Foodporn. Oh how I luvs it... Watched a particularly good one tonight. Kylie Kwong: My China [drool] All that fresh, fresh food... While watching it I formed the resolution that next year I'm going to try different cuisines at different restaurants at least once a month. (On my own. I enjoy food, I enjoy eating. I don't enjoy listening to the cubs whinge about what I'm eating. [rolls eyes] Philistines.)
As luck would have it, my college is very close to an area that - I'm sure - has more cafes and restaurants per square metre than anywhere else I can think of in Melbourne. : )

~=o>

So there I was, having a good time at my TAFE class' xmas party, anticipating the Kris Kringle, when I get a phone call from the cubs' year co-ordinator. Had my children spoken to me about going in to seperate classes next year?
[scowl] No, they had not - though I was completely unsurprised they hadn't. The question of whether or not they should be in the same class has been an issue every year of their schooling, generally with them vehemently resisting being separated.
Anyway, their teachers thought they could do with some 'individual development' but wanted them to talk it over with their dad and I before the class lists were finalised. Because the cubs had 'forgotten' to mention this when asked days ago, it meant we only had something like 2 hours to get back to the coordinator with the decision. Tch. However, when we pinned them down about it turned out they weren't that fussed this time. Go figure. I think they've realised that, yes, they do sometimes need time apart. And they'll be in the same maths class so that's not too bad I suppose. : )

Two days of steady rain and, oh bloody hell, there's a leak in the ceiling almost directly above my monitor. [scowl] The drips are falling just to the side...
Right, shifted the monitor over another few inches but I don't like the way the wet patch is spreading along the fault in the plaster as I watch. I hate having to contact the estate agent. I always get defensive, I always feel as if whatever's gone wrong is going to be viewed as my fault...

~=o>

On a cheerier note:
And so it came to pass that five of my subjects this year were graded, and lo, I did receive Distinctions in all. (Cue chorus: 'I am so smrt' etc.)
Admittedly one of those DI's just squeaked in - half a mark less and it would've been a Credit. (That was for Cataloguing. Given the results of the first 2 tests I worked out I'd have to do very well indeed on the last one to average a Distinction. I checked and I had done very well indeed. : )

~=o>

Trotted off to the cinema with a few of my classmates to see Baz Luhrman's Australia. It's not had good reviews but I really enjoyed it. 'Grand scale' and 'Sweeping epic' are not unjustified I feel.
It was very long and there were a couple of points where it could've ended and still been a good movie, but going through to the ending it had gave it a real depth. The movie's been described as 'superficial' but I think it's only superficially superficial. True, it's a simple story, told a hundred times before but at heart it's a fairytale. Not the twee, genuinely superficial pap that's served up under that heading nowadays but a Brothers Grimm type of fairytale. There's villains and heroes - archetypes, not stereotypes - myth and magic, revenge and justice. (There's this sort of fairytale element in all of our Baz's films. I love the way he creates that slightly twisted, slightly surreal sense of 'real' life. Marvellous. : )
Amidst all the horror, drama and romance 'Australia' was also genuinely funny, the humour reflecting a peculiarly Australian viewpoint. There's a deal of funny in there that other nationalities probably won't get. But that's okay, this is a film about and for us. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[happy dance!] Finished my first year of study! [happy dance!] Passed everything! [happy dance!] Most of the subjects were pass/fail but of the three that were graded I got Distinctions! I am so smart. S.M.R.T... : )
Still waiting for the results of the last exam - it was on Tuesday - but I'm pretty sure I've passed that. It wasn't as dastardly as we'd been expecting. (I honestly can't remember if that subject is graded or not but if it is I'll have cracked a credit.)

~=o>

Badger and Rocket's maths teacher has recommended them for the accelerated maths program next year! They're chuffed, their dad and I are chuffed. The only problem I can foresee is the cubs deciding it's too much like hard work and dropping out. : )
I think with encouragement they'll stick at it. They do like being told they're good at something.

~=o>

Heeheehee. We watched the new Wallace & Gromit program last night - A matter of loaf and death (formerly titled Trouble at 'mill, apparently). [snerk] Very funny, and there was an in-joke, just for me! Gromit's trying to get rid of a bomb, he goes to throw it out a window but there's ducks in a pond! At this point I squeaked, declaring: "There'll be nuns in the next shot!" And there was! 'Someday's you just can't get rid of a bomb!'

~=o>

And finally, a couple of quiz things nicked from blpaintchart.

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.

Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.

People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aestically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impresssionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.

Take the test!

Yeah, I'd agree with that.

...and then there's this! Star Wars Personality Test.
Bwahahahahah! Short, round, incomprehensible to most... Yep, that sounds like me.


Your results:
You are R2-D2

R2-D2 66% C-3PO 66% Jar Jar Binks 62% Darth Vader 61% Boba Fett 61% Han Solo 59% Luke Skywalker 58% Jabba the Hutt 57% Princess Leia 56% Padme 56%

What you lack in height and communication skills, you make up for in industriousness, technical know-how and being there when others need you most.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)


Click here to take the "Which Star Wars character are you?" quiz...


(What?! Jar Jar Binks was more or less next! Um...)

Glancing through the local paper yesterday I saw an article about an amateur theatre group's all-female cast production of Julius Caesar. Even better it was being performed just down the road in the recently completed, super snazzy Drama complex at the cubs' high school. So this afternoon I left my children to their own devices and went to get some culture.
Wow, I'm impressed. It was definitely an amateur production, with all the variables of talent that can encompass, but nevertheless it was a fabulous adaptation. Set in the 'modern era' it made good, stylish use of multi-media with mock-ups of CNN style reporting and news-breaks to link the scenes. Antony's 'friends, Romans...' speech was treated as a live broadcast fed through to the large screen at the back of the stage. (Interestingly I found myself naturally gravitating to that rather than the real live actress standing only a few metres away.) Likewise, we viewed Cassius' suicide (and monologue) as a video blog. Very effective.
Sets were well structured, simple and versatile, and the costumes were a sometimes ironic reflection of the characters.
The all-female cast made for a very different dynamic in parts, too. There were some uncomfortable stirrings from the audience during the poignant scene between Brutus and her 'partner' Portia. (I'd expected something similar with Caesar/Calpurnia but in this instance Calpurnia had become Caesar's daughter.)
I enjoy Shakespeare and I especially like non-traditional interpretations. (My love of AU's touches everything! : ) This version was beautifully done, I was engrossed and I'm very glad I made the effort to see it.

I broke my tooth on some Turkish Delight.

... All right, to be absolutely accurate, I broke my tooth on an almond in the TD.
Didn't hurt, just another bit chipped off an already damaged/de-fillinged tooth.

~=o>

[happy dance] I haz the Dr Horrible soundtrack!
Doesn't make a lot of sense without the visuals but the Cubs love the Bad Horse Chorus.

Bad Horse, Bad Horse
Bad Horse, Bad Horse
He rides across the nation, the thoroughbred of sin
He got the application that you just sent in
It needs evaluation, so let the games begin
A heinous crime, a show of force
(a murder would be nice of course)

Bad Horse, Bad Horse
Bad Horse, he’s bad
The evil league of evil is watching so beware
The grade that you receive’ll be your last, we swear
So make the bad horse gleeful, or he’ll make you his mare
You’re saddled up; there’s no recourse
It’s “hi-yo, silver!”
Signed: Bad Horse.

(Music by Jed Whedon and Joss Whedon
Lyrics by Joss Whedon)

Itunes now has the show available to d/l but as I don't have a DVD burner there's not much point getting it. I'll just hang around waiting for the store release.

I've got a craving, a twitchy, skin tingly hunger that's making me restless. I know this feeling. Ooh dear, it's obsession.
Torchwood.
Sure the show's flawed - plot holes, melodrama and bwuh...? moments abound - but damn, I don't care. More. More.
I really hope there's some good fanfic out there or I'm going to explode. (Joules has already supplied me with a site to browse but I'm holding off until I've finished season 2... and some homework. Curse this streak of responsibility!)
~=o>

Earlier, in the kitchen.

