Lots of pictures from Paris here:
http://betahelix.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=126

Probably not very exciting for most people, but there are some manuscripts and tapestries.

Pictures taken at the Linton Zoo are located here:
http://betahelix.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=125

( They aren't very great, but here is Valerie at the zoo: )

so I am usually on a 21 day cycle. So today is day 32 and I start ( finally) that lovely time of the month and that ovary ( the left one) that's been giving me hell is really hurting so that hemorrhagic cyst is back. So...please just shoot me! It's not even 10 pm and I am going to bed because I feel so awful.

Here Valerie is helping us do laundry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6TFdKseuAA

today's attempts at the wii EA 30 day work out was a bust. Sun shining on the remote sensor thingy will not enhance your game play :( so will actually start the whole 30 day thing over tomorrow.

Tried my new dvd the firm buns and legs and IT SUCKED.

the leader chick talks like she's on freaking speed, the exersizes are done at warp factor 9 and I as a beginner have no chance in hell to figure out wtf she is on about.  This will definitely be a dvd I will throw away or more likely give to some other victim oops I mean friend... I did get about 20 minutes of work out in and I did sweat but it was sucky and not very fulfilling. So back to the wii ea 30 day challenge tomorrow. argh!

what I should have done was gone running as it was a gorgeous day here today.

Brightsolid’s purchase of Friends Reunited has been cleared by the Competition Commission.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/18/itv-friends-reunited-sale-cleared

Today Valerie was able to put her hand on her ear when her Daddy asked her where her ear was.

She's learning something new every day!

Well it happened 35+ years ago and still bothers me, so maybe it's time to get it off my chest, Eh?
> some stories
> are to juicy to dry up and blow away.
> De
OH, am I familiar with this one...
Many years ago, I was assistant cook at an outdoor event. The meat, which had been scored in a fantastic sale five weeks earlier, was in the huge cellar chest freezer. For obvious reasons, we didn't check it daily.
Imagine our surprise the morning of the event to discover that the freezer had spectacularly malfunctioned. Everything in it was _40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit_. The guy who picked up the first piece 'burnt' his fingers, and, not being an idiot, dropped it. It was so hard it rang like a bell.
As soon as we arrived on-site we spread all the meat packages (note still packaged) on top of black cloth on the tables. We ended up almost serving two separate mini-feasts because it took till dusk for the meat to be cook-able.
Meanwhile, there was a Sweet Young Thing on site flirting with, and kissing, every available male. In between which episodes she was in the porta-johns. All Day. All Night. All the next day...
By sundown Sunday half the men present had the trots. By Monday night, we had left meat rotting on the tables all weekend and poisoned the (not present) Royals.
Of course we triple-checked ourselves. The power bill proved the freezer had dived in temperature two days _before_ the sale.
It's been 35+ years. People who certainly should know better still say "Oh, we can't let her cook. Rotten meat. She almost killed a Queen, you know."
....And now that I've admitted I was present and on the staff, they'll probably say it about me, too.

...with coughing. It started with a sore throat on Sunday. By Monday it was a worse sore throat. The coughing started on Monday night. Today it's been bad enough that on several occasions the coughing has almost made me physically sick. I was supposed to be at a lecture tonight on the development of the Bloodhound SSC (super-sonic car, contender to break the world speedrecord - really cool!), but had to leave before the end because a coughing fit had tears streaming down my face and was making me feel really ill. Nothing seems to stop it, and it now hurts to breathe. I just wish whatever bug it is would go away!

Hurrah - Linky goodness.

Go forth and comment!

We're trying some baby lead weaning, seeing as lil' miss throws a strop if you put a spoon anywhere near her. So far she's loved fruity rice cakes, rice cakes with cream cheese, melon, and now she's onto reduced sugar rusks. There will be more fruit, veg and indeed meat coming in the next few days and weeks. Technically she's a little young still, but I'm beyond caring if she's actually happy with stuff.

And boy is she happy.

A short discussion about preparing for tournaments, with some tools for dealing with nerves.

