Yesterday morning the Historical Society (ie: Penny and I <g>) brainstormed with the other Grade 3 parents about ideas for the display we're thinking of doing for the school's 50th anniversary. Turns out there's lots of people who know lots of other people who went to the school years ago. This is great, it means we'll have a better chance of scoring some memorabilia.

And then Soulsis and I nicked off down to the city (sans children, weee!) to see the Guy Bourdin and Caravaggio exhibitions at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Bourdin was a fashion photographer during the 70's and 80's and the blurb on the wall said he wanted to do more than simply photograph another dress or another pair of shoes so he attempted to construct narratives within his photographs, sometimes with overlays of violence and pornography...
Right. In the end, though, they're still just photographs of fashion – superficial and disposable, you view them then move on.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the exhibition. Some of the pieces were amazing, Bourdin produced some exceptionally strong compositions, but it wasn't his fashion photos that prompted an emotional response for me, not even the blatantly sexual, apparently controversial ones. A small, understated part of the exhibition comprised a set of b/w photos which, I assume, weren't 'work' shots as such but were more like artistic studies of textures and patterns formed within rocks, and gravel, trees and sand, and piles of discarded cow bones. Some of these images were beautiful and they're the ones I'm still thinking about...

Of the 66 paintings in the Caravaggio exhibition only 9 of them were originals - the rest were representative of the artist's followers and contempories - but it was the originals that really stood out. There's an amazing clarity to Caravaggio's work, a brightness that's instantly recognisable. Caravaggio was famed, and scorned in the 16th/17th century, for the realism in his paintings. He's credited with starting a whole new way of thinking about painting; he was evidently one of the first to downplay the background and put the subject right at the forefront of the piece. (Please, anyone with more than a passing interest/knowledge in Art History, feel free to correct any of my inaccuracies. : ) I admit I love this style (chiara obscuro? Light and dark - Rembrandt was another proponent...) it can be very powerful. Interestingly though, it wasn't the subject matter Soulsis and I enjoyed looking at so much as the details. How would that gorgeous court dress have been constructed? See the books in that stack there? Look at how they've been bound. Look at the glass that gambler's drinking out of, it's beautiful! <bg> It's the little things...

The cubs spent the evening with their father so when we got back from the Gallery Soulsis and I took advantage of the hush and had a girly moment watching the Love Actually DVD I gave her for her birthday. <happy sniffle> Love that movie...
Here's the funny thing though. We'd gotten halfway through watching the deleted scenes when Soulsis had to leave. The cubs had gotten home by then so they leapt in and commandeered the telly to watch Cartoon Network. In between bustling about doing mummy-stuff I caught a little of what was on the telly. My initial response was to think that yes, this was crap and it was a good thing it'd been deleted from the final product... And then I remembered that this was Scooby Doo they were watching and it was actually part of the program.
I've never liked Scooby Doo <beg>

(nicked from Onna's blog...)

My life has been rated:
See what your rating is!

Suitable for 12 years or older, but under 18s must be with an adult. This is virtually identical to the 12 certificate, in that we'll have some adult-themed storylines, but no real meat or detail. No scary bits, but some language and maybe a bit of skin.

Examples: Die Another Day, Lord Of The Rings

Heh, well that about sums it up...

Ooookaaay... Chapter 9 of Dancing was giving me problems but I think I've beaten it into submission.
I'm sure it could be better though...
I've started my second Haadri fanfic – much to Joules' delight – and I have to say that fanfiction is hard work! All the things you've got to double-check, especially when you're new to the universe. I mean, you want to get it right, right? <bg> Of course, it helps having the author of said universe on hand to check the details with.

I showed the cubs the picture of Rosa on Joule's blog. Naturally they were charmed and spent the next half hour pretending to be big, cuddly hairy spiders... I wonder about my children sometimes, I really do. (Joules, by the way, thought this was cute... I wonder about her sometimes, too... : )

This little rhyme Joules snagged from Kai's school had me giggling.

I am a little firefly, and fireflies aren't glum.
How can you be unhappy when the sun shines out your bum?

<rolling around laughing>

Just watched a program about people in Tasmania who've built shacks to live in, mostly out of salvaged materials. Some of the shacks are wonderful – lovely organic structures that grow out of the ground and into their (generally) bush surroundings. <sigh> Looks like a blissfully simple life and it certainly doesn't hurt that these places have nearly all been built on the coast. I've been taking notes. There's a guy who has his vegetable garden in the middle of the house under a glass roof (this is in South Western Tasmania, doesn't get very hot there) and another couple's shack has fixed windows - ventilation is provided by small, shuttered slits.
I really really like the idea of building my own home from scratch, and the temptation to just up and go somewhere right now is acute. Eh, it's just been one of those days...

Have you seen the Tiny Tins collectables? They're little soft toys (or diecast cars/trains, plastic animals) that fit into a standard size tin and today I saw a series of Ham-hams! <happy squeak!> So cute...!

Housemate (he has his uses) told me last night that Madman is releasing the first series of Yu Yu Hakusho on DVD sometime this month! Aaaargh!
I'll add it to the list.

Onna's made some t'riffic banners for different areas of the Zone and a gorgeous Wolfwood/Vash pic. Go have a look!

Got the test results today for the subject that made my brain hurt. Did better than I thought I would - 38/40. 'k, that's another subject passed. One more test to go next week then I'm done with the first 4 subjects.

The cubs and I had a tiny bit of a clean-up on the weekend – it's amazing how many socks can fit under the couch...

There's something to be said for the never-ending early mornings of school terms... the cubs were fast asleep by 9.30 tonight. : )
Had a good mummy day – the cubs got both exercise and fresh fruit. <rolls eyes>

I took them swimming this afternoon – been weeks since we've gone. My babies are growing up, though, wasn't that long ago they wouldn't consider going near the 'big' pool unless they were clinging to me but today they happily took themselves off into it and weren't fussed I didn't go with them. Of course, it helps that the water in the shallow end now only comes up to their armpits, not their noses. <g>

One of the cubs decided he'd like to grow his own apples. Not too hard to do, not with the varieties of apples that can be grown in tubs. If we get a chance we'll go have a look at some nurseries later this week to get an idea of price.

And still on the cubs...
They spent most of last evening, and this afternoon, drawing their own comics and giggling hysterically at each other's work. : ) One of the cubs in particular produced some lovely, very expressive little characters, with a good use of anime conventions like sweat drops. Thank you, Teen Titans... <smirk>

Joules has been very busy on the Wordwrights site, re-organising things. My Elga stories are now accessible from the non-password protected area, so if you want to read them and are not a member of The Zone go here.
(And for the record I am dead chuffed Joules thinks enough of this series to make it more accessible. : )

I've also mostly finished the first part of a Dystopia chapter inspired by something Thorne drew. It should be posted soon – and as a bonus there's a Posh Nosh in-joke included! <bg>

<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?