Me, to Badger, regarding blemishes: Hey, let me squeeze your nose!
Badger: Nooo!
Me, advancing predatorily: Yeees!
Badger, pointing at the kitchen window: Look! A cat distraction!
Me, turning to watch KittenKong pick her way over the sink: Eh?
Badger, running away cackling: Flee! Leg it!
Me: [pause, laughing] Just cos I fell for that doesn't make you clever!

Ah, it's a fun household... : )

(Well, damn, it looks like the draft versions of posts aren't saved indefinitely. Pooh. Eh well, let's see if I can remember what I'd noted...)

I've read about 50 books so far this year.
~=o>

Schools holidays were fun. As well as Wall-E and Clone Wars the Cubs and I saw Mummy 3. Mr Fraser has certainly matured nicely but the film itself was disappointing. Cubs loved it though.
~=o>

Last weekend of the hols Soulsis, Niki and I road-tripped (road trip! road trip!) down to Port Fairy. Took us 6 and a half hours to get there but only 4 hours to get back. That was probly cos we came a different, very boring, way home. Nothing to see, no point stopping anywhere except for 20 mins for lunch. Unlike the trip down... 20 minute stop just outside of Geelong for coffee, to fortify us for the gruelling journey through that godsforsaken bottleneck town; 40 minutes in Winchelsea for lunch (smoked trout! Fish caught by Soulsis' chicks, hot smoked by Niki!); then an hour in Camperdown trawling the excellent op shop and bakery.
N, S and I (commonly referred to as The Faeries) shared a cabin in a caravan park. Pete and Alarice were also onsite, along with Waz and Matt. Sam and Al stayed in a B&B a little distance away as they couldn't bring their dogs into the park.
Port Fairy's a lovely little place. We walked a lot, ate well (very well), and socialised. 'twas a lovely, relaxing weekend - and Alarice introduced me to Dr Horrible's sing-a-long blog!. Joss Whedon = fecking jenius : ) (at the link, read the Master Plan, and the Captain Hammer comic!)
Aaargh! Wantswantswants! Eagerly, eagerly waiting for the DVD - the 3 part series was only released for a few day's on Whedon's site, as an experiment - and in the meantime I'm going to buy the soundtrack through itunes. [happy bounce]
~=o>

Egad, I've got so much homework to do. Erk.
~=o>

It's the Meccano Club's Annual Exhibition tomorrow. Might let the cubs' father take them to that. I have far too much homework to do! Mwhahah...
~=o>

(Oh, I ate something evil during the weekend away. From the Time & Tide Gallery Cafe, called a Meringue Stack. Big blob of icecream sandwiched between two big meringues, with cream and raspberry sauce. [drooool] Sugar coma on a plate! Pics when I finally get them off my camera...
~=o>

... I'll witter about Torchwood later. I'm sure that'll be thrilling. : )

The voice of my internal monologue is influenced by what I've been hearing/watching/reading. Currently - because of Torchwood - it's got a Welsh accent. : ) Quite pleasant, really...

~=o>
The season IV finale of Dr Who screened over the weekend. It wasn't the most 'bwuh...?' episode I've ever seen.

Arroogah!
Arroogah!
Spoilers!



[eyebrow] So the Doctor can choose not to regenerate, eh? Nice dodge, that, and now Rose has a Doctor of her very own, one who's human enough to say what she wants to hear. That's so sweet I might be ill.
Dalek Kahn: oh, come on! I knew what he was getting at straight away! 'The darkness is coming...' You might've wanted to ask a few more questions there, Davros. Der.
Why Donna? I liked her. (Though I did giggle at Jack's reaction to three doctors.)
And... ripped off! No Jack/Ianto reunion scene? [pout]

~=o>
After watching something like Wall-E - with it's moral lessons about overconsumption and globalisation - it felt so eerie and wrong to be walking around a major shopping centre. I couldn't bring myself to buy anything...

~=o>
Odd dream the other night. I decided to participate in a leisure centre's fun ride-obstacle course. First: bikes inside the centre. Second: it took place at 1am, cos the earlier sessions were fully booked, apparently. Third: there was talk of the ride going through the 'ice room', a tricky part of the course.
So anyway, I hopped on my bike (I think, I don't actually remember there being much bikeyness) but very quickly got lost! Found myself outside of the centre, on a beach, where I kicked around quite happily until the dawn broke. At that point I decided I'd better see if I could find the rest of the group so trooped off into town, up the narrow, cobbled streets, and eventually found some of my fellow fun riders in a coffee shop having breakfast. They told me how much fun it'd been and I was determined - nervous and excited - to join in properly next time.

~=o>
The auto-focus on my camera phone works by laser. Fish don't like it...

~=o>
And now a website of note:
Cake Wrecks. Hysterical! Thanks for passing this one on, GoodTwin!

Last term break I only managed to tick one thing on my 'to do' list. These hols we're not even a week in and I've already ticked off three and a half things! Go me. : )

~=o>
Cubs and I went to the Melbourne Aquarium today. (Eeee! Jellyfish! Eeee! Cuddlefish!) [happy sigh] Such a relaxing place, and a good opportunity to get to know my new (phone)camera. Nifty wee thing.
I didn't get a photo of this unfortunately, but during the feeding time in the big tank one of the divers had a manta ray nomming on her head! Was very funny.

~=o>
A couple of days ago the cubs and I went to see Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Again. All CGI, the background and detailing were superb but I found the characters at times moved like middling quality video games. A little distracting but not overly so, acceptable as they weren't aiming for realism.
The eyes though, were luminous. Beautifully done.

~=o>
Sooo, last episode of current season Dr Who next week. Last week's episode was... interesting.
Do I need to warn for spoilers?
Anyway, Captain Jack's [le sigh] freak-out made me blink, as did Sarah-Jane's reaction (and since when has she had a son? Have I missed something?) though thinking about it later I wondered if those - to me - overreactions were a way of communicating to the jaded audience (us) that OMG! THERE'S SOME SERIOUS DOO-DOO GOING DOWN!!!1!
Meh, whatever. I've really enjoyed all these recent seasons of DW but the last eps are always a bit dodgy, a fault which has carried over to Torchwood's first season at least.
Ah yes, Torchwood. [purrr] I indulged myself horribly and forked out for the Season 1 box set. Really good to watch it again from the beginning, catching all those little nuances and clues. Finally got 'round to watching the few eps I'd missed when it screened here (cos the buggering TV station changed the broadcast time, without warning, from a reasonable 9.30 pm to midnight - on a different day! It was a few weeks before I discovered that, no, the show hadn't been dropped, just hidden. [grump]) and disturbing my children by squeeing over the rare, too rare, Jack/Ianto bits.
And now I want more! I'm not sure if Season 2 even screened anywhere here but the box set is coming out in [counting on fingers] 9 sleeps. Not that I'm counting the hours or anything, heavens no, that'd just be sad. : )

~=o>
Aaaand the cubs and I are off to see Wall E again tomorrow. Very glad I bought a discount book of children's movie tickets - that saves us $4 a ticket...

Prepping material for tie-dying is really boring.

~=o>
Aww, I'm listening to Badger work with his brother on his D&D character sheet prior to running a game. [sigh] They grow up so fast...

~=o>
We went en famille to see Wall-E after the P/T thingy. Nothing extraordinary about the animation but the story was very strong. The opening 10 minutes was sad and disturbing.
Oh, and the accompanying short was very funny and clever.

~=o>
I didn't want to talk to anybody yesterday evening so instead of getting up after a nap I stayed in bed and read for hours. Finished the book. : )

~=o>
[shakes head] Warhammer miniatures. I haz some. Please don't read anything in to this, I only wanted the pretty horsies. Squillions of years ago - when I had leisure time and before my eyesight started going... actually this is probably why my eyesight went - I used to paint fantasy miniatures. Strangely enough most of my collection were horses. Loved the barding.

~=o>

(Squid emoticon nicked from someone over at Snarry Games.)

(What? Another post? But it's been less than a week!)

[blink] I haz downloaded a computer version of Pass the Pigs to my 'phone. I've even played it a couple of times. Not sure what's come over me...
Here it comes again!
O-oh, I've been released -
*cough* Moving right along...

