Paracetamol Won't Help

ok so I haven't written a blog post in any way shape or form for a long time but this is something I wanted to get off my chest (groan...)

Last year I was diagnosed with Asthma. It's been a pain finding inhalers that actually make me feel better and control it but it's getting there.

Obviously having asthma makes you more susceptible to colds and coughs and general winter rubbish and unlike most people, who can generally get rid of them in a few days, an asthma sufferer will normally have some part of it that lingers.  For me it's a cough. It's not particularly phlegmy.  It's just irritating.

Now what has prompted this rant is something that was said to me the other day. Someone asked me if I was dosed up with lemsip and paracetamol (well to be honest they're the same thing so that would be an overdose but who am I to be a pedant). Paracetamol will not get rid of my cough. It will never get rid of my cough and to be honest paracetamol is not even designed to get rid of coughs.  Yes my cough might be annoying you and you're basically trying to be nice when actually you want to slit my threat to shut me up but don't you think it's annoying me.  There's not much I can do about it.  I can take my reliever (ventolin) but that won't necessarily get rid of it. I might make me breathe a bit easier but as I'm not having an asthma attack and I don't currently have a tight chest it will probably just make me cough more.  I could go to the doctors to get some antibiotics but again I don't feel ill and it's not really infection. It's a virus and it will run its course.  Do you not think the cough is annoying me.  It keeps me awake at night. I have to

Rediscovering Creativity

I haven't blogged on here for quite a while.  This has been for a number of reasons including:

*not having anything to blog about

*being busy with various things

*self doubt (I'm still not convinced that anyone reads this, or my family history blog)

So what has happened in my life since April 2015 (wow that really is a long time).  

Well....

Firstly I returned to temporary work.  Now this have caused a large mixture of emotions.  I was very lucky last year that I was in an ongoing job which took me all the way through the summer and up to Christmas.  Great, money every week, not having to worry about promoting myself etc.  However, it meant that I had to put a lot of things on hold.  I haven't done any self employed work (well apart from my friend's bookkeeping) since July 2015.  Six months is a long time to not be thinking about yourself and your own business when you are self employed.  This has left me in a bit of a pickle.  Although I'm still temping and still being offered work it's not what I want to do.  I still don't feel that I've had that break.  I'm still not getting any enquiries and am unable to establish those networks that create the work.  So here's my dilemma.... .do I continue as a freelancer or do I decide that I tried, it didn't really work out.... Move on..... And that then poses the next question.  What do I move on to?  This is where I have started questioning myself.  Am I creative enough to come up with a niche, a catch, something that people will talk about, that "wow" thing that defines you and your business.  

Well here is my honest answer and I'm sure many people will probably say I'm being stupid and try to make me feel better but I feel that I need to get it out of my system.......

I'M NOT CREATIVE

I don't think I ever have been or ever was.  I don't think it's a case of losing my mojo.  I just don't think I had it to start with.  Yes I know how can I be a musician if I'm not creative.  Well I see it like this.  There are 3 main skills when it comes to music 

1. Playing/performing

2. Composition/improvisation

3. Listening/appreciation

So I've been able to read music since I was 4 and I've been playing instruments and singing since then.  However, I don't feel that is creative.  It's following a set of instructions. That's all music scores are.  They are instructions that tell the performer what notes to play in what order and what style and rhythm at any time.  So I don't feel that's creative.  Yes having an understanding of dynamics and expressions makes a piece sound better but again this are more often than not instructed by the composer. I just do what I'm told to do.  

This brings me onto listening and appreciation.  Most people listen to music in some sense.  They have an appreciation from the music they listen to.  Whether they understand the musical terminology doesn't mean that they can't appreciate it.  Music stirs up emotions and that links into the appreciation of it. However,  it's still not particularly a creative process. 

So we then have the creative part.  Composing and improvisation.  TWo things I've always been poor at.  I'm not a composer.  All my compositions sound the same.  There''s nothing remotely special about them and they certainly wouldn't be best sellers.  I just can't do it.  I know the techniques and I understand keys, and chords, and modulations etc but I just don't have that spark, that inspiration to create something great.  Because of this I've never pursued it.  

