And there you have it!
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Friday, 18 November 2011
Day 18 - What I wore today
I didn't get dressed today.
I wore a duvet, and stayed in bed.
It was great.
(WARNING: some of the above may in fact be lies!)
Ok, so I didn't really stay in bed today - but I wanted to, which is nearly the same thing, right?
At some point last year, some bright spark decided that she didn't wear a dress/skirt often enough, or something like that, so in order to prove to the world that she actually is a girl (or at least, owns girl's clothing) Madam created 'Frock Friday' and invited/cajoled/threatened other be-trousered females in the hope of sharing her discomfort. I managed to steer well clear of this, but our Lucy is a persistent individual, and when I was struggling for the last few things on my '50 list' she popped the words 'frock friday' into the atmosphere at just the right moment. Now I have to wear a skirt or a dress at least twice a month. *sigh*
So, here is what I wore today:
I wore a duvet, and stayed in bed.
It was great.
(WARNING: some of the above may in fact be lies!)
Ok, so I didn't really stay in bed today - but I wanted to, which is nearly the same thing, right?
At some point last year, some bright spark decided that she didn't wear a dress/skirt often enough, or something like that, so in order to prove to the world that she actually is a girl (or at least, owns girl's clothing) Madam created 'Frock Friday' and invited/cajoled/threatened other be-trousered females in the hope of sharing her discomfort. I managed to steer well clear of this, but our Lucy is a persistent individual, and when I was struggling for the last few things on my '50 list' she popped the words 'frock friday' into the atmosphere at just the right moment. Now I have to wear a skirt or a dress at least twice a month. *sigh*
So, here is what I wore today:
Please note - there are already enough pictures of me in this blog. Photo of my clothes is just fine!
No more skirts til December. Ha!
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Day 17 - My Family
My Family
In Photographic Form
The Ones who share the same gene pool
(August 28th 2011)
(August 28th 2011)
 |
The Parents |
 |
The Brother, the Sister-in-Law, the Niece & the Nephew |
 |
The Matriarch and (some of) her off-spring |
 |
A few of the cousins, both first and second |
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| The Loonies (photo by Pete Clark) The Ones who share the same passions (whatever those might be!) |
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| The Drama Family |
 |
| The Grown-Up Drama Family |
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| The Ones that climbed a mountain ('almost' family, and Bryony Jane) |
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| Friends - The Ones who are the family of choice The Ones that share the Home |
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| The Furry Family - Frankie & Peggy
There are many other people who could have featured here - but it had to stop somewhere! The parkrun family had yesterday's blog - and anyone else who is feeling left out - I love you!
|
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Day 16 - Someone who inspires me.
One of my lovely lovely students, Mary says she is my inspiration. Ellie (another lovely student - who was straightening her hair at the time) says 'Your students are your inspiration.'
I'm not disputing this, actually, but I've already done a post about the wonders of my job, and this post is all about parkrun!
By Friday morning, I'm generally really struggling. Getting out of bed is the equivalent of climbing Everest, and all I want to do is curl up somewhere warm and dark, preferably with chocolate. At this point, everyone else is saying 'ah well, lie in tomorrow' - and I'm looking forward to another early morning - same time as normal - at Warlingham, to set up for parkrun.
Strangely, I don't struggle to get up on a Saturday (at least, not as much as usual!) and when I get into the car, I'm genuinely looking forward to the morning ahead. I've turned up at Riddlesdown with streaming colds, head aches, stomach cramps, the works, and still, I've really enjoyed it - rain, sun, fog... it's great. When things go wrong - technical stuff, practical stuff, mud-based stuff - whatever! - it's not a trauma, it's a challenge, and it gets solved by team work. The Riddlesdown parkrun team are amazing. The volunteers, who are so willing, so able, and so encouraging; The runners, who put so much effort into the process, running through pain, pushing themselves to do better and doing it with enthusiasm.
And so now we come to the inspirational bit.
I am inspired by every single man woman child (and dog) who is involved with Riddlesdown parkrun. The eagerness to help, the enthusiasm for the event, the feeling of comradeship and sense of belonging that they engender. The laughter, the generosity, the support and the effort - the sense of having achieved something together. Watching pale faces turn pink, seeing the breathing getting harder - blood sweat and tears (and occasionally other bodily fluids) spent in the name of parkrun. Every week, a different combination of volunteers swing into action, and everything just happens... we've had to carry the cart back when the wheel came off, rake piles of grass of of 2km of course before 9am, run through thick fog with zero visability, and all of these things have been accomplished without complaint, with smiles, and above all, through team work.
Before the event, during the event, sorting the kit, at the pub afterwards - these guys remind me that life is worth living. As individuals they have become friends, and I enjoy their company. As athlete they show me that it is all about the taking part. And as volunteers they prove that anything is possible.
