2 days to go until the music school audition, and I think I might be more nervous than Josie and Lori.
Josie will have a bit of a practice today, because she's singing one of her songs for her class. She's also doing a presentation on her hobby, painting and playing with Games Workshop models, which she's been working on for a few weeks.
I'm looking forward to finding out how it goes when I see her, but it probably won't be until tomorrow morning, as I've got CCwP and then dancing tonight. I've just had a week off for the February holidays and I'm already looking longingly towards Easter holidays for another break/ironing catch-up.
In other news, I've started writing for another website, this one for children's craft activities, called My Kid Craft. I've recently published a felt i-Pad cover, but there will be more to follow after audition season is over! Please check it out and support the editors, Jane and Claire, friends of mine who have started this up as a new venture and are really working hard to make it a success. Every page view and social media share helps!
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Monday, 18 February 2013
Music School Preparation
I've been neglecting the blog a bit lately. That's because for the past week I've had a horrible cold, and I think I barely got out of bed.
Josie and Lori have been preparing for their auditions. Here's a piece from Josie - still a few mistakes, but she's getting there:
Enjoy!
Josie and Lori have been preparing for their auditions. Here's a piece from Josie - still a few mistakes, but she's getting there:
Monday, 11 February 2013
Holidays!
As it's half-term, and I'm on holiday, I can't really be faffed with making up an original blog post. So, instead, I thought I'd do a little round-up of the things I've been reading, doing, and buying lately.
First up is reading. Well, not books, as I haven't charged my Kindle for ages. It's blogs and magazines for me.
Katie Kelly's Words for Worms blogs is delivered into my email inbox with pleasing regularity. I often grab a little break at work to catch up with what she's been reading this week, and sometimes to add it to my ever-growing list of things I will read when I charge my Kindle/have any time at all.
Lauren, over at Filing Jointly, is also a regular read of mine. She's given up her job as an accountant to make a go of being a full-time writer. She is also hilarious, in a quirky, surreal, sort of way that entirely matches with my own sense of humour. She also loves cheese.
Now, onto to doing:
I've been cooking, taking photos, and writing up recipes for a new website RecipeYum. 10 recipes and counting, including the most delicious and extremely indulgent Salted Caramel Chocolate Torte. For my vegetarian pals, please try the Pasta with Slow-Cooked Onions and Kale. It is surprisingly delicious, and greens are chock-full of goodness. Note to self: eat more greens.
I've also been making some origami things: hearts for Valentine's Day, cat invitations for Lori and Josie's party that they had at Kiss the Fish a few weeks ago. These crafty kids' activities are all planned to be published (when I get a minute to write them up) on a new website edited by a couple of old school-friends called My Kid Craft. Check it out for some fun ideas to keep the kindles entertained this half-term.
What else?
Ah yes, buying. Well, that's super top secret. Josie sometimes reads this blog, I wouldn't want to give away any secrets for what I've been purchasing for her birthday and Christmas. So, instead of what I've been buying, I'll just link you through to a site that Josie is very much hoping Santa will deliver her a dress from this Christmas. I only wish they made clothes for children older than 12 so I could get in on the bustles, ruffles, and frills action. It's called No Added Sugar, and Santa has delivered a Christmas dress for the past couple of years. Here's hoping that continues. Meanwhile, if you're looking for some unusual, stylish clothes for your own little one, or for a birthday, they have a huge sale on just now. Plenty of bargains to be found.
And that's my half-term round-up!
Thursday, 7 February 2013
The Nadir of Winter
It's about 48 days since the shortest day of this winter.
I say "about" because I counted it on my calendar, then lost count, and couldn't be bothered to count again.
So, 48 (+ or - my attention span) days since the shortest day, but it doesn't feel like the darkness is passing. In fact, it feels much more miserable than the shortest day, because at least on the Solstice you have Christmas to look forward to. And for me, the Winter solstice feels like my alternative wedding anniversary. We got married on the longest day, but always planned to do it on the shortest day. Long story.
