And so it begins, my trip home after about 2 1/2 years! I'm writing this from a lounge in Kuala Lumpur airport where a massage costs $ 10!!! Wow!!! Can't wait for them to open shop at 3:30 pm so I can iron out the kinks from the 14 1/2 hour leg from Los Angeles to Hong Kong. It's amazing how 14 1/2 hours on a plane doesn't seem so bad when you sleep about 6 hours of it and watch movies for the rest. Decided not to take my knitting on board, so that was a bummer.
Passed up on the duty free shops this time, but plan to check them out on our way back. Don and Pam are holding up well, though we are all feeling a little tired. I wonder if travelling through Europe affords similar amenities, the lounge charge is $18 per person and includes food, Internet access, hot showers, massage chairs and a massage therapist, even something called oxygen therapy. I have a feeling not. Cutting costs isn't such a bad deal after all ;-)
I'm off to grab a cuppa, more from India on the enxt posts.
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I'm in geek heaven of sorts I think, though my head's reeling with trying to keep up with Furl, del.icio.us, and Webnotes. The thrill of catching up with all my news via SharpReader hasn't ebbed as yet, thankfully, and everyday I find a new feed to add to it. I haven't even begun to explore flickr as yet.
I definitely see pedagogical implications for RSS feeds, furls, and del.icio.us. Oops, just had an "aha!" moment, time to go update my webnotes! As I immerse myself further, this is both frightening and exhilarating! How can I attach value to this so it makes sense to my faculty? Will they see the value in adapting these tools to engage this current crop of students. Will they see the benefit in using "fun" as a learning tool? Will they find the balance between the tried and tested and the new and exciting?
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And we're off and rolling, pun unintended. The knitting/crochet club got together for it's very first meeting at the staff lounge in Northrup Hall, with 10 people in attendance. "Pointer Sisters" got the vote for our official name. I managed to embroider the mouth on to one little bootie - sorry Trevor, it'll be done soon, I promise! - but it was just a great feeling helping and learning from people. It's also fun to learn about them out of the work environment. I do hope there will be opportunities for the absentees to attend at some time. Hopefully, we'll be able to work it to everybody's schedule.
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| Date: | 2004-09-14 12:57 |
| Subject: | Of Dogs and Dreams! |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: |  contemplative | | Music: | Frateres by California Guitar Trio, album: Invitation |
Sounds like I'm about to recite a poem, but no, this is just a quick, quick, update before my lunch break is up! Couple of things I've noticed in the past week.
1. The lavender linen spray I've been using on my pillow at nights is definitely helping me sleep a lot better; I don't seem to be tossing and turning as much.
2. Coincidentally, I've been dreaming very intensely and the last three have all featured dogs, including Chewbacca.
Synchronicity at work? Definitely a message there somewhere, just a question of working it out. Here's another coincidence that just occurred to me: dogs, dreams, and the Delphi Forums (Kimberlyn clued me into that one). All words that begin with the letter "D"! Wonder what that's all about.
As it may stand, Chewbacca and I are participating in the AHA's Heart Walk this Saturday. Given that our walk typically consists of a half-hour around the sub-division, I'm hoping we can last the 3 miles or so we will need to go! I'm guessing he'll be better motivated than I with all the pooches around him.
Oop, time's up!
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| Date: | 2004-08-31 08:53 |
| Subject: | Dream Fragments |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | contemplative | | Music: | Southern Exposure, Nick Farr, Keep Moving (album) |
Well, yeah, this whole blogging thing seems to be a case of "do it when the urge strikes me" kind of deal. Which is okay, if you ask me; it's really a way for me to chronicle events that are significant to me. So now, to the dream; I've been dreaming pretty intensely these last few days anyway. A recurring theme is the presence of animals: tigers, dogs including Chewbacca, and most recently, a shark. Compared to my previous nightmares where I would see a great white ripping me apart, this time, I was holding the shark - a baby - on a tether.
Anyway, last night's dream featured no animals; and is pretty much a hazy recollection at this point. So, fragments: It began in a university setting of sorts, though not TU. Don and I were playing badminton with a bunch of people that I didn't recognize at all. AS usual, I didn't see any faces, but the colors were soft and murky, like I was seeing it out of focus: blues and grays mostly. What stands out is the fact that I was playing badminton, it seems important somehow, and that one of the men in the group was making fun of my ability a little.
The scene then changed to another university setting, featuring Diane G and Jane C this time. All I remember is that something in the organization had changed, and JC along with a couple of other people marched into what looked like the bookstore chanting something at the top of their voices. It sounded like they were protesting the change. Again, what stands out is their apparel, red shirts and black pants, the red was almost a scarlet. And JC isn't the vociferous type in real life, so not sure why I was seeing this side of her personality.
Anyway, maybe it will make sense at some point.
PS: As I checked in on my music playing on Launchcast; I'm listening to Southern Exposure from Nick Farr's album Keep Moving. It's a strange sense of synchronicity, given my mood lately about continuing to work and grow at TU. Is it time to move on I wonder?
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| Date: | 2004-05-27 14:03 |
| Subject: | Been a while... |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: |  cheerful | | Music: | mostly rock! |
Well hello blogosphere, miss me? It's been a crazy week and a half or so. Pretty much all of last week was taken up by Tech-Beat, my bi-annual technology camp. Six hours a day (alright, so we did get an hour for lunch) in a darkened room training and teaching people the basics of web design, FrontPage, and working with images! I'd be happy if they just understood why resolution was important in the context of working with images. All said and done though, Tech-Beat is my pride and joy and I have a blast working with the participants in a focused atmosphere.
