Kalbarri Comedy Crew

August 2, 2016 by 9grace

Well, after a quick break that felt way shorter than it actually was, school is back, and a whole lot more is just starting up.

Everyone knows that the Zest Fest is quickly approaching, and preparation and rehearsals are already underway for some things!

Remember in my blog posts Zest Fest – Past and Present – Part 1 and Part 2 (mostly part 2) how I talked about applying for a grant to fund a new project? Well, I did, and the application was approved!!

So, now I am helping coordinate a project called the Kalbarri Comedy Crew. It involves bringing up stand-up comedy performers from The Comedy Emporium (TCE) to work with the youth participants throughout a series of workshop in order to develop and prepare a spectacular comedy skit. The production will hopefully be performed in a ‘horrible histories’ style (a popular ABC program) and based around the Dutch East Indian (VOC) company and their voyages, as well as their exciting history.

The comedy production will be performed twice: First, a small taster on the morning on the 17th of September down at the foreshore, before the actual performance that afternoon. Attached are links to the official Zest Fest website, and the media release that briefly outlines the Kalbarri Comedy Crew and what we are doing, as well as the Zest Fest’s Facebook page:

ZestFest.com

Facebook.com/KalbarriZestFestival

The best news yet, however, is that as this is a youth performance, almost anyone between the age of 12 and 26 years old has the opportunity to come along and join in. Whoever is interested can come and see me at school or contact me through the blog and I can send you a quick email and give you all the details about the project as well as a participant consent form. Workshops are every Sunday leading up to the Zest Fest. Anyone who wants to be part of the project will need to show up to all workshops and be part of the performance as we only have limited time to develop the full production. If you want to be a part of it and choose to come along, I promise that the whole experience will be lots of fun, and absolutely hilarious! (trust me, I know!)

That’s all from me for now, more updates will come soon!

Yours faithfully,

Grace

Aboove: At a photoshoot for the media release for the Midwest Times, celebrating the news of the successful grant. Below: The article from the Midwest Times.

The Kalbarri Comedy Crew, workshops and the performance is sponsored by Country Arts WA and Healthway to promote the Drug Aware message.

My Spaghetti Bolognese

July 20, 2016 by 9grace

I am very much an ‘ish’ person when it comes to cooking; about that much, a few of these, 100 -ish- grams of this. Well, that is when I’m just cooking for myself at least.

Anyway, one of my favourite meals to cook for my family and myself is spaghetti bolognese. Not just any bolognese, but my own, specially edited version.

My Spaghetti Bolognese is very flexible; you could add just about anything you wanted to into it. Even better, if you don’t have everything you need, it’s not a problem. Just substitute, or possibly leave it out altogether!

This recipe is super quick (about half an hour ‘ish’). What I have written down feeds my family of 5, so probably 4 adults with the possibility of a bit left over for lunch (if you are lucky), but just by adding a few extra ingredients or increasing the weight of what is needed it is pretty easy to make it slightly larger. So, without further ado, here is my recipe!

My Spaghetti Bolognese (sauce)

Ingredients

500 -ish- grams of beef mince
a couple cloves of garlic, finely diced (you don’t need this but I just think it adds to the flavour)
a dash of vegetable oil
2-4 carrots (depending on size), roughly sliced
1/2 – 1 full capsicum, roughly diced
1/2 – 1 large zucchini, sliced, and then chopped roughly into slightly smaller pieces
a few tomatoes, roughly diced (or 1 tin of dices tomatoes + juice)
a few mushrooms if you like, however you want to chop them
1 jar (approx. 400g) of pasta sauce (whichever brand/style you prefer)
salt/stock (to taste)
cheese (parmesan, cheddar, whichever)

Method

Heat a medium/large pot between medium to high heat. Add your garlic and mince and cook until all the mince is brown.
Add in the carrot and tomatoes to the pot and mix through, let it cook for around 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the remaining vegetables, salt and pasta sauce. I tend to need just a little more liquid, (plus the jar always has sauce stuck on the side) so I normally put a little bit of beef stock or water in the bottom of the jar, shake it up, and pour that into the pot as well. If the pasta sauce jar still has sauce stuck to the sides after that, just a tiny bit more water in the bottom, shake, and then into the pot with that as well. *
Stir through the sauce and vegetables and cook until the carrot is just soft and/or the sauce has reduced slightly, stirring occasionally. (if you don’t want to reduce the sauce, keep a lid on the pot.)
Serve hot on top of some freshly cooked spaghetti (which can be cooking at the same time as your sauce!), and grate some (or a lot) of cheese on top.

