This Is Your Brain on Music

As I catch up on reading at home and currently listening to Isabelle Boulay - 60 songs on Windows Media - I must take the opportunity to recommend a good book. I got the book from the library and it is called This Is Your Brain on Music.

It is written by a professor at McGill University who was mainly trained in the States. The book was recommended to me by a former student of mine at the University of Guelph-Humber. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys music - which pretty much means everyone. It is a wonderful understanding of both science and art.

Professor’s Perspective: Teaching in the summer

Some professors work through the fall and the winter just waiting for their time off in the summer. Other professors really enjoy teaching in the summer.

For those professors who teach in the summer, this could provide a tremendous opportunity.

If it is your first time teaching, the summer time may a good time to get used to your new work environment, get to know your colleagues and enjoy your time with your students in better weather. Teaching in the summer is an advantage for many new professors, as well as students, because worries about needing to cancel a class due to weather conditions are minimized.

The weather may even be so lovely that you can choose to change the classroom environment to outdoors in a quad, go on field trips and feel more encouraged to hang around the campus to get to know the school community better.

The summer is also a great time to get part-time or adjunct work with a college or university. You may have a more flexible work schedule and be able to devote a few hours to a course here or there.

Students can be at an advantage by taking summer school. Professors tend to be more relaxed and in a better state of mind than other times of the year. This may also translate into the kind of grades you would receive. As well, for students, it helps to get some of those extra credits or missed credits to either help you stay on course with your studies, or advance further so you would have more time for things like work and internships later on.

For professors who are fully established with the institution or institutions they work for…summer time is a great one to teach at your best. Usually with a lighter course load, there is more opportunity to either focus on the courses you have to teach, and/or to work on other projects that are important to you. These could be projects around the home, research, writing and projects related to work. You just may find that a project you start in the summer is something that you will carry with you throughout the year.

The Importance of Exercise

Exercise is a vital part of keeping a healthy life. I find I always feel better when I exercise and I have some gym equipment at home that has been helping me to exercise all year round.

This past week, I have not exercised as much and I can really feel the difference. It can be so easy to get into a lazy pattern and not exercise and eat properly when you are supposed to. At least I have been able to counterbalance the lack of exercise with fairly good eating practices this week. The ideal of course is to implement both into your life.

I have taken some walks outside and received some exercise - just not as much as I know my body needs and I can feel that. I also read a report somewhere that said even for older people, low impact exercise for a sustained period of time can be terrific for your health.

Regardless of the weather - try to get some exercise in. I really admire those people I see walking or jogging even when it is raining or snowing in the winter time. Try to make it part of your weekly or daily routine, which I have been pretty good about up until this week - and I plan on getting back on the bandwagon today.

Keep Copies of Your Stories

Today I spent some time looking for a story I wrote back in 2002 with the hope of publishing it in a new book. I originally had written it for an anthology series and when I got in touch with the editor about a year ago, she could not find it either. She also had not ever given me a copy of the anthology and to this day I still do not know if it was even published.

It is extremely important to make sure that you have copies of everything you have done. Make sure that you keep your writing, radio and videos in a safe place so you can always refer back to it. This way you can keep a body of work that would be great for a portfolio or something that you can keep for your records.

Oh well, now I know that my story is lost for good as far as I know. Try not to let this happen to you.

I look forward to those of you who would like to make submissions to my magazine Donna and make sure that you keep copies of your work.

Get Your Story Told

Robert Payne and Donna Kakonge are teaming up to help YOU tell your story.

Ever wanted to have documented proof of something you have gone through? Ever thought of passing on your life story to your children and/or grandchildren? Ever just wanted a chance to star in your own story?

All these dreams can come true with the assistance of Robert Payne and Donna Kakonge. Contact Donna Kakonge at: dkakonge@sympatico.ca to set up a free consultation.

New Link for VoicePrint Reading

Hello!

You can listen to me on VoicePrint for Thursday, May 28th when it is up at the following link: http://www.voiceprintcanada.com/component/option,com_mtree/task,listcats/cat_id,69/Itemid,68/.

As well, it looks as though the New Opportunities Learning Centre podcast will take a little longer than planned. I hope it will be ready to upload by early June.

Listen Out for Me on VoicePrint Today

Hello!

I will having my broadcasting debut on VoicePrint today (Wednesday) at 4:00 p.m. You can listen to my newscast at: http://www.voiceprintcanada.com/content/view/44/71/. I hope you enjoy it!

I will be on air with VoicePrint every Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. throughout the summer. I will let you know if there is a time change for the fall.

