So there we were at the Museum on Wednesday - the cubs, Sarah and I - trailing about having fun and going 'Oooh', as you do, when I got a phone call from a friend of my mum's letting me know that Mum was just being bundled into an ambulance.
Eeep!
Apparently she'd had a mild stroke - ultrasounds and CAT scans later confirmed it - but at the time she was protesting that don't be stupid, she was fine. <rolls eyes>
So, she's in hospital, and not terribly impressed. The stroke's affected her word recall but thankfully not much else by the looks of it. There's no problems with her motor functions, and though she's perhaps a touch slurred in her speech it's mainly that she keeps losing words. And my mum's a great talker so not being able to communicate readily is very frustrating. Trying to convey what it is she needs has been a trial, though vaguely amusing, I have to say. Seems like we're using a combination of mime and telepathy at times and it just makes us giggle at the ridiculous of it all.
Haven't had any direct contact with her doctor yet so we've no idea how long she'll be hospitalised. In the meantime I've got her car - so I can pop in and see her without having to rely on public transport or Soulsis' kindness - and her cat's in the cattery. Poor bugger; I don't like him very much (it's mutual) but he obviously misses her. He was giving me such a look as I was going through drawers and cupboards finding clothes for mum. <g> I had no right to be doing that!
Hopefully she'll be able to go home soon, and without too much disruption to her life. It'd hurt if she had to stop driving, I'm sure, the loss of independence would be awful. Eh well, we just wait and see, I suppose.

Oh, and I have to say big thanks and huggles to Soulsis for running the cubs and I out to the hospital on Thursday, and then over to Mum's to pick up the car. Would've been sooo much more awkward without your help, sweetie, thanks! :)

<happy dance> Finished and sent off my sekrit Snupin Santa Challenge! In plenty of time, too, the deadline is the beginning of November. Thanks, Joules, for the beta - and the Brit-check. I had no idea 'bailing up' is an Australianism...

It's been a laid back kind of holiday. Haven't been tearing around madly doing stuff, mostly cos I just can't afford it. But we've managed a couple of things. Last week Soulsis et al popped 'round for the day; she stayed here with the boys (all four of them) while my niece and I went down to the city for a visit to the National Gallery. It's a big place, a bit overwhelming, not something you can see all of in one day. Best way to tackle it is to go for a couple of hours and look at only a few sections. Bit of a bugger if you're only visiting Melbourne, but honestly, there's so much there.
What did we see? Browsed around the textiles and the European 14th to 18th centuries for a bit, then had a snack, then Becca decided she wanted to see the modern stuff. Not much at all in that collection - that was on display at any rate - but what there was was striking. But, how do you judge 'good' Modern Art? Where's the line between 'wank' and 'significant'? There were a couple of pieces where I found myself thinking, 'Blimey, I could've done that!' But could I? Could I really have tried to play with colour and form and produce something that wasn't pretentious, or worse, ordinary? Some of the pieces looked as though they'd been executed very quickly but that's not to say there was no thought put into them. I know that's how it works when I'm writing, I can (usually) ponder something for ages, then bang it gels, and off I go...

The Gallery's a bit precious about taking photos, too, but I took this before I'd actually asked if it was all right to take photos. I can technically plead ignorance, yes?



This is a doll's dress from the 1800's. It's about 40cm in length (big doll!) and made of patchwork, specifically the 'tumbling block' design. Cor...

I also had a wander through the photographic gallery upstairs - photos from America in the 1930's to the '50's from various photographers. They weren't 'arty' but they captured a moment in time and made it real. Just amazing, it's the sort of stuff I aspire to.
After that Becca and I had to go home cos we was all culcha'd out. <g>
In the meantime the cubs had had fun with their cousins, and Soulsis wasn't ready to kill any of them by the time we got back so all in all it was a successful day.
And I got presents! A pair of pressed glass plates with goldfish designs! Becca had painted the fish on one of them a lovely, vibrant orange. Gorgeous!

And yesterday the cubs' father offered to take the cubs and I to Puffing Billy! (He'd hired a car for the weekend.) That was great, and the cubs' father's first time on the train. Cold though, and it rained! It hailed, in fact. We didn't stay too long, just took the train to Lakeside, had a look at the model railway, then caught the next train back to Belgrave. Because we had a car we were home by 3. <g> It was a good day and the cubs had a ball. There'll be some photos up at Flickr soonish, once I've winnowed down the 170 to something reasonable. Damn, I love having a camera again...

A snippet of Joules' and my ICQ conversation. Inspired by this photo:

...which flowed on from something mentioned in my previous post. ("(The cubs are playing a combat game on the Xbox. One of the cubs has draped himself with a green bedspread - his 'camouflage gear'. )..." )

Lutra: I've got a pic, though they posed for it.
Joules: go on then.
hang on...
[pause while I fiddle about sending files...]
<pissing self laughing> um yerrss. I like hte headgear, very camoudlaging.
<giggling> indeed... they remind me so much of myself...
you wander round in a green blanket witha teletubbie on your head? <patpat> keep taking the tablets.
LOL! Well, not that, specifically, but wandering around draped in other stuff pretending to be something else...
That happens less now than when I was 11. all my imagining now goes on in my head.
and I see snowglabes.
globes too
<g> er, yes
<bangs head on desk> <glares at fingerials and leapfrogging keyboard>
actually, snowlgabe is a nice word.
it is! Sounds like a weapon.
a snowglabe... mmm, it does.
snowlgabes.... a kind of owl?
<g> an owl... with weapons!

<g> We can keep ourselves amused for hours...

A header for a bit of spam I received today:

Please your woman Brock

That's a funny name for a woman...

Ack! The cubs tell me they're developing pubes! Nooo! It'll be facial hair next!

