Off The Beaten Track in Aotearoa

My Dream Reader

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Zero To Hero: Assignment Six

Write a letter to my dream reader, the assignment said. Include techie things you’ve never done before (my paraphrase).

I thought it would be the techie bits that would be the big challenge. Spotify has had me baffled up till now. And I got all worried about copyright on YouTube. I began to wonder about take down notices. Another student on the Commons 101 explained that to me, so all’s good – I hope.

But all in all, those aren’t the bits that have stumped me – she types optimistically – not having tried to actually embed anything into the post yet.

What’s stumped me was working out who my Dream Reader(s) might actually be. I’m never one to keep it simple!

Maybe she’s my Mum. Mum loved a practical joke, often got herself all in a lather  from taking on too much, sometimes had difficulty negotiating awkward social moments, and she never lost her  sense of wonder. An example of that was back in the early 90s when I bought my first cell-phone. I had both the boys in the car and we  parked on the road beneath my parents’ home. In those days they lived on the edge of a cliff – precarious but an incredible view right across our town. When I telephoned Mum she dropped the phone (no cordless phones then) and waved to us from their picture window. If she visited my house now – it’d blow her mind! And then she’d want to try everything out. She’d cotton on quickly, too. From just following her nose – the same way I do.

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Mum and Dad – way back in the early days

And then again maybe my Dream Reader is my Dad. He loved the limelight, did Dad. And he lived long enough to master emails. He didn’t get a Facebook account but oh, how he would have loved one! He did make it on to YouTube thanks to the efforts of my cousins, Calvin and Dean.

Both my parents loved to travel and they travelled widely, together and separately.  All of their children and many of their grandchildren have travelled, some extensively. Which brings me to my next group of Dream Readers:  those of you who follow me from all over the world. I know some of you are interested in life here at the bottom of the world. Before I got carried away with trying to identify my Dream Reader I was going to make this post all about the weather in New Zealand. That post would have included clips of the Crowded House songs which reference the weather.  Because, you see, us  Kiwis, we’re obsessed with it and with good reason. It’s unpredictable and can be extreme around here. I’ll keep it to just the one clip, and maybe sometime in the future I’ll write that post about antipodean weather

[spotify id=”spotify:track:2TNXzqz0E36QkKKsKrMUcd” width=”300″ height=”380″ /]

I’ve considered the possibility that I’m writing to my kids. But that’s only partly correct. They’re more like my dream problem solvers – as I’ve mentioned previously. Of course, when they do read my posts and tell me their reactions I’m absolutely chuffed.

Miranda’s a Dream Reader.  We’ve never met  but I know she and I would be best friends forever.  When stuff happens to me like the Billy Connelly episode the other week, I think I’m channelling Miranda from up there in the Northern hemisphere, to down here in the South Pacific.

And then there’s the baby who was with her family in the pew in front of me on Easter Sunday.  She’s a cutie. It’s almost a year since her baptism – that was a memorable day. I can’t pretend to know her or her family well but I do have this idea we have a sort of belonging that comes from attending the same parish.  On Sunday, her Mum let her have her cell-phone for a moment or two. I tell you that little girl, with her dainty index finger knew exactly the movements required to open an android smart phone.  She’s growing up in a world where  thanks to technology, 3D printing and open source knowledge, they’ll be printing food. Laugh away, oh ye doubters – time will tell. If, one day, that little girl came across a post of mine and laughed or wondered over something I’d written, well that would be ideal!

I have one last Dream Reader – Aristotle.  He’s the one who said a good story has a beginning and a middle and an end. I’d like him to say to me: Yeah, Jill, you’re finally getting the hang of that structure thing.  In other word KISS and quit while you’re ahead!

So, if nothing else, it’s clear I don’t have one particular Dream Reader. There’s  all of you, in fact, who’ve made it to the end of this post with me. Thanks! And look! Along the way I’ve figured out how to embed music and YouTube clips  – fingers crossed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: Off The Beaten Track in Aotearoa, Zero to Hero

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23 replies »

  1. What a fun post! And I made it to the end, so I guess I’m in the class of “Dream Reader” 😀 You had me smiling while reading about your parents. They both sound so delightful.

    So on a completely different note, I have nominated you for the fun and silly Liebster Award: http://christinmcleod.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/and-the-liebster-award-goes-to-drumroll-please/

    You can play along if you like (If someone didn’t beat me to it). 😀 Happy Day!!!

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  2. Didn’t you do well Jill… and yes I watched that Miranda video right through. Don’t think she is over here yet but I became a fan when I was in NZ earlier this year.

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  3. The dedication to your parents was lovely.
    And the little girl at Easter? ^_^ Very multigenerational ^_^
    (Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but printed food doesn’t sound very tasty.)

    I’ve nominated your blog for the Liebster Award. If you are interested in participating, I have instuctions and 11 questions for you to answer at http://euphoniccharity.com/2014/04/25/1322/

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  6. I really enjoyed reading this post – and wanted to come back and comment. First, enjoyed the snippets- and photo – of your parents. Cool that your dad got to email. 🙂
    also, did not know the weather was so unpredictable where you are – and well, I really enjoyed the way you described the baby in the front row – and the sense of unity you felt by being int he parish – it was also just a feeling of social loving and connecting – and was so warm that it moved me.
    and I did not get to watch much of the video – (a bit too long for me, but that’s just me) however, the first part was super funny. 🙂 looks like a great comedy show.

    anyhow, hope you have a great day – and I am glad to be one of your varied readers. 🙂
    ~yvette

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    • Our weather is crazy. I never really thought about it until we were visiting our children in Bangkok and they were having a laugh at the way us kiwis are always talking about the weather. It is often literally four seasons in one day. And of course where they’ve been living, bar some seasonal changes, if it was hot and humid yesterday, chances are that’s what it will be like today, and tomorrow, and the day after that!
      Thank-you so much for your friendly comment – the Miranda video is too long. Only die hard fans like me and my sister and my nieces would watch that to the end I think. If I knew how, I’d have just kept it to that opening scene : I think of it as The Miranda Hello.

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      • well thanks for the reply. and regarding the long video – well one perk about posting the whole thing – is that sometimes people – or one person – may watch the whole thing – we just never know and it has the advantage of being available. 🙂

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  9. Lovely post, great music (embedded well), haven’t watched the video yet – but I will. Well done. 🙂
    P.S good cousin names too, my dad was called Calvin.

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  11. Well you did very well’ I’m still struggling to put text on a photo as my techie challenge. I decided that my dream reader was my grandchildren as I will be no more when they are adult. I want them to know me through my writing – and to know how much I love them 💖

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