End of term. Huzzah! 'bout bloody time. This one's been a trial.
I got 92% on a particularly nasty test, though, so that was good.
Plus on the way home tonight I stopped in at an op shop and found a plastic dish shaped like Chinese cabbage! Quite pleased about that. :)

Later, while cooking dinner, I discovered that one of the fuses had blown. How did I discover the fault? Well, the microwave wouldn't work so my first thought was that that antique had finally failed, but no, neither the toaster nor the toasted sandwich maker - all hanging off the same outlet - were working as well. Perhaps there was a problem with the power board? No, plugging the things individually into the socket didn't help either so I concluded it must've been the plug...
Then I noticed a suspicious lack of noise from the fridge.
Uh oh.
Yup, a fuse had gone, but the cubs' father fixed it, even though that meant my modem sulked for about an hour after being subjected to an outage. [sigh] But that was my fault for not unplugging it first so I'm not going to whinge too much.

My 'phonekoi is called Twinkles.

Cubs had interim reports this week. Mostly positive and encouraging, but there's a few 'needs attention's that will be addressed. Parent/teacher night tomorrow. Oh joy.

Finally got to see the ep of Dr Who where chav girl Rose returns as the harbinger of Dooooom. I asked Joules afterwards if Billie Piper had always had that overbite and lishp.
I did squee a bit to see Captain Jack will be in next week's episode. Okay, it was more than a bit of a squee...

See, this is what happens when you don't watch commercial telly. Something odd on a poster prompts you to scamper over to google to find out what the hell is going on.
Oookay...

It's quiet. Too quiet. The sort of quiet that makes you think 'Lazy cow. Never bothers to update...' : )
And goodness, look, it's been almost a term since my last post.
Oops.

In short:
~I haz a new phone cos my lovely pink one was dying. The new one is black [pout] but haz a nifty animated koi wallpaper.
~The cubs got a phone for their birthday - then they lost it. The phone, not their birthday. That'd just be silly!
~In study: at first I just could not get my head 'round M$ Excel but I think I know enough now to pass the exam.
~I've been doing work experience at a real library. That's been neat.
~I've started knitting a jumper, gods help me.
~Saw Hell Boy II today with the cubs and their father. My sympathies were firmly with the vampire elfie.
~Snupin Santa is coming up! I haz begun work on my sekrit prompt. Mwahahah.
Anything else?
~Ah yes. Driving without a rear-vision mirror is actually quite relaxing as you don't notice the drivers trying to monster you from behind. : ) Tra la la...

Yay, school holidays! Finally!
I've actually been off for a week already but as I was doing something every day, and still having to get up early to make sure the cubs got to school on time, I didn't really consider this week of no classes a 'holiday'.
As for the exams? I'm certain I've passed everything but after a post mortem discussion with my class mates about the Cataloguing one it looks like I've lost even more points than I originally thought. Dang.

Cubs' birthday next week. They're looking forward to it. Apparently they've been wanting to 13 for a long time... :)

Some links from Penny.

Tee hee hee

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Venerable Lady Amanda the Waspish of Walk upon Water Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Oh noes!

My Fortune Cookie told me: Flee at once, all is discovered. Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Soooo, what's been happening in the days since I last updated?

Just finished the second last week of term. Chock full of revision, it was, freaking us out preparing us for the flippin' seven exams next week. Sheesh. I expect I'll pass everything but I'm not counting on top marks.
Some of my classmates need a little bit of help with a few subjects so I've been tutoring as well. :) Quite aside from the modest amount of cash I earn (I didn't ask for it, they insisted on paying!), it's fun and an excellent way to do my own revision. Wouldn't want to be an actual teacher though, gods no.

Computer woes. My USB hub driver thingy has chucked a spaz and now won't recognise any USB device. [grump] Can't use my only-recently-installed printer (nooooo! I luvs mah printa! Lucky I'd already done all that stuff for school, eh?) but worse, I can't download pics from my phone! Fortunately I managed to find the plug-in charger so I'm at least able to juice up my wee pink beastie, but no pics? [pout] That, if anything, will/should get me off my sizeable arse to fix the problem - which could be as simple as reinstalling the hub's drivers...
Hah! Simple? Have to remember how to find out what hardware my 'puter's carrying so I can go and hunt down the appropriate software on the 'net. [sigh] It's not easy - I've had a look (a half-arsed look, admittedly, but it was at the end of a long day and I was brain!porridge. Couldn't find anything that stated clearly what was what. Am I looking in the right place? Criminy, I don't know!) Eh, well...

Possible spoilers of films what I've recently seen...

-

-

-

-

-

Only two, but there's not been a lot I've wanted to see in the past few months. Mind you, the stuff coming up...

So, yes.
Ironman. Great cast, a not implausible storyline - if you're a fan of the 'Supers' genre (pick me! pick me!). Excellent graphics too, which could only help with the believability, but, meh, wasn't overly impressed ultimately. Didn't dislike the film, but I did find myself getting a bit restless if not actually bored. Not one I'll make the effort to see again.

Today Soulsis and I took the hordlings to see Indiana Jones 4. I'd been anticipating this movie but was mildly disappointed. (Much the same feeling I had with the IJ's 2&3, incidentally). It was well cast, for the most part, and there were some fabulous, thought provoking snippets that really affected me, but overall...? Fun, very flash, in-jokes aplenty, but not a lot of substance.

The pre-show trailers, however, were intriguing...
Australia. [giggling] Baz Luhrman directed this one - does that mean we can expect the Outback dust to turn in to sparklies at some point?
The Dark Knight. It's a Batman movie, it's already got my vote, but as I was nearly in tears watching the trailer (oh, Heath, Heath...) hate to think what state I'll be in during the actual movie.
And finally... The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Eeeee!


I've got a nomination for one of my HP AU slash fics! Like Minds for the 2007 Snupin Santa exchange. (Please note, story is M/M, NWS, NC 17, and all that other good stuff.) Knew nothing about it until blpaintchart pointed me in the right direction. [grin]

(I'll see about getting on with the '5 films' list next time I update. Let's see, what were the proposed categories? 5 favourite animated films - 5 favourite obscure films - 5 guilty pleasures - 5 most influential - 5 favourite kids' flicks - 5 'oh gods, that's x hours I'll never get back' - 5 daftest - 5 most insulting - 5 wtf? sequels - 5 musicals - 5 foreign language - (and an extra one from Joules!) 5 oddball/original.
Anyone think of anything else...? :)

... I'm sure I had something else to mention...

Nicked from Blpaintchart:

Empire magazines 100 top films. Bold what you've seen; italic[sic - it's late] the ones you haven't got 'round to yet. Notes as appropriate. :)