*be careful not to add too much extra liquid so as to make your sauce too thin and watery, if this occurs, you can add a tiny bit of cornflour as needed.

So there you have it! My super easy, quick, and definitely delicious spaghetti bolognese! I hope you all enjoy!

Yours faithfully,

Grace

Waves

July 11, 2016 by 9grace

I think the drive is what I love the most, Not the breaking, Or the crashing, Or the receding, But the drive. When the waves are approaching, Pushing against the rocks, Or the reef, Or the sand. Jumping and surfing, Rolling and curving, Becoming larger and larger. As the waves become taller, As they approach the shore, That is what I love the most. When the light is reflected of the top of the wave, And sea spray comes off the white wash, And the crest, And the back, That is what I love the most. When you can hear them, Just before the 'boom', there is a roar, A growl that tells you to get out of the way, Watch your feet, Lift you dress, Mind the wave. When a wave is so powerful, And the drive is so strong, And the crash is so loud. That is what I love the most. A phenomenon, With a noise that makes you hairs stand on end, A wonder that is so beautiful, Yet asserts so much power. That is what I love the most. [video width="960" height="960" mp4="https://9grace.edublogs.org/files/2016/07/IMG_4431-1cg3cq2.mp4" loop="true" autoplay="true" preload="auto"][/video]

Kalbarri Back Beach (with my dog, Fibi)

So, a bit of a shorter post this time. I just really wanted to post something before I got too busy with work and Zest Festival stuff.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the little poem and the GIF that I made.

That's all from me for now.

Yours faithfully,

Grace.

Zest Fest – The Past and Present – Part 2

June 18, 2016 by 9grace

Ever since I started working with the Zest Fest in 2014, I knew it was something I wanted to continue with. One of my goals has been to do as much as I possibly could for the Zest Festival and myself. I feel like I am somewhat on the path to accomplishing that goal because, as you would have read in the last post, my role has been gradually getting larger. The past two years, however, are nothing compared to the role I am taking on this year.

So far, I have been commissioned with putting together a team of students (including myself) to be part of a comedy performance. I am also responsible for organising timetables and scheduling workshops, rehearsals and training session with the crew and comedians to prepare for the performance. On top of that, I also have to keep a record and journal of the comedy workshops and performance, etc. to file a report on once the Zest Festival is over. I have previously written references (see my last post) and am currently half way through writing an application for a grant to fund the comedy workshops, performance, etc. Oh, almost forgot, I will also be MC (Master of Ceremonies – one who organises a social occasion; who introduces speakers or those in a performance) for the comedy performance! Furthermore, I will be constructing and creating props, as well as being a lead puppeteer for the main performance. This is going to mean even more rehearsals and training sessions on top of those for the comedy performance.

Turns out, I will be doing more than $500+ of voluntary work for the Zest Festival. It’s a lot, but majority of the time it is a privilege to be able to have such a massive role in something so amazing. It really doesn’t feel like work when you love what you are doing.

Now the Zest Festival is not until the weekend of week 9 – term 3, and major preparation has already begun! This means that those involved will be working on the Zest Fest from now until the end of September. This is perfectly fine by me, the only thing I am a little bit worried about is that I might struggle keeping on top of my school and workload at the same time. I definitely know that I will get nearly no school work done in weeks 8 and 9! (sorry teachers!)

The Zest Fest really is amazing. It has provided me with so many great experiences in the short time that I have been involved. Below is a photo of me in 2015, sitting in the Shogun’s lap. The Shogun, originally the goddess Kali in 2014, but transformed for the 2015 performance, is a nearly 4-metre-tall puppet constructed with bamboo and cane. He was one of the main characters in that year performance and narrator of the story.

17th September, 2015: Me sitting in the lap of the mighty Shogun!

I don’t have the official dates and times of the performances or the Zest Festival yet, but I will post them on the blog when I have access to them. I really hope everyone comes down to the festival to see all the amazing performances and events. We really do have a great line up for this year’s festival and it’s something you don’t want to miss!

