Friday 2 July 2010

Writing in June is over and I didn't make the word count but I've got the lowdown on MasterChef


I could have told me so. When I committed to the *RWA's June writing challenge I didn't expect to reach my 30,000-word goal.

I'm pleased I managed to write almost 11,000 words considering I work, have needy children, a dog, my partner Spanner (he takes some looking after) and a house to keep in order.


Then there's the other commitments, like MasterChef. I have to have something to talk about with my friends.

Talking of MasterChef, I was walking through the city the other day around lunchtime when I heard this office guy say to his office mates, "Yeah, it just wasn't fair to put them all in a shed in the howling wind and expect them to produce **CWA standard cakes and scones. I mean, how can you keep the oven temperature constant in those conditions?"

See what I mean? It's important to watch MasterChef in order to hold a conversation with every other Australian.

At our local organic food market last weekend (it's not really organic, but what a drawcard) I bumped into a woman whose daughter used to be in the same swim squad as Precious Princess.

I haven't seen this woman for at least two years. Yet, we chatted for half-an-hour about, you guessed it, MasterChef. The conversation grew animated as we discussed who we thought would win, the degree of recipe difficulty in this series compared to the last, the contestants we love and those we do not like at all. And so on and so forth.

It's amazing to think that around 2 million Australians sit down to watch this show, which is on the telly every night except Saturday.

I blame MasterChef for my low word count, but I thank it for giving me something in common with my fellow country men and women.

It's a shame my oven is bung (the fuse went again) and Spanner doesn't want to outlay the money for a new one.

How can one live the MasterChef dream in such a hostile environment?

Acronyms explained:
*RWA = Romance Writers of Australia
**CWA = Country Women's Association

3 comments:

AJ Blythe said...

Ahh, Shayne, I guess that means we will have something to talk about at conference, and I was worried it would just be uncomfortable pauses ROFL

Shayne said...

ROFL X 20.

Jenn J McLeod - Australia's small town storyteller said...

I so know what you mean. I didn't plan on watching it until I wnet dinner and friends were all talking about it. It was they bloddy talked about. So I watched it and boom! I'm hooked.