Updates:
-The course on international law I signed up for is fantastic. Not just the content (I knew that would be), but the platform, too. It's so exciting to see this kind of online learning technologies finally getting over their quirks, and developers optimizing the advantages online learning can offer. Key example here: I can work at my own pace. The flow of the course is clearly laid out and it's very easy to get from one lesson to the next.
-After encouragement from good friends, I've decided to submit the mystery I'm writing to a literary agency.
That's all for now, folks!
Wednesday 30 September 2015
Monday 21 September 2015
September 21st
Updates:
-This morning, an idea that had been lurking in the depths of my brain for a long time suddenly came to the surface. I remembered that Harvard (as well as MIT and, I believe, quite a few other schools now) offers free online courses. I want to keep my mind sharp during this between-school-and-job interlude, so I went to investigate and found out you can actually get a certificate of completion for these. I tried to sign up for a course on Neuroscience, but it had been moved to a new platform that doesn't seem to be working. So I signed up for a course on International Law. You can't say I don't have a wide variety of interests!
-I had my first session (in a couple years, at least) volunteering in my church's nursery. The kids were lovely. One of them came from a French-speaking family, so I got to speak French to her. C'était génial!
-I had another voice lesson, which went infinitely better than the last one. My teacher Jordan is fantastic, and thinks in the same framework of metaphors that I do. Hooray for progress!
-I recently acquired a NOOK and it's the best decision I've ever made (except for things like continuing my education, getting regular exercise, and so forth.) It's already halfway to paying for itself, with the amount of money I've saved getting ebooks instead of regular books. I've acquired books I wouldn't have been able to justify buying otherwise. I'm sinking my teeth into Stephen Jay Gould's outstanding The Mismeasure of Man (which should be required reading for everyone in the Western world), and I'm also enjoying Olivier Magny's hilarious Stuff Parisians Like.
-I went to the library to renew my Philosophy of Science course and found that the course on the history of London had reappeared as mysteriously as it disappeared. Best of all, this time Part 2, which I needed, was there! Hooray!
Goals:
-Sign up for a ballet class (and possibly a modern ballet class, too.) I've been wanting to study ballet my entire life, but for a long time I wasn't able to. Finally, over the past few years, I've gotten to take some scattered courses in ballet and modern dance. It felt awesome to use my brain in a way I never had before. I was terrible at it... but by the end of the class I was significantly less terrible than I was before! I learned so much and was really proud of the progress I made. It's definitely something I want to keep doing for as long as I can. It's an awesome way to stay fit. And dance is fantastic for your brain! What more could you want?
-This morning, an idea that had been lurking in the depths of my brain for a long time suddenly came to the surface. I remembered that Harvard (as well as MIT and, I believe, quite a few other schools now) offers free online courses. I want to keep my mind sharp during this between-school-and-job interlude, so I went to investigate and found out you can actually get a certificate of completion for these. I tried to sign up for a course on Neuroscience, but it had been moved to a new platform that doesn't seem to be working. So I signed up for a course on International Law. You can't say I don't have a wide variety of interests!
-I had my first session (in a couple years, at least) volunteering in my church's nursery. The kids were lovely. One of them came from a French-speaking family, so I got to speak French to her. C'était génial!
-I had another voice lesson, which went infinitely better than the last one. My teacher Jordan is fantastic, and thinks in the same framework of metaphors that I do. Hooray for progress!
-I recently acquired a NOOK and it's the best decision I've ever made (except for things like continuing my education, getting regular exercise, and so forth.) It's already halfway to paying for itself, with the amount of money I've saved getting ebooks instead of regular books. I've acquired books I wouldn't have been able to justify buying otherwise. I'm sinking my teeth into Stephen Jay Gould's outstanding The Mismeasure of Man (which should be required reading for everyone in the Western world), and I'm also enjoying Olivier Magny's hilarious Stuff Parisians Like.
-I went to the library to renew my Philosophy of Science course and found that the course on the history of London had reappeared as mysteriously as it disappeared. Best of all, this time Part 2, which I needed, was there! Hooray!
Goals:
-Sign up for a ballet class (and possibly a modern ballet class, too.) I've been wanting to study ballet my entire life, but for a long time I wasn't able to. Finally, over the past few years, I've gotten to take some scattered courses in ballet and modern dance. It felt awesome to use my brain in a way I never had before. I was terrible at it... but by the end of the class I was significantly less terrible than I was before! I learned so much and was really proud of the progress I made. It's definitely something I want to keep doing for as long as I can. It's an awesome way to stay fit. And dance is fantastic for your brain! What more could you want?
