Hee, the cubs and I are house-sitting for Niki; it's like a mini holiday!
She's got two net-capable 'puters - best thing ever according to the cubs cos they can both be online at the same time. Makes up for their not being allowed to bring the xbox. <g>
I've been outside to play with the dog. Jemma (Gemma?) is a real sweetie, very friendly, and not bouncy like a puppy so the cubs aren't scared into immobility when she's near. They're still not comfortable with her but we've got a few days... : )
It's been so hot though - and the cubs forgot to pack their toothpaste. <rolls eyes> I'd let them use mine but it's bicarb based. Can just imagine their faces...

Squee! One step closer to scary-fangrrldom. My Snape wand will be on its way before long. Mwahahahahahah... <bounce> Thanks for letting me know, Jayde.

Heh, the cubs and I spent the afternoon playing with their new digital camera. Well it's more of a webcam, really, that you can use to take stills. Quality's not that brilliant but it works - and the cubs had a wonderful time using the webcam function to watch themselves going nut. Then they mucked around with the photomanipulation things until I shooed them off to bed. <g>
I didn't think I was going to be able to install the drivers cos my CD ROM's been playing up but oddly enough today it was working fine for the first time in months. So not only did I get the camera software sorted out, I also reloaded the cross-stitch pattern maker. And I backed up all my work and I was able to access the disc and check it was all there. Woohoo!
While we're on the subject of things mysteriously fixing themselves, I wonder if the soundcard's working again? That'd be handy.

Dagnabbit, I don't like sweating for no good reason other than it's hot. Don't mind sweating due to exertion but when all you're doing is breathing... <sigh> Ah well, it's Summer, can't expect much else.

My xmas was nice and quiet up at Mum's. Restful, after a fashion cos aside from a quick trip to a local park with the cubs on Boxing day I didn't do anything, go anywhere or spend any money. The cubs had fun with their cousins on xmas day and there was enough food to nibble on all day so there were no 'I'm hungry...' wibbles. <g> Traffic was heavier than expected on the way there, though, almost peak-hour levels. We left my place a bit later than anticipated and so caught all the people-driving-to-their-xmas-lunch-traffic. Eh well. Mum and I have made an executive decision that next xmas we're going out for dinner - probably to the bistro at Healesville Sanctuary. Be nice not to have to cook or wash up for a change. : )

Mum gave me a set of cutlery with bamboo shaped handles, very cool, and wrapped in the most gorgeous linen teatowel covered in bright butterflies. Far too pretty to use as a teatowel - that'll be going on my wall. (I wonder what happened to the horsey teatowels I had in my bedroom at my parent's? Did I give them away? Can't remember...)
Unsurprisingly, the telly programming was pointless over the festivities so we watched a lot of DVDs. <pout> Though I forgot to bring my KoH. But I did finally get to see I Robot.
See? See? Asimov understood the danger!
Though... it wasn't that enthralling a movie, or as disturbing as I thought it might have been given how thingy I am about robots. (That's probly cos I knew they weren't real, while the latest Honda Robots featured on the news a few days ago - these ones were playing instruments - made me hiss. As for the kendo-bots... <growling>)

Also watched One Hour Photo which was a much more rewarding film, one of those that I find myself thinking about hours afterwards. In this case it was understanding, in hindsight, why the main character did/didn't do things. Fascinating, disturbing - Robin Williams is an underrated actor...

And saw another RW movie - The Birdcage. That was amusing. : ) I've never seen the original and I'd like to, knowing how American adaptations of French movies can suffer in translation.

I like going to visit my Mum - she cooks. <g> For dinner tonight the cubs devoured the quiche she made yesterday, and I've just polished off a big bowl of fragrant kedgeree.
Well I think smoked cod is fragrant - the cubs don't.

Couple of odd dreams recently. One was kind of scary - the school [?] I was associated with had problems with monsters. The end-of-year party finished prematurely with an announcement that there were still 2 nasty things roaming around the buildings. I was going to leave but I had to go back in, knowing full well that I was going to meet up with the horrors.
<giggling> One of which was 'Aragorn's Hat'. I was creeping about the darkened, deserted place, heading for wherever I was headed: I knew I'd come across the hat (dun dun DUN) when I saw a demented kitten slavering across the floor. I plucked the scrap of fur off of its head and it snarled at me - the fur, not the kitten - and I knew I couldn't let it touch me cos I'd end up being possessed. Instead, I stuck it on the other monster (who turned out to be a huge young, male - I'm not even going to begin to speculate about that). I did feel a little bit guilty about it but I knew it would distract him long enough for me to get away...
Oh, and at the 'party' I asked if I could have a piece of the delicious-looking sponge cake. I was refused, as I knew I would - I hadn't actually been invited and had no right to anything there - but it was suggested that if I'd like to make something to contribute to the gathering then I could have some cake...
Hm.
The other dream was very detailed as well. I stopped at a touristy-village place on the way to somewhere wild along a coast and discovered that a friend of mine had entered a design-a-perfume contest in my name. She'd given my suggestions to the company - lavender and lilac were part of the components - and I'd received a prize of some sort. As well as two fridge magnets and touristy placemats, there was a very nice brass bookmark which my friend snagged as 'payment'. I also got a sample bottle of 'my' perfume. Completely overriding the sweetness was an acrid, overpowering chemical smell, so strong it was impossible to open the bottle in an enclosed space for fear of being overwhelmed. Very odd.
And I haven't mentioned the violent man with a very big knife who slashed at me, cutting my jeans open across my buttocks but not breaking the skin. Not sure what that was about, either.

Hah, but after my nap (falling comatose from the heat) this afternoon, I now have a premise for the next bit of the LM/SS thing.
I do so love my subconscious.
But first - chapter 33 of SFSG.

<blearblear> It wasn't the cubs that woke me up this morning, it was their father. The cubs didn't bounce in at sparrow's fart, as is usual on xmas morn, cos they were too busy playing the LEGO Star Wars game on their new Xbox. <g> That was the big present from their dad. I've already told them it's not coming up to Nana's with us; there was a chorus of disappointment until I pointed out their cousins will be there as well... I for one don't think I could cope with the noise generated by five sprogs and an Xbox. 2 sprogs and an Xbox is bad enough: even with with 2 controllers they're finding opportunities to argue. : ) But mostly it's cooperative play, so I can't really complain.
I gave the cubs a little digital camera and a packet of plasticine. It only took them 2 seconds to make the connection. "Oh! We can make our own stop-motion animation!" <proud> That's my cubs...
And they got books on steam trains, and model trains, and Hornby, and a soccer ball and a rugby ball - which seem to have been forgotten. <rolls eyes>
But they're very chuffed and that's what it's all about, innit?

The cubs' father and I exchanged presents at midnight, which is our tradition. I gave him a good quality (archival) photo album and acid-free photo corners, and he gave me the Kingdom of Heaven DVD! Squeee! (And of course the Xbox doubles as a DVD player so I can actually watch the thing rather than just stare longingly at the cover! <bouncebounce>)
One of the cubs gave me a hand-painted, cat-shaped cushion he'd made in art. <giggling> He asked me if he could have something to wrap it in. I wanted to know how much wrapping he'd need and he picked up his brother's hand-painted cat-shaped cushion that's been lying around the lounge room for weeks and said 'About this much...'. <rolling around laughing> I'd kind of guessed what he was giving me anyway, based on hints he'd dropped but that was so unsubtle.

So, a good xmas morning all told. The lounge is scattered with discarded wrappings; pillowcases, sheets, teatowels and the bits of ribbon used to keep them closed - I don't use paper - and the cubs are still glued to their game. It'll be easier to give them a countdown I think ('thirty minutes 'til you have to stop playing and get ready') than try and get them to move at the last minute. Dang, but I'm going to need a nap later though. <g>
Anyway - Happy Solstice/Xmas etc... : )

Good grief: 10 p.m. xmas eve and the cubs are asleep. Probly doesn't hurt that the past few nights they've stayed up really late. <evil grin> That wasn't my plan, honest...
Mind you, before they went to bed they were bouncing off the walls with excitement. There's a huge present under the tree for them, from their dad. I know what it is.
And they've been warned not to just open every present there tomorrow morning cos not everything is for them. They have to read the labels first.
But, I've almost got everything done. Food's all ready, some of the presents are wrapped and I've thought about packing. Heh.

