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What
we did on the weekend Dalian integrating technology blog at DAIS
integrating technology
grades K - 12 tofu
Tomb Sweeping Day, Qingming Festival
Ah Tomb Sweeping Day, Qingming Festival; the day that one tends the graves of their once-were-mates. One of those great non-Western holidays that we celebrate by not working, well working but not usual working, working in the plan-our-holidays way. The thing is about two and a half thousand years old and for the most part from what I see they do a few extra fireworks – a few extra – considering most mornings I hear fireworks from some local cemetery – a few extra gets to be a bit annoying when one wants to sleep in a bit. And they burn paper money though I am not sure what that is for.
Nevertheless we jumped full throttle into the day; firstly, by changing our ticket back to Australia in July. Originally we had a six hour stop in Kuala Lumpur on our ticket from Beijing to Adelaide after two weeks in the States. Today we changed that to four days in KL. The reason being that Narda has been looking for places we may retire to. Somehow my mind disappears when I hear about retirement as my life I am doing sort of backward. I started my university career as a student at the age of 44 and continued it for 14 more years in the midst of being a single parent in the middle of a foreign country trying not to be foreign to myself but I may have failed and just ended up re-inventing myself as an old person. I started to teach at uni in 1998 whilst doing my seven year trek through the brain-numbing, though at times, interesting, world of a PhD, at the University of South Australia – age 51 – when some start thinking of retirement I started thinking what I would do when I grew up and finished my bloody thesis http://neuage.org/ODAM. I liked my world – the kids would go to Wirreanda High School in Morphett Vale for the day and I would take the train into Adelaide and spend the day in my office. It was an escape back when the Internet and making webpages was fun before the world was swamped with so much instant changes and so much information. I went slower in those days; fifteen years ago when I was only 51 I went at a much slower pace than now, probably enjoyed life much more, and definitely accomplished more in a day. I could teach classes, work on my thesis, and have time to be a parent, write children stories, do my picture poems and oh so much more. I loved being a single parent and would recommend it to anyone if not everyone. We roamed the world; doing a couple of round-the-world trips, we dreamt of incredible futures – which almost eventuated and life was good. Life is still good but I felt I was more retired when I was in my 40s being a single parent, dreaming impossible dreams and just chilling. Now I have embraced adulthood – even must say it is quite enjoyable – I am just getting going and retirement? Nay, it’s not for me. But Narda, she is looking at the beaches, and grandchildren, and travel as if three trips to Australia and a trip to the States as well as other local spots: Viet Nam, various Chinese cities, in a year is not enough.
One of the places that Narda has been reading
about is Penang, Malaysia so we are looking for places to stay in George Town, an hour flight away from Kuala
Lumpur. Four days in Penang and no doubt I will be shown the merits of
retirement. Actually I equate Tomb Sweeping Day with retirement.
What I did get done on this glorious
holiday was putting together my vast number of video clips from last week’s pop
into Shanghai and distilling them down to two three minute clips. They are now youtube videos: http://youtu.be/KzbtUqU7Qcs
= Shanghai, and http://youtu.be/FgWA_yne1VI
= Zhujiajiao as well I have made them additions to my
blog for those two events: http://neuage.us/BLOGS/39-Shanghai2013.htm
for my two blog readers in all of China and whom may not be able to get on to youtube due to not having a VPN.
What we should have done today was
ride out bikes but it is still cold and windy and well we tried a
mini-retirement day. I even stayed in my jammies for most of the day and took a
fifteen minute nap and now I will toddle off to the gym and work on body
sculpturing or keeping the fat bits away anyway. I suppose if retirement was
like today it was OK though I am really looking forward to tomorrow to go back
to work. I have my film class first block; 8:45 in the morning and we are
finishing up quarter number three. We are Skyping
with people in India and a person in the State of Washington who has written an
orchestra piece that our school is performing. As well we are preparing our
Skype work with a co-producer in LA who has recently had her film in the
Sundance Festival and she is working with my class to do a film online. So retirement? Not this week mate. I love my job – I have so
many projects going at once and rush from thing to thing, reminding me of
decades ago when I lived a project-based life and in the midst had time to
laugh with my children and dream incredible futures. That is what I love about
my job; I not only can accomplish stuff I need as well as want to do but I have
lots of flexibility to try new things and get involved in new directions. And now
at 65 when others think of retirement I have started a new career as a film
dude as I am getting involved in a kool global niche
of creative possibilities I had not dreamt of even last semester.
Oh Narda
has just found a caravan for us to purchase – another retirement plan of hers. We
will have a caravan in Australia and live in it when we visit family when we
are not cruising the Nile or trekking Nepal or whatever it is old people do
that have money – well that is not us, too ugly and too poor maybe but not ones
with money so maybe we will just buy an old caravan – tie it up to our old car
that sits in storage in Australia – and become trailer trash and get fat and
live along the coast of Australia. Every day will then be Tomb Sweeping Day.
contact DALIAN CHINA ~ TOFU ~ PICTURE POEMS ~ Educational blogs updated August 15, 2013 Vietnam trekking.
Blog Index updated August 15, 2013 K - 12 technology (updated August 13, 2013). Travel Site (2013) updated August 14, 2013. Videos/Blogs on Youtube, Twitter, Wordpress, Photo albums. Updated 15 Second Street, Round Lake, New York and photos from parent's 1943 wedding as well as Leigh's page. Farmville page updated Thursday, March 17, 2011 5:58 PM neuage.org updated August 15, 2013 neuage.us updated August 15, 2013 Resume updated August 15, 2013
Blog updated / Integrating Technology Blog: terrell.neuage.us and/or neuage.me, neuage.info, neuage.mobi, livejournal, Serendipity, neuage.co, drupal-gardens
Today working on picture poem links starting around "better"). Picture poems are the digital format of work I did as a street artist in New Orleans in the 1970s, as well as New York City, Honolulu, San Francisco and Adelaide South Australia. Follow @neuage.
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