Friday, April 12, 2024

From slimy to sexy

As I feared my tulips were battered by the storm but they survived, just about. Except this one that broke off when I was trying to tie them up.


Two views of the same bed. Bluebells, tulips, ranunculus and wallflower, with roses and peonies shooting behind. They look prettier in real life.


I was clearing out some of the chopped-down rubbish by the back wall and came across this.

It gave me a fright until I realised it was a dog toy.

* * * * *

Last night I went to 3 Talks at Red Cafe. (Three speakers, each talking for ten minutes on a subject of their choice.)The first woman spoke about old film star, Ronald Colman, and why he never became as famous as Cary Grant. I'm not sure what the answer was as she rushed through it at such a pace it was impossible to keep up. Definitely one of those times when less is more. Or better at least.

Next up was a musician singing his own compositions, and finally, and best, was a man talking about seaslugs!

From Slimy to Sexy, the Salacious Story of Seaslugs. He accompanied his talk with images of seaslugs he'd found around the Gower coast and in Swansea Bay, and they were amazing! Wonderful colours and shapes. Did you know that if seaslugs come into contact with a venomous creature they can absorb the venom into their feathery tentacles and then use it on something else! How amazing is that?

At the end of the evening the compere mentioned they're looking for more speakers. If you recall I did a talk there about Zac's last autumn. I began thinking about whether I could do some sort of book promotion, but that didn't seem quite appropriate, so I had a think what else I could talk about and came up with a very short list.

Grammar. One questioner asked if there were less seaslugs because of global warming. All I heard was  my brain saying 'fewer, fewer.' Then there's 'should of'. I could do a whole rant on 'should of'. 

Breasts. (It's a predominantly female audience.) If you've read my first novel, This Time Next Year, you'll know there's a bra-fitting scene in it. That was based on true life so I thought I could adapt and make more of that, plus talk about the indignities of mammograms, and the 70s when men talked to my chest. And the pros and cons of big boobs. And plug my books. But am I brave enough?




8 comments:

Boud said...

Do it! My son once commented that the best teen advice I gave him was when talking to a girl, look at her face, not her chest!

That talk idea sounds good, a kind of low tech TED talk. Do a lot of women do it, or mainly men?

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Red Cafe may have a policy about using the time slots for one's own merchandise promotion or sale, so I'd just check that first by asking. However, apart from that note of caution, I say "go for it!"

Anvilcloud said...

Oh, I definitely notice less/fewer, and lie/lay is a biggie.

Ann said...

That dog toy would have freaked me out a bit too until I realized what it was.
I think any one of those subjects would be perfect. I recall the days of having guys talk to my chest instead of looking me in the eye. I always hated that.

Kathy G said...

I've never seen a tulip with so many petals! From the angle of your photo it looks like a peony.

Marie Smith said...

I like the idea of those ten minute talks. Go for it, Liz.

Chris said...

When I was younger I didn't have breasts enough to warrant a wandering eye, now I do I'm trying to lose weight to reduce them! Sea slugs sound very interesting!

jabblog said...

Sea slugs sound interesting.
As for grammar, one of my pet hates is 'I was sat' - who put you there?