1. Star Wars (at the cinema on its first release no less...)
2. Jaws (nope, far too scary)
3. The Empire Strikes Back (see 1.)
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Goodfellas (was this the one with Ray Liotta?)
6. Pulp Fiction
7. The Godfather (well, sort of. It was on tv one night)
8. Saving Private Ryan
9. Schindler's List
10. Titanic (Yes, I saw this. Once.)
11. The Usual Suspects (I guessed the twist early!)
12. Citizen Kane
13. The Godfather Part II (no, I'd lost interest by this point)
14. Aliens
15. Blade Runner (made more sense than the book, let me tell you)
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (see 1. and 3.)
17. Casablanca
18. Gone With the Wind (avoiding)
19. The Sound of Music (hey, I make my clothes out of old curtains, too!)
20. It's A Wonderful Life (stupid, sappy, saccarine, sentimental)
21. Reservoir Dogs
22. Apocalypse Now
23. 2001: A Space Odyssey
24. LA Confidential
25. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
26. The Silence of the Lambs (I watched it through my fingers...)
27. Return of the Jedi (see 1. and 3.)
28. Leon
29. Braveheart (I'm astonished I managed to sit through this, at 8 months pregnant with twins, and didn't need to go to the loo)
30. Seven
31. Die Hard (Yippy kai-ay, motherfucker.)
32. North by Northwest (Once, a looooong time ago)
33. The Truman Show (interesting concept)
34. Taxi Driver (fell asleep during this)
35. Jurassic Park (I cried cos the dinosaurs weren't real)
36. Alien (see 1. etc)
37. Psycho
38. Raging Bull
39. Some Like It Hot
40. Lawrence of Arabia (one of my favourites! Go, subtext!)
41. The Good the bad and the ugly
42. Rear Window (is it just me or is James Stuart overrated as an actor?)
43. E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial ([sigh] see 1. not that impressed)
44. The Deer Hunter
45. Terminator 2
46. The Terminator (the best one!)
47. Fargo
48. Cabaret (squee! another favourite!)
49. Face/Off (enjoyed this, though scoffed at the 'science')
50. Speed (mmm... Keanu...)
51. The Matrix (can't say I have seen this, not really)
52. Singin' in the Rain ('I'm worth more than Kevlin Coolidge... Put together!')
53. The Exorcist
54. Ben Hur ([smirk])
55. Trainspotting (eye-candy McDrooly)
56. Forrest Gump (life is like a box of chocolates. Looked good on the shelf but you just wish you hadn't paid cash for them...)
57. Dr Strangelove
58. Zulu
59. Vertigo
60. The Wild Bunch
61. Once Upon a Time in the West
62. The Italian Job (the original version, of course)
63. The Shining (another one I watched through my fingers)
64. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
65. The English Patient
66. Heat
67. The Wizard of Oz
68. A Clockwork Orange
69. Grease
70. Platoon
71. Stand By Me
72. Back to the Future
73. Withnail and I
74. JFK (loved Kevin Bacon in this)
75. The Seven Samurai (can't remember if I've seen this...)
76. Get Carter (the original, of course)
77. The Third Man
78. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
79. Armaggedon
80. Chinatown
81. Goldfinger
82. The Untouchables
83. Once Upon a Time in America
84. True Romance (who compiled this list, on what basis?)
85. Unforgiven
86. Scarface
87. The Blues Brothers (in the cinema, with audience participation)
88. The Graduate
89. When Harry Met Sally (what a waste of time)
90. Dances With Wolves
91. Spartacus ([smirk] I like gladiator movies)
92. Toy Story
93. Cinema Paradiso
93. Life is Beautiful
95. Grosse Point Blank
96. Annie Hall (went to see this as an excursion in High School. All I remember is the lobster...)
97. Dead Poets Society
98. Good Will Hunting
99. 12 Angry Men
100. Easy Rider

Not a particularly satisfying list, is it? How about a different approach? 5 favourite animated films - 5 favourite obscure films - 5 guilty pleasures - 5 most influential - 5 favourite kids' flicks - 5 'oh gods, that's x amount of time I'll never get back'? [grin]

One of the reasons I'm studying full-time is our previous government's attitude to single parents claiming financial assistance, that is, you are of no value unless you're a: working, b: looking for work, or c: studying with the intent to increase your chances of finding work.
Bastards.
Part of my 'contractual agreement', the premise upon which I can continue to receive a generous [snort] stipend, is that I have to study at least 30 hours a fortnight. Easily done, I'm clearing 40 most fortnights - and having fun with it - but, when I first signed the agreement I was told I couldn't accrue hours. 30 hours a fortnight was the target. End of discussion. This bothered me somewhat cos what do I do during holidays? Was I expected to go back to looking for work again? Or make up the hours with approved voluntary work?
Anyway, scurried off yesterday to the place of joy and happiness that is the Centrelink office to hand in the first load of documentation that proved I'd been keeping my end of the bargain for the past 3 months. The client officer I spoke to was lovely, camp as a jamboree, and very helpful. Apparently the hours are accrued, so I didn't need to worry about holidays, plus, and this was the kicker, I was only 8 hours off my six monthly target. [headdesk] I could, in theory, only go to classes for another week, then slack off for the rest of the time of the contract. Not that I'm going to, naturally, as I said, I'm having far too much fun...

It's Mother's Day this weekend. :) Unlike primary schools, high schools don't provide their students with the opportunity to shop for gifts. This is not a bad thing - the cubs have given me some very... interesting items over the years, bought from the MD stalls. :)
This year all I've asked for is Turkish delight, and I think the cubs' father was out yesterday getting it. Mwahahah.

Soulsis sent me this '50 things about you' thingy... :) Prepare to be completely unsurprised.


1. Do you like blue cheese? – Yeah!

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? – No, but I'm quite happy to eat the results. Oh wait. Heroin. I read that as herrings. Perhaps I should put my glasses on…?

3. Do you own a gun? - Pfft. No.

4. Wax or Shave your body parts? – What? That's got something to do with personal aesthetics, hasn't it?

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? - Nah.

6. Real or fake nails? – Real. Such as they are.

7. Favourite Christmas song? – Nothing. At. All. Unless perhaps it's from the Southpark Xmas special.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? - Mmm… tea…

9. Can you do push ups? – [eyebrow] To what end?

10. What's your favourite piece of jewellery? – On me, or someone else?

11. Favourite hobby? – Doing stuff! Yeah, like with my hands and stuff. And writing.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? – Advanced Dynamic Delirium? Absolutely.

13. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? – I hate nothing about myself.

14. Middle Name? - [rolls eyes] Jane.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. – sushi, homework, is the cubs' father going to be back sometime soon so I can borrow his car?

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. – tea, coffee, ginger cordial.

17. Current worry right now? – Will I have to take the bus to the gallery this afternoon? If so, can I be bothered convincing the cubs to come with me?

18. Current hate right now? – Hate is such a strong word, but I'd have to say I hate the fucking twats in government and industry who are trying to sell the idea that Nuclear Power is a clean, safe alternative. @##$%&!!! [incoherent with rage] Going to have a lie down now...

19. Favourite place to be? – in my head. Hours of fun.

20. How did you bring in the New Year? – In calico shopping bags. Piece by piece.

21. Like to go? - (Not sure about this one. Soulsis, was the 'Wee wee?' bit part of the question, or your answer? Either way my answer would be that there's nothing so overrated as a bad meal, or underrated as a good shit.)

22. Name three people who will complete this? – Chart, perhaps, cos I'll smile winsomely.

23. Do you own slippers? – Hell, yes! Just been given the coolest pair by Soulsis! Red felted Jester slippers!


24. What colour shirt are you wearing? - Green

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? – Not if they're polyester.

26. Can you whistle? – I'm not Roger Whittaker, but, yep.

27. Favourite colour? – To wear: green, purple, pink, some shades of blue. To look at: add orange and yellow to the list.

28. Would you be a pirate? – [wrinkles nose] Not a real one.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? – Having too much fun thinking to sing.

30. Favourite girl's name? - Ceinwein.

31. Favourite boy's name? - Toby.

32. What's in your pocket right now? - Astonishingly, I'm not wearing anything with pockets. If I was, there'd probly be a hanky.

33. Last thing that made you laugh?– Something my children said.

33. Best bed sheets as a kid? – Two sets! Purple and orange cotton flannel with huge sunny flowers. It was the 70's.

35. Do you love where you live? - In a broad sense - Australia - yes, in a narrow this-is-my-house sense, no.

36. How many TV's do you have in your house? – [blink] I have no idea. At least 2.

37. Who is your loudest friend? - Clothes or volume?

38. How many pets do you have? – 1 cat, and a myriad of characters who live in my head and tell me their stories in great length and detail. At least they don't cost anything to feed.

39. Does someone have a crush on you? – ... was this written by a 13 year old? No, the spelling's too good.

40. What is your favourite book? - I can't possibly answer that - there's too many! Most influential book, however, would be Seuss' The Lorax

41. What is your favourite candy lolly? – Hard jubes, Turkish delight, Darrell Lea jelly beans.

42. Favourite Sports Team? – What is this 'sport' of which you speak?

43. What were you doing 12 AM last night? - Does that mean Midnight? Why not just say 'midnight'? No need to confuse the issue with AMs and PMs. Sheesh.

44. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? - What a bizarre dream…

45. Worst habit? - Procrastinating.

46. Do you play an instrument? – [smirk] Er, no.

47. How long does it take you to get to work? – College in this case - 40 mins. Ish.

48. Plans for the weekend? – Computer, internet, homework, shopping, laundry, art gallery.

49. If you could eat anything in the world right this second? – Rare steak, with chips and fried mushrooms.

50. Do you like the person who sent this to you? - YES! [huggles]

Happy Birthday, Soulsis!

