claudine_c

I'm moving to http://claudine.dreamwidth.org/ but will crosspost from there to this Livejournal account.

This is an update on my ongoing vocation question to help members of my various (sometimes overlapping) social circles to keep up with where I am; I think I need help keeping up with myself too!

[This is also an attempt at getting back into blogging or online journaling, and I've got a new place for that, at Dreamwidth, which is built on a fork of the Livejournal code. My Dreamwidth posts should be cross-posted to Livejournal though.]

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I (inexcusably) have not been keeping up with current Australian fiction, so I can't comment on the literary merits of the listed authors. I am simply surprised that, in 2009, only 30% of the long list and 0% of the short list were written by women.

(Don't let me get started on ethnicity...)

[Some of the things I do when I'm not crunching data or translating κοινη ...]


Australian Student Christian Movement discussion series, Semester 1, 2009

Each gathering includes ecumenical prayer, a light meal, input from an invited guest and discussion.

We celebrate the diverse perspectives of Christians from different denominations, traditions and countries. Join us in listening, talking and praying about how we can respond as people of faith to the critical issues of our time.

For more information, contact James Dobson, SCM Victoria staffworker, on 0409 336 784 or at vicc@ascm.org.au



The “Global Financial Crisis”: Whose crisis?

Monday 20 April, 6:00–8:30pm
Victoria University, 300 Flinders Street, Room 16.11 (16th floor)

Guest speaker: Ken Fernandes

It’s not that there isn’t a problem in the world economic order. But as we strive to understand the causes and likely impact of the “GFC” on our lives, or even work out how to spend our $900 bonuses, we might pause to ask: who else is being affected? Who has been missing out all along?

Ken Fernandes studied Economics and was President of the SCM (his wife Nora was the secretary) in the University of Karachi in the 1970s. He worked for a number of organizations of the urban poor in Karachi, Bangkok and Phnom Penh before coming to Australia and continues to work on issues of housing rights in Fiji. He lectures in International Community Development at Victoria University.



The “Global Financial Crisis”: Opportunity for transformation?

Monday 18 May, 6:00–8:30pm
Victoria University, 300 Flinders Street, Room 16.11 (16th floor)

Guest speaker: John Langmore

Continuing our series of discussions on climate change and economic change, we ask Prof John Langmore about the causes of the current situation – and the opportunities that it opens up.

Until recently, “neo-liberal economics” and the “free hand of the market” dominated public discussion. Now that Christian and other ethical perspectives on economic issues are being publicly discussed again – even by our Prime Minister – how can people of faith get engaged in the dialogue about how our society and economics should work?

John Langmore studied Social Work and Commerce at University of Melbourne in the 1960s where he was involved in SCM. He worked in Papua New Guinea, did a Masters in Development Economic in Cambridge, was a Member of Parliament, worked for the United Nations and International Labor Organization and now teaches Public Policy at the University of Melbourne.



Buddhism in Action

Thursday, 23 April 2009, 1-2pm
Spiritual Centre (B1.56), Monash Caulfield campus

Chaplaincy at Monash Caulfield will present a series of lectures, conversations and gatherings in 2009. They seek to challenge, comfort and enrich the depth and texture of your university experience. They aim to connect the themes of personal and corporate faith and spirituality with issues of heart and soul, justice and mercy, conviction and community.

All are welcome.

Mahayana Buddhism provides the methods to quieten the mind and to work for the benefit of others. Consequently, Buddhism has inspired many Australians to work not only on their personal development but also for social change. Venerable Freeman and Anna Halafoff will discuss their experiences of Buddhism in Action, in and beyond Australia.

Anna Halafoff is a researcher for the UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations - Asia Pacific, School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University. She is a practicing Buddhist in the Tibetan tradition.

Venerable Freeman is a 21 year old Buddhist Monk. He is a founding member of the international peace organization, Loving Kindness Peaceful Youth (LKPY), and is coordinator of LKPY's Talking Peace project which facilitates interfaith dialogue.

Are there any who are devout lovers of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!

Are there any who are grateful servants?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!

St John Chrysostom's Easter sermon.

I preached my first sermon ever today — twice. The parish where I am placed has two regular Sunday morning services, the main difference being the absence of hymns in the earlier one. I preached essentially the same sermon at both, and have had mostly positive responses to them.

I hadn’t planned to preach my first sermon ever on Palm Sunday, but that’s how the schedule turned out. In a way, it may be easier for an inexperienced preacher to preach on a major festival, because it’s an event or text that has attracted attention and mental effort. The long stretches of ‘ordinary’ time, just ploughing through less spectacular sections of the Bible from week to week, might be more challenging.

The congregation is used to seeing the vicar speak from notes at the front of the sanctuary, without a lectern, but I used a lectern and a full ‘script’. I would like, by the end of the year, to be able to speak without a lectern. Whenever I’ve spoken behind a lectern, especially one that is not adjustable, I’ve felt trapped behind a barrier between me and the audience; most lecterns are built for people taller than me.

