Upcoming Anniversary with Creamaid

Confusing title I suppose. I am in a hurry, still packing for holidays. I also quit smoking on Friday so I am feeling quite vague and very different. I have smoked for a long time and it is quite a challenge to stop. I am quite determined though and whilst I have tried many times before I feel armed with all the info I need to do it this time.
I will have been blogging for one year on 29th. I will be away though, so thought I would recognise it now. I have enjoyed it and I have written quite a number of posts in that time. This will be number 187!
I love cream and so when I noticed this social networking, word of mouth networking program called creamaid, I had to try it. I am not sure what it is about yet, but have put embed in and will check it out further when I return from my weekend away and can read, write and hopefully comprehend.
It's kind of fitting for me to be putting something I only vaguely understand on my blog to celebrate a year of doing just that.

Disconnecting

Tomorrow we head off for a week of being away. I look forward to being away from home and the Internet and the phone and the familiar for a week each term. I have a pile of books to read and my laptop is crammed with projects that I want to play with. I know from previous experience how rewarding it is to my work and my health to have these breaks. I have a new camera to play with, so I will no doubt have photo's and stories and clips to last me a term.

Camille lyrics

I love that song "Ta Douleur" and have been listening to it quite a bit. It occured to me the lyrics may not be great and not understanding French, my curiosity got the better of me. So of course I found the lyrics and went to babel fish. The translation was funny. Do it for a laugh.

[I know you're suffering, but trust me, I'm gonna take away your pain.]

The translation is funny. I get the gist of it though and it's ok.

Investments in Learning

My daughter, very conscientious human that she is, signed up to do some extra study during the holidays to prepare herself for her VCE exams that are coming up. She applied to a well known University about 150kms away. She woke early on Monday morning and caught the train, only to get a phonecall on her mobile about an hour before the course was due to start, to say they had overbooked and they didn't have a spot for her. She had arranged accomodation for herself for the three days in the city and was well organised. The uni have debited the money for this course from the Visa card and although it is three days later, no refund has appeared. She was quite devastated.
I was altogether unsurprised and others I have discussed this with have expressed a similar belief that universities in general are not the best at customer service. As courses become more expensive I find myself wondering if it is all worth it.
Interestingly I read this today:What's the ROI on an MBA When You're in the SEO Industry?. I hope people begin to question more, what is the return on the investment.
I have attended uni, tafe, adult education and lots of privately ran courses. I am a bit of a course addict actually, or at least I was until I started blogging:-). I honestly found my uni course to be the least quality or ROI. I guess that peice of paper one needs for many professions, that is only available at a uni, is the edge they have. As far the actual learning though or the growth gained, uni's didn't rate for me.
I guess I am just always cranky when people are not treated with respect.

Latest YA Reading #2

Have just completed a couple of books quite quickly really. My son recommended to me Will by Maria Boyd. He loved it and I can see why. It was funny, current and dealt with grief. He (my son) quoted from it at a family dinner discussion when he felt I was stereotyping. I love it when he does that kind of thing. Makes me feel he is literate:-). I enjoyed it too.
The other book was Helicopter Man by Elizabeth Fensham, which won the Children's Book Council of Australia award this year for younger readers. It had a similar theme as No Worries in some ways. I won't go into it and spoil it for would be readers, but it too was enjoyable.

Camille

I heard this artist on triple J so many times on my way to work and it has taken incredible effort to track down the name. I can't find much online about her but I discovered this clip on YouTube


Enjoy, I hadn't seen the clip, I quite like the naked knitting theme in the video. There is another cool clip of the song but can't put it here, so if you're interested click here. It's playful and I really like it.

Terracotta Warriors

I would love to go and see this place. I think this is amazing and Chinese history is one of the things I love learning more about.

An Inconvenient Truth

Al Gore is in Australia. This is the trailer of the film referred to in the latest newsvine feed:

Eyespot's fun

Had coffee with Asha yesterday and the best lemon meringue pie in Traralgon from PJ's. Asha had a white hot chocolate. I am glad we went there, haven't been there for ages and it was divine! The sculpture they have in there next to the comfy couch we sat on is in my little clip I am sharing with you.
Tom went off on his trip to QLD with his dad. I miss him already!
Yesterday I played around with Eyespot. It was great fun. I made this little clip:

I like it!

I watched a couple of movies. Nothing worth mentioning, purely entertaining and forgettable, action and adventure.
I am reading a Gary Crew book at present, an older one called "No Such Country". It has archeology in it so I love it. It's also a bit scary and because it's a kid's book, I'm hoping I'll cope with that. I am teaching history to the 7s and 8s this term so I am all passionate about archeology and history. I'm gathering a pile of great books for the holidays and I can see it in sight so I'm feeling good about that.

Once

I finished Once last night. It is a beautiful story and reminds me of the lovely Italian film 'Life is Beautiful'. A bittersweet reminder that even in the most cruel circumstances, our perception of our experience is what defines us. We enrich others by sharing a positive view of the world, encouraging them to see a more magical and loving reality.

Heartbroken

Ella passed away this week. The emptiness is vast. I hurt for Andy's massive loss also. He has loved her and had her as a constant companion for 11 years. I have never been privelaged to see such a close bond. She was a blessed part of our lives and her beauty and grace will continue to be missed for a long time.