Although it is now the 24th of January here and technically it is not OUR (Australia’s) National Handwriting Day, I could not resist such a fun post. So, as requested by Kim, here is a sample of my handwriting taken from my Bible reading journal from the 23rd.
A snippet from my journal.
And a happy National Handwriting Day to all!
This photo was taken while playing around in Photo Booth. Oh how I love Photo Booth! It’s soooo fun! It enables me to kiss my little man on BOTH cheeks at once! Isn’t technology great.
My dear friend Kim is playing and I thought I’d join in. Here are the details as posted at Mark’s blog:
Project Looking Through
The only requirement is the sensation of looking through something. That keeps it specific enough to keep us focused, but vague enough to free up everybody’s creativity. I figured Project Looking Through — PLT for short — is a good name.
So, join in if you like, and please use the Mr. Linky form in my latest Project Looking Through post to add yourself to the list of participants.
There’s your invitation so come & play along with us!!
Kim said I should have a go at a 15 word poem thing people are doing on Thursdays.
Here’s my first attempt, inspired by this picture:
Mettle
with silver lining her heart shines
wrought by tears and melded steel
of her resolve
Join us. You too can play.
Let me know if you play!
I’d love to read yours.
I just scored two platinum tickets to an AFL game and an associated function. I know nothing about AFL – aka ‘kill the dill with the pill’ as my brother affectionately calls it – but think it will be fun, so I’m going with a friend who also knows very little about the game. Our plan is to cheer every time ‘our’ team gets the ball. That should work, don’t you think?
If you know the rules, let me know…
If you know how to use it a little bias may serve you well.
Apparently I’m incomprehensible!
What Ancient Language Are You?
You are Linear B. Even those who can follow you think you’re all Greek to them. Which, after all, is true – Linear B being the first known text for written Greek. To most people, you’re incomprehensible. But what do you care? You’re tough, hard, long-enduring and have greater nobility than most. Naturally, you don’t admit to borrowing extensively from your brother Linear A.
| Link: The Which Ancient Language Are You Test written by imipak |
But you guys understand me, right?
So, which ancient language are you?
HT dekker
Last term I was creating posters on figurative language to go on the walls of my classroom. In the middle of composing said posters at school I had to abandon my desk, probably to make an essential cup of tea or something. While I was away someone made a few alterations to one of my posters:
alliteration
al-lit’-er-a’-tion
Repeated consonant
sounds:
“Peter Piper liked to
peck and tickle lepers.”
Hmmmm.
…is a pretty good word. It is an adjective meaning: randomly determined; having a random probability distribution or pattern that may be analysed statistically but may not be predicted precisely.
I like it.
Candy played the 7 Random Things game. She has done some very amazing random things! I really like this game because it reveals so many interesting things about people that would otherwise remain unknown. And the good thing about it is, you only say the things you want to. I like games. I like random. Random games are great!
Let me know if you want to play or simply put your answers here in the comments. If you’ve already played and want to play again, please do. If you want to play anonymously and have us guess who you are, that would be fun too. If you want to change the rules entirely, go for it. The more random the better!
Are you feeling stochastically inclined? (You can’t even say that can you?) Do you know how to use stochastic in a sentence that works? Have you heard of stochastic before today? If so, or even if not, these are the types of random – or not-so-random now because they relate to this post – things that I would like to know about you.
I know, I’ve been away for a while. Kim is very sneakily trying to flush me out with a meme – she’s a sly one! – and I must say, it worked. So, here you go Kim:
Seven Random Things About Me – as requested.
Here’s how it works: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to tag others and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged .
Yes, I put the rules last. That’s so those of you who want to play know the rules. Tell me if you’re playing. I want to read your answers.
As the name suggests this ride operates at some serious speed at a maximum height of 32 meters. Speed promises to leave even the most hardened thrill seeker shocked, satisfied and weak at the knees.
As you can partially see, the seats are at the end of a very long (32 meter) vertical arm which spins from a central point on an upright post. The ride only takes eight people at a time – four at each end. So you sit in this chair with a big harness and the arm spins very fast while your little carriage also spins. A lot of the time it feels like you are free falling as you spin either upside down or hurtle face first towards the ground. I feel like I’ve been on this ride a lot lately – mainly because I have.
Last night I was fortunate enough to accompany a group of students to the Sydney Royal Easter Show on a school excursion. No, we were not there to check out the agricultural displays or see the latest in innovation. No, we were not going to see the pretty apples in their picturesque displays – although we did, and they were very nice. We were there for the rides! Wahoooooo!
The Sport and Recreation class were going as part of their studies in thrill seeking recreation activities and sadly, the class did not have a female teacher to supervise the girls in the class, so, I just HAD to go. It was my duty.
Every week this class takes part in some kind of recreation activity as part of their study. So far they have gone jet boat riding, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and had surfing lessons. Yesterday, we went to the Easter show!
As we were ‘studying’ recreation it was very important that we took part in recreation activities. We were given $25 worth of tickets – once they were gone we could buy more buy had to use our own $ not the school’s – to try out the rides. Wahooo! That’s my kind of study. I think we all nearly vomited at various times.
My favourite ride – I went on it three times! – was EXTREME SPEED. It was very exciting. On my third ride I actually got to watch the fireworks from the top of the ride. I was sitting for a few minutes at the same level at which the fireworks were exploding. It was the best view in the showground!
