Blog Archives
K is for… (#atozchallenge)
K is for…
Kate Monster
K was going to be for the Kawa River Model and Kielhofner (with MOHO)(See my occupational therapy links widget for more info. These are two occupational therapy practice models that I am interested to explore further to see if any of their concepts might apply to my PhD research. Please feel free to share your views. It could also have been for Kindle (I have one, not used it too much) – there are big debates going on about whether Kindles are helping authors or not.
But, I really don’t have time for blogging today so K is now for Kate Monster. I have just been to see the musical Avenue Q at the Mayflower in Southampton. Kate Monster is one of the puppet characters, she is a single girl at the start of the show and she is actually quite similar to me (I felt her songs!). I have to say I absolutely loved this show, it is hilarious. Do go and see it if you can – but it is not one for the kids these are most definitely adult puppets. With songs with titles such as ‘The Internet is for Porn’ and ‘Everyone’s a little bit racist’ you can’t be too surprised I guess.
I’ve just ordered the soundtrack Avenue Q – The Musical [Soundtrack]
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J is for… (#atozchallenge)
- J is for…
Joss Whedon and (Jensen Ackles again)
Now thanks to the My Laminated List I’ve already covered Jensen but I think he deserves another little picture, don’t you?
Now I did debate on putting this post under G for Gods. Jensen is my current God of lust (for reasons that should be obvious to all and especially those who have watched Supernatural) and Joss Whedon is my God of TV.
I remember seeing Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie (I think it was back in 1992) – I probably went to see it because I’d loved The Lost Boys. Now the film, if you take it as a comedy and bit of fluff was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. So when I heard it was being made into a TV Series I was soooo excited.
I loved it straight away and another one of my obsessions began – of course the fact that there was this gorgeous brooding vampire played by no 3 of my list). Angel left at the end of season 3 – nooooooooo, but he got his own show……..yes, thank you God, I mean Joss. Then the evil spooky priest dude (nearly no 5 on My laminated list) got a show too, Firefly (which I only recently watched and have only seen once – a re-watch is on the list) and a film Serenity. Then Faith got her own show where she played a girl who could be anyone in Dollhouse and Fred from Angel turned up in that too.
In my view all of these shows have been cancelled way too soon because I think Joss is too clever for words and that he says so much about current issues whilst framing it in the Supernatural and sci-fi. I think he’s got a lot to say and I can’t wait to see what he does next and who from his previous series star in it. Joss (and his fellow writers though he is the initial concept guy so gets top billing here) can do horror, comedy, drama, genre, brilliant characters and conflict and well, pop-culture references I love to recognise. In fact he does everything well sometimes all in the same episode.
Here are a few of my top episodes
Buffy
Once More with Feeling – Musical. Episode. Nuff said – love the song I’m Under Your Spell. And that training montage – pure class.
Hush – The Gentleman are some of the freakiest creatures ever to have been invented (just ask my sister she hates it when I do my Gentlemen impression). And the majority of the episode is done without dialogue (makes note to rewatch as part of my screenwriting lessons).
The Body – deals with human death in such a heartbreaking way – the non use of backing music in this episode is eerie
Normal Again – Does the it was all a dream with a psychosis twist and leaves you wondering at the end…
The Pack – Xander turning into a Hyena – kinda sexy
Out of Mind, Out of Sight – we’ve all had that feeling invisible scenario but what happens when being ignored makes you disappear?
Halloween – I love Halloween – this episode makes me very careful about what costume I wear – hence punk fairy, vampire with cool wings.
Lie to Me – you want to be a vampire – really!
Suprise/Innocence – Bow chic a wow wow with Angel, Angel is like a lot of blokes after but worse and they kill a giant smurf!
Becoming Parts 1/2 – Xander how could you!!!
Band Candy – Giles used to be called Ripper and he’s hooking up with Buffy’s mum – fab
The Wish – Vampire Willow is badass
Dopplegangland – normal Willow as vampire Willow – hilarious.
The Zeppo – Xander saves the day and nobody realises
Earshot – think being able to hear what people are thinking is a good thing – think again.
The Prom – school protector – they did notice.