But, my snupin's now posted over at Master and the Wolf. (Thanks, Joules for the help coding. : )

And I've also finished a Lucius drabble, less than 1000 words, that's threatening to become a short series. I swear I don't know where the plot bunnies hide. I can only assume my brain is riddled with burrows.
<shudder> Oh lovely, and now I've squicked myself! Moving right along...
I'll post the lot over at AFF when they're finished, I think. Perhaps I should start thinking about getting my own site? <g>

The cubs and I trooped down to our local shopping suburb (which, I heard on the news last night, is going to be extended. Good gods above, why? It's already the biggest one in Australia, apparently. More cars, more people, more pointless consuming... <shudder> Anyway...)
I was dreading the trip but it wasn't too crowded, though I did have to wait a good long time to pick up some laybys. I've got my horsies! (Clydesdale stallion, Lippizaner stallion, Falabella and riding pony!) And the cubs have a swag of stuff that was layby'ed in the middle of the year when they were interested in Star Wars. They're enjoying it all - having enormous fun shooting each other in the arse with foam darts from the Wookie Bow-caster. <g>

It's times like this I'm very glad I don't drive anymore. The roads are manic - people tearing about trying to get to the shops as quickly as possible so they can get a parking spot. <shakes head> Madness. Sure I have to plan my shopping trips carefully cos I'm limited to what I can physically carry home but I'm much less stressed than a lot of people I see around me.
I do enjoy teasing the drivers though, especially the ones that follow you through the carpark, when it looks like you're leaving, so they can nab your parking spot. Hah! The looks on their faces when they realise they've been crawling along after me in vain. <smirk> Bad Lutra. Eh, it's their own fault, if people will insist on trying to park 10 paces away from the entrance...

Yay! Finished the snupin, and coded it, though Joules found a few glitches which she fixed. Thank you! <hugs> I'll send that off sometime soon.
Chapter 32 is also finished and I think that means sfsg is over 160k words now. Blimey, never knew I had it in me. And now there's only one or two chapters and an epilogue to go. Probably won't have it finished by the end of the year as I'd planned, not with all the holiday stuff that's happening including a couple of days up at Mum's, but it's all downhill from here. : )
Then, in between the rewrite I'll see about clearing up some of the stuff that's been languishing for months: Cathouse Ellis for one, but there's also a short mpreg, Elga, and a couple of other fantasy-inspired shorts. The longer fantasy and HP inspired shorts can wait a while. <g>

Hey ho, the cubs and I will be cleaning the lounge room today. The state it's in at the moment there's a good chance Santa will trip over something and break his leg as he's delivering presents.

I know I've not been eating enough protein when I start craving bacon.

So, that's the end of the school year, eh? Doesn't feel real...
These last few days have been patchy, and they've flown past.
Yesterday I went along with the school to see a nativity puppet play in the nearby hall. The 'narrator' was a furry brown muppet wombat... thing called Robbie; the angel was properly androgynous (with beautiful plumage); but the best bit was the almost life-size camel with articulated legs and looooong eyelashes. The weirdest bit, however, was Mary's shining uterus. I'm not kidding! The Angel sez 'Oy, you're knocked up!' [paraphrased] and a light went on under her robe. Oookaaay...
There was audience participation as well - Robbie asked the children to hold up the stars they'd decorated to help the 3 kings find their way to Bethlehem... (Yes, most of the kids thought that was lame, too.)
There were some nice touches. A little bit of historical fact thrown in with the legend (myrrh is apparently good for getting rid of intestinal worms) and when Joseph and Mary 'decided to name the child Jesus' it was mentioned that they also quite liked Brian. <g>
The whole thing was cute and the different types of puppets were well done but it felt a little rushed and unfinished. With a bit more work, a bit more polish it could be quite good.

At the final school assembly today we had a reprise of grade 1/2T's 'Shake your tail feather' and we said goodbye to some of the staff, including 2 of the cubs' teachers. That was a little sad, admittedly, but then it was all over and we could go home.
I'm not sure when the next year starts - end of January? 'spose I'd better find out.

I've spent a lot of time standing around waiting for buses this year and I've noticed something. Most of the cars on the road are grey or silver. Next most popular colour seems to be white but a lot of those are utes or transit vans. Reds come next, followed by blues, blacks and greens with yellow being the least popular. Of course, this is only what I've observed in my area, there could very well be a nexus of favoured yellow vehicles elsewhere.

I don't often remember physical sensations in my dreams but I did last night. In a couple of instances I was standing at the door of a room then took a few steps inside and noticed a lovely drop in temperature. However, that could have been because it was hot last night and my window was open to catch the breeze.

(<sigh> And KittenKong has just demonstrated her displeasure with my ignoring her calls for food by trying to climb the xmas tree. Again. Tch, talk about attention seeking behaviour from the children.)

Chapter 32 is almost finished (woohoo!).
And Joules is toying with the idea of a third installment of her Cyber City Oedo 808 AU. Hee. : )
My Snupin's just about ready to post and I've been thinking about a SS/LM for Joules (no promises, though). Following the nomenclature of Snarry and Snupin, would that be a Snucious?

And finally, if a lycanthrope is a were-wolf, would a wolf-skin coat be a wear-creature...?

Squee! I got a parcel yesterday! A t'riffic Snarry card, and story (ook! Is there going to be a sequel? <wink>) and a Snape keyring!
Thanks, Rakina!

Oh dear, it looks like the DVD player has died a final death after limping gamely on for several months. The Polar Express killed it.
Dammit, and I haven't watched my new DVD yet. <grumble> Ah well, could be worse.

Hippos go pink in the sunshine. Not cos they get sunburnt, but because their skin produces a substance - that's pink - to protect them from the sun. Isn't that interesting? Every now and again the documentary channels will surprise me.

Oh bollocks. It's very difficult trying to research costume details when the character wears nothing but black. Between the monitor, my eyes and the quality of pics posted I can only get a vague impression. <melodramatic sigh> I'll have to go and see GoF again, and sit down the front. Or drag out the DVDs...
Bugger.
These things are sent to try us...

Ahah! The mystery of the mysterious bags of bread has been solved!
Last Friday, while the cubs were out with their father and I was napping, two carrier bags of loafs and rolls appeared - mysteriously - on my doorstep. Not one to look gift food in the mouth I brought it inside and we happily munched on the contents over the weekend. But I did wonder where it came from.
Yesterday afternoon I was woken up from a nap to find Niki on my doorstep with another bag of rolls, and soup. <g> She works as a meals-on-wheels coordinator nearby and apparently every Friday the centre is donated bags and bags of leftover bread and rolls. Yay for the generous public and free bread! : )

After languishing for a week Chapter 31 is finished and 32's started. This one will cover the final Event that sparks the final story arc. I think I can make it believable. If not, then I might be in a spot of trouble. It has to be believable or the whole thing falls in a heap!
Nope, I'll worry about that when I get there.

Oooh! I want one! Snowglobe and Argonaths? Perfect!

Nicked from Onna:

Er...


You taste like sushi. Yes, you're a bit fishy, but
if handled by the right person, you become a
delicacy. People with expert hands bring out
the best in you and your smooth texture leaves
tongues very happy.


How do you taste?
brought to you by Quizilla

Mmmm... sushi...
(Was the pic taken in a German sushi bar? [translated - poorly] "Well, ultimate! Now... an..." Ah never mind, just look at the food!)

<grumble> In the FotCR (Feast of the Cash Register - thank you, Blue Witch : ) I find my shopping centre swarming with mutoids (<g> thanks, Joules) tottering under their loads of plastic bags. (Plastic bags. Come on, people, it's not like there isn't a source of readily available reusable alternatives in every other shop if you haven't the wits to bring your own.) It's very annoying - but it'll be over soon.

A cub needed an alternate word so he headed straight for the Thesaurus without prompting... So proud. <g> And he's recently been browsing through the dictionary, just because.

Despite having read some amazing poetry over the years, pieces that have moved and/or inspired me (notably, Joules' [damn your eyes!] Pavane for Panthers, in the poetry section on her site) I've never thought much about making my own attempts. This is partly because what's sublime for one person is another's pretentious twaddle and I'm not convinced my efforts won't land squarely in the latter. Plus, I don't understand poetry, not really, and understanding something goes a long way to making a successful attempt. I get haikus, and I've written a few that could be interpreted as mildly clever, but there's not many of the other forms I can get to grips with. The cubs learnt about Acrostic poems this year and they look like fun. That's when you start each line using a letter of the poem's 'word'.
An example:

Sex god of Slytherin,
Never nice.
Albus trusted him, but did he
Pay the price?
Evil or not?

<g> Give me a break, that took me all of five minutes! But you get the idea.
I did play about with poetry when I was in high school, but never in anything approaching a serious manner.

The Saga of the Little White Dog.

Once upon a time,
just the other day,
a little white dog
went out in the fields to play.

He romped and he scampered
amongst the long tall grass,
until a farmer thought he was a snake
and shot him up the arse.

Boom boom. : )
Or this one that I never got 'round to finishing:

Ode to a pickled onion.

Oh, you round smooth globe,
so tart and full of life...

Yes, I was taking the mick and going by the 'style', this was penned about the time we were studying the English Romantics; Keats, Shelley - that lot. ("There's nothing romantic about swanning around Italy in a big shirt trying to get laid!" Black Adder: season 3, Ink and Incapability. <giggling> So funny! Where was I...? There was a point to this. Ah yes...)
So, poetry. I saw a book yesterday that could be useful in my quest to master different forms of literary expression. Stephen Fry's The Ode less traveled: Unlocking the poet within. I like his work and just reading the blurbs had me snickering out loud in the shop. Can't afford it right now but I'll keep an eye open for when it's on special. (There's no point getting it from the library cos it looks like a keeper and there's nothing more frustrating than wanting to keep a library book. : ) And who knows, one day I may inflict my musings on the world and they won't look like they've been written by an unhappy adolescent. <smirk>

And finally - just checking... Hah!