Feeling a bit pleased with myself. I got 95/100 for the pernickety Cataloguing test a couple of weeks ago. That's a Distinction, that is. :)
Interestingly, a few nights back I dreamt I was chosen for Student of the Year, which was a much better dream than the other ones I've been having about alienation - in various forms - that leave me exhausted on waking. Gah. And as for last night's subconcious foray into weirdarse...? A battle between (minor and blurred) Good and Evil, with Magical Girl transformations complete with lightshows and daft chanting. [blinkblink] Riiight...

The cubs' father is a nurse. In terms of on-the-job injuries from attacks Nurses are very high on the list and he's taken some pretty hefty wallops over the years. For the first time ever the family of an abusive patient has acknowledged the problem. He - and the other 2 nurses who copped the brunt - were given a box of chocolates and profuse apologies. [grin]

And now, a quiz thingy nicked from Undunoops.

Your Power Bird is a Vulture

You are always changing your life and the lives of those around you. You aren't afraid to move on from what holds you back. Energetic and powerful, you have a nearly unlimited capacity for success. You know how to "go with the flow" and take advantage of what is given to you.

What's Your Power Bird?

What? No flamingos? :)

Happy Birthday, Miss Raven! (from your slacker Aunt, who forgot.)

Hmmph. There were going to be pics with this post but I hate Photobucket so it'll have to wait...

Right! Wot's been 'appenin', then?

I got 32/33 on the computer test! [happy dance] All of our class passed, including the ones who were convinced they were going to fail. (There was one fail, but the teacher let her resit part of the test there and then, and she got enough extra points to scrape a pass! We like this teacher: we're giving him chocolates next week :)

I got another parcel from Joules! Eeeeee! I know have my very own copy of Prime Contact! Signed an' everything. [bounce] :) I've read the story a couple of times via computer, but it's very different - better! - having the book in your hand. [grin] And it's great to finally see the wonderful illustrations in situ!
There were other goodies in the parcel, too. Sachets - and a jar - of Turkish delight flavoured hot choc; a pair of dopey cow s/p shakers; woodgie wee Japanese bear; bear and penguin chocolates (yum!); a few scraps of really lovely material; orchid soap, and chai tea, which made everything smell great! Thanks, Joules, thrilled to bits with my booty!

It's ANZAC day today (day off, woohoo!). The cubs went with their father to the dawn service at the Shrine of Rememberance. I heard them get up around 4 a.m. Heh, they're a bit tired now, but firmly resisting the idea of a nap...

Well, that was a week that was.

Badger and Rocket came back from their school camp yesterday. They enjoyed it, they said, and they were asleep so fast last night it was startling. [grin] I can imagine there were many early bedtimes in the area last night...
It was very quiet while they were away. Very quiet. I won't say I was drifting around like a lonely ghost but I did miss the little beggars. Eh well, only having to get myself organised in the mornings meant I was getting to school nice and early. Which was just as well as I suffered through had three end-of-subject tests in two days.

My exaggerated woes. Listen to them.

No, I'm being melodramatic. It was fraught, but not that traumatic.
First test was in Computers, MSWord. A fairly easy unit, one might think. Well, yes, in some instances, but we, as a class, had concerns about this one. In a 9 week unit we've had three teachers, and until this latest teacher, who is patient and thorough (and has lovely brown eyes) no structure to the learning. Not so bad for me who has some experience - and confidence - poking about with Word, but a bloody disaster for the majority of the class who are computer illiterate and needed to be taken through step by step. For them, self-paced learning, ie: working through the practical exercises in the text book, didn't work. When we were given a practice sheet a week before the exam, that had examples of the sorts of stuff we were supposed to know, there was panic! Our teacher (did I mention his lovely brown eyes?) suggested that perhaps we could have an assignment rather than a test, which would help him gauge who needed what sort of help. After discussions with the IT coordinator, however, we were told that that wasn't an option but not to worry, cos if anyone failed they'd be given extra help in the wobbly areas then allowed a resit. [shrugs] That's standard policy, really, and I can understand why the IT bod didn't want to tilt the system, but the mood going in to the exam was bleak.
I consider myself fairly competent with Word, or at least have an idea where to look for things, but even so I took the full 90 minutes to do the exam. I managed to finish just about everything, and I'll probably pass, but not everyone felt so confident.
By comparison the test for Library Services Industry (same day as the computer fiasco), was a doddle. :) Wasn't able to complete one part of one question cos the website I was sposed to be looking at wouldn't cooperate, but I finished quickly enough and was able to leave early. Then I went home and had a nap. Hoo, boy, did I need it!
The next morning was the Cataloguing test. Meh, I wasn't too fussed about this one even though the subject is tricky and involved. I've almost certainly passed that, but as you can see, this was a brain-busy week. (Plus, got the Annotated Bibliography assignment back this week - the one I fretted over - and I got 100%! Dead chuffed, have to admit, I wasn't at all sure I knew what I was doing there. :)
Next week should be quieter - and there's a public holiday on Friday - so I can relax now...

Got a parcel from Joules! Two DVDs - Nathan Barley (satirical Brit comedy? Oh yeah!) and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. The latter I'm particularly interested in cos Joules has written some fic for it, and recommended I see the series before reading. [grin]. Will do!
Oooh, and there was also a CD of the radio interview Joules did for the release of Prime Contact! Thanks, GoodTwin! Plus, there was a wee coin, a Malta 1c. It's got a weasel on it! So kewt! And I can't think of any other country that has a weasel on its coinage. :)

A quick summing up.
Holidays were good - did well on my last test - cubs are off to camp next week.

Ok. Details...

So yes, the cubs are off to camp next week. Only for 3 days - ripped off! They're at high school now, I was expecting them to be gone for the whole week! All my high school camps went for a week...
The cubs' father and I - and the cubs - attended our first lot of parent-teacher interviews last week. Heh, funnily enough we were hearing exactly the same sorts of things we heard from their primary school teachers. They're more than capable of the work but they need to work faster, complete tasks, hand in homework. All the teachers we spoke to impressed on the cubs that they won't be getting second chances, particularly in the higher forms; if they don't complete a task/test, they fail. Badger and Rocket weren't happy to hear that, but I think they understand the importance of being organised. Pity they don't have sterling role models at home to emulate. And yes, I include myself in that.
But we did hear some good things, too. Both of the cubs are enthusiastic in class, and not afraid to ask questions, also, their English teacher was very impressed with their class presentations. She said that by the end of their talks even the girls were showing an interest in WH40K. [grin]

And so to my own school work. We're in the process of finishing up some classes and beginning others - consequently, tests. Had 2 last week, with another 2 coming up next week. The two up-coming are going to be tricky - I'm not looking forward to the Cataloguing one - but I got 93% on one of last week's. Be nice if I can keep up the +90% results.
One of our tutors, Kathy, made a chocolate cake for our last class! 'twas very yummy. She's a great teacher too. :)

The school holidays were very quiet, mostly because I had no free money until the last 3 days. Then the cubs and I spent a day at Puffing Billy, meeting up with Soulsis and the hordlings later so they could shower us with gifts (hee! I haz a flamingo finger puppet! And a Dalek easter egg!) The day after that we all trooped out to see a surprisingly engaging movie. That was fun! Oh, and Soulsis, Miss Raven and I investigated a garage sale nearby and I came back with a big new maneki neko! 30cm, with whiskers! And only $5! Nicely spotted, thank you, Soulsis. :)

We had some wild weather over the hols, too. Windy. Very windy. 'Hurricane speeds', apparently, gusting over the State. Trees down all over the place; a couple of people killed by buildings collapsing on them. My cable broadband, and the landline, were down for 4 days, but we were fortunate. Some other areas had no electricity for close to a week. Erk. I don't like high winds at the best of times and this lot just made me want to take refuge in a cave. Surprised we didn't lose more of the roof, or the fence, though. Just lucky, I guess.

