Ooooo, looks nice doesn't it, that widget thingy on the right of the blog...and, the band thingy at the end of the post which enables you to share this great stuff with anyone you'd like to bore today or any day, for that matter.
Well, how did she do it, you might ask.
I went to the drop-in, even though I'd finished my course, just in case I could wangle yet more info out of the Library Lady. And, I was the only one there this particular day which I really appreciated as there were others in need in previous sessions - attention hogs all of them, imagine!
But, I tried to get it to happen on my own (for about 5 seconds) when it dawned on me. Hey you goofball (I'm talking to myself here) you can pick her brains and draw from her expertise. Everyone else is at home pestering their kids for this information. That's why they aren't here. Go on let her help you. She wants to help you. That's why she's here.
So, I'm not proud to admit it, but here it goes...
Yes, yes, yes she helped me figure out how to get the Library thingy on to the right side and she even helped me figure out the little band thingy that appears at the end of each post. I was poking around to no avail. Would I have figured it out? Probably, after a few hours in a semi-catatonic state, a random jab of errant flying fingers would unlock the key, but this was much better as I know how we did it and I can feel my repertoire of computer skills increasing at a vastly accelerated rate (reality check - slightly faster than a snail's pace).
Well, you can bet I'll be back next year for Betty Blogger as new stuff will be added by then. Maybe I'll even find out what to do with Twitter as my first and only entry from months ago is in the ever exciting realm of, "I'm here."
Thanks again Library Lady for helping me do this all without having to resort to the aid of Coke and M&M's.
*No computers were harmed in the accomplishments of these tasks.
Showing posts with label computer/blog angst. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computer/blog angst. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
The best 15 bucks I ever spent!
I have completed the 10 lessons of Betty Blogger's Web 2.0 program.
Yea!
It's over.
Boo hoo, sob, sob...I really do feel this way.
How do I rate my knowledge of Web 2.0 and it's applications? Probably about a 7 - 8; the reason I don't feel I'm at a level 10 is not due to defects in the material or failings on part of the teacher - both were exceptional; it's me. I haven't developed the ability, yet, to get around in it and use the many tools that the social net offers with complete ease and understanding; practice makes perfect. I'm still left with many questions, but enquiring minds want to KNOW, right? No matter how much I know I always want to know more - I'm a glutton for information, and I want to understand how things work and connect, not just for this knowledge to take up space in this vacuous brain of mine that will never be satiated, but so, I can really "get" how the pieces fit together and use them easily to manifest my vision of a great blog and realize my inner tekkie.
The Blogger summer school exceeded my expectations. Honestly, I expected it was going to be pretty rudimentary and a piece of cake. I had no idea the number of the applications available out there.
Library Lady, and Melissa, I can't thank you two enough for: your incredible patience, kindness, sense of humour, encouragement, great teaching styles, knowledge and generousity...and comments on my blog which made me feel like a real blogger.
The most challenging part of the summer school was my resistance to some of the applications. Some lessons left me wondering, Am I ever going to use this stuff? Often I felt the potential to become overwhelmed; bombarded by the sheer volume of information out there.
Wiki was my least favourite app because of this, and the goodly number of messages related to the assignment that still keep coming in on my e-mail (there are over 30 people who are completing the work) which feels like being in the middle of a traffic jam. Theoretically, in my life, I should have need for co-ordinating at most 7 people at a time - so probably I'll find this app more helpful and manageable.
I'm still absorbing how to keep track of my accounts and understand how they affect each other. I was puzzled when setting up my Library Thing account that info got filled in automatically, but I don't have an account , I kept assuring myself. Why is it rejecting my password, I haven't set it up yet? Why is it telling me that this name and password has already been taken? Do I have an account? I tried various ways of entering the info to no avail. Library Lady informed me about auto fill, cookies and the way they work. I didn't realize that autofill was activated as I was trying to set up this account and I would have never in a million years figured it out without her help.
I feel I should be able to teach myself this computer stuff as I've taught myself a lot of things, am highly self-motivated to learn and am persistent to the point of being downright stubborn, so I feel like an idiot when things don't compute. It doesn't help when my friends, in an effort to encourage me, say, "play around with it, you'll figure it out." I've finally realized that they have all had live in computer consultants aka kids who got them started with the basics and so now I don't feel so bad. Library Lady and Melissa have been my kid substitutes through this process - not that I'm old enough to be their mother.
The "self-directed" learning model is perfect for me. I like to take something as far as I can before I ask for help. It worked best when I worked ahead and then came to the drop-in sessions with questions prompted by the assignments. I must admit when I didn't work ahead I was a bit lazy, felt deadline pressure, and was inclined to seek help before I'd given the task my all.
I also dropped in on all my classmates blogs and gleaned lots of great info in the process from the blog itself or the comments left on their posts. So, they became my teachers too - cool, eh?
I have been recommending this program to many of my friends, so I hope you run it again as I know a lot of people who expressed interest in Betty Blogger.
So, I want to express my great gratitude to all who made this such a fantastic experience. You have no idea how much you've helped me!!!
Yea!
It's over.
Boo hoo, sob, sob...I really do feel this way.
How do I rate my knowledge of Web 2.0 and it's applications? Probably about a 7 - 8; the reason I don't feel I'm at a level 10 is not due to defects in the material or failings on part of the teacher - both were exceptional; it's me. I haven't developed the ability, yet, to get around in it and use the many tools that the social net offers with complete ease and understanding; practice makes perfect. I'm still left with many questions, but enquiring minds want to KNOW, right? No matter how much I know I always want to know more - I'm a glutton for information, and I want to understand how things work and connect, not just for this knowledge to take up space in this vacuous brain of mine that will never be satiated, but so, I can really "get" how the pieces fit together and use them easily to manifest my vision of a great blog and realize my inner tekkie.
The Blogger summer school exceeded my expectations. Honestly, I expected it was going to be pretty rudimentary and a piece of cake. I had no idea the number of the applications available out there.
