Author: Kimliatach

Printing
by Kimliatach

I began setting up and cleaning my classroom in earnest today. Which also afforded me opportunity to make my first prints on the schools 3D Printer. There remains a lot to do. But I have a space arraignment that I am happy with for now and I’ve found some treasures hidden in the cupboards, a couple of powered microscopes, lots of paint and dice. Happy days.

I won’t have students until Feb 6th as I’m in NSW’s western district. Work officially starts the Wednesday prior but that is professional development. I have planning and decorating to do.

#firstever #3dprint on the #3dprinter that lives in my new #classroom. #win ! #spirograph #pla

A photo posted by Kim Lang (@liatach) on

Spirographs FTW.

Also finished attaching the pvc scale armour pieces to L’s Sir Vader tabard. A few foam details; Including a cloak attachment, a sword and shield and we are all set for painting and calling this particular project done.

 

Rain!
by Kimliatach

Yesterday was one of those days where everyone got up on the wrong side of the bed. Things went from bad to worse at the breakfast table where even the bananas were not of acceptable standards. Things improved by the time we finished the day with a family barbecue and sun headaches. It was a hard day compounded by relentless heat and irritability.

Today a heavenly break in the weather allowed a very productive day. Knocked out a few little jobs in the garden that have been waiting for soft ground and cool conditions to be completed. Also made a lot of progress on the Sir Vader costume, which is now almost ready for painting.

 

Finished Stephenson’s ‘Quicksilver‘ this morning which has taken a while to get though, having first attempted it in Scotland. Already almost finished book two of eight ‘The King of The Vagabonds’ (technically published in the one volume with the first). It isn’t often that I hear nine plus hours of an audio book in one day though.

 

Sunburned Toes
by Kimliatach

And other joys of life in Western NSW.

Our ongoing war with cat heads on the property progresses.


For now only a small area remains afflicted until next week when another thousand will appear. A spot of extra fencing to stop the hens going under the house is responsible for the burnt toes. The sun is brutal before nine at the moment and woe betide those who step out unprepared.

We have the sewing machine back, cleaned and repaired. Sewing is a whole lot more fun with a machine. Hoping to finalise the costume within the week now.

I finally started the day with a 6AM run and swim. It feels good, now I just need to keep it up every other day for a while. Other habit tracking is going remarkably well and likely due a post at some point soon.

Spent the heat of the day sorting super and health insurance technicalities. It seems one of my super accounts was charging double the required amount on insurance because I hadn’t identified my risk status to them.

Exploring Thingverse looking for some useful trinkets to try as my test prints. Enjoying scouring youtube for wonders and peculiarities. Like the Exceptional Reggie Watts:

 

 

 

Mortality
by Kimliatach

Hot days melting into one another. Did I catch that dragonfly yesterday? wait what, Saturday!

A bit of painting, a bit of Lego, a bit of unpacking and sorting classroom materials, a fair bit of slowly hand sewing costume parts while watching trash (Sewing machine still MIA) and a lot of swimming have passed the time pleasantly.

There was a death at the pool this morning. A heart attack in the lap lanes and failed resuscitation on the edge. No one we know, a big old fella who swam laps most days. So it goes. Ambulance and pool closing merely a dramatic interlude in our day.

Mortality has been on my mind lately, what with discussing organ donor ship (BTW a resounding yes to the lot, though I doubt they’ll want my lungs or liver), euthanasia (Definitely getting a ‘DNR Please’ tattoo someday), life insurance, wills and funeral preferences (as biodegradable as possible). And on top of all that a new focus on my own health and fitness and general lifestyle sustainability. Privileges I have not previously been utilising well.

 

I’ve also been wrestling with unfinished projects and trying to get into a space to start pumping out cards again. Foiled at every turn by technology and time management but trying. Today it was tablet drivers, yesterday final resolution on a decision we have been weighing for some time. Replacing N’s barely functioning computer. A hard decision because although every component in her computer is good quality, it has never run well and now at over four years old upgrading is expensive and potentially pointless.

 

 

Sat 14th
by Kimliatach

A days break in the relentless heat allowed for some garden work, path packing, cement laying, wedding and mulching. Our two hens are free ranging and thanks largely to the sheer quantity of mulch for them to scratch, not being too destructive of our garden.

Some good costume progress, straps are now on all but one of the arm and shin pieces. Doing a spot of hand sewing in front of the television this evening as the sewing machine is still in the shop for servicing.


More detail available on instagram

Fri 13th
by Kimliatach

Calligraphy practise while watching the first of the new Sherlock episodes reveals how dreadfully out of practise I have become. Outrageous heat and Mercurian UV levels have made for a mostly unproductive day. Praying for rain and a break in the weather. Still picking away at After Effects tutorials, still unsatisfied with the results.

The new Sherlock has lost some of its shine, feels overly melodramatic and for shame, predictable. Hopefully the other episodes are better. Once I’ve watched Ep 2 I can watch the new Nerdwriter clip, so there is something to look forward to.

 

Planning for Planning
by Kimliatach

New year, new classroom, now stripped of posters and decorations ready to make my own. I now also have a better handle on my planning requirements and suffice to say I have a great deal of work to do. Classroom layout is already developing and I have a number of classroom resources to create in addition to mountains of lesson plans. First among which is a logarithmic time line based on this and this and evolving from my previous classroom time lines that used similar principles but less formally.

This image perfectly captures why Wait But Why is both such an amazing teaching resource and completely unsuitable for use in my classrooms. And no I will not be including the heat death of the universe in my primary school classroom time line. 

