Heroines or Villains?

Heroines or Villains is the third theme in my “Interesting Women” series of blogs.

I’m writing about women who broke the mold, and challenged the ‘status quo’ of their societies.

Were they heroines or villains?

I’ll let you decide.

Coming up on Google +  next week, I’ll be posting articles about interesting women from prehistory to the present.

source: news.com.au

Stonehenge - from the mists of time and still standing.

The experts are still piecing together the mystery of Stonehenge. Why was it built?  How did the ancients transport the “Sarsen” bluestones from a quarry in Wales located over 100 miles away. What is Stonehenge's purpose?

A cremation cemetery?

Despite artists portraying prehistoric man as in charge of the site, in the latest discovery, half of the prehistoric, cremated bones belong to women. Could women have been as noteworthy as men in prehistoric Britain?

A Pirate Story

A lot of people like a good pirate story and perhaps a costume for Halloween. Remember, Peter Pan, Captain Hook and the alligator. The stage musical, “Pirates of Penzance”. The “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise. There’s too many pirate movies, music, stage and television shows, games and comics in popular entertainment to name here.

Less well-known are the 5 notorious female pirates from the 18th Century. Once there was a superstitious belief among pirates that having women aboard a ship was bad luck. Meeting Anne Bonny and Mary Read on the high seas would knock the wind out of anybody's sails. In 1720, Anne and Mary teamed up. The two marauders were the most feared female pirates to raid fishing boats and trading sloops.

China 1801, Cheng I Sao, with her husband raised a pirate army of 50,000 men. After her husband’s death in 1807, she continued her plundering ways until the British and Portuguese forced her retirement. She ran a gambling house until her death. Cheng I Sao was one of history’s most successful pirates.

 More Mutiny

In 1938, Australian actress, Mary Maguire was kicked out of Hollywood for her mutiny against the role of ingénue (innocent and wholesome women). She wanted a dramatic part in a movie.

Lady Worsley, contemporary of Jane Austen

Seymour, Lady Worsley, was at the center of one of the Georgian era’s biggest scandals. The Lady was a contemporary of Jane Austen and also her neighbor.

Lady Worsley was an heiress and a high-spirited woman who was the property of her husband. Her monetary worth was attributed to her virtue. If she was proved to be less than virtuous, her worth decreased. She lost her virtue and her husband went to court to sue for compensation. There’s more about Seymour’s character in the video below from the BBC drama production.

Well that’s some of the highlights from next week’s G+ posts. I hope you can join me again.

Wishing you fair weather,

and a fine weekend. 

♥ Ashlyn

Warrior Women

The character of the Warrior Woman is back in main-stream entertainment with the women from Games of Thrones, Katniss from The Hunger Games, Wonder Woman and Xena, Warrior Princess.

The Xena reboot is expected later in the year, but without actresses, Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor playing the roles of Xena and her best friend, Gabrielle. The replacement of the actresses is a sensitive topic with fans. Other shows, like the X-Files and the movie, Star Wars have brought back their original stars.

Xena has her origins in Greek mythology. In the beginning of the television show, Xena was a villain, who was intent on killing the god, Hercules. Over the length of the series, she endures a painful path to redemption, and makes the ultimate sacrifice for the 40,000 lives she took in battle.

The Amazons are the legendary warrior women from the history books. Did they really exist?

“Archaeology shows that these fierce women also smoked pot, got tattoos, killed—and loved—men.”  

source: National Geographic

Adrienne Mayor from the Princeton University Press has written a book, “The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World.”

From Adrienne, “The real Amazons were long believed to be purely imaginary. They were the mythical warrior women who were the archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Every Greek hero or champion, from Hercules to Theseus and Achilles, had to prove his mettle by fighting a powerful warrior queen.”

source: National Geographic 

Are the Amazons, reality or fantasy? Take a peek at the book trailer.

This week on Google +, I’ll be posting about Warrior Women. A little bit of Xena, Amazons, history and archaeology.  