Good weekend up at mum's, but I'm glad to be home. So are the cubs, they were making 'homesick' noises last night.
Soulsis and her cubs came up to Mum's on Easter Sunday then we all trooped off to the Alexandra timber train Museum thing. Hot, way more people than last time, but the kids all enjoyed themselves. The cubs and I popped down to the town's Easter Show for a short time as well. Nothing terribly interesting for me (ie: the stallholders were nearly all local businesses, wineries, alpaca studs, etc, no second-hand/antique sellers) but I did pick up a kilo of gourmet potatoes to try ('pink eye' [don't laugh!] pale, waxy flesh, ideal for boiling. Mmmmm...) The cubs got a go on a huge bouncy-castle/giant slide, so they were happy.

Heh, after 5 years of mutual antipathy my Mum's siamese cat and I have reached an understanding. He no longer takes a swipe at me as I go past and even went so far this weekend as to walk across me to get to Mum's lap. He still bullies the cubs, though, and they're still scared of him. Eh, we'll work on that.

<sigh> Probly spent too much on the cubs this weekend what with toy swords, and beanie kids (bears dressed up as a meerkat and a policeman) and milkshakes and shark-shaped face washers. : ) I haven't overspent my budget though so it's not really that much of a problem. My special treat was some lovely, bright-orange material from my favourite patchwork shop. I'm going to make up some stars from it and replace some of the less-liked colours in my quilt. <bg>

... it is possible to have too many easter eggs...

For years I'd thought that my primary school in England had let us go home early so we could watch Neil Armstrong's first moon-walk live. I checked with Mum and she only remembers us watching it on the news that night. Hm. That sort of makes sense, I guess, after all, we didn't get to go home early to watch Charlie being invested as Prince of Wales. Heh, not sure how accurate this memory is but I remember sitting with the rest of my (smallish) school in the darkened hall watching the event on a television. <g>
Also, prompted by a program Mum and I watched, I asked her if she'd been one of the children evacuated during the second-world war. She was, sent away from Portsmouth to Leicster for a year. Fascinating - I should ask my Mum questions like that more often.

[<grumblepout> ... I get back and now you're gone... wish the ningens would organise themselves better... ]

Oh dear, to do justice to this little AC sidestory I have planned I'll have to go back and reread the first (and probably the second) chronicle. <hand to forehead> Such a chore... Hee.

Finished reading Alan Garner's 'The Moon of Gomrath, his sequel to 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen'.
... and? Where's the third book?
I don't mean that to sound like I was so enthralled that I must have more, dammit! I mean I was left with the overwhelming impression he hadn't finished the story. (And this was written in 1967 – I don't think there is any more of it.) I'm not a great a fan of Garner anyway but leaving the narrative hanging this way is just annoying. True, the (few and far between) bits of the book that struck a chord (and which, incidentally, were the reason the books were recommended to me) were magical but for the rest? I find Garner's language convoluted yet plodding, his plots simplistic even for the target audience of 10 - 14 year olds. Any book where my attention wanders in the middle of an 'action' scene (a battle, being chased by unspeakable horrors etc) or I'm able to put down in the middle of a sentence without a qualm doesn't have that much going for it as far as I'm concerned. I had a similar reaction to Garner's 'Stone Book Quartet', and 'Elidor' and 'The Owl Service' (which I haven't finished yet) all of which begs the question: why have I read so much of something I don't like?
Meh, beats me. Maybe it's that sunny optimism gland? It can't be as bad as I remember, right? : )

Gods, I'm such a sook...
Watched the George Harrison memorial concert (filmed in 2002) tonight and spent most of it in tears. Fair enough I've loved most of the songs performed that night for years but it always means so much more when something's sung in requiem for a friend. Tch, was even sniffling through the rendition of Monty Python's 'I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay'... How sad is that? <g>
But it was Ringo Starr singing 'Photograph' that really did me in.

"Every time I see your face,
It reminds me of the places we used to go.
But all I got is a photograph,
And I realise you're not coming back any more..."

Waaaaah! <sniffle>

There's something blonde and cute in the opening credits of Astro Boy. I think it's a robot, I think it's male, but I'm not sure. Heh, if I was really that interested I could go hunt up some websites and find out, couldn't I?
And why do all the humans have huge noses? They can't all be comic sidekicks...

Not packed as yet for the weekend though the clothes are all sorted out at least.
This would all be so much easier if I had a car. Eh well, the cubs like the train journey.

<happy squeak!> Just read something that Joules wrote for me, which no one else will get to see until the end of the OT series! Definitely worth waiting for - the fluffy bunny's smiling dreamily. : ) <glomps Joules> Thank you!

(And that little flash of AC inspiration grew somewhat while I was hanging the washing out. Almost got enough now to consider writing it...)

The cubs and I spent 4 hours yesterday at our (holiday crowded) shopping centre. Why? Because I'm secretly a masochist? Perhaps, but my conscious reasoning was cos we didn't have to hurry home. Usually when we go to this centre it's after school and the cubs want to go here and there and I'm always saying no, no, no, we have to get home so dinner's not too late...'
We indulged each other yesterday though, stopped and had a good look at shops we usually skim past. Took the cubs into Made in Japan which is full of delicate crockery... Didn't twitch too much and the cubs were fascinated with the Japanese cupboards, what with the plethora of drawers and sliding doors and little hidey holes. : ) Next week I'm going back there to put a sake set on lay-by - it's shaped like a puffer fish!
One of the shop assistants asked the cubs a question. They didn't actually answer her question - which was 'are you twins?' - but they divulged all sorts of other information that was topmost in their minds. Their names; their ages; the fact that one is 48 seconds older than the other; their current favourite toys and what they do; their favourite colours of their favourite toys... The girl just blinked under the onslaught - it was quite funny. <beg> Heh, welcome to my world.

This morning one of my cubs suggested torture as a punishment for a toy that had been 'bad'. When I squeaked - a fluffy-bunny sound of distress - he justified the statement with that torture was 'fun' when it was used on someone else...
Joules fell about laughing when I told her this. Hmph. Queen of Casual Torture.
I blame the Horrible Histories series, it's full of gruesome facts... Mind you, I'd rather they read that than Captain Underpants. : )

<relieved sigh> My next AC, Naissance pt 1, is finished and posted. It wasn't as much like pulling teeth as the last couple of chapters had been. Had a short, sharp flash of inspiration while I was writing it as well, totally unconnected with the main story arc. Tch. Not sure if or what I'll do with that, see what my subconscious throws up at me. Could be interesting though, I've never really considered writing from the perspective of one of the lizards...

<sigh> ... and that's KittenKong away over the back fence. The council is pruning trees in the street, and my puir wee cat still has no liking for loud machinery noises.