On the heels of that came Pam's graduation. Barely had time over the weekend for a breather, but did manage to fit in Troy. All right, so Brad Pitt''s got a great butt, but the movie was a damp squib in my opinion, the myth just didn't come alive. It almost seemed an attempt to see how far CGI could take a movie. I just hope Harry Potter will live up to its trailers.
At least there's a long weekend coming up; play some Prince of Persia, put up graduation pix for all to see, start packing stuff, go see Shrek 2, take Chewbacca and Pam to see the new home...I might run out of weekend before I know it!
Chewbaca's scratching a lot less. Not entirely sure if it's the modifications to the diet, the Sulphur 6C treatment, or a combination of both, so I will need to monitor his progress. I guess blogging is a good a way as any to do exactly that!
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The Friends saga finally came to it's rightful end yesterday, Ross and Rachel will live happily ever after. It was a good ending, funny, poignant, and I didn't get as teary-eyed as I thought I would, and I've only been following it a couple of years or so now. Arvi hooked me into it when I visited him in 2002, wonder how he reacted. Of course there will be reruns on some channel or the other, and I can see how it all began, finally! I predict Jag will end when Harm and Mac can live happily ever after too.
S quit, ostensibly a couple of days ago. I'm going to miss him, his acerbic sense of humour, our morning visits as we compare horrorscope notes for the day... It just feels like things are wrapping up, a sense of a cycle coming to an end in so many ways.
Just don't really feel like writing today!
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| Date: | 2004-05-04 12:39 |
| Subject: | Synchronicity |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | contemplative | | Music: | Celine Dion - Why oh Why...rather apt! |
No, I'm not talking about the CD by Police. I mean the way sometimes things happen in our lives, old acquaintances show up, or the phone rings at the exact time you think of that person. That sort of thing. Take Anita Bora for instance. We both met up at Rediff way back in late 1997. Two Pisces women (I don't think we knew that then), who's life paths had somehow brought them to the forerunner of Internet technology in India. moved on to Indiatimes, and on to the US, while she continued to hone her writing skills at Rediff and moved from Mumbai to Bangalore. Now, all these years later, I stumble onto her blog, wonder if it's the same person, do some research, and sure enough, it is. Like I said, synchronicity!
And nostalgia. Vada Pav at Narsee Monji, pakodas from the junka bhandar, cloud bursts during monsoon, the sharp tang in the ocean air at Marine Drive, rajma-chawal and baingan bharta and kheer at Crystal with a fan turning lazily ahead while old melodies played on the radio, shopping on Linking Road, Dharavi hovel on the way to work, the squalor and dirt... Clearly nostalgia is highly over-rated.
Sony has just jumped into the online music store fray with Connect. What I want to know is why there isn't a store to buy Indian music off of yet? Yeah, yeah, Rediff has it's radio service, but I do have to pay for it, so I end up having Launchcast on instead. Now, if somebody would apply the Launchcast mode to desi music, I might even fork out the bucks for content tailored to me!
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| Date: | 2004-05-03 11:12 |
| Subject: | Hmmmm |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | optimistic | | Music: | My Immortal - Why? Because I have Launchcast on! |
It's interesting how when you spend the majority of your work week staring at the computer, it's anathema over the weekend. Kat is featured in a new book out on animal communication Awakening to Animal Voices. You can read chapter excepts at Dawn's website. Still have to write up Oscar's and the cockatiel's sessions from the workshop.
The Universe seems to be telling me this is a good road to travel (synchronicity?). While doing some research for the upcoming seminar on blogs (what else ;-)), I stumbled upon Questia. It claims to be the world's largest library. Interesting quirk to the day given that I am located in the library of a higher-ed institution. Well, I'm certainly on a quest when it comes to blogs, blogging, et al!
I'm beginning to think it might be interesting to set up a BB support site in a blog format. It may encourage faculty to share their experiences with Bb and other instructional technology tools. It would also give them a sandbox of sorts to play with this technology and see how it all works before they implement it in their courses. Something to think about.
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| Date: | 2004-04-29 16:57 |
| Subject: | Random Thoughts |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: |  apathetic | | Music: | Evanescence on Launchcast, has nothing to do with my mood! |
I seem to be spending more time perusing blogs than actually updating this one. I've never been maintained a journal, though I was a journalist at one time. Interesting paradox there. Do I prefer to chronicle events in other people's lives rather than mine I wonder? No wonder I don't get any comments, I'm probably putting people to sleep with these mundane musings at the close of day.
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Mercury is definitely in retrogade, communication and coordination is going awry! And Yanni's Aria is doing absolutely nothing for me! Time to go look up Shout by Tears for Fears!
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| Date: | 2004-04-26 17:02 |
| Subject: | What do I say? |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | contemplative | | Music: | None playing |
So here I am, 4:45 pm on a Monday evening. My very first blog entry and I'm not even sure I want to do it. Who's going to read it anyway? And do I really want someone to read my thoughts and feelings and other blah. Isn't journaling supposed to be private? Hmmm, maybe "E's" can't maintain private journals. So here I am on a Monday evening, 4:47 pm, creating an entry for my first blog.
I've lost my train of thought completely, now that I've been interrupted numerous times to help out a user with viewing calendars in Outlook. There are days when I'm not sure technology is all that great! Then again, maybe everybody just needs to use a Mac. But that's another story for another day. For now, it's time to hit the road!
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