Forecast: 10-19
Attained: 11-18

Yay, I was able to find the final piece of tax-related paper as a pdf online. Now I have no excuse not to do my tax...

~=o>

The cubs, bless 'em, are very good about doing their own washing. They still need to be prompted though, first to recognise that that pile of clothes on the floor are dirty and then to follow through to the logical conclusion of putting a load of washing on. Is ok, they'll get the hang of it one day. :)

~=o>

Speaking of cubs he who calls himself Vortex, had an excursion to a university radio station today, to do a show! It's for their media studies class: cub and a class mate had to plan the discussion segments, work out the timings, provide music etc. Didn't do a bad job at all. Cub had very clear diction and good pacing, and basically ran the show! Very proud...

~=o>

WARNING!


THE FOLLOWING PIC IS HIDEOUS.


SERIOUSLY...



I sporadically collect swap cards - it's a hangover from my childhood in the 1970's - and I have a particular fondness for kitsch. These however, had me recoiling in horror. I'm particularly unnerved by the dead-eyed kitten head the brunette girl is cuddling. Is it on a stick? Oh gods, I can't look anymore...




(Lifted from an ebay.au auction)

Forecast: 10-18
Attained: 11-19

Today I:

• Drove 186 km.
• Moved 41 boxes of books to underneath Soulsis' house.
• Moved 7 plastic tubs to the cubs' father's garage.
• Brought another 5 tubs home for sorting.

Tired now.
Thank you, Soulsis, cubs, and my nephews for help with the lugging.

~=o>

I frequently have trouble typing straight. Here's why:



Kittenkong insisting on cuddles. Brat. (The grumpy face is because I was moving about taking photos and not staying still so she could sleep. Really, so inconsiderate of me...

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 12-15

Dagnabbit. I was all prepared to get stuck in to my tax return and get that over and done with but of course 2 of the 3 important pieces of paper - that'd I'd very carefully set aside cos I knew they were important - have disappeared. Fortunately I know where the 3rd one is, having sited it yesterday, and one of the missing ones I've got saved as a pdf so that's not too bad. The last one will probly require a teeth-gritty phone call, unless I find it tomorrow. [grumble] Eh well...

~=o>

Only 3 weekends left to clear out the storage place so tomorrow I'll be traipsing between Soulsis' place, cubs' father's place and storage place transferring boxes. Wot fun. Still, shouldn't take too long to get it sorted, just there's a lot of driving involved. And slinging heavy boxes around. Iz ok, I haz strapping teenagers to help. :)

Forecast: 8-17
Attained: 7-17

Wow, work was very busy today. Not even time to fight the sleepies after lunch. :)
Started the Performance Review process today as well. Good grief...

~=o>

Was invited over to the cubs' father's for dinner tonight. The cubs cooked! Potato pancakes. Took them ages to prepare but they did a good job and the results were berry nedicious. They can cook those again, any time.

And then we watched the first Transformers movie on their dad's big(ger than mine) TV screen. That is still one of my favourite opening scenes, evah!

Forecast: 7-16
Attained: 7-16

Ok, so the P/T thing wasn't a complete waste of time. :) For the cubs' benefit I have to relinquish some control in the kitchen, and they have to spend less time with electronic entertainment. We haz a plan.

~=o>

These are my faaaaavourite Sesame Street characters! So funny...! (Especially at around 2:15)

Forecast: 4-14
Attained: 3-14

Heh, thought it was a bit nippy last night - temp got down to 3. Akshully, checking the Bureau of Meteorology's page, it hit the day's low about the time I was getting ready for work. Lucky I have the kewl gloves Joules sent me! (Will have to take a better pic of them than I've already got...)

~=o>

Gotye (featuring Kimbra): "Somebody that I used to know".

This is currently my favourite music video. The song is about both sides of a break-up. Liked the track from the first time I heard it but the clip adds a deeper dimension. It stirs something...

