drbexl.co.uk » Plinky

“If I Were a Teacher….”

drbexl — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:09:31 +0000

I love this… “if…”

Ha… and why only one subject…. I teach history, media studies and digital living/literacy… at Universities of Winchester and Durham, and on a consultancy basis elsewhere!

Look out for http://bigbible.org.uk ‘The Big Read 2011′ starting today!

Music sounded better on record

drbexl — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:46:00 +0000

It was “I am the one and only” by Chesney Hawkes, I think!

Just got rid of my car with the cassette player – still have a few cassettes, but nothing to play them on… should just throw them away (have already converted them to MP3!)

What was the first format you played music on?

Post your own answer on Plinky!

It's hard to apologize when I know I'm wrong

drbexl — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:02:00 +0000

In many ways it’s easy to apologise when I know I’m wrong, because then at least I do know why I’m apologising, but many times, it takes a while to work up to saying I’m sorry!! It depends on how badly I think I’m wrong, and how badly I think I might have hurt someone else’s feelings in the process..

Woo hoo!

drbexl — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:48:00 +0000

I used those precise words when I sent an email to my Mum the other day. My plan on coming back to Winchester was to get enough work to see me through to June… job done, but although I’d had lots of conversations, I didn’t have anything concrete for my next stage – enough work to see me through until October. I was then offered 2 pieces of work which, if I’m careful, will at least keep me that long, and there’s other conversations in the pipeline!

I think that deserves a big WOO-HOO of celebration!

I dress to impress in RED, RED, RED

drbexl — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:56:00 +0000

Red tulips Wrangels 30 april

Well, if it’s an interview, clearly it’s going to be a nice pinstripe suit, with lots of RED, nice powerful and confident read… all nicely cleaned and pressed. Always looking for the ideal pair of shoes to go with… bit of a heel for confidence, but not so high that you end up walking like you have blisters all over your feet (which is of course quite possible!).

If I’m going out for the night, quite possibly something similar – maybe less pinstripes, but a nice bright red top, or sometimes purple, or bright green (I don’t really DO pastels)… anything to brighten up the evening… similar dilemma in the shoes – particularly if there’s not a lot of money in the kitty for taxis!

I could eat nothing but pizza for a year

drbexl — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:41:00 +0000

Haloumi Cheese, Zaatar & Tomato Pizzas by avlxyz

No need to edit the default title!

Italian: pasta, pizza, gelato all with in many different (and delicious) flavourings… what more could you want! Well, maybe to find the real cuisine rather than whatever I could afford for 2-3 Euro last summer: http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-330501.html

You have to give away a million dollars. How?

drbexl — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:36:00 +0000

Oooo – that sounds like fun, and with the exchange rate as it currently is that’s worth quite a lot of money, right….

Can I keep some… in which case I’ll buy me a house in Winchester, a car that doesn’t need to spend so long in a garage, and a non-broken computer/phone/hi-fi, then throw a great big party and catch up with everyone again properly….

Part of me wants to run through the streets then throwing money left, right and centre, but probably I’d help family/friends with some of their mortgages, and divide it amongst the charities I’d like to support when I have a proper income: http://www.bex-lewis.co.uk/e-campaigning/index.htm

My bucket list starts with: Visit Canada

drbexl — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Visit Canada
Canada looks a beautiful, friendly country, and all the Canadians I’ve met (and shared rooms with on my travels) have been lovely! I read all the Anne of Green Gables novels when I was younger, and have always wanted to go and see Prince Edward Island… also want to get the train across to the Rockies, see the bright lights of Toronto, ski in Banff, and just take in the beautiful landscapes… while trying out some daft activities and taking a million photos no doubt, see: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/drbexl/ for evidence of that!

Publish my PhD as a Book
I will never feel like I’ve finished my PhD until I see my name on the spine of a book in the bookstores. There’s plenty of interesting material in my PhD (see http://www.ww2poster.co.uk), lots of interest in it (see the recent furore over ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’: http://drbexl.blogspot.com/2009/03/keep-calm-and-carry-on.html). Originally I intended to call my book “It’s Up To You” after a poster which takes the Kitchener “Your Country Needs You” as a design inspiration, but now Keep Calm and Carry On seems far more appropriate, as I’m particularly interested in why such images still resonate over 60 years later). At my PhD viva we spent most of the time discussing turning the thesis into a book (would probably take around a year on top of a steady job), and the book proposal is in process… meantime, travelling and job-seeking have rather taken away from that!

