It's not just the child's death that is so terrible, it's also the devastation of a future that will never be fulfilled.

Go over to After the petals have fallen and gain some insight and understanding to what it is like when a child dies.

http://afterthepetalsfall.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 13 - 5+4x4

No - this 5+4x4 is not a maths question. Thank heavens, because I don't do those!

This blog is about Fiona and Pieter van Aswegen and their 3 children; Mara, Archie and Euan, a South African family living in Scotland, taking a year off to go travelling in their 4x4 from Scotland to South Africa via France, Cairo, Sudan, other strange and dodgy destinations, all by car, with kids getting nits, malaria, gastro and then of course washing clothes in a tiny bucket, trading bicycles for accommodation, home schooling and keeping everyone happy is all part of this extraordinary journey.

I can't help but admire them - I struggle to go away with my kids for a weekend to Legoland.
This takes some doing!

5+4x4 is a very interesting read indeed. http://www.5plus4x4.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 12 - Pub Rants

 I would really love to hang around and chat, but I can't. I have a lunch date with a roast leg of lamb and fantastic friends. So - here for your Sunday reading is Pub Rants.

Kristen is an literary agent, so it's not actually pubs as in the drinking places that she's ranting about - it's publishing, writing, queries and all that kind of stuff. Interesting stuff, useful stuff..... Excellent information! Read it!

Okay - I'm dashing off now to go and have an awesome time.
Chat again tomorrow....

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 11 - Talli Roland

Talli Roland is author of The Hating Game - which by the way has had fantastic reviews.

Chick Lit Reviews said: I really found myself blown away with Talli's debut novel The Hating Game. She's a fantastic story-teller and I really can't wait to see what's next as she has the potential to become a huge chick lit star. 

So watch this space - Talli's on the up, with her next book Watching Willow Watts coming out in November 2011. She also writes the 24 Hours travel guides under the name Marsha Moore.

Talli thoroughly enjoys reading The Daily Mail, but can get very cross with them too. Read about that over here. I'm with Talli on that one, though. The Daily Mail was bloody rude to say the least.

Word on the street is she's an awesome lady - whether she's Talli Roland or Marsha Moore.

http://talliroland.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 10 - Penelope Trunk

Don't be put off by Penelope's very proffessional sounding resumé. She's funny, a great writer and her frank discussions about Asperger Syndrome is refreshing.

Penelope Trunk is CEO of Brazen Careerist, a career management tool for next-generation professionals. This is her third startup. Each company Penelope built was focused on a community. Her own career path has had twists and turns and in a world where straight, safe career paths are nowhere to be had, Penelope appreciates the power of managing oneself through community.

Penelope's career began in Los Angeles, where she played professional beach volleyball. She then went to graduate school for English. During that time she learned HTML which allowed her to get a job in the marketing department at Ingram Micro.

After a stint in the Fortune 500, she went to a few smaller software companies and then started her own company, Math.com, a math-tools resource for the teaching community funded by Encore Software. She sold that company for a small sum, and founded eCitydeals, an online auction service for city governments, which was funded by Shelter Ventures, and was shut down in the dot-com bust.

During this time, Penelope wrote a column for Business 2.0 magazine about her experiences as a startup founder. She relocated to New York City and after only a few months at her next startup, she found herself a block from the World Trade Center when it fell.

She decided to be a full-time writer so she did not have to leave her apartment. And she focused on giving career advice instead of writing about herself. At that point, generation Y was entering the workforce and they were looking for advice to tell them how to steer a career that accommodates their lives: old career advice was irrelevant to them.

Penelope started writing career advice for a new generation of workers. Today Penelope is the author of a bestselling career advice book for generation y and the number one career blog.

She explains why old advice - like pay your dues, climb the ladder, and don't have gaps in your resume - is outdated and irrelevant in today's workplace. She has a reputation for giving advice that is counterintuitive but effective, like take long lunches, ignore people who steal your ideas, and stop vying for a promotion.

She is dedicated to helping people find success at the intersection of work and life, because that's what she wants for herself. She thinks of career advice as a group effort. And she launched her company, Brazen Careerist, to create a large-scale community for young people manage their careers for the new millennium.

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 9 - Bartie-Blog

Fellow writer and Twitter friend - @DaveBartlett1 has a blog with lots of "stuff". And I like his "stuff", because it's varied and interesting and often funny. I loved his 30 Day Song Challenge and I highly recommend that you read about his most embarrassing moment. I have re-told that story often and still burst out laughing when I think of it.

Go say hi to Dave: http://bartie-blog.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 8 - The Memory Blog

Maybe I'm just quizzy, but I really love hearing about people's lives. I suppose that's what writers are - quizzy. And nosey. We eavesdrop, we use snippets of conversation in our books, we take the odd hairstyle from the old man on the bus and give it to one of our characters. We use memories of our own and adapt them to our stories. The true ones and the made up ones.

The Memory Blog I just love! It's right up there with my favourites. It's great reading. Sometimes I laugh, I've had tears in my eyes, sometimes I nod my head and sometimes I think 'nah, I don't have a memory like that.' But I always, always love reading Richard's memories. He talks about his family, school, friends, growing up. It's all great stuff.

Go here to read some very enjoyable stories: http://thememoryblog.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 7 - Peter Wilkin

I wish I could write poetry. I have tried a few times like over here, and over here, but I wish I could write really brilliant poetry, poetry that has substance, that takes the reader's breath away. Poetry like Peter Wilkin writes.

I don't often comment on Peter's blog, and this is why: any words I have to say sound so flimsy compared to the ones he has said. His poetry is beautiful, painful, exquisite. Peter is a retired psychiatric nurse and his understanding of the depth of human beings is reflected in his poetry.

Go here to see Peter's wonderful and very moving blog: http://peterwilkin1.blogspot.com/
He also has excellent taste in art.