1.
I accidentally infected my school computer with a killer virus the other day. I lost a bunch of stuff from the c-drive that I'd been working on.
Luckily I'd just had an upgrade and had transferred everything onto an external drive, so only lost about a week's worth of work. It was still hours and hours of stuff though :( It made me sad.
2.
I infected myself with a virus too. I have a cold and feel very poorly. Today was the wet-cough phase. By my afternoon classes I was sneezing and spluttering quite a lot.
I had to play basketball anyhow. Firstly cause I knew we didn't have many players tonight (six in total), secondly cause I wagged last week to do work.
I played ok.
The team I'm in plays 'properly', which is a bit of a shock to the system. My old team just play a loosely organised style. This team plays strict high-low post offence. No deviating. And man-to-man defence.
I may have mentioned this before.
Tonight during a time out the player/coach emphasised that I had to cut any time the other post got the ball, and it didn't matter at all if I got it... I was just making space for other people. And I found this really freeing.
So I moved more than usual... and did a few good things. I even did a 'move', where I dribbled through a couple of people and got a layup in. If there had been a crowd, they would have gone crazy (in my mind).
Anyhow. My theory is always that you should try and sweat a cold out.
I went and bought some Coldral after that.
I feel miserable now.
My chest hurts.
And my nose is sore from all the sniffing and blowing.
Luckily tomorrow is mid-term break day. So I can be miserable in bed for as long as I like.
For those non-teachers out there, I hope you are aware that the term dates have been purposely changed to fit around the Rugby World Cup. This strikes a lot of us as being really really stupid. It's basically just for Auckland traffic issues, they say. But it means we have longer-than-usual Term 1 and 2s.
The Rugby World Cup sucks.
But mid term break rules.
3.
I'm watching the politican-I-went-to-school-with's scandal in the news with interest. He's been a bit of a golden boy for a while, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. He'd be pretty heart-broken if he had to quit politics over it.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Normal Programming Will Now Resume
Today is the first day that neither the Christchurch or Japanese earthquake has been the lead story on Stuff. I was watching with vague interest, just to see how long each had currency.
The Christchurch quake held the title until the Japanese one, and now it's something about Peter Jackson having lost weight..... Back to normal.
The Christchurch quake held the title until the Japanese one, and now it's something about Peter Jackson having lost weight..... Back to normal.
* * *
I am now Level 17 - 'veteran'. I was in the zone tonight - no compromising, waiting for the perfect pieces. It all fell into place.
I was beating Level 16 players easily - it's like they gave away the 'expert' label. Maybe you can use that tetris money they give away to buy credentials. I'm earning it old school.
Rotate, rotate... hard drop..... Line piece.... TETRIS!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Girly Stuff from my stocktake
I have roughly this many necklaces (a few more not in shot). And this many bracelets.
They are bought mainly from: Pixel Ink, Madame Fancy Pants, Iko Iko, Magnolia, various markets, Wanda Harland and Goodness.
Only two of the ones pictures were presents from other people. The rest were presents from myself. Lots of birds. No bling.
They are bought mainly from: Pixel Ink, Madame Fancy Pants, Iko Iko, Magnolia, various markets, Wanda Harland and Goodness.
Only two of the ones pictures were presents from other people. The rest were presents from myself. Lots of birds. No bling.
Sunday, March 06, 2011
In the Charlie Sheen madness.....
... there is surely the next name for our indoor netball team.
Tiger blood?
Rock stars from Mars?
Fools and Trolls?
Fire of 1000 Suns?
Firey Death?
Adonis DNA?
Bi-Winning?
Tiger blood?
Rock stars from Mars?
Fools and Trolls?
Fire of 1000 Suns?
Firey Death?
Adonis DNA?
Bi-Winning?
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Sobering
1.
I was in Whitcoull's tonight trying to buy a frivolous magazine. All of the women's gossip magazines from NZ had pictures of NZ celebs telling their Chirstchurch stories on the cover.
I couldn't quite bare it to buy one of those. I've had enough of those kind of stories. Not in a heartless way, but in the sense that I am saturated emotionally.
