As Tumnus you may be a bit timid and shy. But you are conscientious, caring and friendly and respected by your friends. You hope to set a new trend with your cool beard.

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Me, through the ages as a bloke

1952

1954

1956

1976

1978

1988

1996

2000

Me, through the ages

1952

1954

1962

1968

1974

1976

1978

1980

1984

1992

1998

2000

On a friends blog I came across a website called 'yearbook yourself'. So I thought I'd have a go and these were the results.

I looked at my blog today and realised that I haven't blogged for almost a year, so I thought I'd blog even if it was just to say that I haven't blooged (which was already perfectly obvious).

I've had this quote on my facebook for a while so i'll share it with you.

Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him.... I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than man.... I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me.... but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts.... Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is accountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ. - Napoleon

More freewriting-on homeschooling

Sorry if it doesn't make much sense!!! :)

Home schooling

I have been home school for a number of years. 10 to be exact. I'm not home schooled any more. I go to college. Well actually I just finished college. I preferred being home schooled it was a lot more fun and I didn't have to get up as early. Anyhow what else? well I think that home schooling is a great thing. It allows you to do all sorts of things that schooled kids don't get to do. For example music, lots of music and going out in the middle of the day to the shops (not that I did that often but I’m rallying my thoughts to think of something better without stopping) going to museums. My mum and little sisters went to the museum yesterday. Apparently it was fun. They got to mummify somebody. (Not a real person I presume) anyhow that was a bit off topic. Home schooling allows you to be more involved in your church. You can go to midday things for example funerals and weddings of the people in the church and you can visit people who are sick when no one else has time. You can also go on holiday when no one else is about which is quite cool because then you don't get stuck in traffic. Or in a queue to the places you want to visit. Home schooling is also good because it lets you grow in strength in the Lord before you are pushed into the world. Unlike school educated kids who get pushed into the world at three years old (not literally, it's what ever that other word is that I can’t think of right now) I know people say that it stops you witnessing when your young in school. But actually it doesn't really. As someone said you never pull someone up from sin, they pull you down. That’s what school does, it gradually make you more like itself. I admit that we should all be salt and light but we don't do that by expecting a three year old to stand the tide of an ungodly school but by gradually introducing them to the world, its temptations and what is good. Home schooling also makes you closer as a family it lets you learn together and you spend all your time together, your also not dependent on the company of other people outside you family.

Freewriting

I was just looking at a website/page and came across something called freewriting. It is, and I quote
" non-stop writing that is designed to uncover ideas. Freewriting is writing with the critic button disengaged. There are no rules or form to follow. You may change directions or subjects at whim. Freewriting may be focused on unfocused. Unfocused freewriting is like window shopping through your mind just to see what's in there at any given moment. You scout out the territory and if you don't find anything of value - no problem. If you do discover a potential idea, you can pause to examine it more closely or return to it later. Focused freewriting involves writing about a particular topic as a means of discovering what you already know or think about it." (http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~e101comp/literacies/freewriting.html) I did it for ten minutes on each of these subjects. You need to write for the whole ten minutes without stopping so it can include you wondering what else to write.

Here you go anyway. (I did spell check it to make it readable)

College

I have just finished college. I didn't really enjoy it although I sometimes wondered what I was doing there. I didn't like the subject I took which was the BTEC in Early Years. Not because I don't like children but because I just don't particularly like learning about them. I did lots of placement hours. 800 to be exact. They were sometimes quite interesting but other times they were really boring. What next. Well actually next I have thought of either getting a job or doing A levels in different subjects. Maths, biloogy and Physics and also Music. I really enjoy music. In fact that was one of the most enjoyable parts of my BTEC course. I could take my musical instruments into the schools and the children could watch my play them. They really enjoyed the accordion and started clapping to the beat totally unprovokedly. I can't think of anything else to write. No doubt something will come to me in time. It often happens like that. You feel you've come to a dead end and abracadabra you suddenly have an amazing idea. It's almost like it came out of nowhere. But it must have come out of somewhere mustn’t it, Probably from the creativity that is subconscious. And that most of the time you hardly ever realise is there. Anyhow I just went off on a total tangent. But it's very hard to write for ten minutes non stop without writing some total nonsense. I rather enjoy doing this I’ve never heard of it before but it really gives your brain a workout. It's a bit like going to a mind Gym. Oh 1 minute 20 seconds left. Well back to college. Apparently there is a presentation evening on Thursday. I'm not all that sure what it's about. Apparently it's something to do with the best person on the course or something.