So, that’s all from me for now.

Yours faithfully,

Grace

Zest Fest – The Past and Present – Part 1

June 18, 2016 by 9grace

So, I know this post might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is about something I am very passionate about and proud of, which is why I am posting it on my blog. (Oh, by the way, because this is a very long entry I have decided to publish it as two blog posts instead of one)

Anyway, anyone who is anyone and lives in Kalbarri will know that the Kalbarri Zest Festival is coming up soon, and that’s a pretty big thing, right!?

To anyone who hasn’t experienced a Kalbarri Zest Fest, it really is amazing. I’ve had so many wonderful experiences with the Zest Fest and there are so many things that I love about it, but I guess I had better start from the start.

Below is a copy of a letter of support or reference that I wrote for the Kalbarri Development Association Inc. and Artistic Director of the Zest Festival to include in some grants. It basically explains my experiences with the Zest Festival and what it means to me.

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Grace Crogan, I am 14 and in year 9 at Kalbarri District High School. Ever since I was young I have had a strong passion for visual and performing arts. As a student living regionally, I am sometimes restricted to what the town and school can offer me as far as opportunities for me to develop my artistic skills. The Kalbarri Zest Festival is a rare and extremely appreciated opportunity for me to do so, and I would like to share with you what the festival means to me and how much I enjoyed being part of it!

2014 was my first year with the Kalbarri Zest Festival. I originally auditioned for a role as one of the main characters in the performance, however I ended up with an equally rewarding and exciting role of helping create, build and direct one of the massive 3-metre-tall puppets for the festival. I also walked alongside the puppet during the performance, manoeuvring one of its very large arms. It was such an amazing and rewarding experience. It was my first time working with puppets and after the performance I knew it definitely wouldn’t be the last. I’d just had my first taste of puppeteering, and it tasted delicious!

In 2015, once I found out that the performance was going to include puppetry again I couldn’t wait to become involved. I would often go down to the workshop to help out creating and constructing props for the performance. It was something I loved doing both then and the year before because it gave me a chance to do something with my art skills. Best of all I was often given creative authority over what the prop could look like, so long as it met the needed criteria. This gave me an opportunity to test and extend some of my art skills, something I’m not often given the chance to do. To me this was a rare and precious privilege!

The style of puppets we were operating are called Bunraku puppets. They are life-sized with two or three puppeteers manoeuvring each. One operating the head and right arm, another operating the torso and left arm, and another operating the legs. In our case, we only had two puppeteers to each, so the puppets had robes and skirts to give the illusion of legs. Our puppets were handmade at the workshop, carved out of foam and given bamboo and fabric joints, as well as bamboo rods.

I was elated when I was asked if I could be the head puppeteer for one of the two main puppets, it was the only thing I had been thinking about for the past few weeks. For a couple of weeks my friend and I were put through some basic exercises and workshops to get us warmed up to working with the puppets. After a few weeks of workshops and call outs we finally had a puppetry team ready for training! I couldn’t wait!

Our Puppeteer training and rehearsals started even before the puppets were constructed. Starting out casual but soon becoming more intense as we only had a few weeks to prepare for the performance. Our rehearsals and training often started straight after school and went on until dark. As head puppeteer I controlled the head (thus also directing the torso) and right arm of the puppet. This position meant I was holding my arms level and sometimes above my head for long periods of time, hence the weeks of training to build up our strength. Although tiring, I absolutely loved every second of rehearsals and training. Not only was I learning new things everyday about puppetry and performance, but I was also developing relationships with people that I will forever hold treasured in my heart.

Over the course of rehearsals and training, we focused a lot on feeling tension in the puppet, and learning how to move with the puppet as one and not just as two puppeteers and a bunch of foam. I think that one of the goals in learning puppeteering was to not just control the puppet, but to become the puppet, and during the performance, to live as the puppet. It might not have been said out loud, but I feel as though that is what it all boiled down to. At the end of each rehearsal when we placed the puppet down, I always had a small feeling as if I was leaving something behind. So, I guess I must have been doing something right!