The cubs were watching an American children's show yesterday, quite happily I thought, until one of them piped up and said the show needed subtitles. <giggling>

Half-watched 'Das Boat' on telly last night - the director's cut. An engrossing movie, not hard at all to empathise with the characters. Some nice bottoms too, incidentally, all lined up waiting for the medic to check their owners for body lice. Hee : )
Apparently this movie is the cut down version of a 30 part tv series. Holy crap! It was powerful enough after 3 hours, the ending would've been devastating after 30 hours and really getting to know the crew.

The cubs and I are going up to mum's for the Easter weekend - you'll never guess what we've got planned?
Yep, that's right, an outing to one of the old train rides. <g>
I don't think the cubs will ever entirely lose their fascination with train engines - I'm all prepared to commiserate with their future partners about this. : )
(But then, if you get involved with an adult who's got a train set you should have some idea what you're in for!)

<pout> The Aquarium has dropped the member's discount in the gift shop from 20% - 10%. It's not going to stop me buying there, of course, but there is some loss of good will. <grumble>
Anyway, besides that the cubs and I had fun at the Aquarium today, (mmmm... fishies... : ) then we spent a little time at the Immigration Museum before going home. The gift shop there had rubber cockroaches... Yes, the cubs have got one each. <g> Actually, could be interesting to get a couple of dozen of the things and use them to make a pattern in a box-picture, or something. Hm...

My next AC is half-done, but like Joules I have to admit my heart's not really in it anymore. Will see it through to the end though, it's the least I can do for something I consider to be my on-the-job training. (Heh, you don't need to do a course in creative writing, just find yourself a mentor and enter into an apprenticeship . : )

Hee. OkapiPrincess found this on author Lynn Flewelling's website and thought of me.

Be Like the Otter

For they are lithe of spine and never seek out chiropractors.
They are short of leg and long of waist, and wear it well.
They are happiest with family and love their children.
They eat on their laps without benefit of napkins.
They appreciate sushi.
They only bite when necessary, but their teeth are sharp and their jaws
powerful. Beware.
They make work look like play; perhaps even they don't know the difference.

That's so cute! <squinch> And pretty accurate, too, especially the sushi bit.
Thanks, OP!

OkapiPrincess found this link. : )
As a connoisseur of food porn, Posh Nosh is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I hope there's a cookbook - I rather fancy trying my hand a exasperating some queasied chestnuts...

Right, chapter 5 of Elga is finished (hee, and I actually managed to surprise Joules with it!). One more chapter, I think, then Part 1 is finished - then I can move on to the meaty Part 2. <eg>

The cubs and I almost finished cleaning their room yesterday, but as it stands it's still the cleanest spot in the house! Little bit more time today and it'll be done, then we can go out and have fun. : )

Hn, not sure what's going on, for the past day or so everytime I've logged into Blogger I've been given the old, grey edit screen. Not a huge problem, really, just inconvenient.
And hey! Lookee at my comments box! Joules resized the Pond's banner so it fits there too. <bhg> Nifty!

Well that wasn't a lot of fun but it was productive. The cubs and I got to work cleaning their room this afternoon. Yes, there was grumbling and plaintive moans about being 'too tired to clean up' (though not too tired to play, I noticed) but we managed to sort out half of their room including hoiking a square metre of stuff out from under the bed. It's times like this I'm glad they've got bunk-beds; two single beds would mean twice as much area to hide things in. : )
We should be able to finish the job tomorrow, especially with the cubs spurred on by the incentive of not going out anywhere fun until their room is clean. <evil smirk>

Got to read snippets of the next chapter of Joules' Oriyal Tales as she was writing it this morning...
Waaaah! <sniffle> So sad - Watari definitely needs a hug. <nods decisively>
Heh, I've started the next part of Elga - never thought I'd find myself writing almost-horror, sort of, it's not a genre I like, but this is fun! And best of all I know where it's going. : )

I cooked roast chicken with roast potatoes for dinner tonight. I made it mainly for my own benefit (I love roasts!) but the cubs polished off all their portions as well. This is a definite step up from the 'Yuck, I'm not eating that! I hate [... fill in the blank...]' They ate all their roast lamb the other day as well. Dare I cautiously believe nutritional progress is being made? <bg>

A-hah! The movie title I haven't been able to correctly recall for days wasn't 'The adventures of Dick Silverman', it was 'The Case of the Smiling Stiffs'! Happy now. : )

Astro Boy. I tell you what, Atlas is a bit of a honey when he's in his 'bad boy motorcycle thug' persona. A thick mop of long red hair; earring and tatts, and that sneer...? Phwooarr...

Niki's made me some clothes!
I have the best friends. : )

Watched a documentary tonight, that OkapiPrincess reccommended, about fat-fetishists. Interesting, scary in places, but very interesting.
And now I'm watching music videos peopled by 16 year old, size 8 girls wearing stuff that in the past has been associated with prostitutes... Where's the balance?

Heh, got the results of last week's test back. 93%.
See, I told you it wasn't going to be 100%. : )
I'm fairly happy with the mark, though as has been the case throughout allll my schooling, I lost points for stupid little mistakes. Eh – I passed, that's all that matters. (The pass-mark was 80%, by the way.)
Had a practice test today for the subject that makes my brain hurt (Occupational Health & Safety). If it'd been the actual exam I would've passed, but not by much. I really really like practise tests, they're an excellent opportunity to check how much you know and where you need to spend more time.
As it stands, I should get a 'CO' (competent) in 3 of my 4 subjects – failing a stupendous cock-up on the real OHS exam 1st week back of term 2, that is. I'm almost certain to pass the fourth subject but I won't officially be marked in that until I've done the required number of hours in 'industry placement', work-experience in other words. There's several subjects have the industry placement criteria – I wonder if I can count my work at the cubs' school towards it? (The principal told me the other day there'll be stacks to do soon, what with all the books that've been donated to the school. : ) That'll be good, I miss the library work.)

<scowl> There's paper plates strewn/stashed all over the house – they've got numbers written on them. Why? Cos one of my cubs decided he wanted to play a number-finding game. <rude noise> Of course, his chances of finding them all are very good cos it was him wot hid them... Plays to win, does my cub - I despair of the kind of gamer he'll be if he ever gets involved in role-playing. Number-crunching Munchkin, anyone?

I probly should get on with my next AC, seeing as Joules has been good and finished hers...
(Or maybe that should be conscientious rather than good. For some reason Joules kicks up about words like 'good' or 'sweet' being used in relation to her. <bg>)

Astro Boy. Hn, it's as sappy as I remember but no doubt the animation is much better than the original. They've kept the flavour of the original theme too, unlike the - the abomination that was made of the re-released Kimba theme some years ago. <sobs, shakes fist> Curse you, you defilers! .... <deep breath> I'm all right now.
The cubs like Astro Boy, though, they get right into the storylines. : )

And the cubs took me on a tour of the 'portable' school this afternoon when I went to pick them up. It's pretty spiffy, doesn't feel portable at all. The classrooms are set in a 'U' shape around a central lawn - gives it a villagey kind of air. I like it. : )

Hn, Easter holidays start in <counts on fingers> 3 days - spose I should make the now traditional list of goals.
Right, cubs' room - it's a sty, has to be cleaned.
My room - ditto.
.............

