<pats self on back> I've managed to stay away from ebay for a whole month!
And to celebrate... I'll be staying away from it for another month. : )

Hn, actually, Thorne, I've been thinking about that scary pic of yours... I think I've got a place for her in Dystopia, if I may borrow the disturbing creature?
Not quite sure what she'll be doing, precisely, but it's bound to be... interesting. <eg>

Happy Birthday, Soulsis!

It's Mother's Day here soon.
The cubs' father asked me if there was anything I wanted...
<smirk> I gave him a list.

... and it warms my heart (yes, that's sarcasm) to see the shops have prominently displayed slippers, nighties and dressing gowns, vacuum cleaners and irons, cos that's what mums really want for all their hard work, isn't it?
Hmph.

Thanks, Andi, for recommending Essex Boys; having a morbid fascination with the Brit underworld I really enjoyed it. : )
Sean Bean was great, as always, thoroughly unlikeable but still compelling. There was one plot loop I thought they could've done without, though. It just didn't hang together with the rest of the story, in my opinion, and it felt too... pat. Removing or altering that arc wouldn't have changed the ending and could've made the movie stronger over all.
But that's just my opinion. : )

I stand corrected on the matter of Alan Garner. I've just finished a book of his that I actually enjoyed. 'Elidor'.
It's odd but his language in this one doesn't seem to be quite so stylised, and it was much easier to read and generally more interesting. I wasn't thinking 'come on, get on with it...' while I was reading.
I could see why Joules was affected by it, though for me the ending was far too abrupt to make an emotional connection. This feels like another book he concluded before the story was finished.
Anyway, this one I could recommend. : )

Soulsis' birthday tomorrow!

'k, I got 18/20 for one of last weeks tests – an easy pass. That makes 3 of the 4 term one subjects I know I won't have to repeat : )
Enrolled in another subject yesterday, Materials Receipt, on Tuesday mornings – looks like that will be my only subject this term. I figure at this rate it'll take me at least 3 years to finish the first year's course content. Eh, no problem, not in any hurry...

<growling> Oooh, that Cathy Bradford (from The Bill') gets right up my nose!
The UK is a year or so ahead of us in episodes, I'm very tempted to get onto the Bill site and find out what happens to the psychotic cow. And Polly's just been arrested for murder!

I'm about half-way through reviewing Dancing but can't help casting longing glances at the other prettyshinys jostling for my attention. I'm resisting, for the most part. I know this wanting to go off and frolic in the fields of imagination is just another way of putting off the work that has to be done if I'm going to make a go of becoming a published author.
(Yes, I do plan to get back into it today while the cubs are at school but first I'm just going to zip off and read the latest chapter Joules has sent me from the sequel to 'First Light'... : )

The egg hasn't done anything yet...

[moved to 2^nd June]

The next closest 'special day' is Mother's Day - wonder if it'll hatch then?

Ack! The cubs have gotten bigger! Dang - have to get them some more clothes. Ah well, I was due to hunt down some winter clobber for them anyway...

I've noticed a change in their sibling dynamics recently, as well. The clingy cub is now quite happily ranging away from me, very content to go off and do his own thing - which drives his brother nuts. M can get very upset when S doesn't want to do/have the same thing and he's constantly deferring to S even for simple decisions like what they want for lunch. <sigh> No doubt we'll cope with this the way we've coped with everything else.
(Heh, parent-teacher interviews next week - the cubs have warned me, tactfully, that their teacher might not be completely complimentary about them... <eyebrow> Oh really? Do tell...)

Hee, I've got all of the First Light chapters now - can start reading through at my leisure. : )

You know, I grump about the cubs' father not looking after his children for any lenth of time except by special arrangement, but it's not all bad. I'm the one that generally gets to take them to the fun places.
Anyway, the cubs and I went to the Museum yesterday, to see the Bugs Alive exhibition – again. : ) Still couldn't bring myself to look too closely at the spidery things but was still entranced with the rest of it. (Some of those metallic coloured beetles are just beautiful!)
The cubs' father wasn't using the car so I drove us in to the city. Gods it's so much quicker than public transport – took about a third of the time, and what with parking and petrol, cost about the same as the fares would've. Not a good idea to get used to using the car so much, though, means I'll just miss it all the more if I don't have one when I move.

Mmmmm... found some ginger-flavoured gummy bear lollies. Yummy! (And I don't have to share with the cubs cos though they like the taste of the sweets they don't like the 'mouth-burning'. <evil smirk> Oh dear, such a shame...)