I knew I wasn't on par the other day when I made myself a cup of tea but when I looked in my cup I saw I'd only added hot water to sugar. Hm.
What's more significant, perhaps, is that I don't take sugar with the tea I'd been planning to use.

'Snark' is a great word - but it's a fanon word. I don't think it should appear in fics that are trying to follow canon. (And I say this in full knowledge that I've used it before in my own fics. Tch. Sloppy.)

You know what I like most about my camera? (And it is a camera - its secondary function is a 'phone.) It's the instant gratification. Take a photo, download it, have a look. Easy peasy. And one day soon I'll work up the courage to see about getting prints made. One of the photo shops nearby will do prints from digital for 20¢ a piece (cheaper than regular processing). The 'conditions' are that there has to be more than 10 in a batch (<eyebrow> considering I've narrowed my 'must print' list down from umpteen to a mere 200 I don't think that'll be a problem) and it must be a 'next day' service rather than 'instant'. I can live with that. :)

I'm still really enjoying the Tennant series of Dr Who. There's no excessive moralising, the stories are - mostly - sharp, and about as believable as Dr Who gets. Costumes/prosthetics are great, the sets don't wobble... It's all good.
It makes me ponder, too, which is something that happens all too rarely with television. For instance, in last week's episode one of the character's has childhood memories of the Doctor. In the flashbacks we see our hero, but there's no sign of Rose. I got all shivery thinking that with time being as fluid as it is around the Doctor, that scenario could've come from any time in this incarnation. He could've come back to our past years after Rose. Cor...

At least once during any given school holiday I indulge in staying up stupidly late. Night before last I got offline and shut down the 'puter around midnight but I wasn't too tired so I thought I'd make a start on a bit of knitting...
I crawled into bed at 3.45. Needless to say I was useless the next day. <g>

And we're almost at the end of the first week of this two-week term break. Haven't done much at all (can't afford to!) and I'm more relaxed than I have been in quite some time...

(The cubs are playing a combat game on the Xbox. One of the cubs has draped himself with a green bedspread - his 'camouflage gear'. <giggling>)

Michelangelo's 'Dying Slave'. You've got to ask yourself - dying from what, precisely?

So, after months (years!) of procrastination and - let's be honest - outright avoidance, Cathouse Ellis is finally finished. <shakes head> 3 years and 4 months since the first part was posted in Joule's Darkside. My first foray into yaoi, as well - up until then I'd only written yuri or het.
Heh, smut is no easier to write now than it was then. <g>
Anyway, Joules (thanks!) is coding part 2 as I blather. I imagine it'll be posted sometime later today, UK time.
[Edit: posted now, before I finished my update! Thanks again, Joules!]

That's torn it! Literally. My favourite pair of (pink stripey) trousers have ripped and all I've got left to wear is a couple of pairs of tatty trackys. The real crisis, however, is that the trackys don't have pockets! <hyperventilating> Nowhere to put my 'phone! No help for it now, I have to make myself some more trousers. With pockets.

Because we had the use of Soulsis' car on Tuesday the cubs and I trekked off to Scienceworks. Lots of fun. :) The special exhibition this time was 'License to Spy' - with a mystery to solve and clues to be discovered using various technologies. <g> Not a terribly hard challenge for an espionage/crime fiction buff like myself, but very interesting nonetheless. I got a particular satisfaction from opening the safe. Working the tumbler mechanism took some concentration, and some muffled swearing. But I did it! Cubs enjoyed the exhibit as well - we were in there for an hour and a half without really noticing.
I also treated us to the Planetarium for the first time in ages. There was only one program showing that day, 'The Problem with Pluto' and while I'm sure it was really good and informative I'm afraid that I was so comfortable lying back in the reclining seat that I dozed for a bit. Probably just as well, it was a long drive home and I'd started the day tired.
I took some photos (surprise surprise); some of them are up at Flickr...

Got my hands on a couple of interesting books. The first is Terry Jones' Barbarians in which he demonstrates exactly what it was the Romans did for us - and it's not as much we've been led us to believe. <g> I was pleased to discover it's the book that accompanies a series - and then the cubs' father told me that we've been seeing the ads for the series for the past few weeks. Okay, so I'm not all that perceptive some of the time...
The second book is Kafka's Soup, a 'complete history of world literature in 14 recipes'. Have I mentioned that I'm a sucker for quirky recipe books? In essence this is 14 recipes written in the style of particular authors. For example:

Lamb with Dill sauce a la Raymond Chandler.
[snip. list of ingredients]
"I sipped on my whisky sour, ground out my cigarette on the chopping board and watched a bug trying to crawl out of the basin. I needed a table at Maxim's, a hundred bucks and a gorgeous blonde; what I had was a leg of lamb and no clues. I took hold of the joint. It felt cold and damp, like a coroner's handshake. I took out a knife and cut the lamb into pieces. Feeling the blade in my hand I sliced an onion, and before I knew what I was doing a carrot lay in pieces on the slab...'

It's very funny. The Jane Austen recipe takes four and a half pages to describe something that takes 2 minutes to cook. <g> Beautifully done. There's even a recipe a la Marquis de Sade (Boned Stuffed Pouissons) but I haven't attempted to read that one yet, it's even more verbose than the Austen! (Though having just glanced at it, it appears to be in a modern setting - talking about delivery vans being clamped... Intrigued, now.)
Anyway, yes, interesting books. No doubt I'll get around to trying out some of the recipes eventually as well.

Looks like the hard rubbish collection is finally over. We've done well from it this time, however. The cubs' father found a recliner armchair in good nick, the only thing wrong with it is one of the struts has snapped so it wobbles a bit, but otherwise it's very comfy. He also found a tall, thin, chest of drawers that holds all our DVDs with room to spare. I found a pair of wooden kitchen chairs. Given how heavy they are I'm guessing they're from a time when furniture was made of things other than pine. Good, solid construction, too.
I also found this piece of cat-furniture:



As you can see, KittenKong is quite pleased.