Thursday 17 September 2015
September 17
-The Great Job Hunt of 2015 continues apace. My dilemma is whether to get a full-time job, a part-time job, or an internship. The decision is affected by the fact that in the military healthcare system, I'm only eligible to stay on my parents' health insurance as long as I'm not working full-time.
-I finished an application to volunteer with the Red Cross. Hooray!
-Last week I had my first session volunteering with my church's preschool class. We had thirteen preschoolers and two adults, so I thought things would be crazy, but remarkably, everything went smoothly. Those were some really well-behaved preschoolers!
-My course on the history of London has mysteriously vanished from our library. So I checked out one on Philosophy of Science (a course I was interested in during college but never got around to taking). Looking forward to starting that.
-Voice lessons are still going well. Another hooray!
-I finished an application to volunteer with the Red Cross. Hooray!
-Last week I had my first session volunteering with my church's preschool class. We had thirteen preschoolers and two adults, so I thought things would be crazy, but remarkably, everything went smoothly. Those were some really well-behaved preschoolers!
-My course on the history of London has mysteriously vanished from our library. So I checked out one on Philosophy of Science (a course I was interested in during college but never got around to taking). Looking forward to starting that.
-Voice lessons are still going well. Another hooray!
Wednesday 9 September 2015
What I've been doing the past few days
A few bullets about what I've been up to lately:
-The big one: Job applications.
-I am due to start volunteering in my church's nursery soon, and my volunteer orientation for Gentle Giant Draft Horse Rescue is only a few days away! I am beyond excited.
-I finally recovered from my cold! Hooray!
-With that resolved, I've been able to make progress in speech therapy (which is mostly singing therapy, really; my speaking voice is essentially the same as it always was) and, excitingly, resume voice lessons! While I can imagine my middle-school self reeling in shock when I say this, it feels awesome to have regular homework to keep me accountable.
-Writing thank-you notes. I used to hate writing them, but now it's truly a joy, because I've realized it gives me a chance to reflect on the incredibly kind things people have done for me. It's a very lucky person who has a lot of thank-yous to write.
-Reading.
-In a small but encouraging victory, I convinced CollegeBoard to grant me access to my SAT account, which had effectively been closed to me after my high school deleted my student email (a routine practice when the owner of that email has been graduated for several years.) I have to say, the representative who guided me through the process was incredibly helpful and went out of her way to assist me. Props to her and to the company.
-Continuing to work on French.
-Still cleaning and organizing.
-Further puppy-sitting for my friends' dog, who is as lovely as ever.
-This is actually an older announcement, but I hit a major milestone. After months of painstakingly rehabilitating my voice, I fulfilled a major personal goal: I was able to hit an E6.
And
it actually sounded like a human being singing, not an earsplitting shriek. My dog
didn't whimper, my family in the next room didn't run away or cover their ears, and no one called the
police (my own personal standard of singing success: draw your own
conclusions). I'm not saying any of this to show off. That would be
nothing short of ridiculous, because an E6 isn't particularly impressive
in the grand scheme of vocal ranges. But it's a huge deal for me
personally, because it's the note that it's been my goal for most of my
life to hit, and for a long time I'd given up on ever getting there,
especially after injuring my voice. I'm as excited about this as I am about getting my drivers' license. This has been a great year. When I think about where I was at with these personal goals only a few months ago, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude.
-The big one: Job applications.
-I am due to start volunteering in my church's nursery soon, and my volunteer orientation for Gentle Giant Draft Horse Rescue is only a few days away! I am beyond excited.
-I finally recovered from my cold! Hooray!
-With that resolved, I've been able to make progress in speech therapy (which is mostly singing therapy, really; my speaking voice is essentially the same as it always was) and, excitingly, resume voice lessons! While I can imagine my middle-school self reeling in shock when I say this, it feels awesome to have regular homework to keep me accountable.
-Writing thank-you notes. I used to hate writing them, but now it's truly a joy, because I've realized it gives me a chance to reflect on the incredibly kind things people have done for me. It's a very lucky person who has a lot of thank-yous to write.
-Reading.
-In a small but encouraging victory, I convinced CollegeBoard to grant me access to my SAT account, which had effectively been closed to me after my high school deleted my student email (a routine practice when the owner of that email has been graduated for several years.) I have to say, the representative who guided me through the process was incredibly helpful and went out of her way to assist me. Props to her and to the company.
-Continuing to work on French.
-Still cleaning and organizing.
-Further puppy-sitting for my friends' dog, who is as lovely as ever.
-This is actually an older announcement, but I hit a major milestone. After months of painstakingly rehabilitating my voice, I fulfilled a major personal goal: I was able to hit an E6.
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