New Opportunity Learning Centre

The interview went well today. I just finished editing the story down that I plan to put on my podcast on Thursday afternoon if I can. The website for my podcast is: http://kakonged.podomatic.com. Listen out to a podcast about exercising from me for tomorrow morning. I am also in discussion about doing writing classes with the centre as well.

I got my first volunteer submission for Donna Magazine from Roselyn Keledra-Sedra. You can find her article on my multimedia online magazine at: http://kakonged.wordpress.com. I also just found out that all of the books I have published have now been made available through Amazon.com. Look out for them and buy early and buy often. Thank you.

Interview Today

Today I have an interview with a learning centre in downtown Toronto about doing a story, as well as getting a job. I find when I have interviews I really need to focus and to make sure it is one of the only things I do on that day.

I am really hoping it goes well because like most people, I could use the extra money. It looks as though things are shaping up well for my fall semester of teaching. I am looking forward to starting that, however the summer is proving to be exciting too. I start the summer semester at Trebas Institute on Wednesday. I will be teaching online marketing and it should be a lot of fun. I already know the students because I had them in the winter semester and they are a great group.

On Thursday I am back at Seneca. I am looking forward to that too. We started off learning about blogging and online journalism. There will be a lot of that implemented into the curriculum over the semester.

At the same time, when it comes to Donna Magazine, I am still looking for volunteer submissions. My advertorial model may work for some and encourage any one who thinks it could work for them to make some money from my site.

Wish me luck for my interview today.

Call for Volunteers or Making Money

Hello!

If you know about my advertorial model for Donna Magazine - please feel free to contact me for details if it is something that you would be interested in.

Other than that, I am also looking for volunteer submissions for Donna Magazine in both print and broadcast. I look forward to hearing from you.

Volunteering for VoicePrint

I got some really good news today. I will be doing volunteer announcing with VoicePrint - a service that provides news to people with vision challenges - starting this Wednesday. I will be on air every Wednesday from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. You can listen to me at: http://www.voiceprintcanada.com/. I hope you enjoy it. You can also listen to my podcasts at: http://kakonged.podomatic.com.

Book Now Published

Honest Psychic Chats is now published. You can buy this book and all of my other books at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged. Buy early and buy often.

Publishing New Book

I have two books already about chats I have done with psychics online. The first is called Draft: eSprirituality Chats. The second is called Draft: Part Two. In a slight departure, the third installment is called Honest Psychic Chats.

I have found from past chats I have had with psychics on Psychic Contact that they have been honest. Not all of the information has come to fruition yet, however I have found the set up this system to be honest and the advice and guidance given to be good.

Keep in mind that one should not let psychics rule their life. Ultimately psychic guidance is primarily for entertainment purposes and I do believe that some of them do have a gift for predicting the future.

So...if you would like to be a "fly on the wall" and read about some chats I had with psychics from February to May of this year, buy Honest Psychic Chats, as well as the other books today. It will be published before the end of the day. It can be bought on my online store at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.

French Lessons with Dominique

You are more likely to make more money with your existing work if you know French. As well, if you are looking for work - knowing French increases your chances of getting a job and opens doors and opens opportunities for you.

Dominique is just the person to help you reach your goals with French. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced - or even if you are fluent and just want someone to practice your written and spoken French with so you do not lose it in a city like Toronto - Dominique is your tutor.

She offers tutoring services in French. She is Quebecois, educated in Quebec at the bachelor's level in translation and has several years of experience at this work. Her rate is $21.00/hr., however this can be negotiated if you are short on funds.

Do yourself a favour and learn French today with Dominique. She can be contacted at (416) 760-4635. Leave a message and she will get back to you right away.

Making Decisions

Going back to school is a very important thing. Sometimes it is also a matter of deciding when it is time to learn from life and to practically apply what you learned in school.

I was going to go back to school at the University of Toronto, however have decided not to do so. The degree would have been a second master's one and I was worried about the money and this was causing a lot of anxiety. I already have a master's degree and the natural next step would be to do a doctorate degree. A trusted confidante of mine says that a doctorate degree may put me out of the job market to the point that employers may not think I would work for a salary. These are things to consider. I do work in education though where having advanced degrees does not tend to be a problem.

Ultimately I had to look at the kind of education I tend to teach in. It is primarily college-based where having practical experience is important, as well as having education is important. I enjoy having this balance. I think it makes for a more well-rounded person at this stage of my life. At least I can say I have done things outside of school, as well as what I am doing right now and into the future.