Sparkles illuminating dictionaries and notebooks. Sums up my life nicely... :)

That thumping sound is me banging my head on the desk.
4pm yesterday - camp-eve - I rang the school to let them know the cubs wouldn't be going to camp.
8.30 pm the recovering cub perks up and declares he'd really like to go after all. The change of mind is a bit annoying but no problem, we're basically ready, all I had to do was finish packing and find a few things...
9pm he's wavering and after weighing the pros and cons decides that he'll stay home after all.
I should've listened to my instincts. I should've set my alarm for sparrow's fart so I could poke him awake in plenty of time to change his mind again. Which he did.
7.30am this morning I'm woken by disconsolate wailing and floods of tears. <sigh> Told him to get dressed while I tried to ring the school. My thinking was that, though the bus was due to leave at 7.30 it might have been delayed. If it was and I could let someone know we were on our way (in a taxi) they might've been able to hold the bus for us.
No one answered the phone so as a back-up plan I left an email asking if anyone was planning on visiting the campsite and would they mind a passenger?
In the meantime, in an attempt to cheer the cub up I suggested that as we're going to have Soulsis' car tomorrow we could take a trip somewhere. The cubs immediately suggested Puffing Billy (surprise, surprise) but I pointed out that we could get there anytime by public transport. The place we can't get to without a car is Scienceworks. Trawled about on the 'net for a bit, finding out what special exhibitions were on and what was showing at the adjacent Planetarium. Cub got very enthusiastic about that and asked me to ring the school to let them know he wasn't going to camp. <rolls eyes>
So when the principal rang later to see if he still wanted a lift I politely declined - but I didn't tell him she'd offered because frankly I was fed up.
It is a shame he's missed the camp and to be fair it was a huge decision for him, essentially deciding whether to go off on his own for the first time ever, but, blimey... I don't suppose this will be the only decision he ever regrets, however, and it could be something of an object lesson. It still hurts to see my cubs upset, though.
But, barring any other crisis, we'll be off for a fun day tomorrow - and this time, I've got a camera!

And so it came to pass that as one cub recovered from the dreaded lurgy the other fell to its insidious clasp. On the day before camp, too. <sigh>
So, while one cub might be well enough to go away for a few days of educational fun he certainly won't go without his brother. Which is fair enough, I spose, cos his brother had no intention of going away without him when he was sick.
But - dagnabbit - looks like I might not be getting my child-free days after all.
But the sicker cub might get better quickly - it's happened before. Either way we probably won't know until the very last minute whether they'll be going or not. <grump> All this shilly-shallying is most aggravating. (And if I sound like Lady Bracknell it's cos I jolly well feel like her!)
It's not just my two either, at the parent-teacher interviews last night I found out that there were 8 missing from one cub's class, all down with this bloody virus. I wonder how many are actually going to make it to camp? Eh well, whatever happens they've got some new clothes at least, and fresh batteries for their torches - always a good thing in their opinion.

I wonder... does reading slash fiction before reading/viewing the original influence one's perception of it? Case in point: I hunted down Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence cos a fan author I keep tabs on wrote a couple of short pieces around the books. I'd only read one of her (very short) fics but if I hadn't, would I have still picked up the slight slashy potential? Hmm, possibly, if only cos I'm alert to those sort of nuances now. <g>

Speaking of fanfic... Sac - it does not mean quite what you think it means.

A baglike membrane-enclosed cavity in animal or vegetable organism; membranous envelope of hernia, cyst, tumour etc.

That doesn't sound that reminiscent of the scrotum, to me. Perhaps I'm just being picky.
But while checking that I found this:

sabulous - sandy, of sand.

<g> "Oh, yes, daaaahling, the beach is sabulous!"
How can you not love this language, eh? :)

Right, so I think I've got all the gear the cubs will need for their camp (D'oh! Except torches and batteries. Tch, I'll pick those up on Monday...)
I like buying clothes for the cubs about as much as I like buying clothes for me, but I've brought on myself the aggravation of trudging hither and yon. I've been meaning to get them new stuff since Summer but, as usual, kept putting it off and off and off... <g>
But my search today led me into op-shops where I found all sorts of lovely things. Some more pretty cutlery; a pair of beautifully shaped rice bowls; a little Chinese teapot decorated with a blue carp; a couple of shirts that the cubs may or may not wear; knitting needles; a hand-painted lizard mug; a touristy book about the Louvre; a Japanese 'bamboo' patterned dipping-sauce dish; and an intriguing piece of junk Chinese pottery, the sort of thing that's produced quickly and cheaply as packaging. This piece is cylindrical, lidded, and decorated with a rough relief of pandas and bamboo. Its glaze is strongly reminiscent of baby poo but despite that I quite like it...
Oh, and how could I forget the large, imitation clam shell fashioned from pearlescent white plastic. <snerk> Pure class, that is.
However, I was just sitting down to lunch (beef tataki! yum!) when I got a call from the school asking if I'd like to pick up my sick cub - the cub I forced jollied into going to school this morning. <sigh> He's got a bit of a cough/cold and is not feeling the best. I'm crossing fingers he'll be all better by Wednesday... and that his brother doesn't come down with the same thing in the meantime.

Hm. I can't see any xmas merchandise per se in the shops yet but things like specialty tins of biscuits and buckets of M&Ms have appeared on the shelves. It's Father's Day this Sunday - I suspect the retailers are waiting to get that out of the way before starting the xmas campaign. Hmph.

