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 Elise Website Network |
As time goes by...
What a year it's been. I've officially graduated from Teacher's College (Formation à l'enseignement) -- I get my diploma on June 6. My last placement, in grade 5, went well. I learned a lot. This group of 31 children wasn't easy, so it's the best learning experience. I've been substituting a little since classes ended.
I was in Cuba two weeks ago. It was my first trip south and my first experience with an all inclusive resort. I loved it. I travelled with my boyfriend and his family. The weather was nice the whole week we were there, and the beach... oh the beach!  I'm doing a mega spring cleaning in my room. I went through every piece of clothing I own and got rid of a lot of things, enough to fill two large garbage bags. I was due, my closet and my dressers were passed their capacity. It feels good to get rid of things. Now my room is a war zone. Everything has been moved around. We also got our windows changed, so my curtains aren't even back on. It's a work in progress... I'm slowly going through the boxes under my bed. Gilmore Girls had its series finale. As the season went on, I was hoping it would be the last one, because the show wasn't what it used to be. I felt obligated to watch it because, after all, it's Gilmore Girls. But I didn't want recent episodes to ruin the opinion I had about the show. Luckily, episodes got extremely good at the end of the season. A couple even made me cry. Nothing compared to the amazing series finale, that made my chin shake for about 20 minutes. What a treat! It's sad to admit that it's over. But I'm glad it ended on such a high note. Of course my website will remain online. It's purpose is even clearer now: keep the magic of Gilmore Girls alive. I've experienced some problems with my host lately, that did an upgrade of the forum and lost a ton of my topics. I lost some loyal users along the way unfortunately. But things are slowly going back to normal and everything should be in order by the middle of the summer. So here it is, my most recent post in the last 3 moths or so. I've been so busy, I didn't even have the time to come here and write. Well, actually I wasnted many hours on Facebook. I'm considering closing my account there, it's too invasive and takes away many precious hours, because it's so addictive. lol. I've also been watching the show Scrubs. I love it. I had only seen two episodes before. So I started form the beginning and am now two thirds into the third season.  A big hello goes to my host Rachel and my online friend Jazzy.
Planche à neige
I have to admit that I haven't been a very loyal blogger these past few months. The end of my school placement went well. I was very tired and the Holidays didn't take pitty on me either. I had very nice Holidays... it was my first Christmas with my boyfriend as well. University started soon after and it seemed like I hadn't had time to rest yet. The new semester is acceptable, although some classes seem irrelevant at times. A lot of work to do, again.
I redesigned my Gilmore Girls website. That's where I spent most of my online time, and mostly the reason why I haven't been writing here. I am very happy with the result. I reorganized everything as well. I'm proud of what I've accomplished. I can't believe that I've had that website for more than 6 years. Oh, and programming wise, I decided to stick to what I know, HTML. You can drop by and tell me what you think http://www.gilmorememories.com I caught a bad cold 3 weeks ago. Just as I was getting better, it came back, full force last weekend. The up side of my cold is that I took some days off from university -- a well deserved break. Being sick didn't keep me off the Rideau Canal. Did you know that it's the longest skating rink in the world? You kind of take it for granted when you live close to it... which is why I spent an amazing day skating, last Sunday. All 7km of it... there and back (which makes 14km in total!). Of course, I stopped for a beaver tail along the way. This weekend I'm going snowboarding at Mont Tremblant. I've never been snowboarding before. I registered for a lesson on Saturday morning. Should be interesting. I've never been downhill skiing either, just cross country, when I was 12 (and I hated it). So this weekend is going to be filled with winter activities. I'm hoping that my cold continues to disapear, as it has been doing for the last 2 days... and then I can fully enjoy the outdoors. Thanks Jazzy for the comments. Thank you for the nice feedback about my website.
In the Christmas spirit...
I haven't posted in such a long time. I've been busy with my studies at La faculté d'éducation (Teachers College) and recently in my placement. For the past 4 weeks, I've been teaching french to three classes in grade 7. Those 12 year olds are quite the bunch. I've been working really hard. I created an entire poetry and song unit, lessons, activities, tests, evaluations... I've been teaching and doing discipline and everything. The teacher in charge of my placement told me I am ready to become a teacher. It's exciting and very exhausting. So my weeks and weekends have been spent getting ready for school and doing correction. I've also made sure to leave a little time (sometimes a little more) to spend with my guy.
I borrowed a PHP 5 book from the library. I have the intention of reading about it over the Christmas break (Dec 23 - Jan 4) and redesigning my Gilmore girls website. It's a very ambitious goal, concidering I'm super tired and want to relax over my short break. If I don't have the energy, I'll set the PHP aside and simply redesign the website using good old iFrames in HTML. :) I love my website but am realizing that my life is getting busier and that it's harder to keep up with all the changes in web design. I'm in a veyr Christmas mood, even though we don't have any snow. We've had the crappiest weather during the past month. It's been gray almost every day (I'd say 14 out of 15) and the rain washed away the little bit of snow we had. Despite that, I managed to get in the mood. Today I shopped for a couple of hours. It was very successful. Now I want to listen to some Christmas music while grading papers. I hope everyone's enjoying these last few days before Christmas. Thanks Jaz and Ciel for commenting on my last post.
Resisting vs. Adapting
There's always room for improvement. We, as individuals, have the ability to adapt and to change. The reasons behind this change can be classified in two categories: (1) Changing for yourself and (2) Changing for others.
Trying to reach your full potential. Wanting to acquire new skills. Changing to feel better about yourself. Staying true to your values and beliefs. That's changing for yourself. Trying to become someone else. Wanting to please someone. Changing to feel accepted. Conforming to others' beliefs. That's changing for others. However, those two categories aren't as clear as they are stated here. It's sometimes hard to figure out the reasons behind our changes. By changing to be accepted by a group, while staying somewhat true to your beliefs... doesn't that make you feel better about yourself? And don't we want to please the ones we love? The line between changing for yourself and changing for others is blurred. I think the key is to try and stay true to who you are, while being open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. To find a balance between adaptation and resistance. Thanks Jac. I might take you up on that offer if I get some time to design around Christmas time.
Times Are Changing
Web design has come a long way since 1997. I've evolved with it for some years. Now, I find myself in front of a PHP wave and don't know how to swim. I tried to stay on shore. It worked. For many years actually (in www land, many years = 2). Now I feel that I can't move up unless I overcome this wave. I don't have the energy, I don't have the inspiration, I don't have the time.
As a web designer, you visit your own website quite frequently. You are the first one to get tired of a layout. That layout you worked so hard on. The one that took hours to create. The one that you loved. It's now old. I'm glad that home design doesn't get as old as fast. It would cost a lot to repaint every year. I find myself stuck. There are no more options. I won't create another simple HTML/IFrames website. The next design I create will be in a PHP/mySQL format. It's the smart choice. With a large website like my GilmoreMemories.com, it's the best option. But do I feel like learning a new language? Do I even have the time? I think I'll wait until Christmas break to decide. There's a new version of PHP/mySQL for dummies book coming out. Maybe that will be more helpful than those tutorial websites (might as well be in Latin, I didn't understand a thing). It's not like I have the time right now. I'm a little disapointed. My semester is going well. It's been 3 weeks, and it seems like longer. We have a lot of work. Kass, je crois que cette tranquilité d'esprit est toujours temporaire. Eventuellement, on change, on est en désiquilibre... pour ensuite revenir a quelque chose qui "fit". Thanks Jazzy for the comment. The wedding is this saturday!Archives:
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