Hope you can join me again. 

♥ Ashlyn 

*Xena image sourced from Entertainment Weekly

 ”The Amazon” book cover sourced from Amazon.com

Interesting Women

With Mother’s Day just passed, I thought I would write about what some interesting women are doing in the world. There are women who didn’t accept the ‘norm’ or the ‘status quo’. 

Disrupters! 

Women, who rallied their ideas to improve their circumstances.

Some of the women ignored social stereotypes and got on with their work. Perhaps the women were finding solutions to problems they faced. Others might have been striving for their well-being or even struggling to survive. Some of the women forged ahead as individuals while others worked in teams.

This coming week on Google +, I’ll be posting articles about an Italian Winery run by women. The ordinary woman who walked around the world. A fashion icon. A make-up impresario. The jewelry making by the women of Rwanda which provides clean water, education and food. A shoe entrepreneur who fits small feet, narrow feet, wide feet, big feet and odd feet. And finally, there’s an article about a woman who wants to retell history by including women’s contributions.

As Robin Williams once said, “words and ideas can change the world”.

Be inspired…

♥ LOVE

choose your path in life,

create a satisfying life,

live passionately,

experience life with greater awareness,

do something different,

make a change,

help others,

and achieve your own happiness. 


I hope you can join me on Google +.
Enjoy your weekend. 
♥ Ashlyn

Happy Mother's Day - May 8

Mother’s Day is coming this Sunday. It’s time to think about our Mums and what they mean in our lives.

I’ve searched the internet looking for touching tributes to mothers. The sickly sweet, all-sacrificing Mum who is a fountain of ever-renewing love is not a woman I can relate to. I’ve had my bad days of being a mother.

source: http://www.bundoo.com/community-blog/parenting-memes-sept-26/
 

And there’s the Mother’s Day version of Katie Perry’s “ROAR” song.

I got through a bout of post-natal depression. The rip-my-hair-out moments don’t stop. I’ve checked the self-doubts— why the hell did I ever have children? The hurt from the knife stabbed into the heart— was me being much too sensitive about my brood spreading their wings and testing their independence.

Hello Mom, are you still there? Here’s a Mummy singing Adele’s “HELLO” song.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Then I remember the kids as newborn babies. How I feel in love with each one of them in a way that was too profound to find the words to describe. No matter what life throws in our paths, the kid’s special place in my heart won’t change. Now I understand, the worry and anxiety I put my own mother through as I grew up and I grow old.

Education, health and happiness is what I want the most for my children. I tell them, follow your dreams. Use your manners. Be kind to others and look out for animals. The household fairy has forgotten to wave her magic wand to wash the dirty dishes. Can you help out? Please.

Back in maybe, 2007, mother and comedian, Anita Renfroe, condensed what a mother would say to her children in a 24hr period into 2 mins 55 seconds. Here is the video of Anita’s famous “MOM” song to the music of the “William Tell Overture”.

The kids have stopped listening to my nagging and do what they’ve always done—learn by example. The ways of a mother in the home, among family and friends, and in the world at large is where children observe and absorb information.

Mothers don’t have to be perfect people nor do they have to fit the stereotypes created by others. Mothers are individuals and diverse people the world over. LOVE is the answer to everything.

Wherever you are in the world,

Happy Mother’s Day.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Ashlyn

What’s going “Right” in the World?

Next weekend, it will be Mother’s Day in Australia and also in many other parts of the world.  For all the children, I wish they had enough food, water, shelter, clothing, education and love in their lives. Yet many children live in suffering each day. Why?

As a mother-of-two, if I could change the current state of the nations, the top 4 items on my fix-it list would be;

1.      An end to War, and peace on Earth.

2.      The world becomes a humane and habitable place to live for all.

3.      Restore the health and vitality of the environment.

4.      LOVE.

I recently shared this picture post from +dalajlamapeace on G+.