Forecast: 8-14
Attained: 8-14

So. [grump] I have succumbed to pressure and booked a few parent/teacher interviews for Thursday night. They're compulsory. Apparently. [grump]
I had planned on just ignoring the whole thing but there were text messages reminding me of the compulsoryness of the event. [grump] I honestly don't see the point of talking the cubs' teachers. We know how well they're doing - the semester reports are very detailed - and where they need improvement. I don't think I've ever gained much more insight from speaking to a teacher: they only tend to reiterate what was in the report anyway. (ok, that's not perhaps, strictly speaking, completely true. We have discovered homework issues in the past that the cubs neglected to pass on... Even so... [grump])
The booking system is annoying as well. Log in as one student, book things, log out. Or try to. Log out again. Close browser. Go to site... log out. Log out. Log out.
I gave up and made appointments for the other cub through his brother's unlogoutable account, just making sure I included his name in the description. Let the teachers work it out. [grump]

~=o>

HP Spoilers!

Went to see the final Harry Potter movie today. I was ambivalent with the book and consequently was ambivalent with the movie, too, more so knowing the movies rarely follow canon as closely as they could. (Wait... Boathouse...?) It was quite well done, though I needn't have watched it in 3D, there really wasn't very much action that warranted the treatment.
Seeing Hogwarts damaged was more distressing than I anticipated, and as a 'sympathetic cryer' there were a couple of places where I needed a hanky, but that was expected as those were the places in the book I cried as well. (I have not forgiven JKR for Lupin's death.)
The epilogue was amusing if only for the attempts at making the characters look nineteen years older. Didn't work! [snigger]
There was at least one nod to fanon in there as well, which made me raise an eyebrow, but on the whole, not a waste of money. I'm glad I've seen it.

Forecast: 8-14
Attained: 9-13

Had coffee with Penny this morning at our current fav cafe and was almost deafened further. My fault, I shouldn't have chosen the table right next to the toys...
Five or so young children - mothers sitting placidly a few tables away - being very excited and shrieking at the tops of their lungs. [shudder] Had to take the hearing aid out, it was a liability in that situation. As it was, my eardrum was numb for about an hour afterwards.
I know I'm going to sound like one of those 'superior' parents, making pointed comments about how my children are so much better behaved than some, but the truth of the matter is that I didn't let the cubs make so much noise when we were out. Yes, they could be as noisy as the next ones, but I was aware of the impact their behaviour had on others and so when the ruckus got above a certain level they were asked to quieten down. I was waiting for that to happen today... Did the mothers not hear the noise, or just not think it was that bad? [sigh]

~=o>

On a brighter note, the cubs and I nipped off to see the new Transformers movie after school!
It didn't grab me as much as the first movie but it was still pretty darn awesome. CGI was flawless, and the 'bots just keep getting better and better - even though I couldn't keep track of who was who for most of them...
Extra special happy bonus seeing Alan Tudyk onscreen. :)
So yes, I enjoyed it. Thanks for the rec, Joules!

Forecast: 7-13
Attained: 9-13

Heh, got a load over to cubs' father's place today, then two loads out of storage and back here for sorting out. Got a little depressed at how much there is to move and where it's got to go, but realistically, compared to the mammoth effort required in cleaning out Mum's place then moving the cubs and I to our new house, this is a piddling annoyance.
Perspective. Wonderful thing.

~=o>

While sifting through a box of my old Batman fannish stuff I rediscovered this little gem:




I love knock-off merchandise... No, not Batman at all! Wrong colours, see? [snerk]

Forecast: 5-15
Attained: 6-13

The emptying/sorting of boxes continues. I'm compiling a big list of stuff to be scanned, too, and refining the storage system for the 8 boxes of paperwork. It's coming along...

~=o>

This is the text of a Snellen Chart to test eyesight, taken from Oxford Handbook of Clinical Specialities, 2007. It's quite lyrical, in a nonsensical sort of way.
Phrases are in order but I've arranged them in a prosey sort of fashion for amusment.