Dealing with 'tournament nerves' is trickier than doing physical preparation. Most sports fans are familiar with seeing a good athlete 'choke' - not perform to their best ability, for no apparent reason.

This occurs to fighters when they are more concerned about the outcome of the tournament than the pleasure and the challenge of each bout. All they can think about is what others will think of them if they either win, or lose spectacularly.

(People who are so laid back they cannot get focused on tournaments have a different problem! nervousness and anxiety are much more common.)

One response is to develop goals for a tournament that do not include the outcome of the tournament: you cannot control that result, but you can manage how you approach the tournament yourself.

These goals can help keep you focused on your own performance, and worry less about the performances of others.

Some example goals - if I was discussing these with a fighter, I'd help them choose some goals relevant to their current performance:
- entering every bout at between 70-80% of full power/force (no 'no-brainer' bouts, no matter how new your opponent)
- focus on the current bout only ('wherever you are, be all there')
- engaging your opponent on your terms

A tool that can help you learn from your tournament experience more quickly is a fighting diary. Along with logging your practice goals and your practice sessions, keep a section of the diary for your tournaments.

During the tournament get a friend to help during you track your bouts, by:
- writing down each opponent's name
- as you (the fighter) come off the field, answer two questions very quickly:
1. How was your performance in this bout? Rate yourself out of 10 (strictly fighters' opinion, not scribes)
2. Give one or two keywords or phrases to help you remember what was special about the bout

You can do this yourself - but it's easier to get someone else to scribe, who isn't wearing gauntlets.

After the tournament, take 10-15 minutes to review these notes, and scribble down a slightly longer assessment of your performance. Be honest, but not needlessly hard on yourself. Think about whether or not you met the goals you'd set for yourself - fully, partially, only a bit. Describe the good parts and the bad parts of the tourney in your own terms.

This isn't a punishment. It's a very quick post-mortem, to help embed your experiences in a way that you can learn from them.

After your notes: shower, change, and feel free to set the tournament aside for the rest of the day.

As always - I'm happy to chat about ways to make more plans and preparations for tournaments, and have books to lend. Feel free to contact me directly.

This is a sort of part 2 of my talk about tourney preparation - some more concrete examples of what can help you prepare to get the best performances - to reach 'The Zone' - when you want to.

Top performances in the Zone are a balance of being relaxed, focused and prepared.

Part 1
Think of your best performances. What were the circumstances that helped you reach that relaxed, focused and prepared state? Consider things like:

- venue? setting? travel?
- weather?
- armour condition?
- tourney format?
- other attendees?
- friends and family?
- food, drink, seating, comforts?
- noise level?
- distractions? annoyances?
- rest?
- personal condition?
- mental attitude?
- emotional state?

Describe those best performances in writing - physical, mental and emotional conditions.

Part 2
What can you do to create some of those conditions with your own preparations? Write down what you can do to prepare.

Part 3
That same list from part 1 can equally serve as a list of the stressors that make reaching the Zone difficult.
For each potential stressor, you develop a plan of response. Try out the planned responses, and see which ones help.

Example: weather - don't fight well in cold, wet conditions
Response:
pack a cloak
stand and rest between bouts out of the wet
change or waterproof footwear
make sure of 20 mins of warmup, from slow up to full speed, before tournament

Example: food - need a full stomach to fight
Response:
get up in time for breakfast :-)
bring extra food to snack on between bouts, in small amounts that are easy to handle even with gauntlets on

Example: tourney format - don't like waiting my turn in round robins, it takes too long
Responses:
ask a friend to keep you company between bouts to fight temptation to peek at results sheet
keep stretching and moving around between bouts

This preparation thing takes practice, but before long, it'll become routine, and you'll be glad of the familiarity of your own preparations on the day of the tournament.

Originally posted to the Thamesreach list.

Many thanks to the fighters who came out last night to listen to a short talk about goal setting for improving your fighting, and a bit about tournament preparation.

As it's been awhile since I talked about these subjects, I went home with a head dancing full of clever things I *should* have said about goal setting - mainly providing some examples of what I meant, and how they might apply to your fighting.