I think that'll do.

The Museum's new Bugs Alive exhibit was very, um, interesting. Very interesting, on the whole... even the plethora of live spiders. There was a Chilean Rose tarantula lurking pinkly in its enclosure. I pointed it out to the cubs as the one Kai has and they were dead impressed. They're talking now about having pet spiders... <head in hands> I don't think so, I'm not going to have an animal in the house that makes me twitch.
I got to hold a leaf insect (well, I got to be walked on by a leaf insect) and that was kinda cute in a sticky prickly sort of fashion : ) You can get them from pet-shops around here, as you can some of the ginormous native australian cockroaches...
Nah, if I'm going to acquire some exotic pets they'll most likely be frogs.
As part of the exhibit the Museum has dragged out some of it's extensive insect collection. So pretty! Very dead, but still - so pretty! Hundreds of moths and butterflies and beetles and spiders, all shades and colours, all sizes and shapes, artistically arranged and displayed. Fascinating! I love butterfly collections... if it wasn't for the dodgy karma involved in displaying dead creatures my house would be full of them! (I have toyed with the idea of making karma-free displays - butterflies fashioned from paper or material. I've bought half a dozen origami books over the years just because they contain patterns for butterflys. : )
Was able to buy the cubs a little something each from the gift shop (and something for myself - a piece of plastic sushi, prawn on rice. Hee. Almost got the full set now.) One of my cubs chose a t-rex marionette thing... <sigh> You can only guess how many times in the past 6 hours I've had to untangle the strings.
But it was a fun day and we all want to go back and visit the mini-beasts again.

The cubs' school goes into the portable classrooms tomorrow, where they'll be until the new school is built. Unfortunately I don't think I can stay for the assembly in the morning, let alone the planned ribbon-cutting ceremony, cos I have to get to school myself. Ah well, Penny'll be there, she'll take the photos.

Soulsis (and chicks) brought Mum over this morning then we all went out to lunch. It wasn't bad (heh, Smorgy's food) and Mum enjoyed herself - which was the whole point.
And <happy squeak> Soulsis brought me some presents! The Camelot DVD, a mouse/cat notepad and the cutest set of fish stickers ever. : ) I'm saving those for when I get my new monitor then they can swim around the frame... Thanks, Soulsis!

Heh, this comment thing could be interesting - I can already see it doubling the amount of time spend reading the blogs. <g>

No school tomorrow, and the temperature's forecast for the low 20's. It got to 32 degrees today - ack! It's Autumn for goodness' sake, it's sposed to be getting cooler! But anyway, the cubs and I will probly go into the Museum as planned, and their father mentioned he'd like to take them bike-riding sometime tomorrow as well. Should have two very tired cubs by the end of the day.

Joules is starting her next AC (which is prompting me to think about mine) while I've begun the next Haadri fanfic. : )

Mmmm my house smells of the 'Rock Star' soap...

Oh, I get it now, they've not simply remastered the Astro Boy series, they've redone it. Ah...
Never much liked the program when I was younger but now, with a bit of anime appreciation behind me, I can admit to a certain curiosity. It starts on Monday, I'll check it out then.

It's interesting, isn't it, that there's no shrinking violets amongst practitioners of the Dark side of the Force. Evil isn't just seductive it's ego-driven! <smirk>

Heh. Just the other day I was talking to someone about the difference between Lj and Blogger, commenting that I preferred Blogger but thought Lj's 'feedback' option was handy.
Guess what? (hint: have a look at the bottom of the posts.)
<smirk> Dipping into some unfamiliar blogs I found one that had the 'comment' option. Naturally curious I clicked on the link and voila . It's not quite the same as Lj, the comments page is a pop-up, but I'll give it a go, see if it buggers around too much with anything else. : )

As mentioned on Joules' blog, my next Dystopia fic, 'Zoo', is posted in Darkside. It's short, but nasty and sets up another important arc in this world-frame.
Think I need to do something light and fluffy now to get rid of the taste... maybe some more Haadri facfic? <bg>

<happysigh> ... and the ficlet was waiting for me in my email... the fluffy bunny's very happy now... : )

Oh dear, oh dear. Arrr... the haddock be swimmin' agin the toide...
Daylight savings finishes tonight, our clocks go back an hour. I've never been able to make sense of it.

Uhoh, found out where one of my local bookstores (Borders) keeps the manga. I flipped through volume 1 of Fake, and volumes of Cardcaptor Sakura; Excel Saga; Cowboy Bebop; X; GTO; thingy Utena and others I don't remember. Heh, I should've been doing homework and it's a good thing this store doesn't do lay-bys. : )

<poutgrumble> Joules has started the next Watari/Oriya ficlet (and promised lemon) but I have to get offline now and get the cubs ready for this party. 's not fair - I'll have to wait 'til this evening to read it and I've been waiting a whole week already!

[snort] And you know perfectly well that doesn't work. [glares at A'lestrel] I'll deal with you later, obstreperous bratling...

<dismayed squeak> What?! The ham-ham wasn't my idea - I was just following orders!
... okay, that argument didn't work at Nuremberg, either, but - <tears brimming in big, soulful blue eyes> - no Watari/Oriya smu- er, angst? That's not fair! <pout>

[... no, you don't need to make a noise to scare people, hab'lan... <smirk>]

Hee, this was my battlecry result...
(And a battlecry's not so much about letting them know you're coming as scaring seven shades of excrement out of them before you get there. See? : )

What Is Your Battle Cry?

Lo! Who is that, prowling on the desert! It is Lutra, hands clutching a reflective halberd! She grunts homicidally: "I'm going to screw you in such an unsafe manner, you'll age fifty years!!"

Find out! Enter username: Are you a girl, or a guy ?

created by beatings : powered by monkeys

.... this has got me thinking... what sort of carnal relations would be so unsafe they'd age the recipient? Hmm...

I spent last night making ghost costumes, for today's birthday party. The cubs and I worked on the refinements this morning. One cub is going as the ghost of a bionicle and the other as the ghost of a ham-ham. : ) It was fun making the ears! I'll take some photos later...

Heh, now I've done it. Volunteered myself to be Penny's deputy for putting together the school's historical record. : ) We had fun this morning though, borrowing the school's digital camera and zipping around taking photos of the temporary accomodation.

Finally got some photos of the old site scanned.



The blank space on the right side of the pic is the wing where the library was...















The front of the school. This part has been demolished now.













And lastly, my cubs demonstrating how upset they are. <rolls eyes>






(The yellow thing on M's head is a transformer; the thing S's holding is a plush stingray...)



Thanks, Joules, for resizing and hosting the pics! And thank you, Penny, for scanning them. : )

The school's 'Book Fair' went well. Over $5000 worth of books sold, $1700+ of that in books that have been donated to the school (that includes $40 worth from the cubs and I) and Scholastic - the company that runs these things - will be donating 35% of the total sales in books to the school. Heh, not a bad effort for such a little institution, eh?