I have taught the concept that media texts that are far removed from the actual mood of the era are great for escapism (such as comedies and musicals in the 40s).
At that moment, veering for the Kim Kardashian magazine instead of the Christchurch survivor stories one, I understood that concept.
2.
We have at least four Chch students enrolling, at least temporarily, at our school.
I feel bad that they've had a decent earthquake on their arrival to Wellington tonight, where they've come to escape.
My heart was beating a little faster than normal during a 4 or 5 earth-quake and I did jump up to run for a door, which I never usually do. I usually just lie in bed and freeze, looking up blankly (like a deer in the headlights) until the quake subsides.
If my reaction has changed considerably to a small quake, I can only imagine what that must have felt like to someone from Chch who had come up here to get away from the constant after-shocks. It must be horrifying.
There is also the changed reaction now that you do immediately think 'I hope that wasn't in Christchurch'. I woke up for the original quake last year, and thought nothing of it until I got up the next morning. So the next time I was woken up by a quake, in January or so, the first thing I did was to turn on the radio and hope that it hadn't happened again.
3.
There aren't many moments in your life that you will remember vividly where you were when you heard the news.
For me, the news of this quake arrived on my way to teach my after-lunch class.
I heard the techie walking past me mumbling something about 'another quake' and said, 'Huh, what's this?'
He, rather unhelpfully, said Christchurch had been basically 'wiped off the map' this time. The Cathedral no longer existed, according to his report. Obliterated.
I passed one other teacher after that, on my way down the stairs. I told him what I'd heard and he said at the moment it was just rumours from twitter. Someone said there was damage to the Cathedral but it could just be minor - you never know. Could just be smashed glass.
He agreed that he'd heard there would be injuries and loss of life this time.
I told my class there'd been another quake. They weren't terribly moved or interested on the outside.
I did feel a bit odd. Spaced out in a small way.
During the next lesson I felt a shaking while we were watching a movie. I said, pretty calmly, 'That might be an after-shock.... is that an earthquake?'. The girl behind me admitted she'd just been jiggling her leg. I was embarrassed.
I arrived back to the staffroom and several members of my department were texting family members down there. I hadn't even thought about that - it seems so far away to me - I have no relatives down there.
Luckily some of them had already heard back and their people were fine. Others hadn't and were visibly shaken. One was talking about something class related and suddenly burst out, '.... I haven't heard from her.... I just want to know if she's ok....' and started crying, right in the middle of a conversation. She was taken to the lounge for a cup of tea.
I feel like an outsider to this disaster.
4.
It's been a week since then. It seems like longer.
5.
One of the awful stories I watched was on the Channel 3 show, 60 Minutes (?). They followed the story of a man who had heard from his wife, trapped in the CTV building. He was standing vigil outside. At first he spoke willingly, but increasingly he was annoyed by the cameras. They eventually announced they were abandoning rescue efforts at that site. We all knew his wife was inside. And she had been alive. This man was (unwillingly) showing us the most awful hours of his life.
Usually in the media these stories have happy endings.
I felt uncomfortable watching. Sometimes I don't like the media. Grief should be allowed to be private.
6.
The night of the earthquake I went to see 127 Hours with Richard. It felt weird looking around Courtenay Place and it being normal for a Tuesday night. People were in Starbucks and going to movies. It didn't seem fair. But what else do you do?
There was that strange sense of camaraderie you feel after a disaster. At the noodle house everyone had chosen tables where they could see the TV. The waitress turned it up to full volume so we could hear the reports.
I said to Richard, 'Once they get a death toll, they're going to go crazy with it.' And they did. 65 deaths was scrolled across the screen and repeated as often as possible once it was announced.
I wonder what it is about actually have a figure that makes it more 'newsworthy'. I guess it's logical - you get a sense of scale. But why is '65 officially confirmed dead' better news than 'Hundreds missing, possibly dead'? I bet it was at that moment that the BBC and CCN started salivating over the story.
I was in Whitcoull's tonight trying to buy a frivolous magazine. All of the women's gossip magazines from NZ had pictures of NZ celebs telling their Chirstchurch stories on the cover.