Beer Bad – alcohol makes you a Neanderthal – literally.
The Initiative – The ‘bedroom’ scene with Willow and Spike is pure comic genius
Dracula – Dracula – and Buffy’s got a little sister – what?
The Gift – 100 episodes and still cracking
Seeing Red/Villains/Two to Go/Grave – And the big bad of the series is… And they are stopped with a yellow crayon.
Help – A young girl faces the inevitable but Buffy refuses to let fate play its hand – does she succeed?
Same Time, Same Place – another creepy, creepy monster in this one – gives me the shivers just thinking about him
Storyteller – really love this for Andrew’s character
Chosen – the final episode and what a corker
Angel:
Smile Time – the best Angel episode – puppet Angel makes me Guffaw (yes, I said Guffaw)
Rm w/a Vu – Cordelia queen of mean defeated by a ghost – as if
I Will Remember You – you bring us hope and then you take it away
Hero – Doyle!!!!
The Ring – Angel gets his fight on
Five by Five/Sanctuary – Faith’s in town
Over the Rainbow – Hello Fred
Billy – violence begets violence
Lullaby – there really is nothing stronger than a mother’s love
Dad – Angel with a baby – ahhhhh
A New World – where’s the cute baby – instead we have an Edward Furlong in T2 lookalike
Deep Down – bring back Angel – please
Spin the Bottle – a teen return – fun episode
Souless – Angelus is back
Just Rewards – Spike isn’t dead anymore, well he’s only half dead
A Hole in the World – Nope I didn’t see that coming :o(
Dollhouse
Ghost – seems Dolls have issues too
The Target – do they not vet these people?
Stage Fright – The Bodyguard 2.1
Gray Hour – Just when you need to break out of a safe someone goes and wipes you
True Believer – Echo plays Blind and it’s about freaky cults
Briar Rose – Altruistic use of Echo – plus we meet Alpha
Instinct – there really is nothing stronger than a mother’s love even when it’s imprinted
Belonging – revenge is a dish best served bloody
Stop-Loss – Victor centred episode
The Attic – so that’s what that is
Epitaph One/Epitaph Two: Return – two futuristic episodes bookend the end of each season – a warning for us all?
And I need to watch Firefly more before I can pick, but Serenity (the film) is bigger and just as damn good
To be honest I’m happy to watch all episodes over and over, please do try them out if you haven’t seen them. I’ve pre-ordered the Buffy Season 8 DVD (Comic Book Style) – now available in iTunes but I’m going to wait and watch it in one hit on a bigger screen.
Has anybody seen Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog?
I’ve highlighted my, ‘if I could only ever watch three episodes of this series what would I pick’, in bold.
Which of these series do you like and what are your top three episodes in it?
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I is for… (#atozchallenge)
- I is for…
- Clark, F.A, Jackson, J. and Carlson, M. 2004. Occupational Science, Occupational Therapy and Evidence-based Practice: What the Well Elderly Study has Taught Us. In: Molineux, M. 2004. Occupation for Occupational Therapists. Oxford: Blackwell Publications, 200-218.
- Iwama, M. 2010. Cultural Perspectives on Occupation. In. Christiansen, C.H., Townsend, E.A., 2010. Introduction to Occupation: The Art and Science of Living, 2nd ed. New Jersey: Pearson, 35-55.
- Wilcock, A.A. 2003. Occupational Science: The Study of Humans as Occupational Beings. In: Kramer, P., Hinojosa, J., Brasic Royeen, C. 2003. Perspectives in Human Occupation: Participation in Life. Philadeplhia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 156-180.
Identity (and iPad)
As you may have seen my blog is not just on one theme, it’s not just a writing blog, not just an OT blog, not just a PhD student blog (not yet even but elements coming soon), it’s a me blog (ooo doesn’t that sound self-centred?). Now I could have had two or three separate blogs but I would find it so difficult to split what went where. All of these different elements form my identity and I wouldn’t feel right splitting them.
As an occupational therapist I believe that our sense of self and identity comes from what we do (the ‘occupations’ or activities we engage in our daily lives) and the roles we play. As such our occupations play a huge part in our personal feelings of health and wellbeing.