Library Lady, and Melissa, I can't thank you two enough for: your incredible patience, kindness, sense of humour, encouragement, great teaching styles, knowledge and generousity...and comments on my blog which made me feel like a real blogger.
The most challenging part of the summer school was my resistance to some of the applications. Some lessons left me wondering, Am I ever going to use this stuff? Often I felt the potential to become overwhelmed; bombarded by the sheer volume of information out there.
Wiki was my least favourite app because of this, and the goodly number of messages related to the assignment that still keep coming in on my e-mail (there are over 30 people who are completing the work) which feels like being in the middle of a traffic jam. Theoretically, in my life, I should have need for co-ordinating at most 7 people at a time - so probably I'll find this app more helpful and manageable.
I'm still absorbing how to keep track of my accounts and understand how they affect each other. I was puzzled when setting up my Library Thing account that info got filled in automatically, but I don't have an account , I kept assuring myself. Why is it rejecting my password, I haven't set it up yet? Why is it telling me that this name and password has already been taken? Do I have an account? I tried various ways of entering the info to no avail. Library Lady informed me about auto fill, cookies and the way they work. I didn't realize that autofill was activated as I was trying to set up this account and I would have never in a million years figured it out without her help.
I feel I should be able to teach myself this computer stuff as I've taught myself a lot of things, am highly self-motivated to learn and am persistent to the point of being downright stubborn, so I feel like an idiot when things don't compute. It doesn't help when my friends, in an effort to encourage me, say, "play around with it, you'll figure it out." I've finally realized that they have all had live in computer consultants aka kids who got them started with the basics and so now I don't feel so bad. Library Lady and Melissa have been my kid substitutes through this process - not that I'm old enough to be their mother.
The "self-directed" learning model is perfect for me. I like to take something as far as I can before I ask for help. It worked best when I worked ahead and then came to the drop-in sessions with questions prompted by the assignments. I must admit when I didn't work ahead I was a bit lazy, felt deadline pressure, and was inclined to seek help before I'd given the task my all.
I also dropped in on all my classmates blogs and gleaned lots of great info in the process from the blog itself or the comments left on their posts. So, they became my teachers too - cool, eh?
I have been recommending this program to many of my friends, so I hope you run it again as I know a lot of people who expressed interest in Betty Blogger.
So, I want to express my great gratitude to all who made this such a fantastic experience. You have no idea how much you've helped me!!!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Widget update
I know you don't see the Widget thingy on the right hand side. And, there was no: a, b, c, d, or e happening around here today as I took the day off from blogging (except for this - I couldn't leave you all hanging, could I), but the Library Lady did tell me how to get it on the right - see comments from yesterday's post if you want to find out how.
Also, to Melissa - nope, no math books since I threw out all my public school books decades ago :). All very cryptic, no? That is unless you check out the comments from the post from the day before that.
Aren't comments fun and interesting?
AFN,
N
Also, to Melissa - nope, no math books since I threw out all my public school books decades ago :). All very cryptic, no? That is unless you check out the comments from the post from the day before that.
Aren't comments fun and interesting?
AFN,
N
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Wiki no wiki
On our next Betty Blogger assignment we were to create a PB Works account in order to use a Wiki (Hawaiian-language word for 'fast')...
All well and good but for the create an account part.
I have created so many accounts for this and that over the years. Do I have a Wiki account? Well let's see if I do.
So I punched in so many names, user names, passwords, nicknames, etc that I could have used, that I got totally discombobulated. The site was so confused that it even shut me out explaining something to the effect that the library site was sending me something but that it was bouncing back. Aarrgh! This is exactly the stuff that drives me nuts. Added to this was the fact that I had a migraine and my brain was like mush, nothing computes for me or for anyone/anything around me, anything within any proximity to me, actual or virtual goes kaphlooey as we get lost in the primordial ooze that is my consciousness.
So, I gave up.
I stomped upstairs (Rod has named me "the thing that lives under the stairs" as I spend so much time on the computer in my "office" at the base of the stairs in the basement) and in my migrainy, frustrated state cooked us some grub accompanied by a banging of pans and a sprinkling of #$%@% and @^#^# and @%#@$%. (migraine pain leads to foulness of being, extreme impatience and obliviousness towards others). Poor Rod put his plate out in a silent "please sir can I have some more" gesture in an attempt to stay out of my way while I chipped some unco-operative eggs off the skillet and on top of the slightly burnt toast that I'd tossed on his plate and then quickly exited the battle zone that was the kitchen (migraine pain leads to kitchen looking like the aftermath of WWII)
So...I'm in the drop-in class this very moment and the Library Lady has led me through the steps. First step being, after establishing order to my registration organization chart (CONFESSION TIME: which I was supposed to be doing as I've been going along - but haven't). "You don't have an account. You have to make one. If you did you'd have gotten an e-mail to confirm that you did", she explains with great patience.
"But I can't because...", I protest as I try to explain in something resembling computereze combined with English; my fingers dance upon the screen, flashing ever changing images in front of our eyes second by second. "And, it seems that in order to create an account I had to sign on for OpenID. What's an OpenID?"
"I don't know. But, I do know that you don't need one. So," her gaze finally grabs my attention and I'm finally in her capable hands as she leads me step by step through the "create an account" process. Which, migraine-free, was a piece of cake,
TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BB POSED:
All well and good but for the create an account part.
I have created so many accounts for this and that over the years. Do I have a Wiki account? Well let's see if I do.
So I punched in so many names, user names, passwords, nicknames, etc that I could have used, that I got totally discombobulated. The site was so confused that it even shut me out explaining something to the effect that the library site was sending me something but that it was bouncing back. Aarrgh! This is exactly the stuff that drives me nuts. Added to this was the fact that I had a migraine and my brain was like mush, nothing computes for me or for anyone/anything around me, anything within any proximity to me, actual or virtual goes kaphlooey as we get lost in the primordial ooze that is my consciousness.
So, I gave up.
