And breathe…. March 10, 2012
Posted by phoenixaeon in A330, Art, iPhone, OU, Principessa art, Proud Mummy, reading, The Principessa Files, TMA04, TMA05.2 comments
Well. After the rigmarole of last week, this week has been a steady, squeaky parp of air from a slowly let down balloon. The essay finally ripped its way from my brain and was submitted to the cyber-sewage works on Monday. It also saw Princi and I reunited with our favourite technologies – DVD and computer for Princi, iPhone for me. Yay! And there endeth the good times.
Wednesday brought the news that the NSPCC had decided they didn’t want to use Princi in their advert. And there is where the deflation of said balloon increased as it screamed around the room and flopped to the floor in a mass of flaccid finality. (Yeah, I used a few f words…) How would I tell Princi? She was so excited about it. I even thought about not telling her and hoping that she’d just forget about it. But that would be wrong, so when she got in from school I called her for a hug and told her the bad news. I needn’t have been worried. She gave me a wide-O shocked face, then shrugged, jumped out of the hug, and went to do some drawing and watch Dexter’s Laboratory. Whereas my disappointment for Princi sent me moping, it didn’t phase her at all. That is one quality that I really hope she keeps.
The Garden of Dexter.
On an up point, I’ve only two more essays to complete and that’s another course towards the degree finished. I can’t believe that this time next year I’ll be nearly done with the last course and the degree. I’m almost excited about it! Though what I’ll do afterwards is still a burning question. I’m still thinking about the MA in children’s literature, but I’m worried about making a fool of myself. At the same time, I’m hankering for the addiction that was sparked during the kidlit course. Sometimes, I hate being indecisive.
Anyways, time to bog off and read some more on muthos and logos, and the beginnings of Ancient Greek cosmology. Oh, to be a foetus living inside a fish-like creature, living on an earth made up of moisture surrounded by thorny bark…
But here is evolution of a different kind:
Evolution of a Cybergirl.
Bleurgh! December 1, 2011
Posted by phoenixaeon in A330, I hate it when my nose drips like a tap, Mythology, OU, reading, TMA03.add a comment
Cor, that's a big'un!
You know that scene in Total Recall, where Arnie has the tracking beacon pulled out from a nostril? That’s exactly how I feel right now. I have a horrifically snotty case of sinusitis. My face feels like it’s being repeatedly hit with a wet kipper, and my nose feels as big as that picture just there. Not good. I’m glad I managed to write my essay up and submit it last week now.
Romulus and Remus and the She-wolf
Talking of essays, I’m now into the preparatory reading for TMA03 – “‘The Romans had a primarily utilitarian approach to myth.’ Do you agree with this statement?” Well, I don’t know yet, but I’m sure my argument will reveal itself in the next couple of weeks. I’m currently reading an extract from Livy’s Histories, and it seems he’s not entirely convinced by the whole Romulus and Remus and the ‘She-wolf’ thing, but he’ll use it and other myths to add grandeur to Rome’s cultural history. So maybe that’s where I should begin my argument.
Well, I suppose I should get back to the reading and the tissues. *sniffle* *sneeze*
Divine intervention. October 26, 2011
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, Mythology, OU, reading, Reading with Principessa, TMA01.6 comments
Woohoo! After a year of rubbishy TMA results (by my stupidly high standards), I am back in the land of TMA results euphoria. I had been dreading the fateful ding of the impending percentage that I use to constantly re-affirm my intelligence by, and today was the day of ding.
The usual apprehensions gripped me. How crap am I? Do I really want to know how little I actually understand? Ah, stuff all that, I’m brilliant! But then, look how crap I was last year… So I ignored the inner turmoil and signed into the OU site. Tippety-tap. Click. Click. *Close eyes tightly, then peek through fingers* Woohoo! Distinction! And for once, really relevant comments on how to improve the marks for next time. Yay! So I am now in love with this course and raring to get going with the next essay.