As for the notes vs script debate, I think speaking from notes (or even from memory) is a worthy aim, but I might not reach it this year. I’ve given a few seminar presentations and led tutorials, and in these situations I’ve used notes. However, I feel less confident about my understanding of the Bible and theology and I need a full written text because I can’t rely on my memory.

Parishioners and the vicar responded well to the sermon. They didn’t engage deeply with the theology, but they heard my message and wanted to hear it. I was afraid that it might be too lightweight, but evidently it wasn’t; it’s normal for me to underestimate my own ideas. The main problem was that, while I had the right amount of ‘content’, I sometimes spoke too fast, which is natural for me when I am nervous. In this tradition, a normal sermon is about ten minutes long. My first rehearsal took six minutes, my final one took ten (with essentially the same text), but I probably sped up this morning.

I’m expected to preach at least four more times this year (three more in the parish, one in class). The horrible scary First Sermon Ever is done, and it hasn’t scared me off completely. I know where I need improvement but I think I’ve made a good start.

I moved at the end of February, from Brunswick West to Port Melbourne. I'd been living alone for about seven years, but I've now moved in with three other people. We're all young-ish people involved with the Anglican church in some way. (OK... we're practically children, by Anglican standards.) This is not an ordinary share house; we're intentionally forming a community centred around prayer and hospitality. We have the support of the local Anglican parish, who are renting their unused vicarage to us for a pittance.

There's no way any of us could live in Port Melbourne if we were renting or buying on current market rates. The house is huge and the location is a refreshing change from the inner northern suburbs. (I found Brunswick West and Northcote too crowded for my liking, in terms of both people and buildings.) I've never lived in this part of Melbourne, and never so close to the bay. I feel this is going to be a pleasant and relaxing place to live. I'm much more inclined to work from home than I was at my previous place.

There have to be pet hates, though. My problem with my previous place was the primary school across the road, and the noise of bells, announcements and screaming little darlings at regular times throughout the day. Here, I have bikers revving up outside (we live on a main road near the beach). It doesn't last as long as a school announcement, though.

Contact me privately if you want to know about our housewarming.

I've seen three films in cinemas in less than a week, which is highly irregular behaviour for me -- I blame a combination of last week's heatwave and the early start to semester (I started a two-week intensive subject today) which meant that my cinema-going will be pretty limited for the rest of the year.

I saw Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, Milk and Doubt and I wish I had time and mental space to write more about these, but I have more urgent homework...

I'd give them all 4-5 out of 5, though.

Things I've learned from attending linux.conf.au 2009:

(1) My work -- using FOSS tools to aid historical research -- is interesting to people outside the 'digital humanities'. People came to my miniconference talks. It's counterproductive to wonder whether people came specifically to hear me, or just because they had nothing better to do. The point is, they turned up; some asked questions and made useful comments following the talks, and some later in the week. I even exchanged calling cards.

I've learned that there are geeks who are interested in hearing about [the use of computers in] history. It would be interesting to try delivering similar presentations (or writing articles) in a different direction -- talking to historians about how they can use computers at a more advanced level than desktop applications.

(2) The Linux/FOSS community is a close and compassionate one. Yes, there are notable exceptions to this, but this annual large gathering of geeks somehow brings out the best in a lot of the attendees. It's a community that provides support to people affected by the economic crisis, and that has donated $40,000 and Bdale Garbee's beard to Tasmanian devil research. [another report] I'm guessing that the proportion of women attending these events and being accepted as fellow geeks, not token women, is also increasing.

The FOSS community is not my primary one, but I admire its values and its community spirit.

----

The public website for my main project, Founders and Survivors, has not officially launched yet, but it was promoted in my talks and in the Fairfax press, and quite a few people have already made contact with us about getting involved. I feel my work is starting to bear fruit.

The first two days of linux.conf.au have ended. These two days are dedicated to miniconferences, and I was somehow convinced to give related presentations on both days -- at the LinuxChix and Free as in freedom miniconfs. My slides are available on Slideshare and may also be made available via linux.conf.au in the next few days.

I expect many of the LCA delegates are socialising in Sandy Bay, where most delegates are staying, or in central Hobart. I'm sitting in a private house on the other side of Hobart, (uncharacteristically) watching the tennis on TV. LCA is an intense week of often highly technical sessions and exposure to a large number of geeks. I haven't reacted as strongly as I did in 2007, but I still find LCA too intense for me. I can see why some people would revel in this intensity; for many geeks, LCA could be the highlight of the year. I see myself responding in a similar way to other high-pressure activities that other people find mystifying (such as spending most of my time in church during Holy Week or the week before Christmas). I think I'm getting more out of LCA this time than in 2007, but I still need time alone and away from the centre of activity.

