Being Back on the Radio

I loved being back at PBA FM, after being away from there for so long! Formerly, I’d been there as one of the presenters of the ‘WORDS OUT LOUD’ Program (I’m fairly sure that was the name of the show). Today I was there as a guest for Nick and Beth, on their program, Short and Sweet Spoken Word.

The three of us talked about what I’ve been doing word-wise lately, so I jumped at the chance to talk about some of what I’ve been up to. So of course I jumped at the chance!

Talking on the radio is something I’m quite good at, as it turns out. I’m not any use at the mastering the panel thing – I know I was trained in it quite a few years ago, but my brain said, nup, don’t wanna do that, so the lesson fell though.

That didn’t matter, because Nick and Beth were there, managing that part, and they kept it all going nicely! I was able to speak about my writing, poetry, blogging, editing of a newsletter, and creation of an Art Installation.

The presenters had a copy of that newsletter, so could see what I was doing with that, and that led nicely on to the RUST & FOUND Art Installation – because after Beth had got that newsletter up on her screen, she could see some of the pictures of found objects that have become a part of that Art Installation.

So we spoke about that, and also the recent event Beth and I were both at, in Gawler, the Gawler MAP event, where the Governeor of South Australia was recently a guest, and did a fine job of it.

And once we’d finished talking aobut me and my writing, Beth had a kind of quiz, for Nick and I to think on, and answer. She had a list with two versions of particular words (one correct way to say the word, and the other incorrect way, and we had to choose which was the correct pronunciation.

And because this was radio, Beth read out the two versions of the words, because just showing us the words would make ‘dead air’, instead of fine radio! It was fun.

Being on the radio is something I’m happily do more of, if and when I can! Just don’t ask me to ‘man’ the panel, because I just can’t do it!

And being able to talk about the Art Installation was an awesome opportunity! While the Art Installation has now been largely created (on and along my front fence!), there are still spaces to be filled!

And my walking of our dog and looking for (and finding) rusty items of interest (to me and viewers of this Installation too, I hope), well this is keeping the dog exercised, and me too, so we’re both keeping fit and healthy!

And the curation part of the Redbanks RUST & FOUND Art Installation is keeping my brain healthy as well, and I consider the various aspects of what I’m doing – the placement of objects, whether or not items are and aren’t relevant for this installation …

I don’t think the Installation isn’t ever going to be completely finished, for as long as I go on walking, which I hope to do at least four or more times a week! And putting it together and considering the placement of pieces is only a part of it, because there’s the promotion aspects too, as this Radio session was to some extent.

And of course the Mallala Crossroad Chronicle, the newsletter I edit is a perfect avenue for me to talk about what I’m doing with our front fence! And the even more exciting part of that is that the Adelaide Plains Mayor is going to Open the Art Installation for me!

And not only is he going to open it, he will be speaking about a particular rust item form his own place (and I hope), giving it to me to be put on display as a part of the Redbanks RUST & FOUND Art Installation!

And if it turns out he’s only showing it to us for the purpose of his talk, and he takes it home with him again that will be fine too. After all, there are over four hundred individual items on and along our fence and front gate! And that number is growing, every time I head outside!

In fact this morning, I and my support worker/Installation assistant placed out a much larger item, a nice big rusty Exercise Bike, that had been left idle on our front veranda for goodness knows how many years. It’s now got a proper role in life!

I think I’ll have to write a poem about that! I’m going to write a book, a non fiction book, with the working title of “Rust & Found – the Making of the Redbanks Art Installation’. The book will have some poems about this project, including some poetry about some of the items.

I suspect the work on that book will be a lot more ‘on the way’ than it is right now whn the Installation is Opened, but it won’t be published then, it will be quite a bit later.. The Opening of Installation is happening on 5 May this year, which is only a couple of months away …

Another relevant time to have a book out might be for the Gawler & Adelaide Plains Festival of Words – Scenes, which is happening at the end of July this year … But I think it’s not going to be ready then either. Festival 2025 – that may be the time to launch that book. It gives me a deadline that is reasonable, and do-able.

And when that book comes out, you can bet I’ll be looking for more opportunities to go on the radio again then!

Life Is What You Make It!

Apparently Eleanor Roosevelt said that. And itsn’t that so true? You sit back and laze, never lifting a finger to do for than you absolutely, and you life comes to not that much at all, but if you do as much as you can at your job, or sport, or whatever it is that lights you up with hope and thoughts of what you can achieve, you’re much more likely to make an excellent life for yourself.

