| (no subject) |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|01:30 am] |
I've also been spending some time trying to sort out the Perfect Computer Workstation. I have a few very specific considerations that are very uncommon. I have 2 LCD screens, and need to add a single CRT for color accuracy. I don't want an ultra wide landscape view, so I've been considering options that would put the CRT below the LCD screens. there is no stock answer to this, so I've been considering a huge variety of options ranging from CRT below glass-top to weird constructions from metro shelving, to strange custom setups. so far none have emerged as the optimal mix of form, function, and frugality. the search continues.
that said, OMG I want this so bad, but can't justify spending $700 on something that doesn't quite meet my needs.
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| moving insanity |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|01:06 am] |
Moving and packing triggers a special sort of insanity in me. You see, I've loaded a few too many sound trucks in my day, and it has left weird scars on my psyche. When you load a truck for a gig, everything is in a sturdy case and tends to stack well. When you get to the gig, you unload the gear, and pretty much just take the lids off the cases. The gear remains in the case, and you connect the appropriate cables. Once everything is packed away, it remains in the cases for storage. The more you do this, the more you come up with clever ways of moving fewer things and making better use of storage, and more efficient setup. Everything has a safe and sensible case that it lives in.
This is the complete opposite of moving. When you move, you take all of your things from where they live, and cram them into various flimsy boxes made of cardboard. You also pick up furniture and develop a keen understanding of how much it was NOT designed to be moved around alot.
This has led to some really bizarre thoughts like "maybe I should build a box with dividers for all my framed art so that moving them in the future is easier". And things like "carbon fiber is too expensive, but perhaps a fiberglass-reinforced dresser would be sturdy, yet not too heavy". I also found myself contemplating designs for making a stackable dresser system with locking drawers, so you just pull a drawer or two off the stack and load it up without taking anything out of it. This led to the conclusion that the truly sensible thing would be to simply make all of my furniture out of road cases, after all, there are drawers for them, and it would make moving so much easier. There'd be essentially no packing at all. Clearly, storage should double as transportation. Shelves should have a panel that clamps on so you just move the shelf with all the movies on it instead of taking them all off.
Every time I'd pack up a cardboard box full of stuff, I'd find myself getting all kinds of twitchy about how insane it is to re-pack things instead of having rugged furniture that can efficiently transport it's contents. Sanity began to creep back in when if occurred to me that the 19" drawers in road cases would be frequently impractical. I eventually just gave up and crammed everything into cardboard boxes, grumbling quietly to myself about the impractical and non-rugged mindsets involved with dresser designs. "why doesn't this chest of drawers have recessed handles" |
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| bios |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|01:09 pm] |
I realize at some point I'm gonna have to write my damned dance bio (or two, one breif and one more indepthy/resume-ish for those who care) ...and get it translated.
I'm looking over Bhuz and much of the advice is very contradictory. I'w looking at dancer pages and taking it all in.
Wanna make sure I check yours out? Comment with your url please. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|06:55 pm] |
So, what does one do when the mail only comes ~ 9 out of every 10 days? Not as in I only get mail. As in, I still have letters sitting out there. And I really need the checks in the mail to show up. Oh... and they won't show up tomorrow, since it's a holiday.
*headdesk* |
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| Brain ramblings |
[Nov. 11th, 2009|10:58 am] |
I'm getting the batches of lessons ready for the third trimester of classes.
Mostly we'll be doing what we did last year:
1st learns a little about animals. 2nd grade plays with colors. 3rd grade runs around messureing things and guessing how many coins are in various bagies (numbers). I've updated those and written the Japanese flow sheets for homeroom teachers that go with them. Those have all been checked for errors and clarity.
Now I am tackling 4th, 5th, and 6th. I'm thinking about creating two lessons per grade for those occasions just to mix things up.
I've updated my beloved 5th grade Egypt lesson (watch Tito with Tatib, What do you know about Egypt? learn greetings in Arabic, review the ABC's via heiroglyphics, write your name in hiragana, romanji, and then heiroglyphs) and I do have an existing follow-up lesson to that about languages of the word/lowercase letters/designing your own alphabet.
The 4th grade lesosn I have is simple (rooms in a house, coloring things in, designing your own dream house) and the 6th grade is flags and flag symbols of the world (colors, countries, meanings of symbols) and deisgning your own flag.
