Zolia Lily

I'm going to haul you up right there by the scruff of your neck, Mark! So you're not a moderator or admin, and are younger than other members and have only your own experience to fall back on- I don't think any of this makes you any less important than anyone else or any less able to be the one to create a panel or a group. After all, we each only have our own experiences to fall back on, and I think everyone's experiences are equally important. Shall we start one then, Mark? I've been a bit absent but I'm trying to make time to be online more now i'm settled in my new home and job... I have no idea what starting a group or panel involves or how it's done, but getting people talking and giving people the chance to reach out is something I feel really strongly about and would definitely get involved in.

Finding what works for you is the hardest part, but once you've got it, you have those methods and plans to fall back on for the rest of your life. Did you know that people that recover from depression without the aid of medication are less likely to relapse? Also, that councillor should be taken out the back and shot. Or maybe just struck off. lol. It's a hard road, but you're doing awesome

Gah, my computer won't load the video! I would have liked to have heard his accent Will have to try again later. Great article though.

I used to suffer from depression and was medicated for a few years. Still every now and again I can feel myself heading that way. I have learnt to recognise the signs. I probably once was one of the people who beleived you can snap out of it, that it's all just in your head, and even when i was depressed sometimes i used to wonder if i wasn't secretly some sort of masochist and enjoying being that way. But it's not like that. It's a chemical imbalance in your brain, and it's a societal illness.There are symptoms and it's clinically diagnosable. If it was easy to get out of, if people could just 'cheer up', then I think they would. I was too afriad to tell anyone how i was feeling for fear of being told i was imagining things, or that i should just get over it. This meant i went on the way i was for a long time, even knowing something was wrong, too afraid to ask for help. Recovering from depression can be through a combination of medication and cognitive therapy. There are definitely things which can help. I read about a study recently that said women were less likely to be depressed if they spoke to an old friend for at least one hour each week, and I really do beleive that being social, that reconnecting with friends and making time for them (even when you really don't feel like it) really makes a difference. One of the biggest feelings i had when i was depressed was that i was alone in the world entirely, a really strong feeling of complete isolation. I think one of the worst things for someone who is depressed is being told that they are being self-pitying or that it's their fault. This only reinforces that feeling of isolation and feelings of hopelessness and makes it harder for them to open up. Depression is so common now- it shouldn't still have the stigma attached to it that it does. Being able to talk about it and understand it is really important for depression sharing the image that it has. back, Mark!

Have to preface this by saying I've never been in a relationship, so this is all pretty theoretical. So far, pretty sure I'm straight. Lady bits scare me a little. That said, I'm usually attracted to men who are pretty, feminine and small and girls who are tomboyish, slender short-haired etc. I feel like i could definitely live without straight men, though. Most of my friends are either girls or gay, and I don't feel like i'm missing out on anything. I suspect I could quite happily have a relationship with a girl, if she was the one. I'd just have to get over the 'lady bits' thing first...

I'd be a cat or a bird if i had a choice. Cat - sleeping anywhere and everywhere and lots sounds good to me. Also, being able to purr seems like a serious skill. Bird- being able to fly? Hoo yes Recently, however, my friends have decided I would be a squirrel. I think this is kind of cool. The climbing thing, and being adorable... I got Wolf in the quiz, which is pretty cool too. The biggest problem I would have with being an animal is the whole eating other animals business. I might have to be something low down on the food chain so I can be vegetarian...

You know, i've started to do the opposite. I've started using American terminology and phrasing in my writing AND my speech. In my writing i can usually correct it or change it to what i want. Speaking? not so much. I tend to speak without thinking. And when you say 'sidewalk' in Australia, people are going to look at you funny. Where a word is from or if it's the right word in the country i'm in has started being something i really have to think about! Still, i guess you really would hope if you're purposefully setting your story in another country that you would do the research...

Have you heard of Hyperbole and a Half before? Best blog on grammar mistakes ever http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

For a long time i was in the 'no, never, definitely not' catagory... I babysit, and the best thing about babysitting is that you get to give the kids back to their parents at the end of the night and there's usually lots of junk food and movies involved. Not bad. Now... i think i would adopt. I don't know what the current figure is, but a few years back there used to be something like 100,000 baby girls abandoned in China every year, and more than 60,000 orphans in Romania (?). I'm all for adoption. Also, fostering would be cool.