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

[edit: I've just noticed it says 'harkworking. Must've been written by a Gryffindor... <snerk>]

Right, while the horror is still fresh in my mind... The school xmas concert.
However, either I'm mellowing or it actually wasn't that bad. Yes there were some bits that made me wince while freezing a polite smile on my face but other than that...
The highlights: 1/2 T dressed up as Blues Brothers doing 'Shake your tail feathers' (I'd bet with the cubs' father that they were going to do 'Minnie the Moocher' but Tailfeathers is slightly more appropriate for 6-8 year olds, I guess); our school brass band - of which Penny's daughter is a member - tootling us a few tunes (they've come a looooong way since they started learning their instruments at the start of the year!); and the combined preps,1&2 singing Silent Night in German.
One cub's grade performed with their recorders, then did a little dance; the other cub's grade sang 'War is Over', which wasn't too bad except for the squeaky and/or flat 'chorus' in the background doing the 'war is over, if you want it' bit. <g>
See, it wasn't too bad, it didn't seem to go for that long and we were spared having to sing carols this year. I've attended worse.

I got a parcel from Onna! <squeebounce> Thank you!

Erk, only 6 school days left...

I've done little else but sleep the past few days. Could be my immune system's fighting something off, could've been because it's hot, or it could've been because I went into shock after cleaning my room on Saturday. : )
Yes, I cleaned my room. Sort of. I finally got 'round to putting together one of the metal shelving units Mum had lobbed my way and stuffed it full of material and other crafty bits that've been lying around for months. I'm still surrounded by piles of stuff, but my bed's clear again and now I have a whole extra square metre of floor space. Yay me.

The cubs' father cut their hair. It's a serviceable cut, gone are the anime bangs, but... they've both got tails. <g> Their cousins have got/have had (I can't remember!) tails so my two decided that they wanted them too. Very cute, and I've not heard any stories about teasing at school so they might want to keep them for a while.

Odd sort of dream yesterday afternoon when I passed out on the couch. I was hearing a snippet of music over and over again. I knew it was coming from a DVD so I tried to find the player and switch it off. Instead of just the one player there was a whole series of the things and I had no choice but to check every bloody one. Meanwhile, Alarice had turned up with a couple of her friends, as well as Soulsis and her chicks, so there I was trying to turn off the noise while getting food and drink organised for everyone. Alarice had brought a big crate of juicy, cold oranges - so juicy it only took one to fill up a 2 litre jug. Mmmm... She noticed my growing frustration and tried to help by pulling out the plugs. I told her to stop cos the cubs' father was using the computer (another one, not mine) in the room and if she'd pulled the wrong one he would've lost everything he'd been working on.
I had a rat, too, a lovely agouti brown male - and I decided to put the piggle in with him for company. I checked on them a little bit later but the cage had been ripped open and the rat had escaped...
I woke up to find that it had been the looped menu music of a DVD I'd been listening to, and that I had 2 minutes to get out of the house in time to catch the bus to go and pick the cubs up. <sigh> Couldn't shake the feeling I was still in dream sleep all afternoon and predictably fell asleep again when I got home. Fortunately the cubs are happy to make nachos for themselves for dinner when I'm useless.

A not work-safe link from Thicketty. Playwitch <smirksmirk> Now I know where some of the more interesting HP icons have come from...

Hands up all the fangrrls in the room. (Me! Me! Pick me!)
I saw Goblet of Fire again today! <boing> Enjoyed it just as much as the first time and picked up some more details, like how pretty Cho's ball gown is and how tactile a headmaster Kakaroff seems to be. Seriously, he's always petting Viktor, stroking him, and he had his hands on Neville at one point. Not inappropriately as such, I just thought it was odd.
I like the Durmstrang dress uniform - those capes flare out beautifully when the boys are dancing.
Oh oh oh! And there's a priceless look between Harry and Snape when it's revealed it wasn't the Golden Trio nicking stuff from the storeroom. Made me giggle.
The unintentionally funniest line in the movie has to go to McGonagall though, when it's obliquely suggested Harry be used as bait.

"He's a boy! Not a piece of meat!"

Oh, I beg to differ, Minerva. How often has sweet Harry been offered up on the alter of fandom? <evil smirk>

Nicked from Rakina:


You are Draco! Draco Malfoy. You are the
embodiment of a good Slytherin (good
Slytherins? Oxymoron, anyone?) in so many
ways. And you are a Malfoy. You think you
were a Slytherin before Slytherin was a
Slytherin, don't you?


Which Slytherin Are YOU?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ummm... <scratches head> Not quite sure what I was expecting...

The cubs and I had a great time after school today. First we picked up one of their laybys - always a good thing - then we tried out a new icecream place! Mmmm, lovely stuff, smooth and creamy. We all had a 'big cup' with 3 flavours. Mine were strawberry (not bad), coffee (excellent) and blood orange (YUM). The cubs between them had vanilla, mint, chocolate and licorice. They both declared this the best icecream ever! <g> I had a taste of the licorice and have to admit I was impressed. Usually licorice icecream tastes like licorice flavoured vanilla but this actually tasted like licorice. Nummy! I'll have some of that next time though I'm not in a hurry to go back. Icecream is something I only fancy every now and again - the cubs will eat it anytime, thanks, Mum! - but it's good to know there's some good quality stuff handy when I do.
Anyway, continuing the gastronomic tour of the shopping centre we tasted some wonderful ham from one of the delis. Really, really nice - really, really expensive - but so much better than the plastic crap the supermarkets sell. Getting the ham for xmas is usually my job but I don't think I'd want to share this! : )
After we'd all rhapsodised about the pickled pig for a bit we tripped off to a lolly shop to get a present for someone. Naturally, being surrounded by all the sweet stuff the cubs started making noises about getting something else. Fortunately they were able to understood the concept that it's a waste of excellent food to follow it with stuff that's not quite so good. And they were still so full of icecream they weren't actually that hungry anymore. <g>

Hm. I was going to snicker about the use of a particular spell in a couple of HP fanfics but after checking the Lexicon I find it isn't a bit of mangled fanon, as I thought. The spell is Ennervate which is 'used to revive a person hit by a Stunner'. There's a note in the entry which says: "Some versions list this spell as "Enervate," which changes the etymology quite a bit. In fact, if the word was really Enervate, the Latin origins would have exactly the opposite meaning from what it means as Ennervate." Indeed. Guess which spelling I found in the fanfics? Either way it's a silly word to use for a reviving spell.
However, here's something else I found. ''saline stained eyes...'. Guess what that was describing? : )

(It's interesting what Blogger's spell-check sometimes throws up...

icecream - isochronal.
xmas - smash.
stunner - stoner.
fanon - famine.
fanfics - benefice.

Isochronal apparently means 'happening or appearing at regular intervals'. An interesting word in relation to icecream, yes? And fanon-famine? I think there's something in that for all of us... <eg> )

<smirk>

Sturgeon!
The mermen in GoF were modeled on sturgeon!
Hah! I knew it was a big, ugly, prickly fish. Pike are too smooth and sticklebacks are just wee little things...

I finally got 'round to reading The Davinci Code...
I've read worse.
But honestly, I got so impatient with it. What? Another bloody twist? Gods above this thing could've finished 100 pages ago!
I don't have much patience with puzzles, ciphers and anagrams, they make my brain hurt but the ones peppering this - <wrinkles nose> - blockbuster were hardly challenging. I got the clues so often the whole thing became a series of anti-climaxes. And all I can say is that my general knowledge must be pretty damn good if so many people were astonished and amazed by the story. <sigh> I'm glad I read it though, it helped make Da Kath & Kim Code that much funnier...

One of my cubs has been talking about getting a watch for a while now. He's decided he wants a pocket-watch cos 'they're more elegant'. <g> He's got a little bit of money left, we'll see what we can find.

I had a couple of hours to myself so I sat down and watched Boogie Nights again. It's not a comfortable movie, rather sad actually, but damn I'm impressed with the way the contemporary pop/disco tracks were used. One word, in one line of lyric, perfectly synchronised with a moment in the movie to add a layer of depth and meaning. Fantastic.

I picked up the first volume of Gungrave cos it looked interesting in the previews.
Let's see:
Enigmatic bishie with angsty back-story? Check.
Shadowy corporation protagonist? Check.
Wide-eyed bishojou with some sort of connection to the bishie? Check.
Not the most original story admittedly but the animation's quite good, with the occasional moment of brilliance. It's a series I wouldn't mind following but there's no urgency, it's not one of those 'Gnnnh! I have to see the rest of it now!' things. : )

Tee hee hee. More fanfic nonsense...
First of all - songfic is generally a bad idea. I have absolutely no problem with an author being inspired by a piece of music - happens to me a lot - but it irks me when the lyrics are inserted into the text. Really annoying, it breaks the flow of the narrative. One person's 'highly significant' addition is another's (mine) teeth-grinding aggravation. Put the entire thing at the end of the piece, properly credited of course, but not in dribs and drabs throughout, please. (Okay, and now I'm wracking my brain, trying to remember if anyone I know writes/had written songfic. Heh.)