Now I'm starting to kick around a times of day schedule lesson plan. I think this could be for eitehr 4th or 6th depending on complexity.
Random ideas:
start with the usual "what time to you wake up/go to sleep" on weekdays and then weekends.
What does Kathryn do on her weekends? Kids get a worksheet of a schedule and ask "what to you do at 6?" and so on. I explain and (act out) in English and students write, in Japanese, what they think this means. When the schedule if full we ask them what I do at , say, 7pm. Students raise their hands, give their answers and we tell them yes, no, or clarify....can be done in groups with each group guessing what it means and answering on a little white board and holding it up...
Who am I? Quiz Kathryn, homeroom teachers, support staf, and some other teachers (principal) before class. Present (and act out) what a myster teacher does after school/ on a given day and give the students three options for each: (A. Kathryn, B. Homeroom teacher C. Principal). Groups pick, answers revealed, points given, schedule repeated with additional comments and questions. CAN BE DONE with famous characters (Jack Sparrow, Doraemon, dracula) and so on...would need help on Japanese charcter schedules.
Students design a schedule for a dream day off and illsutrate with pictures. Students who want to present their schedule can do so with the help of me making gestures and students guessing what is being done...
Four 4th graders i'd be more likely to use cartoon characters, for 6th graders it'd be adult humiliation FTW.
thinking on page...thinking... |
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| Keiko Fukuda Sensei. |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|05:11 pm] |
On Sunday, I attended a martial arts demo and fundraising event at Mills College to celebrate Fukuda Sensei, the highest-ranking female judo master in the world, and to help raise money for the documentary being made about her. At 96, she still teaches classes in San Francisco. Here's a clip of the film.
ETA: You can donate here, the site of the filmmaker Yuriko Gamo Romer: http://flyingcarp.net/. |
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| Dear Valued Customer |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|05:06 pm] |
Kid: Hey, are you the science lady?
Me: Um, yes, I guess so.
Kid: Well, I think you should change some things about the science unit. You should make it more challenging.
Me: Okay. What specifically would you like to be more challenging?
Kid: Well, you know all that stuff about how the Earth spins? We already know that. I think that the first part of this unit is boring for like 70 or 80% of kids. Kids my age already know that the Earth spins and what shape the Earth is and all that. If I were you, I'd start with years instead of days and talk about how planets go around the Sun. That's much more challenging. I think that would be more appropriate for fifth graders.
Me: Well, thank you for your suggestions. I'll see what I can do.
We're not changing it, obviously (that kid probably knows these things because he lives in California, where they study days and seasons in fourth grade), but hey, at least someone's honest. |
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| dammit, pixies |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|04:17 pm] |
okay, i've heard enough people rant about how great last night was that i've decided to pay the whopping sum necessary to go see the pixies tonight. it appears to be sold out, however there are a veritable plethora of people selling tickets at face value on CL.
have any of you who went the prior two nights observed people selling tickets outside at sane prices or anything, thus saving me an annoying trip down to whereever for a dubious CL deal?
also, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) msjen, i am totally sorry i flaked on buying yours for yesterday. my night got all screwy and i couldn't go. blek. |
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| Imogen Heap! |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|04:00 pm] |
I have one extra ticket for Imogen Heap tonight. Doors 7p, show 8p. $50.
Sheila and Blau, I'm looking at you.
If you want it, reply. I'll have to pick up the tickets from the vendor at 7pm, but I'll be able to meet after that.
The show is sold out and I've been trying to get tickets all day from different people off of Craigslist, and I finally found a vendor that would get me a ticket for slightly more than the already excessive price. *argh* |
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| Salvation! |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|06:15 pm] |
Originally published at Null Device. You can comment here or there. The exclusive ND track “Under the Gun (Immune Response)” will be appearing on the “Electronic Saviors” compilation, due out on Metropolis Records in February. All proceeds will go to the Foundation For Cancer Research And Wellness. Assembled by the multi-talented Jim Semonik, himself a cancer survivor, it’s a 4-disc behemoth of awesomeness featuring EBM, industrial, noise, futurepop, synthpop, goth and so forth.
(Also, for those of you reading this website on an iPhone or iPod touch, or another mobile browser, you might notice that the interface is different. I’ve installed WPTouch on this and on the blog to make mobile browsing a more pleasurable experience. I love modular software. And thank Stephen Fry for blogging about it) |
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