One of my favourite favourite favouritest songs in the whole wide world (I think that all the songs on the album 'Ghost' have fantastic lyrics... but this one's my favourite..........) Radical Face, ' Welcome Home' - Sleep don't visit, so I choke on sun, let the days burn into one. The backs of my eyes, all the things i've never done Sheets are swaying on an old clothesline, like a row of captured ghosts over old dead grass. Was never much but we made the most... Welcome home... Ships are launching from my chest, some have names but most do not. If you find one please, let me know what piece i've lost. Heal the scars from off my back, i don't need them anymore. you can throw them out, or keep them in your Mason jars... I've come home... All my nightmares escaped my head, bar the door, please don't let them in. You were never supposed to leave, now my head's splitting at the seams... and i don't know if i can... ( Here, beneath my lungs, i feel your thumbs press into my skin again... )

a) have to say i did read the first three books. What can i say? Once i started i couldn't stop. It was once i stopped and THOUGHT about what i was reading that i freaked out more than a little. my sister cried in the second movie. CRIED. in the MOVIE. Not sure why i'm dot pointing. Oops. Ok. so reasons i dislike Twilight : Bella is pathetic. COME ON, give us a good, strong, spunky female lead! Why does a whiny, annoying, needy, boring teenage girl have not ONE, but TWO guys falling all over her??? Edward is mean, manipulative, possessive, controlling and ... well, sparkly. Don't get me wrong, i LOVE sparkles... but in moderation, right? And then... SHE WENT AND CHOSE THE VAMPIRE! AAAAAAARGH!!! (i'm a werewolf girl at heart. Always have been. Pre - Twilight. I mean, seriously. You go on a date with a vampire? He can't enjoy his meal. He just wants to eat YOU, and once your blood's all gone, well, that's not much fun, now, is it? and they're COLD and DEAD. And ok, maybe fangs are cool (???) but he can't leave his house in daylight. Give me a werewolf anyday )

I actually think it's important that your dialogue and narrative stand out. Even when i'm writing in first person, in a stream of consciousness narrative, I think my character's speech is different from his/ her thoughts. For me, the idea is that no one speaks perfectly. People do say 'gonna' (sorry, Nephy...) and 'like' and 'you know' , and often over use them. People also make mistakes - backtrack, stammer, repeat themselves, 'um' and 'ah', pause at opportune and inopportune moments... I use all of these things as tools, and i think they're all acceptable in dialogue - the only thing is overuse. Then, ya know, they can all become a bit , like .... annoying. Enough to give us an idea i think is all you need.

"flipflops" (or 'thongs', for my fellow Aussies) are kind of just about our national shoe. Everyone wears them. Everywhere. My sister broke them out when she was in Sweden on exchange just as soon as it got warm enough that her toes wouldn't freeze. Everyone kept asking her where her shoes were.

* nice * - quite honestly, couldn't you find a better word?? 'nice' makes my teeth hurt.

As an Aussie, i have to say, not many of us would think our accent is sexy. My sister got told she sounds like a farmer, and her accent is like mine- a very very mild aussie accent. As for me, Irish and Welsh, i think, and then Scottish. As an Aussie, i have to say, not many of us would think our accent is sexy. My sister got told she sounds like a farmer, and her accent is like mine- a very very mild aussie accent. As for me, Irish and Welsh, i think, and then Scottish.

I used to sleep with my Tonka Truck. I loved it that much. Of course, i also had Barbies, Barbies, Barbies.... And i had a cousin. He used to wear pink frilly girls bathers and had dolls and got terribly picked on at school. Now he's tattoed, rides some sort of motor bike, has a reptile obsession, a steady girlfriend and plans to marry her, is happy, healthy, all grown up, and one of the nicest turned out young men in my extended family. Didn't exactly inflict any psychological damage. I've read that it's good for boys to have at least one doll as a child- NOT Barbie, however. She's too sexual and disproportionate etc etc etc. Instead, something like Dora the explorer is more neutral, but also teaches boys about nurturing and caring. Much as it's fun to play with trucks (and tanks), I think that's an important thing for children of both genders to learn.

