Just Nicky

The travellers have returned September 30, 2007

Boys on a Train by MarkOMeara

Mark, Finn and Joanna got back about an hour ago. They’re all happy, if a bit tired and nothing actually got blown away which is somewhat of a miracle, given the weather.

Joanna has headed home in hopes of corned beef, mashed potato and an open fire. Mark has gone to bed for a sleep. Finn is playing with Leila’s toys, while Leila bounces in her Jolly Jumper and enjoys having her brother back.

I’m glad to have Finn and Mark back too. I missed them.

Peace and quiet is nice, but family noise is nicer.

One down… September 28, 2007

I’ve just submitted my first assignment and now I’m ready to start on the one for my other subject. I should have started it sooner, but I wanted to get the first one out of the way before I tried to think about this one because this one is big and complicated. Or at least it looks that way in the 2 inch thick assignment guide they sent me.

Since Mark is not here to push me along and make me think I’m going to lay out what I have to do here, so that I can see it all in one place. Then I might go and have a lie down…

Here goes:

Section A - Characteristics of Scholarly Writing (600-800 words all up)
Activity 1 - Choose the essay topic I’m going to write on for Assignment 2 and use Bloom’s Taxonomy to describe how I will evaluate the evidence to produce the essay.
Activity 2 - Construct a brief plan for the essay to demonstrate the principles I’ve talked about.
Activity 3 - Choose one of 4 pairs of articles provided and compare and contrast the two pieces of writing.

Section B - Citation and Referencing Exercise
Activity 1 - Find the 15 formatting errors present in the written piece provided and correct them. (We have to use a particular formatting style for this subject.)
Activity 2 - Write the appropriately formatted references for each publication type listed. (There are 7 listed)

Section C - Application of Learning Theory (600-800 words)
Select one of 2 scenarios provided and write it up using the appropriate learning theory.
(Damn, I’ll need to do the reading for this one…)

Section D - Structure and Function of the Brain Quiz
16 multiple choice questions, the answers for which are in the study guide.
(I like multiple choice questions!)

OK. Laid out like that it doesn’t seem quite so bad. It just looks scary in the 17 pages it takes to say what I’ve paraphrased above, followed by 100 pages of associated readings.

I think my plan of attack will be to do sections B & D first, since I can probably knock them over relatively quickly and section B is worth the most, then section A and then section C last.

Well I don’t think I need a lie down, but I will have a cuppa and play some Scrabble before I get started. And, yes, I am a world class procrastinator.

Buddhist Thought for the Day September 20, 2007

It is only the artificial ego that suffers. The man who has transcended his false ‘me’ no longer identifies with his suffering. - Fingers Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei…

Dishcloths September 19, 2007

This entry on clementine’s shoes has prompted me to blog about my own love affair with the knitted dishcloth.

I knitted my first dishcloths about 2 years ago now. They were attractive as small easy projects to work on and I felt kind of virtuous since the first few I knitted were made from cotton yarn recycled from an old jumper. As it turned out they were great to use and lasted pretty well - as long you didn’t a serious bleach cleaner with them. Mark has pinched one to use as whiteboard duster because it does such a good job.

I played around with patterns and found that most of them annoyed me and some worked better as dishcloths than others. My favourite for its simplicity, speed and efficacy as a dishcloth is “Grandmothers Favourite” from this site. It really does make a great dishcloth, even if it is a bit boring to knit one after the other.

In general I prefer to knit my cloths on smaller needles than recommended. With 8 ply yarn, for example, I tend to use 3mm needles. This makes the cloths a bit tighter and denser and they have a bit more substance to them. I think they last a bit better too.

The original cloths I knitted are starting to show their wear which set me thinking about how I needed to knit some more for us and how they might make a good, cheap christmas gift for our families this year. I always find christmas shopping a bit stressful as I don’t like to buy people crap they won’t need or want and, our financial circumstances being what they are, I resent spending our money on stuff that people don’t need or want. Who wouldn’t need or want a good dishcloth?

So our families are getting dishcloths for christmas this year. How many and what patterns will depend entirely upon how quickly I can get them done. I worked out that to give 2 to each household on either side I would need to knit 18 dishcloths. That’s a tallish order. At the moment I’m knitting the Grandmothers Favourite for about the fourth or fifth time. As I said, it’s boring, but it’s also quick and easy.

