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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
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2:38 pm
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Narcissism: inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.
Solipsism: the philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to exist.
Atomism: the interpretation of the world as composed of individual particles.
I wonder why there are so few comments on other people`s blog entries. Could it be that we are so preoccupied with our own blogs, our own marks, our own lives, that we forget to pay attention to the other people in our classroom. That said, it would be nice to see some interaction between you random dots (or individual particles) on the seedy tabloid that is our universe.
current mood:  surprised
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Monday, March 30th, 2009
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11:32 am - Jan's visit
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Hi Everyone,
How did you like having Jan's perspective on what you've done? Did you learn anything new from her comments? Are you happy with what you've accomplished so far?
When Jane comes in on Wednesday, you'll get another perspective!
Susan
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
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3:48 pm - Posts
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Hey everyone, thanks for increasing the rate of posting but... one random sentence isn't a mark-worthy post! I'm not looking for Shakespeare here but the point is to practice your writing and develop your communications skills in a fun way.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
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7:50 pm - This week's post
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Hi Everyone,
Okay, some people really rose to the blogging challenge and did some awesome new stuff that they'd never tried before. I loved reading your blogs.
This week's challenge is... perform a random act of kindness for someone and blog about it.
Here's my example. Once upon a time, a loooonnnngg time ago, I had a little bit of extra money. I don't remember where I got it, maybe from working overtime or maybe an income tax refund. Anyway, I was downtown on Ste-Catherine Street and I saw a little old lady digging through the garbage. She was really decrepit, I mean it. All ragged clothing, stringy dirty hair, and gross summer shoes in the middle of winter. I went up to her and I said, "Hey, I think you dropped this," and I gave her $10, which was a significant chunk of change for me in those days (I told you it was a long time ago). I figured she'd be embarassed if I gave her the money, like charity, so I pretended that I thought she dropped it. She turned around and took the money, but she blazed out at me and screamed at me for about 5 minutes (at the top of her voice) for being a phoney poseur. Everyone on Ste-Catherine St stopped walking and stared at me, the jerk, being yelled at by some ancient homeless lady. I slunk away and got on my train to the west island, feeling like an idiot.
Seriously, though. See if you have a better experience than I do when you perform your act of kindness. The world can be a cold and bitter place -- see if you can make it better for someone for 5 minutes.
Good luck and stay safe out there.
current mood: thankful
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| Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
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7:09 pm - Guest speakers
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I have invited Roberto Panetta and Melissa Reis to come talk to you guys and take a look at your logos for the Trade Fair. They both studied Design at Concordia. Roberto now works as an industrial designer and Melissa now has her own design company. I haven't heard if or when they can come, but I am hoping they can visit us next week or the week after spring break.
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6:42 pm
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I always have a few German exchange students in my first-year classes. They're great. Even though their average age is only 16, their academic skills are above average and they are always super-nice and eager to learn. I love having the German students in my classes. Many of them have kept in touch with me on facebook and by email for years after returning home to Germany.
John Abbott teachers actually teach the German exchange students "for free." They don't count in the calculation of our annual workloads. The College receives a massive amount of money from each German student, though. Well... our union just finished negotiating with JAC and the result is that each full-time JAC teacher has been given $1,200 to spend on something related to teaching! Cool, eh?
So I'm shopping dell.ca for a new desktop computer with Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q6600 (8MB L2, 2.4GHz, 1066FSB), 6 gig ram, a terabite(??) hard drive, etc. The only downside is having to set up my software and wifi LAN again. I'm going to place my order this weekend. How cool is that?!
My other cool news is that Dock & I are going to Paris for spring break. I was born in London, England, but Paris is my favorite city in the world. My daughter and I have been to Paris 3 times. Once, I spoke at a technology conference there. Once, we stayed in the city. Once, we rented a diesel car and drove from Paris down through Orleans, Carcasonne, Toulouse, Avignon, Nimes and back up along the Rhone valley to Paris again. It was an awesome trip. Dock's never been to France so he's excited to see the city. We have booked a hotel on the boul. Montmartre near the Opera house haunted by the Phantom and just down the street from Paris's 2 most famous shops: Printemps and Galleries Lafayette.