When the production night finally came everyone was ecstatic. The performance went smoothly with only a couple hiccups. In the performance, the puppet I was operating, named Hiraku, was one of the main characters – a Japanese Samurai, The Shogun’s advisor, and brother to one of the other puppets – Katashi. There were many difficult interactions between Hiraku and Katashi, as well as other puppets and characters. Towards the end of the performance, there was a dramatic fight scene where Hiraku had to try defend himself against five other samurai, in the end, Hiraku was killed. As Hiraku received the last blow, I heard a few small gasps from the audience. Though I could barely see because of the blinding lights, I managed to make out that a couple of people were crying.

When I finally put the puppet down after the performance, I felt a mixture of great excitement, as well as sadness. I had spent weeks and weeks preparing for this performance and it had come and gone so quickly. I almost wanted to do it all over again.

At the end of the performance I was told multiple times that people watching had been so entranced by the performance, they completely forgot that there were people operating the puppets. It felt amazing to know that I had succeeded at my task. At the conclusion of the 2015 Zest Fest I had made many close friends and wonderful memories. It was such a great experience and it means so much to me.

The Kalbarri Zest Festival is a great opportunity for the whole town to get involved in something great. Even in school, we spend weeks leading up to the Zest Festival learning about whatever topic the current year’s Zest Fest is about. The year of 2016 has only just begun and already I can’t wait for this year’s Zest Festival. Even more so, I cannot wait for my chance to be even more involved. The Kalbarri Zest Festival is supposed to be about bringing the community together to have a good time, to celebrate, and the learn in an engaging way about the VOC – Dutch East Indian Trading Company, the Zuytdorp and Batavia wreckages along our coastlines, as well as what values and traditions have been brought to our country by the people who have settled here. To me, the Zest Fest means all of this, and so much more. To me, it means bringing the community together to create something beautiful, that has been recognized even in some other countries! It means helping out, creating friends, having a laugh, learning new thing, doing things I never thought I would do as well as things I love doing most, and creating memories I will treasure forever.

So, now you know just how much I love the Kalbarri Zest Festival and what it means to me.

Sincerely,

Grace Crogan

Kalbarri District High School

For the rest of this post read: Zest Fest – The Past and Present – Part 2

Fear

June 18, 2016 by 9grace

Fear is a weird concept…

The dictionary definition states that fear a is feeling or condition of being afraid; a painful feeling of impending danger or troubles. In some ways, I guess that’s correct, but not completely. Well, not if you ask me.

One can fear many different things: a small insect or a large animal, heights or tiny rooms. You could fear speaking in front of a class, or going on that one ride at carnival. You could fear a sight or a sound, or a feeling…You could fear a person, or, one particular person at that. You could fear anything…You could fear nothing.

On top of that, fear can be experienced in so many different ways.

It can be subtle, creeping in ever so slowly. The way you get butterflies in your stomach. That feeling of when you are climbing the stairs to the roller-coaster, or preparing to speak in front of the crowd. The way your hands can’t stay still, and you keep stumbling over sentences

Or, you could experience fear in a very extreme way. A way in which your heart beats a million times a minute, and your body fills with adrenalin in preparation for a “fight or flight” reaction. Fear really is a very weird concept.

Wow! All of a sudden, I have just been hit with a wave of inspiration!! Okay, so here is a very quickly constructed poem – ish thing…

You know that feeling…

When you bump into someone unexpectedly but it’s not the shock of the collision that has you frozen, its them.

And it doesn’t matter who it is, it could be your best friend, or your worst enemy.

But something about their sudden appearance has stumped you.

And you get that…feeling.

That feeling of fear mixed with…something else…excitement, embarrassment, confusion?

Though maybe it’s not them that has you rooted to the spot, but that, that… feeling.

The feeling that makes your cheeks warm, flushed with pink, or is it crimson? …even just for a second.

You know, the one that makes your breath come in sharp, jagged gasps or small, silent breaths.

The one that makes you suddenly jittery, the way your hands can’t stay still and your fingers start to tingle.

Something, someone, tells you to talk, to say something.

Meanwhile, the person who stumped you in the first place is looking at you in utter confusion.

You try to form a sentence but you can’t

Because your mouth is trying to dance to the shapes of the letters and words but keeps forgetting the moves.

You force a small laugh, I mean, pull yourself together!

Somehow, the sound of them laughing along with you makes your cheeks grow even warmer.

And chills start to make their way down your spine.

And all this happens within a split second!