But that will have to wait. I have a ton of reading to do before I can even contemplate planning the TMA, which makes me think reading Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Murakami maybe wasn’t my smartest move. And even more stupid, ordering the new Murakami book 1Q84. I am so going to want to read that as soon as, because I am loving Hard-boiled Wonderland. Add to that reading Matilda with Princi – she’s outgrown the Oxford Reading Tree books that her school was having her read, so she’s now reading the children’s novels we have at home. I think my head might just explode with all this reading!
So, time to get back to it… Once I’ve talked Princi into bed – she is playing golf with a green plastic golf club and a Hello Kitty bouncy ball, jumping around shouting ‘Yay! Go me, go me, go me!’ I wish she’d give me some of her energy!
And the countdown begins… May 13, 2011
Posted by phoenixaeon in A210, Exam, Oozing brainjuice, OU, reading, Revision, TMA07.4 comments
To the end of A210. A course I have probably learned a lot from but hated with a passion. I have had to grit my teeth and bear down just to squeeze some of the essays from my brain, it’s been that painful. But the last essay is more or less finished now, just post-production and cyber-flushing left to do. And then comes the bit I have been dreading for two years – that’s when I knew I had to take this course to get the degree I want – the evil exam. *shudder*
Yep, as you can tell, I get myself a little worked up – almost to petrification - when it come to exams. I have five weeks to read over and review a nine month course, so I’m not actually sure that it’s the exam that worries me, but rather the prep time. Thinking of what I need to do scares the crap out of me! But do it I must… Yet I have chosen to totally ignore anything study-related for the last five days. Instead, I’ve bumbled about and watched some TV today, and I have read the complete trilogy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins over the last three days. I haven’t Terminator-read a series like that since Harry Potter ten years ago.
I quite enjoyed The Hunger Games, although I had totally prepared myself to hate it. Probably because of all the hype it’s built up over the last few years. But it is good. Though I’m not really a fan of the lead character, Katniss. She’s not whingy and moany like Bella in Twilight, but like Bella there is something really unlikeable about her. I found myself connecting more with the supporting (Gale and Peeta) and secondary characters (Cinna, Rue, and even the shallow prep team members). They seemed to be more rounded-out than Katniss.To me it felt like Katniss didn’t grow. She had moments of realisation, but it didn’t really seem to affect her characterisation. Other than that, it was a thumping good read. It has made me want to re-read The Bartimaeus Trilogy again, though. It’d be interesting to compare and contrast them.
But that will have to wait for the moment. I have novels I NEED to re-read first – Fathers and Sons, The Color Purple and Frankenstein – as well as choosing around 10-15 poems (ranging from the Romantics – anyone got any favourites? – to contemporary female poetry, got to get in the whole ‘gender on the agenda’ theme that is necessary to the course) that I can confidently (hah!) answer questions on, then mentally hack through As You Like It and Henry V. I’m probably going to throw in Elizabeth Glaspell’s Jury of Her Peers/Trifles and possibly A. M. Barnard’s (an alias of L. M. Alcott) Behind A Mask in there too. So, from Monday next week up until Wednesday 15th June, I shall be hammering out the details. Eeks! Wish me, and my particularly leaky brain, good luck!
Decoding picture books. February 23, 2010
Posted by phoenixaeon in Bloody books, Charlie and Lola, Dave McKean, EA300, I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, Neil Gaiman, OU, reading, The Savage, The Wolves In The Walls, TMA05, Wolves.7 comments
Phew! Who knew reading picture books could be such hard work and so taxing on the poor gray matter? I didn’t, that’s for sure.
I am now gearing up to write TMA05. This essay is an analysis of a couple of pages from a picture book. Now, while this may seem simple enough, it has so far been nothing short of a befuddlement.
