25th Wedding Anniversary

It was my parents 25th Wedding Anniversary this week. Wow - 25 years with the same person! Well Done them! They went off to Paris for the week (well 4 days) to celebrate - leaving me at home! woo! Me and Charlie had lots of fun, ok... actually, I'm slightly ashamed to admit it - but we spent most of the evenings watching Tv - Britain's Got Talent, Mon, Tue, Thurs & Fri, with The Apprentice on Wednesday - I lead a sad life!

Was off work ill on the Thursday, but by late afternoon was feeling better, so I deep cleaned half the kitchen (I wasn't feeling THAT much better) for my parents return, and made them a card by hand...

Please note the silver sequins to represent the silver wedding anniversary... I did have lots of issue with glue - but I think I just about saved it!

My parents also bought each other a card, my Mum bought hers in one of the local shops, while Dad purchased his in Central London; these are the cards they swapped:

Think it's kinda sweet they got each other the same card... I like coincidences like that :)

Peace.x

Makaton Course

Today, Saturday 16th May, I went on another course, this time a free two hour session to learn Makaton. Makaton is slightly similar to British Sign Language in that some of the signs are the same, however Makaton is for a completely different set of people.

Makaton was first developed in the UK in the 1970’s by a speech and language therapist and was devised as a way of increasing the ability to communicate in those who live with learning difficulties, such as those living with Autism and those with cognitive impairment. Makaton is a much simpler form of communication and uses common vocabulary that is used in everyday speech. It also incorporates the use of picture cards and ties in facial expressions with the word to produce more content in the shortest form.

Unlike British Sign Language, Makaton uses speech as well as actions and symbols. This encourages children to learn many different forms of communication which has shown good results in academic and social achievement by those who use it. It has even been proven to increase literacy and numeracy skills and encourages development of visual, recognition and identification skills. As babies develop, they often use signs and gestures to communicate what they want, such as a drink, and most parents also use this method without realising it. For example, many parents and carers symbolise a drink using a hand to mouth action, or a spoon to mouth action when encouraging children to eat for themselves. Makaton is merely an extension of this, with specific actions, signs and symbols for each activity.

I learnt quite a few everyday words and signs, and very much enjoyed learning this new way of communicating. The key to this technique is to TALK while signing... A lot of people were just signing like you do for BSL as deaf people can't hear the words. However, with Makaton it isn't about the signing, its about being able to communicate effectivly, the signing and symbols add to the meaning of the spoken words, to help the person with difficulties learn the meanings of the words. It is like a child learning to read. Childrens books have lots of pictures, and this helps give clues to what the story is about and what words might be being used. For a child with language difficulties, the signs are visual clues to what the words are, and will hopefully help them to eventually develop and learn to recognise the oral words alone.

A very enjoyable two hours, and something I might like to progress with in the future. A well spent saturday morning :)

For more information on Makaton: http://www.makaton.org/about/about.htm

Look-a-Likes 2 Morgan/Bardem

I watched a film called 'No Country For Old Men' the couple weeks ago- bit of a weird film - but made me think and stuck with me for a bit. However, something which struck me the whole way through, and continued to bug me until I goggled it - was how much the main character reminded me of a character from the series 'Greys Anatomy'

So - Jeffrey Dean Morgan from Greys anatomy: And Javier Bardem from No country For Old Men:


and

Game Reviews (DS)

Over the Easter period, I played quite a few DS games during my time off (a break from my reading has been nice!) So I shall give a quick review of each one - exciting!!
Theres 8 different games, and I have marked them out of 10, and ordered them below from best to worst :)

Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 10/10
http://professorlaytonds.com/
The Curious Village is a puzzle game. You control Professor Layton around the village of St. Mystere to locate the "Golden Apple" and solving other little mysteries during their searching. There are Brain teasers, logic puzzles, sliding puzzles and lots more - many asking you to think outside the box or to think more carefully before rushing into an answer. Many of these questions I have encountered before, such as the farmer trying to get across the river and trying to measure a certain amount of liquid with other containers... I enjoyed the game a lot, probably the best I have played on the DS (along with Hotel Dusk: http://www.hoteldusk.com/)

ThemePark DS - 8/10
http://www.themepark.ea.com/
Oh... what a classic! Exactly like the old bullfrog PC game I had back in the day.. but on DS - love it!! Although i do get bored of these quite quickly.... I did hope they might bring theme hospital out also, but in an interview asking 'If Theme Park is a success on DS, do you plan to bring Theme Hospital or Populous to DS?' Nagahara (the game designer says) 'We had a wonderful time developing Theme Park for DS... (blah blah blah lots more stuff about how great it was) but we have nothing to discuss at the moment regarding future development plans.' Bummer. :(

Mechanic Master - 7/10
http://www.midway.com/uk/Game_MechanicMaster.html
Mechanic Master uses the stylus as a weapon to rid the Earth of alien invaders that have scattered across the planet. You have to create crazy contraptions to free humans, and creative-thinking is key to clearing each level. I enjoyed this game, but it got a bit boring after a while, as each level is very similar, just getting harder, with more complex contraction reactions you havr to set up..