If you have ideas, run with them you can succeed, maybe not hte first time, but it you learn from what didn’t work the first time, and try something else, and better, until it works, woohoo, you’ve made it, you hero!

At the moment, I’m living a great life and I’m doing my very best to go on living a great life! I’m active, both physically and mentally, and in my community. I make plans and work on them, some of them go better than others do, but they’re all things that keep me positive, and doing ‘stuff’!

Sitting around doing nothing? Well it may look like I’m doing that sometimes, but often the reality is that I’m giving myself some ‘ME’ time, to refresh myself, ready for the next thing I’m going to do. Sure I have a novel I’m ‘writing’ that looks like it may never be published, but I’m thinking about it, on some of those ‘ME’ times, and I do in fact write a bit more of it regularly.

Just because ‘regularly’ means once a week, for twenty minutes, well, so be it. My favoured genres for writing are for short pieces, not novels. And every time I write something, anything, and send it out into the world, I can improve what I do, in terms of quality, audience reach, money making (haha what a joke miniscule amounts!), and enjoyment for myself as well.

I love to write, I’ve been doing it for some of my childhood and much of my adult life. I have in fact written a novel, which may one day be brushed off, edited and sent off to a publisher! That’s not one of the items of things to do this year, but next year, maybe it will make that list!

This year I decided to begin something possibly bigger than I’ve done before, in terms of public events and community connection. I decided I was going to create an Art Installation! Me! What did I know about such things? Not a thing, I don’t even have an Arts degree!

But I do have a creative mind, and I have many, many thoughts building into ideas. And the ‘Redbanks RUST & FOUND Art Installation’ is one such thought that turned into an idea, and is now an Art Installation being created! In fact I’ve more or less finished the main part of the creation aspect of this Installation, and I’m getting more into the curation side of things.

This morning I do some of that curation aspect – I had some more items to be put out on display, so I went to the Art Installation (which is actually my Rusty front fence), to place those items on display. While I was there, I decided to move some previously place items to better display them, in less cramped spaces.

Then I completed some work I’d begun during the week, to better display one particular small type of piece (beer bottle caps). I continued looking at what I’d alreadty done over the months since this project started, and realised one item I’m quite proud of having on display, wasn’t in a good enough space, so I moved it so it could attract more attention.

And now, much of hte space that this Art Installation is in, is more or less filled, in that there is something on display, at least every two metres along the front fence. That areas around each item will continue to be filled, not to crowding, but in ways to show what is there, possibly for the rest of my life!

You see, these display items, yes they were found, most of them, and mostly found while walking our dog! So this Art Installation is keeping both my body and my mind active. And the really exciting part is that this Art Installation is going to have it’s Official Opening on the 5th of May this year, by the Adelaide Plains Mayor!

Redbanks, where I live, and so where this Art Installation is, is a part of the Adeliade Plains Council region. There not a lot goin gon there, not that can be seen by others, there are no open shops and the only public building is the Redbanks Hall, which has fallen into disrepair.

If I can draw attention to this township via the Redbanks RUST & FOUND Art Installation, perhaps that might bring the Redbanks Community together, and be a further impetus to get that old hall (built in 1935, I think), back up and going as a regular meeting place for the residents of Redbanks, and others from around the place!

It may be not all people living here would be as keen on this idea as I am, but it may be that some of theme definitely are! I’m going to put out a notice in letterboxes in the township soon looking for responses concerning all of this, and we’ll see what happens. It may fall flat, and not have anyone else interested in it, there may be people who hate the idea, and want a quiet like, not people from elsewhere looking around here.

But it may become a thing the residents of the township of Redbanks can be proud of, and it could be the thing that finally brings us all together, and the whole of our township reaches out, and becomes more than just somewhere to go home to after work, and more or less ignoring anyone else living there.

There are already a couple of other places in Redbanks that have displays in their front yards, and they look great, I would love it if other Redbanks residents may be keen to put on more of a show as well, and we could all one day get together to look around at what others have done that they’re proud to show off to others!

At the moment, Redbanks is a township, but it doesn’t feel like a community. I want it to be a great community that cares about making all of our township shine with pride of our achievements! An Anzac day display in the front yard – that’s fantastic, a front yard display of old farming equipment, wonderful! An Art Installation made up of Rusty and Found objects, great!

Getting together and doing things, that’s what makes community. I hope I can help get this kind of thing happening again in Redbanks, starting when all of the township, and others, will be invited to the Grand Opening of the Redbanks Rust & Found Art Installation!