Disruption, is the buzzword, disruption brings new thinking to old problems or ways of doing things. The divide between the rich and poor isn’t shrinking, it’s growing. Most of the world’s wealth is owned by 1% of the population.

Next week, as the days countdown to Mother’s Day, I will posting about Disruption on G+. I am very pleased to write about the positive initiatives taking place in the world. I’ve found articles about an entrepreneur who wants to end hunger in America. A French law that forbids food waste. Female food heroes in Tanzania. The best supermarket in the world. Once Australian schoolchildren were given free milk. How to survive kids and grey hairs.  

Let's celebrate the hope,

and the positive action.

Feel the progressives vibes,

from one initiative to another,

ripple out across the land and seas.

Friends, the world is slowly changing for the better.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Ashlyn

The Writer's Life for Another Week

The human need for story-telling started way back in history with the spoken word.

When our ancestors were sitting around the camp fire talking, while the mammoth roasted over the spit.

Or a tribe of people chatted as they walked along land bridges to find new places to live.

Were we telling stories as we hunted and gathered in the forests?

As we sailed up rivers to discover fertile land for farming and sites to build the earliest cities.

Perhaps people were telling tales about the giant squid that lurked in the briny depths, as they rowed boats across the seven seas to trade wares.

Age-old wisdom suggests that people connect in community through the sharing of stories and life experiences. Social media sites continue the tradition in a techno way.

Last week, I talked about the craziness of a writer’s life and their demanding story characters. This week I’m reflecting on the doubts that plague an aspiring writer. Is my story good enough? Will anyone like it? The lack of confidence to find an agent, a publisher or to self-publish can be paralyzing. I’m kinda sick of my own shadowy self-talk. I’m not trying to write a perfect story, just an engaging one. Who decides if I have succeeded with my ambition? Not editors, agents or publishers. The community of readers are the ones with the opinions that matter the most.

Pull myself together...yep, I’m going to tackle those final edits for my Novella. Pause to remember, there’s one unique thing about me and every other fiction writer—OUR WRITER’S VOICE (Did you see the article I posted this week on G+—‘Serious Writer Voice’ written by Kristine Katherine Rusch).

Stay true to my inner, story-telling voice. Write from the heart and see where the journey takes me. Many successful authors have followed the same uncertain path, and they didn’t give up writing when the going got tough.

I’ll leave you with some clever writing from the pen of Paul Ogden

source: coloryourlifepublished.com

A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.

A backward poet writes inverse.

No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Ashlyn

The Writer's Life

Is the writer’s life a crazy one?

Too many voices talking in the head,

and demanding to be heard.

The characters and their conversations,

write me,

please,

or you won’t be able to write anything else that makes sense.

The importance of sleep,

Huh?

Forgotten.

Tick-tock goes the clock.

And what about stories sourced from the depths,

of the mysterious, subconscious mind?

Are the scenes scraped together from the deep, dark dirges of every experience you’ve ever had in your life.

Or are they bright as a light, a fab story that’s dazzling with brilliance, and you can’t wait to share it with readers.

When I go back to edit one of my stories, it’s a common occurrence for me to find a puzzling section of writing. “Did I write this? Where did those words come from? I don’t remember thinking them up.”

I shake my head in disbelief. I was present when those words were written. My fingers and brain worked in tandem to type the words on the page, but my conscious mind must have been duped at the time.

So Why Do Writer’s Write?

“Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy.”

―Nora Ephron, source: Goodreads 

What About These Two Unusual Book Titles?

“I Was Told There’d Be Cake,” by Sloane Crosley

“I Feel Bad About My Neck…” by Nora Ephron

Here’s one reason why Writer’s Write….

This coming week on Google +, I’ll be posting articles about the Writer’s Life. Hope you can join me there. 

Smile and love,

and be loved too.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Ashlyn

First Blog Anniversary

“If you want change, then get out of your comfort zone,” thanks to the G+ person who recently posted similar words of wisdom.