I glanced at an article/review in a newspaper last week about something Duran Duran related. The title of the item (was it a book? CD? DVD? No idea...) was 'Sing Blue Silver' and I had to smirk smugly and inform my coffee companion that that was part of the lyrics for 'The Chauffeur' (circa 1982) from the Rio LP...
Heh, 1980's BritPop Trivia 'R Us...

Cor! Joules has almost finished reviewing 'First Light', all 60+ chapters of it. <g> I'm following recommendations and waiting 'til I've got all the chapters before I reread. This is very exciting!

I'm not usually one for gadgets but I saw something yesterday that had me with my nose pressed up against the display cabinet. It's a portable DVD player, about a third of the size of a lap-top computer – the screen is a little bigger than your average paperback book.
<big eyes> How cool is that?
Yes, yes, if I wanted to watch something in privacy for the same price I could get another TV and DVD player and put them in my room but I love the idea of being able to watch your movies/whatever anywhere – on the train, in the loo, tucked up in bed... <bhg>
I'll put it on my wishlist...

Rain!
Woke up to the sounds of a downpour early yesterday morning and it showered heavily on and off all day. 'bout bloody time! Even though it hasn't been terribly hot we've been desperately dry for weeks. I really hope some of this is falling in the catchments. Water storage for Melbourne is currently around 48%, which is better than the 42% this time last year but it's still well below optimal.

The cubs' schools 'integrated topic' this term is mini-beasts (ie: insects and spiders). I know a couple of the teachers are a bit thingy about spiders – it must be hard having to lecture about something you're phobic over.

It's the ANZAC day weekend which means a day off on Monday... for everyone except Victoria. <grumble> Not sure if this is one of the public holidays our last, unlemented state dictator - er, premier - sliced out of the calendar. Hn. Oh well, we've got a curriculum ('student free' <chortle>) day in a week or so to look forward to anyway.

Almost finished my next AC, that should be posted some time this weekend. Then what? Umm... Eh, I'll think of something.

<giggling> ... this example of man-on-a-stick crass (though funny) commercialism came from OkapiPrincess... (Yes, it is a joke. I think.)
Oh, it might take a while to load.

Awww... : ) [egg moved up to wed 26th april]

I'm glad I did that little bit of review for the test last night. Didn't know a lot of the answers off the top of my head but I had a clue where to look for them in the module notes. I know I answered one question incorrectly but if that's all I've got wrong I'll be happy.
<deep breath> ... and that's the last of my wednesday afternoon classes.

I may not like Alan Garner's work all that much but I can't say the same for Sherri S. Tepper. I've read a lot of her novels over the years and I still find myself thinking about them. She writes sci-fi, kinda; they're uncomfortable stories about ugly times and places. Everything is 'put right' by the end of the story but there's rarely a happy ending for the main characters. Sacrifice and loss are common themes but the endings can still be hopeful, uplifting. There's nearly always a strong feminsit undertone in the stories, one of the reasons I'll happily pick up a Tepper book when I see them. My favourite is 'The Gate to Women's Country' - not because it's probably the closest thing to a fluffy bunny story she's written, but because she's exploring socio-political themes that are close to my heart. : )

Started the next AC (while I'm on a roll) but Joules and I have made a pact to nag each other about our novels again... starting friday... <g>

My cubs have asked me not to swear anymore. Heh. We'll see how we go, though admittedly my language does get a bit fruity when I'm stressed. : )

I had a test today - one that I'd completely forgotten about. Oops. And naturally I'd not looked at any of my work over the holidays so what had been good, solid knowledge at the end of last term had evaporated. Eh well, I'm not confident I did all that well but if I've cocked up too much I can take it again.
I have, however, done some review for tomorrow's test, though that's for the subject that makes my brain hurt so I'm not getting too blasé... : )

Right, I've got a place in another tuesday morning class for this term, and I'll find out tomorrow if I've got into the wednesday one as well. Assuming all's well, they'll be my only 2 subject for this term which won't hurt at all. I'm enjoying studying but I know I'd be more motivated if I knew right from the beginning what classes I was doing for the whole year. Next year I'll be more organised.

This very, very funny thing came to me from a mailing list but its origin is the Bad Mothers Club. I love this site, it's a whiff of sanity amongst the 'perfect mother - perfect life' nonsense foisted on us by just about everyone...

