I seem to recall a similar sensation of drowning this time last year. Term 2 brings with it a mozza of marking, and the responsibility of reports. On top of being Mum to 110, teaching 4 classes, and Supercoaching duties of both the First IV debating team and the Mighty Under 14s... I feel somewhat swamped.
My very wise mother once told me that she thinks female teachers take the business of teaching far more personally than our male counterparts. A success of a student is a personal triumph. And the flipside of the coin is that a failure of a student is another cat's tail with which to flail our own backs. And then there is the berrating of parents. And the politics of staffrooms. And the emotional wellbeing of the kids... I know for sure I am taking on way too much, absorbing far too much responsibility for the actions (or lack thereof) of others.
So this is me, attempting not to drown under the weight of my own workload and my own expectations.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
On Being A Grown Up
I'm a Big Girl now.
Great change has been afoot for a while. Scooting out of the parental nest a few months ago. Meeting a delightful fella. Buying big ticket furniture from retail chains.
Getting a permanent job!!!
With my 30th birthday around the very next bend, the navel gazing has been more frequent. Usually I am not one to be overthinking my plot in life. I tend to be too busy living the life and making the Big Decisions on the fly to be wading through What It All Means, High Fidelity style.
I'm not frightened of turning 30. I could have been. If I was still living with the folks, if I was still a temporary employee, if I was still parked on that really uncomfortable school-owned sofa that gave me a bad back when I just looked at it.
30 looks like it is going to be bringing me some more validity, some more good times, some more direction and some more purpose. And I think I like it.
Great change has been afoot for a while. Scooting out of the parental nest a few months ago. Meeting a delightful fella. Buying big ticket furniture from retail chains.
Getting a permanent job!!!
With my 30th birthday around the very next bend, the navel gazing has been more frequent. Usually I am not one to be overthinking my plot in life. I tend to be too busy living the life and making the Big Decisions on the fly to be wading through What It All Means, High Fidelity style.
I'm not frightened of turning 30. I could have been. If I was still living with the folks, if I was still a temporary employee, if I was still parked on that really uncomfortable school-owned sofa that gave me a bad back when I just looked at it.
30 looks like it is going to be bringing me some more validity, some more good times, some more direction and some more purpose. And I think I like it.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Julie & Julia: Comedy Jewel
The immenent Oscars has inspired a flurry of DVD watching. What with West Bubblefuck having a completely rubbish cinema that shows far too few of the nominated films... (I am never going to win the Most Films Seen award so long as I am here.) The flurry has also been assisted by my inability to be too far from my couch for too long, what with the inistent infections and vile viruses that have invaded me in the last week. I blame 24/7 work for 3 weeks. All work and no play makes Danne a sick little bunny. And not in a funny way.
So this weekend has seen me parked in front of my beautiful enormous tele, chowing down on soups and garlicky pastas, and consuming more Oscar fodder to try to prepare me for the decisions I face at the beginning of next month. What To Tip.
I missed Julie & Julia at the cinema. Mostly because it looked like a Mega Chick Flick with few redeeming features. But I am sorry I did so. Because I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The intertwined bio-pics of famous cookbook author Julia Child (the always-oh-so-fabulous Meryl Streep) and blogger/author Julie Powell (elfin-faced Amy Adams) deals with the question of fulfilment in life - doing what we love and what makes us happy.
Julia was a civil servant and wife of a diplomat (the ever-adorable Stanley Tucci) in paris in the '40s. Hardly the demure lady-who-lunches, Julia elbowed her way into advanced cooking classes, and the love of food gave her a sense of purpose - and eventually a very successful book deal.
Julie was a civil servant trying to pull together the pieces of post 9/11 New York, and aspiring to be a writer. Disillusioned with her life and surrounded by the bitchiest of smug successful friends, she embarked on a quest to complete Julia's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking in 12 months.
And then she got a film made about it.
I really enjoyed this gentle comedy. Possibly because I love food porn, and there is plenty in this. But there is a feminine funny to it. And I think that is mostly down to the goddess of acting that is Meryl Streep. I don't think she will get the Best Actress based on this performance - though she might get it based on the fact that she has been nominated about a million times, and not won it since 1983.