And I've come across a thread in the Snupins that made me blink. It's the premise that Lupin's wolf form is female. <rolls eyes> It's not widely used, from what I can see, and the explanation is... well... hm... Apparently, if you're born to lycans (don't ask me, I'm just quoting!) your wolf form will have the same gender as you. (And I don't know why but the idea that it's a wolf form, distinct from the human, irritates me. There's a flaw in the reasoning somewhere, I'm sure, I just can't pinpoint it.) But if you're male and bitten by a female lycan, you'll be female at that time of the month. <snigger>
I give up, I just don't get it. It's not the silliest bit of fanon I've read but it's up there in the top ten.

<grumble> I want to go and see Goblet of Fire on my own again while I still can - ie: before the school holidays - but with the cubs coughing and snargling enough to stay home I keep having to put it off. Oh well, the film'll probly be on for a few weeks yet.

<languish> It's hot. But at least the xmas tree's up and decorated now, strangled with tinsel. : ) That's my boys...

Goblet of Fire opened today and I was at the first session. <silly grin> I enjoyed it, a lot. True, there were minor characters and plot bits that had been cut or shifted about, and a lot of nuances were trampled in the stampede to get the story told in under 3 hours but it followed the book more closely than Prisoner of Azkaban did and that was bonus points as far as I was concerned. It probably helped if you'd read the book, though - there were points I would've said 'WTF?' if I hadn't known beforehand what was going on. But overall I was impressed. The story more or less hung together in a logical sequence and the darker feel of the book wasn't played down. It's a more grown-up movie from a more grown-up book. I'll be going to see it again; probly next TA Tuesday.
Anyway, here follows a random list of noted points in no particular order. Sorry if it's a bit spoilery but I don't think I'm giving away anything pivotal.

I want that tent! And - ooooh! - pavilions!

Visual effects were superb and didn't detract or distract from the plot. Industrial Light and Magic was involved again, I see...

The World Cup sequence was fabulous but there wasn't nearly enough of it.

And it goes without saying there wasn't enough Snape! What there was though was nicely played. He and McGonagall get some of the best lines. <g>

The mermen looked like they were modeled on pike! Or am I thinking of sticklebacks? Anyway, I enjoyed that sequence, too...

Pooh. We didn't get to meet Charlie Weasley. On the DVD perhaps?

The entrances of the Durmstrang boys and the Beaubaton filles made me roll my eyes. Show-offs, the lot of 'em, though the striking sparks on the flagstones was better than bloody bluebirds!

There was a lot of the Weasley Twins. This is a good thing.

Yay, Neville! He's not in Gryffindor by accident.

Draco looks good in a suit, and his father, well, he looks good in anything, let's be honest. The incredible bouncing ferret was very funny. <smirk>

Is it just me, or is Hogwarts getting bigger? I'm sure there were more buildings this time. And is it customary for the prefects to bathe together? That bath is huge! I know Scotland is a wee bit wetter than Australia but I couldn't help wincing at the amount of water used...

Ah yes, the soon-to-be-infamous bath scene. I sniggered through a lot of that. Poor Harry, the bubbles don't last for long...

Now, Daniel Radcliffe is an attractive boy up close but from a distance it looks like the lower half of his face is too small for the top half, not helped by the Bay City Rollers bouffant. And, alas, he's not the best actor in the ensemble, which is a shame cos he does give it his best, that's obvious, but he's not a patch on the far more natural and charismatic Rupert Grint. Pretty versus talent? I know who'd I rather watch. (Snape, Snape, Snape...)

I love the Durmstrang ship. I like sailing vessels (magical or otherwise) about as much as I like pavilions.

... I'm sure there was something else I was going to mention.
Ah yes.
25 minutes of commercials and previews before the movie started. Tch. Including one weird car ad where 2 black bulls, a diving man in black pants and a black car all converge at the intersection of what looks suspiciously like an enormous black crucifix stretched out along the floor. I don't pretend to understand advertising wanks any more.
But, did get to see a preview for the new King Kong movie. Looks better than I thought - it's got dinosaurs! I might go and see that now.

Chapter 30's finished and there's possibly only another 4 chapters to go. I'm teetering on the edge of the final Event... : )

I find the worst thing about hot days is that no matter how much I drink I just can't assuage the thirst. I feel like I'm sloshing inside, but still thirsty...

I've had the cubs home for the past couple of day. True, they weren't that sick, and they almost certainly could've gone to school today but I was the one needing a rest so we stayed home. <g> But, they're going to school tomorrow, first because I want to go and see Goblet of Fire, and second cos it's going to be hot and the school's got air-conditioning.

(I've just giggled my way through the first episode of Blackpool. David Tennant's really quite a good actor, isn't he?)

Interesting dream last night. While I was attending a sort of combination oil painting art class/exhibition it dawned on me that, hey, I could learn to paint! But, as I was preparing an old canvas to reuse, my enthusiasm waned when I couldn't think of a subject I wanted to paint. I didn't want to give up on the idea too soon so I wandered around a bit looking for inspiration and found it in a couple of carved marble architectural details in a graveyard. I was just working out how I could represent that detail when I woke up.

Egad. 1st of December tomorrow. Cubs are anticipating putting up the xmas tree, and starting the advent calendar. Wot fun, eh?

... I've been listening to one cub coughing all evening, and the other's just come out of bed to tell me he's not feeling well. <sigh> Housemate was ill last week - oh joy. Eh, we'll see how they go; a couple of days off probly won't hurt.
As long as it's not on Thursday cos if I can't go and see GoF I'll be miffed.

Cubs' father was watching ID4 this afternoon. What a silly movie - I had great fun snarking.

Handsome President ™ giving pre-battle speech: "We won't go quietly into the night. We will not give up without a fight..."
Lutra 'No Respect' Tenshi chimes in: "And everything will be all right!"

Which earnt me a look from the cubs' father who quite likes this movie. "Have you ever been stirred by a speech?" he asks. "Oh yes," I chirp, "The one in Branagh's Henry V ("We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...") is marvelous! Makes me want to go out and kill Frenchmen...!"
Tra la la.
We decided - after one cub expressed surprise there was no kissing in the 'marriage' scene to which the other one said 'Thank goodness'! - that this must've been the Director's Cut for 10 year olds: more violence, less kissing. <g>

Soulsis brought me some loverly things on the weekend including a gorgeous pink Thai silk goldfish cushion cover, and a pure silk sari! The sari's pale-beige with large mustard and ochre dots - not really my colours but, dang, it feels wonderful. I thought I might dye it an Autumny sort of colour. Yeah, that'd be nice...

Three and half weeks 'til the end of term. Eep.

(Thanks, Joules for the ™ code! ™™™ Hee, new toy...)

Thanks, GoodTwin, the cubs love the calendar! They were very excited. <g>

I was ridiculously pleased the other night to hear a snippet of the Kingdom of Heaven soundtrack being used in a news program. Hee. See the fangrrl squee.

Speaking of fangrrly squeeing - a dilema! <hand to forehead> I was planning on seeing Elizabethtown next (tightarse) Tuesday but then I noticed that Doom is also playing. Orli-squee or horselord? <sigh> I decided on Elizabethtown cos I'm a sook. Doom is rated MA and I remembered the video-game could be really gross - I think it can probly wait for DVD.

KittenKong's slinking about, still twitchy cos there was a dog here earlier. <g> Soulsis came 'round this afternoon, bringing with her my nephews and Snoops, who's quite big now but still a bit daft.
Soulsis made us an Advent Calendar! Nice big wooden one with hooks to hang the numbers on. : ) And a groovy bag with gold fringing for the cubs to go rummaging around in of a morning. So much nicer than the chocolate and cardboard things for sale in the supermarkets.

Half-way through chapter 30...

Is it just me or is this week dragging itself along by its fingernails?

Okay, this is weird. My CD ROM won't read disks but I'm still able to burn files. Course, I can only check that fact using someone else's 'puter, which was a drama in itself. (On the cubs' father's machine my SFSG file didn't show up at all, not even on the updates where I knew the info was saved. Reconfiguring the thing to read hidden files did the trick. Then I stopped panicking.)
Tch. Eh, at least I'm able to back-up my work.

One of Penny's treasured cats caught a skink the other day. The wee lizard's extended and lumpy stomach wasn't cos it was sick - as Penny thought - but because it was carrying eggs. Unfortunately the skink died but now there's half a dozen thumbnail sized thingies being incubated under a lamp. It'll be lovely if they hatch - wee baby skinks!