Do not get me wrong, school is important - however there is a point when it becomes necessary to work on your PhD of life experience. This does not mean you need to buy one to put on your wall, such as the kind of degrees that Belford University offers - however, it does mean that you need to learn common sense as my Mom would call it. Common sense being different from the kind of book knowledge many people learn in school. This includes survival skills and developing the know-how to be successful at whatever you want to do.

New Story in the Works

Stay tuned for a story on the New Opportunities Learning Centre. That will be featured in Donna Magazine and I also hope to have it up on podcast too.

Audacity is a wonderful editing tool for those who cannot afford Adobe Audition yet. These are editing software programs. However, Adobe Audition is a great program to have. If you can get it at an educational discount - this makes a huge difference in savings.

Besides the story - I just had a great lunch. Sometimes when I am working I forget to eat. I went to a party at a friend's house of mine where other women shared in that sentiment. You work so much, you forget to eat. Those are the advantages of working from home - it is easier to remember to eat. Like everything, things come with advantages and disadvantages and working from home can be awfully quiet at times.

My mail does not come around in good weather until 2:00 p.m. EST. During the winter and on garbage and recycling days, sometimes it does not come until 4:00 p.m. I am not expecting any mail of crucial importance, however I usually enjoy making the walk around my place to pick it up. I am hoping this will be good exercise for the large lunch I had. My mailman is a really nice guy who can speak French and Italian, as well as English. The occasional time I get to practice my French with him. He speaks well.

Well, blogging after lunch is better than sleeping after lunch. Keeps me more productive any way. I went to bed really early as usual and woke up really early. I even got my exercise in before 7:00 a.m. I was hit with a burst of inspiration. Sometimes cloudy days as it is in Toronto I can find so inspiring. You never know what is hidden behind those gray skies.

Please excuse this indulgent post.

Update

So I got my book School Works - Other Essays published through Lulu.com. It can bought at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged. I plan to do a podcast about it too to put up on that site which is: http://kakonged.podomatic.com. Yesterday I was teaching my students all about blogs and making money from blogs, so I might as well get right into it myself. Plus, it's a lot of fun.

Still have the marking to do and the email to send out. I will do that right after this. I'm also doing some editing on a former student's script that looks amazing so far. I will be doing training with my web designer later in the day so I can do the updates myself with my official website: www.donnakakonge.com. I need to update my resume on there, as well as feature the new books I have done.

School Works - Other Essays

Yesterday I had two classes to teach at Seneca College. They went well. I did more talking in these classes than in the first classes because I had to lay down the groundwork of the some fundamental knowledge, however the class still did go well.

Today I hope to publish my book School Works - Other Essays. I have some editing to do with that book, plus a whole lot of marking to do for assignments at Seneca College. I am hoping that the students understand that if I give them a week to hand in an assignment, they should at least give me a week to mark it. I hope they understand that is fair. I will send out an email about that just to clarify, in case anyone is expecting to get it right away.

Other than that, things are going well. I have a lot of work to do today and have organized many of my stories to put together for my new website (or really revamped from an old one) Donna's Salon Utopia. I have also assembled some stories for my main magazine Donna that I plan to start rolling out closer to June. I would like to work more on podcasts, as well as video work, which I definitely will do. Things are going well. I cannot complain.

Inspiration All Around

I just got a really inspiring email from Worldwide Freelance Market while sitting here and listening to Duke Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige. They discussed the common traits of successful, best-selling authors. One of the things they mentioned is perseverance and how important this is. They also mentioned how writing often and wanting to write often is also important. I guess I should see the free time I have right now as a blessing to allow me to get the book I am working on done. Wow...it is funny how a simple email can help to put things into perspective.

I remember a job I had working in a visual library with a public broadcaster - I was dying to write every day. I would spend every available moment I had writing and understood that if I did not do this - my spirit would kind of die too. Now I have more time with a lighter teaching schedule and can make this happen. However, if you are like me the real challenge is to do things when you have less time, not more time. Meaning, I find that with my nature, I am actually more productive when I have more on my plate to deal with.

Well, I am going to get back to writing that book. I would love to hear from you about how your writing, education or other creative projects are coming along. Feel free to be the first to comment on this blog.

Going Back to School

This morning I got up early as usual and wanted to write on my blog right away. I was stumped. I did not know what to write about. With the summer here and things getting quiet, there really does not seem to be a lot to write about on my end.

One thing I can mention though is that I will be going back to school. I will be doing a second master's degree in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. I had received entrance into different programs there since late 2007 and if I had just taken the original offer I could probably have completed my degree by now. Oh well, I guess everything happens for a reason and I hope this degree will help with more financial security for my future.

