Saturday, March 30, 2013
Even now
Friday, July 13, 2012
Wicked Garden
Can you see what I want?
I wanna run through your wicked garden
Heard that's the place to find you
'Cuz I'm alive, so alive now
I know that darkness blinds you
Can you see without eyes?
Can you speak without lies?
I wanna drink from your naked fountain
I could drown your sorrows
I'm gonna burn, burn you alive now
Out of the chains that bind you
Can you see just like a child?
Can you see just what I want?
Can I bring you back to life?
Are you still alive?
Burn, burn, burn
(Burn, burn, burn, burn)
Burn your wicked garden down
Burn, burn, burn
(Burn, burn, burn, burn)
Burn your wicked garden to the ground, yea
Can you feel the pain inside?
Can you love? Can you cry?
I wanna run through your wicked garden
Heard that's the place to find you
'Cuz I'm alive, so alive now
I know that darkness blinds you
Can you see just like a child?
Can you see just what I want?
Can I bring you back to life?
Are you still alive?
Burn, burn, burn
(Burn, burn, burn, burn)
Burn your wicked garden down
Burn, burn, burn
(Burn, burn, burn, burn)
Burn your wicked garden to the ground, yea
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Oh please.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Tomorrows to do list..
1. Clean kitchen
2. Breakfast
3. Colour in with the kids.
4. Washing in machine and Dryer.
5. Clean bedrooms
6. Vacuum the house
7. Mattock the garden bed for planting.
8. Lunch
9. Movie with kids (knitting?)
10. Clean bathrooms
11. Chachi and Amber are both coming over in the afternoon.
12. Dinner (Pumpkin curry)
13. work on report.
14. knit for one hour and watch atheist experience. :P
15. shower
16. Die
yay fun....
Blogging about Vegie Mince.
2 large carrots, finely grated
2 large zucchinis, finely grated
6 largeish mushrooms, diced
6-7 finely chopped sundried tomatoes
one bunch of radishes, diced or grated
400g red kidney beans, crushed
This quantity makes enough for a huge lasagne or nachos for like 8 adults...so you can adjust the quantities of ingredients accordingly...
other things you can add are things like cauliflower, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, parsnips - but it depends on what you are trying to make as to whether you would use these things or not. For example, Pumpkin is good for lasagne not so great for nachos or pasta.
You could even add lentils to this for a lot of extra bulk, but basically this is what I use as a substitute to meat in things like nachos, lasagne, pasta, pies and stews. I use it just like you would use regular mince... It requires more cooking because of the extra liquids, but it is so worth it.
So there you have it...
Monday, April 9, 2012
Fan Girl...
Utterly gorgeous and his voice..it gives me shivers... :3 I'd like very much to get to know him personally...
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Selling some shoes.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
What i hate most about Power Players
To a certain extent, one expects most players to attempt to maximise their character's utility, by giving them good weapons, armour (if they use it) an other items. This helps to make characters just that little bit more uber and helps to differentiate the higher level characters from the lower (XP aside). It is a generally accepted thing that your character will have weaknesses, just like real people and that is the fun of role play - you take on the quirks of your character in order to play them as a unique and flawed individual. This is the heart and soul of role play.
Yet every now and then (and increasingly more often) you play a campaign with someone who just sucks balls. These people I call 'Power Players' and their sole goal in role play is to 'Kill shit and get stuff'. Now i have a number of issues with this mentality and style of role playing, and I will outline them now.
1)They have no respect for the versatility or subtitles of class. They normally play characters like Fighters, and will only be satisfied with that character if his strength is really high; completely ignoring the concept of being a martial warrior who's abilities lay in their speed and accuracy, or even giving them a quirky history, such as they always wanted to be a fighter, but childhood infirmity has made them weak, so they normally try and avoid combat - even though they are a fighter (bahaha!). Power players will sometimes play other classes (particularly if they are an 'experienced' power player) but generally, they lean towards the same sort of rule :- max'd out prime requisites or the character is 'shit'.
2) They apply a stock standard scaffold of 'what a fighter does' or 'what a mage does'to their characters, often ignoring the fact that their character has a history, a personality, and alignment...these things contribute to how you should play your character...they help you to determine what your character would do in a given situation. It also leads a lot of them to become hostile towards more subtle classes like Bards and Druids, because their mentality disallows them to conceive of the possibility that a character's strengths might actually lay in the ability of the player to STAY IN CHARACTER. Now some power players will occasionally call on some of their character's quirks and oddities and personality aspects at different times, but mostly, they are just them, playing a character on a sheet, and they rarely become their characters or expend any real effort in the playing of the role. This is irritating for the following reason.
