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He Said She Said
I’m coming, he said
But he never did.
I promise, he said
But his promise fibbed.
I’ll hold you, he said
But his arms didn’t reach.
I’ll protect you, he said
But his strength breached.
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Silent Battles
Can you hear that?
That silence which pierces through your gut.
Can you feel how it curls into your heart with a callous tap?
Do you tread on that tightrope?
The one which stretches from within
-a space between yourself and my soul, thin.
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News Just In: Wattpad and Opuss Joys
It feels like another eternity has flown past since I last wrote a blog post. The passing times have been difficult, the road to recovery, testing, challenging and perplexing at times. A constant battle in my mind between self-doubt and belief that I can beat this, I believe I will, it will just take time and patience -something, you, my lovely readers have in abundance.
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When Tree’s Come to Life…
Whilst walking the dog, we spy a tree.
Whilst walking the dog, it calls to me.
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Roll-up, Roll-up, (My) Instacanv.as Gallery is now Open
Helloooooo to you all, hope you are well and are on target (for whatever it may be -seriously, I’m curious now, what are you all up to these days? Leave a comment below and let’s have a conversation 
). If you all are asking about moi, these past few weeks I’ve been busy spending time with my family/friends (and Megan), writing, resting and snapping away taking pictures and editing them to my hearts’ content and then sharing them on instagram and here (when I have the time to do so). This has fuelled my creative drive somewhat and other than the odd spurts of dizzy spells (which forces me away from my laptop and any long-burst of writing) I have been feeling rather positive about what is in store for me. Getting back to my art and photography has become a blessing in disguise (as had my writing last year); being able to visualise and bring together images and create imagery which people appreciates’ has been extremely satisfying -as well as it has reminded me how much I missed just doing arty stuff. So, this is me -in addition to my writing; I will be designing visual artworks when I cannot write anymore due to my dizzy-spells; hopefully my art will spur on my writing and vice-versa.
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#MarchPhotoADay: Day 30 & 31 – Toy & Where I Relax
March Photo a Day has been a fun challenge which has stretched my mind and helped me focus on being creative with images as opposed to just words. It also has reminded me how blessed we are to be living in such a beautiful world with such wonders. To appreciate what we have and see the beauty in everything which surrounds us; the little things –however insignificant it seems is actually a delight we fail to see unless we look closer and take a moment to devour slowly. We live in a world where we rush from one extreme to the other –always having something to reach, something to accomplish, something to…well, it’s always something; we forget to stop and take a break and become attuned to what’s around us. To this end, I really enjoyed this challenge and even if I do not actively take part in the proceeding April/May/June/July/August/September/October…etc. Photo a Day challenge, I will certainly be snapping away everyday objects and events as I see them; these I will share here either as posts or just as a photo in the collections and photography sections of the blog. I hope you enjoyed the imagery I was inspired to create; here’s the final two of the MarchPhotoADay challenge:
Day 30 - Toy (Megan & her toy)
March Photo a Day: Day 18 through to 28
Helloooooo there. Missed me? I surely missed you all. I’ve had a manic few weeks and had some issues with my internet provider so I have been hanging low with my blog posts; I’ll be providing an update on Saturday with what’s happening here on yikici (or what will be happening). Until then here’s the missing 11 days of the March Photo A Day Challenge. Enjoy. 
Day 18 - Corner of your house (the book-corner; loved playing with the forms in this photo)
Day 19 - Funny (An unlikely chess piece -okay, I confess, failed to come up with a witty image. This is a bronze sculpture I made at university -I was toying with the idea of chess pieces being taken out of context and then being placed on a chess-board... Well, that's the idea behind that.)
Day 20 - Before/After -after a writing session on the comfy sofa
Day 21 - Delicious -quench your thirst with tea
Day 22 - Kitchen Sink (just what it is; again playing with form and lines within the image)
March Photo a Day: Day 12 through to 15
Getting on top of the challenge has been something in itself; but I’ve done it, so without too many word here’s photo’s from day twelve through to fifteen:
Day 12 - Fork (of another kind)
Day 13 - A Sign
March Photo a Day: Day 6 through to 11
I’m back with some more photo’s as the Photo Challenge continues; for the rules see my last post (March Photo A Day). I am running behind with this challenge; therefore, I will post again tomorrow with the remaining photo’s so I am up to date. After that (I hope) I will post it here on my blog as well as on instagram -it automatically posts it out to my Facebook & Twitter accounts -find me if you want to. If you want to follow me on instagram my username is yikici (funny that) -widget for it will be on the sidebar soon(ish) -keep an eye out for it. I’m on Pinterest too.
