26/6 Day 26 - Practice speed reading

I've done a speed reading course before. I am still undecided on what I think of it. Sometimes I think I already naturally do a lot of what the experts say to do..and presume others do too. However, the tips do make a lot of sense too. Anyway, I thought I'd revisit speed reading as it has been awhile and I have never actually investigated it on the net- and that is what makes it new!

I read a fair bit on it from various sources and didn't find anything particularly enlightening or new...so um, maybe not so new!

I then did a tutorial. The idea was you tested your WPM, read some tips then tested your WPM again. It was pretty basic and I can definitely find faults with using this as a test. (The two passages had key differences that could affect your speed!) My initial speed was 549 WPM and after the super helpful tips (:P) my speed for the second passage was 770 WPM. There were definitely other factors at play...

-the second article had lists in it, the first did not
-the second article had bold bits
-the second article was on chemistry
etc etc etc.

Anyway it was good to remind myself to read fast when necessary!

The highlight of this new June was probably finding the image above! (In case you are wondering I didn't read whilst on a run...but maybe I should have...that would be a good new June. Unless of course I ran into something and ended up with a broken chin.)

24/6 Day 24- Visit a new exhibition

Today I went to the Ian Potter Museum at Melbourne Uni to see INNER WORLDS: PORTRAITS AND PSYCHOLOGY! Was pretty excited about this one. It was a small exhibition touring from the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

It was really interesting, particularly when a portrait had a good story behind it -either about the psychologist/artist or subject. Below is my favourite one which is by Albert Tucker. According to the plaque it is of a traumatised soldier and shows his suffering and pain post war. Even without this knowledge I thought it was powerful and my eyes were drawn to it. 

Enjoyed this one lots. Over and out!

20/6 Day 20 Try Zumba

I've been wanting to try Zumba at my gym for some time now so was quite pumped for this one. The class was pretty small, the music and instructor both great. (My pilates instructor actually...have been wondering what other classes she does.)

Unfortunately the class didn't really have the energy seen in this photo and most people were off-beat/faced the wrong way etc. :S Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and was pleasantly surprised that the class even included some Irish dance. I liked that and the hip hop the most I think. (I'd been under the impression it was mainly latin dance for some reason.) The salsa was good too.

I was the only newbie in the class and surprisingly not as uncoordinated as I anticipated. (Or maybe I concentrated extra hard :P) I think I will Zumba another day soon! One of my favourite New Junes complete!

17/6 Day 17 Play a video game made this century!

I haven't really played that many games outside of 'Draw Something' since the days of Doom, Commander Keen, Prince of Persia, Mario and Alex the Kid. Therefore I was startled to find out a 3D world which you can control now exists on the screen. Okay, bit over dramatic. but Uncharted 3 was a big leap for me! 

 

Apparently I was better than expected though I am not sure that says a lot! I had trouble with the fact I had to control my vision in more than 2D but did get better. It was lots of fun and I'd forgotten how involved you can get in something like this.

I could easily get addicted to Uncharted 3 and become a 24 hours gamer. I am in a dangerous zone! Mission complete (literally...we finished the first level!)

16/6 Day 16 - Learn something new on an SLR

Two of my friends were nice enough to teach me a couple of things in the land of photography today. I managed to stalk some cyclists, a runner, a puppy, some kids and a sugar dispenser in the process and have some fun! Here is one of the cyclists I spied near Collingwood Children's Farm. 

He was one of the only ones going fast enough for this effect to turn out. Here is a how-to but basically you just need to use a long exposure.

I also took one of my friend flying!

 

Hooray! I think I'd like to to learn more but a good start nonetheless.

9/6 Day 9: Watch a new TV show

Whilst camping I checked out a TV show I had never seen before: Firefly. Space isn't my favourite setting/theme so this was a good suggestion.
 

At first I found it fairly slow and not terribly engaging, however, it did grow on me. Where the plot is going to go next intrigues me. Despite this I am not exactly hanging out for the next episode; it hasn't drawn me in yet. I think I probably will watch episode 2 at some stage though.

So an easy one for the 9th but accomplished nonetheless!

5/6 Day 5: Listen to a new artist

I selected a new artist to listen to today by visiting the Billboard Website and choosing #1 in Jazz Albums.

I listened to the whole album and overall liked it. Quite a variety of songs. Hated 'Radio'. My favourites were 'Cinnamon Tree' and "I can't help it". I really liked the rhythms of these. Esperanza Spalding is talented. That said, although it was nice, I am not sure if I will seek out further music from her. 

Mission complete!

2/6 Day 2: Disconnect Day

Yesterday I did not use my mobile, laptop or the Internet. I also didn't read newspapers or magazines. 

It was a lot harder than expected because:

a) For this particular day I had to write down a fair bit of calendar information (addresses, phone numbers etc) the night before.

b) My boyfriend kept trying to show me something in the newspaper or on his phone!! Plus I almost forgot a few times.

c) Melbourne (AFL footy) won for the first time this season and I couldn't SMS or ring my Mum or sister to celebrate! (Had to wait until midnight!)

So this one wasn't entirely new but it has been a long time. The last time I didn't do any of these things in a day would have been a hiking trip last year. If I excluded hiking/camping/travel times then the last time would have been when I was about 11 years old! Crazy town!

Day 2 was alarmingly hard but I made it!