I ran out of tea! Unthinkable! And I couldn't find my usual brand (Nature's Garden Organic) so I had to resort to Twinings. Admittedly I bought the Lady Grey for Soulsis cos it's her favourite (and she needed coddling cos it's been a difficult couple of days, what with trying to get her head around Bail Justice legislation and having to put up with the street lights down here in the suburbs disturbing her sleep - tch, country folk. Where was I? Oh yes...) but I don't remember Twinings being so delicate. And by 'delicate' I mean 'weak as piss'. <g> That's a daft phrase, isn't it? 'Weak as piss', cos even weak piss isn't weak. Not that you'd want to drink it, but still... Where was I?
I had a lovely Earl Grey blend yesterday afternoon, at a cafe. Not sure of the brand but it's made with real bergamot, and sage, I think. Absolutely delicious and it brewed into a wonderful rich shade of claret. The only downside was that the teabag was made from nylon net fashioned into a pyramid. Terribly stylish but not at all compostable. Hm, wonder if I could buy the tea loose-leaf. That'd be neat.
So, Twinings, it'll do at a pinch, but it's still better than <spitspit> Liptons. :)

I have two reasons to anticipate the beginning of a month now. I get my broadband 'net speed back, plus my Flickr account ticks over and I can upload again. Given the amount of pics I take I think it's not outside the realm of possibility that I'll be pushing the limit for uploads there on a regular basis. <g> That's not to say that all my pics get posted, oh no, just what I consider the best/most interesting/illustrative.
Needless to say, there's a new batch posted...

More bizarre, and strangely analogous, suggestions from Blogger's spell check:
manga - mange
anime - anion
Trigun - truism
Gessekai - gasseous (<snicker>)
Nightwalker - nostalgia
daft - deft

Two weeks left of term. Or rather - given the upcoming camp - one week and two days...

(Early this morning at Chez Lutra:)
Me - to dawdling cubs: Come on, vivement!
Cubs: Is that German?
Me: No, it's French for 'Get a bloody move on...'

<g> We laughed.

I had a serious 'screw the rent' moment a couple of days ago. In the manga section of my local Borders I saw Megatokyo Vol 1-4; and Volume 3 of Absolute Boyfriend. <grump> I was restrained; I know that if I get myself into financial straits no one's going to bail me out. Essentials have to come first or life'll just get messy.

The school camp is at the end of this term. Up until Monday afternoon the cubs were determined they weren't going. I told them they had to tell their teachers - knowing full well that their teachers would try to talk them in to changing their minds.
Cubs are enthusiastic about the camp now. I hope it's fun for them; they did kinda sorta have fun last year, despite some teasing and bullying. <sigh>
Better make a list of stuff I'll have to buy...

I know the end of term is approaching cos my, at best, half-hearted organisation is slipping even more. Some mornings I really do have to give myself a stern talking to once the alarm's gone off. The idea of staying in bed and just letting the day slide is too tempting. :)

I don't have the same sort of problems with numbers as Joules but I do have my moments. For example, I've been very conservative with the music on my phone - deleting stuff so I can put more on... Until it dawned on me that 50000ish kb isn't 5 megs, it's 50. <shakes head> And that's just what's left on the memory card, there's almost the same amount free in the phone's memory as well. D'oh!
I've been thrashing my anime playlist recently, too. Wonderful! I've got a few tracks from Noir, including my song-of-the-moment Salva Nos. It's the 'action' theme, operatic techno sung in Latin. Marvelous stuff. There's something very poignant about 'Save us, God; Give us peace' being sung over vicious gun battles. Makes me shiver.
What else have I got? Opening theme to Excel Saga, Akira, Gravitation and X; 'Sound of Life' and 'First Donuts' from Trigun; the CCO 808 theme from the dubbed version (it's got more balls than the original); a pure percussion track, 'Tatakai no taiko' from Mononoke Hime; 'Shinma no Kodou' from Vampire Princess and 'Gessekai' from Nightwalker, both really atmospheric tracks. I did have 'Eden' (Yami no Matsui) but it conflicted somehow with the phone software. It would play the track... and then shut down. But I deleted the file and everything seems to be back to normal now. And <sobs> unfortunately 'Cloud Age Symphony' from Last Exile, and 'Gravity' from Wolf's Rain won't play! Which is distressing cos combined they're 12 minutes of teh love. Ah well, I might be able to find another copy of them someplace.
Thank you Joules, and Onna, for the various additions to my music library. <g>

I know the weather's beginning to warm up cos I'm able to spread the butter with relative ease.
<grumble> And the countdown's on. September 1st is only <counts on fingers> 3 days away. I'm expecting to see xmas decorations appearing for sale any day now...

The school library was officially opened this morning, after the weekly assembly. Fortunately I had the foresight to boot up the 'puter before the entire school trooped in cos the principal wanted to have a little 'first book borrowed' ceremony. (<g> Actually, the borrower was about the fourth person to use the system, but I didn't think there was any need to say so...)
But, the library is operational now, I even wrestled the database software into a headlock until it did what I wanted! (Gosh, that makes me sound butch [like 'hutch'] but no, really I only read the manual.)
And I definitely don't want to take credit for it all. Had lots of help from other volunteers, shifting the books over from the portable school and getting them on to the shelves. Let's face it, if that'd all been left up to me I'd still be wading through boxes! Yea, for I am a work-shy wee mousie...

The school concert wasn't as traumatic as I'd feared. We had the junior and senior school brass bands (from now on to be one combined band); the junior choir and the middle-school choir. The preps - wearing afro wigs - did a little dance to 'Blame it on the Boogie' and were naturally well-received. We were also treated to a Road Safety display from another grade - which made me giggle cos one of the songs was from a television commercial here years ago and I remembered the cheeky version my friend Jackie used to sing.
Both the cubs' grades performed plays but unfortunately the stage's sound system sucked and it was hard to hear what was going on. All the kids did very well, though, especially the lead in the Sherlock Holmes play. He would've had to have been the gayest Holmes I've ever seen, and performed so unselfconciously. <g> I foresee a future NIDA graduate...
The evening wound up earlier than expected, thank all the gods; it'd been a long, long day for the children. It was good to see that the weeks of rehearsal had been worth it though. The hall was packed - I'd be curious to know how much money the school made from the event. Not just from ticket sales but from the tea and coffee and snacks as well. That's one thing you can't accuse our Parent Committee of, being shy of making the most of a fund-raising opportunity.