Finished fiddling with a couple of 'Dancing' chapters this week and now I'm dippiing back into Dystopia briefly. Got the next Elga chapter started as well.

Treated myself to a sliver of soap from Lush today (had to be a sliver, this stuff is expensive!). The soap's called 'Rock Star' and it smells like fairy floss...

Gah, it feels like Friday. Why isn't it Friday?
Got a full weekend coming up. Saturday the cubs are going to a birthday party; on Sunday Soulsis and her chicks are bringing Mum down and we're going to Smorgy's for her birthday; and on Monday (which is a day off school for the cubs cos they'll be shifting into the portable school) the cubs and I are planning on going into the Museum to see the new Bug's Alive exhibition. I'm exhausted already! : }

Hee, Soulsis rang me today to see if A: I had a copy of the musical Camelot on DVD and B: if not would I like one?
I said yes, naturally, I love musicals and Camelot is one of the fluffy-bunny's favourites, so beautifully, tragically Romantic.
I like musicals so much I swear there must be a part of my psyche that's a gay man. Oookay, before anyone squeaks about 'stereotypes' just let me say that every gay man I've ever known enjoys musicals. So there. : )

I have one little niggle with the X series - sometimes I can't read the yellow subtitles when the backgrounds are pale. Be much easier to follow with closed captions. Ah well.
I've had to resort to listening to the English dub in places cos I just can't follow what's going on otherwise. I have the subtitles on at the same time which makes for an interesting effect. It's surprising how many extra words the dub uses, makes it quite wordy compared to the almost spare subs. This isn't necessarily a good thing - the more words used to expand or explain the subtleties the more the original meaning is submerged. I've found, however, I've been getting a 'feel' for the Japanese voices and am picking up clues as to content from the intonations. Fascinating. The cultural slant on the two tracks in noticeable as well, and quite funny in places. (No, no examples, it's late and it's been a long day. : )
And another quick word about the movie version... The more I see of the series the more I realise how bastardised the movie is. It hasn't just been compressed, it's been completely re-edited and the plot significantly changed. I mean, it still works, but the series is way more satisfying. Hope this isn't putting you off the movie too much, Joules!
(One last word... Mmmm... Fuma... And once again the bad guys are all dead-sexy. Tch.)

Wow, this is the second last week of term. Two of my subjects finish next week, another one finishes the first week of term 2, and the fourth finishes 2 weeks after that. Still haven't had any confirmation about places in other subjects, but if I end up not doing any more classes this year I'll cope no doubt, can always make them up next year.
The cubs were well enough to go to school today which was good cos I had an assessment test scheduled for one of my classes and I really didn't want to miss it. How'd I do? Okay, I guess, I'll be surprised if I failed, but I don't think it'll be another 100 percent score.

Sorry to hear bratling's having difficulties, Joules. : ( Hope it settles down soon with the minimum of aggravation.

<sniggering> ... and this was Joules' reaction to my previous post...

<from under desk> not coming out 'til you renounce Boobahs, Teletubbies and other assorted spawn of... um.... some demonic being.....

<smirk>
But they're all so cuuuuute...!

Ok, so technically the cubs were well enough to go to school today but I thought it'd be good for them to have a quiet day at home. Means I'm missing my classes, which I'm less happy about, but I'm tired too. Heh, really looking forward to the term break, I have to admit.

Take the Teletubbies, devolve them, then prescribe LSD...
Apparently there is a point to this show but I obviously haven't got it yet. Mind you I thought the Teletubbies were pretty pointless at first but ended up being well and truly charmed. <shakes head> I dunno, put something prettysparkly in front of me and I'm smitten...

Got a call today from the school to go and pick up my cubs from the sports-day excursion. <sigh> The one who'd been sick last night had been sick again. He flaked out on the couch for the rest of the afternoon while the other one (he'll probly get sick in the next couple of days) bounced around bored and distracted cos he had no-one to play with. I blame their father, he was ill over the weekend... : ) Not sure what's going to happen tomorrow – if the sick cub has to stay home do I send his brother off to school anyway? Either way I won't be able to attend my own classes. Eh well.

Aaaand the healthy cub wanted to help me with the washing-up tonight.
<smiling through gritted teeth>
It's good he wants to help – it's good he wants to help.
There's a fine line between gentle, encouraging instruction and tching in barely concealed irritation. I know the only way he's going to learn to do this effectively is by actually doing it but the process took 3 times longer than usual. : )

Started work on chapter 6 of 'Dancing' (hang on? Have I finished 5? Must check...). Had a 'ping' (imagine light-bulb over head) about it, as well. This is good, feel like I'm making progress finally.
I still have no idea what's going to happen when I've finished it though. What do I do? Find an agent first or just start sending out copies to publishers?
<cue Procrastination Princess> I'll think about it later...

Of all the mummy-duties that fall to me there is none I enjoy more than cleaning up after a sick child... (Yes, I'm being sarcastic. What sort of weirdo do you take me for? I've seen those adult websites - I don't understand the attraction in watching a naked woman vomit.)
I digress.
And there's no better time to perform this duty than just before I go to bed. <sigh> (Ok, could've been worse, sick cub could've come to find me after I'd gone to bed.) But of course, all the icked on bedding (and toys) had to be cleaned straight away or they would've stunk up the house, and then I couldn't go back to bed until the load in the washing-machine was finished cos I'm paranoid about fires started by unattended electrical appliances. Who needs extreme sports for action and adventure, just try parenting...

Uhoh, housemate's found a bookshop that sells and more importantly will lay-by the 'How to draw Manga' series. This could be bad, I haven't purchased any of these books yet cos the only other place I've seen them doesn't do lay-bys. Eh, I'll add them to the list. : )

Well the cubs' projects weren't as painful to complete as anticipated. We walked up to the newsagents on Saturday to get all the card/coloured paper/crepe paper etc we needed then after lunch sat down and got to work. Took just over an hour to finish them. Tch. Fair enough they're not particularly involved or detailed constructions but they're done. The integrated subject for this term turned out to be 'Natural Disasters', not 'Art & Artists' (the kids took a vote, apparently) and so my cubs decided to construct volcanoes for their projects. This consisted of a roughly torn ('clever tearing' - it's a technical term : ) piece of brown paper glued to backing board to represent an island, then a green-paper cone set onto that as the volcano with lava streams made up from strips of crepe paper flowing out from the centre. That was the fun bit, less fun was the writing of volcano 'facts' on the card but it was done and we all sat back blinking at each other at how quickly it had been completed. Heh.
... and then yesterday I initiated some cleaning-up of the house.
Telling the cubs that they're going to clean up their room doesn't work, it's too big a task for them to contemplate and I have to reboot their brains with cordial and a snack. Instead I asked them to do one task - pick up their books and put them back on their bookshelf. There was still grumbling and I still had to supervise them but it wasn't the wholesale trauma of an overwhelming job. Tonight I might ask them to do another small task, and tomorrow another. Call me an optimist but if this works their room should be in order before long...