Top Ten Crafty Ways to Make Your Children Help In the House

1. It's Not About 'Helping Out'
Forget this completely, because 'helping out' implies that housework is Your Job and the family are only picking up their own toenail clippings as a Huge Personal Favour. Also, your idea of helping out - vacuuming, washing up, excavating the Neolithic apple cores from behind the sofa - may not concur with theirs: rinsing a teaspoon every Leap Year.

2. 10 smiley faces = 1 hour of Beyblade
Of course you've done this, haven't you? And maybe you've offered payment - please God they're not yet aware of the minimum wage. Or, if you're really sorted, perhaps you've put smiley faces on a chart where, say, 10 smiley faces = one hour of Beyblade. But for those of us who have normal, shouty, sulky children, try throwing in a bit of BMC small print of your own...

3. Financial Incentives
While paying children to do their chores helps, withholding pocket money for not doing them helps too. And fining them for being completely arsey about it Really Helps. I pay my 9 year-old to do his chores, but I also impose a 'whinge tax' which means more than three minutes of moaning, stamping and huffing and I start taking 10p off his dosh. He once kicked up a mighty stink about emptying the dishwasher and to his rage, ended up being fined 50p. It still gives me a warm bad motherly glow thinking about it. Especially as he still had to empty the dishwasher.

4. There is no such thing as Laundry Levitation
There's an African proverb which says: 'If you can talk, you can sing, and if you can walk, you can dance.' Here at BMC we say: If you can pick up a Beyblade, you can pick up your own dirty pants. And if you can put a Bionicle together or concentrate on your Beyblade without becoming unaccountably exhausted, you can pick up your laundry. And stick it back in the drawer. This means laundry to be replaced in appropriate drawers. It may be stuffed in any old how, but if you grit your teeth and stick with it you might just avoid the ghastly results of the prevalent teenage belief that laundry levitates from floor to laundry basket, to washing machine, and back to drawer. Of course, they get that from their fathers.

5. The Alzheimer Principle
Every time your child 'forgets' to do a chore, you 'forget' to add crisps to their lunchbox. With my son, a few days of carrot sticks soon breaks his spirit - and miraculously restores his memory.

6. The Allergy Card
Some children go through a rather tiresome ecological stage where they suddenly become 'allergic' to cleaning products. Buy them rubber gloves and a surgical mask, and don't forget - this sudden concern for the environment and the profits made by evil conglomerates can be turned to your advantage. They won't be wanting any Nikes, then, will they? Or - well, just about any item of nice or fashionable clothing.

7. Deliberate Incompetence
If they make a pig's ear of the washing up they can do it again, while you accidentally tape over Robot Wars with Mansfield Park.

8. In a minute!
If you keep getting the "In a minute" riposte, write down the time and date of their insubordination. Then when they want a lift to a party or a pair of trainers that glow purple and pick up Kiss FM, respond with: "In a minute". Yes, they'll hate you, but teenagers hate you anyway.

9. The Burning Martyr
Avoid my old Irish Aunty's mistake which was to sigh heavily, purse her mouth tighter than a cat's arse, emanate smoke and then Do What She'd Asked My Uncle To Do Five Hours Ago. ("Sure it's easier to do it meself.") That's why my Uncle ended up pronouncing: "I don't like women with too much education. They start answering back".

10. And Remember...
Don't expect cheerful obedience. Settle for sullen compliance instead. But think on this: every time your offspring picks up their socks or unloads a dishwasher with only a few muffled curses, you're that much closer to a child who won't turn out like my Uncle.

Bizarro dream last night. I was obliquely warned about a piece of evidence - a tissue - that could link me with a murdered man. I found the tissue in the bin where I'd dropped it, then had to dispose of it. My best option, I thought, was flushing it down a toilet (a: it would take the 'evidence' away from the scene, and b: it would break up in the water and disappear - heh, dream-logic...) but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get rid of the bloody thing. Every toilet I visited was either broken or locked, or there was some weird beaurocratic/arcane stumbling block, so I eventually decided to take the risk and just drop the tissue in another bin, in a park, and hope for the best.
Interesting, ne? : ) What is it I want to disassociate myself with but can't?

'Revolution' the AC side-story, is posted in the Desert Dreaming sequence of that section. Thanks for coding, Joules!

1st day back at school and there was much rejoicing...
Heh, Peter Costello the Federal (Liberal) Govt Treasurer was at the school assembly this morning (<scratches head> I think he's the federal representative for the area) doing the politician/photo opportunity thing, presenting some Aus flags to a student and teacher who are going to Japan soon for a conference. I see this man on the news nearly every night, but there was no sense of awe, or anything seeing him in reality. He's just a guy in a suit who can't tell a joke to save himself...