In organising my Livejournal tags in preparation for linux.conf.au, I see that my linux.conf.au tag has one entry from 2007, in which I confess to not being a (Linux) geek. LCA 2007 was my first, and so far my only full LCA. That particular identity crisis affected me so much that in 2008 I planned to avoid all of LCA (in Melbourne! organised by friends!) and only went to the Linuxchix miniconf because day passes were introduced.

I already have two entries for LCA2009, listing my upcoming miniconference presentations. How did this change come about?

For one thing, LCA does seem to have a more diverse programme now than it did two years ago, with more user-level presentations as well as the traditional focus on kernel and hardware hacking. I think, though, that the way I look at myself has also changed significantly. In January 2007 I was trying to complete a degree that I no longer cared about; I did not feel confident about continuing my career in public health; and while I had begun some private conversations about vocations within the church, these were still at a very tentative stage. I didn't feel that I belonged anywhere, or that I had any professional or vocational direction. I might have initially hoped that LCA would provide some direction, but I only came away feeling that full-time work in IT was not my direction.

My sense of personal direction is certainly not clearer now; in fact, it is a lot more messy, and that mess is both rewarding and frustrating. Part of my development has meant moving to a new job that involves more creative and challenging explorations in the uses of computers in historical research. I am much more of an active geek now than I was two years ago, but back then I couldn't have imagined he shape my work would take; I hadn't had much exposure to the digital humanities at that stage.

I am a geek; but the issue of defining myself as geek or not-geek no longer matters to me. My horizons are wider, and involvement in the free software community can be rewarding without causing any existential angst.

The complete miniconference schedules for linux.conf.au 2009 have been released. I will be speaking on 'Digitising the paper panopticon' at the Linuxchix miniconf on Monday 19 Jan, and on 'Public history in the digital age' at the Free as in Freedom miniconf on Tuesday 20 Jan.

Last year I started a new blog, thinking to separate my religious/church writing from the rest of my blog. I don't think this has improved or increased my writing, and it seems hardly worth the trouble to maintain different blogs if I post so rarely. My main concerns are: that the religious content bothers some of my LJ friends (but hey, others appreciate it); and that there isn't enough geek content here to warrant inclusion on LinuxChix Live. That could be solved by including more geek content, and/or using a planet-specific tag. I should become more disciplined with my use of tags and friend lists.

I've found that keeping my different areas of life isolated from each other contributes to a fragmented sense of self, which doesn't feel healthy. It might work for other people; it doesn't work for me. So, dear readers, what do you suggest? If I use this blog for any kind of content, including the messy personal and religious stuff, will a lot of you run away screaming?

The schedule for the linux.conf.au Free as in freedom miniconference (on 20 January) has been released. I will be presenting on Public history in the digital age.

Dan Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig's text Digital History is freely available on the web as well as in printed form. I'm old-fashioned enough to prefer reading long works on paper, so I reserved the book at the university library. When I collected it today, the loans-desk person who checked it out to me said that it looked like a 'cool' topic and that it was about time history became modernised. I remarked that people have been working on 'digital history' for a few years now, but it hasn't entered mainstream consciousness yet.

In a recent roundtable on digital history, Cohen compared open access vs traditional scholarly publishing and said,

while I’m delighted that thousands of people have read Digital History in print, 143,000 people read it online last year alone

I'm all in favour of open access, but I think historians and people who are interested in history haven't all caught up with recent trends in scholarly publishing. This new discipline forms a kind of bridge or crossroads between old and new ways of doing research, and I think publishing in journals and books (which historians grok) is still valuable at this stage, as a means of reaching less adventurous audiences.

---

In other news, I presented a talk on "The digital humanities: A brief introduction" (for geeks) at the AussieChix microconference a few weeks ago. A PDF copy of my slides is available.

This talk barely skimmed the surface of the topic. I'm hoping to present more detailed talks on two different aspects of digital history at linux.conf.au in January. My talk on public history in the digital age has been accepted for the Free as in freedom miniconf, and I'm waiting to hear back about my proposal for a (relatively) more technical talk for the Linuxchix miniconf.

In other other news, my life is (still) too full and busy. I hope to be able to slow down a little and unpack my brain over the next few months.

• 09:15 An endorsement of Barack Obama | It's time | The Economist ff.im/1pb #
• 20:47 another blogging coincidence ff.im/1Ro #
• 21:45 Claudine will face Monday morning in fear and trembling. ff.im/1T0 #
• 21:45 Claudine will face Monday morning μετα φοβου και τρομου. ff.im/1SZ #

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God goes for a walk [1] [2]

• 12:17 @alecthegeek I am so tempted by those eeepcs #
• 12:48 Should I make my #aussiechix microconf talk PG- or X-rated? #

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On Thursday I was advised that I would not be recommended as a candidate for ordination at this time, and that I could spend the next 18 months or so in further exploration of my vocation.  This is an encouraging and timely decision, as it gives me room to develop my academic interests without the constraints that candidacy would bring.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support over the last couple of years, and to reassure you all that I believe this decision is positive and realistic.