Personal Blogs

Un-spellchecked, unlinked, grammatically-tragic review of m257 is now available.

2011–06–22

overload[3]

This is becoming boring.

I’ve had to take a day off work tomorrow so that I can complete my TMA. I’ve still got one-and-one-half questions to do and one unit book still only glanced at. I’m angry with me—this is the worst [OU] mess that I’ve ever been in, and I should know better, I ain’t no tyro. There are excuses: the M257 exam, a busy work-life, a new computer and it’s crappy default behaviour, my run-down condition [back under eight stone]. Still…

One of the most important things that the OU has taught me is to be honest, about me. And if I’m being honest, this was inevitable. There’s too much going on in my life, something had to give. True, I spent Sunday lying on the couch reading a book [not a course one], but I needed that—another thing that I’ve learnt, know when you’re knackered. To be aware of your failings is a form of success.

We’re all going to be here, where I’m now, sometime—the nadir—the point is to win through. It’s the mental toughness, it’s the “I won’t lie down’, it’s the I’m going to learn whatever, that will pull us through. Actually it’s about your mastery of you.

We should all wake at dawn, watch the Sun come up and just say, “I can do it!”. We don’t, but in our heads we must pretend that we do.

[password hell so I'll post here.]

Finished in under two hours and time for a check of the paper. Usually I'm still writing when the 'stop writing now' announcement. Never had any time to look back before.

Very fair exam I thought, no spinballs.

I'll write a proper post later, after a wee drinkee

A number of blogs here are talking about Web 2.0.

Doesn't exist. It's swatch of pastel colours, a big-point in-vogue-font-stack, and an asynchronous GET/POST request. This isn't new.

Didn't you notice that you could slice bread?

It's been a long week and next week will be longer—m257 exam on Thursday—too much red bull will be drunk, I'll be awake far too long.

So tonight I thought—brain food and a drunken early sleep. So here's the menu...

[HG will mean that I got it from my garden]

• smoked salmon with dill[HG]
• poached egg on a bed of wilted chard [yellow and red] spinach and beetroot greens[HG] with chips and a garden salad[HG]
• Strawberries and yogurt

When I can make my own cider and dispense with HG when I discuss food I'll be a happy man, although I will never catch & smoke my own salmon.

I'm a hypocrite in my heart.

The ultimate chocolate sundae. And oh, the guilt.

[Warning! JavaScript and prime Numbers.]

While I'm waiting for my Mousakka experiment to turn into cardboard I thought that I'd rant about Typography for a while.

It bothers me that peoples' blogs here are so hard to read. That's down to bad typography. Not peoples' fault

My blog may be a stream of stupidity but it's easy to read. That didn't just happen—I was taught. So you can learn how to do it. Why isn't it built into this...mgoodulee..whatever it is?

&

I think that I have enough drink.

I've read a few things that give me hope that we're in for our usual shambling kitch-fest, but I worry. Blue and Jedwood? It's as if people are trying to ruin the occasion by taking it seriously.

Still, one must do one's civic duty—get drunk, do a proper scorebook and watch the entire thing.

Here's my recipe...

1. Go to a tutorial
2. Drink a couple of ciders
3. Decide on something, stupid?
4. Put on your wife's gardening-gloves
5. Garner your nettles [they grow round my house, you may need to go a distance.] by squatting in the rain

When picking the nettles, think about the size of your head, about double that will give four portions.

At this point we need to deal with the dealing with nettle-stuff. We're not in parsley [Kansas] territory anymore—no stalks are wanted here. So plunk it into a sink and prepare your scissors.

Have another couple of ciders, until the dirt sinks to its level. What's wanted now the young leaves, so snip these off into a collander, discarding the old, the blighted and the dodgy. 

Drain the sink, remembering that those little bits of green that block bthe plug-hole will sting you! 

Now it's time to make the soup.

As this was my first attempt at the nettle I decided to be basic. So ingredients:

• Two, small, red onions
• Two, smashed-cloves of garlic
• The bits of potatoes that were left over from a previous making of chips
• The stalks of the parsley that is trying to bolt
• Shop-bought stock

 You can adjust these according to your circumstances.

Sweat stuff down, sweat the nettles, blitz, swirl in the cream, all the usual soup stuff.

Then have one bowl, do lots of carrying stuff, have more cider and worry.

stuff's good