Well I am banned from social technologies still (story for another time), which of course includes Blogs (which is killing me the most) so alas I shall resort to sending an email to myself (which I guess is still within the rules hehe).
I have just finished watching one of my all time favourite movies 'Stranger Than Fiction'... far out that movie gets me going haha. Feeling on top of the world again, knowing my fate driven life is in fact, fate driven. Haha no doubt about it. It always has been that way, it always will be, and best part is I know that all the bad stuff happens for a reason, and that the good stuff is just around the corner. It is giving me a break, I reckon. A break from the good stuff so I can have more time to concentrate on my Honours work. Because think about it, it is hard enough for me to do my Honours work as it is let alone when I have cool activities going on at the same time!
Although to be honest, I do seem to be struggling a little lately to get it done... I just feel like something is missing, something not quite right that seems to be stopping me, like physically stopping me, from continuing with my work. A writers block if you will... which I guess coincides with the movie I just watched perfectly... fate strikes again perhaps? Of course it does. Hell, if I could be even half as cool and eccentric as the lady in the film I would be a much more fulfilled person. There needs to be a 100 times more people like her in the world, there is so many boring people... space fillers and resources wasters if you will. Clogging up our society with their superficial nonsense about what to wear, where to shop. Drinking far to much and thinking far to little. It is a shame, but alas, as someone very important to me recently said "We have created pathways for ourselves at least".
Indeed we have, indeed I have, with my pathway only just begun, forever changing in fact... which makes it both scary and exciting at the same time, not knowing where life is going to take me. Or where I am going to take my life!
I am full of dreams and ambitions lately... well, even more so then usual I should state. This year, I am doing my Honours degree... well, it is hardly 'this year' anymore now is it? We are just about August already! That makes a short 5 months before the end of the year, an extremely short 3 months before my 70 page Thesis is due to which I am then free to move on to the next chapter of my life. Where to go? What to see? What to do? The possibilities are endless!
I want to live in New York. Don't ask me why, I don't even know myself. But I do so that's that. I like the way I live my life, it seems to be so different to everyone else. Which is a shame, and very annoying. Unlike many, or most, nay majority, when I want to do something I actually go do it. Yep, wow, I bet that philosophy on life just blew your mind. Ha jokes, but seriously, give it a go... come on now, don't be negative like that.
Stop reading, think to yourself "if I had the chance to do something cool this month, what would I do?"
Go camping? Sleep on the beach for a night? Randomly fly interstate because you heard of a cool festival that was currently on?
Go for it! Work, money, commitments, they are nothing! Superficial constraints inflicted on us by our modern shackled society. Take a day off work, or two. Hell, lets make it a week. Do something worth blogging about.
Or... well now that I think about it, there are a lot of people within the blogosphere that actually do cool stuff. Hmm, I guess my gripe is with the non-bloggers, the non-creatives, the mundanes. I wish I could meet more exciting people.
It appears I have lost my train of thought, or whatever it was that I had. I always get a buzz when I start thinking about fate and life and fun and the future. Although, as the very important person to me that I mentioned a few paragraphs above also made me realize is that I seem to live too much in my daydreamed future and not enough in my current reality. Oh well, we can always dream. =)
29 July 2010
22 July 2010
Well, that's great...
It's Thursday night, I had a really long and boring day at work today, got home and was put in a good mood by being around my cool house mates. Everything was cool, we were playing some games, having a laugh... then they stand up, and say goodbye, and go out for the night... no invite for me yay.
So now I am alone and bored once more, I think I might go see a movie on my own.
My social skills lack.
So now I am alone and bored once more, I think I might go see a movie on my own.
My social skills lack.
20 July 2010
Class
Last week I taught my first class as a casual Tutor at my University, teaching Audio and Visual Game Elements to the 2nd years, today was my second week. It went very well, I think much better then the week before actually. This week I found myself much more relaxed and started chatting to the kids a lot more... although in a very casual and non-work related aspect but the rapport is just as important as the teaching! (Well that is how I justify wasting their time hehe)
Later on in the afternoon I was walking by a room where a practical class was taking place. The teacher inside was a young guy who had only begun teaching the year before, although unless you had known that fact prior you probably wouldn't of guessed it. I stopped outside the door unseen to listen in on his teachings, his style was well set and I immediately found myself wanting to change my style to mimic his. Although to be fair after only 2 classes I don't even have a style, I guess in other words his style is what I would like my future style to become.
