Vicar’s Got Talent?

On 26/06/2013 By auntyamoIn Getting to grips with God stuff, Random Ramblings2 Comments

Well now, it seems that the jury is out on the flashmob dancing vicar!

It’s been very interesting watching the reaction. I’ve seen the youtube clip posted loads of times, with comments ranging from the likes of – ‘this is fantastic!’ to ‘this is the worse thing you will ever see.’

I’ve read Christians who think ‘YEAH God is fun – I want my pastor to do this!’ and a self-confessed atheistic complain that ‘church is a place of worship’ and that this was disrespectful. I’ve also read a blog post by a priest who wonders if this is the type of thing that has the CofE numbers falling. I highly doubt that flashmobs are the reason for low church attendance. (Unless you count the two ladies who walked out in the middle of the dance routine.)

The thing that struck me was the fact that the bride and the vicar spent a lot of their time chatting. Now I’m only guessing but I reckon it might have been something like,

medium_6861100527 greek dancers cropped — We should be grateful that we weren’t subjected to Stavros Flatley… I suppose!

“You doing anything later?”
“Eh, yeah I just got married.”
“Of course sorry. I meant to ask you actually, how is that dress staying up?”
“Oh I’m wired into, don’t worry it’s very secure,… Hang on, where are Aunty Maureen and Aunty Mavis going?”
“Huh? who?”
“Hey be careful for your bit, don’t trip over your cassock again. “
“Gosh that would be embarrassing – oh here’s my cue, back in a sec…”
“Go on girl, you’ve got the moves like Hagar…”

I’ll be honest and say I don’t feel that strongly about it either way, which is a bit weird for me actually. I think it’s a bit cute. This couple have been together years and I think it’s great that they decided to get married. The article in the papers suggest that the ‘type’ of vicar that she was helped make their decision.

I do have a little niggle about it though… I’ve been singing at weddings for years – about 25 I’d say. Most of them have been Roman Catholic weddings, and I’ve seen things change over that time. But one thing that has stayed constant is that during the Mass, the songs have to be Christian. So as the bride walks in, during the signing of the register and as the couple leave – the music can be more personal to them; but during the ceremony it is preferred that the music be ‘holy’. I actually like that. I like that there’s a bit of demarcation; a section where we acknowledge that something special is happening here and we should respect it.

So though I’m not against the flashmob I wonder if, smack bang in the middle of the bit where God has joined the two together is the most appropriate place for it, Maybe they could have flash mobbed out of the church when it was all done and dusted.
But hey… mine is just one of many opinions on this thing. The clip has gone viral and seems to have everyone talking – and that’s no bad thing.

Oh and don’t judge Aunty Mavis and Aunty Maureen for leaving. My guess is they went out to the car to get their driving shoes so they could join in.

God bless and don’t forget… Everybody dance now…

photo credit: DimitraTzanos via photopin cc

Blog Awards Ireland 2013

On 23/06/201302/08/2013 By auntyamoIn Writing, Blogging etc2 Comments

Nominations are now open for Blog Awards Ireland 2013 and this isn’t only a punt for my blog. You should go nominate any Irish blog you love.

There are two new categories open this year. Best Youth Blog and Best Blog from the Irish Diaspora. So on the night we’ll probably have a live satellite-link to the winner of that one.
Very Oscar-esque 🙂

One of the categories I really enjoyed last year was ‘Best Blog Post.’ This is where one individual post is nominated and it is the only category that goes to public vote.
(After nomination, all other categories are judged.)

Maybe there is a post of mine that has stood out for you and you’d like to nominate it…
A few popular ones in the last year are

“I am what I am” – Could I live by this paralympic anthem?

Suicide Awareness Day 2012

Dear Twitter

So if any of those take your fancy for ‘Best Blog Post’ or you reckon the blog itself is worthy of a nomination in ‘Best Personal’ or ‘Best Lifestyle’ maybe… please do nominate by clicking here or the big grey button up there on the right. All categories are on the same page, so you just scroll until you find the relevant ones and fill in the details. The email for this blog is amowriting [at] gmail [dot] com

Thanks a mil for reading and commenting etc – I really appreciate it folks;
and all the best to Irish bloggers everywhere 🙂 x

Five Minute Friday – Rhythm

On 21/06/201325/07/2014 By auntyamoIn Five MInute Friday, Writing, Blogging etc10 Comments

Here we go with this week’s Five Minute Friday…
Five minutes of unedited, non stop writing on this week’s given theme ‘Rhythm’

I’m very strict when it comes to timing.
I don’t mean time keeping, I’m rubbish at that. No, I mean rhythm…

I teach singing and guitar and I’m always trying to drum it in to my pupils (pardon the pun) – the importance of keeping the beat. The whole thing falls apart if the beat isn’t right.

Rhythm… it’s all about the rhythm… No point in 12 quick beats and then nothing for a few seconds and them some more rushed timing. Steady, steady as she goes.

At the moment I’m up to my eyes in writing deadlines. Which is hugely exciting for me. I don’t get paid to write – not yet anyway 🙂 but I’m ok with that. I love it. Have found my thing. But I have come to the conclusion that I have to get in to a rhythm. I can’t do nothing for a few days and then try to cobble stuff together.
If I’m gonna take this seriously well… I have to take it seriously.