Problem number one: What picture book to use? The two set books for this block are Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit and Anthony Browne’s Voices in the Park. OK, so I’ve become slightly addicted to Browne’s books since starting this course, his use of intertextuality is fabulous, but as the book was a set book I felt too much will have been covered by the course materials. Ditto Peter Rabbit – besides, I’m not a fan of Potter. I don’t quite know why, but I don’t like her style. There’s no questioning that she was a clever writer, illustrator and designer of children’s books, they just don’t appeal to me. So a new choice had to be made so I am able explore my understanding of the subject. I have narrowed my choices down to:
The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean. I have been desperate to fit some Gaiman into the course somehow, and this seems the logical point. I also love McKean’s illustrations, so this appears to be a double whammy. But I am now struggling with the decisions regarding which pages to use!
The Savage by David Almond, illustrated by Dave McKean. Yep, more McKean. What can I say? I love his illustrations! But this is a good story, dealing with the subject of death and loss. It made me cry! The illustrations show the wildness of the savage, which in turn explain the feelings of the main character, Blue. There are plenty of areas of analysis – graphically, textually, and semantically. A strong contender. Oh, and if you haven’t read it, then I recommend it.
Wolves by Emily Gravett. I discovered this book after reading a critical essay. I had a look around, found some of the illustrations, loved it! The idea of a rabbit borrowing a book about wolves from the library and the wolves then stalking the rabbit was too good to pass up. It’s on order and I can’t wait to read it, it looks so interesting and funny, and there appears to be a lot there that would be worth analysing.
I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child. There had to be some Charlie and Lola in the list. They’re Princi’s favourite and best! And c’mon, there is so much in there to get your teeth into! There is one image in this that always sticks in my head. When Charlie is giving the alternative description of mashed potato, the shape of the text fits the image, if you know what I mean? He describes it as ‘cloud fluff from the top of Mount Fuji,’ and the words are shaped into the roof of a Japanese building. Just fab!
Problem number two: Understanding a whole new set of terminology. Again. This time the codes of picture books. I didn’t even know there was a code! More fool, me. I am working my way through an excerpt of an article by William Moebius called ‘Introduction to Picturebook Codes.‘ (Not all of it is included here, but you get the gist.) For me, it’s interesting reading even if I’m having a hard time retaining all the info. But another read through should sort me out. Then it’s applying this new knowledge to the pages I choose to analyse. Looking forward to it! All that’s left to do then is attack the post-modernist angle, which means another crash course. I think I may end up with concussion from all of the crashing I am doing!
So that is my current predicament. I think I am probably more or less settled upon Gaiman/McKean unless it twists my brain too much and becomes too wolfish for me. One thing is for certain, though. I am looking forward to writing this essay. And that’s not something you hear me say very often!
This week I will mostly be doing… February 16, 2010
Posted by phoenixaeon in Biathlon, Bog Child, books, EA300, Illustrations, Olympics, OU, reading, Ski jumping, TMA05.add a comment
With Princi off school this week there is no time for any real study. So I have decided to get some reading done – which means a little of catching up AND getting ahead. Catching up in the sense of reading Mildred D. Taylor’s Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the book I missed during the last block (I missed Peter Pan in the block before, and I probably won’t get around to going back to read it, so didn’t want to miss something else), and reading Siobhan Dowd’s Bog Child in preparation for the ECA.
Well, I finished Bog Child last night. It’s a fabulous book. Set against the backdrop of the 1981 hunger strikes, the main protagonist – Fergus – finds the body of a child whilst digging for peat with his Uncle. This discovery leads to strange dreams and first love, while battling against the reality of Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The story draws you in from the start, the opposition of politics vs religion glaring apparent throughout the novel. The shadowing of the contemporary Troubles against a Pagan tribe from 2000 years ago provides a sense of – in the terms of BSG – all of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.
To say I enjoyed the story would be an understatement. I’m looking forward to a second, and possibly a third, read through closer to the date of the ECA. For now, though, I’ll just let the story percolate in my brain.