3) Power players are without exception, the loudest and most obnoxious players in any given campaign. They are the ones who gloat when they kill something, or throw their dice across the table when they roll badly or get injured. Consequently they are normally the ones who eat all the Dorritos and drink all the Coke too. They make the game not fun for other people, and you never even get the benefit of meeting their characters...except in the rare instance when the person in question is forced to role play out of a sticky situation, in which case they are normally the arrogant one, attempting to use their charisma of 17 to influence someone, but doesn't actually know how to be charismatic and so expects the DM to just give it to them on the basis of them having a charisma of 17 (because apparently it doesn't matter what you say..its HOW you say it....)
In conclusion..power players suck.
EcoORGANICS Cotton Yarn
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Working with eggs.
- 2 whole duck eggs
- 2 extra duck egg yolks
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 1/2 a vanilla bean
- 2 cups of cream
- Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (300 degrees F)
- Place cream in a saucepan over a medium heat. scrape the bean half and place both the seeds and the pod in the cream.
- While the cream is heating, add the eggs, yolks and sugar to a bowl and whisk until pale and creamy.
- Add egg and sugar mix slowly to the hot cream, stirring all the time.
- Continue to stir custard regularly until it begins to thicken - coating the back of your spoon.
- From here you can either use this custard as a pouring custard by removing from the heat and cooling, or you can create a delicious baked custard, which can be eaten on their own, or turned into crème brulee!
- To make a baked custard, take 6 half cup ramekins and place them in a deep baking dish. pour the custard into the ramekins, distributing evenly.
- Pour hot water into the deep baking dish so that the water comes half way up the side of the ramekins, creating a Bain Marie. Place the whole tray in the oven and cook for roughly 35 minutes, or until the tops of the custards start to brown (if this starts to happen before the first 15 minutes are up, cover your dish with tin foil to stop them from burning).
- Once cooked, remove your custards from the oven and allow to cool in the water bath.
- To enjoy your custards, they can be eaten warm or cold. you can also add some fine sugar to the top and blast them with a butene torch to make crème brulee!
The perfect curry.
- 500grams diced lamb leg
- 3 large potatoes - diced
- 2 large onions - diced
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander seed
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon of your favourite masala (my favourite is kitchen king)
- Extra chilli if your masala is not as hot as you would like your curry.
- 2 crushed garlic cloves
- 600grams of diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups of strong beef stock
- 1/2 cup of red wine
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- In a large pot, heat olive oil on a medium heat. Once hot, add lamb and potatoes and cook until meat is browned all over.
- Add onions and cook until onions are soft, then add spices and garlic - heat until the spices' aromas start to become very strong.
- Add stock, wine and tomatoes, cover and turn hear down low.
- Cook for roughly 2 hours, until liquids have reduced and potatoes are soft and disintegrating. Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Serve hot with basmati rice and popodoms
Thursday, August 25, 2011
I now drive....on my own.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Uni Marks
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Atheism
Sunday, July 10, 2011
On a lighter note...
Ode to a Drop-kick
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Effects of Early Child Care on Childhood Development
The Effects of Early Child Care on Childhood Development
Eryn Barlow
Word count: 1,281
Abstract
Childcare has become a fundamental part of our society. Interest in the effect that centre care has on future outcomes for children is increasing, and long term studies on the effects undertaken. Belsky et al’s (2007) report on the long term effects of non relative child care found some correlation between quality child care and high levels of academic achievement and also between long hours of non relative care and behaviour problems. Sims, Guilfoyle and Parry’s (2006) study, which measured cortisol levels of children in centre care found that the higher the quality of the child care, the less likely children were to experience an increase in cortisol levels over the course of the day. Although exactly what levels of cortisol are damaging is not known, the presence of stress markers in lower quality care helps to highlight areas for improvement. Over all, both studies indicate that quality child care is important for promoting positive future outcomes for children.
