For almost a week now I've not been able to write anything, unless you count the umpteen Facebook statuses and replies to other people's posts. I've also managed to revise my CV, but that was more of a chore than a pleasure. I haven't written any poems, stories, or even this blog!
It isn't just writing either - I've hardly done any reading. I've attempted to start reading several books, but got no further than half a dozen pages in each. I do have one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels sat on the shelf, which I haven't read yet, so I'll have a go at that tonight and see how it goes.
I have managed to do a lot of 'not very much at all', as well as watching a lot of TV and films. I have managed to get out of the house a few times as well.
I really need to get back into the habit of reading and writing again, so that I can continue with my studies as I haven't managed anything since sending off my first assignment. OK then... here goes... Chapter 5: Stalin, here we come!
I had a shock yesterday morning when I got home from the shops. My Internet wouldn't work! I phoned Virgin to find out why - a call that lasted almost half an hour and cost me the full £10 that I'd just topped up. Apparently, the £30 I'd paid off my bill hadn't gone through in time as I'd paid using PayPoint. Anyway, it meant that yesterday I had no internet... no email... no jobseeking... no Open University... and shock, horror, NO FACEBOOK!!!
It did mean that I could get on with a bit of reading and writing. I read a little more about Faraday but I'm still struggling to take in all the science bumph. As this reading isn't essential for the assignments, I may just skip it and move on to Stalin. I also finished reading 'Moon Over Soho' by Ben Aaronovitch, which is about a Detective Constable who is also an apprentice Wizard. Next up is 'The Windup Girl' by Paolo Bacigalupi.
As for the writing... I did a little tweaking of my Cleopatra/Faustus assignment. I edited some of the information in my CVs. I also wrote two poems about yesterday's ordeals with Virgin. The bulk of my time yesterday though, was taken up writing the first draft of the first chapter of a story I've been thinking about for years called 'The Leeds Witch'. Please DO read them, and as always, your comments and advice are gratefully received...
I'm really enjoying the discussions on the AA100 February 2012 and A215 October 2012 Facebook groups. There's always something interesting to talk about whether it is study related (Cleopatra, Faustus, assignments), computer related (open Office vs Microsoft, Evernote vs One Note) or food related (Marmite, Jaffa Cakes, Monster Munch, Coffee, Vodka, Marmite Vodka!).
Today though, one of the conversations was quite civilised and cultural, turning to artists and galleries. This of course allowed me to talk of the many wonderful artists and the fantastic FREE museums and galleries in West Yorkshire, all within about ten miles of my home, and more important to me they are easily accessible by bus.
West Yorkshire has produced some of the greatest artists, writers, actors and broadcasters the World has ever seen. I'd be shocked if you haven't heard MOST (if not all) of these names:
Henry Moore (Sculptor), Leeds
Barbara Hepworth (Sculptor), Wakefield
David Hockney (Artist), Bradford
Andy Goldsworthy (Artist), raised in Leeds
Damien Hirst (Artist), raised in Leeds
The Bronte Sisters (Novelists), Thornton/Haworth/Birstall/Mirfield/Dewsbury
Barbara Taylor Bradford (Novelist), Leeds
Helen Fielding (Novelist), Leeds
J B Priestley (Novelist/Playwright/Broadcaster), Bradford
Alan Bennett (Playwright/Broadcaster), Leeds
Ted Hughes (Novelist/Poet Laureate), Mytholmroyd
Alan Titchmarsh (Novelist/Broadcaster), Ilkley
Michael Parkinson (Broadcaster), Cudworth
John Craven (Broadcaster), Leeds
Jeremy Paxman (Broadcaster), Leeds
Chris Moyles (Broadcaster), Leeds
Patrick Stewart (Actor), Mirfield
James Mason (Actor), Huddersfield
Malcolm MacDowell (Actor), Leeds
Leigh Francis (Actor/Broadcaster), Leeds {Avid Merrion/Bo Selecta/Keith Lemon}
Thomas Chippendale (Furniture Maker), Otley
I could go on with a few dozen more names (as well as sports personalities, politicians, scientists, musicians etc) but you're probably bored already, so instead let me tell you about those wonderful museums and galleries that I mentioned.
National Media Museum, Bradford - Several galleries exploring the history and future of photography, film, television, the Internet and digital media. Two special exhibition galleries
1853 Gallery, Salt's Mill, Saltaire - This gallery has a large collection of works by David Hockney. The mill is at the heart of a model workers' village which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds - Collection of works by Henry Moore
The Hepworth, Wakefield - Collection of works by Barbara Hepworth
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield - Open air gallery of works by Hepworth, Moore and others set in the grounds of Bretton Hall
Again I could carry on telling you details of dozens more museums (Royal Armouries, National Coal Mining Museum, Eureka Children's Museum...) and art galleries in every town but if you ARE interested then I don't mind helping you to plan a visit to GOD'S OWN COUNTY!