He moved forward a few fine chattering gems. He knew exactly who would sneeze calmly through an open door. Had there been another year of peace the battalion would have made a floating system of perpetual drainage.
A silent fall of immense snow came near oily remains of the purple-blue supper on the table. We drove on in our old sunless walnut. Presently classical eggs ticked in the new afternoon shadows.
We were instructed by my cousin Jasper not to exercise by country house visiting unless accompanied by thirteen geese or gangsters. The modern American did not prevail over the pair of redundant bronze puppies. The worn-out principle is a bad omen which I am never glad to ransom on purpose.

The phrases deliberately make no sense so someone having their eyesight tested can't guess what the sentence will say thereby giving a false positive. Fascinating things...

Forecast: 9-16
Attained: 9-16

Feels like it's been a long week...
But, for the first time in I don't know how long, I don't actually have much planned for my Monday and Tuesday 'days off'. I might go and see a film! Do I dare? I'll probly fall asleep... :)

~=o>

Warning! Profanities, ahoy!

This is a clip of Noni Hazelhurst reading Adam Mansbach/Ricardo Cortes' beautifully illustrated not-a-children's-book, 'Go the fuck to sleep'.
Noni was a presenter on Play School here in Aus for years so it's a little brain-bendy seeing her read something like this.
The book is very funny and at the same time, disturbing. If you've been a sleep-deprived parent you'll know exactly what's going on.




(Samuel Jackson has apparently done another version. Haven't seen it so can't comment...)

Forecast: 8-14
Attained: 8-13

[suspicious] I think KittenKong's taking advantage of my vagueness. I'm almost sure I've fed her but she keeps presenting me with empty food bowls...

~=o>

And now it's time for... Quotes out of Context!

"Other people are in costume... it's not pretty..."

It rarely is, man, it rarely is.
That was quoted from an article in the Herald Sun (Melbourne, 13/7/11) about a technical cock-up at a premier screening of HP7.2.

~=o>

... I thought I had something else to say. Tch.

Forecast: 9-14
Attained: 11-13

Movie poster spotted mis-read at a bus stop:

Captain Amnesia
The Thirst Avenger

It was akshully this:


(Nicked from Google Images.)

(And at first glance at the pic I read the top line as: 'From the stupid that brought you...')

~=o>

Gah,tired...and vague. Could it be... menopause? Or just lack of sleep? :)

Forecast: 9-13
Attained: 10-16

I can haz hearing aid!




Should only really wear it for a couple of hours, twice a day, for the next week or so to give my brain time to assimilate the new sounds. How is it? Weird.
Echoey, and subjectively it seems as if the majority of the sound is coming in through my bad ear. There's also a noticeable difference between the 'natural' sound in my good ear and the electronically produced sound from the aid. Round and warm vs. spikey and and sharp. Eventually the sounds will be smoothed out and amalgamated.
Physically, it feels similar to having water in your ear, or being at high altitude and not being able to 'pop' the air bubble. I guess that's something else I'll get used to as well.
Was thoroughly distracted in the supermarket this morning: listening in to conversations happening in the next aisle over. :)
However, as well as thinking robots are decidedly iffy, I have a thing about implants. Can't abide the thought of electronics being grafted on to flesh [shudder] (which is going to make life interesting if I ever need a pacemaker!). Things like the Borg, and the Cybermen, are horrifying! My inner cyberphobe was actually growling when I first used the hearing aid this morning but knowing I could completely remove the thing if necessary got us over that first hurdle. There's no doubt though that it feels much more natural not having it in my ear. Eh, we'll see how it pans out.

~=o>

Signed the new lease: here for another year! And I've had my fortnightly electricity payments reduced by 40%. Woot!

Forecast: 9-13
Attained: 9-13

Well, my nice tidy loungeroom has asploded with stuff again. Oh well, can't be helped. I need to move things out of the paid storage - which I can't afford anymore - and in to the cubs' father's garage. Unfortunately it's a bit damp in there so everything ideally has to be in sealed plastic boxes. Going to be a busy few weeks while I get that lot organised...