Wednesday

Last night we had much puking, pooing and screaming. You really don’t want to know the details, but it was full on for an hour or so. Today, so far, is much more serene but we are treading carefully.

Leila (she was puking and pooing) is much happier, but a little fragile and still rather pooey. I think she’s picked up my cold and she was horrendously constipated as a result of a change in formula. She’s quite happy at the moment to lie and gaze out the loungeroom window at the tree, as long as she doesn’t see me walk away from her. She should be ready for a sleep soon and when she goes to bed I will beard the dragon that is Finn.

He was the screamer last night. And what a scream he has when he tries! I think he’s coming down with something too because he looks a bit seedy this morning. He’s still in his pjs and busily destroying his bedroom while building a ‘mountain’. When Leila goes to sleep I’ll see about getting him into some clothes and setting his room to rights, but I’m very tempted to just leave him to it. I don’t think either of us would enjoy more screaming.

Now there’s kicking on the wall. I suppose I should go and address that…

Essay Progress September 18, 2007

I have written about 600 out of 1500 words (this is a first year essay, remember). It is pure, unadulterated drivel. But that’s fine.

Tomorrow evening I will try to write the other 900 odd words of nonsense and on Thursday I will begin to batter it into something less akin to the arrant ramblings of a drunken monkey.

By the time I hand it in on Friday week it might even pass.

And I wonder why I’m putting on weight

Lunch today is a egg, bacon, cheese and lettuce sandwich with hummos.

No, I don’t really wonder.

Essay Writing, Nicky Style

1. Read and re-read the topic while muttering “How the fuck am I meant to say all that in so few words?” Wander away feeling vaguely ill. Repeat daily for about 3 weeks.

2. Expend large quantities of paper and ink printing up all the recommended readings. Leave them sitting in a pile on the dining table for about 3 days.

3. Read one or two of the readings and scan some others. Go cross-eyed from boredom … and because you’ve printed 2 pages to a sheet and the text is very, very small. Wait 3 more days.

4. Decide that time is getting tight and you’d better get something - ANYTHING - down in writing. Once you start you’ll be fine, you think. Spend half the morning wandering around doing other things and muttering insanely to yourself. Pause occasionally to wonder why the dogs are giving you worried looks.

5. Sit down at the computer. Check Scrabulous games, read blogs. Open Word. Type 3 sentences. Wonder how you can write such bullshit. Decide that this process would make a good blog entry.

6. Write blog entry. Resist the urge to spend the rest of the morning editing and rewriting it. Hit ‘Publish’. Stop phaffing around.

Falling in Knit September 15, 2007

The autumn issue of Knitty is out and it has me drooling.

The standout pattern for me (and not just because it’s the cover shot) is the Muir shawl.

I haven’t thought about knitting a sock in over 12 months but the patterns in this issue make my finger itch. Not Q, though. To much like hard work for me. It’s not so much a pair of socks as a major commitment and I’m committed enough.

Sticking to dishcloths, sticking to dishcloths, sticking to dishcloths …

10 Questions

I’ve been watching a lot of Inside the Actors Studio on pay TV and I’ve come to really like the 10 questions that the host asks each guest at the end of the interview. After the four things that Shannon did (and I copied) I thought it might be fun to answer those questions myself.

Here goes:

1. What is your favorite word?
Serendipity - it’s a pretty word

2. What is your least favorite word?
C*nt

3. What turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]?
A mild Spring or Autumn days. They’re the ones I like the best.

4. What turns you off?
Being treated like an idiot.

5. What sound or noise do you love?
The first bird of the dawn chorus. Around here it’s usually a blackbird, which is bad because it’s not a native bird but it has a pretty song.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?
Anything mechanical with a grinding, vibrating sort of sound. It makes my tinnitus worse.

7. What is your favorite curse word?
F*ck. Particularly the way Hugh Grant says it at the beginning of Four Weddings and a Funeral.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I would have liked to have enough skill in the creative arts to make a living from it.

9. What profession would you not like to do?
Bank teller (again).

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
“You were right all along.”