Now it's well known that I have lots of crafty type hobbies, I used to scrapbook, I used to make cards, I do a bit of cross stitch and knitting.  However again I don't find that these are particularly creative as again it's following instructions.

So the only thing left that I do is write.  I love writing.  I love that you can just put pen to paper and write down anything that comes into your head.  However,  is this creative.  Take this blog for example, I'm currently doing just that.  I am writing down my thoughts (or typing in this case).  I'm writing it in thinking someone might read it but I don't think that it's that interesting...... So is this going to become my creative muse.  How do you make a blog readable?  What topics do you blog about?  What topics would a reader like to read about.  And this is where I start my new beginning.  I'm going to write about me.  None of these inspirational journal prompts that are actually quite pretentious and get you re-evaluating your life until you realise that your childhood wasn't that amazing and that you're actually just an average human being.  None of these 365 made up quotes that don't make you feel anything because actually you can't connect to them in any way.  I'm am going to go right back to basics and write about my life and my thoughts. 

So this is the start of me trying to find my creativity in whatever it is I end up doing.  This is where I show people how dull life actually is.  This is where people will learn to understand what I do and what I'm passionate about.  No more hiding in case I offend people.  No more worrying about what others thing.  This is it.  Warts and all.  It's going to be random and it's going to be a rocky ride but hopefully someone might join me in sharing it.  

And you never know 

I might find y creativity along the way

Self-promotion - slowly slowly catchy monkey

This week out of the blue I had an email asking if I could quote for some research work at the Northamptonshire Records Office. The potential client was someone from Canada who was researching a family in Cosgrove.   Dutifully I replied with my reasonable quotation.  

Needless to say that I didn't get the work, not because my quotation was too much (I have researched prices a lot and double checked them before I sent out my quotation) but because they found the information (or at least information similar) on a website.  However, they did say that should they have any more research that needs to be done they will be in touch.  

One thing I did gain was the website that they had found which although doesn't have much use to my own family, will be of some use to someone else and has been put on the useful links list.  

This got me thinking, what is seen as a successful connection when working as a researcher (or in any self employment). Is it the monetary gain?  Is it the networking and contacts?  Is it gaining skills to help others.  

It could be suggested that from this "free" quotation I have actually gained a useful source about another area in the County and also gained a contact who may commission some work in the future. As I have found with my other line of work, you have to take everything you can whether it be a financial gain or otherwise because the most important thing is the connections and contacts.  

I'm terrible at self-promoting myself.  If anyone has every visited either of my facebook pages for my businesses (Claret Clef Family Research and Claret Clef Music and Arts) you'll know that I don't update these very often and don't promote what I'm doing.  Although I have a very big twitter presence I use it to voice what I think about many things but do not promote what I am working on. 

There is a big reason for this.  I worry that by having too many "friends" and "followers" on what is essentially my work place it blurs those lines between work and pleasure.  It may look good that you have lots of likes on a page on facebook but if those likes only represent 1% of your work does it really reflect whether you're successful or not.  Do you really want all of your friends knowing what you do in your day to day work and is their any benefit of them knowing?  Also on the other hand, do you want your potential clients seeing random comments from your friends.  Getting the balance is very difficult.   

I have, for the first time, put a post on my facebook about my family research page.  I'm not sure I would dare do the same for my other page as I feel that it may be detrimental to my business.    Also it will be interesting to see how much interest I gain from the promotion. 

Only time will tell.  

  

New Resources Store

The Christmas break gave  me the kick up the proverbial bottom to finally get my resources sorted.  I have now set up my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Claret-Clef-Music-Arts

On here I have already uploaded resources on composition and nursery rhyme flash cards.

For example

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Nursery-Rhyme-Flash-Card-Sample-1626669

I will keep updating this regularly.

If you have any suggestions of any resources you would like please let me know.

The state of Music Education in the UK

When I was at university I based my dissertation on music in primary schools and the role of the Music Coordinator in primary education.  Little did I know that 5 years later the subject will still be largely discussed during that time.