I was right in thinking this is a Mega Chick Flick. But I only mean that I don't think the XYs will get much out of it at all. So I don't mean it in a bad way.
So this weekend has seen me parked in front of my beautiful enormous tele, chowing down on soups and garlicky pastas, and consuming more Oscar fodder to try to prepare me for the decisions I face at the beginning of next month. What To Tip.
I missed Julie & Julia at the cinema. Mostly because it looked like a Mega Chick Flick with few redeeming features. But I am sorry I did so. Because I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The intertwined bio-pics of famous cookbook author Julia Child (the always-oh-so-fabulous Meryl Streep) and blogger/author Julie Powell (elfin-faced Amy Adams) deals with the question of fulfilment in life - doing what we love and what makes us happy.
Julia was a civil servant and wife of a diplomat (the ever-adorable Stanley Tucci) in paris in the '40s. Hardly the demure lady-who-lunches, Julia elbowed her way into advanced cooking classes, and the love of food gave her a sense of purpose - and eventually a very successful book deal.
Julie was a civil servant trying to pull together the pieces of post 9/11 New York, and aspiring to be a writer. Disillusioned with her life and surrounded by the bitchiest of smug successful friends, she embarked on a quest to complete Julia's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking in 12 months.
And then she got a film made about it.
I really enjoyed this gentle comedy. Possibly because I love food porn, and there is plenty in this. But there is a feminine funny to it. And I think that is mostly down to the goddess of acting that is Meryl Streep. I don't think she will get the Best Actress based on this performance - though she might get it based on the fact that she has been nominated about a million times, and not won it since 1983.
I was right in thinking this is a Mega Chick Flick. But I only mean that I don't think the XYs will get much out of it at all. So I don't mean it in a bad way.
Up: Where it belongs?
The format for the Oscars Best Film has changed a bit this year - it's now TEN films nominated rather than the usual 5. Which means the decision is going to be even more difficult in the Oscars Fest is going to be even more tricky.
The curliest of all those contenders thrown in is Up. Not just nominated for Best Animation, but also 'up' (teehee) for Best Film. Wow. Has to be a pretty awesome film in its own right, right?
What with the insanity of this last twelvemonth - both in a good/fun and and manic/work kind of way - I missed Up at the cinema. Lucky Sparky has such a similarly avid addiction to DVDs as I do, so his collection has come to the rescue.
The English Teacher in me screams "BELONGING TEXT!!!!". It begins with the love story of Carl Frederickson meeting his childhood sweetheart, and later wife Ellie. Their childish obsession with adventure and exploring unites them immediately, and keeps them together throught the duldrums of suburban life until her death. And that is all in 15 minutes.
Retired baloon-seller Carl is alone and eldery, and disconnected from the escalating skyrises around him, and he's feeling the pressure to shut himself into a retirement home to make way for the urban sprawl. He hatches a plan to use his house as a blimp to sail to South America - powered by helium baloons.
He reluctantly collects a band of followers - a boy-scout named Russell who happened to be on the porch of the elevating house, and who is lacking a father figure in his life. They also find Kevin, an exotic local bird and Dug, a hunting dog empowered with speech.
I would hope that my Year 12 boys could see the messages of Belonging in there - That Our Relationships and Friendships Are More Valuable Than Our Possessions. That Finding A Sense of Belonging Gives A Sense of Purpose & Identity. That The Places And People We Feel We Belong To Are Not Always The Only Choices We Have. But I am not holding my breath. Hopefully they will get there by November...
It is a brilliant animation. And a very good film. But it isn't going to get my pick in the Oscars Fest.
The curliest of all those contenders thrown in is Up. Not just nominated for Best Animation, but also 'up' (teehee) for Best Film. Wow. Has to be a pretty awesome film in its own right, right?
What with the insanity of this last twelvemonth - both in a good/fun and and manic/work kind of way - I missed Up at the cinema. Lucky Sparky has such a similarly avid addiction to DVDs as I do, so his collection has come to the rescue.