Anyhoo, here’s photo’s from day six through to eleven:
Day 6 - 5pm (Afternoon Tea)
Day 7 - Something you wore (My pink jumper)
Challenge Taken: March Photo a Day
A challenge of a different kind. Billie Jo has introduced me to another (will die if I do not take part -that’s a bit of an exaggeration; but you get the idea) challenge; something Fat Mum Slim has cooked up – March Photo A Day; what it entails is taking a photograph per day (it’s as simple as that) with some guidance. The guidance being, we get prompts for each day of the month; day one was Up, day two was Fruit, day three was Your Neighbourhood -you get the idea. 
If you want to take part, pop on over to March Photo A Day sign-up and start-a-snapping away.
As I’ve jumped in from day five; I will add the first five photos’ here. Then each day I will post it here on my blog as well as on instagram -which it posts it out to my Facebook & Twitter accounts -find me if you want to. If you want to follow me on instagram my username is yikici (funny that) -widget for it will be on the sidebar soon(ish) -keep an eye out for it. I’m on Pinterest too.
Anyhoo, let’s get back to the photo’s I have taken for this challenge.
Day 1 - Up (Doorframe & Ceiling) - this was inspired by a game my sister and I used to play as a child. We use to hold a mirror face-upwards in our hands and look at it (naturally we'd see the ceiling -or whatever was up above). We'd then walk around the house making sure we stepped over any obstacles -such as doorframes.
Day 2 - Fruit - No stories behind this; just enjoyed playing around with forms and colour -oh and the wonderful phone apps I have to play with to create the effects.
Challenge Issued: Triptych Trials – Reminder
Tuesday’s Triptych Tapestry:
Heya, due to my ROW80 goals and also a busy couple of days I have not been able to put together any flash fictions (or story follow-ups for DiRosaYikici) therefore; I have decided a recap was in order… Sooooo here goes: Two weeks into the challenge set by moi, I thought I’d give you all a gentle reminder (just in case you have forgotten); you have until midnight (GMT) 1st August 2011. See the details below:
(As always there is a pdf document at the bottom of the post for those who may find this a difficult read.)
The rules are quite simply this:
“Being an artist at heart, I have decided my triptych prompts will be based with an art theme running through it. The prompts will have three parts to it:
- Painting/Photography by an Artist
- Random lines of Poetry by Poets
- An Art Movement/Writing Genre
I will endeavour to select the above through the methods used by surrealist automatism (this will involve selecting imagery by opening books/webpage’s in a random manner). You can choose any of the given prompts -or if you are brave and up to a challenge then use all three prompts! The choice is yours. Word count will be limited to 500-1000 (if it is slightly less or more I will not quibble).
If there are artists who feel inspired to take part with imagery or any poets who want to enter with poems -you too can join in -hey why not make it a mixed media piece!
Please ensure you provide the link to your entry in the comments of the appropriate post or allow for a pingback so we can track your entry for reading as well as for collating in the next Flash Fiction Challenge.”
This week I am extending the period to one month. The holiday season is upon us; most of my writer friends are working on their work/manuscript in progress (AKA: WIP/MIP) and I will be too as I have left it on the sidelines for a while, therefore I need to get back to it. I hope this longer period will also give you enough time to prepare and come up with something amazing! May your muse inspire you always.
Your three prompts for the next four weeks are as follows:
Image sourced from: http://farm5.static.flickr.com
- Four lines of poetry:
Tear out a page of the book and make an aeroplane.
Launch it. For an instant it seems that you have fashioned
A shape that can outwit air, that has slipped the knot.
But no. The earth turns, the winch tightens, it is wound in.-Defying Gravity by Roger McGough
- Art Movement: Mannerism and here is another explanation of Mannerism / as for the Writing Genre; I have decided to give you the artistic reign again (so ultimately it’s your choice).
*If you are looking to enter with a Poem or a Visual Image then the word count is not applicable (having said that; fellow Poets, if you are generous with your words then maybe keep in mind to not over-exceed the maximum word allowance).
Well that’s the rules, the deadline is at midnight GMT on 1st August 2011 (I will be collating all entries in the next Triptych Tapestry which is scheduled to be posted 2nd August 2011).
Enjoy and above all have fun!
***
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
***
Thoughts and comments are encouraged as always.
Pdf document: Challenge Issued – Triptych Trials – Reminder
Photoshoot – My Amateur Debut
Saturday’s Showcase Sketches:
I’ve had a mixed day today (it really feels like it has passed by with a blur), because of it being an odd day of-some-sorts, I wanted to share a different kind of creativity with you -sometimes a variation helps me focus (we’ll see if it helps me today). If you are wondering about my ROW80 goals, I will provide an update following the article below.
