European Windows

At a recent camera club competition I entered my audio visual. I was up against some stiff competition from the best photographers in the club so didn't get a place. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there on the night so didn't experience the audience reaction or hear the judge's comments personally. However, friends who were there gave me some feedback on how I could improve it so I've taken that on board and changed it. View it on full screen and make sure you've got the sound on. Hope you enjoy it.

Brain & Mind Institute

A couple of weeks ago Terry and I flew down to Sydney to the Brain and Mind Institute to see an eminent professor of neurology for an opinion on my condition. He examined me and ordered tests be done at the Institute by a neurophysiology technologist. They were interesting. The first was in a darkened room with a computer screen showing black & white squares, like a chessboard. I had lots of coloured wires attached to my head and I had to look at the screen as the program began. The squares changed at different speeds from black to white and back and I had to concentrate on keeping them in focus. The technologist could tell from looking at her monitor screen when my mind was wondering - very creepy, she could virtually read my mind. It was quite exhausting. Each "run" would last about 2 or 3 minutes with one of my eyes covered. After about an hour of that, I had more wires attached to my arms, legs and head and an electric pulse was turned on. That all went for another hour. We then saw the Professor again and he said I didn't have CIDP or MS but he concluded I have spinal chord damage at waist level which will require further investigation with better MRI. It was a bit of a shock to learn I've been treated for 12 months for something I don't have but also relief. I'll now go on to the next step in this medical "journey".

Lucas' Graduation

Our family was very proud to attend the graduation of my nephew, Lucas, last week. He has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Forensics. Early in his studies, at times he struggled with the workload and the subject matter but he persevered over the years and has done very well. Now comes the task of finding a job (anywhere in Australia) to match his newly learned skills. He is a very nice young man and will work very hard. We wish him well.

TeckoGecko

I'm on the committee for the Oral History Association of Australia (Qld Inc.) and earlier this year we decided to get our own web site. We finally settled on a fairly new company, TeckoGecko Small Business Websites Brisbane, and we have been very pleased with the result. Although this is a new business for them, they have a lot of IT experience and provide innovative ways for getting businesses on-line. As they grow, their services to clients will also expand. For example, they provide tutorials for many aspects of managing web sites and are always on hand to provide additional assistance. They are friendly and professional to deal with and provide training so clients can manage their own sites. As a small not-for-profit association, OHAA also found the cost of setting up our web site very reasonable. And ......... they have the cutest business logo!!

Barbecue by the Dam

We had a lovely barbecue picnic by Wivenhoe Dam last week. The beautiful Brisbane winter added to the occasion - sunshine, warmth, no wind - perfect! Terry cooked steak and sausages on the little barbecue provided, but we brought our own wood - just as well, as that was not provided. It was great to see so much water in the dam after the terrible drought we've had and then lots of rain has brought the dam to life again. Terry had found on the internet that there were disabled toilets at the site on the National Public Toilet Map. What a great service! So there was no excuse not to go for a drive out there. It was so good to get away and do something "normal" like we used to do.

American Impressionism

Last week Terry and I visited the Queensland Art Gallery to see the American Impressionism & Realism exhibition. The American paintings were from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. There were a number of Australian paintings shown as well, demonstrating the influence on their art by the Americans of the time. So the exhibition was a treat, combining the best from our two countries representing this era. My favourites of the Americans was John Singer Sargent and Childe Hassam. The beautiful painting of "Mrs Hugh Hammersley" by Singer Sargent was hung on a burgundy wall, a similar colour to her dress. The effect was particularly striking, especially from a distance. This exhibition is well worth a visit.

London Lunch

I was very pleasantly surprised to receive an "Honour' for my photo in the People subject in competition with my camera club, Queensland Camera Group. As we were walking along the Thames in London last July I saw this boy with all the take-away boxes beside him and thought it looked funny. He probably didn't eat it all himself, but it was amusing seeing it all lined up like that.