Truly inspirational ...The Riddledown parkrun (dare I say it) family. Thank you all.
(photos will be added shortly!)
I'm not disputing this, actually, but I've already done a post about the wonders of my job, and this post is all about parkrun!
By Friday morning, I'm generally really struggling. Getting out of bed is the equivalent of climbing Everest, and all I want to do is curl up somewhere warm and dark, preferably with chocolate. At this point, everyone else is saying 'ah well, lie in tomorrow' - and I'm looking forward to another early morning - same time as normal - at Warlingham, to set up for parkrun.
Strangely, I don't struggle to get up on a Saturday (at least, not as much as usual!) and when I get into the car, I'm genuinely looking forward to the morning ahead. I've turned up at Riddlesdown with streaming colds, head aches, stomach cramps, the works, and still, I've really enjoyed it - rain, sun, fog... it's great. When things go wrong - technical stuff, practical stuff, mud-based stuff - whatever! - it's not a trauma, it's a challenge, and it gets solved by team work. The Riddlesdown parkrun team are amazing. The volunteers, who are so willing, so able, and so encouraging; The runners, who put so much effort into the process, running through pain, pushing themselves to do better and doing it with enthusiasm.
And so now we come to the inspirational bit.
I am inspired by every single man woman child (and dog) who is involved with Riddlesdown parkrun. The eagerness to help, the enthusiasm for the event, the feeling of comradeship and sense of belonging that they engender. The laughter, the generosity, the support and the effort - the sense of having achieved something together. Watching pale faces turn pink, seeing the breathing getting harder - blood sweat and tears (and occasionally other bodily fluids) spent in the name of parkrun. Every week, a different combination of volunteers swing into action, and everything just happens... we've had to carry the cart back when the wheel came off, rake piles of grass of of 2km of course before 9am, run through thick fog with zero visability, and all of these things have been accomplished without complaint, with smiles, and above all, through team work.
Before the event, during the event, sorting the kit, at the pub afterwards - these guys remind me that life is worth living. As individuals they have become friends, and I enjoy their company. As athlete they show me that it is all about the taking part. And as volunteers they prove that anything is possible.
Truly inspirational ...The Riddledown parkrun (dare I say it) family. Thank you all.
(photos will be added shortly!)
An Ode to Movember and all who wish they were hairier
For Steve and anyone else whose mo is saying 'No'!
There was an Old Man with a beard
Who said, it is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard.
By Edward Lear
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Day 15 - some style inspiration for the season
This puzzled me - my style is decidedly uninspired.
Someone suggested a scarecrow.
Oh how I laughed.
& then I remembered something.
THE TRASH HEAP
(aka 'Marjory' from the TV extravaganza that was 'Fraggle Rock')
She is my God!
I loved her character - bossy and demanding, a kind of Oracle the Fraggles visited for advice, which she would dispense liberally, often in the form of a song. She had squeaky little 'trash-heap bitches'/acolytes who said: 'The Trash Heap has spoken, mehhhhhhh!' after every pronouncement she made.
Her look is one you could say I have achieved - I think there is still room for improvement, and an trying hard to reach her level!
Seriously, what's not to love!And here's a special bonus:
Video of Madam Trash Heap at the height of her sartorial elegance -the clip is worth watching 'til the end for the immortal 'the trash heap as spoken - mehhh' moment!
And here she is singing and advising... Little things make me happy!
*contented sigh*
Monday, 14 November 2011
Day 14 - a favorite film.
I don't often watch films.
This doesn't mean I don't like them - I do.
It's just about time. Watching a film - if it's any good - requires attention, for a solid block of time. If I've got a solid block of time I generally feel I should be doing something 'useful', and if I do sit down to watch a film, I often fall asleep!
I spend an inordinate amount of time at the theatre, watching live performance work, and I can't imagine a life where that wasn't the case - it's what I do. Cinema trips are few and far between - possibly as a direct result of the amount of time spent at the theatre! The last two Cinema trips were both to the BFI imax, once to see the Harry Potter 7.2, once to see the complete LoTRs trilogy in an overnight marathon - a seriously amazing evening/night/morning!!
The film I'm actually going to choose here is, like the LoTRs, really a trilogy of films, and if they are ever shown together (or even separately) at the imax, I'm there!
Wikipedia says:
'The Matrix ... depicts a future in which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality created by sentient machines to pacify and subdue the human population, while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Upon learning this, compter programmer 'Neo' is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, involving other people who have been freed from the 'dream world' and into reality.