What are your plans for spring break?
My not-so-good news: I saw my doctor yesterday and I need 2 operations, one on each leg, because the braces are not working. If I don't have the operations, I will not be able to walk soon. I wonder when the surgeon will be scheduling the first operation -- I hope it won't stop me from going to Paris!! I hope I won't have to miss more school, too. Boo-hoo!
current mood: optimistic
current music: silence
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| Sunday, January 25th, 2009
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4:44 pm - Class of 2010
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Warning! The opinions expressed in my blog are my personal opinions, not the opinions of John Abbott College. I own these opinions. I know there will be people who will disagree with me.
I'm teaching Advertising Copy & Promotional Materials after a 2-year break, so once again my students and I will be blogging this term. We have to practice our writing. It's one of the competencies for this class. It's always fun to read what people have to say. In class tomorrow, I'm going to get the students to set themselves up in livejournal, so we can all read eachother's journal entries. Their first assignment will be to describe the company that they are going to create a brand image for in their advertising campaigns, post their photo(s) of that company, and share their feelings and thoughts about how they will tackle this assignment.
One of the many, many things that I feel strongly about is helping students to develop a "can do" attitude. That means enthusiastically answering, "Yes, I can!" when someone asks you to do something at school or on the job. On the shed in my back yard I posted a sign that says, "There will be a $5 charge for whining." When we send out students out on Stage, we don't want the students to whine when they are given a task to do. We also don't want them to say, "I can't do that." One student in the past lost out on an excellent job when her interviewer asked her, "How are your web skills?" Her web skills were actually great but she answered, "Web isn't my strong point. I prefer print." She lost the job right there. She didn't want to blow her own horn, as the expression goes -- she didn't want to sound like she was bragging. When you go for a job in web or print, don't worry. If you have done well in PDHT and put effort into the projects that you submit for class, you DO know enough web and print to get a job in the field. Web is very complex and no employer expects you to know everything when you are first hired. In fact, they will undertake to train you. Some of our students have even taken jobs that require programming skills that you don't learn in PDHT. When they are asked about their programming skills, they show a "can do" attitude and answer, "My xhtml and css skills are very strong but I have just had a one-semester introduction to programming -- BUT I'm a fast learner and I want to develop my programming skills at your company." Those students get hired, and they get on-the-job training.
So don't underestimate your skills. If you are asked to do something that you've never done before, Google it or text a friend. You have enough of a base in web and print to be able to figure it out.
So my point is... this semester you'll be trying some new things. Keep a "can do" attitude and give these new things your best shot. Try something different! You'll learn something. Enjoy!
current mood: busy
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4:24 pm - Old School Soul in a New School World
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I've been teaching technology since 1978 -- since the days of room-sized mainframe computers that inhaled thousands of punch-cards and churned out reams of printouts to perform the tasks we now do on our laptops in a couple of seconds. Put it this way: I've been teaching technology since before there were mice, coloured screens, small floppy disks, and pictures on screens. Dot commands, line commands, DOS commands, I've seen them all. Sometimes it seems like I've been running as fast as I can to stay ahead for the whole 30 years.
On the plus side, it certainly keeps me interested. I've been working at my College for over 25 years and not one minute has been boring or dull. I never run out of stuff to do. It's hard for me to relate to teachers whose field hasn't changed in centuries. My husband retired from teaching Calculus a few years ago. That's a field that hasn't changed much, if at all, in 400 years. Theoretically, he could have used the same handouts for his entire 32 year teaching career.
Another good thing is that I love the internet. I was on-line as a Concordia teacher as soon as that was possible and I was one of the first Montrealers to sign up for a dial-up internet account, after fooling around with bulletin boards and Compuserve. Because I read and surf voraciously, I have an excellent grasp of where the net is going and how it is developing functionally and aesthetically. This helps me in my job.
