Archive for November, 2004
11.25.04
Posted in computers, learning at 3:48 pm by Mrs C.
A few days ago I tried a new spam blocker and it really did a good job. Instead of over 200 emails a day, I ‘ve been getting about 20. You would think I would be more than happy, but instead it’s made me realize I’m an email addict. I hate getting so few emails, even though the others were junk.
To make matters worse, I’m also an information junkie, the worst possible combination. I keep thinking that one of those deleted emails might have been something that I really should know about. I’ve started to check the discarded emails just in case.
Lately, I have to force myself not to check for new mail every few minutes. Instead of saying goodnight to my husband in the other room, I send him an email. The thought of going away and not being online for a day or two is almost too much for me to imagine.
I need help!!
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11.16.04
Posted in life in Canada, learning at 1:20 pm by Mrs C.
Right now I’m sitting in the college library on my lunch break. The ESL library here where I work has conversation practice every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, so it is a very animated, noisy place. Looking around at each small group, it seems that when the teacher is enthusiastic about the topic of conversation, the students are much more interested. They interact more and hate to leave when the one hour session ends.
So if I want to learn a subject, whether it’s computer literacy or making a living online, I need to find mentors who are so enthusiastic about their subject that it rubs off on me and motivates me to continue. Knowing all about a subject doesn’t help if there is no real interest. For example, I know quite a few good recipes, but unless I’m in the mood, I still don’t enjoy cooking and it shows when I get dinner on the table an hour late.
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11.15.04
Posted in computers, learning at 5:01 pm by Mrs C.
Yesterday I looked at a blog called the World’s Most Boring Blog (or something like that) and each entry was one or two sentences, such as “Took of my glasses. Put them on the table.” It was so dumb I couldn’t help laughing. But now when I go to write, I wonder if my blog is boring too? If I write when I feel bored, does it make for a boring read? Like when I used to write in my diary “Dear Diary, Today I went to school.”
Some days I think I need to get a life - this is one of them.
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11.08.04
Posted in computers, family at 10:49 pm by Mrs C.
This weekend I had a little spat with my daughter that left us both emotional basket cases. She has that unique ability with me, I guess because I hate to see her having to suffer all the things that I did. But sometimes that’s the only way you can learn.
When she emailed to apologize today, I tried to remember how I was at her age and to tell her some of the things I went through, hoping she might learn from my mistakes.
So email is a good thing. It allows us to say things that would be much harder in person, whether because of pride or because I wouldn’t be able to stop crying long enough to say how I really feel. Just be patient and re-read before hitting the send key, just in case the words could be taken the wrong way.
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11.04.04
Posted in life in Canada, learning, health at 12:11 am by Mrs C.
Well, I’ve taken three days off work now and am just enjoying some down time. I have fibromyalgia and have been so busy for the past weeks that my system doesn’t want to go anymore than a crawl right now. I don’t get paid when I’m off sick, so they don’t mind me not coming in.
I read some good articles that will be helpful for my motivatedtolearn subscribers and am going through my files as well. These slow days are great for doing the little organizing jobs that are necessary but hard to find time for. So I’ll settle down with my cup of tea and see what treasures I find in my paper pile.
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11.03.04
Posted in learning, health at 1:41 am by Mrs C.
Well I’ve taken the past two days off my library tech job at the college because I’m feeling like road kill. Every muscle in my body aches and to make it worse my mind is feeling better and going a mile a minute. So I can’t even rest these weary bones because the brain won’t stop. I suppose I should be glad that my mind is so active and I do amaze myself with the things I think up, but sometimes I would like to be able to just veg. I can even be thinking about something while reading something totally different out loud. Is that normal?
Anyway, I do appreciate that God gave me a brain and I intend to use it. So I need to take care of this falling apart body so that it can keep up. Now where did I put that vitamin bottle?
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11.02.04
Posted in computers, family at 2:01 am by Mrs C.
I’ve been playing with a new program that I have called ‘Crazy Talk’ and having a great time. I recorded my voice and attached it to a birthday card that features an animated picture of a dog (can’t help it, I like dogs). The dog’s lips move and my voice comes out - very cute. I sent it to one of my granddaughters and am waiting to hear what she thought of my original card. Then I got a picture of myself, used the wireframe tool to fit my facial features and again recorded my voice. This time my lips moved and eyes blinked as I spoke. I spent so long on this and was having so much fun with it that my husband finally told me I should get off the computer and quit wasting my time. I tried for a while to do the same thing with the picture on my website, but it’s more complicated, so I haven’t mastered it yet. Generally the program is very easy to use and great fun.
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