A Muse's GuideFood, technology, yoga and music. . . is there anything else?

I have been working on a website for a research project I am involved in on Youth Participation in Music - rymeyouth.com : Research for Youth Music and Education.  It is an amazing opportunity to research and work with youth and learn more about youth involvement/engagement in musical activities.  Upon beginning to construct the website, pages and content, I was over enthused by all the different ideas I had and how to organize them, yet a very basic and seemingly minor detail got in the way of my productivity. The website design posed a problem, in amidst the thousands of templates for wordpress themes there are numerous that cater to technology, blogs, children’s content and even interests in art deco, yet not one Free theme catered to my needs.

It may be that in the giant jumble of “colour” categories and the number of “columns” I would require or even the option for “seasonal” filtering, there was no efficient way to search for a template that would combine a professional academic template with something that was a neutral colour scheme.  Since this project looks at creating opportunities for youth and adults to work in partnership to share and develop ideas and activities for positive youth engagement in music, the website could not simply cater to youth between the ages of 10-18 years old, nor focus on a sole audience of academic oriented adults – it needed somethings classy and professional, yet with a bit of underlying quirky artfulness.

A popular Wordpress theme (free) is called Pixel – yet this gave my site too dark and gloomy of a theme.  I tried looking for a theme that wasn’t so dark, yet only ended up with bland themes that were reminiscent of an office supply closet.  I know a majority of my colleagues that want “the perfect” academic looking theme just purchase a Premium Wordpress theme such as Spectrum by WooThemes.com, yet even with the vast customizations available from that theme, I still found it lacking. Not to mention that since this project is graciously funded by a SSHRC grant, we attempt to use our funds to the best of their capabilities, and I feel that a Free Wordpress theme should do the job!

For the meantime, I used a rather bland theme called Titan, as it didn’t muddy up the content of the site with its elaborate designs and it had the customizations that somewhat accommodated by needs.  The unfortunate part of free themes is that most of the decent designs are so overused on blogs across the Internet, that a non-blog focused site begins to look rather banal.

In this perpetual search for a Wordpress theme that can accommodate an academic feel while not exiling the site to a corner of rejection due to its “blog”-iness or over cluttering, I hope to finally find a theme that can hold up to my expectations.

P.S. You may wonder why I am so set on using a Wordpress theme – here is the explanation:

In the world of academic and research, there is a continual turn around of people working on research, and the perpetual fear of running out of funding, and alas, in the case that I would not have the time to work on updating the website, I would need to pass this task onto another webmaster – yet, it is highly likely they would not be as astute on the finicky details of website upkeep – therefore Wordpress has become my way of ensuring that website can easily and efficiently be updated, even by someone who isn’t familiar with running a website.

~Deanna

I have been searching for the past couple months for a good pair of Noise Canceling Headphones. Not a pair of ear bud style ones, but a nice comfortable pair of ear-cupping anti-background noise headphones.

So the search began with trying on one of the most expensive headphones on the market, the Bose Quiet Comfort 15’s.  The 15’s are the newest Bose headphones on the market, and replacing the Bose Quiet Comfort 2’s.  I went over to the Bose Store at Pacific Centre, and tried on these thick cushy headphones, that seemed to just melt onto my head with the weight of a feather.  I turned on the sample music tracks provided by the wall mounted music player, and began to listen to some of the clearest audio I have ever heard.  The salesman for Bose stood beside me spouting off all the technical mumbo-jumbo about the headphones, yet all I wanted to do was listen to the music being played.  Turns out that noise-canceling was not activated just yet on the headphones, which is why I could still hear the salesman blabbering on.

Now, I am not one to just throw $350+ away for a pair of headphones that are simply comfortable and have good audio, I wanted to know what made these headphones so darn expensive.  So I asked. When the overly cheerful and almost robotic sales guy turned on the “Airplane Noise Simulation” of the cacophonous imitation of a jet engine taking off, I couldn’t really see how putting these headphones on would simply make the noise go away.  I doubt even my earplugs I use for travel or sleeping wouldn’t be able to mask the loud airplane racket emitting from the store’s speaker system.

