Open Your Mind With These Cultural and Educational Activities

Open Your Mind With These Cultural and Educational Activities

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It’s easy to slip into a dull routine. Get up, go to work, come home and watch some TV, eat some dinner and maybe scroll through social media newsfeeds for a few hours. Sadly, this is how most of our day to day lives pan out. But why waste your time like this? Obviously, we can’t all live the high life and head out every single night of the week. But it is important that you get out and about, taking place in mind opening activities every once in awhile. Cultural and educational experiences will enlighten you and boost your mood, so you should try to get out and take a break from your work and home life at least once a week. Here are a few ideas of things to try out.

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Visit a Museum

Almost every major city near you will have a host of museums. You can stroll around of your own accord without being hassled or engage in a guided tour to gain more specialist information and knowledge. You might want to go it alone or muse over exhibits with a family member or friend. Regardless of your tastes and preferences, there will be something out there to engage with. What’s more? Museums are a cheap day out (many even have free access) that will expand your general knowledge, encourage you to engage with others and provide a source of inspiration for further reading and research. You will leave a more rounded, better-educated person after just one trip.

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Engage with Live Music

Music industry isn’t merely an industry related to the new legalization of hemp. Check out the listings for your local major music venue and purchase tickets for anything that catches your eye through The Ticket Merchant. Buying tickets to an event in advance means you will have something coming up to look forward to. Purchase an extra ticket when you can and encourage a friend to come along with you. Music events are great opportunities for bonding and creating brilliant memories with your loved ones. If you prefer smaller crowds and less intense atmosphere, go to a small gig instead of a major concert. Engaging with local live music also shows your support for smaller artists, independent music, and local venues.

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Go to an Exhibition

There are two main forms of exhibitions. One is essentially a touring museum. These exhibitions will pop up (often at relatively short notice), and you’ll need to catch them before they move away or send their contents back into storage. They can have a whole manner of subject matter: countercultures, icons, artists, books. So if you see an advertisement for something you’re interested in being displayed in your local area, make sure to prebook. These events generally sell out quickly and you won’t want to be left disappointed or turned away at the door. The second type of exhibition is also known as a trade show. These will generally be a gathering of people will similar interests, buying and exchanging goods from one another. These events are a great opportunity for you to converse with others who have more knowledge in a specialist area.




Are You Ready To Sell Your Own Art?

Are You Ready To Sell Your Own Art?

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Artists are always keen to make money from their work if at all possible - and the good news there is, it’s always possible. No matter how experienced or inexperienced you might be, there is always the possibility to sell your art, as long as you know how to go about it. When you are just starting out, this can be one of the more nerve-wracking sides of the whole lifestyle, but with time, you will soon find that it gets considerably easier. In this article, we are going to look at a few of the main elements behind selling your own art. Let’s have a look and see what we can discover.

Audience

First of all, you need to know your audience well if you want to sell your art as well as possible. The better that you know who it is that your art appeals to, the more luck you will have in shifting it. There is really only one way to find out who your own clientele is, and that is to show your work to as many people as possible first, and see what feedback you get and from whom. Exhibitions and online portfolios are a good place to start here – and soon enough, you should find that you have an audience willing to pay real money for your work. Once you have that, you are likely to feel much more confident in your abilities as an artist, and that is a wonderful feeling in itself.

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Mode Of Delivery

There are many ways of actually delivering your art to the customer, and it depends hugely on what form your own artwork takes. It might be, in some cases, that you simply send them an online version of the piece. This can be a particularly easy and sometimes lucrative way of doing business, but it is not always the best way. A more traditional method might involve simply sending them the art through the post. This can be a great solution, but if you do this you do need to think carefully about keeping the piece safe and secure. If you go to www.postaltubeshop.com you will find examples of the kind of packaging you could use to keep your artwork secure. This will give you a greater peace of mind as you being to sell more and more of your work.

Pricing

Something that most artists struggle with for quite a while is how to price their work. It can seem a tricky balance, trying to get a decent amount for what you do, but also not wanting to appear too arrogant or cocky. In general, with art, you can get away with a higher pricing than you might initially think, and either way it is always worth trying to push for this. In time, you will come to understand the pricing of your own work a little better, but at first, you will need to engage in some trial and error to find the right level. See http://theworkingartist.com/how-to-sell-your-art for more on this.




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Skills That Pay The Bills: Utilize Your Talents and Earn Extra Cash!

Skills That Pay The Bills: Utilize Your Talents and Earn Extra Cash!