Toothbrushes

I have no idea why i chose to write about toothbrushes. It was the first thing that came into my head. The reason for toothbrushes is to clean your teeth. It brushes them and brushes the dirt from them. Teeth can very very dirty. Probably through eating foods and through breathing through your mouth. Did you know that we all swallow about ten spiders in a year(or was it a life time, I can't remember) anyhow. Imagine the dirt that gets on your teeth through spiders crawling on them. Obviously now you can see a reason for brushing your teeth. Obviously also you can’t just use any old brush to brush your teeth. I mean a hair brush for example would not only be way to large to fit in your mouth but it would probably make it dirtier than before. Not if it was brand new of course but still. The first argument still stands. You also couldn’t use a brush and shovel brush. That would also be rather large for ones mouth. Having said which the prickle brush things would probably reach into your mouth. However I probably wouldn't enjoy that. It would probably hurt. I think that I'll stick to toothbrushes for my teeth. I don't really know what else to write I'm running out of things to say. But I must continue. Oh I've thought of something. If you don't brush your teeth they might go all rotten. And then you'd need to go to the dentists to get a filling. That would probably hurt a lot because they drill into your gum. I mean they do give you anaesthetic but still you probably feel them drilling. I don't really know because I've never had that experience. Perhaps that’s because I always brush my teeth or perhaps because I always use a toothbrush to brush my teeth instead of a hair brush. Or perhaps that’s got nothing to do with it. I will never know.

I hope all my readers approve of the new title to my blog, I thought my last one showed an egotistic spirit and as almost none of the posts are about me I thought I would do well to change it.
The inspiration came to me during a driving lesson, I was driving along a housing estate(or something to that effect) when I suddely decided the road was a 'one way' street. And so in order to turn right I moved over to the right side, much to my driving instructors annoyance and confution. Having explained to him my thought process in the matter he asked me if we could have no more moments of muppetry for the rest of lesson. At that moment (well a bit later)I thought, what a cool name for a blog. And so, here we are.

Anyhow here is another poem by Kipling, one which I rather like

When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,
He shouts to scare the monster who will often turn aside.
But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail,
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When Nag, the wayside cobra, hears the careless foot of man,
He will sometimes wriggle sideways and avoid it if he can,
But his mate makes no such motion where she camps beside the trail
-For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

When the early Jesuit fathers preached to Hurons and Choctaws,
They prayed to be delivered from the vengeance of the squaws
'Twas the women, not the warriors, turned those stark enthusiasts pale
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man's timid heart is bursting with the things he must not say,
For the Woman that God gave him isn't his to give away;
But when hunter meets with husband, each confirms the others tale -
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.

Man, a bear in most relations, worm and savage otherwise,
Man propounds negotiations, Man accepts the compromise;
Very rarely will he squarely push the logic of a fact
To its ultimate conclusion in unmitigated act.

Fear, or foolishness, impels him, ere he lay the wicked low,
To concede some form of trial even to his fiercest foe.
Mirth obscene diverts his anger; Doubt and Pity oft perplex
Him in dealing with an issue - to the scandal of the Sex!

But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same,
And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
May not deal in doubt or pity - must not swerve for fact or jest.
These be purely male diversions - not in these her honor dwells -
She, the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else!

She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate;
And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

She is wedded to convictions - in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him, who denies!
He will meet no cool discussion, but the instant, white-hot wild
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.

Unprovoked and awful charges - even so the she-bear fights;
Speech that drips, corrodes and poisons - even so the cobra bites;
Scientific vivisection of one nerve till it is raw,
And the victim writhes with anguish - like the Jesuit with the squaw!

So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer
With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her
Where, at war with Life and Conscience, he uplifts his erring hands
To some God of abstract justice - which no woman understands.

