Soulsis and her chicks came 'round for a visit on Sunday. They brought me a lovely bunch of flowers including some freesias! I've got them in the lounge room now, can smell them when I walk in the house. <happy sigh>
(Soulsis also gave me a gorgeous old biscuit tin, decorated with dragons and phoenixes, and my first, very own, fluffy bunny. He's pink - and he's sitting on top of my 'puter. <g>)

Cubs and I went to see the Holy Rodent Empire's latest animation extravaganza, 'Home on the Range.'
I don't expect much from this company anymore, saves being disappointed...
The movie was... inoffensive, with a couple of entertaining moments (I especially liked the psychedelic cows sequence). It's a kleenex movie, view and forget.
Tomorrow we're off to the Aquarium! Been a while since we've been there, actually, I'm looking forward to it.

Haven't really done much writing these past few weeks, for one reason or another, but I've almost finished the next Dystopia chapter. That'll be one thing to strike off the list. :)

Aaaand I've finally cut out the border strips for my quilt and started attaching those. I've already got the backing material (courtesy of Mum, via Soulsis) so all that's left to buy is the wadding. Oh, and reels and reels of thread for the quilting... Heh.

I was strangely reluctant to take the Reloaded dvd back to the video hire place last night - but, they’re having an ‘ex-rental’ sale. I asked the clerk if there was a copy of Reloaded available. He found 2 copies of Revolutions but that was all. He did suggest, however, that I come in and ask the boss who would probly be happy to sell me a copy. Hee. :)

I convinced the cubs to try a supermarket brand of one of their favourite sugar-spiked cereals. There is absolutely no chance that I’ll be pinching any of it, it’s foul! Cubs don’t seem to have noticed the difference though. <shakes head> They’re quite happy to eat bowls of the stuff. Bleurgh.

‘Jesus is coming – look busy.’
<snigger> That was tattooed on the buttocks of the fake Archbishop of Canterbury in Johnny English. Ridiculous movie, but that was to be expected – it is farce, and it did make me chuckle.

Hn. Elga is a finite story as well – I could finish that up soon. Then, with that, Dystopia and the AC out of the way I could concentrate on something else, like the Superhero universe, or the fantasy. <g> (Novel? What novel?)

<giggling> This pic is by Joules, inspired by comments attached to the 'My cubs are knackered...' post (Sept 22rd).








<still giggling> Yes, this pretty much sums up our relationship...

The cubs and I went to the Royal Melbourne Show today, which is an annual biiiig carnival/agricultural show thing that’s been going on for years. We got there just after 10 a.m so there weren’t that many people to begin with, but by the time we left at 1.30 the crowds were annoying. It was fun though, in an ouchie-expensive sort of way. Rides ranged from $3.50 for the ‘baby’ rides, to $7.50 for the really cool ones that give you bruises and nausea, while showbags (sample bags) went from $2 - $30. And then there was the cost of getting in to the place. I blew my budget, but I kind of expected that, so’d brought some extra cash just in case.
I love ferris wheels! The cubs and I went on both the medium-sized wheel and the big one that takes over 5 minutes to load/unload patrons. Weeee! You get a great view from the top of the big one. The cubs also got a ride on the dodgems and a miniature railway, which satisfied them though they would’ve quite happily had a go at several other things. Maybe next year, when I’m unnecessarily wealthy...
I’d researched the showbags before going to the Show, discussing with the cubs the 2 I thought they’d be most interested in. That worked, they were primed for those and mostly ignored the hundreds of others available. :) They got a Thomas the Tank Engine showbag each (which came with a back-pack, so they could carry their own food – bonus!) and there was enough stuff in the Garfield bag that they were happy to share one. I love it when my cubs are reasonable... As one of the bonus toys in the Garfield bag, they got an Odie marionette puppet thing. It’s... disturbing. It’s only got 2 legs, so it looks like the dog has either had its front legs amputated, or its backlegs, and it’s dragging itself around by his forepaws. Weird.
One of the things I insisted on doing today was going to see the animals and the art/craft displays. Naturally, there were complaints about the smell in the animal pavillions but the cubs managed to hang in there long enough for me to get a look at the chickens. <squinch> Fluffy feet! (I don’t have a thing about chickens, I don’t!) Saw some Bengal kittens in the pet pavillion – spotty cats! So cute! – but my heart is still set on getting a Maine Coon at some stage. There was some amazing feline furniture for sale as well – love to be able to get one for KittenKong. Heh, the company will do lay-bys...
The use of cross-stitch pattern maker software was evident in the needlework section of the art/craft. Not that that’s a problem, I’m just used to seeing x-stitch that looks like art, not photos. I have to admit I was expecting more from the hand-made dolls, they didn’t seem to be particularly imaginative – Soulsis, yours would romp all over the competition. :) In the ceramics, though, was a beautiful, simple, green-glazed teapot that had a frog as the lid handle, that made me smile.