(And, oh bother, I miscalculated. It's three weeks 'til the end of term, not two. <pout> Eh well, they'll be here before I'm ready for them anyway.)

I'm feeling justifiably smug. I managed to find the cub a costume coat, scarf and waistcoat for $7. I love op shops.
I also got another couple of fistfuls of attractive cutlery for next to nothing and I paid $7 for a dictionary that's the size of the combined Melbourne phone books. I'm a happy woman...
It's a neat dictionary, too. Circa 1968, Webster's (which is American, I think, but it spells colour, honour and centre correctly, with notes on the American spelling) and illustrated in colour. <g> There's hours of browsing amusement here.

Next week is the final Bollywood Dancing class for the term and our teacher suggested that we might like to dress-up for the occasion. Hee, I won't be going so far as a sari but I do have a set of ankle bells. There should be another class next term and I'll be signing up for that as well, I've really enjoyed this. Plus I continue to be pleased with how quickly I pick up the steps. :) That decade or more of dance in my youth obviously hasn't been wasted.

Look! ↑ ↑ ↑ I can do arrows!
No no no, I jest, that's not what I'm excited about.
Joules has coaxed the blog template into accepting a link to my Flickr account! Neat, eh? <g> Thanks, Joules!

I admit that being lazy and procrastinative [eh?] can sometimes get me into difficulties. I'm not sure, though, if the latest aggravation is entirely my fault.
The cubs' school is having a Concert [and there were groans there was much rejoicing]. The Concert is this Thursday night but I've known about it for weeks. I discover today that one of the cubs doesn't have a costume...
Being lazy and procrastiwotsit I tend to take a laissez faire attitude to school. I rely on written notification - or failing that, a quick word from a teacher - to let me know if there's anything I should/need to see to. If I don't get a note then I assume there isn't a problem. I understand that teachers are busy and shouldn't be expected to micro-manage everything but still, I had no idea about the cub's costume. The other cub had his costume provided so I assumed...
Anyway, tomorrow after Bollywood Dancing I'll be trawling 'round the op-shops looking for a codger coat and hat/scarf. <sigh> I could really be doing without this last minute franticness.

And I suppose needing to go costume hunting tomorrow is another reason I can't accept a free ticket to a (matinee) dress rehearsal of Camelot. I was offered one today and it was very tempting but I had to decline. Not only was it very short notice but it would've meant reorganising a doctor's appointment after school plus running the risk of not getting back from the city in time to pick the cubs up from After Care if the thing ran overtime. <sigh> Too much like hard work, alas. Eh, I'll placate the fluffy bunny by dragging out the DVD and having a good sniffle.

Had a surprise visit from Soulsis on the weekend! And she came bearing really cool gifts! A pair of scissors with goldfish pics on the blades; a crab/lobster apron with matching serviettes (hee); a copy of a Bumper Book of Fun!! thing I put together years ago as a joke; and a 1983 issue of National Geographic that has an article about an artist using eclectic trash in his work. (Inspired? Oh yes.) <g> Now I have a reason to hang on to the crap I find...

ASIMO. <hissss>. And the cubs won't bloody stop talking about it, even after their father advised them that I really, really don't like robots. They were quite put out when I said that come the day - as they prophesised - humanoid 'bots were freely available to the masses, I'd be off up to the mountains as far away from 'civilisation' as I could.
"But what about us?" they asked, eyes wide (cos, remember, they're planning on living with me forever and ever).
"You can visit just don't bring your robots."
"Oh..."
<g> Their faces were a picture - I think that was the first time they'd ever contemplated a life away from me...

Moving right along.
Pirates of the Caribbean 2. (Did I really need to include a link?)
I was prepared to enjoy this movie and so was just a little bit disappointed. It's not that it was worse than the first but like other blockbuster sequels there seemed to be a reliance on references and in-jokes from the first, and a lot of these seemed gratingly contrived. (Except for one, which had me cackling). Plus, while there were some cracking new characters, and some gratifying character growth for the old ones, Captain Jack was just more of the same. It really felt like Depp was simply rehashing what'd worked previously.
It was a very long movie, as well, with not a lot of substance. It's not a good sign when I keep checking my watch instead of becoming immersed in the world.
There were plenty of good bits, however. The CGI was t'riffic - I'll never trust an octopus again - and the hint of angsty plot there at the end made me prick up my ears.
I'm glad I saw it at the cinema but I have no desire to see it again. I'll probably get the DVD when it's released, though that'll probably be more for completeness sake than anything else.

One DVD (and soundtrack) I will be actively hunting down, however, is Triplettes de Belleville.
Wow, just... wow.
The story is so simple you don't need subtitles for the (sparse) dialogue to follow what's going on, but even so it's hard to describe. It's quirky, but not light, and definitely sinister in places. The animation is astonishing but the 'wow'ness of it sneaks up on you. It's a - I dunno - fairly loose style, I spose you could say? The little bit of CGI incorporated stands out but not in a bad way. People and places are caricatures - this is in no way trying to replicate reality - but there is a wonderful subtlety of expression. Especially on the dog. My gods, that's a dog. <g>
According to the blurb on the back cover, Triplettes was up against Nemo in the 2003 Academy Awards. The fish won, and I can see why, even though Triplettes is a much better movie. Technically, Nemo was a marvel with an easily digested, brain-candy plot. Triplettes is thought-provoking and emotionally engaging in a way that goes right to your soul.
... Or you'll hate it. <g> Either way, it's an experience.