Anyway, it's 2 days until school half-term, and this year I feel compelled to take a week's leave to coincide with it. I don't usually, but I am this year. It's just that kind of week/month/job. So, I paused today, before I responded to a question from my manager, which in turn was in response to the request by his manager for a document, whose requirements have changed, but which needs to be presented to our director on Tuesday. Yes, that's a long sentence, but I lost the will to edit. Anyway, the question?
Manager "You're away on leave next week, aren't you?"
Me "Yes."
Manager "Where are you away?"
Me <strategic pause while I consider my response>
Would it be wrong to claim that Muir of Lownie has no mobile phone coverage?
I say "about" because I counted it on my calendar, then lost count, and couldn't be bothered to count again.
So, 48 (+ or - my attention span) days since the shortest day, but it doesn't feel like the darkness is passing. In fact, it feels much more miserable than the shortest day, because at least on the Solstice you have Christmas to look forward to. And for me, the Winter solstice feels like my alternative wedding anniversary. We got married on the longest day, but always planned to do it on the shortest day. Long story.
Anyway, it's 2 days until school half-term, and this year I feel compelled to take a week's leave to coincide with it. I don't usually, but I am this year. It's just that kind of week/month/job. So, I paused today, before I responded to a question from my manager, which in turn was in response to the request by his manager for a document, whose requirements have changed, but which needs to be presented to our director on Tuesday. Yes, that's a long sentence, but I lost the will to edit. Anyway, the question?
Manager "You're away on leave next week, aren't you?"
Me "Yes."
Manager "Where are you away?"
Me <strategic pause while I consider my response>
Would it be wrong to claim that Muir of Lownie has no mobile phone coverage?
Monday, 4 February 2013
Education Committee
I received an email today from Edinburgh City Council to advise that I have formally been accepted as a member of the Education, Children, and Families Committee, as a parent representative.
I was taken aback by the level of interest in the appointment, as on the day after I was informally appointed, Andrew received a phone call for the local paper asking for me. That turned into a feature and an online article, which you can read here. They sprung some difficult questions on me, which highlighted how difficult it was going to be, representing all of those parents across the city.
The next week, I was again surprised to be contacted so that I could give my opinion on a study about maths homework. I am simply not used to having an opinion that might actually be of interest to anyone.
Despite being a little nervous, I am very excited to participate in local government, and to see how the decisions that directly affect my children are made. Perhaps I'll even be able to blog about them!
We shall see...
I was taken aback by the level of interest in the appointment, as on the day after I was informally appointed, Andrew received a phone call for the local paper asking for me. That turned into a feature and an online article, which you can read here. They sprung some difficult questions on me, which highlighted how difficult it was going to be, representing all of those parents across the city.
The next week, I was again surprised to be contacted so that I could give my opinion on a study about maths homework. I am simply not used to having an opinion that might actually be of interest to anyone.
Despite being a little nervous, I am very excited to participate in local government, and to see how the decisions that directly affect my children are made. Perhaps I'll even be able to blog about them!
We shall see...
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Europe
I've always naturally been a Europhile, and I've always believed in the importance of the European Union, not only as a natural consequence of the events of the 19th and 20th centuries, but also (through it's various mechanisms) to act as a conscience of the countries of Europe, curbing the selfishness that goes along with pursuing national interests.
I can trace these feelings and beliefs by looking back at my education and the experiences I had growing up with Europe and its people:
At Forfar Academy, if you studied History at Standard Grade and Higher, you could forget learning anything that happened prior to about 1830. It was very much a Modern History department. I'm not complaining. I enjoyed it, and it did provide a historical education that naturally segued into a political and social education in a way that learning about the Norman Conquest probably wouldn't have.*
In Modern Studies, which most of us didn't pursue beyond second year, my only abiding memory was learning about the structure of the EU and its associated bodies. I vividly remember a worksheet showing how the EU environment policy had prevented the destruction of wetlands as it had stood against a national body desiring to develop the area. For some reason, that stuck, and for a long time I associated the EU with being the protector of endangered birds and animals across the continent. A lone voice standing against the rampant desire of the developer to pave paradise and create some new parking lots. For a 15 year-old vegetarian, that was quite important.