Daily or at least, near daily blogging is eating up a lot of my creative energy.  So apart from the occasional verbose rant I am paring back my posting, back to the original intent; a keeping a public check on my creative progress. In particular I am changing the order of the evening and prioritising painting and drawing over post writing with the hope that I can post progress at the end of the evening rather than as has often happened lately accomplished little after writing a post until ten.

N and I started an online parenting course together this evening as we have both been looking for ways to foster resilience and compassion in our sons. So far it is good, the presenter knows her stuff and her activities are meaningful, if to our taste a little naff. Already I am looking at ways I can apply what we are learning in my classroom so there is definitely substance to the methods.

 

Entitlement
by Kimliatach

I think we may be about to witness something incredible.

I think Turnbull’s Liberal National government is going to lose their majority.

The scandals and catastrophic failures are snowballing. The latest parliamentary entitlements scandal, the tens of thousands of fraudulent Centerlink debt notices, Brandis’s ever more absurd breaches of legal ethics, Mr potato head’s tropical torture tents, the billion dollars for Adani, Joe ‘Age of Entitlement is Over’ Hockey smoking cigars on budget night ’14, now pulling pension as well as being paid as US ambassador. It is all rolling down hill, gathering speed, growing into a boulder of icy public discontentment, careening towards the most cataclysmic political failure in Australian history.

They really do have a snowballs chance in the proverbial and it will likely be even more impressive than this. 

Some of the governments ministers have been caught with their hands in the till. At a time when another arm of the same government is doubling down on claiming that the people who actually got off welfare owe it all back.

They have a one seat majority. For crying out loud they replaced Ley* with Sinodinos rather than risk bumping Tony back into play.

I will honestly be surprised if they make it to the first sitting day of the year intact. I don’t know what will happen when they lose the numbers, clearly they will retain minority government but for how long? The pool of buffoons from which they can replace Turnbull is small and tainted. Their characteristic inability to negotiate, the constant repetition of the idea that it is how they are selling their ideas not, you know the ideas themselves, that are the problem, their persistent inability to accept responsibility and blame for the consequences of their actions. All this leads me to believe that unlike our last minority government they will achieve very little at all besides digging themselves deeper holes, and short of a massive terror scare and a herculean effort from Rupert, eventually losing government.

The blistering hypocrisy of their ridiculous sense of entitlement the government holds is the most galling thing about the whole mess. These people who year after year have voted to increase their wages well above inflation, who have voted to increase their pension well above the median wage yet still penny pinch for Cabcharges from the airport to Mal’s place, or a trip to the polo to rub noses with Gina. These same people who think it is OK to charge everyone more to visit doctors, to renege on funding arrangements for public schools, to slash public dentistry programs, to risk driving childcare prices through the roof** (this on top of cutting the wages of childcare workers*** as one of their very first acts of parliament), propping up the ever expanding housing bubble while cutting investments in public housing, to build toll roads while cutting from public transport, to cut from actually profitable renewable investment and invest billions in coal, to undermine our human rights commissioner and keep children in concentration camps, in adult prisons or as a final middle finger to decency send them to countries they don’t even know for failing to meet the standards of the community they were raised in. These people who suck hard on the teat of the fossil fuel industry, fully concious that it’s business model fully intends to burn us all on the alter of quarterly profits.**** These people have the damned pride to claim that they have fiscal or moral authority on anything.

We are entitled to representative government. We are entitled to hold our representatives accountable. We are entitled to expect that corruption in public office when detected is appropriately punished and corrupt politicians are to be removed from office. I demand a federal ICAC with the power to prosecute now.

Until then prepare your popcorn because this is only going to get better.

 

End rant. Time to paint.

 

*Even the despicable pond scum in the Murdoch press have smelt blood in the water and are turning, looking to be on the winning side as always. ‘The Australian’ link >> .

**Eww a Daily mail link >> .

*** Item two on the list.

**** Citation no longer required.

Sewing Frustrations & Swimming Successes
by Kimliatach

L swam independently for the first time on our morning swim today. Admittedly he has trouble keeping his head above water, but he can move through water in the direction he wants to go and he and we are over the moon. This marks four days of extraordinary progress, on Saturday he would barely blow bubbles and submerge his face all while clinging for dear life. Today we did underwater high fives and he propelled himself 2 meters through the water without touching bottom. F is also becoming much more water confident, though he is still taking some convincing not to drink the pool.

Project wise I spent the day wrestling with N’s family sewing machine, which is doubtless older than me and still going strong. Though in this case the area it shows most strength in is tangled bobbins and de-threading needles.


In addition tothe parts of the tabard shown above I have affixed fabric glue points to each end of eight strips of elastic. I have dealt with so many knots that I am going to investigate having the machine serviced or replaced as I cannot continue to work with it as it is.

I’ve also made time for a small and long overdue spot of calligraphy practise.

Last nights video editing turned into an exercise in following After Effects tutorials for title animations. Unsatisfactory results, so now for a spot of painting before bed.

Wallflowers
by Kimliatach

A day spent largely in hiding from the heat, mostly in the local library and pool. Aiming to make the best of the evening cool and create some art. Starting with a spot of video editing.

Recently watched ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower‘ with N.

I found it engaging and enjoyable, if a bit saccharine and emotionally manipulative. The portrayal of drug use for comedic effect was let down by the obvious lack of experience. It passes Bechdel, it has great music and it treats its gay characters with respect. The depression and mental health problems of the protagonist are treated as acceptable issues for anyone to deal with. I think it is likely a valuable film for it’s target demographic.