He spoke to the kids thoroughly, not just dictating what their tasks for the evening entailed but going deeper, exploring and opening the ideas of what they were doing and why. Getting the kids to think how what they are learning relates to the soon to come assignment and eventual exam. It was awesome to listen to.
I cannot wait until next week now, I have built a pretty good rapport with my students by now and now hope to get them thinking about what they are doing, how it relates to their work and interests. I would love for them to finish the class at the end of the semester having gained not just knowledge but some inspiration perhaps, and hopefully at the very least some fond memories!
Although I am sure all teachers start out this way... and perhaps I am being too ambitious. Although, I have always been too ambitious which seems to be working for me thus far! =)
Later on in the afternoon I was walking by a room where a practical class was taking place. The teacher inside was a young guy who had only begun teaching the year before, although unless you had known that fact prior you probably wouldn't of guessed it. I stopped outside the door unseen to listen in on his teachings, his style was well set and I immediately found myself wanting to change my style to mimic his. Although to be fair after only 2 classes I don't even have a style, I guess in other words his style is what I would like my future style to become.
He spoke to the kids thoroughly, not just dictating what their tasks for the evening entailed but going deeper, exploring and opening the ideas of what they were doing and why. Getting the kids to think how what they are learning relates to the soon to come assignment and eventual exam. It was awesome to listen to.
I cannot wait until next week now, I have built a pretty good rapport with my students by now and now hope to get them thinking about what they are doing, how it relates to their work and interests. I would love for them to finish the class at the end of the semester having gained not just knowledge but some inspiration perhaps, and hopefully at the very least some fond memories!
Although I am sure all teachers start out this way... and perhaps I am being too ambitious. Although, I have always been too ambitious which seems to be working for me thus far! =)
14 July 2010
Yikes, things just got real!
As you all know, I am currently undertaking my Honours degree at University which entails completing 4 Masters level units as well as a Thesis. Thus far I have completed 3 of my 4 units and found it rather manageable and very enjoyable... today I realized the second half of my year will not be such a walk in the park in comparison to the first.
You know when things are bad and you cringe every time you think about it... I'm past that. I am at the stage where it is so bad that I can't stop laughing at just how bad it is! I kid you not, the amount of work is just... see now I am laughing too hard to think of a description haha!
I think I have gone insane!
My last remaining Masters unit is titled 'Recent Development in IT'. When you begin an Honours degree it is suggested that you get your 4 Master level units done in the first semester, leaving the second semester free for your Thesis research and writing. Recent Development in IT was only offered in the second semester but with a title like that I just had to take it!
Oh how I have come to regret that choice. I have the sheets of paper in front of me that list what this weeks practical class involves... It entails so much work for just 1 weeks worth of class that it is almost the entire weeks work load of what I would of done in only one week last semester. And I have to do these once a week, on top of my Thesis research and writing!
Then I looked at the Assignment 1 for the class... it was a Literature Review... are you kidding me! A Literature Review! Now, it needs to be minimum 3000 words, which honestly is a breeze... the problem is I am already in the process of writing a 4000 word Literature Review for my Thesis, and it is about a topic I have very limited prior knowledge of. This has to be squeezed in with my teaching rounds every Tuesday whilst still researching for my Thesis, actually writing my Thesis, all of this scheduled in between my 9 - 5 job three days a week!
*interval of 70 minutes*
Ok, I am back. I had a bit of a mental-insane-laughing-breakdown of some sorts, so I went and played my drums and watched my housemates play a drinking game. I would be drinking with them, but yeah, you know... there is no time!
Time! There is none! The other day I spent about 4 hours whilst at work reading about Einstein's theory of general relativity... yeah I love that stuff and proud of it. Anyways, there are theories that suggest that gravity isn't a constant after all and in fact can vary depending on factors such as mass, size and proximity of surrounding bodies like planets and suns, which apparently therefore alters the speed at which time passes (known as the Shapiro delay).
Maybe I could travel there to buy some more time!
Haha oh geez, I don't think it is safe for me to return just yet...