Back to History, and we learned a lot about pre-1945 Europe. Through the Battlefields Tour, exchange trips with school and Guides, family holidays, and a compulsive need to collect pen-friends through those leaflets that would periodically arrive in children's magazines, I learned to love the countries of Europe and their inhabitants.
I had a French penpal, whose name I can't recall, but she had beautiful handwriting, and she sent me pictures of her cat. I had a Dutch penpal, I think her name began with E. She was a speed skater, and I was very jealous of this activity. Andreas (it's actually embarrassing that I remember his name, and not the penpals), was on the German exchange trip and we kissed at the edge of Forfar Loch. He gave me a necklace with a lion on it, because my star sign was Leo. Pontus and Frederick were two Swedish scouts, who stayed with us after the camping portion of the Swedish Scout exchange trip. They were exceedingly polite, and gave us a table runner in pale blues, pinks and creams as a gift. There was Mats (why can I only remember the boys' names?!), another Swedish scout, with ginger hair and freckles, and a smile that made my heart leap. And then there were family holidays: we went to Brittany one summer, and I gorged myself on chocolate and crepes. Or holidays with other families, cycling across CenterParcs, swimming every day, and agreeing that the national food of Holland was most likely clogs.
Later, at Uni, when I worked at the Balmoral Hotel, the waiting staff was comprised of students and young people on gap years. There were people from: France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Germany, and Norway. It was a great place to work.
I have nothing but fond memories, so vivid that I immediately recognised the centre square in Strasbourg when I caught a glimpse of it in a recent film, despite only having been there for a two day trip.
So, I've never thought really thought it's a bad thing that "Europe" decides some things in European parliaments and European courts, because I've never thought of "Europe" as a place that we are not part of. None of this talk about Europe imposing things on us resonates with me at all.
Why not?
It's not just because I studied history, or because I knew lots of Europeans not as "Europeans" but as French people, or Dutch people, or Swedish people. Athough, is that part of it? Probably.
And I suppose a significant part is that I was part of a youth delegation to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, during the parliament's summer recess. There were 14-16 year olds from all of the member states, and we each had a seat in the parliment, as though we were MEPs. We attended mini-conferences, and talked about problems facing the EU and how they could be overcome.
So, to me, it's always felt like a real parliament, with all the compromises that entails. There is no Europe, over there, trying to impose its will upon Britain, despite what the tabloids will have you believe. And if sometimes it feels like that, that's just because the other blocs are better at building consensus. Equally, sometimes Britain will be inside those blocs, enacting its own interests along with like-minded other countries.
In many ways, it's like being a Scottish MP, or a Scottish person, looking at Westminster.A small bloc, sometimes feeling hard done by, with locally devolved powers, but the requirement to make a contribution to a bigger whole, and sometimes feeling that you don't get enough back. Or being from London, like Boris Johnstone, and constantly whining that you contribute more than the North.
Both sections have valid reasons for thinking they'd be better off alone, but that doesn't mean they will be.
I've always felt reassured by our presence in Europe, and by the moderating and restraining action that the EU has had on all of its member states. I hope we don't leave.
*Despite that enjoyement, I had had my fill of the Bismarck, Corn Laws and Universal Suffrage, and Appeasement and the Road to War by 6th year. If you chose Sixth Year Studies, you could choose your own subject. It will come as no surprise to learn that my backlash against all this modern history was to go right back to the earliest possible point in British history that still had primary sources: the Roman occupation and the location of the Battle of Mons Graupius.