~=o>

Heh, so, I get my hearing aid tomorrow. (Dun dun DUN) Mildly anticipating the event but really, there's so much else going on at the moment that potentially improving my hearing hardly seems that important.

~=o>

Still Life with Toilet Paper...

One of my favourite pics from the Canberra trip last year.

Forecast: 7-14
Attained: 10-14

The sun had a bit of warmth today. In six months time I'll be saying it's too hot and scuttling from shadow to shadow to avoid Sol's kiss, but today it was nice.

~=o>

Cubs are back to school tomorrow. They disagree, of course, but it seems to me their hols have just gone on and on and on.
We got their Semester 1 reports the other day. Aside from one subject they've done really well this year with a sprinkling of distinctions and high-distinctions. Cubs are quite pleased with themselves, too. :)

~=o>

This is the cubs, mum and my brother in Qld a couple of years ago. I like how the cubs seem to be doing a Matrix Agents on holidays thing.





~=o>

I love this song and I love the clip, though the ending makes me sad.

Forecast: 3-15
Attained: 3-16

Small moment of win today. As I was tanking the car - at $1.27 a litre with a discount coupon - the price jumped to $1.45! Yowch! But cos I'd started the pump at the old price that was what I paid. Win! :) It's the little victories...

~=o>

Four days on from the inspection and the house is still relatively clean. A surprising lack of entropy. This is good.

~=o>




One of the pics from Mum and my hot-air ballooning adventure for her 81st birthday. :) Getting the set resized and up online is on my to-do list.

Forecast: 5-15
Attained: 5-13

Gah,I worked 4 days this week instead of my usual 3. I'm knackered...

~=o>

Cubs and I have been snorfling over HISHE. (Thanks, Joules!)

~=o>



(From the ever amusing I can haz cheezburger of course.)

~=o>

Okay, I think I have all the bits of paper I need to do my tax return. Woot.

Forecast: 7-13
Attained: 7-14

Yes I'm not getting any income support from the government anymore but I don't have to deal with the teeth-grindyness, and even better, I don't have to participate in the stupid and infuriating 'job skills' workshops. [spitspit] Well rid of that. Hah!

~=o>

I used the ironing board tonight - (had to unwrap it first :) - and akshully ironed one of my work shirts! [gasp!] What prompted this rare feat? In the last work newsletter there was a little aside about us being professionals and looking the part, including being well-pressed...
I'm... pretty certain that was directed at me. [g]

Forecast: 10-13
Attained: 10-13

My memory is either startling or abysmal. I can go somewhere once and 20 years later remember how to get there, but remember someone's name...? Pfft At least I'm mostly good at remembering to pay bills on time now. That's a skill that's taken 20+ years to hone.

~=o>

Carpet in the office at the secondary work campus has been replaced after OH&S concerns. It looks quite good, and certainly shows how old and battered the carpet in the rest of the library is.
Fun part was getting all the bits of furniture and paraphenalia back in - I think I got it in the right spots...

~=o>

[giggling...]

Forecast: 8-14
Attained: 10-14

Inspection's over and everything's fine. [flop]
Heh, the agent looked about 18! He was probably in his early 20's, but there he was, this fresh-faced young man with his clipboard and gelled hair. :)

After that was all over I nipped out for morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea with some old friends from Tafe. Was great catching up, so much to talk about!
Back to work tomorrow: holiday is officially over. It's been... eventful.

Forecast: 7-13
Attained: 7-13

I normally work Wednesday-Friday, but went in today (Monday) to help cover the bare patches with people away sick and on holiday.
Intellectually I knew it was Monday, but my body was saying: 'Wait. What? Is it Wednesday...?'
Thoroughly confused now. Even more so as tomorrow will be a normal day off. :)

~=o>

Right! Cubs' rooms are vacuumed; stove is as clean as I can get it (rental house stoves are rarely pristine to start with) and I'm about to wash the floors wave a wet mop at the floors before I go to bed.
(KittenKong has been thoroughly spooked by the vacuum cleaner, which probably has some negative implication about how many times she's seen it in her life. Eh well, I never claimed to be a fastidious house keeper.)

