The bat cloak!

I had my graduation ceremony yesterday, at Torquay. What an ordeal! But I was happy to fulfil one of my ambitions - that of wearing an academic gown, like the teachers did at speech days!



I remember very little of this!



Meantime, my AT272 stuff has arrived and it's back to the studying!

Certificate in Contemporary Science

I got my astronomy course result (and thus quali-ed for this quali) last week, I think - and I was so excited I had to put it up here right away .....

So, what's this? BSc (Hons), CertNatSci, CertContSci (Open)

Doesn't mean a lot when I don't remember anything - LOL!

Visual DNA

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I am jealous of Heidi Swapp!!

Not only is she a highly successful businesswoman, who scraps all day - but she lives in Arizona and wakes to the sun glinting off the saguaro! But, despite my envy, I've bought a box of her embellishments and I won't want to open it when it arrives for fear of spoiling the wonderfully girlie pink and black stuff!

I've done about 40 pages now. And I am broke! I don't appear to have a particular style; I flit around. Let's see. I like pretty, like this daffodil page.



and I enjoy doing simple, but striking pages, like this one of my hub (when he was young!).



and I like pinks and greens.



and



and I love doing cutesy stuff, like my bunny's page! I refused to pay out 79p for one sheet of paper, so I painted the background myself and slung up real string as a washing line! Pity Bunzee is no longer as cute as his surroundings!



And I like simple, but striking (did I already say that?)



And I like strange.



So, I like strange and striking and cutesy. I like black and red and black and pink and pink and green. I love rick rack and red velvet and gold organza. I love pearly brads. I love Basic Grey and anything else by K and Co. I love Jollees and Rouge de Garance.

Nice hobby - I'd better make the most of it, before I start studying again!

I'm back!!!

So much for the year out!! I decided that the only way to ease (if not cure) my disease, was to rejoin the land of the learning, so I've registered for AT272 - Ancient and Medieval Cities: A Technological History, starting in May. Nobody likes this course, but it's only 10 points and I'm not averse to a couple months' moaning. I've also registered for A251: World Archaeology from September. This is a pilot 30-point course, which does the 30 points in half the time it usually takes (so double the time needed!) Then, from next February, I would only need to do 1 x 60 point level 3 artsy course and I would have a BA! Just like that! How about AA310 - Film and Television History? Looks about the easiest - and you get a load of films to watch - like Citizen Kane!

So, I am happier now. But I still plan to do an MSc. One day.

Taking a break ...

Yesterday, I cancelled my A103 registration - just 2 days before deadline! Motivation and desire was nil and I finally realised that I needed a BREAK! So, I am now mercifully free from TMAs - for this year, at least! I now have to think very carefully about what I would like to do next year. It has to be something I really WANT to do - physics maybe?

Stuck on scrapping!

With 2 short essays on the Colosseum to do, I decided that I needed a complete break! So I took up scrapbooking - I have SO MANY photos all over the house, that it was time that I did something with them. It's rather an addictive (and expensive!) hobby though and there is little time for the Colosseum ... but I MUST get back to it TODAY!

100th Postcrossing card!

I received this card this morning, from Barbara of Munroe, Washington State. How nice that my 100th card should be of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, of which we have such fond memories!

Pardon?

Having had a fair bit of spare time (and relative peace) over the last few days, I've made great headway into Block 1, including roughs of the first 2 TMA questions. I've learnt how to analyse a painting (sort of) and how to interpret a sonnet (although I might've got it completely wrong!) But, today, I spent doing the music intro. And I couldn't hear; I have no ear. But I worked hard on timbres and things and thought I'd got it. But they've given us a piece of music to write about which has the texture of a sheet of paper and I don't know what's chordal or what's syncopation (or what that is even). Where are the tambourines and the muted trumpets?

Oh well - it's interesting anyway - onwards to the philisophy!

Summertime ...

by Jackson Pollock (Jack the Dripper; alcoholic and depressive, who died in an 'alcohol-related' car crash, aged 44), 1948, which sits in the London Tate Gallery. This was my first lesson in A103, as it was the first TV programme on the first DVD (I probably should've started reading books first!). I've learnt that grey paint was dripped onto a canvas, which was then dripped more heavily onto by black paint - that bits were 'coloured in' with blue, purple, red - and that, finally some little splashes of greens and browns (to liken it to a landscape ...) were added. But, sorry, it's still complete garbage to me!

What have I done? Will I ever be able to understand art?

My materials arrived this morning. Several books, including a lovely thick book of paintings etc (including 'Summertime'), 18 CD-ROMs, 2 DVDs and the usual other bits and pieces, including the TMA booklet (there are 9 assignments - eek!) Also, arrived this morning, were the set reading books: "Wide Sargasso Sea", Jean Rhys, "Medea and Other Plays", Euripides - and "Pygmalion", Bernard Shaw. All are mercifully short - although I'm rather looking forward to reading about the mad woman in Mr Rochester's attic.