I went to a Xmas decoration making workshop a couple of days ago. It was fun but not quite what I'd expected. I'd initially signed up cos I'd been shown tempting photos of felt camels but it was decided that as this was a 'beginners' class we'd start simple.
Too simple, perhaps: 2 piece angels with beaded wings and wooden-bead heads. Yes, fun, but I wasn't really learning anything new (except how to dry-felt coloured sheeps wool to make really wild looking angel hair! However...) And I can't take twee Xmas angels seriously anyway - camels are much more interesting.
But there was enough interest from the participants to warrant another workshop, making felt animals this time. : )

Chapter 30 is moving along more easily now, thanks to a solid [poke] from Joules about an unconvincing plot-bunny. <g>

More HP fic-sniggers. Good examples of why it's important, nay, vital to have a beta reader.

"... the hollowed walls of Hogwarts."

<snerk> I know the place is riddled with secret passages but that's ridiculous! Hallowed walls, perhaps?

"Cleaver fingers pinching and lightly tugging..."

Ouch! <smirk> Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

Heh, cubs' father's birthday tomorrow, and the end of year school disco. Cubs are looking forward to both. : )

Right, <satisfied> that's chapter 29 done. Almost 145k words, too.
When the first draft's finished Joules has promised to have at it with the virtual red pen. I know she won't be gentle or sparing of my feelings but I trust her not to mangle my delicate ego.
<smirk> And I've promised not to get precious, too, so that should help.

I know daddy longlegs are opportunistic, but making a web in my ladle? Tch, cheeky thing...

Cubs and I went into the city again yesterday. It was the M cubs turn to spend his money on train bits. He got a troublesome truck and another couple of pieces of track. Both the cubs really really want to get an engine but I've told them they have to save up. I also keep telling them they'd have regular pocket money to save if they cleaned their room. : )

Here's a lovely story, sent to me by Alarice:

Once upon a time a girl asked a guy "Will you marry me?"

The guy said, "NO!"

And the girl lived happily ever after and went shopping, dancing, camping, drank vodkas, always had a clean house, never had to cook, had sex with whomever she pleased and farted whenever she wanted.

THE END

Ah, there's something in that for all of us...

Oh dear, found a couple more howlers in a fanfic.
"... a fowl mood." <snigger> Does that mean he was clucking mad?
And - "... sleep depraved": is that what happens when you get too much sleep?

And there was an interesting typo in a recent Horrible History magazine. There was a snippet about Captain Cook and how he took a goat along on a voyage so the crew had fresh milk. Then came this: "The goat had been on voyages before - but this was his longest."
His longest? I sincerely hope that was a typo. I mean, it'd be useful to have a good source of high-protein readily available, but really...! The poor creature would be exhausted... <g>

<chirpchirpchirp> I feel like I've achieved something today. Chapter 29 is almost finished but more importantly I've written out my xmas list. Hah! This is a good thing; now I know what I'm 'sposed to be looking for and roughly how much it's going to cost. I even know what I'm getting my nephews and the cubs' father for their birthdays. Just as well - that's all happening in the next week or so.
(<blink> Dammit. And I've missed Toby's birthday again, haven't I, Jayde? Tch, sorry. Absolutely bloody hopeless...)

The cubs and I were wandering around the shopping centre this afternoon to see if we could find any steam train calendars. No luck, but I pointed to the Orli-squee one and said I'd like that. The cubs, bemused, asked me why (I mean, he's not a steam train, how could I possibly be interested?).
"Because he's cute," I said. "Like a bunny rabbit."
The look askance my children gave me made me laugh... : )

When Joules started work on 2AC I knew I'd eventually need to rework my own parts but I thought I'd have plenty of time. I conveniently forgot just how quickly she can work when she's having fun...
Ack! <flail> I'm going to have to think about it sooner rather than later!
I am looking forward to it though, having the chance to go back and get it right this time. A lot of what I initially wrote didn't tally with later events, and of course the character/race concepts evolved as it went along and had to be unsatisfactorily smooshed about to achieve some vague cohesion. It'll be fun to finally tidy it all up.

I've been thinking about what sorts of things will need attention when I start tweaking SFSG. For one I'll need to sharpen up the character descriptions. I don't do too badly at evoking a feel for times and places but the people - with the exceptions of my obvious favourites - can be a little hazy. I should probly write a character list with accurate descriptions while I'm at it; sometimes it can be deuced tricky trying to remember the eye colour of a little-used character.
The story could probly stand a few more lemony bits, too, given it's about a porn-star. <g>

Tee hee hee. Remember how I was sniggering a while ago about fanficers improperly using nutters and starkers? Found something else to snark at. 'Drug' has no relation to the verb 'to drag'. It doesn't - I've checked. <rolls eyes>
(And on a different, but related, tangent: why is there Gryffindor goodies readily available but nothing for the other houses? <grump> Not everyone is a slavish Harry fan.)

LOL! Half-watching a documentary about cheetahs. After a year and a half of keeping her cubs alive, Mummy cheetah wanders off one day while they're hunting (her work here is done...) They eventually notice she's gone and there's much piteous mewing and calling from the male - until he's distracted by a terrapin. <smirk> I see that the attention spans of young males are constant throughout.

Lawks! I got down to one teabag on the weekend. How did that happen? I've usually got boxes of the stuff lurking in the cupboard.
Dammit, and I'm out of coffee too.

I had a dream last night about Ferraris and drag. Not drag racing. Drag. As in the drivers were wearing ensembles that would make Mitzi green with envy.
I have no idea why I dreamt that. Unless... there's an awful lot of machismo associated with Formula 1 racing...
Nope, still don't get it.
I woke up giggling though: 'Ooh, pretty car... Ooh, fabulous frock!' <smirk>

Night before last's dream was rather involved, too. It started with me looking out for a group of children, street performers essentially. I took it upon myself to collect the money thrown to them, to count and distribute it equally. That was hard to do cos I kept getting distracted...
Visited a familiar dream-theatre where they staged plays based on movies. The company always had enormous, beautifully detailed statues as props. The statues were carved from polystyrene but made to look like plaster or marble. Lovely stuff. This time they were showing 'Prisoner of Azkaban' but were rehearsing 'Goblet of Fire'. I got to join in the rehearsals! Flinging myself about the huge, marble-faced atrium, 'flying' on wires. (Incidentally, that's about as close to flying as I get in dreams. I'm usually tethered, or in an enclosed space, but I think that's more an issue of safety rather than entrapment.) That was loads of fun, but I had to get back to sorting the money for the children.
The dream ended with me on a construction site, where I was still trying to get the money organised, as well as trying to wash and sort a bundle of old shirts, and still keep an eye on the children, especially once it started raining and the holes in the ground starting filling with red mud...
Too much to do - I was almost glad to wake up! <g>

<sigh> 2 days 'til the next dribble of cash - 2 days 'til I can buy some tea, and coffee.
Ooh, and cake!

"Mum! There's a man outside wrecking our weeds...!"

<gasping with laughter> Yes, that's a quote. Our very nice next-door neighbour was mowing the front lawn today; as he does regularly. How the cubs have missed the activity all this time I can only put down to male-pattern blindness...

Blimey, it has been a while since updates. (<waving to Soulsis> Yes I am alive, just not very sociable... : )

Cubs and I went into the city on Saturday morning to visit a couple of hobby shops. The S cub had broken into his money box and found he had enough to start his model railway collection at last. He bought his first piece of Hornby rolling stock (Clarabel, one of Thomas' coaches) then generously leant his brother what was left so he could get a few pieces of track. (The M cub, incidentally, didn't have any money that day cos he couldn't find his stash. His father was going to lend him some but I vetoed that. Cubs have to learn to be responsible for their own things and that's not going to happen if they keep getting bailed out. But he wasn't too fussed about it, especially when I said we'd make another trip in when he did find his money.)
So, very happy cubs. <g> I keep getting presented with lists - verbal and written - of everything they want/need for the layout. And I've volunteered to help make scenery. Now that I am looking forward to!

After we got home and had lunch I cracked the whip and got them to help clean the lounge room. It's much better now and guess what? The M cub found his money. : ) If it's not too hot next weekend we'll go into the city again...

Dammit, is there a canon reference to Lupin's eye colour anywhere? I can't find one. Fanon seems to favour brown - tawny, honey, chocolate, coffee, amber etc: - but he's also been graced with blue, or blue-green, probably cos of David Thewlis. (He's 6'4"? Mmmm... Where was I? Right...)
The Prisoner of Azkaban movie doesn't bear much relation to the book - it's a completely different story that heads vaguely in the same direction. I'm not complaining, I like the movie, it's given me some wonderful visuals for when I'm reading.
And this could simply be a perspective thing but am I wrong in thinking that Snape fanciers aren't in your 12-18 year old age group? Snape-centric fics seem to be, generally, better written and more mature than those focusing on the students.

Discussing the difference between lycanthropy and were-creatures with Joules:

Joules: <shakes head> just had awful image of a were-gerbil....
Lutra:<blinkblink> Bwahahahahahahahaha!
Ooh, it'd be a mean little bugger! <eg>
Joules: <growl>
<STOMPSTOMPSTOMP>

<wiping eyes> Ah, dear me. She'll happily face down a mucking great spider but small rodents are her undoing...