... so here we are, several hours later. All the lollies have been eaten and the cubs are about to go out to the Golden Arches of Doom for dinner with their father. Tired now - I think I’ll have a nap...

I am desirous of a pink neko hat.
I have the fluffy wool - I have a basic pattern, somewhere, and the ears won't be difficult to fashion. I can do this! :)

The Garfield Movie.
...I've seen worse.
It works, sort of, but I can see why Garfield purists are not pleased.
Not the most rivetting of cinema though, 30 minutes in I found myself desperately wishing it was over...
Cubs enjoyed it.

Hee. I have a new wallpaper, a screen-cap from Reloaded - you'll never guess of who... (Mmmm... snake skin boots...)

Saw a really cute t-shirt in Queen of Wands (which, by the way, if one of the few comics that's made me laugh and cry). Blank, white rectangle with the little red background/white 'X' symbol in the corner - the thing you get when a pic hasn't downloaded. <g> Neat, eh? It says so much on so many different levels. I think I like it even better than the one that has 'Insert Ferret Here' printed above a large, downward pointing arrow...

<g> My cubs are knackered. The movie session finished at midnight last night but they insisted on getting up to see Transformers as normal this morning. They were quite impressed with The Astor, though, as an old suburban theatre it’s very different from the mega-plex movie houses they’re familiar with. Both of the movies were subtitled Japanese, something I was a little concerned about. But the cubs coped easily – they can read fast, and accurately, and were able to see the screen through the gaps in the audience so it wasn’t a problem. :)
Some anime, at least, deserves to be seen on a big screen – there’s so much more detail to be seen. Loved ‘Tortoro’, it went beyond cute to levels of imagination I could identify with. And that would have to be the most accurate depiction of a four-year old’s energy and mannerisms I’ve ever seen animated! : )
I had seen ‘Nausicaa’ before, but it was on video close to 15 years ago when I was dismissive of anime so last night was like seeing it for the first time. Again, the detail was amazing, the plots and characters believable… Somehow I don’t think the Garfield movie tomorrow is going to come close.

Found out we can play audio cds through the dvd player. The sound is so much better through the telly than the on-it’s-last-legs cd player. I’m even having geeky thoughts about speakers and surround-sound systems now. Tch, technology is insidious.

<sigh> And the cubs have slipped back into Thomas the Tank Engine. Don’t know why but after weeks (months!) of ignoring it in favour of Transformers suddenly all the videos and toys came out again. Could be worse, I suppose, could be something I actively dislike.

Her! <points finger at Joules> I blame her for this obsession with long legs and snake-skin boots! Wouldn’t be so bad except I can’t quite get my head around a fic idea so I can work it through. <smirk> Mind you, I can’t complain, she is sharing with me her stash of nummy Matrix Twins pics…

Cool word of the day: (no reason just cos) [Concise Oxford; 1975]

Intussusception: (Physiol.) taking in of foreign matter by living organism, & it’s conversion into organic tissue ; taking in (of ideas, etc.) ; … (L. intus within + susceptio … take up.)

Okay, calming down now that I'm back online after 24 hours. Apparently there's been 'server problems' in Melbourne, again. Annoyed? Stupid question...