~=o>

Barcode scanner of DOOM!

Forecast: 8-14
Attained: 8-13

[satisfied] House is cluttered but clean. All that's left to do is wash the floor and wipe down the stove. Even the cubs have got their rooms in a sort of order. Enough so they can vacuum the carpets, anyway.

~=o>

I'd picked up a dvd of South Pacific recently, nice and cheap, and as a reward for cleaning the bath I sat down and watched it this evening. [happy sigh] One of my faaaaavourite musicals. Daft and colourful. The best bit is where there's a bunch of loosely attired, bronzed sailors frollicking on the beach singing about how much they miss girls...
[snerk] Yep, it's as believable as it sounds.



Because the cubs were in the room I refrained from singing along. However, if I get another copy of the soundtrack (no record player to play my vinyl copy) I will make no such promises again.

Forecast: 8-14
Attained: 9-15

Grarritchyitchyitchy!
I've got a scab forming on the back of my leg. Itchy means it's healing but... itchyitchyitchy. Time for more tea tree cream.

~=o>

Egad! I haz lounge room again! Yes, the chaos that hasn't been able to be put away has been neatly stacked to the sides, but there's a big clear spot in the middle! Dancing time! Let's startle the cat...

~=o>

D'aww, this is adorable!

Forecast: 6-14
Attained: 9-12

Ahead of the rental inspection next week, my room's tidy! (Well, tidier, and don't open the wardrobe, for gods' sake! :)
Plus, KittenKong went a bit nuts cos I'd unearthed her scratching post from the debris. Very happy to see it, she was.

But more importantly...!



I've finally put up my lovely grape-lights!

Here's a close-up...



Thank you, Soulsis & Niki! :)

I'm thinking of bulking out the display with some of the elebenty hundred other bunches of plastic, non-lighting-up, grapes I've collected over the years.

Forecast: 6-12
Attained: 6-11

Just a couple of the pics from Sciencworks, but they link through to the set on flickr.
(Mouse-over for titles.)





[g] Was lots of fun.

~=o>

Ok, so apparently I'm earning too much to qualify for any government assistance anymore. Even with the 'allowance' the cubs will be getting that's going to make things interesting. Time to start looking for more work, dagnabbit.

Forecast: 8-13
Attained: 9-14

Cubs and I trotted off to Scienceworks today. Lotsa fun : ) We visited the Explore-a-saurus exhibit, tagged along with the Pumping station tour and went to the Planetarium to watch a short piece about Pluto (which the cubs had seen before but I hadn't. Not that I really saw it this time either. Lying back, in the dark... couldn't keep my eyes open... until... [nudge from cub] "Mum! You're snoring...! Eheh, oops. Felt quite refreshed afterwards though.]
There'll be pictures of our adventures later - probably tomorrow - once I've got them sorted.

~=o>

Today was also the first anniversary of Mum's ultimately fatal stroke. The ten weeks between that and her death were some of the hardest of my life. (Except for the following ten weeks, they were the hardest, too...)
You know, I'm still terribly ambivalent about euphemisms for death. "I'm so sorry to hear about your mother's passing." What? Oh yes, she died, she's dead now. Is it a way of softening the event? Cos it really doesn't work. [shrug] Anyway...

This is probably my favourite picture of Mum, taken a few years ago at a lotus garden close to where she lived. I like this one because she's relaxed and happy, probably because she wasn't aware she was being photographed. Yay, go stealth-ninja-photographer, me! :)

Forecast: 8-12
Attained: 9-12

Right, Centrelink paperwork has been resubmitted. I'm sure it will all be be fine now...