I need to heed my own words and get into some steady timing, a regular flow, then who knows what fabulous lyrics and melody will follow?

photo credit: pippoapg via photopin cc

Do you know what ‘Umwelt’ means?

On 19/06/201301/04/2018 By auntyamoIn April AtoZ, Writing, Blogging etcLeave a comment

I didn’t know what it meant until recently.

I met the 1 Hundred Works guys via the AtoZ blogging challenge, which I took part in over on my fiction blog. Akhil and Ayush are two lovely, zany guys who have a passion for blogging and developing an international community around it.

They started a blog called 1 Hundred Works and aimed to get 100 articles written by different folk, about different subjects and I was privileged to be one of the hundred. But that was only the start of it. Their next challenge was the ‘Project 100 contest’.
100 bloggers all writing on the same word prompt and that word is ‘Umwelt’. The competition will be judged but 15% of the marks are given for ‘likes’ and comments on your post. This is to raise the profile of the site but also to encourage folk to work on their marketing and promotion skills.

medium_6155996438 (1) for umwelt on auntyamo.com — In the story Sebastian is a man who likes his privacy

Dictionary.com says ‘umwelt’ means “the environmental factors, collectively, that are capable of affecting the behaviour of an animal or individual; from the German Umwelt meaning environment.”

I decided to write a fictional story that was kind of inspired by my new neighbours and how their style of living (which is very different to the previous tenants’) has changed my day to day living experience.

If you have time to pop over to read my Umwelt post entitled Moving the Threshold that would be great. If the subject itself intrigues you and you have some time, have a read of a few of them. The different ‘takes’ on the word are amazing – it’ll take me a year to read them all 🙂

On the 23rd of June the counting stops and the judges’ decision will be announced on the 25th.
I haven’t had much luck with competitions but hand-on-heart, I am really enjoying them and every time I enter one I learn something. 🙂

photo credit: fiddle oak via photopin cc

Five Minute Friday – Listen

On 14/06/201325/07/2014 By auntyamoIn Five MInute Friday, Getting to grips with God stuff, Random Ramblings8 Comments

I really enjoyed Five Minute Friday that last time I did it, so here goes…
Five minutes of unedited, non stop writing on this week’s given theme ‘Listen’

I can’t stand noises that I don’t know what they are. I find an unusual noise frightening, and I have to go and investigate to see what it is. The most repeated phrase in my house after “pass the chocolate” is… “Sshhhh, listen, what’s that noise?”

The weirdest ‘find’ ever was when I heard a fast scratching sound that would last a few seconds and then stop for half a minute and then start again. Of course (!) the beloved couldn’t hear it and after a few goes I had to get out of bed and find what it was. I followed the sound to his side of the bed and it was definitely coming from under his bedside locker.

I moved the locker and a HUGE beetle was on his back, legs scrabbling trying to turn himself back over. As you can imagine I reacted in a calm and measured way… After screaming the house down, the husband was dispatched to return the beast to its natural habitat.

I’m not kidding, I hear everything. Every little sound and squeak.
But it’s important to me that someone else hears it.
When it happens, I don’t just want him to listen to the noise.
I want him to listen to me.
Listen to my fear.
Reassure me that it’s nothing.

Needy? Maybe.
Silly? Yes.
Important to me? Absolutely vital!

photo credit: cszar via photopin cc

Done and Dusted :)

On 13/06/201313/06/2013 By auntyamoIn My Cornea Transplant, Writing, Blogging etc3 Comments

I’ve been studying pretty much non-stop since I moved back into Ireland in 2007. I started by doing the last stage of my Theology degree by distance learning and then straight away started the Masters programme. If you read my Next Big Thing post I mentioned that the project I was about to embark on was my M.A. dissertation. Well I pondered it for a while and in the meantime had to majorly edit/rewrite a paper I’d already submitted.

I’ve been working on the MA for almost 4 years. My eye trouble slowed me down and after the cornea transplant I never really caught up. Then a year ago I started to write fiction and I’ll be honest, I let it distract me even further. It was too enjoyable to resist.

Clever cupcakes origin_2475149762 — If I’m gonna graduate there must be cake!

So I’ve decided to take a long break from the M.A. Today I handed in the last paper – for now. Presuming I pass it, I’ll be able to graduate with a Post Grad Diploma in Applied Theology and because I’ve finished properly I can step back into the programme to do the dissertation stage and finish the M.A.

You know some decisions in life that are really hard? Well this one wasn’t. It was simple. Bottom line I want to be free to write about what two people on a park bench might say to each other.

p&P — Next to The Bible – the best book ever!

I am so grateful to the team at the Irish Bible Institute who’ve always been so supportive and when recently I was going to throw the towel in, they encouraged me to finish well and bow out in a way that left the door open for me to continue where I left off.

So… I can finally read Pride and Prejudice again. Before my studying started I read it every year since I discovered it. I plan to read lots of other stuff too and write plenty as well.

First stop – The Tribe Writers course by Jeff Goins. I’ve registered but til now have only dabbled.

Time to get stuck in…

photo credits:
clevercupcakes via photopin cc
My very own well-thumbed copy of P&P 🙂