Why else does anyone go back to school, except to mainly secure a financial future for themselves? Paying for it will be slightly stressful, however I am hoping I can do it without loans because from what I hear - getting loans can be a really stressful experience once you need to pay them back. I have had luck with the two loans I have taken out before and have been able to pay them back relatively quickly.

Part of the reason I did not accept the admission offers I received in the past was because I was determined to do my PhD at U of T, or another school within Toronto. The good thing is that it looks as though I will be able to take doctoral-level courses while doing my master of education. More and more colleges are requiring that professors and instructors have doctoral-level degrees.

A lot of people go back to school in these economic times. I hope for all of you doing it that the silver lining will be there for you once you graduate and you will get exactly what your heart desires.

Seneca College and Trent University

Now Seneca College students have a chance to do a liberal arts diploma and a degree at Trent University in four years.

This move goes along with the trend many universities are taking so students can receive a college diploma and a university degree at the same time. Seneca College has also partnered with York University for a journalism diploma at Seneca@York, as well, Centennial College has partnered with the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) campus for a journalism diploma at Centennial. Students can receive an arts degree at UTSC.

For private education that is top-quality, there are schools such as Trebas Institute that offer one-year programs in such areas as entertainment management and film and audio production.

Advertorials on Donna Magazine

Things seem to be going well with finding a lot of talented people to add advertorials to my other online magazine called Donna. I feel really good about it. Although it is not a get-rich quick scheme, I think the writers who put in the work and deliver good stories will have a lot of fun doing it and it will add more interesting content to that site.

Embarking on a new endeavour always has the bit of fear that goes into it that it may not work out. I am feeling the positive feelings more that this will work out. I have been thinking about it since 2005 and it really should work out. There is so much talent out there and I know they can make doing advertorials for Donna Magazine a win-win situation all around.

The Magic of the Telephone

I hope you have been having a great long weekend. To make sure I would save money and have time to do work from home and close to home, I decided instead to keep in touch with friends by telephone.

I spoke to a friend in New Brunswick, a friend in Montreal, a friend in London, England, as well a friend right here in Toronto. The telephone is a wonderful way to keep in touch and I have a flat rate with my long distance company that is good for 50 countries worldwide.

Enjoy looking at the fireworks - I am going to create little ones of my own.

Making Money From a Blog or Online Magazine

Many people have been talking about how to make money from a blog or any online presence such as a magazine, newspaper or podcast. Can you blame them? It takes a lot of work and dedication to put such things together and to be compensated for it just seems to make sense.

I currently have this business model where I am looking for writers who would essentially work on a commission basis. They would write advertorials and receive 80 per cent of the income they earn - I would receive 20 per cent for editing the material and posting it to my site Donna Magazine. That magazine is done through Wordpress and currently that particular blogging platform does not take advertisements unless you are willing to pay big bucks.

So I hope the plan I have been thinking about for four years will work out. Please do wish me luck...I need it.

Long Weekends and Homework

With long weekends such as this one in Canada, sometimes the last thing students are thinking about is getting their homework done. It is more traditionally a time for barbecues, shopping, spending time with family and friends, or getting some extra work hours in for that part-time job.

The thing is...it is a great time to do homework if you are going to school within the summer months. Students who are going to school within the summer months should feel extremely fortunate they are doing so. In Malcolm Gladwell's The Outliers, he discusses how important it is to keep learning over the summer months so you do not lose the skills that you develop over the fall and winter. This is a book about how to succeed. I completely agree with this.

The same is true of weekends. If more students put in a seven-day week effort into their studies - they would truly see the results.

With that said...have a good long weekend.

Earthquake in Texas

I was speaking to a psychic named Kismet in Texas over a chat. While we were online, there was an earthquake in Dallas, Texas.

The earthquake happened between 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. EST. Kismet says it is about a 2.0 to 3.0 on the Richter scale. She also mentioned that she remembers a big earthquake that happened in 1989 and this one did not compare.

York University and UHN

York University and the University Health Network in Toronto will be forming an alliance to create a nursing academy.

The nursing school at York University has already seen tremendous growth and hopefully this alliance will create a situation where Canadian-trained nurses will actually see the advantages of staying in their home country after graduation, rather than leaving for the United States.

University of Metaphysical Sciences - Update

The email I received from the University of Metaphysical Sciences was misunderstood by myself. This is a correction.

The name of the school has not changed. It is the church associated with the school that has changed its name. The degrees granted by the University of Metaphysical Sciences still bear the same name.