I stomped upstairs (Rod has named me "the thing that lives under the stairs" as I spend so much time on the computer in my "office" at the base of the stairs in the basement) and in my migrainy, frustrated state cooked us some grub accompanied by a banging of pans and a sprinkling of #$%@% and @^#^# and @%#@$%. (migraine pain leads to foulness of being, extreme impatience and obliviousness towards others). Poor Rod put his plate out in a silent "please sir can I have some more" gesture in an attempt to stay out of my way while I chipped some unco-operative eggs off the skillet and on top of the slightly burnt toast that I'd tossed on his plate and then quickly exited the battle zone that was the kitchen (migraine pain leads to kitchen looking like the aftermath of WWII)
So...I'm in the drop-in class this very moment and the Library Lady has led me through the steps. First step being, after establishing order to my registration organization chart (CONFESSION TIME: which I was supposed to be doing as I've been going along - but haven't). "You don't have an account. You have to make one. If you did you'd have gotten an e-mail to confirm that you did", she explains with great patience.
"But I can't because...", I protest as I try to explain in something resembling computereze combined with English; my fingers dance upon the screen, flashing ever changing images in front of our eyes second by second. "And, it seems that in order to create an account I had to sign on for OpenID. What's an OpenID?"
"I don't know. But, I do know that you don't need one. So," her gaze finally grabs my attention and I'm finally in her capable hands as she leads me step by step through the "create an account" process. Which, migraine-free, was a piece of cake,
TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BB POSED:
- What dish am I bringing to the family meal? I'm "the bun girl" so I think that's pretty clear.
- How was my PBWorks experience? Was it easy to use? See above.
- Do I have any need for my own wiki? I have signed on for one and hope to use it to help organize stuff around my Mom's needs and also for council get-togethers.
AFN,
N
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Picasso? No, Picasa.
Message from nance:
You've got to see these pics - there are about 58 of them. Worth taking the time to check them out. Amazing.
There are no tags on them, but if it was me I'd tag: sharks, bazillionschoolsoffish, bloodchilling, issheinsane? as some of them.
I believe you have to run the words together to get a tag otherwise each individual word becomes a tag - right?
That was the message I sent to the Library Lady for part 5 of the Web 2.0 course I'm taking.
Library Lady responded that when composing tags this was right.
Here is the link for the pictures I choose from picasa:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amdmitriev/Fiji_sharks?feat=email#
I think you'll agree with the tags that I chose, except that Andre is a he so it should read isheinsane or maybe aretheyinsane because as you can see there are a lot of divers down there with him.
I think that Picasa is a good idea. But, I'm not sure about all of this photo sharing. To share with family and friends OK, but the general public...? This is both an issue of privacy for me as well as an artistic one, for as an artist of sorts I'm confused about the issue of copyright because on Andre's Gallery is says copyright All rights reserved but then it looks like you can post on blogger, twitter and others. See what I mean?
I-photo seems to be a pretty complete photo app, but I can't seem to e-mail my photos to friends/family with it. Picasa might prove to be a better way to go as long as family/friends have downloaded Picasa too - right?
But, if family members all had the app then we could all contribute to a family album complete with tags, comments, info etc and avoid the e-mail stuff altogether. At least that's what it sounds like to me. If so then definitely it would be worth having.
I will play around with it some more to see just what it can do as I already have downloaded it and right now pictures are in the categories of: yoga, cartoons, clutter, kitties, Montreal...
So when I go into "my photos" I have albums - who knew? And, there are multiple images of many of the photos which I thought were "duplicates" but if I click delete I'm told that that image will disappear from my blog. In searching help I find that they aren't duplicates but indicate that the same image is stored in other areas of my computer (please forgive my lack of techno jargon). But they when I see image after image of the same thing I think...duplicate.
Maybe the de-clutter bug's gone viral in me; it drives me crazy to see 6 pictures (duplicate) of the same thing! (In fact, just today, Rod and I discarded duplicates of actual photographs to clear our space in those actual albums that I've decided I want to keep. So in the physical realm I'm on a roll.) I'm told that these multiple images of the same thing (duplicates) doesn't indicate that memory is being used up. I get it, but it feels like a mental stutter everytime I see the same image (duplicate) over and over. It just bugs me. Do I really need to see them (duplicates)? Further exploration seems to indicate that I could hide them and that I could unhide them later if I needed to, that just might be a good thing.
Yah: organizing, tagging, albums, files, captions, multiple images of the same thing (duplicates), hiding, unhiding...this is going to take a while. Is it all worth it? I'm not sure.
You've got to see these pics - there are about 58 of them. Worth taking the time to check them out. Amazing.
There are no tags on them, but if it was me I'd tag: sharks, bazillionschoolsoffish, bloodchilling, issheinsane? as some of them.
I believe you have to run the words together to get a tag otherwise each individual word becomes a tag - right?
That was the message I sent to the Library Lady for part 5 of the Web 2.0 course I'm taking.
Library Lady responded that when composing tags this was right.
Here is the link for the pictures I choose from picasa:
http://picasaweb.google.com/amdmitriev/Fiji_sharks?feat=email#
I think you'll agree with the tags that I chose, except that Andre is a he so it should read isheinsane or maybe aretheyinsane because as you can see there are a lot of divers down there with him.
I think that Picasa is a good idea. But, I'm not sure about all of this photo sharing. To share with family and friends OK, but the general public...? This is both an issue of privacy for me as well as an artistic one, for as an artist of sorts I'm confused about the issue of copyright because on Andre's Gallery is says copyright All rights reserved but then it looks like you can post on blogger, twitter and others. See what I mean?
I-photo seems to be a pretty complete photo app, but I can't seem to e-mail my photos to friends/family with it. Picasa might prove to be a better way to go as long as family/friends have downloaded Picasa too - right?
But, if family members all had the app then we could all contribute to a family album complete with tags, comments, info etc and avoid the e-mail stuff altogether. At least that's what it sounds like to me. If so then definitely it would be worth having.
I will play around with it some more to see just what it can do as I already have downloaded it and right now pictures are in the categories of: yoga, cartoons, clutter, kitties, Montreal...