The recent programme featuring the concert pianist, Jason Rhodes has got me thinking about revisitng my dissertation to consider what has changed, what has stayed the same and if whether of my concerns or thoughts have featured in any discussions that have been had regarding music education.

Since it was written we have seen funding cuts, the emergence of music hubs, the National Music Plan recommendations and we are now seeing the emergence on the new National Curriculum.  My dissertation was written based on the old National Curriculum which makes this revisit very interesting as the new National curriculum (as mentioned before) is very vague in terms of delivery.  Also the removal of levels at each key stage can show how some parts of music education have changed to allow creativity. However , it will also look at how budget cuts has meant that many schools have seen their budgets decimated and the focus on literacy and numeracy to be increased meaning any creative subjects are simply pushed to one side being seen as unimportant or too costly.

The hope is that once this revision is done it will not only show that as mentioned previously it is important to have music coordinators/specialists in school if not only to satisfy the national curriculum to a good standard but also to give pupils a rounded education but also that despite efforts to improve music education with the introduction of the National Music Plan, there are still many schools who see it as a luxury

The difference between right and wrong?

As some of you may or may not know, one of my many interests is genealogy, the study of family history.  The idea of finding out the type of people in your ancestry is fascinating.  In some ways it can just be a chronological exercise, you find your ancestor on a census return which leads to their parents and boom! you've found another generation.  Sometimes if you're really lucky (or unlucky depending on your slant on things) you may find them on a criminal register or find that they left the shores of the UK to start a new life in America.  

I started researching my family tree in 2003.  At the time there wasn't as much information online, however as time has moved on more and more documents are online.  Depending on your interest or area you can research your family history without ever leaving your house.  Within Northamptonshire this is not possible if you wish to research pre-1841 as there are limited resources online and you have to visit either the local libraries or the local records office.  Lancashire, by contrast, has a wealth of parish registers online through lan-opc.org.uk.  As I said, it varies from area to area. Many people will just rely on sites such as Ancestry.co.uk (or .com or whichever it is depending on your country) or findmypast.co.uk.   Whilst these sites are very useful they do come at a price (Ancestry is currently £107.40 for UK records whereas findmypast is £99.50).  Libraries often have a deal where on certain days you can gain free access to these sites.  As I said it all depends on your individual commitment to the project you have in mind. 

Now you may wonder why I'm wittering on about such trivial information.  Well here's the thing, I love researching.  The idea of finding information that backs up an argument I'm trying to make is brilliant.  Now with these websites you can upload your family tree with your research attached.  If you scan in documents people can see them, if you upload photos people can see them too (obviously depending on your privacy settings).  Now whilst this is a great opportunity to link up with distant relations, there seems to be a huge problem with accuracy and losing control of your information. 

This blog Online trees root of all evil talks about how many of the trees that are just seldom linked to other peoples findings are not checked for accuracy.  I've fallen foul of this.  On Ancestry you get tree hints which sometimes can be great.  They can give you ideas of who you need to look for and you would hope that if a few people have the same information that the people on their tree are the same people.  However, as the article suggests this isn't always the case. 

My grandmother was born in Blackburn and died in Northampton.  I know the exact date of her death as I was informed straight away by my father and I went with my mother to register the death.  However, I have seen trees on ancestry who have my grandmother dying in America.  My only guess is that they have found someone of the same name on a search.  They certainly haven't seen my tree on their tree hints. This makes me question what people actually do when they are on Ancestry.  Do they just click anything in the hope to create a long line of ancestors who are in no way remotely related to them or do they actually try to do some research?  Now it could be argued that, if someone had looked at my tree they didn't trust my first hand knowledge and instead tried to find information to back up what I had with a resource on Ancestry or Find My Past.  However, they wouldn't have looked very far as my grandmother's death record is on an Ancestry search.  If they had contacted me I could tell them the exact information and where to find the death record to verify what I have in my tree. 

That then brings me onto my next point.  Can you rely on what other descendants tell you?  I was told by a descendant of my great grandmother that she moved to Leeds and got remarried.  When I researched this fact I found that the person they obviously believe to be my great grandmother couldn't be the same person as if they were they would be showing on the 1891 census twice which isn't possible (and certainly not with 2 husbands).  So again do people just rely on the documents they find and try to make them fit without considering other options. 