That leaves me with Roll of Thunder to read over the next few days, and maybe one or two of the critical essays during the evening when Princi is sleeping. I can definitely see some contrasts and comparisons that could be made between the two books, which means I am already formulating arguments. Woohoo! I’ve just got to make sure I don’t get too far ahead of myself, as I have two more essays to do before the ECA.
Oh, which reminds me. The next essay is on illustrated children’s books. While having a little trawl on the net last night, I found this: illustrated envelopes. How cool would it be to receive a letter with an envelope like these? I want one!
Envelope illustrated by Axel Scheffler.
__________________________________________________________________________
As well as all the reading, there is also the lure of the Winter Olympics over the next couple of weeks. I’m already staying up way past my bedtime so I can watch (some of) the ice skating. I’m glad that the biathlon and ski jumping is on earlier in the day – or evening as is the case. The first biathlons have provided some of the best, and most shock, results. I wonder if the two pursuits on today will also prove as uncallable in terms of predicting the winner? I’m just upset that I missed the snowboarder cross last night, it sounds as if it was extremely exciting!
Anyhoos, time to get back to the reading while Princi is distracted.
The pursuit of knowledge. January 25, 2010
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, knowledge, OU, reading.add a comment
Currently, I am re-reading Harry Potter whilst intermittently dipping into the study guide. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying the course despite my low self confidence regarding achieving the marks I want. Saying that, though, I am becoming increasingly disheartened by some of the mistakes in the study materials. While the fact that I can even recognise these mistakes proves that I am retaining some of the information in my tiny brain, it doesn’t lend to confidence in the course. This is a bad thing.
Case in point: this morning I began reading around book prizes, particularly the Carnegie Medal. One of the study activities asked to assess Tom’s Midnight Garden and Swallows and Amazons using one of the judging criteria to see if the books stood up to it. So, once the activity is done, you go onto reading a comment based around what you’ve just been doing. This is where it became disappointing. In the comment, it stated that both Swallows and Amazons and Tom’s Midnight Garden were Carnegie Medal winners. This is true of Tom’s Midnight Garden but not of Swallows and Amazons. Arthur Ransome was only awarded a Carnegie Medal for Pigeon Post in 1936.
While this is only a small error on the face of things, it makes me feel like the course was hurriedly put together without much thought about editing the factual information to get it right. It makes me sad. Hopefully, in subsequent presentations of the course these errors can be corrected so as not to have students question the integrity of the learning materials. Sigh.
And I’ve said it before; it sucks being a perfectionist. It means that not only do I give myself down the banks about not getting things right, but it depresses me when other people more knowledgeable than me get things wrong when they are supposed to be experts in the subject.
Neglected. August 25, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in EA300, OU, reading.4 comments
Oops. I have been neglecting the poor blog. Sorry!
Unfortunately it’s not been due to having a crazy jetset life. No. I’ve really had nothing to blog about. I’ve been busying myself with collecting journal articles that could be relevant to the kidlit course and spending the other few spare minutes I get reading the set books. And yes, I am still reading Treasure Island. It’s been as neglected as the blog as I have ended up reading Tom’s Midnight Garden (TMG) and Junk. I was kind of expecting that I wouldn’t enjoy TMG too much, but I did. It was a lovely little story and had me wishing for a huge garden and lots of trees to climb (if only I could!). It’s a good job I’m going to have to read it again when it comes to using it in an assignment, because I am sure I’ve glossed over some of it.
As for Junk, I’ve got a few pages left before it is done with, but I’m not sure I’ve enjoyed it. I’m not even sure it’s a book that should be enjoyed. To be fair it is a gripping story and it does highlight how easy it is to become trapped in drug culture, but it is more car crash literature than an enjoyable read. You have to keep reading to see if the kids in the story find a way out and thankfully a lot of it is more telling than showing. It would be a highly uncomfortable read if some of the events were described more. Maybe that’s why it is not as shocking as it probably should be. Then again, I suppose it is written as it is due to the point of view – a switching first person point of view – so the experiences are muted thanks to the drug use. Even though the kids are living in a squat and are thinking that they have the life, the story doesn’t seem to take any of the shine off using heroin. It almost seems to say if you’re not doing it then you’re the stupid one. Or that’s how it seems to me. Anyway…
I am now being bugged to play balloon tennis, so off I pop!