There are barking frogs, Thorne, I've just double-checked. : )
Much rather have a barking frog than a spider...

The video clip for Herbie Hancock's 'Rocket' was playing on the telly last night. Ok, I thought, it's been years since I've seen this, surely my robot phobia has improved enough I can watch these animated mannequins without twitching?
Nup. Lasted 10 seconds before the freakiness got to me and I had to walk away.
I have a deep, deep mistrust of robotics (probably because of Dr Who <g>) with reactions ranging from my skin-crawling to wanting to smash them into little pieces. It's not all robots though, the machines on Robot Wars don't bother me, but anything human-sized or bigger... <shudder> Car-manufacturing 'bots are particularly disturbing. They move so smoothly, so precisely they're just not natural. I see them and can't help thinking what would happen if their programming screwed up. ('You'd get a lot of wrecked cars!' quips the cub's technophile father, but he's just blind to the danger... : )

Finished the AC side-story, 'Revolution', it'll be coded and posted soon (thanks, Joules!). Heh, wrote a snippet of a future AC chapter too - a little scene that's been tickling me. : ) And the cubs go back to school tomorrow! <happy dance> Time to get back to work!

If I was Dr Doyle (from the Victorian crime-drama 'Murder Rooms') I'd give up on any idea of marriage... Every woman he's formed an attachment to has died and/or been a murderess. And as for that Dr Bell popping up all over the place to save the day.. What is he, psychic? Sheesh.
<g> I'm still enjoying the series though. (Not one word from you there, lurking in th' thicket!)

<blinks> One of my cubs is giving the other a 'sword massage' (his words). He's hitting his brother - who's lying prone on the kitchen floor - with the flat of a plastic sword...
Oooh-kaaay...
(Ah, and now he's hit him too hard and there's squealing. Tch. : )

Busy day with the cubs, we visited the Polly Woodside Maritime Museum and the Aquarium. The cubs enjoyed the play area in the museum most of all, (lego and wooden boats and signal flags, oh my) but weren't all that impressed with the centrepiece – the restored barque. I loved the ship though, quite happily indulged myself in a few sea-going fantasies while traipsing all over it. : ) It's another place I'd like to go visit on my own. Heh, the last, and first, time I went to see the Polly Woodside was in High School – been trying to get back there ever since. I secretly enjoyed the excursion – all of my mates said it was boring. <g> Ah, I can't help it, this nautical bent, I spent 5 weeks on a ship at an impressionable stage in my life. Heh, wonder if we'd travelled by 'plane when we immigrated to Australia I'd have a thing for aircraft instead?
<happy sigh> ... and it was lovely seeing the fishies again. The baby Murray Crayfish are an inch long now and exploring their tank; the Growling Tree Frog tadpoles are just beginning to sprout legs; the young Port Jackson sharks are as cute as ever and the resident Pirate recognised the cubs from our last visit a couple of weeks ago. : ) Does all this mean we go to the Aquarium too often, do you think?

There was a report on the news tonight about a (non-fatal) car crash. The paramedic interviewed said 'Both vehicles have been significantly destroyed.'
Tch, 'significantly destroyed'? As opposed to just a little bit destroyed? Honestly, I wish people would think about how they use absolutes before they speak. Here's one of my favourites, also caught on the news: 'This is very unique opportunity.' Wow! Double-plus good or what?

[... <happy squeak/giggle - absently wondering how far sound will carry across the pond on a clear day>...]

[... right... fresh petals, furs fluffed, large pre-order put in at the Lemon tree...<settles down to wait>...]

It was easy enough to find the lyrics for 'Gimme Danger' but no mp3 as yet. The song's been playing itself over and over in my brain – I feel another songfic coming on. In fact... <ping!> ... this could easily be the follow up to the last songfic I wrote. Yeah, that'd work!
Oh dear, I'll have to listen to/watch the clip several dozen times while the idea bubbles. <smirk> My cubs are just going to love me, I can hear it now: "Muu-uum!? You're watching that again...?"

Finished the AC side-story (hoorah!) but I need Joules to check it before I can truly say I'm done. The Elga chapter is next in line, I think, then I really should stop procrastinating and finish 'Dancing'. Gods, I love what I do: there's so much stuff circling in holding patterns in my brain I need an airtraffic controller to keep track of it all (but then again, the mid-air collisions can be spectacular and very inspiring... : )

Washing machines are wonderful things, aren't they? Especially when they flood. Tch. Oh well I needed to wash all those towels anyway.

