Reflections

I tend to not get too personal in my blogs but today I have spent sometime reflecting back on the past few years and how pivotal they have been. I can say with certainty that these three years will define the rest of my life as I go forward in my future. 

I have lost both of my parents in the last three years, changed jobs twice, and moved three or four times ..I have lost track and not sure what would count so .. let’s just say that.  I have sold two house and bought one ---settled my parent’s estate and moved on.    In all honesty at some point I lost all emotion..I did not react I just did what needed done.  At the time it all seemed right and now I can’t look back I cannot change the past.

I have learned alot .. alot about myself and some of you helped me along the way..some of you know it and some of you may not.  Some things I learned were surprising and still continue to surprise me today.. but what it all comes down to is I love the experiences of life and my interactions with all of you.  

I have gone halfway around the world, something I never would have thought possible!  My trip to China was phenomenal .. here is some of the food and other things:
I also had a great vacation with summer with my husband through Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and home again.  We both agreed it was the best vacation ever..now we are planning the next one.
















I have learned a great deal about the career I have chosen in education, my experiences have allowed me to improve my interactions with others.   I have learned a great deal about the philosophical tenets behind Open Education, the strong foundation and spirit behind People’s University and P2P, and traditional education.   I feel very fortunate right now doing some extraordinary things with some great people in education…always thinking about how we can improve.

I am never bored, time never stands still and I am happy in the present but looking forward to the future. I am happy to be able to see others succeed through education by the work that I do to help them achieve their goals.  I am still interested in virtual worlds for education, online education, and spend some time chatting with friends in Second Life and experimenting in there to see what will happen next.  My latest adventure has been to ramp up my efforts in art and digital art..here is some of my work:



Does the below look familiar?




I have read a book or two.  Top of my list is Speed of Trust and Cold Comfort Farms..a little serious reading and a little fun!  I have   written a few blogs .. but my writing motivation has dwindled lately..hopefully that will pick up soon as I am starting anew class with Stephen Downes, etc.

Just something different

Roy Orbison  Video

Never Stop Learning

Several years ago I was a real Photoshop nut … Now I am finding that I have the time and the means to start dabbling in it again.  Having just purchased  Photoshop CS5 I am once again totally blown away by how much improved it is over  CS3, the first version of this software that I purchased. 

I am also amazed at how much I have to learn.  Just this morning, only half awake and before my coffee, I was watching YouTube tutorial on the improvements in selection using CS5.. and yes the Content Aware feature looks like a powerful one..I can’t wait until I really am able to start applying it to some digital artwork. 
There are many things that I want to work on right now … I have been out taking pictures and it is a beautiful time of year to be doing that… here are some of my favorites:




















Right now these may seem kind of static ..however with the right software you can do much to improve the interest in a photo.  I use my photos for many things, not only as a history of my life but to see into a future or a world that is on the edge.. in other words I like to create digital art.
One such example is this “mixed media” picture that I created using an image of my Second Life avatar and a photo that I took in the Buffalo, WY area and another of a 35mm slide I picked up on Ebay sometime ago:


I feel like a novice starting all over with Photoshop again! I love it …

My next adventure in this digital world is Camtasia Studio.   Again I am just learning.  I did make two attempts at doing some Second Life videos:
My first attempt here:
Thistle Hill, Caledon
By my second attempt I had learned how to remove the annoying clicks from the audio:

Steam Sky City, Caledon .. Second Life

There are still some real “herky jerky” elements I do not care for..but I am ok with my first efforts and now will step back and learn how to fine tune and pay attention to the details.

I really didn’t see You Tube as a part of my Social Networking ..but there is always that chance!