So while I'm letting my hair drip dry from the shower I thought I might as well update this silly thing.
Some of you may have noticed I've not been around much, some of you may not. But suffice to say it's not been the easiest few months. Everything all sort of hit at once which didn't help.
We ended up in a full on battle at the end of October to get my contract extended. Sad truth of the matter is that we are doing fantastically well at the moment, but the tightening financial noose makes these things difficult. The new Faculty structure hasn't helped as our biggest supporters are in different places now.
Battle on we did though and we have been making numerous allies higher up in the University so I think we stand a good chance of surviving. The Pro-Vice Chancellors have both expressed a desire to have a unit like ours in every faculty, one of them even gave us some money for support for one of our plans.
Teaching has been both a boon and a curse, the majority of the students I'm teaching don't seem to see the value in an Economics/Finance module on a Construction related degree/HND programme. No matter what I try so many of them just do not care or simply make no effort whatsoever. To cap it all off they seem to think it is all our fault and there have been some horrible things said in module feedbacks.
My colleagues tell me not to worry about it, some even tell me that I should be able to understand some of their anti-student stances now (note this is only two members of staff who said this and both are fairly old now). Though some of the things that have happened have made me angry others I've just let go of, I truly don't want to end up as jaded as them, I still have a little hope.
I've been battling my personal daemons too, it's put a lot of strain on me but I feel I'm making slow but deliberate progress. I've let go of a lot of things that hurt me, confronted some things that hurt me and made peace with a lot of those little things we all hold onto. I want to feel and be better in every aspect, no more it's just the way I am now it's all about the this is who I want to be.
The photography, which grew out of some almost petty desire to prove someone wrong about me has grown, I've achieved a lot with it this year and I believe I will continue to do so. I'm putting a lot of my time, energy and money into it. Sometimes it seems a silly dream but it's an outlet that gives me more flexibility and a channel for my creativity.
Christmas has been the break I long needed, I had a few bad weeks with work and things after my last blog, I was terrifyingly ill that week, so much so that it left me weak and useless. I finished out the year and did my best to neaten out loose ends despite mounting pressure.
I spent the first week of my break travelling and seeing friends, taking some pictures and basically having the bloody good time that I was needing. I then rounded it out with a counselling session on Christmas Eve morning followed by all the family fun of the festive season.
I got a lovely haul of books and dvds, as well as some lovely new clothes and other assorted bits and bobs. I particularly loved sharing my new photography books and some of my own work with my family, my Grandmothers both seemed to enjoy looking through my book of Cecil Beaton's work.
I got the first four seasons of Dexter which I had never watched before and have been slowly and methodically been making my way through, it's been rather fun. Im up to episode 4 of series 3 now, really enjoying it. I also got the complete Munsters box set which has been a dream of mine for a while, I loved that show as a kid and its still a side splitter today.
I've been making a lot of plans this week and preparing for the coming year. I will go to the Nationals this year, come hell or high water. I have begun preparation of the army I will take, I mentioned the idea a long while back in a blog but I've started putting it together and have the first unit and my Warcaster painted. See below:
I'm going to be spending NY Eve and NY Day working on them and hopefully get the second unit done. I've enjoyed painting them and my chosen scheme for the pseudo-WW1 vibe has worked nicely. I like a nice challenge and watching a dvd while painting is amazingly cathartic.
If you want to keep track of my photography and other bits, add my fan page on Facebook:
Fan Page
Anyway that's all for now, thought I might give you all a brief heads up. Need to go get dressed before my family arrives.
Happy New Year to you all.
Toodles
G
Some of you may have noticed I've not been around much, some of you may not. But suffice to say it's not been the easiest few months. Everything all sort of hit at once which didn't help.
We ended up in a full on battle at the end of October to get my contract extended. Sad truth of the matter is that we are doing fantastically well at the moment, but the tightening financial noose makes these things difficult. The new Faculty structure hasn't helped as our biggest supporters are in different places now.
Battle on we did though and we have been making numerous allies higher up in the University so I think we stand a good chance of surviving. The Pro-Vice Chancellors have both expressed a desire to have a unit like ours in every faculty, one of them even gave us some money for support for one of our plans.
Teaching has been both a boon and a curse, the majority of the students I'm teaching don't seem to see the value in an Economics/Finance module on a Construction related degree/HND programme. No matter what I try so many of them just do not care or simply make no effort whatsoever. To cap it all off they seem to think it is all our fault and there have been some horrible things said in module feedbacks.
My colleagues tell me not to worry about it, some even tell me that I should be able to understand some of their anti-student stances now (note this is only two members of staff who said this and both are fairly old now). Though some of the things that have happened have made me angry others I've just let go of, I truly don't want to end up as jaded as them, I still have a little hope.
I've been battling my personal daemons too, it's put a lot of strain on me but I feel I'm making slow but deliberate progress. I've let go of a lot of things that hurt me, confronted some things that hurt me and made peace with a lot of those little things we all hold onto. I want to feel and be better in every aspect, no more it's just the way I am now it's all about the this is who I want to be.
The photography, which grew out of some almost petty desire to prove someone wrong about me has grown, I've achieved a lot with it this year and I believe I will continue to do so. I'm putting a lot of my time, energy and money into it. Sometimes it seems a silly dream but it's an outlet that gives me more flexibility and a channel for my creativity.
Christmas has been the break I long needed, I had a few bad weeks with work and things after my last blog, I was terrifyingly ill that week, so much so that it left me weak and useless. I finished out the year and did my best to neaten out loose ends despite mounting pressure.
I spent the first week of my break travelling and seeing friends, taking some pictures and basically having the bloody good time that I was needing. I then rounded it out with a counselling session on Christmas Eve morning followed by all the family fun of the festive season.
I got a lovely haul of books and dvds, as well as some lovely new clothes and other assorted bits and bobs. I particularly loved sharing my new photography books and some of my own work with my family, my Grandmothers both seemed to enjoy looking through my book of Cecil Beaton's work.
I got the first four seasons of Dexter which I had never watched before and have been slowly and methodically been making my way through, it's been rather fun. Im up to episode 4 of series 3 now, really enjoying it. I also got the complete Munsters box set which has been a dream of mine for a while, I loved that show as a kid and its still a side splitter today.
I've been making a lot of plans this week and preparing for the coming year. I will go to the Nationals this year, come hell or high water. I have begun preparation of the army I will take, I mentioned the idea a long while back in a blog but I've started putting it together and have the first unit and my Warcaster painted. See below:
I'm going to be spending NY Eve and NY Day working on them and hopefully get the second unit done. I've enjoyed painting them and my chosen scheme for the pseudo-WW1 vibe has worked nicely. I like a nice challenge and watching a dvd while painting is amazingly cathartic.
If you want to keep track of my photography and other bits, add my fan page on Facebook:
Fan Page
Anyway that's all for now, thought I might give you all a brief heads up. Need to go get dressed before my family arrives.
Happy New Year to you all.
Toodles
G
jeffyjr:
Sounds like you've been very busy.
ickletitch:
wow thats a rollercoaster of a last few months you've had there, but reassuring to hear a few positive things in your blog, which i read every word of fyi, not bad since its the first time ive been on here for about a year lol. i hope things continue to improve for you x