I can trace these feelings and beliefs by looking back at my education and the experiences I had growing up with Europe and its people:
At Forfar Academy, if you studied History at Standard Grade and Higher, you could forget learning anything that happened prior to about 1830. It was very much a Modern History department. I'm not complaining. I enjoyed it, and it did provide a historical education that naturally segued into a political and social education in a way that learning about the Norman Conquest probably wouldn't have.*
In Modern Studies, which most of us didn't pursue beyond second year, my only abiding memory was learning about the structure of the EU and its associated bodies. I vividly remember a worksheet showing how the EU environment policy had prevented the destruction of wetlands as it had stood against a national body desiring to develop the area. For some reason, that stuck, and for a long time I associated the EU with being the protector of endangered birds and animals across the continent. A lone voice standing against the rampant desire of the developer to pave paradise and create some new parking lots. For a 15 year-old vegetarian, that was quite important.
Back to History, and we learned a lot about pre-1945 Europe. Through the Battlefields Tour, exchange trips with school and Guides, family holidays, and a compulsive need to collect pen-friends through those leaflets that would periodically arrive in children's magazines, I learned to love the countries of Europe and their inhabitants.
I had a French penpal, whose name I can't recall, but she had beautiful handwriting, and she sent me pictures of her cat. I had a Dutch penpal, I think her name began with E. She was a speed skater, and I was very jealous of this activity. Andreas (it's actually embarrassing that I remember his name, and not the penpals), was on the German exchange trip and we kissed at the edge of Forfar Loch. He gave me a necklace with a lion on it, because my star sign was Leo. Pontus and Frederick were two Swedish scouts, who stayed with us after the camping portion of the Swedish Scout exchange trip. They were exceedingly polite, and gave us a table runner in pale blues, pinks and creams as a gift. There was Mats (why can I only remember the boys' names?!), another Swedish scout, with ginger hair and freckles, and a smile that made my heart leap. And then there were family holidays: we went to Brittany one summer, and I gorged myself on chocolate and crepes. Or holidays with other families, cycling across CenterParcs, swimming every day, and agreeing that the national food of Holland was most likely clogs.
Later, at Uni, when I worked at the Balmoral Hotel, the waiting staff was comprised of students and young people on gap years. There were people from: France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Germany, and Norway. It was a great place to work.
I have nothing but fond memories, so vivid that I immediately recognised the centre square in Strasbourg when I caught a glimpse of it in a recent film, despite only having been there for a two day trip.
So, I've never thought really thought it's a bad thing that "Europe" decides some things in European parliaments and European courts, because I've never thought of "Europe" as a place that we are not part of. None of this talk about Europe imposing things on us resonates with me at all.
Why not?
It's not just because I studied history, or because I knew lots of Europeans not as "Europeans" but as French people, or Dutch people, or Swedish people. Athough, is that part of it? Probably.
And I suppose a significant part is that I was part of a youth delegation to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, during the parliament's summer recess. There were 14-16 year olds from all of the member states, and we each had a seat in the parliment, as though we were MEPs. We attended mini-conferences, and talked about problems facing the EU and how they could be overcome.
So, to me, it's always felt like a real parliament, with all the compromises that entails. There is no Europe, over there, trying to impose its will upon Britain, despite what the tabloids will have you believe. And if sometimes it feels like that, that's just because the other blocs are better at building consensus. Equally, sometimes Britain will be inside those blocs, enacting its own interests along with like-minded other countries.
In many ways, it's like being a Scottish MP, or a Scottish person, looking at Westminster.A small bloc, sometimes feeling hard done by, with locally devolved powers, but the requirement to make a contribution to a bigger whole, and sometimes feeling that you don't get enough back. Or being from London, like Boris Johnstone, and constantly whining that you contribute more than the North.
Both sections have valid reasons for thinking they'd be better off alone, but that doesn't mean they will be.