~=o>

Rental inspection in a week's time. See me not panicing panicking? [Is that the right spelling? I should check... Nope, there's a 'k', d'oh. I always forget the 'k'. Edited.]
As I was saying, feeling remarkably cruisey about it. Sure there's lots of stuff lying about and some tidying up and a bit more in-depth cleaning will need to be done, but nothing that's really omigod!flail!
... except for perhaps the cubs' rooms. I've been gently suggesting for months that they might like to unpack/sort the boxes and bags of detritus that came out of their old room. Now it looks like they'll just have to make do with stacking the chaos neatly for the time being. Tch. (Not that I can really cast nasturtiums. I'm going to have to re-bag the stuff that came out of the shed after the last inspection, that hasn't been sorted yet, and sling it back in the shed temporarily. :)

~=o>

Whoa...!




Via EPBOT

~=o>

Yay, cubs and I are off to Scienceworks tomorrow! At last, some holiday type activity for my holiday!

Forecast: 10-15
Attained: 10-15

Another teeth-gritty encounter with Centrelink this morning. They still haven't processed the paperwork that I was told had been found. Grrr. Will have to go in and resubmit. Honestly, I'm so used to cock-ups that I'm genuinely shocked when there isn't any.

~=o>

Had a call from the estate agent today, asking my intentions! Lease is up for renewal in a few months so they wanted to know in advance if we were staying or not. The owner is apparently very happy with us. I confirmed that we weren't going anywhere.
The rent will be going up a little, $5-$10 dollars a week, but considering we got this place for $10 less than the asking price, it's an increase I can wear. : )

~=o>

Yes! Sorted through the last box of paperwork! Now I'm in the process of trying to winnow down the contents of the 'stubborn' box. I've actually ended up dumping a lot of stuff cos I couldn't be arsed trying to file it.

~=o>

KittenKong and the Concrete Camel...

Forecast: 10-14
Attained: 13-15

Still working through the boxes of paperwork. Have 2.5 left to sort. Most of the bits and bobs are easy to categorize but there'll be at least one box of leftover stuff that stubbornly refuses to be defined. There's always some.

~=o>

Watched the first ep of the American version of Being Human today - because eyetoons was giving it away free. Of course I couldn't help noting the differences and drawing paralels with the original but taken on it's own merits it wasn't too bad. This first taste didn't quite have the same humour and scary charm of the UK version, and the emphasis was a bit different, but I'll be sort of interested to see more... if I can watch it for free.

Forecast (for yesterday): 8-16
Attained: 9-16

Cubs had a great day yesterday at their party, and at the end of it all thanked everyone for coming and helping make it so enjoyable. :) There's a number of photos that will have to be approved before posting but here's a couple to start with...

Fairy bread! A party staple! (Akshully, when I suggested having fairy bread at their party it was sort of a joke, but there was an overwhelmingly positive response.)



I don't have a pic of their birthday cake that I'm completely happy with yet but these are the Portal themed cupcakes Penny made! They were a real hit. :)



~=o>

And last night I dreamt there was some supplementary Potterverse material published (volumes of it) that contained concrete evidence of a romantic relationship between Snape and Lupin. Made me very happy!

Forecast: 10-17
Attained: 8-17

I know tangelos are s'posed to be juicy but the one I had today squirted so fiercely at the slightest provocation it was more like a defense mechanism...

~=o>

Cubs' birthday today! (My baaaabies...!) They appreciated their loot, and enjoyed dinner at the Piggy Place. I've no doubt the cookies'n'cream ice-cream we bought later was also appreciated.

It was also their last day of work experience, and now we're all on holiday! Mwahahahah!

~=o>

After a long negotiation for financing, then waiting around for things to happen, the computers at work have been updated. Which is great except that everything has to be reset. I didn't have the foresight to back up my bookmarks, for instance, but at least I'd kept samples of my various email sigs handy so reinstating those wasn't too painful. Getting the library database to open on a new 'puter is a relatively simple business, except when you hardly ever have to do it and forget how to! The IT crew were heartily sick of us after a couple of days. Anyway, it's all sorted now, more or less.
(That first day back with the new machines I was concerned about the amount of typos I was making... until it dawned on me that I'd been given a new keyboard as well. Phew! I thought it was just me being clumsier than usual :).