To me genealogy is about create facts as well as creating stories.  However, if the "facts" are inaccurate it loses the value of the stories.

So if you're considering taking up this wonderfully addictive hobby consider why you are doing it as it may be that you are creating a list of fiction. 




Kat

Update - the quest for self employment dominance

So I’ve been a bit quiet on the old blog since the Artists in Learning network launch.  I’ve been quite busy doing some supply and odd jobs.  This isn’t to say that I’ve given up on the whole self employment thing, it’s just that sometimes money (or bills) take priority. 

Anyway it is now the Easter holidays which means I’ve got a bit more time to reflect on what I need to do in my quest for self employment dominance. 

I’ve had some interesting conversations with a variety of people regarding workshopping and Arts Award (I always manage to get Arts Award in there somewhere).   I’ve also started researching into ways in which I can influence myself onto the wider community.  You see it occurred to me one day a few years ago that the area I live in doesn’t seem to have much going on but has an awful lot of potential to do so.  There are two schools on our estate alone.  We also have a satellite centre for the local Sure Start centre as well as well as a shop run by the local church/community and a residents association.  Now you’d think with all that going on there would be lots of community projects that happen.  Well as far as I’m aware there is nothing.  Nada. Zip. Nowt.  This is my quest.  I am going to properly research what happens in the area.  I will contact the residents association, councillors and potential stakeholders to find this out.  I will then do a survey in the local area to find out what people would like in the area.  It might be that I find that there is no requirement for anything in the area and that people are happily milling along in their lives with no arts or music provision or no provision for community projects whatsoever.  However, I’m pretty certain nobody knows because I’m sure nobody has ever been asked (I’ve lived there 3 years and nobody has ever asked me).

So that’s my plan! I think it partly stems from the fact I miss studying.  I love researching and reading and really miss it.  If I could decide what I wanted to do, I’d do my masters but I just can’t decide what to study so it just gets put on hold each time.

 

My other plan at the moment is to write a book.  I know I’ve said this time and time again and it never happens but I’m determined now.  I’ve decided that I am going to write a book specifically for musicians and music students to show how their skills can help when applying for courses and employment.  I’ve found that many young people I have worked with are not aware of the skills that they develop other than the musical skills so I have decided to write a book about this.  Again this will probably involve research but hopefully will be beneficial (and profitable – we can dream).

 

I’m still creating (and redesigning) various worksheets and activities.  When I have some new ones I will put them on here and pinterest for people to download.  I’m not sure whether they are useful to anyone but I feel that I spent a long time making a lot of them so I really should do something with them rather than them sitting on my harddrive gathering dust (or whatever gathers on harddrives).  It also means that I can have a proper sort out of my harddrive which is still in some hideous state because I’ve spent the last 3 years trying to organise it properly and it just never happens. (Am I the only person who has this problem).

So lots to be getting on with.  Not much concrete in the pipeline but lots of ideas to put into operation.

Oooh other big news on the self employment trail, I had my last meeting at the Job Centre this week.  To be fair, I’ve been quite vocal about how the NEA scheme isn’t particularly helpful when becoming self employed.  Yes the money is nice to have (albeit it’s a small amount) and the ease of access to the start up loan is good especially in a time when it is so hard to get start up grants and loans for small businesses.  However, the support has been very minimal.  I mentioned this to my adviser on Monday.  I’ve been lucky in the sense that with the network launch and business planning help through that I have had support in terms of marketing etc but if I had no links at all I would’ve struggled even more.   Oh well the 6 months are over now.  In hindsight I wish I had started it later, however there’s not much you can do about that now. It ticks the job centre box so it’s not all bad.

Well I think that’s enough rambling from me for one day.  If there’s anything you would like me to ramble about please feel free to let me know.

If you would like to be on the mailing list for Claret Clef Music & Arts please email me onkathrina.perry@outlook.com

If you would like more information regarding the Northamptonshire Artists in Learning network please email info@ArtistsinLearning.org.uk

 

Over and out