Thursday 16 August 2012

Best rant I've heard in a long time

'RANT, this way' photo (c) 2008, Nesster - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Admittedly, I enjoy a good rant. Some might be quick to point out it is in line with my argumentative nature but then again the critical mind, even though an invaluable asset, might appear as a negative feature to the untrained eye. Before I get carried away and start ranting myself, let my share what I consider to be an absolute genius rant delivered by the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow in highfalutin English. Things get rather interesting around the 1:57 mark. Enjoy!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19255249

Monday 13 August 2012

What I've been up to

'Tito's Pineneedle Basket, August Calendar #freeposter #oaxacatoday @BigHugeLabs' photo (c) 2011, Ron Mader - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
A quick glance at the calendar suggests that nearly one full month has elapsed since I last wrote for Let's Interpret. Fear not, I didn't abandon the idea of having a regularly updated blog. In fact, the opposite is true as will be demonstrated in the coming days as there's a lot I would like to share with you. I have been quite busy over the past month. Certainly, not Barack Obama busy, but rather what I would describe as being actively engaged in seeing a few projects through.

Some 3 weeks ago, I set out to what turned out to be a rather intense, nerve-racking task, namely creating my own website. Having studied applied web design at a university level I was aware that the task in hand was never going to be a walk in the park. All the technicalities aside (and may I add, there are plenty), creating an informative, well-balanced content posed a reasonable challenge. A fortnight later, a smile finally appeared on my face when I realised that my efforts are about to materialise in the form of fully functional website available at www.exceedinterpreting.com. Strangely, an acute pain developed in my shoulder girdle as a result of slouching in front of the computer for hours on end ('I wonder if I can make this look nicer...') did not take away the joy coming from the successful launch and the pain itself subsided soon after. Makes you wonder if Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Pain Management has its merit.

Just before I went live with exceedinterpreting.com, I had submitted my first ever professional publication to Institute of Translation and Interpreting based on the results of my BA dissertation on stress management among interpreters. The article will be published in the September-October issue of ITI Bulletin.

All the while, my mind was wandering on other, as important things, mainly preparation for the upcoming conference Children, Young People and Adults: Extending the Conversation and my MA dissertation research but also flat huntingWell, it looks like the coming month will be just as busy :)