Tuesday, August 22, 2006

I am PUBLISHED!!!

I want to tell you an interesting little story. It goes something like this...

During my last few days in Japan, I got a comment on my flickr page referring to one of my photos. A guy explained that he belonged to a publishing company based in Melbourne and they wanted to use my photo. He left a link for me to contact him. I was interested but a little suspicious about the whole thing and, as I had only just arrived into Tokyo, I shelved the idea to the back of my mind.

Two days later, my friend Sean called me out of the blue to tell me to check my blog. The publishing guy had also left a comment there. Sean thought I would be interested in the whole thing and had taken a look into the company. He decided they were legit and told me to go for it! So, the plan was to make contact that night when I got back to my computer... 2 minutes later, my mobile rang. I answered it and it was the 'publishing guy'. He spoke to me for a while, explained how keen they were to use my photo and how they were in a hurry to get everything completed. I explained quite nicely that I was leaning toward saying yes but that I was on holiday, sight seeing AND far from my computer.

That night, I got onto the net, wrote a letter and sent off my photo. I didn't hear anything until last night. Sean called the company to see what had become of my beloved photo. Matt (I think that was his name) quickly explained that he had sent me several emails that had been returned. He also explained about the book and printing deadlines. The book is scheduled to be finished anyday and he sent through a digital image of the book cover.

So there you go. I am in print. Next stop... photography course and FAME!

PS. You can see, read about or buy the book at amazon. I guess the company had to submit a cover before publishing as you will see, it is different. Also, check out how expensive it is!!

Monday, August 14, 2006

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Oops, I was gone for a minute

Firstly, sorry for the long time between post but now that I am back to my regular life and schedule, I am busy, busy, busy.

Spent six days in Tokyo with Del. We walked and walked. Shopped a bit and even managed to visit the onsen theme park in Odaiba. That place was amazing. We even tried the pool with 'Doctor Fish'. That was fun and it really tickled. The teeny tiny fish from Turkey nibble away at the dead skin on your feet. It isn't as gross as it seems. Lots of fun...

I got back to Melbourne last Wednesday and started work last Monday. Soooooo much has changed in the two years that I have been gone. Lots of new faces; teachers and students. We even have new curriculum guidelines. Amongst that, throw in a whole lot of new jargon that I don't know and you get a very confused me! I will be fine though. My prep, grade one class (5 and 6 year olds) are lovely on the whole. Very devoted and cute but make me VERY tired.

So there you go. I will try to update as often as something interesting happens. I want my life here to be as much fun as it was in Japan. Lets face it, Melbourne might be normal for me but I know I am lucky to live in such a cool city. More from me soon...