The English Teacher in me screams "BELONGING TEXT!!!!". It begins with the love story of Carl Frederickson meeting his childhood sweetheart, and later wife Ellie. Their childish obsession with adventure and exploring unites them immediately, and keeps them together throught the duldrums of suburban life until her death. And that is all in 15 minutes.
Retired baloon-seller Carl is alone and eldery, and disconnected from the escalating skyrises around him, and he's feeling the pressure to shut himself into a retirement home to make way for the urban sprawl. He hatches a plan to use his house as a blimp to sail to South America - powered by helium baloons.
He reluctantly collects a band of followers - a boy-scout named Russell who happened to be on the porch of the elevating house, and who is lacking a father figure in his life. They also find Kevin, an exotic local bird and Dug, a hunting dog empowered with speech.
I would hope that my Year 12 boys could see the messages of Belonging in there - That Our Relationships and Friendships Are More Valuable Than Our Possessions. That Finding A Sense of Belonging Gives A Sense of Purpose & Identity. That The Places And People We Feel We Belong To Are Not Always The Only Choices We Have. But I am not holding my breath. Hopefully they will get there by November...
It is a brilliant animation. And a very good film. But it isn't going to get my pick in the Oscars Fest.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Mother to One Hundred And Ten
Taking the gig of Year Coordinator for year 7 at the Boy Factory I knew was going to be a big job. Everyone told me it would be huge. I was prepared for it to be epic, large and difficult.
Turns out not prepared enough really.
There is little one can do to prepare for the onslaught of the incessant questions of 110 inquisitive boys. And less to brace one's self for 16 crying, homesick boys. And their teary mothers with their stretched-to-breaking-point umbilical chords on the telephone.
It has been all big days and heaps of walking up and down stairs. Answering about a million questions a day, and telling boys to go to the dorm, leave the dorm, tuck their shirts in, eat their food, and where the classroom is.
And telling a cherub faced boy that there is no way he can get out of coming to Yr 7 camp in a few weeks and watching big fat tears spill onto his cheeks was just too much, and it made me cry too.
22 days til they go home for the weekend. But who is counting...?
Turns out not prepared enough really.
There is little one can do to prepare for the onslaught of the incessant questions of 110 inquisitive boys. And less to brace one's self for 16 crying, homesick boys. And their teary mothers with their stretched-to-breaking-point umbilical chords on the telephone.
It has been all big days and heaps of walking up and down stairs. Answering about a million questions a day, and telling boys to go to the dorm, leave the dorm, tuck their shirts in, eat their food, and where the classroom is.
And telling a cherub faced boy that there is no way he can get out of coming to Yr 7 camp in a few weeks and watching big fat tears spill onto his cheeks was just too much, and it made me cry too.
22 days til they go home for the weekend. But who is counting...?
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Danne The Champion of the World
National youth radio network, Triple J may well be hijacking the public holiday of Australia Day. And I am totally down with that. If the day becomes more about listening to 100 songs while trying to pick what will be in the top 10 and kicking back with friends/family/all on your lonesome, watching (or hearing, actually) musical democracy at work, then it tends to take away from the celebration of the death of a culture, an invasion of a country, and 222 years of pretty piss poor treatment of indigenous people. It tends to distract from the hate fueled cape wearers, with We Grew Here You Flew Here stenciled on their bellies, or F*ck Off We're Full singlets.
The day off from work, that lurks closely at the end of 5 and a half weeks of bliss for all teachers (and probably students too if I remember correctly) still functions as a day to bring people together, to use barbeques and stubby coolers and thongs and backyard pools (or indeed beaches if you are lucky enough. I am thinking of Mr Taylor's yearly soiree at Clovelly...) and generally eek out as much joy from a summer's day as is humanly possible.
I didn't vote this year. I was too busy doing nothing, nowhere near a computer. But in November last year I picked "Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons. This bet was based on a number of things:
a) the song has swearing in it. Kids (and JJJ is the youth network after all) love a bit of profanity. This is reportedly unfair advantage Number 1 - I spend time with the people who would do the voting so I understand how they think
b) the song was Most Requested on JJJ's request show for WEEKS in a row. Unfair advantage #2, I can stand listening to Rosie Beaton. Other party guests plan on going into training in November next year to prepare for the big day
c) the poll (the biggest of its kind in the world, as we were repeatedly told yesterday) allows each voter 10 songs. Which means that the song won't be The Most Popular Song of the year, won't be The Most Favourite of The Most People, but rather a song that appears in The Most Top 10s. And looking at the history of #1s in the 17 years that this has been going, the pattern emerges - mostly with guitars (as opposed to being based on a beat), mostly nothing too heavy, and catchy as hell. Mumford & Sons fits that to a tee!
