Pay It Forward

I promised you photography. I had fantasies of innovative composition, breathtaking subjects, a whole new view on the world that would leave my commenters speechless. (Although now I think about it, speechless commenters is not only a contradiction in terms, but also utterly undesirable.)

Here, for now, is the reality.

There is a point to this. It is the delightful set of goodies sent to me by Helen last week when I joined in her Pay It Forward game. There's a lovely greeting card; a keepsake card saying 'no road is long with good company' (a Turkish proverb, apparently, and so true); a Choc-u-lator, which is an electronic calculator that looks and smells like a chocolate bar but isn't edible (VERY frustrating!); a Fairy Wishing Coin, and best of all, some real Fairy Dust. It describes itself as 'facial glitter' but luckily I read Caroline's blog so I know it's really a good luck charm and that I should sprinkle a pinch on any writing project I send to a publisher or agent.

So now I've had my goodies delivered, it's my turn to Pay It Forward. This means that the first three people to say 'Me! Me! Pick me!' in my comments box will receive a selection of little goodies from me in the post. It won't be anything priceless like the Fairy Dust (I reckon Helen mugged a leprechaun for that) but I'll try to make sure you receive something desirable, useful and attractive. And then, of course, you have to Pay It Forward on your own blog, to three of your readers.

The photo above was brought to you by my new camera. I ended up going for the Panasonic in the end, after a lengthy comparison session with a very helpful woman in Jessop's. I like the electronic viewfinder and the chunky grip - I'm left-handed and find many cameras difficult to operate, but this one works well. I'm enjoying playing with it, and so far I'm pleased with my purchase - but good grief, it's complicated. At this rate I reckon I'll get the hang of it by about 2015. So don't hold your breath!