I did some book-covering last night, using the last remainder of the school library.
A few weeks ago (can't remember if I mentioned it or not) I took home some of the library's supply of the product used to cover books' dustjackets. The stuff has been sitting there for years with little chance of being used as the school didn't seem to buy books with dustjackets anymore. So I asked the librarian I worked with if it was okay for me to take some and she said sure, the stuff was likely to end up in the bin anyway. I only took enough to cover 5 of my books, thinking I could always come back for more... A week later the library and everything in it was gone. Oh well, if I want to cover the rest of my books I'm just going to have to shell out the dosh and buy the product myself.
(But covering the books was enjoyable - I did a good job of it if I say so myself : )

Okies, chapter 4 of 'Elga' is posted in DarkRealm (thanks, Joules, again, for the coding and such : ) I've had a good look at the superhero fic from years ago and I think I can do something with it. Needs rewriting desperately but the basic premise is good.
But first I shall work on another chapter of 'Dancing'.

Oh, have you seen this comic-strip? Get Fuzzy. Onna's sent me some of the strips before but I stumbled across the actual website yesterday. If you're a cat-person you'll probly wet yourself laughing over this - I did. <bg>

Happy Mothering Sunday, Joules!
That's one sweet bratling (and mate) you've got there. : )

In my dream last night someone (I don't know them) was trying to organise my life for their convenience. They looked quite surprised when I growled at them... : )

Apologies beforehand to anybody involved in this 'sport' but don't you think Ballroom Dancing is inherently ludicrous? I could be biased but to me it's faker, more pointless even than ballet (and I should know, I used to teach ballet...) All those big happy smiles that have no emotional connection, the homogenising and sanitising of vibrant, overtly sexual dances into insipid, controlled pap. The costumes can be beautiful though, spangles and fringes and tassels, oh my! <bg> Eh, what do I know? Every BD'er I've spoken to has said they love it - I might too if I could be persuaded to try...

The fourth chapter of Elga is finished. Been a while coming - I had to remind myself that to get to the exciting bits I've got planned for this arc I first have to lay the foundations. Heh.

Going to have to take the cubs up to the newsagents soon so we can get card and such for their projects - the projects which are due to be handed in this coming monday. Oops.
I foresee glue and sticky tape in my weekend... how about you?

I miss Boy Meets . <sigh> I want to see how Skids and Ty are getting on in New York.

The superhero universe I started dabbling with a few years ago has resurfaced. It started off as an AU for a fandom but, again, I think it could work well as an original stand-alone. Hm...

... and Joules has begun the second of the Oriyal tales. : )

(refer last post:)
I loved the Dune movie, as well, for much the same reasons (and the added attraction of the fabulous tech! So baroque...) but the book held a wealth of details and back history and all sorts of stuff that helped it form its own little world. X the series is much the same, you're diving the depths not simply skimming the surface... It's involving and complex and answers the questions the movie threw up.

In my house I would really like to have a library with a secret room hidden behind the bookcases...

Decision made - I picked up volume 3 of X. : )
Joules has now got the X movie DVD I sent her but I'm tempted to advise her not to bother with it. The movie is to the series what the Dune movie was to the book: it's internally consistent but there's so much missing. Mind you the DVD is worth watching for the animation. (Hee, and there's so much more of that in the series too : )

Joules has started the first of the Oriyal fics! <boing> She says it's gone haring off in an unanticipated direction - gosh, what a surprise. Can't wait to see what happens!

One of my cubs had a nightmare last night so came in to me... Of course, he had to clear the accumulated crap off the bed before he could snuggle - maybe it's time I cleaned my room again?

Decisions, decisions. I've poked at my budget and it appears I can afford one DVD this week. What shall it be? Volume 3 of X? Or the first volume of Last Exile or Excel Saga? And there's a CardCaptor Sakura there as well... <put-upon sigh>

'K, I've told the cubs' father and housemate that I intend to have moved by the end of the year - I think 6 months is fair warning.

KittenKong doesn't like my alarm clock. I use my mobile phone's alarm (cos where my bed is in the room I can't reach the powerpoint without running a cord across the floor) and the tune it plays must irritate her. More than once I've woken up to the alarm and found my cat chewing on my phone. Hn...

Heh, <smug> I got 20/20 for my first test. Won't do so well on the assignment I handed in today though, I know I haven't given as much information in the answers as was required. Oh well, my lecturer won't be giving me a bookmark as a reward for doing well - I can live with that. : )
The last time I was doing this course, a decade ago, results were graded from Unsatisfactory, through Pass, Credit and Distinction. That's all been scrapped, it's now CO (competent) or NYC (not yet competent). Hn, I don't know, I rather liked the old system, it gave you an idea of how well you were doing, or not.
Only 2 more classes to go for a couple of the subjects. I've been organising getting onto waiting lists for other subjects throughout the year. Shouldn't be too much hassle, and it's all an object lesson, innit? Next year I'll be waaay more organised... : )

They've started clearing the school site – what's left of the wing that was completely destroyed has more or less been dealt with now. Quite sad, really, I got a bit teary-eyed while walking past the site today, peering through the holes in the fence...
The 'portable' school should be ready to use in just over a week. That'll be interesting, shifting everything over from the hall. Not surprisingly the fund-raising activities have kicked into overdrive. Tomorrow there's a sausage sizzle, the 'disco-night' is this weekend (I won't be going), next week there's the book-fair and we've just been given the tickets to sell for the Easter raffle. To be fair, everything except the sausage sizzle was being organised before the fire, there just seems to be an awful lot of it all at once, or maybe it's simply there's more emphasis on the need for fund-raising now.
Looks like I won't be able to buy second-hand unforms for a while either. All of the stock has gone and the portable school won't have the storage room for the gear. Ouch, brand new uniforms are hideously expensive. The cubs have got enough to get them through winter, especially if I keep haunting the major dept. stores for the cheap, un-logo'ed shirts and windcheaters. Eh, I'll deal with the summer stuff closer to the time.

Chapter 4 of Dancing is reviewed, on to chapter 5 I guess. I'll get that done at least before finishing my next AC/Elga/Dystopia. Heh.