(As always, there is a pdf document at the bottom of the post for those who may find this a difficult read.)
A few weeks back I took a stab at doing an amateur photoshoot session (for items to be sold on eBay by my sister -well experiences comes in all shapes and forms!). I was enlisted as a photographer (ahem!); my task to was to make the items for sale attractive -a rather tall order -if I do say so myself! (The tall order -really was referring to my photography skills than the items in question -not that I doubt my skills; I just had not done a photoshoot before so was a tad unsure.) I started of hesitantly -as did the model; then we picked up pace and confidence which reflected in the many delightful photo’s I took. Here is a selection of my favourites (some are raw images from the day (quite catalogue-esque images), others I have played around in Photoshop to give it a bit of a va-va-va-voom style that may be fitting for a magazine photoshoot). This was a fun project to take part in and I hope to experiment more with photography and Photoshop imagery when I have more time; for the moment, I hope the visuals below work.
If you are interested in the items above, please head off to Esmyster‘s eBay page for all listed items. In addition, I have set up a gallery page for you to view the above images in detail please click here to view the Esmyster’s eBay Photoshoot.
ROW80 UPDATE:
Following my scheduling from yesterdays article; it’s time for a quick update.
- Friday: After yesterdays blog post I felt extremely pooped (tired for those who are not familiar with the terminology); so I rested -I wrote a staggering 1872 words for the article so I musn’t grumble!
- Saturday: Today I emailed my WIP to my betareaders (accomplished -yay!) and started to outline my new project as mentioned yesterday -but for some unknown reason my muse wanted me to think about the WIP I sent off to my betareaders -so I did. In addition to that I brainstormed a mini-outline for it too (I guess that is not too bad); let’s see what else takes place. I haven’t yet started my word goals (as the outlines are not complete) therefore, let’s consider this articles word count (currently it is at 519+ words); I have hit over 500 words -yay! I’m chuffed to bits -not to mention the time I spent on Photoshop enhancing the photographs and then attaching it here then checking out how to work the slideshow and gallery options -not bad for a day’s attempt methinks!
All in all it’s pretty good… now I need some time away from the laptop so without further ado I’m taking a break… *heads off to make a cuppa and then take some time to chill*
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
***
Do you dabble in different avenues -if so what are they? I’d love to hear what you get up to when you just need that change. As you already know, thoughts and comments are encouraged as always -even if it is just a word -as all good discussions start with just one word.
Pdf document: Photoshoot – My Amateur Debut
Challenge Issued: Triptych Trials
Tuesday’s Triptych Tapestry: I issued my first Flash Fiction Challenge Triptych Blues two weeks ago and here are the brave soul(s) who rose to the challenge:
Just little old me! (Well, I issued it; so I had to take part!) – Here is my entry: Moon of Change: The Prologue & The Epilogue -I hope you enjoy the read.
I have to mention that Sonia G. Medeiros did her best to take part; for that, I want to say ‘thank you for the attempt -hopefully next time you will feel more inspired (or rather feel it works better for you)‘.
(As always there is a pdf document at the bottom of the post for those who may find this a difficult read.)
The rules are quite simply this:
“Being an artist at heart, I have decided my triptych prompts will be based with an art theme running through it. The prompts will have three parts to it:
- Painting/Photography by an Artist
- Random lines of Poetry by Poets
- An Art Movement/Writing Genre
I will endeavour to select the above through the methods used by surrealist automatism (this will involve selecting imagery by opening books/webpage’s in a random manner). You can choose any of the given prompts -or if you are brave and up to a challenge then use all three prompts! The choice is yours. Word count will be limited to 500-1000 (if it is slightly less or more I will not quibble).
If there are artists who feel inspired to take part with imagery or any poets who want to enter with poems -you too can join in -hey why not make it a mixed media piece!
Please ensure you provide the link to your entry in the comments of the appropriate post or allow for a pingback so we can track your entry for reading as well as for collating in the next Flash Fiction Challenge.”
This week I am extending the period to one month. The holiday season is upon us; most of my writer friends are working on their work/manuscript in progress (AKA: WIP/MIP) and I will be too as I have left it on the sidelines for a while, therefore I need to get back to it. I hope this longer period will also give you enough time to prepare and come up with something amazing! May your muse inspire you always.
Your three prompts for the next four weeks are as follows:
Image sourced from: http://farm5.static.flickr.com
- Four lines of poetry:
Tear out a page of the book and make an aeroplane.
Launch it. For an instant it seems that you have fashioned
A shape that can outwit air, that has slipped the knot.
