When love is gone, there's always justice
A while since the last post, since (as usual) life took over, things went ever-so-slightly to pot, and I went a leetle beet mental. Well, not mental, but a few things happened that made me feel rather uncomfortable with myself. Aside from going to school, I barely left the house, and would do little more than sleep when at home (still finding it hard to drag my bleary self out of bed in the mornings, but I put that down to laziness). However, the medication has kicked in properly now, and I actually feel quite stable and - dare I say it - chilled out.
School is going well, as I'm gearing up for the forthcoming Final Teaching Practice. This is basically 6 weeks of mayhem, where I am *officially* the class' teacher, doing 90% of the lessons from day one, while Jenny (the proper teacher, as it were) does the odd observation of my work and drinks a lot of tea. I need to keep my grades above an Ofsted Level 3 ("satisfactory") though I obviously aim for 1s - "Outstanding". It's going to be very hard work, but (and maybe it's the drukqs talking) I'm feeling confident in my abilities. It's just the paperwork that's spectacularly annoying. Still, that's what Easter holidays are for - in a mere four days, it's a secksy Two Whole Weeks Off. Can't wait.
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I have recently been scaring the hell out of children at school by playing them "O Superman" by Laurie Anderson. If you've never heard it, you're missing out on the most avant-garde thing ever to nearly top the charts here in the UK (it got to #2 in 1981). Based on an aria from an 1885 opera by Jules Massenet called "Le Cid" - both are quite wonderful things. Anderson's version is essentially a spoken word cover - all vocoders, repetetive beats and curious imagery. Being a performance artist, the video is very odd, but strangely compelling. Song of the week, even though it's 26 years old.
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I had my first proper hangover of the year last Saturday! There's only two things that will heal my self-induced pain - getting a coffee (or 'vanilla flavoured milky gunk' as one friend refers to it as) and buying books. Thankfully my local Borders can fulfill both elements, so I headed there. As usual, I got frustrated because there was so much there I wanted, and couldn't decide what to blow my limited budget on - so I walked out bookless (though I did have the coffee, and it was tasty). Got home, perused my heaving shelves of stuff, pulled out a pile of books I've not read... and again, couldn't decide. So I plumped onto the sofa, fired up the TV to watch the Ireland game (beat Wales 1-0 in the Euro2008 Qualifiers - good stuff) and fell asleep.
When I woke up, I fumbled about for my glasses, put them on, and the first thing that my now working eyes fell upon was "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. I forgot how much I loved this book when I first read it, so it's currently being read again - and it's still a beautiful thing. There's just something so unashamedly... lovely about it. The fact that the link between the characters is so strong, so incredibly powerful - it just brings out the insufferable romantic in me. Clare's tolerance of Henry's chrono-impaired state (if you've not read it, that sentence will make no sense, so just go get the book) is a continual act of love, even if it means not seeing him for long periods at a time. As with all the great romantic stories, it takes a tragic turn, but ultimately ends with a final shot of happiness. It's incredibly well written, even if it seems initially confusing - I'd even suggest reading with a pen and pad to put a timeline together the first time you read it, just to keep yourself on track. It nearly restores my faith in people. Nearly.
School is going well, as I'm gearing up for the forthcoming Final Teaching Practice. This is basically 6 weeks of mayhem, where I am *officially* the class' teacher, doing 90% of the lessons from day one, while Jenny (the proper teacher, as it were) does the odd observation of my work and drinks a lot of tea. I need to keep my grades above an Ofsted Level 3 ("satisfactory") though I obviously aim for 1s - "Outstanding". It's going to be very hard work, but (and maybe it's the drukqs talking) I'm feeling confident in my abilities. It's just the paperwork that's spectacularly annoying. Still, that's what Easter holidays are for - in a mere four days, it's a secksy Two Whole Weeks Off. Can't wait.
-------------------------
I have recently been scaring the hell out of children at school by playing them "O Superman" by Laurie Anderson. If you've never heard it, you're missing out on the most avant-garde thing ever to nearly top the charts here in the UK (it got to #2 in 1981). Based on an aria from an 1885 opera by Jules Massenet called "Le Cid" - both are quite wonderful things. Anderson's version is essentially a spoken word cover - all vocoders, repetetive beats and curious imagery. Being a performance artist, the video is very odd, but strangely compelling. Song of the week, even though it's 26 years old.
-------------------------
I had my first proper hangover of the year last Saturday! There's only two things that will heal my self-induced pain - getting a coffee (or 'vanilla flavoured milky gunk' as one friend refers to it as) and buying books. Thankfully my local Borders can fulfill both elements, so I headed there. As usual, I got frustrated because there was so much there I wanted, and couldn't decide what to blow my limited budget on - so I walked out bookless (though I did have the coffee, and it was tasty). Got home, perused my heaving shelves of stuff, pulled out a pile of books I've not read... and again, couldn't decide. So I plumped onto the sofa, fired up the TV to watch the Ireland game (beat Wales 1-0 in the Euro2008 Qualifiers - good stuff) and fell asleep.
When I woke up, I fumbled about for my glasses, put them on, and the first thing that my now working eyes fell upon was "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. I forgot how much I loved this book when I first read it, so it's currently being read again - and it's still a beautiful thing. There's just something so unashamedly... lovely about it. The fact that the link between the characters is so strong, so incredibly powerful - it just brings out the insufferable romantic in me. Clare's tolerance of Henry's chrono-impaired state (if you've not read it, that sentence will make no sense, so just go get the book) is a continual act of love, even if it means not seeing him for long periods at a time. As with all the great romantic stories, it takes a tragic turn, but ultimately ends with a final shot of happiness. It's incredibly well written, even if it seems initially confusing - I'd even suggest reading with a pen and pad to put a timeline together the first time you read it, just to keep yourself on track. It nearly restores my faith in people. Nearly.
Labels: final teaching practice, time travel, vocoder
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