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One of the best things about the internet being so accessible is that many of us are able to turn our hobbies into fully fledged businesses. If you're bored of your day job and want to try something new or are looking for a new project, it makes sense to start with the things you’re already good at and are passionate about. Here are a few businesses ideas and ways to earn money using your skills!

Art and Design

If you’re talented at art, there are so many awesome ways you can make money with your craft. You don’t have to commit yourself to waiting for commissions to come in which take weeks and weeks to paint. Even quick sketches and doodles can earn you money if you know what to do with them. On sites like Etsy, there’s a big market for clip art, these are purchased by people to make into things like greetings cards, gift wrap, scrapbooking and much more. You could create a variety of clipart pictures based on a theme and sell them as a set. The best thing about it is once it’s done, there’s no additional work from you. When customers purchase, it’s downloaded straight from Etsy, and the money goes into your account. It can be purchased an unlimited amount of times. If you have a big selection of these and they do well, you can earn a significant amount of regular money. You could take it a step further and use your designs to create things like art prints and greetings cards yourself which will sell for more money. You could buy a professional printer which would make light work of getting through them. Although you do have to factor in postage and packaging when you’re selling physical items. Since the cost of these things and setting up can be expensive, you may need to consider a short-term cash advance. If you’re a whizz at design and Photoshop, you could create logos, banners, even full blog designs.

Writing

If you have a way with words, there are tons of ways you can market your skill. You could write, and self-publish an e-book, if you’re passionate and knowledgeable about a topic- what better way to share your wisdom with the world? Sites like Amazon make this really easy. You’ll get money every time someone downloads it, while it’s not a ‘business’ in itself it can certainly contribute towards your income both now and in the future. Blogging is another excellent choice. Many people have turned their blog into a business and now write full time and gain a substantial amount in affiliate links and sponsorships. You could sign up to a freelancing website and earn your income through writing jobs and projects. You could also look into editing and proofreading work, something you will excel at if you’re an excellent writer.

Teaching

It takes a certain kind of person to be a teacher. You will need to be patient and understanding while keeping a good professional boundary. You need to be easy to understand so great written, and verbal communication is a must. If you fit the bill and have a topic you’d like to teach others, why not become an online tutor? It could be anything from teaching a musical instrument to personal training to academic topics. Teaching children or those who speak English as a second language are both ideas to consider. You will generally need to be educated to degree level or higher for academic subjects.




A Life Saving Education

A Life Saving Education

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Every single day, teenagers decide to study how to save lives. Doctors that you have at your local practice, the surgeons at the local hospital and the therapists at the local sports centers have all, at some point or another, made the decision to put the health of others in the center of their lives. The education that comes with a medical degree is so intricate and detailed that it takes upwards of ten years to become a fully qualified doctor. The education doesn’t just stop at the end of an undergraduate degree, or a postgraduate degree. Doctors need to go through internship, residency and even when they are fully-fledged medics, there is still learning to be done.

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Research papers help scientists and doctors to develop highly concentrated studies to find cures for diseases and understand how the human body works in better detail. They also help them to develop medical equipment that is more streamlined. Brain mapping studies the anatomy of the brain using imaging, so neuroscientists the world over can understand how the brain works beyond the 10% we use every day. Human genome mapping is the study of our genetics and you can visit Poseida.com for info on how genetic studies can save lives and permanently correct genetic diseases. These studies of the brain and genetics are exciting in medicine, as they can help us to permanently eradicate certain diseases, as well as culture personalized medicine for those with genetic abnormalities.

This kind of medical development comes from the continued education and development of doctors and professionals in the field who are keen to do more for humanity. Making the choice to take on a medical education isn’t a light one; medicine is a field that is constant and yet changing; the worst oxymoron! Consider how far medicine has come in the last century. The first person who operated on a brain tumor didn’t do it on a living person, as surgery used to be somewhat barbaric concept. Now? Now you can have a butterfly tumor that breaches both sides of the brain out in an eight-hour surgery. Medicine has evolved alongside technology at a speed that even those in the field never saw coming.

Choosing a medical education is not an easy choice, but it’s one that is looked upon favorably, and not just for the salary. The chance to do more for humanity simply by learning how the brain works, or how the heart can beat. Think about the medical marvels such as organ transplants, heart bypass and the way doctors can diagnose a potentially fatal issue with just a few symptoms to concentrate on. This kind of education isn’t one you can just pick up and do; it takes a lot of work to learn how to save lives. Doing solid research, like in this ultimate guide, on the time it takes to complete a medical education and how you could contribute to medical research is a good place to get started, if that is the path you hope to go down.