[Watching National Geographic Channel.]
...snakes obviously don't have gag reflexes.
And baby tigers are just the woogiest! <squinch>

Chapter 28's finished and I've begun 29. There could be as little as 5 chapters to go before SFSG is finished...

<cringing> Every time I look at the telly tonight I die a little inside...
Gods this is awful - and housemate has insisted on watching it every week cos he favourite object de lust is a contestant.
<whimper>
I'm going to bury myself in slash until the horror is over...

[Later:]
Phew, it's finished. Right...

There was drama on the bus this afternoon coming home. A couple of male Tech students were sitting up the back being loud and mouthy, dropping the occasional real word in amongst the swearing. An older man sitting near them got up and walked down to the front of the bus. I didn't think too much about it until the bus pulled over - not in a designated stop. The older man, followed by the driver, marched back down to the boys and told them to get off. I couldn't see the ID he showed but I assume he was either a member of the Transit Police or a regular copper. There were more words and insults but the young men eventually did as requested.
What bothered me most about the whole incident was not the swearing but the middle-eastern looking boy rounding on the older man and asking him disparagingly if he was a Jew...
Cubs watched it all wide-eyed but seemed to take it in their stride, especially after I explained the 'code of behaviour' expected on public transport.
And there I was thinking the other day that we never see the Transit Police on the buses.

Meep. Okay, this could be interesting. I've stuck my hand up for a Snupin challenge at Master and the Wolf. I wasn't going to, really, but I read through the list of suggestions and one just... leapt out at me. I had the plot worked out within half an hour.
I have until the end of January next year, which is fine, but as this is my first HP fic I'm going to be sweating the details. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep everyone in character but I'm remembering my first Professionals fics and the myriad of clumsy, thoughtless mistakes I made. Mind you, I'm a more conscientious writer now so perhaps it won't be quite so bad. <g>

Speaking of fanfic - some links.
First from Sue, the Good Omens/Professionals fic she mentioned in the comments recently.
Discovered in a Bar Fight, by Shay Sheridan.
This was very funny!

"...Violence, not the minuet, may well be the supreme achievement of mankind."

Tee hee hee. I enjoyed this, thank you, Sue.

And this one: Harry Potter and the Plumbing of Doom, by Darth Maligna. An excellently snarky MST of Chamber of Secrets.

Summary: Voldemort shows Harry his enormous snake.

SNAPE: "If I may say so, Headmaster? perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Various confused fangirls in the audience consult the patented Villain-Love Handbook, trying to figure out if this inexplicable change of attitude makes Snape more sexy or less sexy...

<gasping> So funny!

Well, despite distractions I've managed a page of chapter 28 but I do have this chapter planned out so it's just a matter of expanding on the points I've noted down, innit?
Heh. Riiight.
Anyway, only 6ish weeks 'til the end of term - better get a move on if I want to finish the first draft by then.

It was hot yesterday so I put a small bottle of frozen water in the piggle's cage. She sniffed it, licked it, gave it a tentative nibble then having discovered it wasn't edible, ignored it completely. The possibility that it could provide relief from the heat seemed to elude her, but then, she's a piggle of advancing years who wasn't that bright to begin with. <g> It might take a few attempts.

Yay! Finally got my turquoise star on eBay! Someone finally gave me that one piece of positive feedback needed to nudge me up to 100. It was from a recent win, too, not one of the older ones. Tch.

OkapiPrincess was in my dream the other day. I was browsing at a department store: there was an almighty crash as a big stack of lovely terracotta pots fell down, smashing all over the place. OP was standing nearby and I got the impression she was disappointed cos she'd been going to buy one of the pots...

I sat down for a couple of hours yesterday and worked on one of the quilts. It's been weeks since I've done that and it was very grounding. I really do need to exercise my creativity both mentally (writing) and physically (handcrafts). When I don't, my ability to cope with all the niggling little irritations diminishes quickly.
But, for the moment, Lutra is in balance again. : )

Nicked - in a round'about way - from Rakina:

You Are 30% Boyish and 70% Girlish

Even if you're not a girl, you're very feminine. You're in touch with your feelings, and your heart rules you. A bit of a emotional roller coaster, one moment you're up and the next you're down. But no matter what, you try to be as cute and perky as possible.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

You Are Somewhat Machiavellian

You're not going to mow over everyone to get ahead... But you're also powerful enough to make things happen for yourself. You understand how the world works, even when it's an ugly place. You just don't get ugly yourself - unless you have to!

How Machiavellian Are You?

<snerk> 'Somewhat' Machiavellian...

Heh, finished chapter 27. Made myself sniffle.

Good Omens.
<rolling around laughing> He lost the anti-christ!

I've just finished reading Gray Hawk's Lady, by Karen Kay. (Yes, it's a drivel but before I have to give anyone the Glare of Messy Death for sniggering, it was a sacrifice made for research, m'kay?)
It made me laugh, though I don't think that was deliberate. Let's start with the cover. If that guy's Amarindian then so am I. And I'm not, therefore... <shakes head>
You expect a certain amount of purple-tinged silliness in drivels but this bit just made me snigger.

"She swooned, arching her back and pressing her breasts to him in open invitation..."

Pardon? Unless her breasts are down near her stomach I'm not quite sure how this is sposed to work, especially as he's got his hands around her arse "...pulling her in closer." Unless it was just her upper back that was arching away? But if so, then perhaps the author should have been a little bit more specific? Eh, maybe I'm just being picky, but then there were other omissions, I found. 1832 - corsets were derigueur for women but aside from a mention about the heroine's 'uncomfortable' clothing as she's being dragged across the plains by her captor nothing is said about this essential item of clothing. Not even during the obligatory washing-in-the-river scene where she takes everything off, and everything is listed except for the corset. Just daft.
Eh well, it didn't take long to knock this book over, I spose that's one good thing about drivels.

Heh, well the cubs are back - tired and happy to be here, I think. They said they had fun, but they also mentioned in passing that they were teased. <sigh> But, they were happy to talk about the good stuff, and laugh about some of the bad stuff ("I only ate a little bit of my desert on the first night because... <dramatic pause>... it was fruit salad!" ) and they weren't traumatised by being away. On balance it was probably a good experience for them, even if they did get a little sunburnt. I'm glad they're home though, I missed them more than I thought I would. Wasn't so bad during the day, or at night, times when they're either at school or in bed, but the late afternoon and evenings were very odd.
Heh, but their clothes are washed and I have two small sea-snail shells beside my monitor - presents from my children. : )

It's been a disjointed few days for me. Without the daily structure needed to keep the cubs on track I became aimless very quickly. A foretaste, perhaps, of what it's going to be like when they stay regularly with their dad on the weekends? I'll probably be less distracted though, cos I know they'll be with someone who cares for them.
Didn't spend all my time sleeping or reading (HP smut) however - Penny and I had a fun day out on Thursday. We headed East, to the Dandenongs, stopping at a couple of op-shops on the way and having afternoon tea at the Patchwork Teahouse in Warburton.
Picked up some neat stuff from the op-shops, a bundle of material and several books including a Jo Verso cross-stitch book. Very pleased with that - her patterns are lovely and quick. Also picked up a book about the history of Australian Nurses, and another titled "Grammar for People Who Wouldn't Have to Worry About It If they Didn't Have Children." <g> Could be interesting. There was another book I almost didn't get but decided to pick it up anyway because, well... "Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity." Here's the blurb on the back:

The dwarf, the disfigured, the blind man, the homosexual, the ex-mental patient and the member of a racial or religious minority all share one decisive characteristic: they are all socially 'abnormal', and therefore in danger of being considered less than human. Whether ordinary people react by rejection, over-hearty acceptance or by plain embarrassment, their main concern is with such an individual's deviance, not with the whole of his personality.
Stigma is a study of situations where normal and abnormal meet, and of the ways in which a stigmatised person can shore up his precarious social and personal identity. Using extensive quotations from autobiographies and case studies... argues that stigma is intimately associated with stereotype, and that both are related to the unconscious expectations and norms which act as unseen arbiters in all social encounters.

Could be useful for research. The book was written in 1963 - I'm fascinated with 'old' medical etc: texts, they can be such an insight into a society's attitudes and mores.
Spent more money at the Patchwork Teahouse than I'd planned but <happy sigh> such lovely stuff! Penny had cooked chicken curry and rice for dinner then we settled in to watch Princess Mononoke on DVD. I'd not seen it before and I was very impressed. The backgrounds in Studio Ghibli works always look so deep, even if the human characters always look the same.

But anyway, it should be back to normal now, at least until the Summer holidays which are too close for comfort. Heh, I'd like to have the first draft of SFSG finished by then. Not far to go now - the penultimate story arc is winding up...

Oh dear, the guinea-pig's melted.
Not literally, obviously, but she was sprawled out along the base of her cage with the heat, poor thing. Eh well, it's supposed to be cooler tomorrow.

