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The Write Way 15 December 2006 Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs Worthington Greetings, This week, I have a story with a lesson for us all. It's about Good and Evil, Right and Wrong and Enduring Love. Now if that's not just what the doctor ordered, I don't know what is! The setting is the Garden City of Toowoomba, which will be familiar to those of you who may recall that it's located on the Great Dividing Range to the west of Brisbane and was our home when our kids were teenagers ... The main characters are a mysterious couple and a building ... Not just any building, but a building that once housed the Law Courts of this fair city ...
Toowoomba Court House was
built in 1878 and operated until 1979, when the shiny new building was opened
around the corner and down a bit. It was designed by F.D.G. Stanley, the
Colonial Architect, and built with stone quarried from nearby Highfields. The actual construction was
carried out by a local builder called J. Gargett, took nearly three years to
complete and cost a grand total of £6,870. As the city grew, so did its
bureaucratic needs and in 1913, extensions to house the Lands Office were added
for the princely sum of £1,963/10/-. The next additions came in 1943, when another wing and freestanding building were added at a cost of £28,799. So, all in all, the state
and citizens forked out a grand total of £37,632/10/- for their Court House.
Now, I know that £6,870 would have been a great deal of money back in 1879, but
when I tell you the next part of this story you'll scoff at a mere £6,870! You see, after being used as
a motley collection of offices for many years, the old CH is being renovated! And when I say
"renovated" I don't just mean "renovated," I mean
RENOVATED! If you click on the link above, you can see a photo of the Court
House as it was when we were living in Toowoomba a few years ago. It looks good,
but it's nothing compared to what is happening to the Old Girl today. I know this because the Love
of My Life and I spent a couple of days in the area last week. It was our
wedding anniversary, so we decided to revisit some of our old haunts, as you
do. What's that? Oh ... 38 years ... Yes, I was
a child-bride ... and thank you for asking! So there we were, wandering around the city when I glanced across to the CH and was amazed at the beautiful transformation. It looked brand spanking new! The stone walls sparkled (as much as stone can), there was a spiffing new wrought iron fence and fancy gates, a beautiful conservatory - complete with chandeliers ... and everywhere I looked it got better. I've always loved those tall, rounded windows with mullions (not sure what the correct term is, but if you look at the photos, you'll see what I mean). Photos of Toowoomba Court House. We surmised that it was being converted into a boutique hotel and thought it would be just the spot for next year's anniversary outing. Talk about flash! Already fantasising about what it would be like to spend a couple of nights in such a fabulous setting, I popped along to the Council and asked when it would be opening. And did they laugh ... Because, you see, dear reader, this magnificent building that's taken nearly five years to renovate so far and untold squillions of dollars, is not going to be a boutique hotel. It's not even going to be fancy apartments. It's a private residence! As in "Keep Out Peasants!" private. Wow! And the owners (a couple from the capital engaged in the world's oldest profession ... law) don't even plan to live there permanently ... it's just a jolly good spot for popping up to stay when the weather gets a bit steamy in Brissie or there's a good show on at the Empire Theatre! Sigh ... Oh well, if you've got it, flout it, eh? Hmmm ... maybe it would be better to flaunt it then. Flaunt means 'to parade or display ostentatiously' and comes from a Norwegian word flanta meaning 'to show off.' Flout, on the other hand, means 'to treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt; scoff at; mock; to show contempt for.' This one comes from a Middle English word flouten 'to play the flute' ... Don't ask. It becomes a little more understandable if you consider that this in turn comes from a Danish word fluiten meaning 'to play the flute; to jeer." I told you not to ask, didn't I? So now you know what to do if you've got it. And the message is clear, isn't it? Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington, not when she can make a motza in the courts! Here are the lyrics to that wonderfully witty ditty ... so you can sing it all weekend! This week's quiz: Here are some words that are often confused - match up the term with its correct meaning: lectern, podium; turbid, turgid; extemporaneous, impromptu; credible, credulous; tenet, tenant 1. a person or group that rents and occupies land, a house, an office or the like, from another for a period of time 2. capable of being believed; believable 3. previously planned but delivered with the help of few or no notes 4. inflated, overblown, or pompous; bombastic; swollen or distended, as from a fluid; bloated 5. desk or stand with a slanted top used to hold a text at the proper height for a speaker 6. not clear or transparent because of stirred-up sediment or the like; clouded; opaque; obscured 7. willing to believe or trust too readily, esp. without proper or adequate evidence; gullible 8. a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it; small step 9. any opinion, principle, doctrine, dogma, etc., esp. one held as true by members of a profession, group or movement 10. without advance preparation While we're concentrating on this week's