Ah, crime fiction, I loves it, but haven't read anything much of the 'foundation' stuff - y'know Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle. I have however, finally got 'round to reading some Raymond Chandler, him being considered one of the icons on the genre.
It's very cool! Humourously dry, wonderfully descriptive, and written in 1st person, which I'm partial to - as evidenced by the 1 and 4/5 novels I've written in that style.

Here's a couple of examples.

"... It got quiet. There was loneliness and the smell of kelp and the smell of wild sage from the hills. A yellow window hung here and there, all by itself, like the last orange. Cars passed, spraying the pavement with cold white light, then growled off into the darkness again. Wisps of fog chased the stars down the sky."

(From Farewell, my lovely - Penguin, London - p.55)

And this bit, where Marlowe's just come to from being knocked unconscious.)

"... fall down and hit the ground with my face, The reason I hit it with my face, I got my chin scraped. That way I know it's scraped. No, I can't see it. I don't have to see it. It's my chin and I know whether it's scraped or not. Maybe you want to make something of it. Okey shut up and let me think..."

(as above, p. 59)

See? Funny. I giggled. :)

Ah, holidays, the perfect time to laze about watching DVDs. In this instance, seasons 1 & 2 of The Thin Blue Line.
The cubs and I really enjoyed this, lots of laughs, but oh, Mr Elton, you can't help the social commentary, can you? Not that that's a problem, dear me, no, it's great to see something funny that's got a bit of substance.

But these hols haven't just been spent watching DVDs, no indeed, I've been doing homework as well. I've 3 tests to look forward to in the first week back in term 2, so I've done some solid revising for those, and - finally - made a start on a couple of largish assignments.
I don't like assignments. Tests are fine - you revise, you do the paper, it's done - but assignments hang around and around for ages. Also, I'm finding it quite difficult to get my head in to the fact, rather than fiction space. Having to condense and paraphrase a huge wodge of information makes my brain hurt. As for keeping to the word limit? [throws hands up in disgust] 1000 words is not much space at all to describe the features of two libraries. Hmph.
Eh well, could be worse, I spose, I could be trying to fathom a less than fuzzy subject like Physics. Oh, that'd be a laugh, I'm sure. :)

Tch, the cubs asked me to stop dancing the other day. True, I was dancing in such a way as to produce maximum irritation but I'm still entitled to artistic expression, yes?
[smirk]
My poor boys...

And finally, I just have to say how much I detest the phrase 'light on fire'. You 'set fire to' something, or it's 'set alight'. Grrr.

o o
\ /
>-- --<
(     )


It's a crab!

Why a crab emoticon, you ask? Well...
Earlier today Joules showed me this lovely pic of a nebula from the Astronomy Picture of the Day site. I remarked that I could see a crab in the image, while Joules said she saw an Anglerfish.
All very interesting. Anyway, 'Crab Nebula' was ringing dim bells so I googled it, as you do, and found this on Wiki. We both thought - Joules and I - that that looked less like a crab than mine!
So yes, a crab emoticon was forthcoming from me.
What? You want logic? Pffft... :)

(Completely unrelated: [snerk] Cubs are off to camp in a couple of weeks. They're planning on recreating "The Parrot Sketch" for the 'talent' night...)

My suitcase compliments my flamingo!

Pretty!



Sur ma vacance! The story so far...

Not a lot to tell, actually. Cubs and I have just come back from spending the Easter weekend with my Mum - hence the pic of the suitcase. Mum picked us up from the train station on Saturday then we trundled off for a ride on the Healesville Trolley. Always fun.
On Sunday, Soulsis and her chicks came 'round for the day. Much chocolate was exchanged and consumed, as well as some of S's excellent biscuits!
After packing our suitcases on Monday we nipped out to the Patchwork Teahouse in Warburton for morning tea, and a browse of the fabrics. I saw some beautiful green batik - decorated with ivy, dragonflies and butterflies - but even on special it was too expensive so with many a regretful sigh I put it back. Next thing I know Mum's marching off to the counter, bolt of material in hand, and buying us some! We now have a metre each! Squee! (She justified it as being part of my birthday present, even though we're closer to her birthday now than mine. :)
On the way back from that we stopped in at a mega garage sale where I spent $5 and came away with armfuls of stuff that had to be squeezed into my luggage somehow. Mwahahaha Despite the fabulous array of stuff at brilliant prices I was restrained. Just think how much stuff I would've been able to bring home if I had a car...!

Last day of term I had an excursion to the State Library. Extremely cool place - I was all tingly!
It's big, too. A couple of years ago it took over the space the Museum used to occupy, plus it has an enormous off-site storage facility a couple of hours out of Melbourne. Wow.
My favourite bit was the Images department where they're digitising the squillions of images to put online. Photos and cataloguing? That's my idea of heaven! Where do I sign?

(Speaking of photos, and blatant self-promotion, here's my Flickr account...)

And finally...

Little did they realise that conventional weapons would be useless against the giant chocolate bilby...

There was a music DVD playing while the cubs, their father and I were dining at the Hog's Breath Cafe this evening. The not particularly interesting selection (Toni Basil, Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club, Bananarama, Rick Astley, for god's sake...!) prompted me to snark mildly about it being a collection of 'the least threatening songs of the 80's', with the companion volume of 'slightly edgy songs of the 80's'. :) However, I did almost snigger my coffee up through my nose when 'Angel in the Centrefold' came on...

Last night's episode of Life on Mars (which I've really taken a shine to this second season) had a Camberwick Greenesque beginning that made me giggle.
And lo and behold, the clip's up on YouTube.

Study results!
I got 100% for the other test I had last week, but only 94% for the Cataloguing assignment. Admittedly, I lost 1 point cos I didn't fully understand the question - the rest were lost to silly, careless mistakes. Still, not a bad result. :) (What would Little Miss Overconfident look like, I wonder?)

Egad, it's almost the end of first term!

I haz a flamingo!




Hee, this is Raoul, and yep, as I suspected, Mum is physically incapable of keeping a secret. I hedged a bit though, when she asked if I had any idea about what she was getting me. :)



I've just spent the long weekend at Mum's, without the cubs. Was verra niace. I napped a lot.

LOLOL I recently logged in to flickr and got this:
"OH HAI Lutra! Now you know how to greet people in Lolcat!"

And I got 40/40 for one of the tests last week. Yay!

[head->desk] When engaged in cataloguing tasks it is very important to a: know what you're doing, and b: know what you're doing.
I've just spent 5 minutes trying to find the authorised subject heading for 'man-eating animals' on the Library of Congress' site. Couldn't find a thing, no matter which angle I came at it from. ('man eating animals'? 'killer animals'? 'dangerous animals'? etc.) Not a sausage. [oo! I wonder what the authorised heading for 'sausage' is? Tch, later, you mental butterfly...] Anyway, so yes, couldn't puzzle it out. Then, giving up in disgust and moving on to the next word on the list to search, I o'erglanced 'man-eating' and discovered it was in fact 'meat-eating animals'. [rolls eyes] Oy bloody vey... (The subject heading for 'meat-eating animals', by the way, is carnivora.)

[grump] One of the cubs has had a hair cut and now I'm getting them confused.
Not that they're identical, or anything.

Cool! Harper Collins has got Neil Gaiman's American Gods up to read online! Only for the next couple of weeks, though. Even so... Flipping through the first few pages reminded me how good it is and that I must read it again.

[And the LOC authorised subject heading for 'sausage' is 'sausages', with a 'see also' note to look under 'animal products'. Well, there you go...]

Ooh!
I've just had a thought!
Computer projectors = slide shows!
I can subject an entire room of people to my photos without having to muck about with slide film!
Mwahahahaha!

... mind you, slide film does give beautiful results. Rich and deep...
... but then I'd need another SLR...
... but then again I've seen some lovely stuff done with digital SLRs.

Hm...
Need a digital SLR, obviously. I wonder if there's any place that will let me put one on layby for about a year? :)

So yes, the major assessment assignment for one of my subjects was to investigate my local library and then give a verbal report to the class. I put in a lot of work for the assignment, trawling the website for information and prowling around the place taking photos. I was organised, I really was, in my head and on paper but I was disappointed with the result.