The cubs and I went to see Shrek 2 this morning - 9a.m. session. It was fun, I enjoyed it more than the first, mostly cos of Puss in Boots. You have to love a cold-blooded killer who chases butterflies...
Tomorrow evening we're off to see Nausicca and the Valley of the Winds, and My Neighbour Tortoro ('scuse spelling if it's wrong - couldn't be bothered getting up to check it) with Penny and her daughter. Should be fun, though I suspect allll the children will be very tired by the time we get home. <g>

Finally got 'round to seeing Matrix – Reloaded.
I don’t remember being impressed with the first one, either…
My interest would almost engaged by the ticklings of an embryonic plot, and then there’d be another fight scene. Honestly, it was like any of the combat-driven anime at their worst. I can understand the drive to make the fight scenes ultra-crisp and cooly stylistic but to me they just seemed over-worked and wooden with none of the energy you find in a really good Hong Kong flic.
The Twins were definitely a highlight, but they had – what? – 4 or 5 sentences between them? Sheesh. Nice boots, though…
Aside from the pale dudes (<smirking at Joules>) there were a couple of things I enjoyed about this movie. It is an interesting world-frame; I love the idea of programs as ‘little gods’, overseeing the small things in life.
Couldn’t help but notice that no fat or ugly people had been rescued and sent to Zion. I wonder why…?

It occurred to me today that Dystopia really is finite, and the end is in sight. There’s more than a handful of threads, admittedly, but they’ve nearly all run their course. Joules has suggested we could try to wrap this up by Yule as well as the AC. <g> See how we go, I guess.

Talon directed me to this online comic. Queen of Wands. It’s giggle-worthy, and while not the most sophisticated of art, it’s very expressive. It's on my list of regular checks, now. :)

Soulsis sent me these. They’ve been around for a few years but they still make me laugh. :) (I've high-lighted my favourites...)

~ Cat Haiku ~
You never feed me.
Perhaps I'll sleep on your face.
That will show you.

You must scratch me there!
Yes, above my tail! Behold,
elevator butt.

I need a new toy.
Tail of black dog keeps good time.
Pounce! good dog! good dog!

The rule for today.
Touch my tail, I shred your hand.
New rule tomorrow.

In deep sleep hear sound
Cat vomit hairball somewhere.
Will find in morning.

Grace personified
I leap into the window
I meant to do that

Blur of motion, then-
Silence, me, a paper bag
What is so funny?

The mighty hunter
Returns with gifts of plump birds
Your foot just squashed one.

You're always typing
Well, let's see you ignore my
Sitting on your hands.

My small cardboard box
You cannot see me if I
Can just hide my head.

Terrible battle
I fought for hours. Come and see!
What's a "term paper"?

Kitty likes plastic
Confuses for litter box
Don't leave tarp around

Small brave carnivores
Kill pine cones and mosquitoes
Fear vacuum cleaner

Want to trim my claws
Don't even think about it!
My yelps will wake the dead

I want to be close
To you. Can I fit my head
inside your armpit?

Wanna go outside.
Oh, no! Help! I got outside!
Let me back inside!

Oh no! Big One
has been trapped by newspaper.
Cat to the rescue!

Humans are so strange.
Mine lies still in the bed, then screams!
My claws aren't that sharp....

Cats meow out of angst
"Thumbs! If only we had thumbs!
We could break so much"

Litter box not there
You must have moved it again
I'll crap in the sink

The Big Ones snore now
Every room is dark and cold
time for "Cup Hockey"

We're almost equals
I purr to show I love you
Want to smell my butt.

Thanks for that, Soulsis, I’d lost my other copy.

Forgot to mention - Joules has posted the Dystopia chapter (Foundling Pt 2) for me. Thank you!

Heh, sometimes I think of myself as one of those squeezy, 'stress-balls'. I can get all scrunched up tight and uncomfortable but once the pressure's off I spring right back into shape. :)

My current motto is 'I'm not sedentary, I'm dancing on the inside...'.
I'm thinking of adopting a new one: 'What's wrong with sunshine and fluffy-bunnies...?'.
<bg> I think that's apt.

You've been quiz-bingeing again, Soulsis? <g>

I had a dream the other night that I was able to study in the UK. Not sure what, or where, but I had my own lodgings, my own little space. I was sharing custody of the cubs with their father which meant a lot of travelling and disruption for them so regretfully I decided to give up study cos my children's well-being came first...

I got metres and metres of a fabulous fabric braid from Soulsis! It's over an inch wide and it's hot pink! I'm thinking cushion covers - appliqueing the braid diagonally across a backing material. Hee! :)

You know what annoys me about some sellers on eBay? (Don't growl, I'm only looking.) When they say: "This would make a great addition to your collection!!!"
Excuse me? I'll be the judge of that.