But no. The earth turns, the winch tightens, it is wound in.-Defying Gravity by Roger McGough
- Art Movement: Mannerism and here is another explanation of Mannerism / as for the Writing Genre; I have decided to give you the artistic reign again (so ultimately it’s your choice).
*If you are looking to enter with a Poem or a Visual Image then the word count is not applicable (having said that; fellow Poets, if you are generous with your words then maybe keep in mind to not over-exceed the maximum word allowance).
Well that’s the rules, the deadline is at midnight GMT on 1st August 2011 (I will be collating all entries in the next Triptych Tapestry which is scheduled to be posted 2nd August 2011).
Enjoy and above all have fun!
***
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
***
Thoughts and comments are encouraged as always.
Pdf document: Challenge Issued – Triptych Trials
Elusive Posts – New Agenda
It’s been over a week since my last post (week and a half to be exact!); I know -it was not intentional; I had planned various interesting topics to share with you however, my body decided it was not going to take part in any of it! Unfortunately a selection of migraines, flu-like symptoms and the suspected food poisoning episode evaded my life! I took a variety of herbal remedies, recommended bouts of rest, a food diet -all good for the flu and food poisoning but I had to succumb and take the dreaded painkillers I was hoping to avoid -my migraines would not go away any other way -I even woke up to that pain!!! I tell you it is not a good thing to go through.
Elusive Shadows - Photography by yikici Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
I am happy to let you know that today was the first day when I was able to function normally and write amongst other things! My writing suffered more because of the headaches than anything else -the pc’s screen was just too painful no matter how I tried to make it duller; this was why I have been elusive; it was not my intention to disappear without a word… Anyway, enough of all of that; let’s get back to what my plans are.
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Self-Hosting – My Trials and Tribble-ations
You may have noticed I have not added much artwork here on yikici or updated any (some) of the page information on the side-bar; there are good reasons why this is so -I promise they are not excuses -honestly I do! These ‘many’ reasons I will come back to -here or on another post -I haven’t yet decided, let’s see how I feel; before we do, the main reason I wanted to mention is: I have been toying with the idea of going self-hosting for some time now (yes exciting stuff!); in fact I have enlisted help from a good friend (AKA Ian) who is helping me to modify the current theme so it works better for me and hopefully for you. Some of the navigation/layout of this theme I find rather odd; as well as the small font size -all of which we are trying to address within reason; whilst pondering on these matters, I thought I’d throw this out to you and ask what improvements you think could be made -is there anything that causes you to desert the page because something is not quite right? I welcome all thoughts as I want to get this right.
NB: If you are finding this difficult to read please scroll down to the bottom of the post and read the pdf version of this post.
ONE STEP FOR MANKIND – A WHOLE UNIVERSE FOR yikici (AKA Oζ): As a mere distraction tool -before we venture into Self-Hosting, I wanted to grace you with a raw piece of photography by moi; I call it Stepping Stones -i.e. stepping into the unknown; that’s how I feel about blogging and self-hosting -as well as tweeting! I digress, back to the photograph; I usually (not always) prefer to work on raw photo’s using Photoshop before displaying it -this, I decided to leave as it is and showcase it here for you as a treat (it may be a long while before you see any other artwork/photography) so enjoy it while you can!
Stepping Stones - Photography by yikici Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved
SELF-HOSTING
In this bit, I ideally would like to write about what I have found out in my endeavour to go self-hosting; though it seems I am at a loss for words (very unusual for me on most occasions -I guess it happens once in a while). So I have decided, I will let a plethora of thoughts try to explain what I have and am still finding out.
THE INGREDIENTS REQUIRED ARE AS THUS:
- Deciding on a name for your blog (that is if you decide not to choose your own name -or for those who are unfortunate enough that their name has already been taken; what a nuisance!); sounds simple in theory but if the lovely .com has been taken all of a sudden you are filled with choices .co .co.uk .org .info etc, etc, etc… Choice is good -I agree; but really?!!!
- Designing a webpage or modifying the theme you have chosen if it does not quite meet your particular requirements (that’ll be me then!). For this, you will need a web designer/someone who is adept in CSS codes -unless you actually possess those skills; to me, all of this is a foreign language, so I cried for help -yep literally -in a true ‘damsel in distress’ moment kind of way and my saviour (Ian) appeared in a cloud of smoke -ooops! Were we not just telling swashbuckling stories? *blushes* Now where was I? Oh yes, so if you do not possess the relevant CSS skills then you must enlist someone who does.
- This is where things get tricky (my current predicament); if you have an artistic temperament (like moi) then you are likely to suffer with the following:
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