Sambalina

Ooooh, I got published online (twice!).

SusieBlue - your bio re-write has now been immortalised on the internet Thank you so much!!

I just finished the Kindle sample chapters for 1Q84 and I'm intrigued!

I'll look into buying the whole thing when I get home from work. I'm a little worried I won't be able to get it electronically, as it said the product wasn't available in NZ (Why an electronic book wouldn't be available in NZ when I'm willing to pay for it?!). I'll try again, maybe with a different version.

Apocalyptic Planet's not available until Oct 2nd, right?

Yay, excited for NF book club!

Fantastic challenge, Angel, and great work so far. You'll take the SA party scene by storm!

I'm still looking for a poster of some kind of that ring chick or the chick from grudge for the back of my bathroom door!

As for the posters, if you need to you can use this site. You just upload whatever image you want, tell it how big you want it, and it makes it into a PDF document of A4 pages that you print out, cut the white boarder off and stick together to form a whole. I've done it and it works great!

Hey Blue - I'm doing yoga this challenge too I'm totally going to use Stormborn's link to the videos. Have you tried one yet? I'll let you know how it goes - tomorrow is a yoga day for me.

As for finding some move extremely easy and others impossible - that's pretty normal in my experience (I took thrice weekly group classes for a year and half back at uni). Some poses are for relaxation, are transition poses, or you are strong in that area, so take less obvious effort. Make sure you are using the correct muscles, though. It's easy to think you're doing the pose, but actually other parts of you are compensating and making things seem easy because you're not doing it right For the poses you can't do - there are generally lots of different levels of poses, and preparation poses too - maybe check some of those out for the moves you can't get into. You'll get there in the end!

Good luck with your challenge!

It's Wednesday for me now! But I spent all of yesterday thinking it was Wednesday. Is there something in the water?

Anywho - can't wait for voting to close, I wanna get reading!

Excellent suggestion, Razor!

However, I just went to my desk to get my lesson plan for after school class and - My nuts have been stolen!

Yup, someone has taken off with my entire box of chestnuts. Who or why I do not know. I have the sneaking suspicion they took mine because I'm the foreign teacher - all the other teachers still had theirs sitting on their desks.

So, now I'm nut-less and feeling marginalised

On the bright side, I now don't need to know your chestnut ideas.

This should maybe go in the nutrition board, but it's not really a nutrition question. Recipes maybe? Please move it, mods, if need be.

Anyway, Korean thanksgiving is coming up this weekend, and I have just found on my desk a butt-ton of chestnuts (raw - I think). Seriously, there's a whole box of them - all the teachers got one from the mysterious chestnut fairy (but probably just the vice-principal).

My problem is: I have never even eaten a chestnut, let alone dealt with a whole box of them. Any help or suggestions? What can I do with them? I have a super long weekend coming up, thanks to the thanksgiving holiday, so I'm happy to make some autumn-y type food or crafts using the little buggers.

What the heck to I do with this box of nuts??

Way to go on the dinner, Deja - Fish and carrots is totally an improvement from a paleo point of view That took some effort - way to go!

Can you do your workout this evening?

P.S - am totally following you on pinterst now - you've got some neat paleo and raft pins

Hey Maleficarum, good luck with those goals! You've set some really challenging fitness goals for yourself - I'm sure you'll do great. I have to move during this challenge too, so I can totally relate to your life goal. It's such a big load of work, isn't it?!

I vote for The Casual Vacancy, but I'll give anything a go

That's fantastic SusieBlu! I will definitely go with your one - sounds much better Thank you so much!

I'm keen to - I love reading, and I read all sorts.

I, personally think that ANY book can be intellectual and discussion-worthy, it's all about how you read it. Now, I haven't read 50 shades of Grey, but I have read a summary (so I'm, like 100% qualified to comment), but even in a book that is considered so poorly written and far from the truth (of most consensual BDSM relationships) we could discuss (just as one example) why such a piece of writing has become popular at this point in time. That could get pretty darn intellectual

I AM NOT NOMINATING IT! Or even suggesting it, I'm just putting the idea out there that one doesn't have to read 'intellectual books' to have meaningful discussions about them.

And just to be different, I nominate Lee Child's new book - 'A Wanted Man'. I love me some Reacher

Winter Blue (Or Winter Bleu if ya wanna get French) sounds pretty. It'd be nice to theme your pics this way too, if that's your thing. I'm imagining either cozy-warm winter type shots, or cooler snowflake themed. Subtle, obviously, not highschool prom style

Widgetman - what the heck kind of advice is that for a tutor to give? Go for it! Give it a go - all they can do is say 'Thanks, but no thanks'.

Thank you for the support guys! No one understands nerdy woots like NF nerds!

Nice looking goals, WTChemist I agree with the others, only two hours a week of 'pointless' internet use?!? Is that even possible! Haha, no I'm sure it is, and I bet you're life will be more awesome for it.

But I have to ask, Mormon parenting blogs? Are you a Mormon parent? What kind of stuff do Mormon parents blog about? I think it's so cool that the internet has helped bring communities together!

Good luck with your challenge!