I couldn't quite bare it to buy one of those. I've had enough of those kind of stories. Not in a heartless way, but in the sense that I am saturated emotionally.
I have taught the concept that media texts that are far removed from the actual mood of the era are great for escapism (such as comedies and musicals in the 40s).
At that moment, veering for the Kim Kardashian magazine instead of the Christchurch survivor stories one, I understood that concept.
2.
We have at least four Chch students enrolling, at least temporarily, at our school.
I feel bad that they've had a decent earthquake on their arrival to Wellington tonight, where they've come to escape.
My heart was beating a little faster than normal during a 4 or 5 earth-quake and I did jump up to run for a door, which I never usually do. I usually just lie in bed and freeze, looking up blankly (like a deer in the headlights) until the quake subsides.
If my reaction has changed considerably to a small quake, I can only imagine what that must have felt like to someone from Chch who had come up here to get away from the constant after-shocks. It must be horrifying.
There is also the changed reaction now that you do immediately think 'I hope that wasn't in Christchurch'. I woke up for the original quake last year, and thought nothing of it until I got up the next morning. So the next time I was woken up by a quake, in January or so, the first thing I did was to turn on the radio and hope that it hadn't happened again.
3.
There aren't many moments in your life that you will remember vividly where you were when you heard the news.
For me, the news of this quake arrived on my way to teach my after-lunch class.
I heard the techie walking past me mumbling something about 'another quake' and said, 'Huh, what's this?'
He, rather unhelpfully, said Christchurch had been basically 'wiped off the map' this time. The Cathedral no longer existed, according to his report. Obliterated.
I passed one other teacher after that, on my way down the stairs. I told him what I'd heard and he said at the moment it was just rumours from twitter. Someone said there was damage to the Cathedral but it could just be minor - you never know. Could just be smashed glass.
He agreed that he'd heard there would be injuries and loss of life this time.
I told my class there'd been another quake. They weren't terribly moved or interested on the outside.
I did feel a bit odd. Spaced out in a small way.
During the next lesson I felt a shaking while we were watching a movie. I said, pretty calmly, 'That might be an after-shock.... is that an earthquake?'. The girl behind me admitted she'd just been jiggling her leg. I was embarrassed.
I arrived back to the staffroom and several members of my department were texting family members down there. I hadn't even thought about that - it seems so far away to me - I have no relatives down there.
Luckily some of them had already heard back and their people were fine. Others hadn't and were visibly shaken. One was talking about something class related and suddenly burst out, '.... I haven't heard from her.... I just want to know if she's ok....' and started crying, right in the middle of a conversation. She was taken to the lounge for a cup of tea.
I feel like an outsider to this disaster.
4.
It's been a week since then. It seems like longer.
5.
One of the awful stories I watched was on the Channel 3 show, 60 Minutes (?). They followed the story of a man who had heard from his wife, trapped in the CTV building. He was standing vigil outside. At first he spoke willingly, but increasingly he was annoyed by the cameras. They eventually announced they were abandoning rescue efforts at that site. We all knew his wife was inside. And she had been alive. This man was (unwillingly) showing us the most awful hours of his life.
Usually in the media these stories have happy endings.
I felt uncomfortable watching. Sometimes I don't like the media. Grief should be allowed to be private.
6.
The night of the earthquake I went to see 127 Hours with Richard. It felt weird looking around Courtenay Place and it being normal for a Tuesday night. People were in Starbucks and going to movies. It didn't seem fair. But what else do you do?
There was that strange sense of camaraderie you feel after a disaster. At the noodle house everyone had chosen tables where they could see the TV. The waitress turned it up to full volume so we could hear the reports.
I said to Richard, 'Once they get a death toll, they're going to go crazy with it.' And they did. 65 deaths was scrolled across the screen and repeated as often as possible once it was announced.
I wonder what it is about actually have a figure that makes it more 'newsworthy'. I guess it's logical - you get a sense of scale. But why is '65 officially confirmed dead' better news than 'Hundreds missing, possibly dead'? I bet it was at that moment that the BBC and CCN started salivating over the story.
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