Part of the problem was that I wasn't organised enough, or perhaps more correctly, I wasn't organised in the right way. Yes, I'd taken the time to get the photos ready, and collate the info and set it out logically but I hadn't actually given much thought to the talking. I'm not an effective public speaker - I know this, I get tangled, and I talk too fast, I don't breathe between sentences - and yet being aware of this I still more or less decided to wing it. [rolls eyes] My own fault, entirely.
On the very plus side, however, I worked out how to use a computer projector! I mean, they're dead simple, really - you just plug it in to the monitor slot - but having never touched one before I was justifiably pleased with myself. (The trick was you had to press the power button twice. Once to switch it on, and then again to activate the lamp.) Hee.
My tutor said I did very well, though, so the presentation can't have been too bad, and I've probably passed. :)

Heh, four weeks in to the 2 years (possibly 2.5 for an Advanced Diploma) and I'm already pretty sure where I'd like to go with this. I don't have much enthusiasm for customer service, no, what I like is searching, cataloguing, archiving. Thinking of this Course purely in library terms is limiting - what we're learning is information management. The principles can be applied all over the place! How cool would it be to work in a photo/film archive? Or somewhere like our State Library that has a huge collection of ephemera? I could (read: am already thinking about) branching out, later, into conservation and preservation - which could lead in to allll sorts of cool things! Weeee!
This would be in conjunction with the writing and publishing of my novels. Naturally. ^_^ ([grinning] I was bored in my 20's, I'm enthusiastic now - I'm going to be unstoppable in my 90's!)

Time for a couple of book reviews, methinks.

I'd like to say I'm making an effort to expand my literary horizons by actively seeking out and reading the sort of classic stuff that keeps appearing on 'My favourite/Most influential etc' booklists, but no, the 'right' books falling in to my hands is more serendipity than anything else. For example, I spotted Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray in an op shop, and as it was one of those things I've been meaning to read like, forever [valley girl head toss] I picked it up.

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[spoiler warnings, perhaps?]
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What an interesting little story. It was terribly coy about Dorian's 'evil' indulgences - except for the mentions of opium - and as for how he ruined all those women, and men...? Hmmm. My slash-heavy imagination was happy to fill in the blanks. I felt like smacking Henry, though. Self-indulgent git.
The abrupt ending threw me, I have to admit. Having vague memories of a couple of dodgy film versions I knew how it was going to end but still, I was expecting more of a debriefing. Though the abruptness did - and is still - keeping me happily occupied contemplating what might have happened next so perhaps that's not such a bad thing.

Next: Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls. (This one I spotted on a library shelf...)
It's trash, but it's historical trash. Not a favourite read - it bounced me between boredom and frustration. Boredom cos the 'plot' was very predictable and, omigod, het is sooo dull. As a seasoned purveyor of smut it really was quite tame though I could see why it was controversial in the '60's.
And frustration because narcissism and the consequent blaming of everybody else for your problems but yourself gets right up my nose. All right, yes, it was made abundantly clear in the text why this was happening (stress + drugs + being forced by the 'industry' to maintain an impossible ideal of youth and beauty ÷ fragile personalities) but even so... [grumble]
It was disappointing, too, cos the story started out with a promising feminist slant, but alas, all too soon it degenerated into, well, just another trash novel. I can see where Jackie Collins got her inspiration... :)

Coming up soon: My Class Presentation and How it Could've Been Better...

[grizzle] Three days in a row of above 30c temperatures and I'm in a bit of a mood. I know perfectly well that Summer won't be done with us 'til end of March at least but I allowed myself to be lulled by the several days of quite reasonable weather. [grump] Eh well, cool change tonight, apparently...

Eheheheheh. I think my mum's bought me a life-size plastic flamingo for my birthday! It seems the stroke she had a couple of years ago has left her physically incapable of keeping a secret. :)

I was at the Salvos the other day, just browsing, as you do, when something on a distant shelf caught my eye. It was green - a good start - and appeared to be an acrylic paperweight, one of the things I tend to collect. I almost dismissed it, however, cos it just contained a weird looking dog...




But then...
"I know that shape!" quoth I to myself. "Isn't that Jeff Koons' 'Puppy'?"

I scampered over and was delighted to find it was indeed representative of that piece of seminal... art, but even better - the paperweight was a souvenir from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain!
So exciting! I so rarely see tatt of that quality!





I'm easily pleased. :)
Just wait 'til I work out if I can post somewhere a video of the glorious plastic chicken Soulsis gave me!

So, I've managed two whole weeks as a student. Still fun though I can already feel the slide in to 'routine'. :)

I'm enjoying myself and cos I have a little bit of background knowledge/previous study I'm feeling really smart. [smirk] My 'Literacy Skills' tutor complimented me on my searching skills. Dead chuffed, but I didn't want to tell how just how long I spend online chasing stuff up for fun, let alone what I do in the name of research or idle curiosity.
But, even though what I'm studying right now is familiar territory I'm still learning new things, which stops it getting boring, and stops me getting cocky. Little Miss Overconfident? Ooh, yes...

OhOhOh! Speaking of which found out some jolly useful things about the college's Library website! Alongside the catalogue record of an item is a 'Keep' tab. Click that and the computer stores the record for you (you have to be logged in for it to work). In the menu bar above the record is a 'Kept' tab. Click that and the record is emailed to you! Why is this a nifty thing? For building a bibliography! I won't have to keep written notes and I can c/p neatly from the screen - eee!

Had another early class on Wednesday (8am, gah) and the time until the break and my first cup of tea for the day was kind of weird. I'm easily distracted by shiny at the best of times but when I'm tired... The tutor's jacket was made of a subtly spangly gold-threaded pink/mauve check (actually much nicer than it sounds) and I repeatedly caught myself staring, entranced. [sheepish]

There hasn't been much homework so far but I've got [counting on fingers] 3 assignments to be getting on with. Not difficult tasks, just time intensive.
And there's an excursion next week! Down in to the city to have a look at a special sort of library! Cool!
Gods, I love this course... :)



Happy Chinese New Year, by the way. It's the year of the Rat, but for some inexplicable reason pineapples seemed to be part of the theme as well...

I've just been to see Sweeney Todd.
In a word: blood-soaked - and all right Mr Depp can only do one accent - but I certainly appreciated the movie. Enjoyed? Mm, no, but Mr Burton's awfully good at creating believable fantasy worlds, and the cast was fabulous! And I like musicals [shrug]. Someone mentioned somewhere Judge Turpin's trousers and now I quite understand the unholy fascination. Yerrss, indeed...
(The cubs' father has just asked me how closely it followed the original story. I had to say I didn't know. I first heard about Sweeney Todd when I was, oh, twelve, or something and like most horror stories it squicked me completely and I've mostly avoided it since then, but honestly, Mr Depp and Mr Rickman in one movie? Couldn't resist. Besides, in the journey from original to musical, things do tend to get buggered about. Even more so if The Holy Rodent Empire has a hand in it somehow. [glower] )

I seem to have survived my first week as a full-time student, though my brain's a little porridgey. (I was sposed to go and see ST last night but as I was falling asleep on the bus coming home I thought I probly needed the sleep more.) Friday was difficult - 5 hours of 'Use Cataloguing Tools' - but Wednesday was particularly tiresome. Classes started at 8am! Erk! I got there in time, and managed to stay awake but... Fortunately early start days also finish early. Just as well or I'd be useless.

And my weekend away was lovely - I even drank alcohol.
A leisurely seven hour road-trip with good long breaks in Camperdown (great op shop there!) and Port Fairy (soooo pretty! And another op shop, and a sweet shop. Mmm...)
True, the accommodation at Cape Bridgewater isn't the best but it is cheap and having the hall/kitchen for our use is wonderful for the social aspect. We cooked all our own lovely food, or rather, Pete cooked all the lovely food and everyone else helped with preparation and clean up.
On Saturday morning 4 of us went on an expedition into Portland to acquire the supplies we'd forgot to pick up the previous day (garlic and napkins, basically) and we found two more op shops! In the afternoon there was another expedition, in the opposite direction, to the petrified forest on the cliffs. Very cool. I'll get off my arse and get some pics up soonish. Probably. Homework, you know...
Niki and I came home on Sunday, very tired, to the sauna that is Melbourne in the Summer. It'd been lovely and fresh down on the coast. Eh well, that small inconvenience certainly didn't ruin the rest of a great weekend. :) Very glad I went. Thanks, Alarice for organising it!