“Cast away those doubts,” from Annie Lennox’s – 'Why' song.

source: authorspublish.com 

Hooray, it’s my first year anniversary on social media!

Hello, wherever you are in the big world.

Thanks for clicking to visit my page.

I’m amazed that I’ve blogged 70 posts in twelve months and still have something left to write about.

You see, it’s the writer’s lot in life to worry about getting the words right. Like Jane did.

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” -Jane Austen, ‘Pride and Prejudice’   source: Goodreads

There’s been many times during the last year, when I felt like I wasn't doing so well at writing a book or a blog. Fortunately, there’s a way of beating the odds of failing like Lucy and Ethel did in the 1950’s, “I Love Lucy” television show. When they were hand-wrapping chocolates on the factory production line and kept up the pace, no matter what. 

Inspiration and laughs aplenty!

 

Last April, I intended to post on social media as a romance author. Following instinct, and over the following months, I also found out more about my socially, introverted self.

Stephen King, “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”

After existing in a cultural wilderness for years, I found my passions were on-line. My sense of humor started creeping into my posts (I'm still nervous about that). Carrying-on, I have hope now, that my writing will get better and better.

On the flip-side of celebrating my anniversary, I've discovered other people’s writings, the posts with different expressions of romance, love, inner beauty, art, music, dance, vintage, Victorian, and reflections of the soul. Thank you, friends, for sharing your posts and connecting with me on the social media sites.

With gratitude for what’s been shared between us this year,

I’ll sign off for another week.

Have a good one.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Ashlyn

Holiday Highlights That Are Best Forgotten.

You know, people’s easy successes in life hardly stir my curiosity. I’ve always been interested in reading about how people overcome their failures and found a way to continue on their path in life.

I’ve decided rather than write about the fabulous highlights of my recent holiday in Perth, I’ll tell you about the lowlights. 

The unexpected and embarrassing moments that made me, cringe and nervously giggle.

These are my six misadventures in the city, the ones I’m willing to divulge, from the tamely wrong to the red-faced situations.

 1.    Caught in the rain with my hands full.

Our holiday party consisted of me, non-techno grandma in her seventies (my mother) and my two techno teenagers. Three generations of my family, and all of us weary from a 7 hour country train ride. We walked out of the train station and decided to buy some groceries on our way to the holiday apartment.

The rain poured down on the streets. My shoes got wet inside as we trudged on, towing suitcases, each of us carrying hand luggage and bags of shopping. I eventually gave up the soggy saga that marked the start of our holiday and called a taxi to rescue us.

Perth City on the Swan River
source:http://www.sundaysunset.com/collections/ 

   2.   Catching the right suburban train.

How could I catch the right train to six stops ahead on a different train line to the one I’d just traveled on? How was I to know the train I was sitting on, was about to switch lines at Central Station and stop from traveling east to head south. In ignorance, I disembarked and heard the announcement the train doors were about to close on the right train I’d just left. I quit trying to make sense of the signs and our holiday party scrambled back across the railway platform…

I needed to hear an announcement that went like this, “Dear passengers, your train is about to change direction. Hang onto your seats if you’re continuing on to….”

Salmon Bay, Rottnest Island

3.    Flagging down a bus in a hurry is not a good idea.

The bus arrived at the bus stop before I did. My youngest teenager raced ahead to get the bus driver to wait for the rest of us. He was grumpy about keeping his schedule on time. He drove on, like a rally car driver, running over the edge of gutters and swinging wide around corners. Freaking me out.

4.    Picking a fight on the bus.

“Stop staring at me,” a young woman sitting on the opposite side of the bus snarled at my teenager. “Don’t you know it’s rude to stare?”

Bristling mother, me, said to my kid, “What’s going on?”

My kid said to the young woman, “I’m not staring,” in a challenging tone of voice.