* * *
The Effects of Early Child Care on Childhood Development
In Belsky et al’s (2007) report on the long term effects of early child care, their research into child care effects on long term development in regards to quality, quantity and type of care shows that even after controlling for as many contributing factors as possible, including socioeconomic and ethnic differences as well as parenting quality and the nature of the home environment (Belsky et al. 2007) it is very difficult to positively determine the long term effects that early child care may have (Belsky et al.). However, it is possible to see some correlation between individual child outcomes in areas of cognitive development such as language, memory and mathematics and the delivery of quality childcare (Belsky et al.). There is also some correlation between social and interpersonal development and longer hours spent in non-relative care and centre based care systems in particular (Belsky et al.).
There is extreme difficulty involved in studying the effects of child care on children as they grow and are entangled in greater webs of experience. The Belsky et al study (2007) found some evidence to suggest that children who were exposed to centre based care were more likely to have high scores on maths and literacy tests when they enter the school system, but the correlation became less significant as the children became older, becoming practically non existent by the 5th-grade (Belsky et al.). They also found some evidence to suggest that children who experienced long hours of care were more likely to have behavioural problems (Belsky et al.), particularly in the transition from care into the schooling system. Due to the individual nature of childcare and experiences of each child, it is not possible to draw inferences about its generalisation to all children in centre based care. Belsky et al. (2007) found that overall, parenting quality was a far more reliable predictor of child outcomes than was a child’s involvement in non-relative care (Belsky et al), but ignoring the findings of this study would be unwise. The individual nature of a child’s experience means that being aware of any potential impact of childcare is both useful and important for catering to each child’s needs.
For those children in centre based care, the separation from the comfort and familiarity of parents into a sometimes alien and overwhelming environment can be very stressful. Research into the potential long term impacts of cortisol; a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands in times of stress, on health and personal wellbeing have led to interest in this area regarding children (Sims, Guilfoyle, and Parry, 2006). Sims et al’s (2006) study found correlation between child care quality and the levels of cortisol present over the course of the day in children attending centre based care for three or more days a week, where those attending high quality care showed a decrease in cortisol levels (or sometimes a less rapid increase) and those in lower quality care showed an increase in cortisol (Sims et al.). In particular, they found that those children, who demonstrated elevated cortisol levels over the course of the day, were attending care in which close bonds did not develop between carers and children particularly as a result of a more pronounced absence of respect for the children (Sims et al.) and also centres which did not have clear and well planned direction and delivery for their programmes (Sims et al.).
The use of cortisol as an indicator of the immediate impacts of the environment on the children is useful in two ways. Firstly, it allows a direct comparison between the child’s biological responses and their environment. It is clear from their study (Sims et al. 2006) that the quality of child care delivery does make a measurable difference in the child’s biological functioning, and it gives us an indicator of what areas need improvement by correlation (Sims et al.). Secondly, it gives a point from which predictions of future outcomes for children can potentially be made, following further research (Sims et al.). It is already known that high levels of cortisol can play a role in the formation of memory problems (Abercrombie et al. 2003; Takahashi et al. 2004; as cited in Sims et al. 2006), health problems (Adam 2003; Padgett and Glaser 2003; Kunz-Ebrecht et al. 2004; as cited in Sims et al.), Socio-emotional problems (Adam; Lueken and Lemery 2004; Young and Breslau 2004; Nicholson 2004; as cited in Sims et al.), behaviour problems (Adam; as cited in Sims et al.) and stress (Kristenson et al. 2004; as cited in Sims et al.), so these are the potential future issues for children experiencing elevated levels of cortisol, and further research may yet help determine the level at which cortisol actually causes damage (Sims et al.).
The effects of child care are potentially far reaching, yet difficult to discern. Living and growing within a western society means that our children are exposed daily to a range of experiences which will affect the people they become as adults. There is the possibility that children who spend time in child care centres may develop stronger literacy and numeracy skills, provided their care is of a high quality (Belsky et al. 2007). If it is not, or if they spend too much time in a centre based care environment, there is the chance of a development of behaviour problems (Belsky et al.). Belsky et al (2007) were very careful to point out in their study, that because of the vast number of influences on children as the move through school, it is almost impossible to isolate the effects of child care beyond a certain point, and Sims et al (2006) agrees that only inferences can be made about the future of any given child. However, both the Belsky et al (2007) study and the Sims et al (2006) study reinforce the need for quality child care in order to affect positive outcomes and to offset the negative outcomes.
Reference List
, , , , , , et al. (2007). Are there long-term effects of early child care? Child Development, 78, 681–701.
, , & (2006). Children’s cortisol levels and quality of child care provision. Child: Care, Health and Development, 32, 453–466