Zipping around yesterday paying bills and such only to come to a screeching halt in front of the newsagents...
I have a soft-spot for model kits and diaoramas and I discovered for sale, not one but two 'week-by-week' collectible model kit thingys.
<whimper> Each has 100 parts to it, at $12 per part; that's more than $1000 spread over two years for each kit...
The first was a model of HMS Victory – Nelson's ship at Waterloo. I can leave that one alone, there's some lovely, top-class wooden ship kits available for way less than that. I'm still debating the other one though. It's a 'build your own Medieval Fortress' where you get to make, and decorate, various types of medieval buildings...
I can live without it, I can. I mean, realisitically, what would I do with it? And the $50 a month I'd be spending on it could buy me a DVD, or two. <sigh>

You'd think 2 years would be long enough to drop off of a library's system, yes? No.
Went to join (or rejoin, rather) my local library after not going in there for a couple of years. I owed them a lot of money in fines and I thought, if my records had slid away in the tides of time, I might be able to sneak back onto the system with a clean slate. No such luck – I was still registered, and the fine was still outstanding. Needless to say I can't borrow anything until it's paid off, which is a pain, but I really don't like having these odd financial spikes hanging over my head. I'm going to chip away at it anyway (there's too much for me to be able to pay all at once!). I guess it can all be part of me getting my act together. : )

<wriggle> Isn't that the cutest pic of the tenshi? Thanks, onna!

Watched volume 2 of X today. Damn, this is a fine series! The characters are developing depth and complexity, I'm getting involved with them (which could be a problem seeing how I know most of them end up. Eh, won't be the first time I've cried watching an anime. : )

The cubs asked me today if (and I quote) it was possible to get stuck in someone's butt?
<blinkblink>
Er - I hedged - stuck how?
A frown, then: Like getting your head stuck.
An inward sigh of relief from me, I knew where this is coming from now, it was something revolting they'd seen on Cartoon Network, not something yaoi they've inadvertantly stumbled across. I then jokingly pointed out how big most heads were and we concluded that, no, it wasn't something that was likely to happen...

I've <gasp!> come to a decision. (Those who know me will realise what a momentous thing this is : )
I'm planning that, car or no car, the cubs and I will be in our new house by xmas this year. Unless something happens in the meantime I'll start seriously searching the rentals in October, that'll give me 6 months to get my act together. In the spirit of organisation I sat down and listed things I'd need for the new place. There's not an awful lot, really, I have most of the necessities already. Yes, I'd like a proper bed but it's not essential, likewise, I'd like a new fridge, and couch and computer, but the ones I've got will do for the time being. It takes some of the financial pressure off, knowing there isn't that much I need to get, and heh, I've got 6 months now to plan for the rest.

D'oh! The cubs have got a project due in tomorrow and we've done nothing. Ooops...

Awww, that was so sweet!
In todays episode of Teen Titans, Raven and Starfire magically swapped bodies - the Puppetmaster's doing, he'd already transferred the other 3 Titans into marionettes. At the end of the ep when the Puppetmaster's power was broken Cybord, Robin and Beastboy went directly back to their bodies but Raven and Starfire's souls twined around each other first. <squinch> The yuri potential in this is so cute... : )

I've decided to call my feisty wooden dragon Rupert. : )

(Joules has suggested the last line of my little birthday poem could scan better if it was 'So pass a bishie to me.' <g> That works, as I said to her earlier, I've always been rubbish at poetry!)

I had a great day yesterday. We christened Soulsis' new tea-set! It's gorgeous, very bright and colourful and the 3D roses are so cute! : ) There was an awful lot of food, too, all of it delicious, and we almost finished it up. (Hee, I have 3 plastic containers full in the fridge.)
After a couple of hours we left off eating and went to see a movie. Big Fish, one from Tim Burton. An excellent movie, very good performances - and soppy enough that the fluffy-bunny was in her element. : ) Thanks for organising it all, Soulsis and Niki, <cuddles> I have the best friends!
But wait, there's more...
After the movie we went back to Niki's place and continued eating, and watching movies! Strictly Ballroom and Emma, and the last episode of Buffy, which the fluffy-bunny thought was wonderful... soppy cow...
Niki gave me a few strands of decorative vine-leaves - to go with my 5 kilos of plastic grapes, hee! - and Soulsis gave me a ceramic prawn platter. I also got a hanky from Penny, that she'd embroidered grapes on, and ecards from Okapi, Sue and Onna (and a gorgeous oekaki of the tenshi, which hopefully'll go here sometime soon.) Mum gave me my birthday present when we were up there last weekend, a carved wooden dragon. He looks really feisty, I haven't decided what to call him yet. <g>
Heh, almost forgot... saw a preview of the Starsky & Hutch movie yesterday. Hn, I'm not sure I approve of the mickey being taken of the series but I'll go watch the movie to see the car. The Torino is sooooo preeettty! Oh! And there was another pretty car in Big Fish - a red Charger... <dreamy sigh>

Happy birthday to me,
I want to live in a tree,
I look like a fangirl,
So pass me a bishie!

Hee!

The cubs' father gave me a box of my favourite chocolates (Guylian seashells) and the cubs - after whispered instructions from their dad - presented me with volume 2 of X! <happy squeak!> (Yes, I knew it was coming but still, <happy squeak! g>)
And I'm off to Niki's this afternoon for tea with Soulsis, Okapi and possibly Penny. : )

Now, about that rat Kittenkong brought in last night. There's no sign of it this morning so if it's still in the bathroom then it's behind the cupboard, but seeing as rats are resourceful creatures it wouldn't surprise me to find it had got itself outside last night. The bathroom window was open and it would've been an easy jump up onto the bath, then the cupboard then the windowsill - not a hard thing for a rat to accomplish. Actually I hope it got itself out, I really don't fancy having a live rat lurking about the house...

I managed to get a whole 2 paragraphs of writing done last night, not a bad effort considering I was thoroughly distracted by the first 8 eps of Excel Saga. Oh gods this is so funny! And so damn cute! Not Ham-ham cute, the other sort, the quirky, wickedly cute. ES pokes fun at all sorts of anime and pop-culture conventions and I'm sure I'm missing more of the references than I'm getting, but it's so much fun! It could be called a show for fanboys - the 2 female leads are ultra-perky (hey, I don't have a problem with that) - but the evil overlord Mr Ilbaratzo is gorgeous! Very droll, I like him, and you've got to love a secret underground base that only has those push-in button locks on it's door handles for security <rolling around laughing> The opening theme is great, very bouncy and lots of fun, not just musically but visually as well, and the closing theme is poignant but still makes me laugh. I couldn't explain it here, you'd have to see it, but it involves a puppy singing about being eaten, and salt. My favourite AV store has ES on DVD... I'll add it to the list. : )

Weee! Joules wrote a little lemony piece for me, based around my favourite Haadri character! <girly squeal> It was just yummy! Thank you, Joules! <GLOMPS>

Sodding hell! The cat's just brought in a live rat! It's cute an' all (bright little black eyes distended with terror) but ack! Mice are one thing, wild rats are not something I'm game to deal with. Heh, it made a dive for the bathroom and kittenkong followed... so I shut the door on them both. With luck she'll dispatch it, then I'll just have to watch her for abcesses. <shakes head>

380 Zone members now, eh, Joules? Only 120 to go then we can hold ZoneCon! Hee!

Heh, almost finished the Haadri fanfic and I have to confess it's pure mary-sue. But this happens a lot with Joules work I've noticed, her universes are so compelling and inviting I just have to leap in. : )

(Rat update. I let Kittenkong out of the bathroom but there was no sign of the rat, I think it's got itself wedged behind the cupboard. Damn.)