Hah! I've signed up for the The Lupin/Snape Lurve Community Snupin Santa. Already started my super sekrit assignment but I'll actually have to do some research if I want to do it justice. <g>

The cubs' school is putting on a concert next week.
Help me... heeelp meeee...
It probably won't be that bad, really...

And just in case I'm being too subtle about my feelings for my camera/phone (I take waaaay more pics than make calls) - I've recently updated my Flickr account.

You've gotta love a camera that'll let you take a dozen photos before getting out of bed. (Camera was to hand cos I use my mobile as an alarm clock. The question is, if I had a separate camera would I take that to bed with me as well? Sadly perhaps, the answer is probably yes. <g>)

Cubs and I went to Penny's for dinner last night. Virtuously, we walked there, too, it only took half an hour. Nice afternoon for it, sunny without being hot and mostly downhill.
Even though the cubs viewed 2/3's of the food with suspicion they did at least try a taste instead of refusing outright. Wasn't too embarrassing as I'd warned Penny they'd do this.
What did we have to eat? A hearty cabbage, bacon and tomato soup; a potato, salami and egg bake; and apple and blueberry crumble for dessert. Mmmmm...
Heh, we had three hyper sprogs last night, and that was without the benefit of sugar. Just the normal high-pitched, frenetic energy of children being creative and having fun together. :) It helps that there's really cool toys at Penny and Sarah's, like a trampoline, and digicam/video. There was an entire saga unfolding - and being filmed - in the lounge room; something about a mad scientist, his assistant and the cat who tries to stop him...
There were protests all 'round when I declared it was time to leave but the cubs went to bed without a fuss when we got home. <g>
Thanks for inviting us, Penny, and thanks for the lift home. I really didn't fancy catching the bus that late.

When I got home last night I found the big black spider (that normally lives on the kitchen window) trapped in the sink. What was she doing out of her web? As far as I know from observation this species don't move at all. So anyway I gingerly helped her out of the sink, (twitching all the while cos she really is big and fast), and nudged her towards the window. I figure I'll give her a day or so and if she hasn't moved back into her web I'll take it down. Absolutely brilliant for keeping European wasps under control but it's not very pretty.

Our weather seems to be warming up slowly <grumble> but it was so cold in the kitchen the other morning that the jelly I'd made the cubs for dessert had started to set without being refrigerated. :)
Can't say I'll miss the cold but I'm not looking forward to the heat. But, some of the trees are starting to blossom or come into leaf and the port wine magnolia down the road has flower buds. Now that lovely smell is something I'm definitely looking forward to.

I went to see Confetti last week and loved it. A British mockumentary about a wedding magazine hosting a competition to find the most original wedding of the year. The contestants chosen (from a right bunch of weirdos) are Naturists, a 'Tennis' couple, and a pair who want a Busby Berkeley style musical wedding. (The dialogue was all improvised, apparently, I'm even more impressed.) Great characters, especially the Wedding Planners. I was sceptical at first - two gay men? Hadn't that been done before - but these two were so well played, tiptoeing the ragged line between the magazine's and the couples' frequently unrealistic demands. I loved these two outrageous but still believable queers and felt like cheering when they (quietly) took a stand against the magazine to give one of the couples what they most wanted. <happy sigh> The fluffy-bunny loved that bit.
And here was something I found interesting. The Naturist couple spent a lot of their screen time nude. I blinked at first but the nudity was so unsexual by the end of the movie I wasn't really noticing it any more. Which is, I suppose, the aim of naturists. <g>
This movie is quirky UK fluff and won't lose anything on DVD compared to big screen. It's another on my list of films to buy.

Some more fanfic snerks:
Infactuated - she knew all there was to know about him?
And - 'the vaulted Marauders'. <howling> I think she meant vaunted...

<happy dance> I got another parcel yesterday! From Joules this time containing a signed copy of Crystal Power (gorgeous!); a DVD (Blow Dry mmm... Rickman...); a cinnamon scented, grape festooned candle; another piece of the lovely salmony silk; a massage octopus (<snerk> 8 thumbs, eh?); a froggy floating pond ornament; 3 packets of strawberry angel delight! (<swoon> mine!); 16 sachets of the Turkish delight hot chocolate; a CD full of music and manga (Raditz, phwoooar! ... just looking!); and a good handful of Cadbury creme egg bars (which are mostly all gone now. <licks lips>)
Thanks, Joules, your Care packages are as appreciated (squeed over) as ever. <g>

Right, The Libertine. Fascinating movie, not pretty at all, despite the glorious costumes - it seemed to view everything through a miasma of mist, and mud and candle light. In the opening frames the Earl of Rochester (Johnny Depp) tells us bluntly that we won't like him, and he's correct, up to a point. For me it wasn't so much a case of dislike for the excesses of the 17th century poet, as pity. The movie's tagline 'He didn't resist temptation. He pursued it.' is misleading. It makes John Wilmot out to be a romantic sort of rogue, and he is not. He is a deeply unhappy man who retreats behind moral cowardice to avoid the effort - and perhaps pain - that's needed to realise his potential. It felt like a life wasted. Here was a brilliant man who could've overcome his weaknesses but chose not to, and when his life falls apart with drastic consequences all he can say is 'I warned you not to trust me'.
It was a tragic story with a tragic ending, and yet, he does rally himself for a sort of redemption at the end. It was a small gesture compared to the damage he'd brought to himself and others, but it was a glimpse of what he could have been. And that was when I started sniffling. :) I'd like to read the play now, if not some of Rochester's writings, and I want a copy of the DVD when it comes out. Not just because it's another notch in my Depp collection but because it's an intriguing piece of art in its own right. <shakes head> Who wants to fill up on cotton-candy movies when there's stuff like this around?