Professor Heinz Wolff's Gravity - 6/10
http://www.game.co.uk/DS/Activity/~r337824/Professor-Heinz-Wolffs-Gravity/
Basically... there are different problems, where you have to get a ball to touch a button... and the only thing that is certain... is gravity... there is lots of physics and stuff involved....I haven't played this a huge amount, but it has been okay. Similar to the Mechanical Master... I got a bit bored quite quickly as you have to be delicate when picking up the objects, as the slightest touch they move and knock over each other, and you have to think very carefully when trying to solve each one.. i lost patience!! A Good, and well thought out game!

Mystery Case File: Millionheir: 6/10
http://www.nintendo.com/mcf/
Sounds more exciting than it is... although it is looking for some dead millionaire, and who killed him... all it is is a big searching game. You have a list of 5-25 items and a time limit to find a certain amount of them in a room or series of locations... this is the whole game... sometimes visiting the same room looking for different items... I enjoyed it, as sometimes it was nice to not have to think and just look for silly objects in a random scene... but I wouldn't play this again now I have completed it...

Rubik's Puzzle World - 3/10
http://www.rubiks.com/Rubiks%20Puzzle%20World.aspx
an abstract environment Rubik's Cubes, with a collection of games that challenge intellect while incorporating the mental twists and turns that made the original Rubik's cube.... Some of the games were quite fun and challenging.. all involving Rubik type cubes and colours... but it seemed a bit pointless, when you had done a level, it just turned a different colour... there wasn't the opition of different profiles so i didn't know what I had done or what my mum had completed, and there were no times or scores, or any extra bits to open... I just didn't really get a sense of progress or feeling of achievement with the game, so i stopped quite soon after starting!

Myst - 1/10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst
Apparently: 'Alone on a mysterious island, you set out to explore its grandeur and mystery. Here a chilling tale of intrigue and injustice, defying all boundaries of space and time, is being told. Quickly, though, it becomes clear every action can somehow help unfortunate individuals trapped somewhere in a parallel dimension.'
However, this was a complete disaster on the DS. I can see this working really well on the PC (We even have the PC version - I just never got round to playing it) It was awkward, trying to walk around and get a proper view was dreadful, everything was always so dark, and the screen was too small, everything you tried to read was too small even with some magnified glass tool and you couldn't spot things which would lead the story on. I ended up printing a walk through... and realised half the stuff I had done without realising it (I had walked into a secret room from throne room, and didn't know where I was or how I got there due to the awful stylus tapping way of getting around) In the end the walk through just wasn't fun and was meaningless, so I gave up and traded this game in! I did waste a total of about 3-4 hours trying to get into it though!!

The Legend of Zelda:Phantom Hourglass Hints III - 1/10
http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Legend-of-Zelda-Phantom-Hourglass-Hints-III-DS-97755.shtml
Tried to play this game, I really did... but the first thing you have to do it fight 3 Orcs... and then later 2 more and then 2 more... you get 'experience' and promoted or what not, i even found a spell and some protection thing... but I had to make a move, then the enemy made a move, and no matter how i tried to kill them, each time I would lose a few health points, and after about 15 minutes, I died due to having no health. There was no explanation of how to get health, or even really how to play the game... and since there was fighting from the beginning with no real explanation or aim of the game, I gave up and this has also been traded in!

Unfinished

I realise I never came back and finished my last entry, and I do apologise! I ended up visiting my friends, and having a most wonderful weekend, and then as the week progressed I had 'issues' with my sister and 1 laptop charger shared between us.... Lets just say, after a long few days of tempers hotting up, the final showdown wasn't pretty. I should affirm our arguments have progressed from when we were younger brawling siblings, as no violence was used, name calling was kept to a minimum, and it did not end in tears... however, long, accusing words were exchanged, and I'm sure the neighbours can't have appreciated the noise!

I have been up to lots of little exciting things, and shall probably follow this with various reviews of films and games I have watched and played this past week :)

Love Love
xxx

Tea

I wish Tea didn't go cold so quickly...

I decided to add this photo to reiterate my love for tea... even though I look rough!

My top 16 Mark Twain Quotes

Ok, So I'm not normally known as a geek (I don't think??!) But secretly I am... in a lot of ways, which you will probably come to find out!! Today's Geeky-ness is how I like to read quotes from famous people... I think they are cool, and interesting and a lot of the time thought-provoking... so here goes, some (well quite a few) quotes from Mark Twain, my chosen person for today - enjoy :)

My Top 16 Mark Twain Quotes:

1. A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain

2. Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first

3. Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable

4. Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.

5. I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won't

6. If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything

7. It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt

8. It is easier to stay out than get out

9. Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great

10. The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up

11. The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them

12. Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours

13. When you cannot get a compliment any other way pay yourself one

14. Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform

15. A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes

16. Man is the Only Animal that Blushes. Or needs to

Have you ever been in love?

A quote from Neil Gaiman:

"Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life…You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like ‘maybe we should be just friends’ turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It’s a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love."

Horne/Lilley

I was watching 'Horne and Cordon' and thought that when Matt Horne is dressed up a bit as the gay reporter, he rather looks like Chris Lilley from 'Summer Heights High.' Just a little observation :) Heres the 2 pics:

My Cardigan

Cardi I knitted.

With Rasberry wool - It was a sublime pattern, called Garbo

This is the original picture on the pattern:

Hello

Hello - I shall start this lovely blog as soon as I have a little bit of time to give it the care and attention needed to get it to a good start :)
xxx