And Man knows it! Knows, moreover, that the Woman that God gave him
Must command but may not govern; shall enthrall but not enslave him.
And She knows, because She warns him and Her instincts never fail,
That the female of Her species is more deadly than the male!

It's been on my conscience recently that I hardly ever blog anything about myself. The reason for this being that ...

A)I can't be bothered
B)Linked to the above, it takes more time than copying and pasting some other cool thing from the internet
C)I have a boring life, and would bore anyone to death who read my blog if they were reading about my life

However I am of course assuming I have readers of my blog, but to my knowledge almost all of them see me regulaly and therefore know about my life anyway.

Anyway for those of you who do want to know about my life, here is my excerpt from our family newsletter.


- For the past year and four months I have been studying the BTEC in Early Years (childcare) at our local FE college. This course has done little for me except convince me that working with large numbers of children is not for me. I am personally of the opinion that I am too nice a person, because while the children think I am cool they never do what I tell them to do. I think that perhaps I should work on some kind of reverse psychology and get them to do things by telling them not to do it. Anyhow having changed my mind about this I am in the predicament of having tied in my options as to what I can do instead. I am thinking of doing radiography but the university want an A level in a science subject, so I may be subjected to another year or two of Deeside college before I can pursue this course. However on another topic I have joined the Flintshire Youth choir and orchestra, this is very enjoyable. The orchestra is a lot harder than the choir; at present I am terribly pleased if I even just play the first and the last note at the same time as everyone else. Having said which the first is usually ok, but the last is far more challenging; I usually finish a few bars in front or behind everyone else. Its a good job other people cover my mistakes.
During the summer months I did a number of weeks on UBM, it was great!! Lots of people got converted (to Christianity, just thought I'd clear that up before I go any further) and I played the accordion, which is also terribly enjoyable although I have a tendency to play too fast and all the old ladies on the prom were turning blue.
Oh and one more thing, more of a warning than anything else. I have started driving lessons, and I really love it, especially when I go fast. My motto is keep death off the roads: so I drive on the pavements. There is one small problem though in that I am kind of too short for the car.

I've recently turned into a bit of a fan of Rudyard Kipling, anyway here is one of his poems entitled 'The Pilgrims Way'

I do not look for holy saints to guide me on my way,
Or male and female devilkins to lead my feet astray.
If these are added, I rejoice---if not, I shall not mind,
So long as I have leave and choice to meet my fellow-kind.
For as we come and as we go (and deadly-soon go we!)
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

Thus I will honour pious men whose virtue shines so bright
(Though none are more amazed than I when I by chance do right),
And I will pity foolish men for woe their sins have bred
(Though ninety-nine per cent. of mine I brought on my own head).
And, Amorite or Eremite, or General Averagee,
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

And when they bore me overmuch, I will not shake mine ears,
Recalling many thousand such whom I have bored to tears.
And when they labour to impress, I will not doubt nor scoff;
Since I myself have done no less and---sometimes pulled it off.
Yea, as we are and we are not, and we pretend to be,
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

And when they work me random wrong, as oftentimes hath been,
I will not cherish hate too long (my hands are none too clean).
And when they do me random good I will not feign surprise.
No more than those whom I have cheered with wayside charities.
But, as we give and as we take---whate'er our takings be---
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

But when I meet with frantic folk who sinfully declare
There is no pardon for their sin, the same I will not spare
Till I have proved that Heaven and Hell which in our hearts we have
Show nothing irredeemable on either side of the grave.
For as we live and as we die---if utter Death there be---
The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!

Deliver me from every pride---the Middle, High, and Low---
That bars me from a brother's side, whatever pride he show.
And purge me from all heresies of thought and speech and pen
That bid me judge him otherwise than I am judged. Amen!
That I may sing of Crowd or King or road-borne company,
That I may labour in my day, vocation and degree,
To prove the same in deed and name, and hold unshakenly
(Where'er I go, whate'er I know, whoe'er my neighbor be)
This single faith in Life and Death and to Eternity:
"The people, Lord, Thy people, are good enough for me!''

For those of you who watch what you eat... Here's the final word onnutrition and health, and it's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.
3. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.
6. Ukrainians drink a lot of vodka, eat a lot of perogies, cabbage rolls and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Canadians, British or Americans.