quiz, here's an interesting bit of trivia for you ... did you know that the word 'gullible' is not in any dictionary? That's OK ... I'll wait while you check ... And here's a story that will probably offend someone ... so if you think that might be you, skip this ... It was visitors' day at the state institution. All the residents were standing in the courtyard and singing "Ave Maria." They were singing it beautifully. Oddly, each of them was holding a red apple in one hand and tapping it rhythmically with a pencil. A visitor listened in wonder to the performance and then approached the choir. "I'm a retired choir director," he said, "this is one of the best choirs I've ever heard." "Yes, I'm very proud of them," said the conductor. "You should take them on tour," said the visitor, "what are they called?" "Surely that's obvious," replied the conductor. They're called the Moron Tapanapple Choir." No, don't complain to me ... I warned you! Last week's quiz: Weasel terms 1. paradigm shift - stopping people doing things they as they have in the past 2. harmonisation - forcing people into step 3. roll out - something new 4. gain traction - understand and do 5. fenestration - windows 6. damaging energy exchange - accident 7. off airport landing - crash 8. to performance manage out - sack 9. negative growth - loss 10. decanted - relocated And here's one of those puzzles about human nature ... Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe, and he'll believe you. Tell him a fence has wet paint on it, and he'll have to touch it to be sure. Did you know that every newsletter is archived? So if you've missed anything since 1998 or want to revisit some favourites, you can do so any time! Don't forget to bookmark the page when you get there ... or even make it your Home Page. (For Internet Explorer, just click on Tools ... Internet Options ... General ... fill in www.write101.com/archives/index.htm and click OK. For Netscape, select Edit ... Preferences. Then select Navigator from the left menu, click Home Page and enter the URL above next to Location and click OK. For all the flash new browsers, you'll have to do a search on my mate google to find what to do. There's a search box on the archives page!) If you've received this little missive from a friend, you can get your very own issue, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed every Friday morning by clicking here: mailto:WritingTips-subscribe@yahoogrups.com And I'm even prepared to offer a shameless bribe. An Ape that wants to play Hamlet after being type-cast as King Kong, a talking anvil and that rottweiller ... Dr Morgenes is still caught in the nightmare that is the casting couch. Help him find a plot! Just click on the Comments button at the end of the entry to add your contribution. If you have friends who fancy themselves as writers, invite them to contribute (just forward this newsletter in its entirety to them). I often trawl this for comments to post on my site ... so if you say something about the newsletter or site, be warned, you may end up being read by one of the 2,000+ unique visitors who visit Write101 every day! Make your Mark on the World. Then stop by our Map of the World and read the messages. (Just click List) and add your mark. A Little Something Extra Since we've been celebrating our anniversary, let's continue in the romantic mode and look at what it takes to write romance ... "If you have always believed your fantasies worthy of being read by millions, now is the time to start using your runaway imagination to your benefit. With thousands of romance novels being published each year, it is easier to get published today than it has ever been in the past."A career in romance writing allows you to work from home, at your own pace, and during the hours you prefer. Romance writing generally pays better than other genres of fiction, so you can make more money, or work fewer hours, whichever you prefer. Finally, this line of work lets you truly touch the hearts of your readers, and give them the confidence to seek love and happiness in their own lives. "No
special education or experience is necessary to break into this career.
Successful romance writers merely require ..." Read the 10 Steps to
Becoming a Romance Writer here: http://www.write101.com/romance-writer.htm This word originated with the name, Taranto, a town in southern Italy where this phenomenon was experienced during the 15-17th centuries. But of course! That explains some of those people you see on dance floors! You know, the ones who are flaunting their style ... or possibly flouting the Laws of Good Taste. Oxymoron of the week: quiet rock music And here's a Latin phrase to ponder over the next couple of weeks: Ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora [AHD PREYE-sayns OH-wah KRAHS POO-lees SOONT may-LEE-oh-rah] (Eggs today are better than chickens tomorrow) Did you know that you can have your very own Latin reminders? How about undies proclaiming, Bene est rex esse? (It's good to be king) Or a shopping bag that warns, Emptrix nata sum (Born to shop)? Click here for these and more.Kind regards, Jennifer P.S. Want to donate to the upkeep of this newsletter? Here's how: 1. Pay by PayPal: OR 2. Click here to subscribe for a full year OR 3. Use your credit card on my secure order form. (You can also access the PayPal subscription link from this page if the link above didn't work for you. With PayPal, you can use your credit card, PayPal account or pay online using your own cheque account.) OR 4. Send a cheque (made payable to Jennifer Stewart) Copyright 2006 Jennifer Stewart Individual articles copyrighted by
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