Seneca College

Yesterday I had my first day back at Seneca@York for the summer semester. What a bright new crop of students I seem to have for this new semester. We discussed everything from conspiracy theories, to the Tamil protest to racism to beautiful Canadian islands. Two students introduced me to a great new singer named Jason Maraz. It was so inspiring to have such lively discussions with some young people who seemed to show themselves from the first day as having such bright minds.

The key and challenge now will be to sustain this momentum. This is always the challenge with teaching. You want to make sure if you have a great first day that you can sustain that momentum throughout the 14 or 15 weeks of the course. I will do my part, I can just hope that they will do theirs.

The first assignment I have my media writing students doing is an online piece where they actually have to get at least one original source. They had some grumbles about that, however I am sure they will find this to be a rewarding experience.

Well...until next time.

EduBlogs

There is a new blog service that is fast, free and easy to use. It is called EduBlogs: http://edublogs.org/.

This blog service makes it possible for teachers and students to create blogs for the learning environment.

Every chance I get, I try to get my students creating blogs, plus podcasts and video blogs. Eblogger is one of the software that can be used for this. Also I have an online multimedia magazine at: http://kakonged.wordpress.com with Wordpress that also allows for media and text uploading.

University of Metaphysical Sciences Name Change

The University of Metaphysical Sciences has made a recent name change to the Wisdom of the Heart Church. Their previous name was in conflict with another name and after careful consideration - they decided upon Wisdom of the Heart Church.

The degrees they grant still have the same credentials and the organization still has the same status under the IRS in the United States. The courses are mainly done online.

Anyone wishing to have their degrees formerly granted by the University of Metaphysical Sciences replaced with a name change to the Wisdom of the Heart Church may do so for a nominal fee.

Publishing Your School Essays

I am working on this current book called School Works - Other Essays. I have also written recently Yes, School Works and School Works. All of these books were spawned from my realization that all those essays you write in postgraduate education are publishable work.

Many terrific ideas come out of school essays. I know this from doing them, as well as reading them in the past, plus currently reviewing student work as a teacher. I would encourage everyone - from professionals to students to consider publishing the work they have done while in school. When you think about it, your teacher, instructor, professor is acting as the editor and you have the perfect opportunity to benefit from making some money out of all the money you have put into school. There are various sites you can go to that would help you to self-publish if that is an option for you. The one I use is Lulu.com and the website to buy my books is: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged. I have now written 17 books, edited one and I have a CD of radio documentaries I have done with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, plus two audio stories for download. You can make some residual income from it.

Education Issues

Many people go to Liveperson.com for advice on various matters, from fashion advice to writing advice to tarot counseling. The times I have used the service in the past were once under a screen name of "Toronto." I discovered many interesting things about the people I chatted to online that eventually lead me to writing two books called Draft: eSpirituality Chats and Draft: Part Two. These books can be bought at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.

The main reason why I was going to the site was to find out if going back to school was the right choice for me. I teach and write in Toronto and wanted to know if going back to school would be the right career move.

The psychics I spoke to, most of them told me I would get in, however I did not get into the doctorate-level programs I was hoping to get into. Instead I got into a second master's program, yet this time in education.

Recently I have had my third offer from my first choice school and once I did accept and registered for courses, I realized that I could take doctorate-level courses, while still being a master's student. If I had understood this from the beginning, I would have accepted my first offer, however at least it is not too late. The ironic thing is that I could have had the degree finished by now.

Schools often make you wait a long time in order to find out the status of your application. My training and experience in journalism has helped me a lot, however did not help my patience. I would recommend from my experience to keep busy as you are waiting for those school offers to come in. Stick to your dreams - and when they happen be grateful for them.

University of Metaphysical Sciences

If you have ever been interested in metaphysical topics, ranging from Feng Shui, tarot readings and improving on your psychic abilities - there is actually a university in the United States of America that concentrates on these topics.

You can take a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, as well as a PhD in metaphysical sciences. The School, the University of Metaphysical Sciences, also boast that you can actually perform marriages with the credentials you receive.

Doing a search on Wikipedia, the school does seem legitimate, however there are people on the Internet that call it a cult. The tuition is about $2,000 USD, for all three degrees. If you already have one of those degrees and only want to take one of them - you cannot. You need to take all three degrees.

If you are interested in the program, check it out. Do your research too on whether it would be the right thing for you. The website is: http://www.umsonline.org/.

Kelly Willougby

Kelly Willoughby at: www.kellyharrington.net is not in the business of psychic work anymore. She does it a little bit, however she is mainly focusing on her family and working as a fitness instructor. She has great psychic abilities and you should find out how she could intuitively help you reach your fitness goals.

You can find out more about Kelly on my original magazine: Donna Magazine at: http://kakonged.wordpress.com.