CONCLUSION:Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

A lot has happen since I last blogged

Another college year has started
Another placement has started
Another year of my life has started
Another skill I have begun to learn (driving)

Oh well there we go

That wasn't really what I wanted to blog about anyway but I thought I'd give an update on my present situation.

You know one of the things I hate about writing assignments for college is that they are soooo boring. They are so perscribed that they kill originality and creativity. they not only tell you what to write an assignment on but tell you what they want in it. In fact it's rather ironic that these assignments often contain information on how 'not' to do the very same thing to young children. (hardly a great example is it)

Notice these three point on discouraging creativity in children taken from "Goleman, Kaufman and Ray (1992) The creative spirit, 63"

Over-control - Constantly telling kid how to do things, . . . Often leaves children feeling like their originality is a mistake and any exploration a waste of time.

Restricting choice - Telling children which activities they should engage in instead of letting them follow where their curiosity and passion lead . . . Again restricts active exploration and experimentation that might lead to creative discovery and production.

Pressure - Establishing grandiose expectations for a child's performance . . . Often ends up instilling aversion for a subject or activity. . . .Unreasonably high expectations often pressure children to perform and conform within strictly prescribed guidelines, and, again, deter experimentation, exploration, and innovation. Grandiose expectations are often beyond children's developmental capabilities.

Doesn't this sound familiar, I've no doubt that this is not my experience alone.

Should not this not also be encouraged

Fluency - The ability to generate a number of ideas so that there is an increase of possible solutions or related products.

Flexibility - The ability to produce different categories or perceptions whereby there are a variety of different ideas about the same problem or thing.

Elaboration - The ability to add to, embellish, or build off of an idea or product.

Originality - The ability to create fresh, unique, unusual, totally new, or extremely different ideas or products

Complexity -The ability to conceptualize difficult, intricate, many layered or multifaceted ideas or products.

Risk-taking - The willingness to be courageous, adventuresome, daring -- trying new things or taking risks in order to stand apart.

Imagination - The ability to dream up, invent, or to see, to think, to conceptualize new ideas or products to be ingenious.

Curiosity - The trait of exhibiting probing behaviors, asking and posing questions, searching, being able to look deeper into ideas, and the wanting to know more about something.

(Adapted and modified from the works of Williams, F. E)

Sorry, end of rant

When I die

There was once an elderly christian lady who was approaching the end of her life. As her minister sat by her hospital bed praying and reading to her she said to him.
"When I die, I'd like to be buried with a spoon"
What thoughts must have passed through his head when he heard those words
"Why?" asked the somewhat shocked minister
"Well" she answered "When I used to go to people's houses for dinner, sometimes at the end of the meal when people were clearing away the dishers someone would lean over and say to me "keep your spoon" I knew that this would mean that there was something nice to come afterwards. So I want to be buried with a spoon to sho the best is still to come.

A beautiful hymn

Jesus and shall it ever be

Jesus, and shall it ever be,

A mortal man ashamed of Thee?

Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,

Whose glories shine thro' endless days?

Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far

Let evening blush to own a star;

He sheds the beams of light divine

O'er this benighted soul of mine.

Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend

On whom my hopes of heav'n depend!

No; when I blush, be this my shame,

That I no more revere His name.

Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may,

When I've no guilt to wash away;

No tear to wipe, no good to crave,

No fears to quell, no soul to save.

Till then, nor is my boasting vain,

Till then I boast a Saviour slain;

And O, may this my glory be,

That Christ is not ashamed of me!

Speak to me

The little child whispered, "God, speak to me." And a meadowlark sang. But the child did not hear. So the child yelled, "God, speak to me!" And the thunder rolled across the sky. But the child did not listen. The child looked around and said, "God let me see you." And a star shone brightly But the child did not notice. And the child shouted, "God show me a miracle!" And a life was born. But the child did not know. So the child cried out in despair, "Touch me God, and let me know you are here!" Whereupon God reached down and touched the child. But the child brushed the butterfly away and walked away unknowingly. Take time to listen. Often times, the things we seek are right underneath our noses. Don't miss out on your blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect.— Anonymous