Tension sharpened the air in the bus. Eyes were drawn to my family and to the antagonist. The bus driver was busy negotiating the city streets choked with afternoon, going-home traffic.

I sat on tenterhooks waiting to see what would happen next. Fortunately, the antagonist decided to stop the verbal baiting. I sensed the young woman was practised at getting antsy with strangers. Picking on someone she decided looked alone and vulnerable. Drawing attention to herself. She was an angry person in need of a way to vent her emotions.

A short bus ride turned out to be a long exercise in keeping my patience.

     5.    Sea-sickness is no laughing matter.

After a wonderful Easter Monday spent on Rottnest Island, it was time to board the high-speed ferry for the journey back to Fremantle Harbour. There were hundreds of people standing in lines on the jetty and three ferries berthed to transport the public holiday crowds.

We found seats on the bottom level of the ferry. Less fortunate people had no choice but to stand in the aisles or sit on the stairway. The ferry hit rough water. Waves smashed into the windows. The boat rocked up and down and gently rolled from side to side as it cut through the turbulent water.

 

Rottnest Island Ferries in the distance.

Some passengers suffered motion sickness. My mother told me news stories about over-crowded ferries that had sunk. The passengers couldn’t escape from the lower decks and drowned.

I was full of nervous energy. I heard faint, animal-like sounds behind me as more passengers lost the contents of their stomachs. I looked around me. People sat with their heads cradled in their hands. Complexions were grey. There were also heads tilted backwards to stop the bile rising up throats.

I became even more nervous about the obvious signs of distress of the passengers around me and what would become of my family.

The crew handed out paper bags to use for the sea-sickness. A mother with two children sitting across from me giggled. Her nerves were as bad as mine.  I giggled with her too. I had no other way of releasing my growing anxiety. Then I smelt the now, free-flowing vomit in the cabin. It was no laughing matter. The terrible smells threatened to loosen the contents of my stomach.

I spent the rest of the boat trip concentrating on breathing through my mouth and suppressing the wrenching sounds in my throat. Not funny!

I made it to Fremantle Harbour with an unused, paper vomit bag. Had the smells been any stronger and the journey any longer…

My mother on Rottnest Island

   6.   My most embarrassing moment was caused by an automatic toilet door.

I’ve never been a fan of the stainless steel, unisex, self-cleaning public toilets with the sliding door and the voice messages. We have the talking toilets in my outback city so I’m not a novice at using them. I just didn’t fully appreciate the ten minute time limit to using them in Perth.

When I unknowingly reached my time limit, the sliding door automatically slid open. I was caught with my pants down, sitting on the toilet with a clear view of the public square in front of me. 

Not funny!

But the comedy of errors that followed only added to my woes.

late afternoon at Cottesloe Beach, Perth

When the door automatically opened, my mother stared at me in shock.

“Mum, hit the button again,” I yelled as I attempted to cover my dignity as best I could, under the trying circumstances.

“I didn’t touch the button,” my mother said with indignity. She misunderstood me. She thought I was accusing her of prematurely opening the door.

“Mum, push the button to shut the door,” I said, trying again to get her help.

“Where’s the button?” Mum asked, moving in a stilted walk as her eyes searched the outside wall. She eventually found it and pressed the button hard. The door didn’t move. The shocked look on her face didn’t change either.

“Mum, press the button on the inside wall.” It was my last hope. If Mum couldn’t help, I would have to get up, clutching my knickers and do it myself.

My mother succeeded. At last, the damn toilet door slid shut.

A day later, Mum told me the group of people who were waiting to use the toilet laughed and giggled as our drama unfolded.

Thanks Mum!

Truly, the unforgettable highlights of my holidays could happen in other places around the world. Public transport and facilities causes crowding and mingling with strangers. Unexpected and embarrassing moments connected me with the throngs of humanity. 

Truly, I’m glad to be back home in the country and driving my own car to go places.

Live, love and laugh, friends!

Have a good week.

Cheers, 
Ashlyn.