Tired eyes. August 17, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in Andy Murray wins Masters, EA300, reading, Sports, tennis.2 comments
Well, I’m not getting very far with the pre-reading for the kidlit course. I’m still reading Treasure Island. I’ve also started reading Tom’s Midnight Garden before bed. And when I’m not reading either of these I am flicking through one of the five or six critical analysis books I have bought. I wonder how much more my brain can take! But, if I can get some prep done before the course starts it should be better than nothing. I think I should start making notes and whatnot soon, just so I don’t forget things that may be relevant. Ugh! What have I let myself in for?
And now, sport. I had a moment of confusion last night. I didn’t know whether to watch the tennis – Andy Murray vs Juan Martin del Potro, the final of the Montreal Masters – or the athletics – Jessica Ennis going for gold in the heptathlon at the World Champs in Berlin. I opted to switch back and forth between the two. Unfortunately, this meant that when Murray started playing well I missed most of it. But it was worth it to see Ennis win the gold, and to watch the hurricane known as Usain Bolt. That man is made out of wind! Forget the world record he set in Beijing of 9.69 seconds. He shaved another tenth out of that last night. His new world record is now 9.58 seconds. And that still looked easy. Unbelievable.
As for Andy Murray, well, he won. Yay! The first and second sets were both tight and ended in tie breakers, but the third set was Murray all the way. Del Potro looked completely fubar-ed and the game slipped away from him. The scoreline ended up 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. I can’t really comment any more on the match as I hardly watched any of it. But woohoo! Let’s see how Murray goes in Cincinnati this week. I just hope he doesn’t tire himself out too much before Flushing Meadows.
I ain’t heavy… August 13, 2009
Posted by phoenixaeon in Occupational Therapist visits., reading, writing.1 comment so far
Today is another visit day. It is the turn of the ‘lifting and handling’ team. I have to say, that title really does sound dodgy! Lifting what and handling what? Ooer, missus! But in all reality it is only a visit by the folks who will be providing the hoist. Just saying hoist makes me shudder. (But in the background I hear Sylvester, what with Princi watching Sylvester and Tweety, and I am Sylvester’s ideal bird – fat and slow moving. Fabulous!) I have been trying to imagine life with hoist and I don’t think it will be a pretty picture. Ho hum.
As for the extension, things are moving, albeit slowly, on that front. The builder came around on Monday to take a look at things so that he could prepare his quote. At least he took the time to look, all the other workmen that were supposed to pay a visit are either lazy, invisible or Superman as we haven’t seen them. As long as it gets done I really don’t mind. Well, OK. As long as it gets done and the job isn’t a shabby job then I don’t mind.
Writing. I’m still hiccupping. I did start a new, well kind of new, story on Monday. I’ve stalled because it still doesn’t feel right and it is the third false start this story has had. It’s obviously not percolated enough. I’ll have to ressurect one of the longer stories instead. And I suppose I best get back to editing the other things that should have been done by now. I am slacker-procastinator extraordinaire! I’ve even been slacking with the reading for the kidlit course. So I think I’ll have to have an early night so I can trawl through the rest of Treasure Island. Then I think I’ll give Northern Lights a read and attempt to make some notes along the way, as the Northern Lights/Harry Potter option is the required reading for the first assignment. Then it’s the pain in the bum that is Little Women. Hell, I’m going to be in trouble!
Think I best get some reading done while I’ve got Princi hypnotised by the TV (*slaps self on wrist* bad Mummy).