This is Pollock's painting of Moby Dick.

Bye-bye 'honours, even?'

Well, I got them, so it was finished!

'Gone weird' - hmm. Well, I have decided, after all, to do a BA. It seems as though I need very little by way of new courses to get it ... so I'd just as well. I would like to do the philosophy course (A211), but I'm not sure I feel confident enough to jump straight into philo essays, so I thought the humanities foundation course (A103) might be (a hoot) interesting. I need to check with a study advisor on Tuesday first though. The current plan is to have a break from science (with the arts) and then return to do the new named MSc in Earth Systems Science, which hasn't even been approved yet! If it doesn't get given the go ahead, then I'll do the MSc in Science. I have until 26th January to register for next year's course. (I will have to cancel my registration of S369, but I will still read the books).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I feel like a potato ...

... stuck in the dark, with no air.

Christmas was *OK* as Christmasses go - plenty of family and gifts and chocolates and savouries containing sausages or equally questionable fillings. The turkey was a bit overcooked and the sprouts were like bullets, but all presents were happily given and received. The hub bought me a beautiful aquamarine and diamond ring - for a Christmas and graduation present. I was quite amazed at that!



So, all was fine - but I feel flat, flat, flat. However, I forced myself to go out this afternoon - and feel a little bit brighter after a long drive and a brisk walk on the (very cold!) moors!


No, you cannot have any grub - it's illegal to feed the ponies!

I've also booked my graduation ceremony at Torquay's Riviera Centre for 14th April. Dreading it!!




Remnants of Christmas

Jack Sparrow stands atop cake, surrounded by cracker gifts.

Yer tis!

I haven't booked my grad ceremony yet though - I'm really not sure that I want one!

Soul searching

I still haven't decided what to do with myself now. I'm feeling rather flat. But I think that I should take my time over this and have decided to take a 'year out' and have registered for S369, The Geological Record of Environmental Change, for next year. It's the course I would've done this year instead of S330, but it wasn't running. Although not an easy course, it is only 30 points and I intend to 'go easy' with it, as I'm going to study it purely out of interest; I just thought I should do it before I completely move on. I might not even take the exam, as there is no point.

After that .... who knows. I could do a BA - or I could do an MSc. My heart and mind yearn for the MSc, but my wallet tells me not to be so daft. I don't know ... but I have a year to figure it out.

We should hear confirmation of our degree classifications tomorrow - and we can also then make our graduation ceremony arrangements. I'm really not sure about that ...

Soul soothing

We all went to the annual carol service at Buckfast Abbey yesterday afternoon. As usual, the abbey was filled to the brim - and, as usual, people brought babies ..... The acoustics are incredible, and I don't think I have captured them very well on these shabby little digital camera movies - but they give a flavour.

This one is sung by the choir as they enter the abbey (Jistebnice Cantional)



and here are links to a few more snippets.

Once In Royal David's City
The First Nowell
Cantique de Noel (choir) (beautiful)
O Come All Ye Faithful

My one complaint is that they left out 'Hark the Herald Angels' this year.

Well, well, well ....

The exams people listened to my plea and released the results at 11:50 this morning!

and

I passed SXG390, grade 2!

and

I PASSED S330!!! By the skin of my teeth, but I only need to pass for the 2.1 hons!

No idea what to do now - I need to let this sink in for a bit.

Message to the OU Exams Office

HURRY UP!!

Please.

What is a blog?

According to Uncyclopedia:

"The blog is an important and recently introduced aspect of the much-lauded "Care in the Community" treatment for the mentally-handicapped. Mental patients (from the schizophrenic [1] to the learning-disabled [2] to the just plain weird) are invited to express their fears, suspicions, experiences and cravings by means of one of these occasionally-updated internet logs."

There is also a pretty accurate description of a geologist on there!

God bless Ikea!

We now have storage! The trip up to Bristol last Thursday, was more of a trial than usual, because of the atrocious weather! We did a little shopping in Cribbs Causeway (after Ikea) and when we came out, it was blowing an absolute hurricane and pelting with rain - and we couldn't find our car ... Then we got stuck in the traffic on the M5, for about 3 hours, as the motorway was closed, due to an accident involving a lorry and gas canisters. We got home very late.

BUT, a blitz over the weekend saw our bathroom quite transformed!






There is still a fair bit to do but, apart from putting up the blinds and some pictures, it can wait until after Christmas.

Water on Mars?

NASA scientists think that there could be water on Mars - or at least, they think there may've been water on Mars during the last 5 years! New photos show deposits in gullies, that weren't there before (the deposits). These deposits could be CO2 or rivers of dust. Or they could be WATER! How exciting!

See New Scientist.

So what do you think?

click pic for bigger