To really listen

Post two! I've been a bit busy this week...

First of all is another card. I started off by embossing a tag, gluing on a wooden flourish and a prima heart, then spraying it with Lindy's sprays. I was stuck with what to do then so I decided to incorporate it into a card. I stuck it on vintage paper, then die cut gears painted with copper paint, spring greenery inked with peeled paint distress ink, and flowers inked with Victorian velvet distress ink. I used a stickle in the centre of each flower, then die cut the word mum before assembling the card.

I've also been making some bracelets. Some of them were simple beaded strings, others were weaved in a pattern. I used crimp beads for the ends. (Love crimp beads, but I need some things for corded ends because I have a lot of cords in my stash)

I finished a cross stitch piece! This one is going to be a gift for someone. I've already started setting up my next one.

Headphones cover ears,
drums vibrate with spoken words
that weave a story

This week's challenge was to listen to an audiobook. I've read a lot of books but, aside from the free tapes that came with Roland Rat and Werebear toys, I've never listened to one. Until now that is. I got my chosen one from the library, costing £2 for three weeks. (Another reason why I prefer written to audio - imagine having to pay £2 for each book I rented? I'd be broke!) I settled on Brainchild by John Saul.

There were 10 discs, with about 11 hours of recording. Judging by the first two discs, I would have easily read that book and started the next by the time it had taken me to listen to the first two CD's. The narrator was American, male. His voice for the female characters was vapid, irritating me. It's one of the few times that I was glad women didn't make much of an appearance in a book. Occasionally the flow was wrong too; odd pauses in a sentence. Not the way I would have read it at all. The other problem was that the CD's were broken into tracks, and when one ended the next one didn't automatically begin, so there were numerous patches of dead air.

The story itself was a weird mishmash of entitled teenagers, science fiction, an old grudge/curse or two; of which one reason for what has happened in the narrative was a little pathetic to be honest. Not what I expected from the blurb on the back at all. There was a plothole that wasn't resolved, and a tacked on ending to potentially add a sequel. To give the writer his due, it was published in 1985, when that kind of horror pulp-fiction was very popular. It just wasn't my cup of tea, and neither was listening to a book. I like books to go at my own pace, which is a lot faster than an audiobook. Unfortunately if I sped it up to my natural speed, I'd be listening to the Chipmunks! I think the only thing that will change my mind is if I find the perfect narrator.

Till next time

Ems