As a treat, and considering today's date, here's a video of former Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes reading one of his poems...
As I have decided to take a short break from studying, I needed something else to keep my brain busy. After conversations on the A215 Creative Writing (October 2012) Facebook Page, I've decided to write the occasional short story. This is in addition to the poetry I'm already writing. To view my efforts, use the links to the left of this post, and please bookmark them so you can pop back later...
I had a day off studying yesterday, but it didn't stop my creativity. I managed to write two poems, although I needed a bit of inspiration from friends. I also plan on doing a few more over the next week using the ideas that I was given yesterday. You can view all of my poems on my Facebook Poetry Page.
Another obsession over the past few days has been Pinterest. It gives you the opportunity to collect pictures and videos as you surf the Internet, and 'pin' them to boards. As well as boards for weird, beautiful and interesting things that I find whilst 'Stumbling' using StumbleUpon, I also have boards for films that I've watched and books that I've read (but only since 1st February), and also my favourite places that I've ever visited. What started as 'trying it out' has quickly turned into yet another addiction, adding to my procrastination.
Whilst Stumbling yesterday, I also came across a fantastic Open Source download called Storybook. It's a novel writing tool similar to the expensive Scrivener. When writing a story or novel, it lets you organise your story in scenes, rather than writing it from start to end as you would with a normal word-processor. You can also create separate profiles for every character and setting, and manage multiple plot-lines. I think I'll be playing with this quite a lot...
Well today is the official start of the AA100 course. So what's different? Well... not a lot really. As far as I can see, there's my electronic notebook and tutorial forums; but I'm not sure how much I'll be using them as they seem a little 'clunky' for the 21st Century. I'll probably stick to using Evernote and the Facebook group during most of my studies.
I was planning to go to the Induction Event at Leeds University Rose Bowl this morning to meet my tutors and fellow students. Unfortunately we had a power cut at quarter past nine last night. I had no TV to watch, no internet and no light for reading so had no choice but to go out for a few drinks. They were still digging at the end of the road at two o'clock this morning when I got home and went to bed. As my only alarm is an electric radio-alarm clock, I was unable to set it. I'm NOT a morning person so didn't wake naturally until about ten (the event started at half past).
Yesterday afternoon, I managed to write a first draft of my Cleopatra assignment. I really struggled at getting it down to less than 500 words. I did plan to write about three different years, but only had space to write about two. I'm going to leave it for a week or two before I go back and look at it again. Hopefully by then I may have some ideas of how to condense it further...
After writing last night's blog, I decided to have a go at writing some blank verse in 'Iambic Pentameter' and after a bit of trial and error, I managed to write a poem (click here). I've been a bit hit and miss with my poems since I started looking at the materials for this course, and I'm afraid it's going to stay that way.
Anyway, on to today. I've finally started on Chapter 4 - Fame and Faraday. So far so good. I'm enjoying reading about his life, and how he became a famous name through the 19th Century. However, upon scanning through the rest of the chapter, I've noticed there's quite a lot about his experiments. I realise that these contributed to his fame but I'm surprised to see them in an 'arts' course. Oh well, time to put my science head on...
I didn't read as much as I wanted last night so I've still not moved onto Faraday (I will eventually... Honest). I was thinking about what to do on Saturday after the Induction Event at Leeds University. I've no money left (apart from the £5 I've put on one side for my bus ticket), so I won't be shopping. The event will finish around 12.15pm which leaves the rest of the day clear, and as I will have a 'Day Ticket' for the buses, I might as well get some use out of it.
I decided to start by looking at the Gazetteers on the AA100 website. They list locations around the country to see examples of works I will be studying throughout the course. After a bit of scrolling and clicking I've discovered that there is a great example of Pugin's architecture at St Anne's Catholic Church in Keighley, and examples of Benin art in the Leeds City Museum (there are others at the Leeds Discovery Centre, but this is only for pre-booked tours). I can't decide whether I should visit any of these or leave them until I'm actually studying them (possibly on the same day as a tutorial).
As I was scrolling through the coming weeks I discovered that NONE of the Ancient Sacred Sites, Roman Villa Sites or Eighteenth Century Houses listed on the website are within West Yorkshire. The nearest being in York, which although only another hour by bus would be another £6! I think a bit more research might be required to find something similar locally.
I also spent a little time today working through the online activities for using the Harvard Referencing System, and then followed this up by adding some references to my pre-prepared assignment and advising someone on the AA100 Facebook page. Now back to my reading...