I did voice this pick very early on to all those that would listen, and even I'm sure to plenty of people that didn't want to listen, but I told them anyway.
And then the unthinkable happened.
A leak.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/articles/2010/01/22/1263663157228.html
I think it is pretty shameful that anyone would leak it Crikey. But really, who reads Crikey? I know there are people, but its readership is significantly pale in comparison to SMH. Shame, SMH, shame on you for publishing this information.
And shame on Luke, who posted it on FB. And indeed, shame on me for reading it. Really, I am kicking myself.
Enough with the Derryn Hinch part of proceedings
With the forms supplied from the JJJ site for a sweepstakes, I managed to wrangle myself a winning 28 points, probably due to the 2 unfair advantages and knowledge written above. The points for the sweeps were allocated on how close each song was positioned. Really I was pretty flukey, in that I just, as I have done for years with my little bro, wrote the songs as they occurred to me, rather than in the order I thought they would be placed. So my list was written in no particular order, but scored as though it was. And it looked a little something like this.
1. Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons (which is actually on the radio RIGHT NOW!!!) - came in at 1
2. Bullet Proof - La Roux - came in at 6
3. Coin Laundry - Lisa Mitchell - came in at 7
4. Ramona Was a Waitress - Paul Dempsey - came in somewhere in the 30s
5. Broken Legs - Bluejuice - came in at 5
6. Chase That Feeling - Hilltop Hoods - came in at 3
7. Uh Oh Oh No - Tegan & Sarah - didn't actually hear it yesterday. Don't even know if it is actually called that. Or if it is a 2009 song
8. We won't run - Sarah Blasko - came in somewhere in the 20s
9. Not Fair - Lily Allen - came in at 8
10. Liztamania - Phoenix - came in at 4
So as start the working year with a smug grin, a paper crown and the heart of a champion
The day off from work, that lurks closely at the end of 5 and a half weeks of bliss for all teachers (and probably students too if I remember correctly) still functions as a day to bring people together, to use barbeques and stubby coolers and thongs and backyard pools (or indeed beaches if you are lucky enough. I am thinking of Mr Taylor's yearly soiree at Clovelly...) and generally eek out as much joy from a summer's day as is humanly possible.
I didn't vote this year. I was too busy doing nothing, nowhere near a computer. But in November last year I picked "Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons. This bet was based on a number of things:
a) the song has swearing in it. Kids (and JJJ is the youth network after all) love a bit of profanity. This is reportedly unfair advantage Number 1 - I spend time with the people who would do the voting so I understand how they think
b) the song was Most Requested on JJJ's request show for WEEKS in a row. Unfair advantage #2, I can stand listening to Rosie Beaton. Other party guests plan on going into training in November next year to prepare for the big day
c) the poll (the biggest of its kind in the world, as we were repeatedly told yesterday) allows each voter 10 songs. Which means that the song won't be The Most Popular Song of the year, won't be The Most Favourite of The Most People, but rather a song that appears in The Most Top 10s. And looking at the history of #1s in the 17 years that this has been going, the pattern emerges - mostly with guitars (as opposed to being based on a beat), mostly nothing too heavy, and catchy as hell. Mumford & Sons fits that to a tee!
I did voice this pick very early on to all those that would listen, and even I'm sure to plenty of people that didn't want to listen, but I told them anyway.
And then the unthinkable happened.
A leak.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/articles/2010/01/22/1263663157228.html
I think it is pretty shameful that anyone would leak it Crikey. But really, who reads Crikey? I know there are people, but its readership is significantly pale in comparison to SMH. Shame, SMH, shame on you for publishing this information.