You know when things are bad and you cringe every time you think about it... I'm past that. I am at the stage where it is so bad that I can't stop laughing at just how bad it is! I kid you not, the amount of work is just... see now I am laughing too hard to think of a description haha!
I think I have gone insane!
My last remaining Masters unit is titled 'Recent Development in IT'. When you begin an Honours degree it is suggested that you get your 4 Master level units done in the first semester, leaving the second semester free for your Thesis research and writing. Recent Development in IT was only offered in the second semester but with a title like that I just had to take it!
Oh how I have come to regret that choice. I have the sheets of paper in front of me that list what this weeks practical class involves... It entails so much work for just 1 weeks worth of class that it is almost the entire weeks work load of what I would of done in only one week last semester. And I have to do these once a week, on top of my Thesis research and writing!
Then I looked at the Assignment 1 for the class... it was a Literature Review... are you kidding me! A Literature Review! Now, it needs to be minimum 3000 words, which honestly is a breeze... the problem is I am already in the process of writing a 4000 word Literature Review for my Thesis, and it is about a topic I have very limited prior knowledge of. This has to be squeezed in with my teaching rounds every Tuesday whilst still researching for my Thesis, actually writing my Thesis, all of this scheduled in between my 9 - 5 job three days a week!
*interval of 70 minutes*
Ok, I am back. I had a bit of a mental-insane-laughing-breakdown of some sorts, so I went and played my drums and watched my housemates play a drinking game. I would be drinking with them, but yeah, you know... there is no time!
Time! There is none! The other day I spent about 4 hours whilst at work reading about Einstein's theory of general relativity... yeah I love that stuff and proud of it. Anyways, there are theories that suggest that gravity isn't a constant after all and in fact can vary depending on factors such as mass, size and proximity of surrounding bodies like planets and suns, which apparently therefore alters the speed at which time passes (known as the Shapiro delay).
Maybe I could travel there to buy some more time!
Haha oh geez, I don't think it is safe for me to return just yet...
13 July 2010
That's Mr Reminiscing to you
I did it! Today I taught my first tutorial class at my University, sweet. My heart was racing that's for sure haha.
This all started a while back when Sophie (my awesome Honours supervisor) offered me the opportunity if I so chose to be able to teach the 2nd year Games Design and Development students for their practical classes. Reading that post where I first was made aware of this opportunity I can see how excited I was even back then so I am glad that it turned out well and was indeed as much fun as I was hoping and imagined it would be.
The class I teach is Audio and Visual Game Elements, which isn't a forte of mine by any means but I can easily wing my way through just about any situation, which I did to the extreme the whole class to surprisingly great success. The kids were foolish enough to actually listen to what I had to say hehe, which to be honest was a pretty awesome feeling. During the class they were tasked with choosing a game and creating 3 sound effects using a microphone and a sound editing program, to my great delight some of them actually made some very impressive sounds. I tried my best to show an interest in their work and what they had to say, I think for about 2 or 3 of them they valued that and seemed to open up rather well.
One mistake I fell for (which I shall learn for next class) is that I let them all start the tasks on their own... after about 30 minutes I went to check on their individual progress only to find the majority hadn't read the questions properly (or even at all) and were off on all sorts of wrong directions haha.
I don't think I ever in my younger days saw myself being a teacher (well, a teacher of some sorts), so I am rather proud of myself that I can still manage to surprise myself even during these hectic times. My class is every Tuesday so here is hoping that it improves as the weeks go by!
This all started a while back when Sophie (my awesome Honours supervisor) offered me the opportunity if I so chose to be able to teach the 2nd year Games Design and Development students for their practical classes. Reading that post where I first was made aware of this opportunity I can see how excited I was even back then so I am glad that it turned out well and was indeed as much fun as I was hoping and imagined it would be.
The class I teach is Audio and Visual Game Elements, which isn't a forte of mine by any means but I can easily wing my way through just about any situation, which I did to the extreme the whole class to surprisingly great success. The kids were foolish enough to actually listen to what I had to say hehe, which to be honest was a pretty awesome feeling. During the class they were tasked with choosing a game and creating 3 sound effects using a microphone and a sound editing program, to my great delight some of them actually made some very impressive sounds. I tried my best to show an interest in their work and what they had to say, I think for about 2 or 3 of them they valued that and seemed to open up rather well.