One of the more difficult things I have to deal with is a weird combination of sexism and ageism, that calls my credibility as a web design teacher into question. Time after time, I have to prove myself against people with big mouths and little knowledge, and I find it tiresome. At a meeting last year, a twentysomething characterized everyone over 30 as web-ignorant. She asked, rhetorically, what the older people were doing instead of surfing and playing with technology 30 years ago. Her not so subtle message was that oldsters were constitutionally incapable of understanding and effectively using the new technologies. In response to her question, I answered, "We were inventing the computer systems that you're now using." Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are exactly my age.
current mood:  annoyed
current music: None -- the house is quiet
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, May 11th, 2006
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1:09 pm - That's it, that's all!
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Have a great summer everyone! Have fun and be safe.
Thank you for the lovely card you gave me at the end of term.
I hope you learn a lot next semester in Web Site Management with Eric Girouard. Please keep everything you worked on for the Trade Fair and in Web Site Management next semester for your electronic Portfolio, which you'll be putting together in my Web Studio class (Winter 2007).
There's an article about your trade fair in today's Gazette (the West Island section).
The blog assignment deadline was yesterday, and I'll get my marking done as quickly as I can and get those marks posted.
Now, push your chair away from the computer, get up, and get outside!!
current mood: chipper
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| Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006
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12:05 pm - Last Blog Assessment Coming Up
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Please check to make certain that you have posted at least 5 blogs since March 27th that meet all of the criteria set out in the very first handout for this course (i.e., length, grammar, spelling, etc.). I will be marking the blogs on May 10th.
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, April 27th, 2006
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9:56 pm - Trade Fair Photographs
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| Sunday, March 12th, 2006
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6:47 pm - Excellent advertising showcase
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| Wednesday, March 8th, 2006
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8:39 pm
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Hi Everyone,
I came down sick with a vicious migraine in my class this morning and I'm calling in sick for tomorrow. Please don't forget to work on your logo and other things for your Trade Fair exhibit. Read ahead in your textbook. And have fun on your field trip to The Gazette on Friday!
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| Monday, March 6th, 2006
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5:46 pm - Printer problems
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I just got back from Bureau en Gros, where I bought a new printer. My Epson 4-in-1 (scanner, printer, copier, fax) bit the biscuit yesterday. I had changed all the ink cartridges, in hopes that that would magically restore the print ability. Alas, it was all for nothing... $87.00 of new ink out of my wallet and down the printhead to oblivion. So I went to Bureau yesterday and a helpful business associate -- you may know him -- Simon by name, helped me with the characteristics of the two dozen or so printers in stock. I was completely overwhelmed by the choice and couldn't make up my mind. This indecision was not helped by the fact that Dock & I arrived in the store at 4:45, fifteen minutes to closing time. Think fast! Today I returned to (a different branch of) Bureau, and took a chance on a Canon 3-in-1 printer. I hope I like it. My former Epson used to need to have the heads cleaned every couple of weeks and, wow, did that ever use up a lot of ink!
Tomorrow Roberto Panetta is coming to our class to talk about Design at Concordia. Did anyone get down to the Agora to take a look at the graduating students' Portfolios? Are you saving stuff for your Portfolio? Hope so!
So far, it looks like only Aleksandra and Scot went out of town for Study Break (thanks, Alex, I feel better knowing that my students spent last week studying). Did anyone else go anywhere fun? Marc-Andre's thinking about his upcoming trip to China... Don't forget to keep us informed, everyone! Enquiring minds want to know... about your Spring Break!
current mood:  curious
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| Saturday, March 4th, 2006
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4:33 pm - Concordia University Design Student on Tuesday
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Just a reminder that Roberto Panetta, a PDHT grad who is now attending the Design program at Concordia University, will be in our Tuesday class to talk to you about Design at ConU, about freelance web and print design work, about Stage, etc. I'm relying on you to give Roberto 100% of your attention. He is giving up a morning to benefit you, and I trust you'll return his generosity with your excellent manners and your interest in what he has to say.