The film contains many reference to ...cyberpunk .... philosophical ideas such as Descartes evil genius, the brain in a vat thought experiment; and homages to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, dystopian fiction and Japanese animation.' (click here for the full Wikipedia page)
I was completely hooked, from the first viewing which was at a cinema in Croydon. Initially, the intricacy of the plot - literally anything could become something other than it seemed at any moment, and there were layers upon layers upon layers upon layers of sub-plots - intrigued me, and I loved the look of the piece - it was all so sleek and all so shabby all at once. I don't think I've ever lusted after a piece of clothing as much as I did Neo's or Trinity's full length leather coat. (and I now own a very similar coat - albeit in black velvet - which I treasure!)
The concept on which the film is based - the idea that reality could all be an illusion brought about by an evil god/scientist (shout out to Robert Nozick, if you please!) - was one which brought back fond memories of first year philosophy seminars, and there are sufficient literary allusions throughout the film to keep even my scarily voracious book-brain happy.
Visually/theatrically, the film is stunning - from the green and black data streams which represent the coding of the matrix (yes, I had it as a screen saver, whirling away, and the poster below was on my wall in the flat in Brighton for many a month!) - to the stunning special effects.
The way the fight scenes work (with the super-flexible, slowed down, sped-up movements) looked amazing when I watched the DVD last night. Over a decade ago, the SFX were state of the art. The notion that everything which happened in the matrix was simply a piece of a program, a line in a code meant that Neo, the super skilled hacker, had simply to think of alternative, and the world would change around him. Bullets stopped in mid air and fell to the ground as he changed the 'reality' of the program world by thinking it different. And beyond all of that, there was a fight for freedom - physical, emotional and intellectual - an ultimately doomed love-affair, a fascinating set of supporting characters and an continually shifting set of rules underpinning the whole shebang.
I'm planning to rewatch them all this weekend. Then they're available for loan to anyone who'd like to indulge!
This doesn't mean I don't like them - I do.
It's just about time. Watching a film - if it's any good - requires attention, for a solid block of time. If I've got a solid block of time I generally feel I should be doing something 'useful', and if I do sit down to watch a film, I often fall asleep!
I spend an inordinate amount of time at the theatre, watching live performance work, and I can't imagine a life where that wasn't the case - it's what I do. Cinema trips are few and far between - possibly as a direct result of the amount of time spent at the theatre! The last two Cinema trips were both to the BFI imax, once to see the Harry Potter 7.2, once to see the complete LoTRs trilogy in an overnight marathon - a seriously amazing evening/night/morning!!
The film I'm actually going to choose here is, like the LoTRs, really a trilogy of films, and if they are ever shown together (or even separately) at the imax, I'm there!
The Matrix
Wikipedia says:
'The Matrix ... depicts a future in which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality created by sentient machines to pacify and subdue the human population, while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Upon learning this, compter programmer 'Neo' is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, involving other people who have been freed from the 'dream world' and into reality.
The film contains many reference to ...cyberpunk .... philosophical ideas such as Descartes evil genius, the brain in a vat thought experiment; and homages to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, dystopian fiction and Japanese animation.' (click here for the full Wikipedia page)
I was completely hooked, from the first viewing which was at a cinema in Croydon. Initially, the intricacy of the plot - literally anything could become something other than it seemed at any moment, and there were layers upon layers upon layers upon layers of sub-plots - intrigued me, and I loved the look of the piece - it was all so sleek and all so shabby all at once. I don't think I've ever lusted after a piece of clothing as much as I did Neo's or Trinity's full length leather coat. (and I now own a very similar coat - albeit in black velvet - which I treasure!)
The concept on which the film is based - the idea that reality could all be an illusion brought about by an evil god/scientist (shout out to Robert Nozick, if you please!) - was one which brought back fond memories of first year philosophy seminars, and there are sufficient literary allusions throughout the film to keep even my scarily voracious book-brain happy.
Visually/theatrically, the film is stunning - from the green and black data streams which represent the coding of the matrix (yes, I had it as a screen saver, whirling away, and the poster below was on my wall in the flat in Brighton for many a month!) - to the stunning special effects.
The way the fight scenes work (with the super-flexible, slowed down, sped-up movements) looked amazing when I watched the DVD last night. Over a decade ago, the SFX were state of the art. The notion that everything which happened in the matrix was simply a piece of a program, a line in a code meant that Neo, the super skilled hacker, had simply to think of alternative, and the world would change around him. Bullets stopped in mid air and fell to the ground as he changed the 'reality' of the program world by thinking it different. And beyond all of that, there was a fight for freedom - physical, emotional and intellectual - an ultimately doomed love-affair, a fascinating set of supporting characters and an continually shifting set of rules underpinning the whole shebang.
I'm planning to rewatch them all this weekend. Then they're available for loan to anyone who'd like to indulge!
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