Speaking of cotton-candy... I couldn't resist the bishie on the cover of Absolute Boyfriend and so I bought my first ever manga. It was so cute, and so funny, I giggled all the way through. (And of course, being alert to the slashy possibilities didn't detract from the reading, either <smirk>). I liked the style of art, too, simple and clean but very expressive. Volumes 2 and 3 of the translations are available, apparently, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for those.

I've recently been keeping track of the weather, just to see how accurate the forecasts are. I only had 14 days of data to play with for July but even so the results were interesting. On average, the weather bureau underestimated both the low and high temperatures by only half a degree. I'm trying to get a full month's date for August then I'll run the figures again - but I suspect it'll be a similar result.
(Good gods, next I'll be looking into rain gauges for my garden. As long as I don't begin taking an interest in shovels I should be all right...)

Our ABC - which is my default telly channel - occasionally broadcasts some very strange things late at night. For instance, sometime last week I looked up from the 'puter to see a performance by an 'experimental orchestra'. <blink> Music, only by the vaguest definition, enhanced by the orchestra members writhing about while wearing plastic bags and shredded paper. I got the impression of something oceanic but that was only because one man appeared to be acting like a seal. The rest made no sense at all... Oh well, 'art' is only in the comprehension of the beholder, I suppose. :)

After a really good day at Puffing Billy on Saturday, Sunday was very strange. I let myself sleep in and when I eventually opened my eyes at 11 a.m. I felt very bleurgh. Headachey and hungover; very annoying considering it's been months since I had a drink. Anyway, dragged myself out of bed but only managed an hour or so of useful activity before I had to apologise to the cubs and take myself back to bed for another few hours. It was well into the evening before I began to feel better. I really don't like days like that.
(Chatting to Penny about it on Monday we concluded that I must've been channeling her vodka hangover. That, or I just let myself get horribly dehydrated.)

I took 132 photos at Puffing Billy, for a total of 25 megs, and I discovered a lot about my woodgie phone camera. It doesn't handle motion very well, and without a flash I can only rely on available light. Not much of a problem with flourescents but incandescents don't work well at all. The 2 megapixels can sometimes give a surprisingly good picture but I've had to learn to judge what probably will and won't work with the digital zoom, or with close-ups. I probably have more 'failed' shots with this camera than I would with an SLR but I'm learning the media and I love not having to cart around rolls and rolls of film. As someone known to take oodles of photos at the merest hint of something interesting, the cost saved is significant. I do fret a little, however, at the volatility of the medium. One 'puter crash and you've lost everything, without having negatives to go back to. So, I've been very good about burning everything to CD on a regular basis. Ideally I'd like to have hard copies of favoured photos too, but that can wait for the moment. Even more ideally I'd still love to have an honest to goodness darkroom, but again, that can wait... :)

Dagnabbit. As I'm only using the free Flickr account I can only have 3 photo 'sets'. Pooh, I'd been relying on setting up another one so I could sort today's Puffing Billy pics in some semblance of order instead of the 'fling'em'up'there' method I used. I could delete the lot, I spose, and start from scratch. Not sure if I can swap them around once they've been uploaded...
So, anyway, be warned that this latest batch of photos aren't in a logical sequence. <g>

Yes, the cubs and I went to Puffing Billy today! A belated birthday present for my babies. <eg> I'm so tired, though, and my eyes are stinging. We had to have an early start (out of the house by 8 a.m) to make sure we got to Belgrave in plenty of time to catch the only train scheduled to go all the way to Gembrook. Normally we just travel to Lakeside but today we went alllll the way to the end of the line. Ultimately it's less than an extra hour each way but it was so blinking cold in the windowless carriages! Fortunately there was a cosy fire waiting for us in Gembrook station, so after some hot chocolate and basking for a bit the cubs and I meandered around the tiny township for an hour or so. Let's see, Gembrook has: a motel, a pub, a fast-food place, 3 antiques/collectible/artsy shoppes, a newsagent/post office, a motoring museum (closed today), a bakery, an itty supermarket and 3 bar/cafes. Can we say 'Tourist Town'? <g> There was a very nice park, though, with a gazeebo. At first the cubs were all keen to explore the playground but the siren call of the steamie was irresistible and we spent the remaining time before the return journey poking around the station and the engine. :)
It was even colder on the way back.
We hopped off at Lakeside and dashed up to the Model Railway for a look before dashing back down to the station in time to catch the last train to Belgrave. From there it was a nicely modern (warm) train back to Box Hill to catch the bus home.
We had a great day, despite the soot in the eyes and the frozen fingers, and the cubs are already talking about their next trip. <g>

Onna told me there was a parcel on the way, and that it was heavy...
An understatement! <bouncebounce> I opened up the box and cooed over the huge wodge of charm squares material - and then I looked in the plastic bags. Holy Heck! I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say my quilt fabric stash has doubled. There's some gorgeous material in there, thanks, onna! And that's not mentioning the selection of craft books and magazines. I foresee many happy hour of inspirational browsing...

I had a few things to say about The Libertine, which I saw earlier this week, but I can't keep my eyes open. The sibilant wit will have to wait for another time. <sleepy yawn>

Tch, I've had access to a camera for two weeks already and only just remembered I have a Flickr account. Anyway, I've put up a handful of pics here - more to come when I'm better organised. <g> (And have a look at my 'buddy icon'. Dormouse! Squee! Not a photo I took myself, obviously, cos there's no dormice in Australia, but nicked from the 'net somewhere.)