I've always felt reassured by our presence in Europe, and by the moderating and restraining action that the EU has had on all of its member states. I hope we don't leave.
*Despite that enjoyement, I had had my fill of the Bismarck, Corn Laws and Universal Suffrage, and Appeasement and the Road to War by 6th year. If you chose Sixth Year Studies, you could choose your own subject. It will come as no surprise to learn that my backlash against all this modern history was to go right back to the earliest possible point in British history that still had primary sources: the Roman occupation and the location of the Battle of Mons Graupius.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Where are all the female cabinet ministers?
Why is is that David Cameron binet cannot even meet the gender diversity targets for his Cabinet that Lord Davies recommended for company boards?
Well, for a start, there is a lower percentage of women as MPs than there are women in most companies.
Although female MPs, as a percentage of the whole, have been steadily rising, they're still only at 22%. This is not very good. It's not the worst in the data set I was looking at (that's Georgia: 6.5%), but it's not the best (Sweden: 46%). In fact, it's squarely in the middle of the table.
In some ways, it should come as no surprise that there aren't many female MPs and Ministers.
For many years MPs have fought to improve conditions at Westminster. Debates regularly extend into the wee, small hours of the morning. Childcare provision is awful, and most MPs wouldn't even have their children in London with them anyway. Who wants to commute to London every week for a job that doesn't even pay paritcularly well when you compare it to an equivalent role in private sector, or even in the civil service?
Mind you, perhaps the issue is even more fundamental than that, striking right to the core of our society:
Eton, Westminster and St. Pauls aren't co-educational, and given David Cameron's propensity to select his Ministers from these Alma Maters, then women really have no chance, do they?
Well, for a start, there is a lower percentage of women as MPs than there are women in most companies.
Although female MPs, as a percentage of the whole, have been steadily rising, they're still only at 22%. This is not very good. It's not the worst in the data set I was looking at (that's Georgia: 6.5%), but it's not the best (Sweden: 46%). In fact, it's squarely in the middle of the table.
In some ways, it should come as no surprise that there aren't many female MPs and Ministers.
For many years MPs have fought to improve conditions at Westminster. Debates regularly extend into the wee, small hours of the morning. Childcare provision is awful, and most MPs wouldn't even have their children in London with them anyway. Who wants to commute to London every week for a job that doesn't even pay paritcularly well when you compare it to an equivalent role in private sector, or even in the civil service?
Mind you, perhaps the issue is even more fundamental than that, striking right to the core of our society:
Eton, Westminster and St. Pauls aren't co-educational, and given David Cameron's propensity to select his Ministers from these Alma Maters, then women really have no chance, do they?
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Very Busy Person
I was at a meeting the other day when someone announced that they were covering for someone else (meetings and people will remain anonymous to protect identity), because that person was "triple-booked".
Triple-booked appears to be the new double-booked. It's no longer acceptable to simply have one other place to be. Now, to ensure that you appear as busy, in-demand, and to excuse you from a meeting you need to be triple-booked.
Why? It is quite sufficient to be double-booked. Or even just "unavailable". As an attendee of said meeting, it didn't matter to me that the person had two other places to be. One other place for them to be was quite enough.
I wonder whether this could be related to the same phenomenon I wrote about in The Most Amazing Blog Post You Will Ever Read? It feels like it might be.
Anyway, must dash. I have a meeting to go to. Just the one, though.
Triple-booked appears to be the new double-booked. It's no longer acceptable to simply have one other place to be. Now, to ensure that you appear as busy, in-demand, and to excuse you from a meeting you need to be triple-booked.
Why? It is quite sufficient to be double-booked. Or even just "unavailable". As an attendee of said meeting, it didn't matter to me that the person had two other places to be. One other place for them to be was quite enough.
I wonder whether this could be related to the same phenomenon I wrote about in The Most Amazing Blog Post You Will Ever Read? It feels like it might be.
Anyway, must dash. I have a meeting to go to. Just the one, though.
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