So when I go into "my photos" I have albums - who knew? And, there are multiple images of many of the photos which I thought were "duplicates" but if I click delete I'm told that that image will disappear from my blog. In searching help I find that they aren't duplicates but indicate that the same image is stored in other areas of my computer (please forgive my lack of techno jargon). But they when I see image after image of the same thing I think...duplicate.
Maybe the de-clutter bug's gone viral in me; it drives me crazy to see 6 pictures (duplicate) of the same thing! (In fact, just today, Rod and I discarded duplicates of actual photographs to clear our space in those actual albums that I've decided I want to keep. So in the physical realm I'm on a roll.) I'm told that these multiple images of the same thing (duplicates) doesn't indicate that memory is being used up. I get it, but it feels like a mental stutter everytime I see the same image (duplicate) over and over. It just bugs me. Do I really need to see them (duplicates)? Further exploration seems to indicate that I could hide them and that I could unhide them later if I needed to, that just might be a good thing.
Yah: organizing, tagging, albums, files, captions, multiple images of the same thing (duplicates), hiding, unhiding...this is going to take a while. Is it all worth it? I'm not sure.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Please, please, please let this work
 |
| I am praying that I am not in the parallel universe |
I'll be right back.....* * *
IT WORKED!!!!!I got it to post from Picassa!
I'm not sure how but I'm not going to press my luck by poking around tonight. I'm going to bed now.
Goodnight All :)
Photo mayhem
OK so our next task at Betty Blogger is to explore Picassa.
I opened an account on Picassa over a year ago. I mucked about with it a little and then went to put a picture in my blog and...entered a parallel, Bizarro universe. Fans of Superman know what I mean (Why do I sound like such a nerd and what the hell is Goofy? Is he a dog or a person or what and why, if he is a dog does he own a dog called Pluto?), it kind of looks the same, but doesn't act the same as when I was putting pictures in through other means. Don't ask me what those other means were back then cus I don't know. I'm on a MAC now and use i-photo to post pics but sometimes I seem to have problems adding pictures this way so I put them in some other way. I don't know how. Somehow I just make it happen. Cross my heart, I'm not making this s**t up.
All of a sudden I had 2 blogs titled Awakening Choice but with slightly different URLs. I even discovered a fan I didn't even know I had stranded out there in the dark side of Awakening Choice land II. I had to bring him over to Awakening Choice, aka the light side. I had to post an entry basically saying, "Oops, you've got the wrong blog. Click here and come on over the real blog," in order to round up anyone else who could be wandering around over there thinking How lame is she; doesn't she ever finish an entry?
So when I go to my dashboard it looks like I have 2 posts and they're both called Awakening Choice - it's a lie - the deleted one lays dormant just waiting there, haunting me. It's creepy.
* * *
I thought I'd enter in a nice picture from my Picassa album. But I can't get it to work. I click on the insert image icon in the tool bar but I can't "choose" one pic only the app icon itself which makes the MAC spinny thing show up. Maybe Picassa can't be used this way? I tried entering it through Blogger which seems to launch me into the parallel universe. Not going there!
OK then I'll choose one from i-Photo, but nope I am blocked at the app and can't choose an individual picture.
What the hell I'll just go into i-Photo again, export the photos I want into "my pics" and...ureka, here they are. I'll be back in a day or 2 and try again. NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME FOR A COMMENT ANYONE - HELP!
Til then enjoy pics from Montreal Jazz Festival festivities.
 |
| NOTICE GUY WORKING THE HOOP AMONGST THE CROWD |
Monday, July 19, 2010
A Place for Everything
When I first read the assignment about tagging I felt totally bogged down. Uugh, not yet another way to be exposed to useless info and yet another way to store it.
I don't even know how to use Bookmarks in Safari. I thought it was supposed to store only info that I selected personally but every finger burp and stutter that I make is on the list and, I don't want any of it. It's especially demoralizing to see every re-entry I make into my blog on a day to day basis recorded because: while doing the dishes I suddenly remember that I spelt Skiddamarinky incorrectly or I forgot to enter the date so it looks like all my entries have taken place on Tuesday June 29th at 1:00a.m.
But just the other day, I couldn't find a website that I thought I'd entered into my Safari Bookmark, because I couldn't remember how to spell Aangen (not a common word), I thought, If I could only enter a word like: workshops, community centre or Toronto, I could at least get somewhere. And since I couldn't remember the last time I was on the site going into History was pointless.
After many trials and errors I finally found what I was looking for. Maybe entering it in Diigo would be most helpful. So I did.
Aangen Community Centre
more from www.aangen.com
- No snapshot - Edit - Delete
Share▼
- Preview
affordable educational workshops website
Now I don't have to remember the name of the centre; the tags alone will bring it up. Since I'm always upgrading my skills the tag "workshops" will get well used when I use them to label such bookmarks as: the Ontario Hypnosis Centre School, Robert Moss's website and Harry Kahuna Jim's website. I can even narrow Aangen down further by adding "Dora" (a teacher, who offers worshops on Lomi, Hot Stone and Reiki through the centre) as a tag.
I hate wasting my time. It looks like this Diigo thing is going to, after a little investment of my time, save me time in the long run and help me find fantastic sites on dreamworking.
I typed "dreams" into the search box of the community library section of Diigo to see what others have added and found sites as diverse as:
I don't even know how to use Bookmarks in Safari. I thought it was supposed to store only info that I selected personally but every finger burp and stutter that I make is on the list and, I don't want any of it. It's especially demoralizing to see every re-entry I make into my blog on a day to day basis recorded because: while doing the dishes I suddenly remember that I spelt Skiddamarinky incorrectly or I forgot to enter the date so it looks like all my entries have taken place on Tuesday June 29th at 1:00a.m.
But just the other day, I couldn't find a website that I thought I'd entered into my Safari Bookmark, because I couldn't remember how to spell Aangen (not a common word), I thought, If I could only enter a word like: workshops, community centre or Toronto, I could at least get somewhere. And since I couldn't remember the last time I was on the site going into History was pointless.