<happy sigh> I had my Velvet Goldmine fix last night. I love that movie, it's so beautifully, sensuously trashy and tragic. And there's nuances too, depths and layers that I'm finding the more I watch. I wonder though, did Kurt Wilde remember Arthur Stuart? Possibly not but I think he recoqnised something in the journalist, which is why he did that significant thing he did. : ) Well, I think it's significant, others might just say: 'Huh?'
Annoyingly though, there's 2 brilliant songs in the movie that aren't on the CD soundtrack. The first is Slade's 'Cuz I love you' – that won't be hard to find, however, any compilation of the band should have it. The second is a cover of Iggy Pop's 'Gimme Danger' – could probly find the original without too much trouble and possibly there's an mp3 of the movie version out there somewhere. (It's by the Venus in Furs with Ewan Macgregor singing.)
And speaking of Eye-candy McDrooly... <smirk> He can't do a convincing American accent but damn he's pretty, especially when he's waving his bits about. Hee!

The cubs and I went to see the new Scooby Doo movie today.
I enjoyed it more than the first, probly cos <gasp> there's character development for Velma. The less-than-subtle moral of this movie is 'You're perfect just as you are', which is... nice, I guess, if laid on with a trowel - everybody gets to ponder it at some point.
Scooby & Shaggy are still annoying but Seth Green's a cutie and an asset to any movie he appears in.
We also saw a preview for the Garfield movie... <head in hand> What next? The Hair Bear Bunch movie? The horror... the horror...
<choked whisper> I've seen them too, in the background of a Cartoon Network station advert... They've not been forgotten...!

2 pages into the AC side-story. Woohoo. : ) Fingers crossed it'll be finished by the time Joules gets back from her break.

Heh, the bright-orange material is washed and ready to cut. I'll make up 10 stars, I think, that'll be enough to spread over the 15 strips, and leave me some of the material to use in something else.

We were inundated by praying mantises last night. Ok, there were only 2 but that's still 2 more than we usually get! I watched one of them hunt. Very interesting, though it walked right over a moth. Tch, big big eyes, tiny tiny brain. : )
(And just for the record, skinks tickle when they run under your bare foot as they try to escape the ravening cat-monster...)

Ack! Just remembered I've got a test when I go back to classes on Tuesday! Hn, better pencil in some alone time to do some review. Wonder if I can get the cubs' father to take them somewhere on the weekend?

Happy Birthday, Goodtwin!



There's a praying mantis come inside - it was watching me from the ceiling as I moved about the kitchen. Silly thing, it'd never be able to eat all of me at once...

Bleurgh... Not a happy Lutra - the temperature reached 32 degrees today. <pout> The summer weather was sposed to have ended by now. (But no, there's no such thing as climate change.) Feels like the temperatures coming down a little now, hopefully it won't get too hot tonight.

I've started the AC side-story, and the next chapter for Elga. Couldn't do much though - aside from the normal holiday distraction of cubs underfoot I've had a headache for the past couple of days and it's just not shifting. Finding it hard to focus on anything at the moment. Eh, if it follows pattern it'll be gone by tomorrow morning. Partially self-inflicted, too much cheese and chocolate over the weekend : ) and spending 3 nights on my mum's couch probably didn't help.

On the up side, Niki and Soulsis stopped by for a visit this afternoon, Soulsis, as always, bearing gifts. <g> (Did I mention she gave me the cutest otter un-birthday card on Sunday?) A little, cloisonné fish dangly, a multi-coloured tea-light candle holder (very 70's, hee) and a rare (for Australia) Golden Arches of Doom happy meal toy - one of the Hello Kitty limited release toys, in this case a 2000 Dear Daniel Millenium Wedding plushie! <happy squeak> You know, if I'm not careful, I could end up being a Hello Kitty collector...

<bg> Go check out Sylverthorne's site. In her gallery (miscellaneous section) there's some Dystopia/AC fan-art! Most recently Thorne's drawn Angel (Kitty) as part of the 'Herding Cats' piece, and a portrait of Joules' Maria (Angelfish). Shoo! Go see! : )

Cool! Just found this word in the dictionary (Oxford Conscise 1964):

majuscule: Large (letter), whether capital or uncial.

I guess that would make it the opposite of miniscule, ne?