Some might call this fear, or embarrassment, but I’d call it awe.

Okay, so I know this “poem” (if that’s what you’ll call it) is a little bit cheesy, but I did do it very quickly.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on ‘fear’. Hope you enjoyed my little mind tangent! J

Yours faithfully

Grace

My Inspiration

June 3, 2016 by 9grace

I know this is late, but I was unable to post any earlier because my internet at home isn’t working.

Okay so this week, I was particularly struggling with coming up with a post.

Well, I did start a post to be honest. I wrote another poem – 5 stanzas, 13 lines each – but it was so sad and depressing and provoking that if I were to post it on the blog it might cause some concerns.

Luckily for you, you don’t get to read it!

Instead, I’ve been looking at the ‘blog post ideas sheet’ and I want to write about some people who have inspired me throughout my life. There are 3 people to be specific: My Mother, my Grandmother, and Bec (whose last name I won’t mention). They are, to me, my anchors. If I’m having a hard time, or I don’t know what to do, or if I’m thinking about just forgetting responsibilities, they are the three people who, above all else, keep me on track.

My Mum is my world; she is my mentor, my guide, my teacher, my friend, my reality check, and everything else in between. Mum always strives to do her best. She is an all rounded super human who can – almost always – do anything you ask of her. Mum had an amazing work ethic and a stubbornness for not settling for anything less than ‘above satisfactory’ (probably where I get it from to be honest). She is also a juggling-multi-tasking-working-whizz. Like all mums, she can be embarrassing. But, I still love her to bits!

My Grandmother is so, so strong! She knows what she wants to do, and she knows what she has to do. If something isn’t worth worrying about, or it’s not important right now, it doesn’t bother her. She always seems to have everything under control, and even when things are tough she pushes through, and she gets things done! I really, really wish I had her calm, stable mindset.

Bec is amazing. For the last few years she has been a major, major source for my artistic inspiration. The Zest Fest, doing workshops, writing grants and references, learning new techniques, puppetry, and so much more. She is also someone who has given me a great deal of help in developing a lot of skills. It’s something that I will always be grateful for.

All in all, the three people I’ve mentioned above are so important to me, and I think of each and every one of them every day. Some people say that ‘you become the people that you are influenced by most’. In a sense, I really hope that is even just a little bit true because they all have such wonderful qualities, and I wouldn’t mind taking on some of them.

There are so, so many people that inspire me, but I think that, overall, Mum, my Grandmother and Bec are the three most influential in my life.

So, that’s me for this week. I’ll do another post soon.

Yours faithfully,

Grace

Challenge

May 18, 2016 by 9grace

This is your Sunday evening reminder that you can handle whatever the week ahead throws at you.

And this is your Monday morning wake up call. Time to work hard, but don’t forget to be amazing. Look at the week as a challenge, then overcome it.

Tuesday is a bit of a drag; we all know that. This is a reminder to push yourself to do something great today, because no one can push you harder than you push yourself.

This is your Wednesday reminder that hey, that was easier than you thought! Which leads you to the question of “is the glass half full now? Or half empty?” Whichever way you look at it, fill the glass hun!

Thursday afternoon… Almost there, not long now. As easy as it might be for you to forget, always remember; you’re a diamond, nothing can break you.

And now its Friday night – the night where you are officially allowed to be as crazy-weird and exciting as you heart desires! Or, the night you can stay in and watch movies until you fall asleep. Either way, tonight is your night!

Finally, it’s Saturday, remember that you will never, ever, have this day again, so make it count!

Now it’s Sunday evening again -always know that challenges are what make life interesting – We don’t grow any stronger when things are easy. We don’t learn when we continue to do what we already know. We will never become any braver if we don’t challenge our fears. So keep challenging yourself every single day.

A challenge doesn’t have to be anything extreme. It can be as big or as small as you want.

A challenge one day could be pushing yourself to run that extra 1/2 a kilometre instead of walking. Or it could be teaching yourself how to make a new meal.

On that other hand, a challenge for one day could be finishing all your maths work before going on social media. Or it could be forcing your brain to write those 300+ words because writer’s block is at it again, but they aren’t going to write themselves!

Anyway, I hope you liked my 8 days of challenge motivation. I might not get to write a post next week because I will be away, but I will definitely try!

