Room travel

Looking back at one of my posts from last year, about cleaning my room. Well that made progress, but I thought I'd knock it over in 3 months, while writing a symphony! Yeah....right. Out of around 40 boxes of my stuff, I still have 7 to sort through. Why has it taken so long? My work methods are flawed. I want to read everything. I want to keep lots of things. I lack willpower and focus. These are things I am working on. A friend gave me some exercises to practise, daily, in order to help me keep my focus. As for reading everything, that may not change. As for keeping lots of things, I kind of despair a bit. I am in the habit of keeping things 'just in case'. I have improved. I don't keep everything now, but it's still hard to part with my things... despite never really looking at them.

This post was going to be about something completely different, namely, difficult decisions coming up about travel plans, whether or not I want to go places. But reading that older post about my plans for this year made me want to write about that. Sorting my boxes at the rate I've been going is almost a full-time job. It sounds so silly. How important is stuff? They're just things. We're together and that's all that matters. Anyway.

So, travel plans. Would you go play a gig somewhere if you had to fly there and back, and you weren't getting paid, and it was really close to Christmas, and you might not make rehearsals, and you had a week of stressful performances beforehand?

Ah, the muso life.

Keep on going.

Keep on going
Just keep on going
And then
When you're nearly there
Keep on going...

Until you get there.

And then

Keep on going.

Normal

Dear others,

to counteract all the posts about deep and meaningful and mysterious subjects which are always hiding something, here's a post about the everyday.

So I did some sax practice today. Very rare. I'm sort of so-so about playing my sax, I like it but it doesn't thrill and enthuse me the way improvising on piano does. But I recognise that it's what I'm good at, and I see how it's probably the skill I've honed the most. Therefore it's useful. I'll try to keep it up.

I finished reading an interesting-but-not-so-relevant-anymore excerpt from my Teaching degree, about portfolios being used for assessment. And how standards-based teaching assessments are becoming the norm. Practically foreshadowing the NAPLAN tests. I don't know what year it was published but I'm pretty sure it was before NAPLAN came in. The reading was very much (like my Teaching lecturers were) about alternative methods of assessing kids, and how you can't just test them for what they can remember and spit out, because that doesn't represent how kids are really doing. Plus, it can have negative effects, they'll compare their scores and some may feel bad - even though that might not be their strength. There are many ways kids learn, some are more socially intelligent, some are more creative, and standardised tests don't detect or reward that stuff.

Anyway, to its credit the excerpt was saying you should use a variety of assessments, including tests. There's a place for everything.

I have to go to dinner.

My composing is going okay, but I'm running out of money, or at least I'd have to dig into savings if I want to keep going without a job. Maybe it's time to get something part-time.

Not sure where my life is heading.

Keep warm.