One mistake I fell for (which I shall learn for next class) is that I let them all start the tasks on their own... after about 30 minutes I went to check on their individual progress only to find the majority hadn't read the questions properly (or even at all) and were off on all sorts of wrong directions haha.
I don't think I ever in my younger days saw myself being a teacher (well, a teacher of some sorts), so I am rather proud of myself that I can still manage to surprise myself even during these hectic times. My class is every Tuesday so here is hoping that it improves as the weeks go by!
09 July 2010
I miss Zac
When I was 8 years old my family and I went to a market one Sunday afternoon. Unexpectedly we returned home with a new family member, one that would become an integral part of my life.
The market sold everything; fruit, toys, pets, clothes, I remember the day surprisingly vividly considering it was 14 years ago now. After a whole day spent being lead around by Mum and Dad we were on the way back to the car when my sister and I spotted a wooden pen with 6 puppies inside. As any kid that age would of done I immediately pleaded with the pretext that the world as we know it will forever end if we don't bring one home with us that very moment.
Unlike countless other pleads such as these, this one actually worked. I remember my Dad saying no but Mum convincing him otherwise, alas I was tasked with the important task of choosing one of the puppies to take home with us, eventually settling for the most active of the bunch. Yay! On the drive home I got to name him, I was a huge Power Rangers fan at the time so I wanted to call him Jason (who I believe was the Red one) but instead settled upon Zac (can't remember which colour he was).
13 years later Zac was still with us. He stayed with my family while we moved houses 3 times, during my entire High School years, most of my University years, all the way from growing child to teenager to young adult. He was a favourite amongst all my friends and family and we counted him as a core member of my family. He brought us so much fun, joy and many laughs.
I laugh even now remembering some of the funny stuff he did over the years.
Now that I think back about it, it was cool to see him grow from a tiny puppy of 6 months old to a veteran of 13 years, because the thing was that I myself was just a puppy when we met. We grew old together.
A year or so ago I saw the movie Marley and Me (a ridiculously sad movie) and it prompted me to miss Zac immensely. Upon returning home I took a bazillion photos of him, playing with him for hours. I feel so lucky I saw that movie and took those pictures when I did, because sadly only a few weeks later he passed away.
I was thinking about him today, I often do really, so I thought I'd write this post up to remember him by. He was an amazing dog, I miss him all the time, but I feel good with the knowledge that he lived a great life. You could tell he was happy.
The market sold everything; fruit, toys, pets, clothes, I remember the day surprisingly vividly considering it was 14 years ago now. After a whole day spent being lead around by Mum and Dad we were on the way back to the car when my sister and I spotted a wooden pen with 6 puppies inside. As any kid that age would of done I immediately pleaded with the pretext that the world as we know it will forever end if we don't bring one home with us that very moment.
Unlike countless other pleads such as these, this one actually worked. I remember my Dad saying no but Mum convincing him otherwise, alas I was tasked with the important task of choosing one of the puppies to take home with us, eventually settling for the most active of the bunch. Yay! On the drive home I got to name him, I was a huge Power Rangers fan at the time so I wanted to call him Jason (who I believe was the Red one) but instead settled upon Zac (can't remember which colour he was).
13 years later Zac was still with us. He stayed with my family while we moved houses 3 times, during my entire High School years, most of my University years, all the way from growing child to teenager to young adult. He was a favourite amongst all my friends and family and we counted him as a core member of my family. He brought us so much fun, joy and many laughs.
I laugh even now remembering some of the funny stuff he did over the years.
Now that I think back about it, it was cool to see him grow from a tiny puppy of 6 months old to a veteran of 13 years, because the thing was that I myself was just a puppy when we met. We grew old together.
A year or so ago I saw the movie Marley and Me (a ridiculously sad movie) and it prompted me to miss Zac immensely. Upon returning home I took a bazillion photos of him, playing with him for hours. I feel so lucky I saw that movie and took those pictures when I did, because sadly only a few weeks later he passed away.
I was thinking about him today, I often do really, so I thought I'd write this post up to remember him by. He was an amazing dog, I miss him all the time, but I feel good with the knowledge that he lived a great life. You could tell he was happy.
The day of seeing Marley and Me. His smile still makes me smile.
Zac
1996 - 2009
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