Last night of being fourteen forever… #BlastFromThePast

This is some prose I wrote the night before my 15th birthday; pretty full of teen angst, but thought it might be a fun blast from the past to celebrate my birthday today! I won’t tell you exactly how old I am, but this poem dates from 8 years ago… 

“Infinity” by David Yu licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Tonight is my last night of being fourteen – forever.
3/08/2006

Tonight is my last night of being fourteen. I don’t feel that much older, but fifteen sounds too old. It just makes me aware that time is flowing by like a river and I cannot reclaim it. It’s gone – forever.

Soon I’ll be twenty, and then it’s not far till thirty or even the big four-o. My life is flowing through my hands like water; I have to enjoy each sparkle, laugh at every ripple, and treasure every drop.

I’m not usually this pensive or melancholy, birthdays bring it out in me. The numbers make me realise another year has gone; a year of good time and bad times, a year of struggle and upheaval and settling down again. Life goes so fast, too fast; you wish it might last longer, but the thought of eternity makes me awed.

Living forever – the thought kind of scares me. Sometimes just finishing in peace and sleeping one last time seems better. Indeed, spending eternity on this earth would be a burden, seeing all the evilness and brokenness forever. But spending eternity with my Maker in a perfect earth will be wonderful beyond the limits of imagination. My finite mind cannot grasp infinity, I am bounded by time. But I am convinced, that bursting the boundaries of time and letting my spirit soar will be scary and yet the most wonderful thing ever.

Ice-skating #BlogJune

“Ice-skates” by coleurs gm licensed under CC BY 2.0 on Flickr”

Going ice-skating tonight!

I survived my first social dance party! #BlogJune

So I’ve been taking social dance (ballroom) lessons for beginners over the last couple of months, and I managed to venture out to my first social dance party last night…

It was a really cool experience – though maybe a tad scary at times when I was attempting to try a new dance and I had no idea what I was doing!

I discovered that although I know basic steps for three dances:

• Rhythm foxtrot
• Waltz
• Cha-cha

there are so many other styles of dance and variation even within the three that I’m comfortable with.

There was a real mixture of styles – new vogue, modern jive, salsa, samba, rumba, rock and roll, swing, Viennese waltz, and even some line dancing!

This was me for a couple of the line dances 😛

And when I got it together somewhat…

It was a really cool experience, and super neat to catch up with old friends, meet some new people, and try some a lot of  new dances.

Bring on the next one!

World’s worst orchestra… #BlogJune

Enough said…

If you need to listen to the original (to restore your faith in humanity), try this one out for size:

I’ve just uncovered the story behind this orchestra – and it’s hilarious!

The orchestra is called the Portsmouth Sinfonia and was formed by a group of students back in 1970.

They had a very unusual entrance requirement in that:

(1) players had to either be non-musicians, OR if a musician, 
(2) play an instrument that was entirely new to them. 

It was originally set up as a one-act wonder, but due to popularity continued for 9 odd (very odd) years…

Sources:

Good old Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth_Sinfonia

Meme machine: http://mememachine.viralvideochart.com/…/golden-oldie…

Dream list (or things I’d like to do if I had more time)… #BlogJune

“Dreams and wishes” by Nicole Pierce is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Just writing a bit of a dream list tonight of things I’d love to do, if I had more time…

I’d like to (in no particular order):

• Play more music – I miss playing the piano every day (like I used to do when I was practicing for an exam)
• Read more books – there’s always so many wonderful books out there to read!
• Spend more time with my family – with us kids getting older, there’s always people in and out of the house, and sometimes it’s hard to just all be together
• Spend more time with friends – it’s always challenging to catch up and try to reconcile different work schedules & study commitments
• Practice more to get better at dancing (just started taking some social dance/ballroom lessons a while back and really enjoying them)
• Travel – it’d be neat visiting Europe; I’d want to go with someone though (friend or family member) – reckon it wouldn’t be much fun going by yourself!
• Be more creative – in terms of writing more for fun (stories, poems, etc…), learning to be more artistic in a visual sense (drawing, etc… – stick figures could do with some more work!).

I guess I could do most of these things now; just have to make the time 🙂

What are some things you dream of doing (or doing more of)?

1 day until #lianza13 conference!!!

Celebrate by Furryscaly via CC license on Flickr

Can’t believe that LIANZA Conference 2013 is only ONE day away!!!

So many things to look forward to….

• First time presenting at a library conference
  Monday 1:30-3:00 as part of PubSIG workshop – Are you my mentor? 10 minute lightning session on my research for my BA
  Wednesday 11:15-11:45 – Wandering Wirelessly Over the Ditch. 30 minute paper session on ANZ 23 Mobile Things
• Catching up with people I met at conference last year again
• Talking with Mylee Joseph and Michael Stephens IRL about ANZ 23 Mobile Things, MOOCs, and online learning!
• Fast connect morning tea 😉
• Going to Claudelands Events Centre for the first time!
• Catching some great sessions with renowned keynote speakers and some a bit closer to home
• The Tweetup  at House Bar (Hood Street) from 5:30-7PM 😀
• Connecting with so many awesome librarians over three days!

What are you looking forward to at conference?