Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Archives for July 2009

Agitator Cycle

by

So, here I am once again launched into the first week of the semester. 

The break was wonderful and a glimpse of what life could look like when this is all over…  I’ve held up well under the pressure of assignments and essays and my marks, while not as high as I might have hoped were nonetheless respectable in that I scored 3 credits (69, 73 and 74) and a distinction (83).
 
Satisfactory indeed.

I had a very clear idea before I started this semester of the classes I was taking and the timetable looked as though it would work well, Tuesdays from 3-7 and then Wednesdays from 5-9. Wednesday has turned into a huge day as I was offered 4 hours teaching (and not concurrent; with a 3 hour break in between) and I leapt at that before I’d actually finalised the uni timetable.  But an hour to get from one side of town after teaching to the other for the learning was workable and while a huge day in the middle of the week may not be ideal the class is for 8 weeks and I’m already 2 weeks down on that…

Clearly, my inherent inclination toward biting off more than I can chew is still intact…

In any case, the subject dealing with Flash animation which I took last term (remember the bunnies?) didn’t look like it was going to work into my schedule and so I’d dropped it in favour of a Linguistics Paper, Electronic Discourse.  I was sad to lose Flash, but based on the course outline for ED thought it a good option, and as the teaching I’m doing is Flash related I decided I could continue teaching myself…

So, the week begins,  Monday with the night school singing class I’ve been teaching, on Tuesday I rock up to the appropriate classes and after 2 hours of ‘Computers as Culture’ I was excited again to be back in class.  However, after about an hour of Electronic Discourse immediately following that I think my brain short circuited… 

Discourse analysis… having had little idea of what it meant or was about prior to this fateful hour I am now  in possession of more knowledge than I ever though I’d have need.

Consequently today was a day of administration and rearrangment of timetable and classes in order to re-enroll in the multi-media class.

So, here I am, sitting once again in the library at Sydney College of Art waiting for time to pass enough to go up to class… I figure it’s better used time to be here early than to be sitting in 5pm traffic to get here… and you win… you got a blog post out of it…

But the pay off is that I’m now in class 3 days a week instead of two… and once again it’s the singing class that has to give.  Just as well I’m singing in church on Sunday so I can get a fix that way…

14 weeks… I love this studying lark, don’t get me wrong, but today it’s 14 weeks and counting till I can have my life back.

You’re Going Where?

by

Canberra, the nation’s capital seems to have a bit of a bad rep as the bottom drawer of holiday destinations.  I understand this, I mean, it ain’t exactly the Gold Coast of beaches and bodies in the sub tropics.  But Canberra has its charms.  I mean it, it really does!!

My mate Coldie has come into possession of a new VW Golf. It is a sweeeeet ride, and she wanted to take it for a ‘run’ so we decided we’d go for a mini-break out of Sydney.  Canberra’s a choice because it’s far enough out of town to not feel like Sydney and close enough that you can do it for a day if you REALLY want to…  We opted for an overnighter and as we were sharing expenses we went out on a limb and booked a room here.

[image by superciliousness via flickr]


This art deco styled hotel is the premier hotel in Canberra, and didn’t we feel flash rocking up in the Golf (and me, ever the classy chick.  with my Gap backpack rather than the overnight case as it had been lent out and not returned… *bangs head*).

There are so many things to see and do in Canberra, and as I’m supposed to be working right now rather than blogging, here’s a brief precis of what we got up to.

The National Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery and the exhibition of Vanity Fair photos.  Loved it!
Dinner at the Hyatt, not brilliant, as restaurant/cafe was booked out and they only have one!! Bizarre.
Movies – Coco Avant Chanel.  Seems I’m getting quite a fill of French cinema lately, Coco, Hunting and Gathering, The Chorus are all recent watches and I loved them all!
Sleeping in the delicious beds. There are few pleasures I love more than clean sheets.  Bliss.
Having room service for breakfast. Cost a bomb but all part of the experience!!
The Film and Sound Archive
The National Museum of Australia

The National Museum is a day’s worth of a visit. I could have spent so much longer there than we did but by the end of the weekend were were feeling a fair bit of information overload.

But for all those people who roll their eyes when you say you’re going to Canberra, give them a slap from me… it may not be the ideal destination for a splashy, exotic holiday, however, it is a great place to visit and the fact that all these museums are provided by the people for the people (the only exhibit we paid to see was Vanity Fair) and as they’re all done so well it really is worth the trip.

Next time I really need to get in a visit to Parliament as I’ve been to Canberra many times and haven’t managed to get there… usually because I’m on a time budget and I want to give it full attention!

Of course it has its limitations… coffee was one, pajamas the other… As I have done when visiting Canberra before I left my sleep wear at home… So, had to do a mad late Sat PM trip to the shops to find some… and do you think we could find a thing at Myer or David Jones???  Seemed like it was mid season or something because even to find a cheap pair of flannelette pajamas for a comfortably upholstered individual was impossible.    I ended up with a delightful (and expensive) silk nightie because I couldn’t find anything else before the shops closed.  Turns out it was a big ‘sale day’ and all the good stuff had been put out the back so the retailers didn’t have to discount ‘everything in store’… How rude!!  Still, a silk nightie seemed appropriate for the Hyatt Canberra so I’m not complaining!!

In the next little while I’ll update my Nextstop Page with Canberra recommendations.

Have you got places you love to go that make other people raise their eyebrows??  Spill in the comments so we can all have a shot at trying them out!!

I Started this Post about Sunday

by

And ran out of steam.

It was a great day.

I sang in church for the first time in years. In A.Lot.Of.Years.  It wasn’t my usual church (see post below).

It was good.  It felt good.  I’m still not sure what to make of this change.  But I’m sure it will work itself out in the end.

I dreamed about my choir this morning, a huge choir that opened its gorgeous [collective] mouth (as it were) to sing and then my alarm woke me up. I’m still feeling ripped off they looked as though they would have sounded AMAZING.

I sang in church, did I mention that?

Yeah, still trying to figure out how I feel about that…

I watched ‘Glee‘ on TV.  Those channel 10 bastards for teasing us with the show that doesn’t kick off here until September… hey, Channel 10, haven’t you heard of Ninja Video?  Pah.. take THAT.  In any case, I loved it, and would class it as High School Musical for Grown ups. And I’ve never actually seen HSM.  Anyway, any singing thing would be cool with me right now that I have my singing mojo back… oh, any singing thing except Idol… refusing to get caught in that trap for another season.

Anyway, I seem to have picked up steam again… it’s just not about the church thing.

And that’s all I have to say about that.