Wilcock (2003, p. 175) cite Whiteford and Wicks (2000, p.48) who discuss the idea of an ‘occupational persona’:
“That dimension of self shaped by a myriad of factors both biological and sociocultural, which is predisposed, as well as driven toward, engagement in certain types of occupations. Through the process of such engagement and the outcomes generated, the occupational persona is shaped, and to some extent reinvented over time.”
Iwama (2010) also suggests that self is ‘embedded in the environment‘.
To me these quotes mean that aspects of our personal nature (things like being an owl or a lark, short or tall, shy or extrovert) as well as nurture (how/where we are bought up, what opportunities we were afforded) as well as our environmental contexts (the place we live and work and socialise), the people around us, the culture we are, shape what we do and thus our identity. This can change and develop over time.
I always hear people I know, and myself, saying “I couldn’t do what they do”. This is most definitely a good thing. After all we need all types of people doing all types of things to make society work.
Within the last few years I have been diagnosed with dyspraxia, I’ve clearly always been dyspraxic and having read about the condition I can see that it has always affected me. Although I now tick the box to say I have a disability, generally I would not identify myself as disabled. Others though may feel differently and if I had had this diagnosis earlier in life maybe I would have a different opinion of this and a different identity. Disability then, to me, isn’t an automatic feature of having a specific health condition if you can still accomplish what you want or need to. At times I feel perhaps that I have been made to feel disabled by environments or processes around me. This is a common theme in literature about disability, that people are disabled by their environment (whether this is physical or in terms of the attitudes of those around them) rather than by the condition or label they are given.
Instead I identify with being an OT (even though I am not currently practising, my current emersion in occupational literature, teaching about OT, communicating with other OTs (via Twitter and Blogs even)and students on placement), a lecturer (through writing and presenting lectures, facilitating group sessions), a writer (through writing, reading about writing, blogging, running an online writing community, thinking about writing), a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a friend (through spending time socialising, talking on the phone, visiting, listening to, laughing with etc).
I also look forward to, in future, developing my potential roles and occupations in being a researcher, a girlfriend, a wife, a mother, grandmother etc. Knowing some new mothers I do think that it is likely that my identity in terms of my work and the importance that plays in my life may change (and probably rightly so).
It may be that identity is transient but there are some occupational identities that I think stay with us, like a fellow OT @claireOT said to myself and @GentleChaos on Twitter, “once an OT, always an OT. (like king or queen of Narnia. and order of phoenix, obvs.)”. I think that’s true and that I will always be an occupational therapist and possibly always have been without having a word to call it (it is weird how when a new group of students arrive in the university you can almost always identify them relating to the profession they are enrolled in).
How does this apply to life or practice? For therapists, or people in general, I think at times we can impose an identity on someone based on their condition, e.g. a stroke survivor, a person with a learning disability, a person with depression. But we need to look beyond this to what they have done in the past, what they do now and importantly what they’d like to do. We can do this by simply taking the time to talk to that person and find out. The stroke survivor may have been an astronaut, the person with a learning disability may enjoy acting in a theatre group, the person with depression might be you or me.
Please feel free to leave comments – I have no questions for you today but an activity:
Activity for you to post to your blogs (please link back here or place a link in the comments)
(This activity is taken (with only minor amendments) from Clark et al, 2004, p. 214)
Collect together ten pictures of yourself taking part in occupations (or activities) that best characterise your sense of self. Arrange them in an order that shows us your story (e.g. chapters of your life, different elements such as work, rest and play). Tell us a little about them and in essence your identity. These pictures can be from past and present. You may want to add pictures of occupations you would like to become involved in (though you won’t have pictures of you doing this unless you photoshop them).
(I’ll try and do this too – I’ve not got the pictures ready though)
References
I’ve got to squeeze a word or two in for my iPad which I think has solidified my identity as a gadget geek. I do plan to do a top 10 apps feature (or two or three) after the A-Z challenge has finished.
I hope this post makes sense, I’ve had to do it in a but more of a rush than I’d like because some of my other occupational identities have taken over!!
kirstyes 