After many trials and errors I finally found what I was looking for. Maybe entering it in Diigo would be most helpful. So I did.
Aangen Community Centre
more from www.aangen.com
- No snapshot - Edit - Delete
Share▼
- Preview
affordable educational workshops website
Now I don't have to remember the name of the centre; the tags alone will bring it up. Since I'm always upgrading my skills the tag "workshops" will get well used when I use them to label such bookmarks as: the Ontario Hypnosis Centre School, Robert Moss's website and Harry Kahuna Jim's website. I can even narrow Aangen down further by adding "Dora" (a teacher, who offers worshops on Lomi, Hot Stone and Reiki through the centre) as a tag.
I hate wasting my time. It looks like this Diigo thing is going to, after a little investment of my time, save me time in the long run and help me find fantastic sites on dreamworking.
Moss Dreams
I use Robert Moss's lightning dreamwork techniques in my dream circles and it's always great to keep up to date with his workshops, books etc. I'll have to go back in and add BOOKS to the tags as he's a very prolific author on dreamworking and the history of dream study and I like to keep up to date on his offerings - so yes, I will use Diigo aside from this course assigned exercise.I typed "dreams" into the search box of the community library section of Diigo to see what others have added and found sites as diverse as:
An Online Guide To Dream Interpretation
It is representative of most dream symbol sites, offering a very simplistic, analytical but common view of how to understand one's dreams. Though I don't analyze dreams in this way many of my clients do so it's important for me to be able to speak their language and understand their points of reference.
And
The Case for a Cognitive Theory of Dreams
Quite an extensive article on dreams and dreaming that I entered into my library and bookmarked so that I can read it at a later date.
As a dreamworker I don't interpret dreams per se nor do I analyze them, rather I aim to take the fear out of dreams by teaching my clients how to understand their own dream language rather than rely on the dream dictionary approach. My exploration in Diigo has shown me that, with the proliferation of dream dictionaries and dream symbol sites I've got a lot of work to do.
I found exploring the tags of others led me on a wild goose chase into an infinite number of possibilities. I don't think I'll use this particular aspect too much.
The ability to make notes will be incredibly helpful. I can't seem to read a book without a pen in hand for underlining and note taking. My books are my friends, advisors, educators and confidants and as such they can expect to be well used and have some evidence of my presence within their pages. I can't seem to get the highlighter function working, but when I do, OH BABY!
And
The Case for a Cognitive Theory of Dreams
article by G. William Domhoff
Quite an extensive article on dreams and dreaming that I entered into my library and bookmarked so that I can read it at a later date.
As a dreamworker I don't interpret dreams per se nor do I analyze them, rather I aim to take the fear out of dreams by teaching my clients how to understand their own dream language rather than rely on the dream dictionary approach. My exploration in Diigo has shown me that, with the proliferation of dream dictionaries and dream symbol sites I've got a lot of work to do.
I found exploring the tags of others led me on a wild goose chase into an infinite number of possibilities. I don't think I'll use this particular aspect too much.The ability to make notes will be incredibly helpful. I can't seem to read a book without a pen in hand for underlining and note taking. My books are my friends, advisors, educators and confidants and as such they can expect to be well used and have some evidence of my presence within their pages. I can't seem to get the highlighter function working, but when I do, OH BABY!
***
OK. Here's where I need technical help.
As you can see, I get these weird spaces occurring in the published blog. When I'm checking everything out in compose I've got all the text just the way I want it, but when I post it that's another story, it comes out all WEIRD.
HELP ANYBODY?!
HELP ANYBODY?!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
FANCY SCHMANCY NANCY
HI ALL!Aside from the fact that Flippy is busy at work depositing an ever so shiek, fine, layered blend of soft Flippy-fluff thereby transforming my once drab computer bag into an inspired creation, do you notice any new changes around here?
Uh huh, uh huh, I thought you would. It's all thanks to the BETTY BLOGGER course I'm taking and the assistance of the Library Lady.
My friend was right. This program is fantastic. I came in to the drop-in session this morning with a list of challenges I haven't been able to solve for months. And the Library Lady helped me solve all my problems within 90 minutes... I heard that. No, smarty pants, the Library Lady's not a counsellor or psychiatrist. She's a computer Web 2.0 whiz — which for me is a bazillion times better as blogging IS my therapy.
It's such a relief to work through and explore this stuff and all that can be done at my own pace AND have a guide who will also work at my own pace, no: jumping in, taking over, clicking at the speed of light to "voila" make the changes for me and expect me to get what she's done. She just calmly stands by my side, observing, directing and working alongside me on her own computer which allows me to follow along. BRILLIANT!!! And, anytime I press a key by mistake or launch anything into cyberspace due to my excitedly dancing fingers the Library Lady is there to act as my safety net.
And not a swearword has been uttered!
I have to take that back, only one, by me of course. But it was a tiny, little inoffensive one that just slipped out under my breath.
Now I've probably blown it. The next drop-in session will probably be filled with the 70 or so other students (no, less as some people are taking part from Victoria and India). I should have said that her assistance sucked and she's a real b***h. But the cat is out of the bag (damn enthusiasm). Not only is she efficient and helpful, she's nice and P-A-T-I-E-N-T.
I assume the title of the course was designed to draw the attention of my generation and to help us enter into the Web world (especially those of us without children aka computer consultants). Though I've been blogging for a while now it's taken me months and months to get where I am though a lot of blood, sweat and tears. But today as I worked alongside the Library Lady I could feel myself "getting it", becoming more courageous, enthusiastic and confident with exploring innumerable options, applications or whatever you call 'em (still have to work on the lingo) on my own.
Men take note, this is an entirely male friendly venue — we're really working hard on our tasks here, not talking recipes (we may be blogging about them, but we're not talking about them). Anyway, my point is that it's extremely user friendly.
Maybe I'll get up to snuff and be able to mix it up with the geeks. It could happen.