Well, I still haven't finished the book, so still haven't moved on to Faraday. It hasn't been a totally wasted day though. I spent an hour or so preparing my document for my assignment. I'm still trying to find my way around Open Office, as previously I've always used Microsoft Word. The free version of Word that came on my laptop though has an annoying little animated advert in the bottom corner which you can't turn off (without buying the full version), and always seems to crash my computer (obviously nothing to do with the half dozen tabs I have open on Firefox).
With a bit of playing around, customising toolbars and changing default settings, I managed to get it to do what I want, although I am disappointed that there is no option for a 'live' word-count or even just a word-count button to save me having to go to the menus.
For my first TMA I've set up a document with a header containing my name, OU identifier and TMA number; a footer containing page number; title, question (copied and pasted from the PDF version of the Assignment Booklet) and bibliography for parts 1 and 2 (part 2 separated by a 'Page Break'); and just because the idea has been swimming around in my head for a couple of weeks - my introduction paragraph for Cleopatra. This has helped a lot because I now know that six lines of Arial 12pt, is approximately100 words.
As well as this, I've also set up a LinkedIn account to help with my job search, and following advice I received in an email, I shall be including details of LinkedIn, my Poetry Page and my Blog on any future CVs that I send...
Well today I've managed to do hell of a lot of absolutely nothing. I haven't picked up any of my books, watched any of the films, listened to any of the CDs or wrote anything (except this of course). If it wasn't for the Facebook groups I'd have had no contact with my studies at all.
In my defence I have been busy doing other things. I received a letter this morning confirming a place on a residential weekend course at Northern College near Barnsley. I have been before (several years ago) but needed to try and work out how I will get there before I accept. Obviously if there are no buses to and from the college it would mean a long walk from Barnsley. Fortunately there ARE buses.
The course I signed up for (about a month before I signed up for OU) is 'Introduction to Creative Writing', which considering my chosen study path is ideal. Not only will it give me a good grounding for my second module, but it will also be a weekend of free food and drink and none of my electricity and gas being used. Add to that the beautiful setting of Wentworth Castle and it's a win-win situation.
Although I haven't technically started studying yet. I have already committed myself to the second part of my degree. I have just been added to the A215 Creative Writing - Oct 2012 Starters Facebook group. I haven't found one yet for A200 History so I'm not actually committed to that one... YET!
While it's great that I will be able to chat with other people who will be sharing my future journey, it does mean there will be a lot more procrastinating to be done. I have noticed though, that several of the people doing A215 also happen to be currently doing AA100, so hopefully that will be where everyone's focus is for the time being.
So, what about all those extra tasks I need to do that I identified in my previous post? Well there's always tomorrow. After all, I have more Facebook posts to read...
Since joining up for AA100, I have spent quite an unhealthy amount of time online. My first stop, with regards this course was to look at the OU Forums. What a nightmare! Remember back in the 1990s when your browser of choice was 'Netscape' and to search you HAD to use 'AltaVista' or navigate your way through 'Yahoo'? Well it was just like that.. clunky and dated.
Thank goodness we are in the 21st Century though. A quick search on 'Google' brought up a 'Facebook' page specifically for those starting the course at the same time as me. Being an avid user of Facebook anyway (I always have it open when my laptop is switched on) it was the natural choice.
I've already met some interesting people, some local but mostly distant. However, the one thing we all have in common is this shared journey. A few of them have even friended me on Facebook, making it much easier to seek advice or just to have a quick chat to take our minds off studying.
One of the main discussion topics last night (when we weren't discussing Marmite, wine, fanciable celebrities etc...) was the forthcoming AA100 website. What would it look like? What would be on it? Would it answer all our questions? Would we all be so scared that we pack in the course, never to study again for the rest of our lives?
I decided I just HAD to stay up until it went online. I settled myself in front of the laptop, opened Facebook and my Student Homepage and waited. Midnight came around (just in the middle of American Dad on BBC3) and I got all excited... a red circle with a number one suddenly appeared next to 'Messages'. Could this be it? Sadly no, it was just a message telling me about the website.
Upon closer inspection, I discovered the website would go live just after 1am. As American Dad had now finished and I could find nothing else on TV worth watching, I decided to watch the live stream of some American bloke babbling on about American stuff. I think the gist of it was 'blah, blah, blah!'... ten minutes applause and whooping from all the other Americans... 'Bring me a Bill and I'll sign it'... further applause and whooping... etc. He managed to pad out a twenty minute speech into a couple of hours.
Anyway, by half past two, there was still no sign of the website and the American bloke was boring me to tears, so I decided to call it a night and went to bed. The website would just have to wait until later...