Yours faithfully,

Grace

Writer’s Block

May 14, 2016 by 9grace

Have you ever come up with a really brilliant idea! Like an amazing story topic or character.

Have you ever sat down to write it out and thought…”what was I doing again?”

Have you ever sat down to write something, started, and then completely forgotten where you were heading with your idea?

Have you ever gone to write something and just though, “…Ummm……?”

Well, I have. I have experienced all of those things and all of them more than once. In fact, so many people have experienced at least one of the above, that the experience itself has even been given a name – Writer’s Block.

I have writer’s block right now, well sort of… Not really, but I did. In the last 20 – 30 minutes, I have started three blog posts. One I deleted because I had no idea what I was even talking about anymore. The second was about future aspirations or something, I don’t really remember you see because for the last fifteen minutes, I have been sitting in front of another blank word document, trying to think of something else to write about.

I literally typed up blog post ideas in the Google search bar because I couldn’t think of anything. Actually, I did find one site – 101 Blog Post Ideas – it has some pretty good ideas – just none I felt like writing about.

Anyway, I’m sure that, if you have ever experienced writers block, you will know how utterly, totally, completely infuriating it can be! It kind of makes you want to either forget about the task all together, or pull your hair out with exasperation.

I know it can be especially annoying when you are short on time; or you are only a few words under the required word count; or you haven’t had time to work on your homework until now because of all the crazy stuff going on in your life and hey, what do you know, homework is due tomorrow! Oops, totally not me…

Actually, I know a few things about writer’s block. I know it can sneak up and strike at the most unpredictable times. I also know that it’s favourite time to strike is when one is under a lot of pressure. This includes situations like writing essays, taking tests, writing letters, etc. Again, definitely not me!

One thing I don’t know is how to get rid of writer’s block. If anyone has the answer I would love to hear it, as I feel I/we/everyone could greatly benefit from the information!

Hopefully writer’s block will give me a bit of a break, and I will be able to write a more interesting post next week!

Yours faithfully,

Grace

Line and Shadow

April 28, 2016 by 9grace

Okay!! I know I said in my “All About Me” page that you might see a bit of my art on here. I also know that I haven’t posted anything with pictures of my artwork yet… So, four months later, I think it is definitely time to share some.

As well as my writing and photography (some of which you have already seen), I like to pursue in many other forms of art.

I do puppeteering, dancing, painting, designing, sketching, and so much more. Some forms I am better at than others, and some forms undoubtedly prefer more. My favourite – at least at the moment – is sketching.

I love the way you have so much…freedom! A sketch can be rough, or detailed, have smooth or jagged, harsh lines. A piece can be realistic or abstract. Flowing or solid. It could be drawn in graphite or charcoal! You know, I could go on forever about the endless variations and possibilities to sketching.

So, without further ado, here are some of my favourite, and most recent sketches! Each has a little caption below it as to how or why I drew it, I hope you all like them.

28/02/2016 – I wanted to keep this piece feeling relatively neutral, yet, a bit sad, which is where the tear drop comes in. Funnily enough, in the reflection of the eye, I have been told people see a house roof, a city, and even a person. What do you see? I found this piece quite time consuming, but I definitely enjoyed it.

01/03/2016 – I wanted to draw something feminine, but I also knew I had to practice drawing body parts for my upcoming visual arts testing at John Curtin School of the Arts. I drew this looking at my own hand (leaving out all the ugly nicks and cuts of course).

I forgot to date this one- but I remember it was about a week before my visual arts testing. The nerves were starting to kick in as my entire future could be affected by the results of my test! I think the jagged and harsh lines represent a bit of what I was feeling. Like my previous hand sketch, I also drew this looking at my own hand. It was really fun to experiment with line and shadow on this piece.

A few days before school holidays are over. I’m nervous because not only is NAPLAN coming up, but I will get the results from John Curtin soon as to whether I am accepted or not. This sketch I did in about 5 minutes, so I don’t think I am finished, but to me, it kind of represents the last breath of relaxing and getting ready for the busy times ahead.

There you have it! I know it’s a little bit (or a lot) shorter than some of my other posts, but hey, at least this one has pictures! *hehe*

If anyone wants me to post more of my photography, or photos of my artwork, I would be happy to, just let me know in the comments!

Yours faithfully,

Grace