Please Note: (Vanna White sweep of the hands) I added on a new gadget which appears at the bottom of each post and shows what you might also like to read. Because I typed computer angst in my labels area at the end of this entry, it'll bring up posts related to my struggles with blogging and computer issues (happily many of these have been corrected over time so some of them may not make too much sense but you'll be able to get my drift). So to those students in the class who are new to this stuff, read and be assured that if I can do it so can you. The advantage is you won't have to go through all the angst along the way.
...
I just checked my post and those computer related entries don't come up. Never mind. Don't listen to me, I don't know what I'm talking about. You'll get some more RANDOM postings totally unrelated to computer stuff, but it looks nice.
To see more about my journey with computer angst hit the labels: computer angst, Betty Blogger or computer/blogger angst in the side bar.
...
OK, I'm back again. Every time I come in to edit my blog and publish it I get different selections in the "you might like" section. I'm just telling ya.
If anyone knows if I can select the 3 that I'd like to show up that would be really helpful otherwise I'll leave it up to the randomness of the universe.
I've had a bazillion hits on my site since I started it. They're all me cus I keep doing this. The geeks can rest easy, I won't be schmoozing with them any time soon.
That's it, I'm really done now...I mean it. I'm not coming back into this post again. All for now. Bye bye.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
come out, come out wherever you are
"Computer Nance" is getting some schooling in social media including: blogging, flickr, youtube, facebook etc, as I am now a student of Burlington Public Library's Betty Blogger - an 8 week program exploring Web 2.0.
After the gasillionth time listening to me whine about my inability to understand aspects of the web, witnessing me in the throws of blogger/computer angst (not a pretty picture, I assure you) and being thwarted in her attempts to explain how stuff works, (on a scale of 1 - 10 my understanding of all things Web 2.0 and its applications is about a 4; I know the names of things, even have a Twitter account, but I don't know what the hell to do with it), my friend said calmly, "You should take the Betty Blogger course. Really!"
"Betty Blogger? Ah, I don't know." I said. Revealing my child of the 60's perspective and feminist leanings I continued, "sounds like Betty Crocker and makes me think of the whole post WWII effort to entice Rosie the Riveter types (women had been encouraged to do their part in the war effort by working outside the home filling jobs vacated when men went to war) back into the kitchen when their men returned."
"No, it's fantastic... Think of it this way, Betty Blogger, Betty Crocker. It's as easy to use Web 2.0 as it is to bake a cake," she said, pleased with the analogy.
"Umm, you do know who you're talking to, don't you?" We met when we were in public school and she knows that I'm a bit of a feminist type and definitely no domestic goddess.
Cutting to the bare bones facts she emphatically stated the obvious, "You'll get help with your blog."
"Oh, there are classes?" This is starting to get me excited.
"Well, not exactly. You get your assignments through e-mail correspondence and it's done online."
"I need to talk to real people, to get hands on help sometimes when I need it." (I'm such a "baby la-la" [aka whiner], as my friend Kathy would say).
"You can drop in at set times and get help from the Library Lady and from fellow classmates as one of the goals of the program is to encourage networking and collaboration. Even the staff at the library can assist you as we've all taken the course." I forgot to mention that she works at the library.
"OK then; sounds good. I'm in. So, you could help me then?"
...
"Uh...No, I'll be working where you can't find me."
Can't say I blame her.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
computer play
OK - I got this image in by using the old PC and HP scanner and camera wizard. Scanned it in and posted it using the PC and now I'm on the MAC entering in this text. I don't dare touch it in case it disappears and I'll have to do the whole thing over again.
I cut up the panels and entered this one right side up on the scanner bed, but wasn't able to manipulate it on the PC.
Help on Blogger takes an age; lots of time spent sorting out a bazillion comments and recommendations. So I will be using trial and error and recording my findings over the next while until I can enlist someone's help. A friend of mine has offered up her son's help though I don't know if he knows it yet, we'll see.
And the text isn't moving around the picture as I'm entering it...OK it just made a liar out of me, but that doesn't mean that it's going to appear this way in the post.
We'll see, I'll be right back...
I'm back. The text wasn't wrapped around but should be in the next few lines or so. Umm, hmm, hmm...so, how are you doing? I'm doing OK myself. The day's cold, overcast and there's been some rain but other than that I can't complain.
OK it should have wrapped around by now, I'll be right back...
Yup, it wrapped around beginning with the "I'm back" line.
Well, at least the photo problem seems sorted out as you can see by the posts I've entered since Da Agony of De Feet. And, you know the odd thing is all of a sudden I just got it. I don't know how or what "it" was, but I can now even move the pics around the text. So, maybe this is how learning this stuff happens and some morning I'll wake up and... EUREKA ... excuse me I'll be right back...
Oh, I just discovered that back there, that change in text which came up on the blog. This is new to me; very cool.
As I was saying, maybe one day I'll wake up and just be able to scan and enter the cartoons in without a thought because my conscious mind has given up the ghost and let the subconscious put all the pieces together while I've been in dream land. Many huge scientific discoveries were made this way so it could happen (I'll tell you more about this fact later).
So, I probably should go. I'm working on de-cluttering my time and my mind which means: spending the minimum amount of time on something in order to get the maximum results, uni-tasking, following up on a sort of schedule/goal list and distracting my mind with positive action to counteract negative rumination.
Have a great day all! OOOps, good timing, my timer just went off, computer time is over and it's time to move on to another commitment.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
test
(cartoon copyright Nance Thacker '84)
click on image to enlarge
Just keep reading the post or jump to the text that follows after the line.
I went to the MAC training last night and was bored, bored, bored. It reminded me of my Monday night 7 - 10p.m. class in Northern European Renaissance Art. The tenure-secured, uninspired, catatonic prof would use her pointer to focus on the obvious and in her monotone voice drone on, "Here you have a grouping of people (pointer motions around them) reflected in a mirror" (pointer slaps to the frame the mirror). Wait for it...for some conclusion, some point of using the pointer; nope, nothing. Then, with a click of her button the next masterpiece would appear and be dissected in the same way. FOR 3 WHOLE, MIND NUMBING HOURS! If it did nothing else, it left an indelible impression on my mind. I can hear her voice and see the disembodied pointer floating above image after image because, from my vantage point, she was virtually hidden away, she could have been eating a big mac and having a bottle of wine for all I know.
