Where to next…

Kim1 Comment

Well, I’ve managed to make it back here.  I’m trying to overcome a block of sorts that has been plaguing me for so long.  I really think it’s tied into the past few years which I have found extremely frustrating.  No need to go on about it, those of you who know me have had to endure the stories.  Despite knowing that I am an intelligent person, with a good mix of education and life experiences, I continue to be disappointed with my lot in life.

Late last year I finally found an organisation willing to take me on, and I went there with such high hopes. A non-profit organisation, picking up the job fulfilled one of my ambitions to work for an organisation which shared the same values as myself.  It actually does care about people, and displays much compassion.  But it is still not doing it for me — yes, I get some $ for the pleasure, but it just doesn’t challenge me.  Trouble is…what is it that would do it for me?

Man ponders his future

There are a couple of things.  One would be a technology teacher in the public school system.  It would be great to once again be able to teach and assist someone achieve their educational desires (well, hopefully I’d come across some kids with that as an ambition). I know I have the way with it all to achieve great things in a position such as this — BUT….you know there will always be a disclaimer of sorts.  To achieve that, I would need to somehow upgrade my educational qualifications.  I have a degree already, so it would mean pursuing a Grad Dip in Education.  Therein lies the problem — I can’t afford to give up work because of my financial standing (long-term unemployment does that to you) — so I’ll need to investigate the possibility of doing it externally or part-time.

I’d also love to head off overseas and do some volunteer/low paid work in a developing nation.  To me, that would be the icing on the cake.  Once again, the finances (or lack thereof) interfere with that dream.

I suppose I could just head off and worry about it later on in life…hang on, I’m soon to be blowing out 54 candles, so later on in life is starting to show itself.

A part-time venture

Kim3 Comments

Well, I have been experimenting with my photography for some time.  I do OK with it I guess…I come across beauty in all shapes and forms and like to display the results for friends to see.  I primarily do that on my Facebook page, and consistently get oohs and ahhs from my friends.  I also get a lot of encouragement from them to take it a step further and start to sell the photos.  I don’t know much about marketing, so have tended to not worry about it.  But a friend of mine pointed me to an online site, called red bubble.  I created a profile and have started uploading them.  It’s a nice system — I upload and depending on the size of the photo, they determine what can be produced.  Of course, they get their cut, but it enables me to get my photos out to the world, whereas I might not have been able to do otherwise.  A nice feature is that it also posts onto my Facebook, showing whatever I upload, with a link to red bubble for interested purchasers or browsers. Red bubble provides you with all kinds of ways of marketing your items.  I’ve got to work out where to paste some html that will provide a slideshow of my products.

I don’t expect people to buy unless they really want to.  Given that my blog has just a few dedicated readers, it’s unlikely I’ll generate much from it.  But I wanted to at least put this up.

Wish me luck….

Mornings…

KimLeave a comment

Early morning here yet again.  I have some strange sleep pattern going where I wake at midnight, get back to sleep, and then wake again before there is any hint of the sunrise — which at the moment means around 4:15am.  So I find myself wandering around the apartment for a while before grabbing hold of my Macbook, settling in a fav chair, headphones on, and surfing etc.  This morning I loaded up iTunes and decided to check out what podcasts I hadn’t listened to.  I’ve been downloading free podcasts for years, and they have kept me entertained on various bus and train trips around the city and countryside.

First up were a couple of episodes from Bill Maher’s show, Real Time.  These are only the audio, but the nature of Bill’s show lends itself to this medium.  I watched the show religiously when I lived in the USA, and do miss it now I’m back in Australia.  The best episode listened to this morning included a 15 minute chat with one of my favourites, Michael Moore. I actually found Bill a little annoying, because he tried to inject some humour into the conversation with Michael, when it really wasn’t appropriate.  One thing about Michael is that he is passionate about the causes and beliefs, and when he is talking about one of them, don’t try to make fun of it or him.  Still, I understand why Maher needed to do it. Next up, some great NPR podcasts:

  • Tiny Desk Concerts…I love these ones.  They are videos, each about 15 minutes in length, and they feature lesser known artists who make their way into the NPR Music studios and perform at the desks of the show’s presenters.  One that I particularly enjoyed was a trio of artists, Bela Fleck (banjo), Edgar Meyer (base fiddle), and Zakir Hussain (tabla). Beautiful music.  I saw Bela Fleck a few years back during the recording of the WV Broadcasting show, Mountain Stage.  I had never really had much exposure to banjo music, so it was one of the most enlightening concerts I saw that year.  The other one I watched was a performance by a band called the Mynabirds — have not heard of them, but after this performance will certainly be checking them out.
  • All Songs Considered…another great podcast, featuring up and coming artists, with a few known thrown in.  Heard a beautiful song called “Bring Me My Queen”  by Abigail Washburn.  Just beautiful. Finished off with a few songs from the Newport Folk Festival.
  • Car Talk…well, what better way to finish off my podcast extravaganza than an episode of Car Talk, one of the funniest public radio shows I ever came across. Listened to many of them on various road trips in the USA. It’s a show about cars and the problems that people have with them.  The callers come in from all across the country, and even sometimes from other countries.  Tom & Ray try to determine the cause if the problems, but it is the manner in which they engage the callers and the resulting humour that make this show.  Highly recommend listening — and it’s no issue if you don’t like cars.

So, all in all, a great way to welcome a new day, though I bet I’ll be sleepy through the day.  We really are lucky to have this technology on hand, to be able to be entertained at will.

Trying again…

Kim2 Comments

A few nights ago I logged into the blog using the WordPress application on my iPhone.  It was late, around 2am — couldn’t sleep so I decided to lie in bed and post again.  Trouble is, I did the post and published it, only to find when I went to see the fruits of my labour, there was no record. Man, was I so not impressed.  I don’t know if it was the application that didn’t work, or maybe it was my ISP, which shall remain nameless…whose “service” of late has been less than desired.

