Monday 11 April 2011

monday.random.blues

I am having one of those days.

Those my-instinct-is-telling-me-something-is-not-good-feeling day.

Perhaps I am tired.

Lack of sleep last night and the early drive down this morning.

Perhaps it is Monday.

***

I have been thinking about being honest.

I am wondering how many people really care if you are honest?

Sometimes I do wonder how much honesty does people really care?

Often times I have to remind myself to "shutup".

*sigh*

I could share rant on more but will reserve my breath for now.

***

A slight preview of what I am going to make tomorrow night. *smiles*


For now I want to relieve our holiday in Majorca.

Wednesday 6 April 2011

spicy.and.funny


As the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival 2011 draws to an end, I was disappointed that I only managed to catch one show out of the hundreds that was available.

And I was meant to blog about this a few weeks back but just have not come to do it.

Anyways, my gf Karen and I caught the Curry Comedy a few weeks back at Slumdog Bar & Kitchen. Reflecting on our night out, we got more than we bargained for!

The tickets were slightly more expensive on a Thursday evening compared to a Sunday lunch show. But just ever so slightly. The food was yummy, and it was good that it was buffet, so I had the chance to stuff my face further (with slight guilt). The varied spread gave us a chance to try what Slumdog could offer and they did not disappoint. Slumdog's comprehensive drinks menu easily catered for anyone, especially their list of cocktails and non-alcoholic cocktails.

Although it was a buffet meal, the food was fresh, the staff were friendly and the service was excellent.

After we had been fed and watered, the comedy commenced promptly.

This brings me to my second 'more than we bargained for'. When we booked the tickets we thought it was going to be a comedy about curry and Glasgow history. But looking back, there wasn't a joke about curry. Instead we were entertained by a compere who tried his very hardest to get the crowd, in his words "lubricated". We were a tough crowd, a "slow burner".

Unfortunately, it has been weeks and I cannot remember his name but I remembered his jokes. The same goes for our first comedian. Some of his "jokes" were a bit too much information. I have only vague memory of the second comedian. *Sorry!*

Karen and I both love our third and main act, Des Clarke with an "e". We were gob smacked, Des Clarke!

Both of us love Des - I used to listen to him when he was part of Des and Vanessa on Galaxy FM (Scotland) (which I had stopped listening to because of the lengthy advertisements); and Karen still listens to Des on Capital FM (Scotland) whom he is working with now.

We loved Des' gig and the pace of it, and thought it was a pleasant surprise.

Overall, it was a fantastic girls' night out as it was good to hang out with Karen and catch up. The pre-comedy joke of my embarrassing moment earlier in the afternoon provided a good start to the night.

Anyways, head over to the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival website to soak up the last of the programmes. The festival ends on Sunday 10 April. I've been on the comedy pub crawl "Stand Up Drink Up" three years ago (that long ago!) and it was a great night out.

Also, we'll be definitely going back to Slumdog Bar & Kitchen for the delicious food, lovely atmosphere and fantastic service.

Now, I better get back to catching up on my APC Diary.

Sunday 3 April 2011

the.journey.jump.started

It has been on my mind for many weeks now.

Come October this year, I will begin my fifth year in my APC journey. Yep, year five.

One may ask what happened? I would say it is a combination of procrastination, deviation, and life getting into the way. In the past fours years I have changed roles at least four times and continue to count my blessings that I am still employed in the current economic climate.

After many "I will sit for my final assessment at the next session"s, I have decided to take the bull by the horns and make a decision to sit for the final assessment once and for all.

The target now is Autumn 2011.

Hence, almost the whole of last weekend was spent sitting down looking through what needs to be done to achieve this.

First, I created a programme using the final assessment week as my target. Then I identified how many competencies I need to sign off within this period. The amount of meetings and frequencies, and the targets for each of these meetings. Between meetings, a spread of to-dos for myself was included.

Although I would have had covered most of the experiences required in each competencies, I never had any of them signed off yet. I guess mainly it was due to my lack of confidence and the lack of revision.

So now (to be exact last weekend), I have thirty weeks to sign off ten mandatory competencies, six technical competencies, two optional competencies, a critical analysis to complete as well as several mock interviews to prepare.

Thirty weeks?!

I even have three and a half weeks off in that period and about two years of diary to catch up. Man, how am I going to get it all done (?!).


Twenty-nine weeks:
Too many to count topics to revise
Too many days of diary recording to catch up
Nine Supervisor Meetings
Three Counsellor Meetings
Eighteen competencies
One critical analysis
Mock interviews, etc
All to be completed and get myself ready for the Final Assessments

AAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhhh...

Wish me luck!