All I'm saying is that my computer remained laying on my lap, trapped in it's little cardboard box for the whole 2 hours just begging to be let out. (No, I haven't gotten my fancy laptop case yet - I think I've found a project for that tunisian crochet piece that keeps growing and growing.) Finally, at around 11p.m., I let it out and explored all that we'd covered in class about system preferences for myself — which, I guess was the whole point of this style of teaching. It actually proved to be more helpful than I'd imagined.
It helped me explore the scanner and hopefully enabled me to enter in the cartoon I'd mentioned in Spring has sprung. This is one of the first grouping of cartoons I'd done for the Yoga Centre of Victoria Newsletter and it shows, but I thought I'd post it anyway.
I'd actually forgotten about the text in the first panel. I often feel this way. Oversensitivity challenges my interactions with others in daily life, but when I'm in therapist mode it appears as empathy which enables me to hear and see what is happening in my clients and respond appropriately. A few years ago during a conversation with friends, a psychotherapist I'd just met mentioned her dislike of crowds and gatherings because she found it difficult to filter out all the impressions that came her way — stripped of her role in these situations she didn't know how to deal with the onslaught of information. Somehow this makes me feel better and more "normal", whatever that is.
_________________________________________________
OK, so maybe the class wasn't as helpful as I thought. We haven't covered putting a scanned image into a blog. Actually, I don't think we ever will, so if some kind soul out there knows how to this (PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ENTER A HELPFUL COMMENT AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST) I'd be eternally grateful! I have tried using Picassa, i-photo, and God knows what else because as you can see, I somehow got these images in using 2 different methods and I haven't got a clue how I did the first one.
In i-photo I got the first half to come out right side up in the viewer after rotating it, but in every other application it comes out sideways. I had to scan the copy of the original in its original size (as that's the only copy I have) sideways. The original size is approx. 20" x 6", remember I began working on the cartoon strip back in the mid '80's when technology was wa-a-a-y different.
Though it's driving me nuts to not try and align things a little different I'm not going to press my luck. After 5 hours this is the best I could do. I know it's not pretty, but there it is. In order to read it just turn your computer on its side and read from what will now be the top left square...just don't strain yourself in the process. If you do, I know a really good Shiatsu Therapist who can help you.
*Image edited May 01/10
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
I am experiencing technical difficulties. “Can not compute; can not compute Will Robinson.”
Every time I go into my blog the 2 entries – De-Queen of De-Clutter and Da agony of De Feet appear differently. Maybe it is offended by really, really bad use of grammar. At any rate, I realize that having no computer knowledge at all is a bit of a hindrance. My perfectionist nature and ego are taking an enormous beating which makes my blistered feet pale in comparison.
24K’s “Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well” keeps echoing in my brain but sometimes well is just as good as I can do now despite the glorious images floating around in my creative brain. The discrepancy between the 2 is almost physically painful; but I’m trying to remember my new mantra “I LOVE TO LEARN; I LOVE TO LEARN”.
So, this whole blog thing is really a learning experience. As I surf the blog sites of note I become inspired to do better. And, if I apply Byron Katie’s view of accepting reality then for now this is my version of doing well. It all helps to keep computer angst at bay which keeps me more open to discovering how this new world works. Sometimes you just have to be emptiness in order for new stuff to come in which means getting rid of more mind clutter.
This experiment is to enter this on the PC after creating a document on Microsoft word (because I can do spell and grammar check) and see how stable it is.
I created the last blog entry on the PC directly in the blog sites dashboard on cogeco.ca, (there’s another version of the blog floating around on blogger.com which got started when I blogged the first version of Many Hats) used the old editor to enter in the pics – all on left side, medium size oddly enough and what you see now is what I got.
It appears that some factors are causing difficulty for me:
- Posting on cogeco.ca vs blogger.com
- working on the Mac through Safari vs. working on the PC through Microsoft internet explorer.
- I don’t speak the language so getting on blogger help at this point is not helpful at all as I can find no matches for my problem and when I do get on there my day is shot and my frustration level skyrockets.
- using the old post editor vs. the new version for adding in pictures.
- entering pictures through scanner and camera wizard on the PC vs. whatever is used on the Mac (is it picassa or what?)
- am I accessing all this through Google or what – is accessing even the right term for how one gets into these applications – is application even the right word for what I’m trying to say?
You catch my drift?
You’ll have to if you venture in here as, until I get this sorted out some posts on my site may appear to have a mind of their own. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride, shall we?
Weird, as I’m trying to enter this blog post I keep getting “Server Error” messages.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Da agony of De feet
WE DID IT!!!
Candy and I finished Around the Bay 30K Walk in a literally blistering pace (as you can see by the pic of my feet) of 4:56:23 for myself and 4:56:22 for Candy (who beat her time of just over 5 hours last year).
We had a great time. The weather, as predicted by our local weatherman, was perfect for walking - slightly overcast and cool with not a drop of rain til about the last 5K and then it was just a sprinkling; not even enough to warrant putting on my rain jacket.
The volunteer support was fantastic! They offered water, gatorade and cheers of encouragement. And as the day got duller and greyer my appreciation grew for those stalwarts who hung in there: the cops who co-ordinated traffic; the 2 guys and their lop-earred dog beside their sign appealing to the Gods to keep the rain away; the people who stood on the sidewalks with banners, signs and noisemakers clapping for all of us while waiting for loved ones to come by and those who'd already completed the course but who came back along the route to urge the rest of us on.
Inspirational signs were posted at each kilometre to boost our resolve:
K1 - The greatest pleasure in life is doing the things people say you can not do.
K2-Act as if it were impossible to fail and it will be.
K4 - There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.
K7 - Everything you ever wanted to learn about yourself you can learn in 30K - which, judging by the comments as we passed, was a particular favourite of the crowd.