Tch. 11 p.m. The cubs should be asleep by now.
I do miss the little buggers.

Call me overly suspicious but the announcement today from Little Johnny about 'threats to Australia' seemed particularly well-timed. He's been pushing for legislation to protect us from the threat of terrorists but there's been some niggling opposition by moaning minnies bleating about 'civil rights' <insert sarcasm>. Golly, but now there's an actual threat - carefully unspecific as to origin, date, perpetrators - looks like he might get what he wants. >: (

Sorry, Joules, I had to eat the chocolate. It'd gone soft and you can't put chocolate in the 'fridge - it's sacrilegious or something, so Swiss-descended Niki tells me, and the Swiss are experts on chocolate after all so I have to believe her - but it was delicious, thank you. : )
I want some more now...

So - <checking the time> - the cubs should be at the campsite by now.
I don't know if I'm fretting as such but I'm not... content. The problem is, I think, they're away from me in an environment I have no control over. And I'm worried they won't use their sunscreen and get horribly burnt, or that I've forgotten to pack something vital. <sigh> They'll be fine, I'm sure. I should have more faith in the teachers going with them but... an adult:child ratio of 1:10? No, they'll be fine.
I don't think I'll be rattling around the house like an unquiet ghost but this will give me the opportunity to see just how aimless my life is without my children. <g> I'm sure I'll find ways to occupy myself.

Oh! And before we left this morning a parcel arrived. I was getting dressed so I let the cubs open it, warning them that it might not be all that interesting (I was expecting some embroidery thread I'd won on eBay.) It wasn't thread though, it was Yule cards and chocolates from Joules and Kai! Cubs were thrilled, it was a very nice start to their day. And I love my card - have I mentioned that holly is one of my favourite plants? As for the Guylian seashells... Mmmm... Astonishingly I haven't opened those yet - it's too hot to enjoy chocolate right now. I'll wait 'til evening when I'm at a loose end. Thanks, Joules!

It was a lovely quiet day at Niki's yesterday. Too hot to do much so we nibbled on sausages and fruit, and the pack crowded around the 'puter playing games while Niki, Soulsis and I chatted - and eventually - napped. Heh, forgot about the horse race until I got home. Not that I've ever been passionate about the event anyway, it's just a day-off as far as I'm concerned. : )

Bleurgh. It's hot again. And I'm going to start rambling if I'm not careful...

Because tomorrow is a public holiday lots of people also took today off, and they were all at my shopping centre, getting in my way! Slackers! <grumble> Why can't people walk in straight lines?

Eeep! We have two huntsmen in the house! One's in the lounge, which is fine, I can keep an eye on the beastie but the other's in the cubs' room! Ack. I told them not to worry cos it'll keep the mosquitos away. (Translation: I am not negotiating my way over the mountain of rubble in there, at night, to try and catch the stupid thing. I'll have a look tomorrow. Maybe I can chase it outside with a broom...)
I'm very carefully not thinking about how close that spider is to my room, though.

I've been trawling some excellent Snupin (Snape/Lupin) fic in the Chocolate Frog archives. It's well written and enjoyable even though there's a couple of plots I've found so far that are - to my mind - largely improbable.
Mmm, I do like Dom!Lupin though...

I was enthusing to Penny the other day that I'd found a place where I could buy rolls of polypropylene book covering. Yay! And then all I'd need was a database program and I could finally get on with cataloguing my collection...!
She looked at me and shook her head. "You really are a librarian, aren't you?" Hee! Give me half a chance...

I decided that, because I'll be taking 98% the kitchen stuff with me when the cubs and I move out, I'd be generous and help their father restock. To that end I've been looking in op shops for cheap crockery etc. Found some the other day, a nice, sensible (boring) pale grey dinner set - but what was more tempting was an even cheaper set of 'Country Garden' style crockery. It had ducks on it: kitschy 80's white ducks with blue bows... <big evil grin> The cubs' father will never know how close he came to having this <cough> quality, tasteful product gifted to him. I think he'd appreciate the joke, but no, better to keep him on-side.

And again I forgot to mention Soulsis' generosity - a handful of pink and purple neko bells (shiny!); a small fish wall-plaque mosaiced with bits of mirrors (more shiny!); and a cat's face dangly thing with marbles for eyes. <g> The sort of thing you hang in trees to keep the birds off your fruit. Thanks, Soulsis!

<sigh> It's supposed to be hot for the next couple of days - low 30's. I'm not anticipating that with any pleasure, but still, once this first flush of heat is over it'll mean I'll have less trouble adapting to the Summer temperatures later.

Heh, I think we're being kidnapped tomorrow and taken to Niki's for a Melbourne Cup Day get-together. Should be fun!

<sniffle> Just watched the last part of Casanova.
Now that's the sort of happy ending I love. I'm going to be sniffling for days...

I pandered to my inner 12 year old today. Schleich produces a wonderful range of realistic plastic models - animals, knights, smurfs <g> - and I've now got 4 of their horses on lay-by. I haven't really been a horsey-girl since I discovered pop-stars but the Schleich horses called to me. Meh, perhaps I'm hankering after a simpler time - I might pick them up and think "What the heck...?". If so, then I've got a niece who'd probly appreciate them. : )
But they are really lovely...

Gah, I'm fretting over the cubs' upcoming camp, not cos they're going to be away from me but cos they're going to be with people - kids - who don't have much respect for them. And the cubs can be oversensitive when they're wound up and tired. <sigh>
No, no - I'm only borrowing trouble, aren't I?
Gods, the preparation for it though! Everything has to be labeled, not to mention being found and cleaned ready for packing, or it has to be bought. I was trailing around the shopping centre, watching my money dwindle while the 'list of things needed' didn't seem to be getting any shorter. I think we have everything now, including runners (joggers) for the cubs which should be interesting cos they can't tie their shoe-laces by themselves yet. Not that I've made much effort to teach them - they always wear pull-on boots. So, guess what we'll be doing this weekend? Oh well, at least they can shower/clean themselves without help.
<huggle> Thank you, Soulsis, for the loan of the sleeping bags! The cubs love them - they've already tried them out. : )
I've organised with the cubs' father to drive us all into school on Wednesday, that'll stop us having to muck about with suitcases et al on the bus. Luckily Tuesday is a public holiday so I can spend the day stressing without being interrupted by having to take the cubs to and from school. Tch, is it any wonder I want to be 12 again?

Found this short comic on my favourite snarking site. So funny! Sparklypoos! <smirk>
It came from this site - check out the other comics, and the HP fan art. I'm still giggling over some of it.

Oh, this came from the same site...


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Awww... I like Lupin

LOL! Just heard on the Lenny Henry show:

Did you know Sagittarius has git in it?

I know a couple of Sags. Tee hee hee

I am outraged and appalled!
The cubs and I went into a big chain store today to have a look at the toys, as is our wont. The cubs pressed the buttons on everything, as is their wont, and... Bob the Builder had an American accent! For the love of National pride, why? Wasn't the degradation of Winnie the Pooh enough?
Grrr...
Anyway...

The cubs are moving into the gruesome little boy stage. We were looking at flower buds on an agapanthus and it was noted that, fully closed, they looked like birds' heads. Then I'm gleefully told that, partially opened, it looks like the bird's vomiting, and, fully opened, look, the bird's exploded!
... riiiight...

Saw the most amazing cloud-formation this morning as I was coming home from dropping the cubs at school. There was a back-drop of slate-grey rain clouds and in front of them was a series of white cumulus clouds. Startlingly white when the sun hit them; absolutely beautiful! It stopped me in my tracks.
I like clouds. : )

Hn, it's that awkward time in fresh produce where the Winter fruits are out of season and so are more expensive but the Summer fruits aren't in yet to take up the slack. Oh well, at least the Lebanese cucumbers - my Summer staple - are half the price they were last week.

In my dream a couple of nights ago I was chatting/traveling/hiding from lions with a group of people. One of the women tossed me a large plastic spool and mentioned something about our time together in the fabric mill. I knew what she was saying was true but the memories were so far back, so distant, I couldn't recall them with any clarity.
I've never set foot in a factory except to tour it, not in this life at least. I'm not saying for sure it was a past-life echo, mostly because before I went to bed I was watching a documentary on the history of photography. The programme included a segment about photography being used to bring to light the terrible conditions mill and mine children worked under at the turn of the 20th century. An interesting dream though, even so.

By golly, chapter 26 is tripping along nicely. Should have that finished soon.

Okay, well I didn't have dreams about rampaging frozen mutant cockroaches, or their sea-going relatives, but I did dream I was a music teacher at a school of yoga. : ) I was asked to demonstrate my musical ability, which made me pause because, you know, I wasn't really a musician, but when I sat down at a dinky little student's piano I found my fingers knew what to do and I was able to fumble through a simple piece well enough to make people think I was just a little rusty. <g>
See? Another dream about pretending...

