Sometimes you start a small blogfaff project and it mounts up into a major time suck – at least my “let’s tidy up my categories” idea turned into a job that took hours. So I want lots of “oohs” and “ahhs” of appreciation to justify the time spent, please.

I’ve got rid of the old category “Me” which had become a catch all for any post I couldn’t put anywhere else, then jazzed up the category names a bit. Which is now all very confusing, because I still think of them by their old titles – so that may get changed back in the near future. Somehow though, it’s less dull. I’ve also put in the category information for each entry, so you can see my laughable attempts at trying to categorise my prattlings.

Next time I feel a faff coming on, remind me to faff with something simpler that doesn’t involve reading all the entries I’ve ever written…

With all the negative reports about education doing the rounds lately, it’s rather refreshing to see a more positive report about how good the majority of teachers are at introducing topics and ideas in a creative way. Unsurprisingly it has been found that subjects which are taught in a more innovative and interesting way get better results and better behaviour in those lessons.

For me, it seems rather obvious that subjects you enjoy are going to inspire your best effort. Learning is no longer a drudge, a drain on your time you could be using to do something else, but something fun – encouraging the attitude of learning for learning’s sake.

What did surprise me is that science wasn’t mentioned as one of the subjects that was being taught more creatively – surely this has tremendous potential for getting pupils really interested in how the world works around them. Or is it just that science teachers have been encouraging “thinking outside the box” for a bit longer, so it’s no longer news? Certainly when I was at school these were the lessons that were less “traditional” – the potential of blowing something up, spending the lesson outside in the nature garden, or getting electrostatic hair was always a break from the norm.

Either way, I think it’s a fantastic reminder that our teachers by and large are doing an excellent job.

This is my considered opinion after 5 minutes of research.

Case in point. This excellent blog that you are reading now that has whole minutes of effort put into it every day while I beautifully craft posts for your reading pleasure has a Page Rank of 5. Not bad really.

Then I take a look at hubby’s blog. Two sentences a day if you’re lucky on whatever randomly hits his brain at lunchtime and the git gets a Page Rank of 6! Where’s the justice in that?!

*sulk*

Interestingly though, he has just pointed out if you do a Google search using the term search engine, bizarrely Alta Vista comes first. Google is listed sixth. They give themselves a Page Rank of 10 though… funny that.

… that I could possibly do anything so stupid, but here I am, overcoming my embarrassment… confessing.

I am not a confident driver, not a particularly good one either, but until now I have never had an accident that was my fault (although if I’m honest there’s been a couple of times I have been extremely lucky, but that’s another story). But I’ve got a little blasé about it all, especially about reversing as my little Micra has one of those reverse parking beeper thingies (yes, that’s the technical term) which I have become a bit over-reliant on.

So there I am, having wrestled a disgruntled Akra Jr into his carseat, reversing the Micra in Blockbuster’s carpark on Wednesday, only half listening to the beeps getting closer and closer together… then the continuous tone… then THUD.

Oh God. I’ve just hit the Landrover behind. I get out of the car with that sick feeling in your stomach. I don’t even have a pen or paper on me to leave a note for the driver. I check our bumpers. Very very fortunately for me I was going slowly enough that there was no damage to either bumper and as there is no angry owner running towards me shaking his fist, I drive away chastened and more focussed on what I’m doing.

I have no idea why I didn’t stop in time – obviously I thought I had more room than that and I wasn’t concentrating properly, but really I have no excuse, no extenuating circumstances. I was just utterly utterly stupid.

So, why am I confessing today (Friday)? It’s because Akra Jr has suddenly taken it into his head when he gets in the car to say “Beep beep beep beep beep ….. BANG!” then giggle insanely. Over and over again. Akra thinks it’s hilarious (and I believe has been secretly encouraging him). Luckily, Akra Jr has the world’s cutest giggle so I have to laugh along – I can’t help myself.

*blush*

Yesterday, I was reading a message board with people’s experiences of hypnosis to achieve the birth they wanted (i.e. less painful, on a date of their choosing, etc) It had me quite intrigued. I did not have a particularly great birth experience with Akra Jr so it was something to be considered for number 2 (if there is a number 2, of course).