Finished the Dystopia chapter. :)
Had a major [ping] (look, I can remember how to change the colours!) for a novel.
Heh, I'll add it to the list...

The old dial-up number has finally died but so far the new number appears to be holding up. This is good cos I'd be one step away from homicidal if I'm denied internet access again for no good reason.

Yesterday was the last day of term 3, 1 more term to go. The cubs haven't enjoyed this year at all - consequently neither have I - but we've had a talk and they've agreed to try really hard in the last quarter. Of course, pointing out to them that if they don't do well enough they'll have to repeat the grade was a great motivator. They don't like their teacher and the thought of another year with him is scary. (Okay, they probly wouldn't have to repeat anyway but I'm not above putting the frighteners on them to get them moving in the right direction...) Tra la la, where was I? Oh yes...
Lots of things planned for the holidays, we'll see how my energy levels (and the money) holds out, though having been given another bribe by the Government (just before the election, too. How selfless of them...) that should make the latter less of a hassle.

Remember the Windows 'star field' screen-saver from years back? The one that looked like you were warping, Trek-like, through the cosmos? It's part of XP! <fuge g> Really missed that screen-saver when it wasn't included in later versions of Windows. But now I've got it again and I can happily sit in front of my 'puter, in the dark, and zone out... <happy sigh>

Anyone know what the <var> html command does? No reason, just curious.

Lashed out and bought the cubs some software from the school's bookclub - Garfield's Typing Pal. It's cute, with little games and a variety of neat typing exercises (and it runs without a problem, woohoo!). Going to have a go later and see how I do. I can touch-type quite well, but typing from what's in my mind is very different from copy-typing.

Mostly finished my next Dystopia chapter. After the past few weeks of grinding away at AC this is coming along very nicely.

There's some lovely things on Sushi Cat's site, including the sushi themed wall-paper I've currently got on my desktop. Need to get hold of a zip program so I can use the sushi icons, and dang but don't those widdle neko/sushi orphans that are up for adoption look cute...

Hah! Managed to find some material for the quilt borders today. Was a near thing though... Not surprisingly, the shop - where I'd originally purchased the material for the hexagons a year ago - didn't have the right shade any more. Oh pooh - quoth I - perhaps I shouldn't have left it so long? But, just as my pout was becoming entrenched, over on the 'bargains' table I glimpsed a familiar colour... It's not the same material, the weave is a bit coarser but the colour is damn near perfect. Happy now. :)

Ah... Sunday morning and I'm alone in the lounge-room... Not alone in the house though; the cubs are playing in their room and everyone else is asleep. This is nice. :)

Still using the old dial-up number though expecting it to be shut down any time soon. And as a bonus, cos everyone else is presumably using the new number, the old line is blissfully clear. Net navigation is positively zippy.

<relieved sigh> My latest - probably last, full - AC chapter is finally finished and posted, thank you, Joules! <g> Now the side-stories beckon. Tch. I'll get cracking on some Dystopia first though - that's bubbling up out of dormancy at the moment...

Taken all the paper pieces out of my quilt (hoorah!) and hopefully I'll be able to get the border material this week. Mum's got some lovely backing material for me already, then all I have to find is the wadding. Dang this is fun! :) (Heh, and having removed all the paper and saved it I now have at least half of what I need for the next couple of projects!)

How do you deal with a virus that's infected a file that can't be removed? Replace it with a clean copy from the original software?

... and here come the cubs - time for the earplugs. <g>

<happy squeak> Finished my quilt!
Well, I’ve finished the main panel, which needs to be sewn to the border sashes then I can start quilting. Neat, eh? : )

<not-so-happy squeak – more of a snarl> Several days ago, when I got online, my computer was hijacked and frog-marched to a site that forced me to change the dial-up number of our server. It was legit - the server had merged with another one and the two groups of users were being ‘streamlined’ but dammit, I’ve had all manner of problems with the connection since. (This update is being written off-line in the hope that one day soon I’ll be able post <grump>). If I can get on-line at all I’ve generally got about 5 minutes of usable time before the connection slows down so much it’s useless. Can’t navigate to any pages, can’t use email, can’t chat. I rang the server and after fuss-arsing about for half an hour with them I was told that, by the way, the new phone-number was giving one group of users problems. Yep, my group. At the time of writing the problem was sposed to have been fixed a couple of hours ago but I’m still unable to get online.
I’ll be ringing the server again tomorrow and asking to be reimbursed for the time I haven’t been able to get on-line.
And then I’ll be looking around for another server…
[Addendum: Still not able to get online with the new number but the cubs' father tried the old number and that's still active. So that's what I'm doing...]