And shame on Luke, who posted it on FB. And indeed, shame on me for reading it. Really, I am kicking myself.
Enough with the Derryn Hinch part of proceedings
With the forms supplied from the JJJ site for a sweepstakes, I managed to wrangle myself a winning 28 points, probably due to the 2 unfair advantages and knowledge written above. The points for the sweeps were allocated on how close each song was positioned. Really I was pretty flukey, in that I just, as I have done for years with my little bro, wrote the songs as they occurred to me, rather than in the order I thought they would be placed. So my list was written in no particular order, but scored as though it was. And it looked a little something like this.
1. Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons (which is actually on the radio RIGHT NOW!!!) - came in at 1
2. Bullet Proof - La Roux - came in at 6
3. Coin Laundry - Lisa Mitchell - came in at 7
4. Ramona Was a Waitress - Paul Dempsey - came in somewhere in the 30s
5. Broken Legs - Bluejuice - came in at 5
6. Chase That Feeling - Hilltop Hoods - came in at 3
7. Uh Oh Oh No - Tegan & Sarah - didn't actually hear it yesterday. Don't even know if it is actually called that. Or if it is a 2009 song
8. We won't run - Sarah Blasko - came in somewhere in the 20s
9. Not Fair - Lily Allen - came in at 8
10. Liztamania - Phoenix - came in at 4
So as start the working year with a smug grin, a paper crown and the heart of a champion
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Detective Story
I can't say that I've ever really been hugely into detective fiction. Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle have never really pushed my buttons. I did like The Great Mouse Detective, Disney's rodent version of Sherlock (maybe that is where my irrational phobia of rats comes from.... Damn Rattikin). And when I was in London town, I did do a little bit of sniffing around Baker Street tube station with its Sherlock silhouettes, complete with pipe and flappy hat.
Those silhouettes don't really look like Robert Downey Jr though.
An edition of Empire magazine when I was travelling last year hinted at 2 different feature versions of Sherlock Holmes feature films that were simultaneously in production. But the one that made me just a little excited was the Guy Ritchie one. He does clever action very well. Lock Stock was a phenemenal film - the multistreamed narrative, interwoven with coincidence and cockney rhyming slang. The unfortunately titled Snatch showed Brad Pitt to have a wicked sense of humour about himself, and the Pikeys and pigs held this film together.
Let us not mention his other films, 'cause Ritchie kinda dropped the ball on those ones... Including Rocknrolla, his supposed 'comeback' film. Oops, I wasn't going to mention it!
But he's done a fantastic job with this Sherlock Holmes. The action is fast and witty. Downey Jr is brilliant - and plays Sherlock as autistic, which makes vast amouts of sense really. The hyper-observant detective is multi-talented; science, boxing, weapons modification. Plus he is totally hot. His traditional sidekick, Dr Watson (Jude Law), is much less insipid that I usually imagine him to be. In fact, Sherlock tells the good doctor that the violence he brings is very useful.
The pair from Baker Street bust up a serial killer with dark, mystical, ritualistic overtones. The hints of modern politics and terrorism, the vague references to Masonic cults and the vaguaries of vigilante crime fighting make the Victorian tale a little more relevant than just a period/action flick might otherwise be.
Rachel McAdams is mostly kickarse as Irene Adler. She does some great technical stuff, and some wicked criminal stuff. But as the only female character in here, she does occasionally get demoted to the Damsel In Distress. To the film's detriment. But how else are they going to convey Sherlock's emotional connection to her than from saving her from some impeding destruction (again with the pigs, Mr Ritchie?) than swooping in to save her...? Surely there is NO other way to convey deep and irrational affection from an otherwise rational being like Sherlock than an act of daring heroism.
Do not see this film from the front row. Yes, Boxing Day is the biggest cinema going day in Australia. And yes, the first session we wanted to see was sold out, so we bought tickets early for another session - but we still ended up being late enough to have to sit in the eye-bleed section. And as per Guy-Ritchie-usual, there is a lot of speedy camera work. At the risk of sounding a little bit like David Stratton, I did feel a little sea sick.
Ritchie has done a great job. Downey Jr continues to impress. A great Boxing Day flick, for literally, all the family.
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