So consider this the take-home assignment. :-)

Re. setting goals in your fighting plans. If you are honestly confident that the current level of effort you are investing in your fighting will achieve your dream, than the next step is to set goals.

- Short term goal: occurring between a week and a month from now.
- Medium term: 1 month - 1 season
- Long term: 1 season up to a full year - or up to five or ten year plan.

Many top athletes work towards an Olympics or world championships that don't run every year, so five year plans are not unusual.

SMART goals are:
Specific - clear and positive language (vs. 'stop dropping my shield')
Measureable - so you know once you've achieved it
Achieveable - like Goldilocks: 'not too hard' and 'not too easy'
Relevant - has to apply to *your* fighting plan
Time-bound - has to occur within a deadline

Here are some examples of short term goals.

The numbers suggested are pulled out of my head, but if I were developing goals with you, I'd work with your known skills & weaknesses, possibly by consulting an experienced fighter who has seen you fight.

Let's say you 'want to be a better fighter in time for spring'.

From the very broad and general goal of improving your fighting, you can tease out several more specific, relevant and time-limited goals, eg.

a. new skill: building a new double combination of blows by end of March
b. improved skill:learn to defend effectively against head shots - improve ratio of survival from current 10% to 40%
c. overall fitness: fight all the sparring bouts available at practice for the next 2 weeks

Next step - how do you achieve those smaller goals? Examples:

Learning a new combination:
- ask Sir Knight to walk me through a double combo on the pell
- practice the new combination for 10 mins at the start of every practice
- include the new combination in my sparring X times between now and end of March

Learn to defend effectively against head shots:
- do shield lifts 2-3x week, working up to 20 lifts/set, 2-3 sets,
- consult w/ armour geek about positioning my shield on my arm: is this the best angle for me?
- work on shield position and angle in sparring

Fight all the sparring bouts: this requires fewer strategies, but some support would include:
- showing up to practice on time
- getting into fighting kit upon arrival (rather than waiting for others to show up)
- using the pelle while waiting for others to armour up
- do 2 bouts of other aerobic activity per week, in addition to fighting

Sounds persnickety? It's certainly detailed, and takes practice, and followup, but it's not hard.

For homework: come up with 1-3 goals for short, medium and long term, and flesh them out with your plans to achieve them. I'm happy to correspond with anyone who wants to work on their goal-setting language and planning.

Is this on the test? In a manner of speaking - the test results are on the field. :-)

Here is the posting for the job I just applied to. It sounds all important and 'big whiggy' or at least more so than I'm used to. The thing that seems strange to me is that I'm actually qualified for it. There's very little there that I haven't done already. Wish me luck! *wink*

Job description:

Responsible for operation of a specialized hearing and vestibular function research laboratory working with genetically modified strains of mice as models for human auditory and balance disorders. Responsible for coordinating Interactions with the Kresge Hearing Research Faculty
and Staff of Integrative Genomics Behavioral Testing facility and Microscopy and Imaging Laboratory. Develops, designs and conducts research experiments to identify genetic variants responsible for disease, mapping modifier genes, manage mouse colony including creating
of congenic strains, dissect and analyze cochlear and vestibular organ morphology by scanning, transmission, and light microscopy. Reviews progress and evaluates results. Formulates research methods and suggests options for improving quality, identifies potential problems, recommends and implements solutions, and collaborates in the development of new techniques. Trains users in equipment operation and laboratory techniques, explains and demonstrates technology and equipment capabilities, operations, limitations and outcomes. Coordinates data collection and screening and verifies the data. Conducts analysis of data, interprets and implements research methodology based on outcome of analysis. Co-authors publications and may co-present results with Principal Investigator at meetings and/or conferences. Has oversight for day-to-day operation of laboratory and may supervise exempt and non-exempt research and support personnel.


Job Requirements:
Master's degree in genetics and 5-8 years relevant mammalian and molecular genetics experience. Supervisory and financial management experience preferred. Employees typically analyze, compare and evaluate various courses of action and have the authority to make independent decisions on matters of significance, free from immediate direction, within the scope of their responsibilities. Primary activities and decision making authority are predominantly performed independently affecting business operations to a substantial degree.