K21- Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.
K22 - You can if you think you can - a hypnotist's motto if ever there was one.
I could hear Dad's voice as we passed the 24K marker which bore one of his favourite "pearls of wisdom" - Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
And I love the pic of the lift bridge. I don't know if this is true, but I understand this whole event started as a celebration of the opening of the lift bridge, after the winter thaw, to the sea-going traffic. At any rate, participation in the walk was my own personal celebration of the coming of spring and in this spirit, I'll do it again next year.
Thankfully of the 5 blisters I generated during the walk only the one on my left baby toe broke and that was just 5 minutes from the finish line.
As I was stretching, while waiting outside the washroom (which was just outside of the first aid station) in Copp's Coluseum, a young first aid guy bearing adhesive tape, gauze and scirrors, asked if I was O.K. I said yes, except for the blister on my toe. He offered to tend to it and I couldn't refuse as he was so young, sweet and enthusiastic. As eagerly swaddled it in a wad of gauze and taped it to it's neighbour, he smiled and gave it a reassuring squeeze (Yeouch!). "This will protect your toe, keep it from ozzing, getting all pussey and rubbing against your shoe."
So, today my feet are getting a break. Why so many blisters and why are my feet aching so much? Dr. Steve (who gave me a big shout out as he ran passed me at the 12K mark) asked if I was going to walk-run the course. I said no, but found myself doing just that as I stopped to take pictures or take a pee (3 times) and then ran to keep up with Candy.
And, except for when I'm out in public, I haven't worn shoes for 10 years at least. I can't remember the last time when I had to wear shoes for work. I am barefoot all of the time.
Candy suggested I do next year's walk barefoot :) Maybe not.
But, when I celebrate the coming of the spring by participating in next year's walk, I will definitely be wearing new shoes for sure!
Friday, March 19, 2010
De-Queen of De-clutter
My sister-in-law crowned me De-Queen of de-clutter as I'm clearing out yet more clutter from my physical space and my mind.
TOILETRIES:
I’m running low on body lotions and shampoo. Naturally I want to go out and buy some more but lo and behold when I opened up my linen closet there they were stacks of toiletries: complimentary free samples received with the purchase of other items, tubes of partially used foot care products and most numerous of all - toiletries collected from hotels and motels over the years. Some, as you see in the basket on the left have been sitting "artfully" on top of the toilet - only they just look like clutter when you get down to it. The other basked I pulled out from the closet and there's still more in there. I just kept adding to the pile – so what better time to start using them than now. Actually, it’s kind of fun and makes me feel pampered using these gifts kindly provided by the hospitality industry. In a few more weeks I’ll need to replenish my stock either by purchasing more or going away for another weekend vacation.
UPDATE – JUGGLING CLUBS:
The back of my car no longer contains my juggling clubs - it took a lot of mind play to finally let them go. I kept remembering, with great fondness, the happy time around their purchase. Corny as it seems, Rod secured his first date with me using the pick up line “so, can you teach me how to juggle?” He got the idea when he saw me juggling for my future nephews and their parents; Rog (his brother) ask if I could teach his Beaver troop (Canadian version of the cub scouts, I think) to juggle. I agreed to take on both tasks. I had great success teaching the kids and Rod is finding that living with me is a constant juggling act.
But, the clubs needed to fly, not be relegated to being a decorative fixture in my house or ballast for my car. I dropped them off to the Burlington Re-use Centre and a few days later an 8-year old girl discovered them, begged and finally convinced her parents to buy them for her. Because, battered and scuffed as they were, she’d fallen in love with a dream. It was at that very moment that young, unfortunately named, Latisha LeFlamme’s life took a fateful turn from a pre-destined lifetime as a stripper working the seedy bars of Yonge street in Toronto to become the most popular headlining, juggling act of all time in Vegas. You can see her there in 2022. Can’t miss her billboard – she’s the one with flaming red hair, dressed in tails and black tights covering legs that seem to go on forever.
So knowing that Latisha is on track with her true destiny, due in no small part to me giving the clubs away, I breathe a sigh of relief.
MENTAL CLUTTER:
I am facing my greatest fears and therefore ridding myself of mental clutter that creates resistance and keeps me from moving ahead. While working on the Mac the Time Machine was telling me that I needed to backup my files and was prompting me to do so. My finger hovered over the cancel option when I asked myself if not now, when? When will I be more willing to face this? NEVER! Not now and not ever. So I did.
A big Ho’oponopono to Derek the technical support guy who had to deal with me.
“I’m totally new to all of this. I mean I really, really don’t know a word that you’ll be saying to me. It is a like you’re going to be teaching me a new language… just warning you. O.K.?” And he was O.K. with it and it was O.K. too.
After something that went like this,
“No I’m sorry Derek. I know what you’re telling me but I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for.
If Time Machine will do it all for me do I really need this little box? …I do… it’s called a hard drive. O.K
I should see an icon of the hard drive on my desktop; ummm…what does it look like? Like a hard drive, oh you mean like the little box thingy. O.K. ... nope, nothing… And, my desktop is what exactly?
I need to turn it on? I thought it was on. No, it doesn’t have any lights or buttons…Oh wait, that thing, is that a button? They hide it really well don’t they?
Oh, is that what that’s for? Wait, wait I heard it. I think its working. Yup, there it goes. Oh, and there’s the icon too…"
Poor Derek. But I can hear the smile in his voice as he tells me they pay him well for what he does. I’m happy for him.
Actually, my fear is less about facing the computer stuff than it is about facing, or rather not facing, someone and being asked to follow directions. Talking to a disembodied voice feels somewhat like talking to a God-like all-powerful figure. I feel so insignificant and helpless; there’s no one to turn to when it’s just me and the person at the other end of the phone, but I’m learning that they hang in there and hash it out with me through thick or thin. Though I imagine it many times during our conversation, I’ve yet to have someone say “you’re hopeless” and hang up the phone. It's like they're saying, "we're all in there together," and I find this hugely reassuring.
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