I took the headphones, and put them on my ears only to be absolutely amazed.  The loud track that mimicked ambient sounds of a noisy airplane cabin no longer  rang through my head, nor could I even hear the salesman talking to me.  All I could hear was the gentle guitar strums and crooning of the folk singer on the mp3 playing on the sample audio track.  It was pure bliss!  How did I ever survive without a pair of these.

At a $350+ price tag, I of course wanted to think about this before purchasing these headphones.  Most noise-canceling headphones have a rechargable battery pack that clips into the headset, yet these Quiet Comfort 15’s take one AAA battery to power the noise-cancellation, which will only last about 30 hours worth of listening time.  Sadly, when the battery dies, so does the sound of the music or audio you are listening to.  On the other hand, it is a much better option to just pop in an easy to find AAA battery than have to bother to wait for your battery pack to charge, especially when you are on an 18+ hour flight with turbulence and crying babies around you.  The headset also comes with a handy-dandy carrying case, to protect it from getting broken (and to protect it from people like me, who toss a wide variety of heavy objects into my luggage, not being cognisant of what else I have in the bag).

I was very excited to get my very own headphones, and aye! there’s the rub; There were no Quiet Comfort 15s left in stock.  The store offered to sell me a pair of the Quiet Comfort 2s, and when they got the 15s in stock the store would call me, and I could then go through the hassle of returning the 2s and finally getting my hands on the 15s.  Well, that is simply too much of a hassle for me! I only go downtown once a month or so, and I wasn’t about to make a special trip just to return a set of headphones at a later and unknown date.

Since I now have what you may call a Gold Standard for what I expect out of a noise canceling over-the-ear headphone, I am now in pursuit of a pair of headphones that are comparable to the Bose QC15 headphones, that are in stock either online or in a store.

Wish me luck!

~Deanna

Going back to school after being away for a couple years is a daunting thing. You worry about if you will be able to keep up with the rest of your class. You worry about if your writing skills are up to snuff. Most of all, you worry if you are going to be able to keep up with the excessive reading that is expected of you.

I started my Ph.D. this week, and was extremely excited to go to my first class.  It is only one class per week, which with my migraines, vertigo and stomach problems, I figured would be up to my speed.  I have seven other colleagues in my class, and of course all older than me, which I always find intellectually invigorating (since they typically have more life and work experience to rely on – instead of people who have never had a real job in their life).

I have taken a variety of courses over the past decade, and haven’t been what you might call overly enthused about the reading lists and discussions I have had. . . Until now!

My first task is to read Plato’s “The Republic”.  It is not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination, nor is it a boring book.  It is known as one of the most influential works of philosophical and political theory.   I am reading the book as a part of an educational history course, that is looking at The Republic in the context of being an influential part of the evolution of education.  Interesting, yes. . . The fact that I have to read this book in depth in under a week. . . ? Well, I am wondering how that is going to be realistically done. Baffled actually.

Over the years I have read numerous texts from the Academy, and have always been fascinated with the ingenuity and complexities of the Greek philosophers.  I am only a few pages into The Republic, and I think I have either been out of academia a little too long, or that this book is quite a dense read that needs tender love and thought (not to mention, I think it is more a text that I could write my dissertation about, rather than read it in a week).  Has anyone else read Plato’s “The Republic”? If so, what are your thoughts? (Please!)

I have been worried that maybe I am just behind on my reading, and that I am not reading at the same level I used to.  It is funny how one can second guess themselves.  Though when I consider it, I think I am just not in the same mindset I used to be.  The material is interesting, I can relate it to my research, yet I can think of numerous other texts that would be more beneficial to my line of study than this book.  I’m not sure.  I think I am going to go back to reading and reconsider my opinion of this text in the context of academia, once I have gotten through the first book.

I will keep you all posted on my progress through my academic pursuits, since it is always nice to know that even someone who has been in school for a decade, still wonders if they can read fast enough.

Ciao,

~Deanna