Looking At Library Success

Looking At Library Success

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You may own your own library. Or perhaps you run a public library and are looking for inspiration to either make it better or pull more people in. This can be done in many ways, all require some work on your part however. The library is usually one of the central pillars of the local community. Yet over the years, they have understandably become less used. After all, books can be found on kindle for next to nothing these days, and entire books can be downloaded for free from all different websites out there. In essence, you now need to look at the library like a business. It needs to be attractive, clean, and easy, meaning you need to do your best if you want it to succeed. These tips can help put you in the right mind frame, you may have already thought about one or two of them, which is good as you are on the right track, but read on as there are others that could help.

In the first instance, the library needs to be a place that is nice to be in. It should be modern, with space and seating for all. Libraries don’t look like they used to. Go out and check out a few of the ones currently being used around your country, and you’ll see how things have changed. You can buy the necessary items for change bit by bit, or you can consider looking at experts in public library design. You will need funding to do this, so put together a proposal. The first step in ensuring library success is by making it look great. People want to study, read, work in a place that is nice and easy, not somewhere dull, dingy, old and dusty.

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You need to ensure your book rotation is on point too. The newer best sellers should be coming in all the time. In tandem with this, you need to ensure that you have a great book management system. Computers should be set up and ready to tell customers exactly where a certain book is and whether it is in stock or let out. This ease will take pressure off your staff, keep queues down and keep the customers happy. You don’t want old books that are never taken out clogging up shelves that can be used for better things. Send them back if you can. If not, sell them at a discounted rate.

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In this day and age libraries aren’t just used for taking out books. You need to be accessible for all kinds of people to ensure success. Many people use libraries to work from. They are quiet, providing a suitable working environment for academics, writers, etc. You should make sure there are clear cut areas to do this from. Places where silence is needed. You could think about installing more plugs for laptop charging, little things like this make a huge difference to people coming to your library. Think about aspects that make it more attractive. Nicer chairs, coffee machines (not around the books!) or water and plastic cups. If you put your mind into these small touches you will see more people use the library.

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Classical Music: More Influential In Today’s Tunes Than You Think?

Classical Music: More Influential In Today’s Tunes Than You Think?

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It’s pretty obvious that there are dozens of different music genres these days. We all have our personal favorites, and there are artists or groups that we enjoy listening to often. What you might not know about some of those artists or bands is that the music they play in some of their tracks is actually influenced by classical music!

All styles of music feed into each other in some way and many songs take inspiration from classical or operatic music from many years or even centuries ago! Another fact you may not know about today’s tunes is that melodies produced by people such as Mozart and Schubert profoundly influence how we listen to music as well! Intrigued? Keep reading to learn more about this fascinating topic!

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Mozart learned to give the public what they wanted

Back in the day, composers would create musical masterpieces that were usually commissioned by wealthy patrons. These days, artists create music according to the genre that interests them and makes tracks that they think other fans of that genre will also like to hear.

In some ways, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a pioneer of how we listen to music in 2017 – despite his heyday being in the 18th century! At the time, Mozart was one of the few people that started composing music in a simplified format – some of his work involves just four chords!

Schubert perfected the three-minute song

It’s no secret that many of the songs we listen to today only last around three minutes or so. Have you ever wondered where this song length originated from? Believe it or not, you have one Franz Schubert to thank for that.

The Austrian composer was a talented man who wrote an impressive 600+ musical works, many of which were for operas. You can check out his work at some opera on demand streaming services, for example.

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So, why is he cited as the person that created the idea of a three-minute song? Well, he essentially wanted people to hear musical works that anyone could instantly enjoy. As you’ve probably gathered, it is something that has caught on since his day!

The not so hidden ways that classical music still influences us today

When creating new songs, many of today’s songwriters seek inspiration from past hits by other artists.

It’s not uncommon for some of the music we listen to these days to sample a melody or even some lyrics from well-known tracks produced many years ago. Take the hit song “Africa” by Toto released back in 1982. Twenty years later, the intro music got sampled by rapper Xzibit in his song “Heart of Man.”

Of course, 1982 isn’t that long ago, and Toto’s Africa isn’t an example of classical music! But, another rap artist springs to mind that has sampled some centuries-old melodic genius in the form of Beethoven’s Fur Elise! A song by Nas called “I Can” features the beginning of Beethoven’s composition played on a piano by a young child.

Take a look at this website to see some more examples of today’s artists sampling classic music.

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So, whenever you listen to some music, it’s likely to have taken some inspiration from some of history’s greatest classical composers!



 
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