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12:24 pm - Spring Break
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For the first time in years, Dock & I stayed home this Spring Break. I got to catch up on a lot of school stuff, which should make the next few weeks a lot less stressful. Also got to read some books, finally. The weather was awful -- with the wind moaning down the chimney almost every day, it sounded like the apocalypse drawing near.
My daughter's in Punta Cana for the week. She's been best friends with Kelli since they were both 3 years old, and Kelli's got a great job at the bank, so she paid for Amanda to go with her to the Sirenis Tropical hotel. I got a happy email from her a couple of days ago; the temperature is over 30 degrees and the water's warm. Dock & I almost changed our minds about staying home at the very last minute but we're babysitting Amanda's kitten, Daisy. Daisy had fur-mats so bad that it looked like she had dreadlocks. Against the very good advice of Himura_Patty and Deathcrest, I had her shaved. Surprisingly, this turned out well and basically transformed a terrifyingly bizarre looking cat into a cute kitten with an affectionate personality. Her fur-mats must have been pulling her skin and preventing her from rubbing against people. She never wanted to sit on anyone's lap or be held by anyone before her fur was shaved. Now she is a real sweetie and a lap-cat! And she runs all over the place, which she never did before. I bought an excellent fur brush, too, so I hope the problem does not reoccur. She looks kinda cute with her "lion cut."
I've been thinking about my Ad Copy class and I found some more funny headlines for you to chuckle about. Here they are:
What Are They Saying?
Grandmother of eight makes hole in one.
Deaf mute gets new hearing in killing.
Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers.
House passes gas tax onto senate.
Stiff opposition expected to casket less funeral plan.
Two convicts evade noose, jury hung.
William Kelly was fed secretary.
Milk drinkers are turning to powder.
Safety experts say school bus passengers should be belted.
Quarter of a million Chinese live on water.
Farmer bill dies in house.
Iraqi head seeks arms.
Some ads are unintentionally suggestive
Queen Mary is having bottom scraped.
Is there a ring of debris around Uranus?
Prostitutes appeal to Pope.
Panda mating fails, veterinarian takes over.
NJ judge to rule on nude beach.
Child’s stool great for garden use.
Dr. Ruth to talk about sex with newspaper editors.
Soviet virgin land short of goal again.
Organ festival ends in smashing climax.
Grammar often botches other headlines
Eye drops off shelf.
Squad helps dog bite victim.
Dealers will hear car talk at noon.
Enraged cow injures farmer with ax.
Lawmen from Mexico barbecue guests.
Miners refuse to work after death.
Two Soviet ships collide, one dies.
Two sisters reunite after eighteen years at checkout counter.
Once in a while, a botched headline takes on a meaning opposite of the intended one
Never withhold herpes from loved one.
Nicaragua sets goal to wipe out literacy.
Drunk drivers paid $1,000 in 1984
Autos killing 110 a day, let’s resolve to do better.
Sometimes newspaper editors state the obvious
If strike isn’t settled quickly, it may last a while.
War dims hope for peace.
Smokers are productive, but death cuts efficiency.
Cold wave linked to temperatures.
Child’s death ruins couple’s holiday.
Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn’t seen in years.
Man is fatally slain.
Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say.
Death causes loneliness, feeling of isolation
Hope you enjoyed!
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| Wednesday, February 15th, 2006
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9:18 am - Funny English translations
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I found this on the net and thought it related to the "English" component of our Ad Copy class.
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Ever had grammar problems in your English class? Well, you'll feel better when you read these...
In a Tokyo Hotel: Is forbitten to steal hotel towels please. If you are not person to do such thing is please not to read notis.
In another Japanese hotel room: Please to bathe inside the tub.
In a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.
In a Leipzig elevator: Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when lit up.
In a Belgrade hotel elevator: To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.
In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at the front desk.
In a hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily.
In a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.
In a Japanese hotel: You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.
In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.
In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.
On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.
On the menu of a Polish hotel: Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion.
In a Hong Kong supermarket: For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service.
Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop: Ladies may have a fit upstairs.
In a Rhodes tailor shop: Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.