On a brighter note, I’ve now got Word again thanks to Niki. : ) Been using Wordpad which does at a pinch but it doesn’t have a spell-check, or thesaurus, or even a page/word count. However I was pleasantly surprised to find the current AC I’m struggling with is almost 8 pages rather than the 3 or 4 I’d thought it was. Heh.

Slowly rebuilding my files. Discovered some useful old stuff on floppies including the two sci-fi novels my father wrote. I think I’m a better writer than he was. One of these days I’m going to edit those books into something that has the potential for publication.

I’m declaring a fork amnesty. Over half of the bloody things have disappeared! They’re probly lurking about in other people’s rooms… other people who eat their meals in their rooms…

Gave myself a fright yesterday. Went to pick the cubs up from school but when I started the car up it wouldn’t move! There was a short pause while I panicked – hand-brake’s off, it’s in gear, what’s the matter?! – then it occurred to me that the gear the car should’ve been in was drive, not park. <shakes head> Some days the blondeness goes all the way to the bone…

Bother, did I miss my blog's annivesary again? Eh well, it was only by a couple of days... Yay! 2 years of mostly decent service! :)

After months of dancing around the subject our Government has finally decided to call an election. Hoo-effing-ray. Both the major parties are saying their campaigns are based on trust and integrity (there's been much slinging of accusations back and forth over the past year about the porkies the other party's supposed to have uttered <rolls eyes> Honestly, it's like watching kids in the schoolground...) Needless to say I know who I'll be voting for and it won't be either of them.
Hn, I spose the cubs' school will be looking for volunteers to run the inevitable sausage sizzle/cake stall again. Providing, that is, the school is registered as a poling station. Don't know if we've got the room this time, but then again, the community centre is right next door - we could probly wangle some sort of fund-raising activity there as well.

I watched the movie 'Secretary' the other day. Do you remember this one? About a 'sadistic' lawyer (James Spader) and his secretary? It bills itself as a black comedy but I didn't find it gut-bustingly funny. However, it was amusing in the way in-jokes are amusing, in that you recognise/understand the references. I did enjoy the movie though, very much. It was heavily criticised when it was released but I think that's cos the reviewers just didn't get it. It's not tacky, and the female lead wasn't being degraded. If anything it was wonderful watching her grow in strength and confidence because of the nature of her relationship with her boss. This wasn't your standard BDSM story, either, revolving around a reluctant submissive, oh no, this time it was the dom who was having problems coming to terms with his nature. A lot of my amusement came from watching her efforts to get him to realise she was serious. The ending was just beautiful too, very cherishing... the fluffy-bunny loved it. :) I'll be watching it again.

Oh, and thank you, Goodtwin, for all your help armour-plating my 'puter! :)

Hn, yes I see what you mean about calling 'Beautiful Day' songfic, Joules. It's like the couple I've written previously - the inspiration only came from a couple of lines in the lyrics (well, that and the overall emotion the song evoked, I guess). BD's t'riffic though, I'm agog to see what happens...

<sigh> I'm sure my cubs went to school today thinking I'm an ogre-mum. While I was searching for boots for one of them (which turned up in their father's room) I found one of my favorite cds out of it's case and on the floor of the cubs' room. I yelled, they cried but dammit, I let them borrow my things on the condition they look after them but so far they've consistently failed to do so. So, no more playing with my toys until they can prove they'll look after them.

Gah, it feels like I'm banging my head against a brickwall with this next AC. It's just.not.coming. <grump> I could try and get on with something else, I spose, but given that my brain's locked into this particular fic that could be more effort than it's worth. No, I want to get this finished then I can do something else. Tch, writing is not like riding a bicycle - with all the 'puter probs I've barely written anything in weeks and now I'm finding it very hard getting back to. Ah, well, I'm obviously not obsessive enough. :)