OOOh you sound SO like me! This is how i write too- and man... it's tough! Recently i've been trying to write dotpoints for antying i miss (H, I, J, K, for instance, while i then continue writing L, M, N) and then trying to go back and write the bits in between when things are flowing. This sometimes helps and sometimes doesn't. Also, sometimes i find a deadline reaaaally reaaaaally helps. I really seriously lack self-discipline- so if it's a deadline imposed by someone else (an editor, or for a competition) i can sometimes get it out! However... this can backfire. I think part of it must just be discipline and practice and getting into good habits. I'm getting better at it, but it's still hard. Sorry. Wish there was an instant cure!!!

also- just found this researching for CHapter 2 - SO awesome i had to post it

SHOCK!!! NEVER expected anything from Kyle's end... well. Not like that, anyway! aaaaaaaaahhhh and now what's Coop gonna do??? Argh! More please

Maria- i was getting around to it!!!! Lol- sorry, i hadn't officially announced or anything yet since it was nearly 2am when i was posting and i was falling asleep at the time... But Hooray! Chapter one is up and i now need to hurry and see if i can finish chapter two today :D I think i'm half way done. Not sure. Hard to tell, since i so rarely FINISH anything at all!!!

A song i'd forgotten about totally Tomas! So thank you. It certainly something that's incredibly deeply entrenched in our national identity now, and I think quite differently from a lot of other countries who fought in the World Wars. Both wars had such a huge impact on our history and our identity. I've heard of it referred to as 'the militarization of Australia's history' but at the same time, our recorded history is pretty short and those two wars were huge events which shaped us. This is the song (also by Eric Bogle) which i knew better. It always made me cry as a child - and it still gives me chills.

WOOT! I MAY actually make it!! I'm up to six pages already!!! (my friends will hate me. I've abandoned about three other In-Progress stories to work on this, lol...) ANyway- wanted to ask for clarification.... How long is a chapter? I notice that a lot of the stories on GA seem to be about 8000 words a chapter... but is there actually any sort of guidelines for this or is it all just chance that that's how it turns out??? Thanks :D excitement

I've decided i really want to do this... but a) i have like 6 days (at least it's a long weekend...) and i'm not not not not not good at writing on demand... sooo.... i guess i'll see how i go!!! Eeeekk!!! * feverishly starts scribbling *... edit : HA that was supposed to be a ' b ) ' as in 'point b'. Silly emoticons lols

Lola, by The Kinks, because it's romantic and awesomely awesomely cute and just about my favourite song ever - "Well I'm not the world's most passionate guy But when I looked in her eyes well i almost fell for my Lola la la la la Lola... " "Girls will be boys and boys will be girls it's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola la la la la Lola... " and also a song called "Beds are burning" by Midnight Oil, because it gives me chills (if you listen to it though- the verses aren't great. Listen to the chorus) (and btw- NOT all Aussies sound like him. and Yes, most of us can dance better than him too). "The time has come to say fair's fair to pay the rent to pay our share The time has come a fact's a fact it belong's to them let's give it back How can we dance when our earth is turning How do we sleep while our beds are burning How can we dance when our earth is turning How do we sleep while our beds are burning?" But mostly Lola

I'm what i call a just-in-caser, so i end up carrying lots of things - just in case. In my bag i currently have my wallet, keys, lipbalm, tons of receipts, any old forms or leaflets i've forgotten about, tissues (just in case), minimum 3 pens (just in case), diary, notebook, book, cardigan (just in case), scarf (just in case), and i lost my mini umbrella, but i usually carry one of those too (just in case). Generally though, i'm only completely lost if i forget a pen. Mobile phone? I can live for days without it. Watch? Meh. Wallet? Yeah, i suppose that could be difficult, but i've never forgotten it yet. No worries. But a pen??? Can NOT live without one. EVen if i have no notebook, there's usually a receipt / paper napkin / spare arm to write on. Oh, and my bag is purple with lots of multicoloured polka dots