Similarly, from the Soviet Weekly: There will be a Moscow Exhibition of Aets by 15,000 Soviet Republic painters and sculptors. These were executed over the past two years.
In an East African newspaper: A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.
In a Vienna hotel: In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter.
A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest: It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.
In a Zurich hotel: Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.
In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.
A translated sentence from a Russian chess book: A lot of water has been passed under the bridge since this variation has been played.
In a Rome laundry: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.
In a Czechoslovakian tourist agency: Take one of our horse-driven city tours -- we guarantee no miscarriages.
Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand: Would you like to ride on your own ass?
On the faucet in a Finnish washroom: To stop the drip, turn cock to right.
In the window of a Swedish furrier: Fur coats made for ladies from their own skin.
On the box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong: Guaranteed to work throughout its useful life.
Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan: Stop: Drive Sideways.
In a Swiss mountain inn: Special today -- no ice cream.
In a Bangkok temple: It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man.
In a Tokyo bar: Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.
In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions.
On the door of a Moscow hotel room: If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.
In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.
At a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.
In the office of a Roman doctor: Specialist in women and other diseases.
In an Acapulco hotel: The manager has personally passed all the water served here.
In a Tokyo shop: Our nylons cost more than common, but you'll find they are best in the long run.
From a Japanese information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner:
Cooles and Heates:
If you want just condition of warm in your room, please control yourself.
From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo: When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.
Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance:
- English well talking.
- Here speeching American.
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| Tuesday, February 14th, 2006
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5:55 pm - Ideas for posts
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Hi! Looks like everyone's making a huge effort to keep the LJ thing going. Thanks and keep on writing! If you're suffering from writer's block, here is a list of possible topics that you might want to try. Yes, some of them are lame (all?) but they might give you some ideas:
* the best thing that ever happened to me
* the best present I ever got
* the best party I ever went to
* the best vacation I ever had
* my favourite possession
* what would I do if I won a million dollars
* do I prefer a desktop computer or a laptop
* how I met my boyfriend or girlfriend
* if I was an animal, which animal would I be, and why
* the person who has had the most influence on my life
* why my sister/brother and I don't get along
* the advantages/disadvantages of being an only child
* bad/good/weird things that have happened at work
* a description of my computer system at home
* highly recommended complementary class, humanities, English, or gym
* how JAC compares to Dawson or Vanier
* what happens when I cook dinner for friends/family
* if I had to go into the Witness Protection program, what "cover" would I choose and why
* my opinion on getting married young (at 19 or 20)
* my opinion on living together when still a student
* my goals for the future -- career or university?
* if you could have supper with anyone in the world, who would it be and why
* my volunteer job
* my opinion on the death penalty
* is JAC a gay-friendly environment and why
* is JAC a sexist environment and why
* should JAC allow advertisements to be placed in the washrooms
* should JAC allow Coke to have a monopoly on the cola market at the school
* is the iPod a rip-off
* should JAC students have to take one PhysEd every term because Gen Y kids are getting fat
* are women better designers than men, by nature
* are men better computer technicians than men, by nature
Anyway, just a few ideas to get you going...
current mood: mellow
current music: Simon & Garfunkel
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| Monday, February 13th, 2006
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4:40 pm - Time to Mark the LJs
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Hi everyone. Well, it's that time of year again and I need to mark your contributions to the LJ. Take another look at your long handout entitled "blogging" or some such thing. On the last page, there is a list of criteria your blogs need to satisfy. Since you can have one week free of blogging this semester, I'm expecting to see at least 3 decent sized, well-written, grammatically correct, etc., etc., etc., entries. I expect to get around to this after supper this evening. So happy blogging, everyone.
current mood:  energetic
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, February 3rd, 2006
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9:49 am - New info about the ONETOP t-shirt contest
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In case you missed my update, Louis gave me this year's OneTop t-shirt contest information yesterday. I have it in a file that I can send you by email, if anyone's interested in entering. I also posted the package on the bulletin board in P-220 yesterday.
current mood: content
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