Like the Year 10 camp I went on, this excursion gave me the opportunity to get to know some of my students better. This time I was with Year 12 students (about 16-18 years old in their last year of Senior School) some of whom are in my Year 12 English class. The Year 12 students are really lovely. They are very kind, funny and social which sometimes causes problems in the English classroom but was just perfect for a Sport and Rec. excursion. They are great kids and we had a lot of fun. We bought showbags – I and all the girls but one bought a showbag with Peter Alexander slippers in it! We want to have a ‘slipper day’ at school one day. I also bought a King Island Dairy show bag – love that Tassie Cheese – and Airforce bags and character toys for my boys. We taste tested delicious ginger punch; chatted about tv shows I “really must watch”; discussed metaphors in hardcore music – apparently the ‘tapeworm’ is a metaphor for the US government; ate good food; went on heaps of rides; watched the rodeo; grimaced as the boys explained their theories on why the horses buck; wrestled with a coke bottle – I have no idea what that was about. …important boy business I think; played tag; and generally had heaps of fun. I love it when I have the opportunity to do fun things with my students. It makes teaching them so much more enjoyable once we get back in the classroom. I am blessed to be able to teach such great students. They really are so lovely and fun that it is just a pleasure to go anywhere with them. A couple of the boys even carried my bags around for me all night! How gentlemanly!
So, yeah, work’s been pretty tough lately, kind of extreme and rather fast paced and now I’m on holidays! Wahooooo! Life’s tough.
Beck did this cool thing the other day where she was interviewed on her blog by a fellow blogger. It was a great post that became a tagging kinda thing. So, here, in this post, I am interviewed by Beck. She asks good questions. Not sure how well I answer. Decide for yourself…
1. Which actress – past or present – should play you in the movie version of
your life?
IN my long dark brown hair days friends have told me that I look like Angelina Jolie 
at which I was both floored and instantly offended. She can be so skanky. Despite the resemblance, I would not want to be played by her. She could perhaps carry off my angst ridden, traumatic, rebellious 19 year old days quite well – she and 19 year old me could sure give the evil eye – however, I think I’d prefer an old school actress, dare I say, who can actually act with emotional intensity, such as Cate Blanchett – whom I don’t really look like, except for the whole blonde, blue eyes, big mouth thing. I’m sure make up could change the rest and hey, I don’t mind if I end up looking like Cate anyway! She’s beautiful and Australian too so the accent wouldn’t be a problem. She also has much more class and would not turn my life into some sordid adventure flick – even though it kind of has been at times. Rather it would be presented as the sometimes traumatic but relentlessly uplifting drama my life has been so far.
2. Hey, it’s your birthday! What kind of cake do you choose?
Not a big fan of cake. But on birthdays I do make an exception. SO, I choose my mum’s specialty which is a version of Bill Granger’s Chocolate Cake. It is made with dark chocolate and tons of cocoa, so it is super rich and most delicious when served with raspberries. Yumo!
3. If you could retrieve one toy from your childhood, which one would you
recover?
Is a tree house a toy? My dad used to make us the best tree houses! I used to think I would be forever happy if I were allowed to live in my tree house.
4. What is the single kindest thing you have ever witnessed?
The single kindest thing. I’ve witnessed. Hmmmm. This is a tricky one.
Once I ordered my favourite coffee – a Genera, which is a latte with orange peel infused in the coffee – at uni only to discover that it could not be made as the coffee cart was out of oranges. After telling me this terrible news, the guy serving said, “wait here” and promptly ran away. He came back a few minutes later proudly holding a nice fresh orange that he had just run to the shop to buy. Somewhat out of breath, he made me my coffee while the ever growing coffee line looked at me somewhat bewildered by the commitment of this young man to his Genera loving customers. As kind as this gesture is, it may be rivaled by that of a stranger I encountered when I was 19.
I was walking down the street in a very rough part of town when a drug dealer started shouting at me and harassing me. He yelled all kinds of sexual remarks and other violent threats and as I tried to walk past, he began to follow. I was scared. He was big and determined. Just at the moment he seemed intent on chasing me a car pulled up requiring his attention. Noticing that he was engaged in his ‘business’ transaction I took the opportunity to walk away at a much faster pace. The guy’s attention was split between the occupants of the car and their exchange and the ever widening gap between me and him. He hurriedly finished his trafficking and began running towards me when out of nowhere appeared a taxi. The taxi driver drove along beside me and asked where I was going. “To the station,”I said. He asked me if I needed a ride, I said I didn’t have any money. He looked over his shoulder towards the local thug now running towards me and replied, “Don’t worry, just get in.” For an instant I wondered if I was jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire but decided that the taxi was the best option. I jumped in and as we drove off I looked behind and saw the ever shrinking figure of the thug, who was still running down the road, screaming and yelling at us from behind.
Confused and frightened I sank into the backseat of the taxi. I could have cried. The taxi driver passed the station. I wondered what I was in for now. After some minutes he pulled up at a different train station, one a little further away. Relieved, I realised that he was very cleverly putting distance between me and the thug and had dropped me off at a station that was safer than the one we had passed.”I really don’t have any money,” I said to the driver. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” “Thank you,” was all I could say having been overwhelmed by the kindness of a complete stranger – a taxi driver of all people. In Sydney they are more well known for their exploitation of the young and naive rather than their unsolicited philanthropy! – who saved me so generously from who knows what. Even though the orange runner was kind – and the story is much nicer – I think the actions of the taxi driver are the kindest thing I ever witnessed.
5. What would you say is the single most important duty of a parent?
Single most. Without a doubt: To instill in their childrens’ hearts a real and deep love for Christ so that they understand the extreme lengths Jesus has gone to so that we can be reconciled to Him, realise that the only true response to Christ’s love is to live their lives in service as an expression of gratitude and love, and that nothing can seperate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I think it is also important for parents to demonstrate unconditional love to their children so that they may be a soft place for their children to land when they need to because, if my children are anything like me, they’ll need to.
Let’s keep the fun happenin’. Do you want to be interviewed? Let me know and I’ll give you some questions to answer. C’mon! It’s fun!
Paul played!
regainingparadise 