It's been a rough freaking month but aside from that damned productive. 2 crew suits are done now all I need are the greeblies and the belts. Might make newer hats though.... I am hopeful to start my female tusken. Found a mask maker in Italy and she says it might be sent by the end of the week. I'm excited.

Today I head off to acer to work, doing data entry logistics stuff. I love my crazy job but I am glad I only need to be there 1 day a week.

I did not get a lot of writing done this week, there's just not enough time to sew, design, clean house, be ill, struggle with pain, read forums, search for stuff, browse ebay, do more laundry and so on... so dearest readers I'm sorry but updates will be a little slow but never fear I am working on it. So be prepare for the latest merly madness...

on that note it's time to get work ready. yay.

Andrew and I made some lemon curd after tea tonight. The things we get up to while Kate is out on Tuesday evenings! Can’t go wrong with Delia’s recipe — the cheaty teaspoonful of cornflour helps a lot. Looking forward to eating some at breakfast. Mmm mmm mmmmm.

We're going to keep this short and sweet (Frank and birthday vgifts will be back next week). You've probably seen the updates to our main menu. Don't be alarmed. You'll find everything you need, just in slightly shifted format. Just so you know, we based these changes on input from both experienced and new users who were not familiar with LiveJournal. Our goal was to reduce barriers to usability and make LiveJournal more accessible and easy to navigate. Please note that this is a work in progress. We welcome your detailed suggestions in feedback. We thank you, in advance, for helping us improve your LiveJournal experience.

We've updated the global navigation menu:

Here's a quick breakdown of what you'll find where:

• Scrapbook can now be found under Profile (thanks for your feedback, btw), along with Settings, Stats, and Edit Profile.
• You'll find all the tools you need to post and update entries under Journal, which includes posting and editing entries, managing comments and tags, and customizing your journal's style.
• Friends contains all of your friend settings, from filtering your Friends page to adding, removing, and finding new and existing friends on LiveJournal.
• Under Communities, you'll find links to manage your communities, accept community invites, and create new communities.
• Explore includes search features, RSS feeds, Question of the Day, and FRNK radio.
• Under Shop, you'll find links to upgrade or give a paid account, buy virtual gifts, purchase LiveJournal merchandise (like T-shirts), and view your payment history.

LiveJournal Mobile update:

We've enhanced LiveJournal's mobile site to improve usability and load times. We've made more of LiveJournal's features accessible via mobile, including posting comments, uploading photos, reading and commenting on friends' posts, finding and messaging friends, and more. We look forward to reviewing your feedback and recommendations for future improvements.

Other important changes:

• You can lock comments to prevent further commenting on a post, while leaving existing comments visible.
• We replaced the "Tell a friend" link with a new "Share This" widget that lets you share LiveJournal posts on other social media sites, including Facebook, Digg, Twitter, etc.
• We changed some of the icons on entries (you can hover over the icons to view descriptions).
• You'll see a Tag count on your Tag management page.
• You'll now see the 10 most recent vgifts on your profile page. To remove vgifts, left-click on the vgift and choose whether you want to remove the vgift from your profile or delete it entirely.
• We've added options to help you control receipt of vgifts, which you'll find in My Stuff under Edit Profile. You can now enable vgifts from friends or everyone and disable anonymous vgifts.

We've got your fix:

• UPDATE: Rolling several updates into one listing here -- 1) Scrapbook should be back and working again. 2) The problem with the Update Journal page in IE6 and IE7 should be fixed now. 3) The problem with the userpic add-on package pricing has been fixed and refunds issued to anyone who was overcharged while the erroneous prices were in place.
• Non-conforming images will now be automatically resized for custom mood themes.
• Line breaks no longer count as two characters against your entry's character limit.
• We fixed a bug on the Manage Tags page so you can clear all tags and add new tags.
• We corrected the UI for the update.bml page so it displays properly in IE8.

Thanks again for joining us. Frank and company will be back next week!