It didn’t surprise me that I hadn’t posted since April, and I am making no excuses — life has had a lot of ups and downs these past 12 months and unfortunately my blog had to go on hold.  Certain parts of my existence remain uncertain, but I am slowly pulling myself back up and looking toward a future, though I don’t really know what shape or form it will take.  I’ve had all kinds of possibilities come through my head, and of course from the many “experts”.  I know most people mean well, but sometimes it is hard to take hearing comments that portray me as being less than capable to find work etc.

So it is Saturday morning, almost 5am, and I’ve been awake since 3:30am, not by choice, just how it is right now.  But the good side to being awake at this time of the morning is being able to see the sky change from a star-encrusted expanse to what is now almost sunrise…in fact it is obviously up because of the rays that are poking through the fluffy clouds sitting on the horizon.  As always, the parrots are active in voice and flight.  I’ll post a photo of one looking at me from the balcony above recently.

So…I’m back yet again…hopefully there will be more frequency than has been occurring.

Nature abounds

Kim4 Comments

I’m sure I have written in the past about the beauty of nature.  It seems wherever one goes, there are some brilliant examples of nature on show.  I have recently moved to Bribie Island and discovered that there is an excellent bird hide located at Buckley’s Hole.  I’ve been there a few times now and am flabbergasted at the variety of birds found there. I find the place very relaxing and could spend many hours there at a time.

Of interest recently were the 2 resident black swans.  Making a nest out in the middle of the lagoon.  I’ll put some photos up at the end of this post.  Also of interest, a very pristine piece of sand called Banksia Beach, which is in an older and less tourist plagued area.  Suits me down to the ground not to see many people there.  I had a great walk there on Sunday.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Change is sometimes as good as a holiday…

Kim4 Comments

In February (the last time I made an attempt at a post here) I mentioned that there were some changes ahead for me.  The main one was that I decided to move out of the city to a place called Bribie Island, known for its tranquility.  For a time it seemed to be a place where people would retire to, however that trend seems to be changing with more families leaving Brisbane and its big city problems for what sometimes feels like paradise.  I’ve been here about 6 weeks, and have pretty much settled in.  My best friend lives up here, so she was certainly happy that I had decided to come north to the beach.  She has been a HUGE support to me over the past couple of years, and it seems fitting that we should live in the same area.

6 weeks on from moving here, I am starting to feel better about the future, even though I have no idea what that is – unemployment at any age is difficult, and at my age (early 50’s) it seems to be an uphill battle .

So I’ll post this off.  Thanks to whoever reads this — I know I’m hot and cold when it comes to posting.  Maybe this one signals the re-birth of my blog, just as it seems that my life is undergoing one.  🙂

Watching the world go by

Kim4 Comments

Sitting in the Brisbane Square Library — came in to the city to do a couple of needed purchases and thought it might be nice to pop in here and do some reading and maybe even produce a blog posting.  Good start to a new month.  I can’t believe January has come and gone already.

Had a great weekend away — went to stay with a good friend and we had a great time — like we always do.  Brenda lives in an area of Bribie Island that is not so popular with the tourists, so the beach which is across the road is more pristine than in other locations.  Bribie was a place my parents visited from time to time when we were growing up….though further north at Caloundra was where we spent the majority of our holidays during the summer.  I’ve had the luck to see many beaches around the world and each has its own beauty, but for me there is something about Moffatt Beach at Caloundra.  I seem to be attracted there for some reason.  During the time I lived in the USA, I came back for a visit in 2003, and no surprise that I ended up spending a fair proportion of my time there, and stayed at a nice place across the road from the beach.

I’ve been putting more time into my photography of late and experimenting with the various settings on the Nikon.  It’s easy to use the auto function, but more fun (for me anyway) to turn that off and see what all those features do.  I’m going to borrow a book from the library while here that will help me understand F stops, and other such mysteries.  Here’s a photo I took of a rosella that was one of many that came to Brenda’s balcony on Sunday morning.  Just beautiful!

Friendly rosella

R.I.P Lou Lou

Kim5 Comments

I was advised about a week ago that my much loved and missed basset hound, Lou Lou, had passed away — old age finally caught up with her (she was 15, a grand age, for a grand lady).

I was very sad as she and I had become really attached during the years I lived in the USA.  I still remember the day that I left Morgantown to fly home to Brisbane and the sadness associated with that — knowing that I would most likely never ever see her again….Lou Lou probably thinking she’d see me that afternoon, but me never arriving.  I used to wonder how that felt for her.

I have thousands of photos of her, courtesy of living in an age when digital cameras allow that to happen effortlessly.  So I have spent some time going through them looking for ones that might capture who she was.  So rest in peace Lou Lou.  May doggy heaven be filled with couches on which to lie and hamburgers under every tree.

I will always love you, I miss you, my sweet little girl, Lou Lou.  😦

In memory of a mate who left far too soon…

Kim1 Comment

Update on Rik.

Sadly, Rik lost his battle with cancer much sooner than he anticipated, and left us on December 6, 2009.  In his memory, his closest friends got together for a wake on December 14.  It was good to meet some of the people with whom Rik shared his life.   I think he finally saw the value of Apple one night at his bedside when his laptop crashed and the Mac kept going.  Of course, he’d never let on.  🙂

Rik had a strong interest in graffiti, to the point where he had created a huge database of graffiti found in the Brisbane area and beyond. This website contains thousands of photos that he primarily took and uploaded.  He always had his camera with him. This is the Rik I knew and loved. I will miss this kindhearted soul, but at least his suffering is over.

R.I.P. Rik.