Visit Israel
OK, so it’s another “visit somewhere”, as the remainder may be… I want to take a trip to Israel with http://www.oakhall.co.uk. I know loads of people who’ve been and they all say the same thing… really tiring, but completely awesome and inspiring (well, that describes pretty much any Oak Hall trip that I’ve been on!)

See a Formula 1 Race live
I used to follow Formula 1 avidly, watching heats, races, repeats, highlights – you name it, and reading all the magazines. I then realised how much of my life this was taking up and pretty much went cold turkey. However, getting to know Emma @ Manchester we chatted about Formula 1 lots, and I would still like to go to see a live race… not sure where yet. I have stood on the starting grid and podium at Albert Park in Australia, and may watch some of this weekend’s… if only to remind me of the time I spent in Australia (and there’s somewhere else to go back to!)… I had a day’s race car driving experience: http://www.bex-lewis.co.uk/career/big_achievements/drivingexperience.htm, whic was great… bring on the skid-pan racing next!

Run the London or New York Marathon
I’ve done a couple of 10ks, and would even need to build back up to that length at the moment, but I’ve always wanted to run the London Marathon (although sometimes I think the New York would suit my traveller mind more). I have actually completed a full-length marathon event: http://www.bex-lewis.co.uk/career/big_achievements/moonwalk.htm, which is maybe almost harder than a daytime marathon, but still, running a marathon beckons…

The athlete in me!!!

drbexl — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:48:00 +0000

The ‘have a go hero(ine)’…! Aside from my PhD where I am undoubtedly the world’s expert on British Home Front Propaganda Posters, see http://www.ww2poster.co.uk/ (well, it’s a niche!), I am one of life’s explorers! I like to remain open to the possibilities of what is going on out there… I usually have a flexible plan for what I want to achieve, and am highly aware of the areas that I’m interested in, but as a bit of a meerkat (well, that was the animal I chose to describe myself as for my life-coaching course), I like to get an overview, and am always looking around for new possibilities!

So, in that whole paragraph, how much athletics did I mention… not a lot, but in the spirit of that paragraph I probably wouldn’t be renowned for my athletic prowess in any sport as I flirt with many… like to meet my challenges to a certain level, then I’m ready to try something new:

Lover of circuit training (and most other non-dancy gym classes), give me another go at Kickboxing soon please!
2 x 10k Runs (about to get back into the swing of this)
Certified PADI Open Water Diver
Skier… I can complete a black run without falling over… sometimes!
15,000 foot skydiver
Hiked the Inca Trail (and other walking trips on my round-the-world travels)
Climbed the highest point of Montserrat, near Barcelona
Completed the Moonwalk (26.2 miles overnight), in preparation for which walked about 6 miles per day to work/back!

So, looks like walking might be the winner… all exercises the brain… and for most of my sessions it’s exercises the mouth too… yes, I have to admit, that’s probably most what I like about the exercise… the chance for a conversation… multi-tasking in a feminine way!

Wow, I quite like this Plinky thing… one short question and many different ideas, all answered in different ways!

Seat me next to the irritating talker, please

drbexl — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:11:00 +0000

What This is About:
Just stumbled across ‘Plinky’, a site which provides random questions, to which you can provide an answer in any way you choose (and it just demonstrates the different ways in which people’s minds think!). I linked it to this blog, and next thing I know, it’s posted what I’ve written… (and the prompt acts as the blog title) that’s one way to get creative with the blogging (was actually trying to work out how to post the days tweets as a blog, not worked that one out yet!). Unfortunately it doesn’t post images or give an option to add labels/keywords, but I can (and am) re-editing afterwards to add those elements, although where possible leaving the article as is! Done a couple of entries, but don’t want to a) use them all up b) overwhelm with entries!

The Upload from Plinky:
Talk, talk, talk…

Sitting in silence ALL day would drive me completely up the wall, although if they distracted me from taking photos out of the window they’d be in trouble! I’ll pretty much talk to anybody and can find interest in most conversations… although the irritating voice may get to me in the end… maybe I’d have to try and pace my conversation to theirs!