... I really should take the xmas tree down. Leaving it up 'til the Australia Day weekend is just slack. :) Trouble is, this year it's tucked away in an inconspicuous corner, not out where everyone can trip over the damn thing. :)
Tch, and I'm fed up with my domestic arrangements, as is usual after the cubs and I have house-sat for Niki. Was even better this time cos Mum had lent me her car for the week, so I had the illusion of having my own house and my own car. [grits teeth] Eh well, not a lot I can do about it at the moment, my finances and the outrageously expensive rental market being what they are.

Cubs are back at school next week. Once again the holidays have zipped past. Of the suggested list of 'fun things' we've done about a third, not bad going. As for the 'holiday jobs'? Heh, that one thing I did right at the beginning remains the only thing ticked. Oops. Really should make myself some new trews though...

And now, a meme. Forget who I nicked it from. Oh yes, undunoops

1. You have 10 dollars and need to buy snacks at a gas petrol station:

Coffee flavoured milk. I'd probly have to use the rest for petrol.

2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?

Mermaid!

3. Last book you read?

'Hornet's Nest' - Patricia Cornell (Cornwell?). Currently reading 'Two for the Lions' - Lindsey Davis, a Marcus Didius Falco thriller.

4. Describe the last time you were injured?

... can't remember. Um, slicing my thumb open 2 decades ago while preparing dinner? No, there must be something more recent. Ah, pulling a muscle in bed - I was just stretching, honest. Oh, I know, doing my ankle at the snow. My own fault, wearing the wrong shoes...

5. Of all your LJ friends, who would you want to be stuck in a well with?

[blink] I wouldn't want to be stuck in a well.

6. What is the wallpaper on your cell phone? If you don't have a phone what would it be if you did have one?

Varies, but it's always a pic taken with my camera phone. Currently it's this:


Previously, it was this:



7. If you could only use one form of transportation what would it be?

Magic carpet!

8. Most recent movie you have watched in the theatre?

'The Waterhorse'. Wasn't bad, but David Morrissey as an upper-class Brit threw me for a moment.

9. Name an actor/actress/singer you have the hots for:

Jared Leto. Oh, Hephaistion... Boys in eyeliner. Mmm...

10. What's your favorite kind of cake?

Proper, heavy fruitcake. With marzipan and icing!

11. Look to your left, what do you see?

Are we talking the 90 degree arc between head-on and over-the-shoulder? Purple sparkly lamp; red flocked Buddha money box; 'puter stack, stacked with books; cat tree; cat igloo; window.

12. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Laces?

13. Favorite toy as a child?

My plastic horses. I made them stables out of cardboard, and tack out of brown vinyl. I drew plans for landscaped dioramas they could roam.

14. Do you think people talk about you behind your back?

Yes. But only when I'm paranoid. The rest of the time I don't give a shit.

15. Do you like running long distances?

What is this 'running' of which you speak?

15. Have you ever eaten snow?

Probably, when I were a wee lass in England. Heck, I remember eating dirt so snow wouldn't have been a stretch.

16. What color are the sheets on your bed?

Blue. But only cos I can't find violent pink, purple or orange in 100% cotton.

17. What is the first television theme song that pops in your head?

Dr Who.

18. Do people consider you smart?

Only if they know me.

19. How many piercings do you have?

One.

20. What is your favorite salad dressing?

Either good quality olive oil and/or vinegar, or something indulgent like a blue-cheese dressing.

Golly. Wasn't that interesting? :)

I really should listen to my intuition. The other day I found myself thinking that perhaps I should make sure there's candles and matches handy. Two days later there was a blackout - while I was online - that killed my modem. [grump] ...Not that having the candles accessible would've stopped my modem from frying, however.
(I'm online and posting due to Niki's good graces. The cubs and I are house-sitting for a few days, and yay, she's got internet!)




... but in a nice way... :)

[giggling] Skittycat has done a Mills&Boon style illustration for one of my Snupins. Should I warn for cross-dressing...?

I was busy in one room when my phone rang in another.
I found myself saying, out loud - 'accio phone'. [rolls eyes] The thing was, when it didn't fling itself in to my hand I wondered why...

Some shameless self-promotion. (I think I can do this now that All's Been Revealed...)
My SnuSa gift was for Rudika who requested 'Snupin as Mafia Bosses'.
'Like Minds' (link goes to the 'age consent' page rather than straight to the story, just in case...)
Be warned, it's male/male; Harry Potter Alternate Universe; Adult rated and contains torture. One of my nice, light pieces. [smirk]

*****

Scab Red
Bad Moon Yellow
Graveyard Earth
Tentacle Pink
Rotting Flesh
Chaos Black
Vermin Brown
Snot Green

Natural Moss
Marron Glace
Tangerine
Love Bird
Silverfox
Moorland
Stained Glass Black
Aurora

One of these is a list of wools, the other, WarHammer 40K model paints. Can you tell which is which? :)

... I have no idea what day it is.
Saturday? [checks] Yes, Saturday. The lack of daily structure during holidays is nice, very relaxing, but it does tend me make forget where in the week I am. :) Not helped when my regularly watched TV programs are missing or moved from their usual time slot. I don't like to think of myself as a creature of habit, but there's the evidence to the contrary.

I finally got 'round to watching the movie version of Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I didn't hate it, though I'd expected to, but then I remember the moaning about the TV series not being as good as the book, and - going back even further - the moaning that the book was a pale imitation of the radio play.
Yeah, it was irritating that so much of the original dialogue and plot had been excised or fiddled with in this version, but I thought the casting was true to the characters. Sam Rockwell made a particularly obnoxious Zaphod, but then Zaphod's a particularly obnoxious character. Mos Def was a convincing Ford and Martin Freeman was as good as any other Arthur I've encountered. The least convincing character for me was Marvin. I really don't know why. Maybe because Mr Rickman's voice is so distinctive? I just couldn't make the voice and the robot suit match up.
As for the new bits...? Hm. Not sure why the decision was made to change the plot so substantially but it hung together well enough. I admit I wasn't impressed with the resolution of the Arthur/Trillian thing - it felt a little too much like pandering to an LCD audience that expects Romance between the leads. [sigh]
I did however like the dolphins, and the little references back towards the TV series, and Stephen Fry as The Book. And the Vogons. The realisation of that 'callous and beaurocratic' species was superbly done. (Yay for Jim Henson's Creature Workshop!)
So, all in all the movie was - dare I say? - mostly harmless. (Yes, yes, no one's ever heard that before. Sorry :) The cubs loved it, but I want them to read the book so they can fully appreciate Douglas Adam's peculiar comic genius.

A noble sentiment for the new year. I heartily concur. We shud lissens to kittehs - dey iz wize.





(Strangely, Badger and Rocket's father can't cope with lolcatz speek. [smirk] )

Right, so, here we are almost at the end of the first day of 2008. It was quiet, too quiet. The sort of quiet that bespeaks a day of staying as still as possible cos of the stupid hot temperature, again. Gah. Eh well, no matter, cool change's come through early enough that I should be able to sleep tonight. I can cope with hot hot days as long as the nights are cool enough to kip properly. If they're not...? Well, cranky just about covers it.

Twas a very quiet NYE, as well. Essentially just me and the cubs at home, catching sight of the occasional - probly illegal - firework being let off nearby. I really didn't mind, it's been years since I thought it was tragic to not have something to do on NYE.
Resolutions? No, don't bother much with them anymore, either. Other than sensible ones like 'bloody look after yerself, idjit, you're not getting any younger and half your family's dead of strokes and heart disease!' Yes, helpfully motivational things like that. :)
2007. Hm, not the best year I've had - not the worst, either - but there's definitely room for improvement. But let's get through the holidays first, eh? I've got a list of things I'd like to have achieved by the time the cubs go back to school. I've even managed one of them so far. That's better than this time last year!