Something New - Month Nine

[smallhobbit]

Much to my surprise I do actually have a couple of new things I've done this month, both of which definitely come under the 'not sure if this is me, but I'll give it a go' category - which really is what this goal is all about.

Firstly, as I've said before (and will no doubt continue to say) I volunteer for a charity called Gloucestershire Bundles, who are a local baby bank.  One of the things they give out is good condition pre-loved toys and games.  As you can imagine they receive a quantity of items as donations, and one job is to check the jigsaws to make sure the pieces are all there.  Recently they were appealling for volunteers to help check jigsaws - a task which can be done in lockdown.  I debated about it, because I already have a time commitment with them, but decided to give it a go.  Which, it turns out, was a good move, because instead of playing online games when I want an occupation at times when I just want to mentally switch off, and then feeling vaguely dissatisfied at the wasted time when I could have been writing etc, I can do something which uses as little brain power and I feel like I have done something useful.  It certainly needs doing - out of my initial box of 10 puzzles, 6 had a piece either broken or missing.

Secondly, I'm a keen follower of Matthew Bourne's New Adventures company.  So when they posted a tweet saying there was an online dance class for the Over-55s being held the following day I thought I'd check out the details.  I wasn't sure, but since it was only £6 for what I thought was a one hour class, I decided it might be fun and there really wasn't much to lose.  It was excellent - and it lasted for two hours plus introduction.  They're running a couple more classes in the next two months and I've already signed up.

Although the main FutureLearn courses don't start until Monday, over the last couple of weeks I've been getting back into the routine by taking two Level 1 Language Tasters for Global Communication run by Kings College, London in French and Spanish.  They were okay and served their purpose in preparation for courses coming up.  It didn't hurt to run through some very basic French and Spanish, just to feel like one day I may use them again.

I also continued with the Open University art courses, covering Art & Visual Culture - Medieval to Modern, Art in Renaissance Venice and Dutch Painting of the Golden Age.  A mixed collection of subjects, but will be useful once we visit art galleries again.

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

A little dance, a little art, a little parlez-vous, you're on a roll!

[smallhobbit]

Yes - it all helps :)

[moth2fic]

That sounds really good! I can well imagine checking jigsaws being more satisfying than online games - I frequently use online games to switch off and let my subconscious play with writing ideas, but like you, I'm usually vaguely disatisfied because of the waste of time. I mean, obviously the time isn't completely wasted because it kickstarts the writing, but checking jigsaws for a charity would serve the same purpose and be much more helpful! Win-win!

I'm glad you enjoyed your dance class - it sounds awesome!

I could do with brushing up my languages but usually I just end up reading stories and recipes and newspapers. If you haven't got anyone around to practise on it's hard. Not that I ever practise much anyway, beyond tourist type usage. I find I understand conversations but can't string my own words together quickly enough and the conversation moves on.

The OU art courses sound good. I haven't time - or at least, I have spare time but it isn't sufficiently regular to commit to anything as long as a course. You are very dedicated!

[smallhobbit]

That's exactly what I feel about the jigsaws.

These are quite short art courses - the last one I did said it was only four hours, and it depends how long you spend looking at the paintings. The OU ones are rather like reading a book, only instead of covering up the page while you think of your own answers you click on 'reveal' when you're ready. They appealled to me, because if I'd had to decide on a topic I'd have been spoilt for choice, whereas here there was limited options, so I did what was available.

[shadowhive]

Oh nice! That’s good that you are able to help that way, though it’s a shame some had missing pieces

Sounds like you’ve been busy!

[smallhobbit]

It's a pleasant way to pass the odd twenty minutes to half an hour. Yes, I suspect it's because the parents think that there's a piece missing so we'll get rid of the jigsaw to the local charity who give toys to kids who have very little.

I like to keep busy - and do different things.

[corvidology]

How lovely to get a dance class with Bourne's company!

[smallhobbit]

Yes. It was led by one of their resident artists and one of their long time dancers and included moves from one of the early pieces.

[luthienberen]

I like how mentally and spiritually rewarding your variety of activities are, being able to mentally relax doing a jigsaw but ensure that the time is productive with checking all the pieces are present is fantastic.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. I get frustrated when I've spent ages on a game online, so it feels much better to have done a jigsaw.

[debriswoman]

Great to see you stop I’ll finding new challenges:-)

[smallhobbit]

Thank you - I think.

[debriswoman]

Blimey...that wasn’t in English as she is wrote...
I repeat...
Great to see you still finding new challenges:-)

[smallhobbit]

I guessed that was something like what you were heading for - autocorrect does like to join in!

[adafrog]

That sounds like an awesome way to volunteer. :)

Good luck with the courses.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you very much.

[rusty_armour]

As always, I'm impressed by how many new things you manage to try each month. It sounds like your additional time with Gloucestershire Bundles is paying off for both you and the charity. It's great that you can mentally switch off with the puzzles and also help out Gloucestershire Bundles by keeping a tally on how many puzzle pieces are missing, etc.

I'm glad that the dance class through Matthew Bourne's New Adventures company went so well. I hope you enjoy the upcoming classes as well. Your latest language classes and Open University art courses also seem to have worked out.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. I think it would be so easy now to say 'I've not done this before, therefore I won't try it now,' which would be a shame. I like online jigsaw puzzles, so doing physical puzzles is similar, but ultimately more productive in this case.