That was until we watched the DVD of Vanilla Sky that evening. Now I think I’ll just stick to strong drugs because I don’t want anyone messing with my mind EVER! No, the film wasn’t really about hypnosis as such but was one of those disturbing stories based around how do we know what’s real, what’s dream and what’s something else entirely – made it fascinating and very scary at the same time.

I’ll admit, that when I picked up the box at Blockbuster, the title was the only thing I knew about the film. I chose it because I was in a hurry, and I thought even if the film was dire Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz would provide appropriate eye candy for Akra and me. I ended up thoroughly enjoying it, even if half the time we were asking each other what the hell was going on particularly as we couldn’t work out which sections were supposed to be dream sequences – which I suppose was the point the director was making.

I won’t spoil the ending for anyone (I imagine most of you have seen it already, actually – we’re just slow and rarely get to the cinema anymore), but the “twist” wasn’t particularly great. However, as a psychological “did he/didn’t he” thriller it worked well. It also had one of the best lines ever: “I’ll tell you in another lifetime when we’re both cats”. Well, I liked it anyway.

Oh and the eye candy was cool too.

I’d be happy with just getting access to the slower variety of ADSL myself. Shouldn’t they be spending some money on finding a solution for us poor sods whose phone is too far from the exchange?!

I’ve been reading Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer (yes, I know I forgot to list it in my currently reading section, I forgot… sorry), and something she said has really got me thinking.

Her theory is that you write the most when you have the least access to words. For example, prisoners in isolation fall over themselves to write things down… ANYTHING down. She also describes how you can talk too much about what you are writing, then never actually do it.

I agree. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve thought of a good plot, discussed it to death with a friend then by the time I’ve sat down to write I’m just not interested enough in it anymore. Or spend so much time reading the Internet during my lunchtime “break” that I find I’m all “worded” out and have no inclination to discuss anything.

There are several remedies to this that she suggests. One of which is to write first thing in the morning, before you’ve spoken to anyone or read anything – not to actually achieve anything, but just a short while to get in the habit of writing. I was a bit sceptical I would be able to fit this in to my life (I’m not at my best early in the morning and would rather be sleeping, all said and done) but for 3 of the last 4 days I’ve managed to write anything that came into my head for 15 mins. None of it particularly good, but not particularly dire either and I’m quite astounded at the quantity. It’s almost like the conscious “editor” part of the brain which critiques the work as you write hasn’t quite kicked in yet, freeing you up to just get on with it.

There’s other things you can do of course. Listen to wordless music (or music in a foreign language) for an hour or two before sitting down to write. Going out for a long walk by yourself. Go stare at the clouds for a while. And, the biggie… cutting back on reading when you’re trying to get a major piece of work done.

*Gulp* I’m not sure I could survive if I cut back on reading. I do know I shouldn’t browse the internet until after I write here, but it doesn’t always work out that way (as the last week has shown). I think in November I’m going to have to go cold turkey. I wonder if I should also warn the library not to let me in through their doors that month?

… was so written with me in mind!

I think I have discovered a solution for all those people who hate cats using their lawn as a communal toilet. No, it’s not a sonic device that hurts their ears, special bark chippings, a sprinkler or even a plastic cat sillhouette.

All you have to do is open the back door, say “cat in the garden” and a small toddler goes pelting out screaming “Hello Cat!” and holding out his arms for a stifling bear hug. Not surprisingly, the cat quickly gives up all pretence of dignity and scrabbles up the fence as fast as it can go, leaving one very disappointed toddler in its wake.

Yes I am evil.

But it is funny.

Toddler can be yours for a small fee.

… what the government is thinking.

As if ID cards and RFID isn’t enough, now they want to tag all cars so the second you step out of line you can automatically get nicked via computer.

Do the words “privacy” and “rights” mean nothing anymore?! Still, I suppose it would solve congestion issues in one fail swoop … there’ll be no-one left with a license after about a week…