Yay! Finished chapter 25 and already 2 pages into 26. This is the second-last story arc; once that's concluded there'll be one more event then it's on to the final bit. Woohoo! Not only that I've actually plotted out some future bits so I won't be stumbling about trying to string things together when I get there.

Why are children still taught the times tables up to twelve (1x1 - 1x12)? No denying it's handy but we don't really use base 12 anymore. Is it just to keep the 12x12 reference grid on the back of exercise books neat and square? I think it would be better to have them learn up to x15 as standard.

After putting it off for weeks I finally got 'round to starting the repairs to the M cub's blankie. The first part was easy enough - patching the bald spot in the wadding, tacking down the loose bits of material - but when it came to trying to attach the new cover there was frustration, and language that made the cubs gasp. I've tacked the new covers on and while the shark material is nice and smooth, the green is going to be puckered. Ah well. The effort will still be appreciated, I'm sure.

I'm watching the first part of Casanova, with David Tennant in the lead role. I'm really enjoying it, it's wickedly funny in places and DT's very good but I'm still not sure I can see him as Dr Who.

Couple of quiz things nicked from Joules.

Hee.


You are Dea dubiosa, the Goddess Sue. All
the power of heaven and earth is at your
command, which doesn't stop you from throwing
tantrums, or explain why we've never heard of
you before.


What Species of Mary Sue Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Er...


Which Slytherin Mary Sue Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

And this one was contrived - I just wanted to see where all the Snape questions led.


Which Slytherin Mary Sue Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Truly, Joules and I do have some interesting conversations on ICQ.
To set the scene: I was querying a word I'd used in SFSG, wondering if it could be considered too Terran for the setting. Joules agreed but as it was very late, and she was very tired she couldn't think of a suitable substitute...

Joules: Nah - brain go 'bampf'. Ask me tomorrow?
Lutra: LOL It's bampfed to the bahamas?
???<blink>???
Actually, 'bampf' is what Nightcrawler does when he teleports.
That's what I mean. Your brain's bampfed away.
... ah... right - undertandee a bit maybe...
nope - no Bahamas...
Maldives, yes
Lucky thing, sunning itself on the sand, being mistaken for a jellyfish...
<growl> My brain does NOTNOTNOT look like a jellyfish....
<smirk>
<THWAP>
<yip!> All right, it doesn't look like a jellyfish!
Though I have seen some washed up on beaches here that are reminiscent of brains. If brains were see-through and smooth.
My brain is neither see through nor smooth. Nor does it exist in only the four usually Terranly discernible dimensions.
Now that I can believe! <nods> Tardis brain. Yes. It's the only way everything can fit
Quite! Insult it at your peril!
<sarcastic quiver>
<eyebrow of dooom>
<snicker> What's it going to do? Come and get me?
<incline head> You think it can't?
....
Oh thank you, now I'm going to have nightmares about being pursued by a brain that doesn't look like a jellyfish!
... I hesitate to ask, but you think brains generally look like jellyfish?
<patpat> Keep taking the tablets...
Well, no, but it was the only washed-up-on-the-beach sort of thing I could imagine a brain looking like...

Conversations like this aren't really atypical, either. <g>

I've got 99 positive feedbacks on eBay. Now if just one of the three sellers that 'owe' me feedback would get off their lazy arse I'll get to 100. Dammit, I want my next-coloured star! <pout>

Hm, a 'for-sale' sign's gone up on the house across the road. I'd been wondering what happened to the little old lady living there, haven't seen her or her gorgeous old pale-blue ford for weeks.

Heh, my umbrella is the best anti-rain talisman I could have. If on overcast days I step outside without my large and inconvenient-to-carry umbrella I'm bound to get wet. However, if I do carry it, the sun will come out.

Lessons I have learnt:
The creases in a crumpled linen shirt will mostly smooth themselves out after the garment's been worn for half an hour. While this still doesn't make it look like you've taken the effort to iron your shirt, it makes it a little less obvious that the shirt's been lying on the floor for a month and was only picked up that morning cos there was nothing else clean to wear. <cough>

Oh! I've seen Orli-squee calendars! Not many of them - it looks like they're selling quickly - but... I want one! He's so cute <squinch>, lolling about trying to look all sexy and sultry, just like a big boy! <smirk>

And, I've finally found a solution to something that's been intermittently bugging me for months - how to make a red blood-cell shaped cushion. Yes, I've worked out how to do it. I'll need to attach and stuff the inner cylinder of material to the outer covers first before sewing on the proportionately wider outer band. The difference between the inner and outer bands should, in theory, pull the material down into a concave on both sides.
Ah, I can see it now, a lounge-room full of giant red blood-cells...

Woke up from a very detailed dream yesterday. I was at a beach, where I learnt that the young surfers communicated their desire to go to a different beach by executing particular moves on the sand. ie: a back-flip meant one place, a jump and spin another. I thought this was an odd way of communicating with bus drivers, even foreign ones, but no, it was to tell the waves where you wanted to go. I couldn't help thinking this wasn't a particularly safe way to travel...
Later I appeared to be trailing around after a blonde woman as she told me about her life. She set up a drum-kit on a breakwall and played 'til the sun went down. Then we went to Niki's new house by the sea for a party and sleepover. (Niki always seems to be doing well in my dreams. I wonder why? Perhaps she represents success? Anyway...) The cubs' father was there as well, but that wasn't as important as trying to explain to someone that it was fine to kill an icky, black, poisonous spider but they had to leave the beautiful garden orb alone.
The next morning, in a cafe, the blonde woman had dyed her hair red and was pretending to be a journalist - she asked someone to give her some 'news' to talk about to help the deception - while I somehow had given someone the impression that I knew all about medieval basketball and so found myself on a court, in a tunic, wondering what the hell I was going to do...

And last night's dream was just as detailed but I can't remember much of it at all besides trying to take a shower, on a bed, while wearing a veil... Very odd, and frustrating.

Chapter 24's finished and I've started 25. I'm making it up as I go, it seems, detailing things that really should have been included near the beginning but as I didn't think of them until now... <shrug> That's what rewrites are for.
And, there's no help for it - I'm going to have to sit down and puzzle out boring but necessary things like comparative rotations and travel times between the planets.
I also need a reasonable substitute word for 'porn'. Hm.

I growl at the retail push to introduce Halloween into Australia but damn I love the jack'o'lantern lolly buckets. I have one now - I got it from a 'Free with every purchase over $10' offer. <g> It really doesn't take much to make me happy.

Heh, the cubs' father finally had his 2 dead cars towed away.
And I've successfully got my phone number transferred into my name. Tch, cost me $50 <grumble> - what a rip-off! - but at least now I only have my own bills to look after.

Finished reading the Regency House Party book. It was quite interesting, taking a more historical perspective of the event than the television narrative which focused more on the emotional journeys of the individual participants. I'd like to see the series again, I really enjoyed it. I got terribly involved with teh drama. <g> Not sure I'd want to live in the era but it was a deuced interesting time.

The cubs' school is changing its uniform policy. As of next year, official school uniforms will be compulsory, not simply recommended. This is really annoying cos the 'official' uniform items are 3 times the price of the generic garments I can get elsewhere. I'm not sure the reasoning behind the move but I think sometimes the school board forgets that even though we're in an affluent area, not all of the families have commensurate incomes.
Ah well. I spoke to the principal about it and she mentioned there's a government scheme to help low-income families cover the cost. Going to have to look into that, I think.

I had a spare half-hour today so I indulged myself and watched the first episode of Cyber-City Oedo, subtitled. I've only seen the dubbed version before and the difference is amazing. There's no swearing, for a start, and I think because the vocal track isn't stuffed with profanity the story is allowed more time. It made more sense this time, at any rate, and it was more... lyrical. The ending's quite different as well. The dubbed version gave the impression that Sengoku was about to do something naughty for personal revenge but in this version it's more along the lines of crusading within the confines of his 'job'. I quite like Sengoku in this version, he seems to be more noble, less of a yob - though he's still a smartarse. <g>
I prefer the opening theme in the dubbed version, though, but so far that's the only thing I prefer. I'll have to see how the other 2 episodes rate.

Caught by accident the other night, half of a program about the Thomas the Tank Engine phenomenon. <g> The cubs were thrilled - they got to see the actual models used in the tv series - but what I found interesting was listening to Rev. W. Awdry (the original writer) snark about the 'business people' writing his characters into entirely improbable situations! Gosh, that sounds familiar...
Missed the part about the Thomas movie - would've loved to hear what he had to say about that abomination.

Nicked from Joules:

Your Harry Potter Sue by Riven-008
Your name
Your Sue's First Name	Kitty
Middle Name(s)	Rachel
Last Name	Everleaf
Hair	"silvery waves"
Eyes	"ruby"
Other Distinguishing Marks	you don't need any
House	Ravenclaw
Love Interest	Severus Snape
Number of Sporks Required	101
Quiz created with MemeGen!

Tee hee hee. Snape.
Ravenclaw? Nah, I'm too lazy for that.
There's a very funny mini-saga about the meme over at The Zone. Check in the comments for Tuesday, October 18. : )