That is awesome, Sambie! I agree with Cyn, you are definitely getting the recognition you deserve. You're an asset here too

Huge congratulations!

Nerds, I need some help! They need 40 words about me to print with my article. I wasn't sure what to write so I thought I'd check out the bios of the authors in the sample edition available online. Um. Well. They are all WAY older and more experienced than me. The closest I was able to find was one guy with only 6 years experience. I have one. Yeah. One.

Them:

- Freelance writer, lecturer, and teacher. Involved in teaching English for over 15 years. Has specialties. Has a DELTA, a BA in Education and an MA in learning disabilities.

- Has publish widely, including article and whole books. Author of the British Council's Learn English website.

- Associate professor at a University.

- Owns his own English school. Teaching for 20 years. Has published several articles.

- Series editor for major ESL publication, taught for over 40 years in 9 countries. Published over 30 books.

- Teaching for eight years; teaching since 1993; teaching for 15 years; 20 years; University teacher for seven years; 18 years; six years;

They are all like this! No joke.

Me:

- Teaching for one year

- Taught in two countries, one of which in a truly crappy, ENTRY level job (ie: doesn't hold any professional prestige)

- I haven't published anything before

- I don't have specialties, don't work at a uni, don't have my own school.

- My degrees are unrelated to teaching.

What I do have to work with:

- I have taught at uni in NZ, but only as a contract lecturer for 5 weeks and not in English or education.

- I have taught a huge range of levels and ages.

- I do have interests (Like: empowering students in their education)

So, at first draft, I've got this:

[sambalina] currently works in South Korea. She has a BA in psychology and an MA in social anthropology. She is most interested in empowering students through their education, and helping them discover their own learning motivations.

On another note, I have the same problem with the water thing!! I made a bottle that helps me! you put markings on the bottle... either with "morning", "afternoon", "evening" or with times really.... keep the bottle with you... by that time of the day you have to be at the correspondent marking on the bottle.

Wow - good luck with your study and the tests shoobie - that sounds like an amazing goal!

I love your water bottle idea! I am definitely going to do that - thank you

Yay! for going home, you must be so excited!! I know how much you've been missing home of late. Also I love the idea of you taking pics for our enjoyment - just don't use instagram

I am suuuuuuuper excited! Shoes in my size? Oh my!

And seeing my mum, dad, brother, best friend - awesome!

Never fear - I don't even have instagram You are safe.

Your lack of Gangnam Style is... disturbing.

If you were here, you would know.

They are so proud of that song they play it everywhere all the time. Shops here play their music out onto the street, so any given block you can hear Gangnam Style blasting from 4+ stores. Go out for dinner? Hear it played 3 times in the 45mins you're there. The kids at school play it during lunch time over the school PA system, and then out loud on their phones after school. It's on the TV. It's on the news.

It's eating my brain!

So, a few NF challenges ago I challenged myself to write an article for an academic journal and submit it in the hopes of becoming a publish writer. Well, the article got written, I completed my challenge! And I just found out today that it's been accepted for publication! In a real, live, international teaching journal! It's my first one and I am so happy and proud of myself! And I would never had done it if not for Nerd Fitness - Thank yo Steve and thank you all of you, you've made my year!!

W00T!!!

So many exclamation marks!!!

I'm currently living in South Korea - been here for a year.

Things I like:

- Four really distinct seasons

- Excellent public transport

- Food everywhere

- Stuff is so big! Big cities, big parks, so many people.

- People watching here is fascinating.

Things I don't like:

- Gets both very hot and really cold.

- Extremely crowded at times.

- Korean logic is sometimes very different from Western logic. Very different.

- surprise red bean paste in foods that look nice and innocent.

Overall it's a great place to explore. Some foreigners hate it with a passion, but I like it enough to stay for another year

Those goals sound great, shoobie. Really measurable (and all round SMART).

However, don't you want at least one day off from studying a week?

What are you studying?

Only not with Russell Crowe as the gunslinger. That just doesn't work for me!

And good link, Nocturnis. I'll peruse these at work today. Thanks

I'm still in the drafting stages for the next challenge. My diet and exercise goals are easy:

EX1: Do one 'proper' pushup (yup, I have a plan of attack)

EX2: Do yoga + stretching 20 mins 4 times a week

Diet: Drink at least 1L of water a day (I keep not drinking and ending up with a dehydration headache by the end of the day/in the morning).

But now I need a life goal. I'm headed home (NZ - yay!)for a two-ish week holiday in the middle of October, I need to find a job back here in Korea, or it could be something hobby related (art, games, writing, craft). Hmmmm, my life goal *could* be to create or cook one new thing from the awesome things I have pinned on Pinterest? And then photograph them for your guys viewing pleasure. That sounds like a nice goal.

Any thought, fellow nerds?

(P.S. HIGH-FIVE Lead!)

Oh Alex Mac - I loved that show! Doug was huge favourite, and so was Rugrats.

Did anyone watch... I think it was just called 'Gargoyles'?. These gargoyles that were stone during the day but came alive at night and they had a friend who was a lady police officer? And then she got shot? And then they went back in time? And She fell in love with the main gargoyle? oooooh....I never missed an episode, I loved it so much.