I have numerous, non-urgent side quests and picking up a copy of Ned Kelly (very cheaply) was one small step closer to fulfilling one of them.
Now, I'm not an aficionado of the Ned Kelly myth though I've been marginally aware through the years about the arguments over his character. To some he's simply a murdering crinimal, to others a valiant freedom fighter pushed into outlawry through the prejudice of the police. Right, whatever, I have no real opinion but it was pretty bloody obvious within a few minutes just where the film's sympathies lay, which was firmly within the 'ordinary man forced into crime' camp. It was dissatisfyingly obvious, in fact, almost Marty-Stuish. Add a spurious romance to the clumsy attempt to gain our sympathy and it wasn't a significant film at all. That's not to say that the cast were crap, cos they weren't. Most of the characters were very well played and believable, and Heath Ledger in particular did well with what he had. What did annoy me, though, was the melodramatic aspect of some of the police (and the beards, dear gods, the beards!). As instruments of Kelly's perdition one in particular was overplayed and just irritating. Yes, yes, the authorities had it in for the Kelly family, we know that, there was no need to highlight it so strongly it became farcial. Sheesh.
What I did really like about this movie however was how well it portrayed the landscape. Outback Victoria is not especially hospitable but it is striking.
... and Orli-squee's Irish accent was soft and gentle and just darling! <squinch>

I had a dream the other night that my father asked me if I'd seen his bowtie. I had to think hard but I vaguely remembered seeing it in an ornamental brass box of my mother's. Problem was, Mum had packed most of her stuff away and I spent nearly the whole dream rummaging around in cupboards and cardboard boxes looking for the stupid thing. Tch.

And speaking of looking for things. I heard a snippet of classical music last week and it drove me mad! I knew it from somewhere but couldn't quite place it. I knew - or rather, my body knew - it'd been used regularly in the ballet barre work exercises I endured years ago, and I was almost certain I'd danced to it as well.
I finally remembered what the piece was just before I went to bed that night - the opening stanza from Carmen. As it happened I hadn't danced to it but the impression I had of particular steps and swirly skirts was because I'd seen it danced numerous times. It's always good to solve a puzzle, I went to bed feeling very smug.

It was announced at assembly this morning that the cubs' school is getting (has bought with Government funds) one of the cabins built for the Athletes' Village in the recent Commonwealth Games. Neat! We're acquiring a piece of history, a building that's been imbued with the desperate hopes and determination - yea, perhaps even the very sweat - of world class athletes. That can't be anything but inspirational, ne? <g>

<sigh> The broadband limit ran out very quickly this month so I've had an enforced absence from eBay of two weeks.
Which honestly probably isn't a bad thing.

More delights of my new phone: having the music piped directly into my ears has in some cases enabled me to hear the lyrics more clearly. Outkast's Hey Ya, despite the cheerful tune and peppering of 'love', 'together', 'forever' words is not a nice song. And I've discovered that my favourite ever Kylie song is spookily appropriate for the project I've just started.

Finally...
Spotted cloisterphobic in a fan fic. <snerk> The fear of monasteries?

Heh, had proof positive today that the new school library was designed by an architect and not someone who actually works in a library. The front desk is very nice, wide and long, lots of space, but all the cords and cables from the 'puter and peripherals hang down and across the drawers underneath the desk. Opening a drawer without tugging on a cord and pulling something vital off the desk is a challenge. The drawers are integral to the desk, so they can't be moved, likewise the 'puter is anchored to one spot and can't be moved. Tch, eh, we'll sort something out, no doubt.
The library's coming on, though! All of the boxes of books have been emptied and the majority of the items are on the shelves with only a waist-high pile of odds and sods left over, mostly stuff that's escaped being processed, or been catalogued incorrectly. Of course, that's not counting the other waist-high pile of new stuff that's come in since the holidays. Going to be busy. :)

The second Bollywood class was even more fun than the first. I still feel like I'm a heffalump with delusions of grace but it doesn't matter. It's a challenge, and tiring, and I'm enjoying myself immensely. I'm remembering the steps and the sequences without too much trouble, and while the transitions continue to be awkward and my fingers look like claws cos of the unfamiliar positions, this is satisfying on a very primal level. <g> I'm not kidding about my hands, I've never bemoaned quite so much my lack of long, graceful fingers. Some of the movements are very subtle and they got lost in the stumpiness. <giggling> Which in itself is quite funny...

Oh yes, my phone. I have a new phone, have I mentioned? <smirk> I've been playing with the camera, seeing just what it can do. It's pretty basic, and what works one time might not work again in almost identical circumstances, but I'm sure we're reaching some sort of amicable working relationship.
The itty screen in almost useless for viewing, though, and I generally have to wait to see what a pic looks like on the 'puter monitor before I know if it's worth keeping.
It's all good, though, yes. :) I definitely need a memory chip so I can lug about more music. Never realised how marvellous headphones are for shutting out the world.

Hee, Freddie Mercury sang about being in love with his car - I think I'm in love with my phone! I spose it's not quite new technology but even so I'm surprised at how quickly I've taken to it. <thinking> Perhaps it's the colour? Grey is serious and intimidating while pink is a happy-fun consequence free toy. :)
So anyway I've been having fun with my new toy - taking photos, downloading music - and the alarm has a snooze button! How cool is that? With my old phone, which I've been using as an alarm clock for months and months, I had to reset the alarm if I wanted a snooze but now it's just one button. Hee.
It was a bit rocky to start with but, you know, putting the SIM card in the right way round works wonders. <g> There's still a couple of things I need to suss out, but I think I'm pretty comfortable with my phone already. And music, yay! I've been listening to things I've not heard since the last 'puter melt-down. :)

The school library has finally got its shelves so I spent a couple of hours today hefting boxes of books around. It was very satisfying. <g> Managed to unpack probly 10 boxes, and there's at least twice that much left cluttering up the storeroom. Should keep me busy for a little while...