We had the school Twilight Sports this evening. This event is usually held on the school oval but seeing as that's now full up with portable classrooms we had it in a nearby park. It wasn't a bad evening, really, the cubs didn't win their races but one of them at least beat someone. <g>

There's high fences up all around the school now, and they've been covered with hessian so you can't see into the site. Annoying, really, I want to see when the site's being cleared...

Glad Kai enjoyed his birthday!

(... and speaking of birthdays...) Thank you, goodtwin, for the card. <bg> I laughed - it's so true on so many levels... (and I know the cubs and their father got me a present tonight but I'm not allowed to see it until friday. Heh, won't be much of a surprise though, got a phone call while they were in the shop to double-check what it was I wanted! : )

Soulsis has this amazing ability to unearth the coolest things. When I saw her at Mum's on the weekend she handed me a 'free anime' DVD. No idea where it came from (though considering there was an advert for a kids magazine on it, I'm guessing that was the source) but it was essentially an hour-long Madman commercial. Not that I'm complaining, it had trailers for half-a-dozen different shows, including Witch Hunter Robin, and the first episodes of Final Fantasy Unlimited, Initial D, and Last Exile. Not overly impressed with FF, and even though Initial D is about street car racing (and we've already established I've got a soft spot for powerful cars...) it's not something I'd consider spending money on. I get the impression it's aimed at teenage boys; the characters' artwork is very basic, not all that attractive but the cars are all CGI and more detailed than anything else. Also there's an overt sexual interest fixed on the only female character to be seen.

[school girl gets into car – panning shot up her thighs to her very short uniform, to linger on her crotch.
Unseen (adult) male's voice: I've always liked you in that outfit.
Natalie, smiling: It's just my uniform.

.... riiiiight....
If this show turned up on cable I'd watch it, I guess, but Last Exile...? Now that's something I could get interested in. Fascinating worldframe – think of a cross between extrapolated Victorian era flying machines and Napoleonic-style conflicts complete with the totally pointless, brutal tactics and the rigid reverence for 'traditional warfare'. I've seen this as a box set in my favourite AV store – I'd be very tempted if they'd let me lay-by it. <g> Probly just as well they won't!

First days back at school for the cubs since the fire. They seem to be coping fine, it's me who keeps getting weepy at odd moments. Heh. The grades have been set up in temporary classrooms in the community centre – which has a large sign taped to the outside wall with the school's name inked in big, defiant red letters - and while it looks pretty chaotic there at the moment I can see there's already been a massive amount of organisation undertaken. A lot of stuff has been donated from local businesses and other schools – books, furniture, computers – and the portable classrooms were all sitting on the oval by the end of the afternoon. Couldn't hazard a guess as to when they'll be ready to use though – no doubt we'll be told in good time. Life goes on, eh? : )

(From an article "Howard condemns ACT gay adoption laws")

""I think it is incredibly important that people have role models of both sexes."

Fair enough, but they don't have to be married... <grrrr>

The cubs and I went up to Mum's this long-weekend. As always, it was tiring but fun. We drove out to Alexandra (another hour on from where Mum lives) to visit the little steam-train museum there. Very cute, it's only small - the engine runs a few times around a circular track, takes about 10 minutes in all - but we all enjoyed ourself, and having bought a family ticket meant we could go on it as many times as we liked (4!).
And today we had a ride on the Healesville trolley again. Hee! : )

For the first time today, as the cubs and I came home on the bus, I didn't feel that warm little rush of homecoming. I know I've been getting awfully restless this past year but my reaction, or non-reaction rather, was unsettling. Maybe it had something to do with me deciding I really like Healesville and could all too easily see myself living the writer's life out there in the hills.
But there's lots of things to consider in a move like that. For a start I'd definitely need a reliable car and what about school, both mine and the cubs? How would my boys take being shifted so far away from what they know? Getting to and from my own classes would be trickier, but not impossible, especially if the cubs' school has before and after school care. Instead of a five-minute walk to the bus it'd be a 30 minute drive to the train station. Heh, it'd test my dedication, that's for sure.
By dint of subtle questioning ("Hey, guys, would you like to live in Healesville?") I discovered that one of my cubs was cool with the idea but the other one - my little nature-boy, not - wasn't.
Eh well, no point chewing over it, a move anywhere isn't likely for a while yet.

Woohoo! Way to go, Kai! Your very own web-site!
(In case I don't remember...) Happy birthday for tomorrow, bratling! <bg>

[...< a flutter of soft wings is the only warning before a moping 'lestrel is bowled over and soundly shuggled by a returning tenshi...>]

... and here's a news article about the fire. Just let me know if I start getting obsessive about this, 'k? : )

The cubs' school burnt down last night. (Thanks, Penny, for ringing me with the news this morning.) Bit of a shock - heh, bit of an understatement. There's only 2 rooms left, the art room and admin, everything else is gutted, or in the case of the wing that contained the cubs' room and the library, just... gone.
There was a meeting in the Community hall next door this morning - classes will be held there for a couple of weeks until the portable classrooms are delivered, and eventually the school will be rebuilt. Going to be a long time, though there's a lot of support for us in the community and with local businesses.
Not sure how the fire started yet - the family who lives across the road from the school heard an explosion around midnight - but it's being treated as 'suspicious'.
Eh well, guess we'll find out soon enough. Needless to say, the cubs are home today, and it's a long weekend (Labour Day) so no classes until Tuesday.

On a brighter note...
<HUGS> Congrats, Joules! FirstLight's finished! Dead impressed... : )

(nicked from Onna's blog:)

<smirk>


Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
"Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just glad to see me?"
You're smooth, okay, but you also need a girlfriend. Bad.


Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


Heh... Haadri fanfic...
Problem is, I don't think anyone's going to be able to see it until First Light has been released. : )

The cubs had fun on the excursion, and there were no tantrums (I asked).
There's a teacher's strike on Wednesday but it looks like the cubs' teacher is the only one not involved. <sigh of relief> This is good, I don't feel up to the task of finding alternate care for them while I'm studying.

<grumble> We've got a few days in a row of really hot temperatures coming up. Tch, it's Autumn for goodness sakes, it's sposed to be getting cooler. I shouldn't be surprised though, I know from experience there's always a last hoorah of heat around my birthday. Eh. It'll be cold soon enough.

Right now - in an alternate universe - I'm fuss-arsing about the climate controls in the Verbank library. <happy sigh>

Mmm... paté and toast for lunch...

I wonder how my cubs are? They're on a school excursion today, to ScienceWorks, but one of them is really, really tired and he can get a bit... emotional when that happens. Maybe I should've volunteered to go with them after all? But no, I'm really tired as well, not a good combination.

Hee! Joules has started the next Gremlins fic, though this one is lemony so it'll be going into the Darkside. <smug smirk> I'm getting snippets as she's writing...