Forecast: 8-17
Attained: 9-18

Cubs turn 16 tomorrow. My baaaaabies...! (Hee, you should see their faces when I call them that.) They're having a party at their dad's house on Saturday.
Must remember to get sprinkles for the fairy bread...

Forecast: 5-17
Attained: 4-18

Two more days then I'm on holidays!

~=o>

Bwahahahahah!



At least he got his camera back :)

Forecast: 8-17
Attained: 7-15

During the house moving I've accumulated 8 boxes of paperwork - though there's more, I know there is, lurking in storage. I happily spent a good chunk of today sorting through about half of it. At the end of this first phase there'll still be around 8 boxes of paperwork but it will be categorized, ready for further winnowing. Some of the stuff is so old now it counts as historical and I'll need to decide if it's going to be archived or not, and how.
Naturally, KittenKong took every opportunity to sit in every box that was opened, generally the one I was working from. Tch.

~=o>

For the past couple of of weeks Triple J has had the polls open to vote for your favourite Australian album. This afternoon they began announcing the results, 100-81 (it's being dragged out over a few days). One of the albums I voted for came in at no. 95! Stoneage Romeos by the Hoodoo Gurus. Awesome sh*t... : )

~=o>

Hee, check out the cover of this Macrame craft book! See the piece hanging up? That's not so much a wall-hanging as a room divider. Something to aspire to, aifinkso.

Forecast: 8-16
Attained: 9-17

This morning I had a fitting for my hearing aid. The tech pushed a foam plug deeper in to my ear than I was comfortable with then back-filled the canal with cold goop which stayed in there to harden just long enough to start itching.

The unit should be ready in about 3 weeks. I'm curious to see how it goes. There'll probably be a difference to my hearing, but an improvement...? We'll see. At issue here is the quality of the device. I'm getting the most basic, government-supplied-for-free hearing aid cos I don't have private health insurance. It will amplify sound, all sound, including the background noise which is what I have difficulty hearing through. The next level up unit has better noise reduction but costs around $400. Pfft, no!
So, we'll see how we go.

~=o>

Cubs had their first day of work experience. Hee, they're exhausted, poor loves, and have taken themselves off to bed early...

~=o>

A chorus line of ducks



I unearthed a packet of 'party favour' mini-rubber duckies from storage. They fit just nicely on the bathroom window ledge. Some of them had got a bit compressed so they look like they've got spinal deformities, but that just adds to their individuality and charm, I say.

Forecast: -16
Attained: 9-15

Had a good afternoon at Soulsis' today. Chats were had, and cups of tea. We (Soulsis, Miss Raven and I) left the boys to their video games and yootoobs and went for a wander. Alas, the sushi place was closed but one of the op-shops was open, on a Sunday, too! Even more unusual, I walked out without buying anything...

~=o>

I had hoped to get some pics up here today but they're from my camera phone and the cubs have walked off with both phone<->'puter cables. I'll quiz them in the morning. Right now, I'm off to catch up with some more Time Team :)

Forecast (25/6): 10-17
Attained: 12-17

Yay, one of the bookshelves is sorted and another is almost sorted! I'm beginning to akshully group titles in subjects! The med books are on one shelf; cook books are split over two; the vaguely academic research stuff has a case all of its own and I know where my favourite fiction will reside. Craft stuff, which is currently scattered all over the place, will eventually be grouped together as I clear space. Very satisfying.

~=o>

And it was also very satisfying yesterday to watch 3 eps of Time Team via iview, and knit. :)
I've done half of the first square of a throw. (Not the best pic for detail, alas.)




(Hm. 4mm needles? I thought I was using 3.5. Eh, doesn't matter as long as I'm consistent..)

~=o>

Went to Penny's for dinner last night - all of our respective children were otherwise engaged - and had nommy tomato & bacon soup. For dessert I contributed a packet of my prized pink stuff (specially imported from the UK. Thanks, Joules!). We watched a couple of eps of Firefly, and then first 3 of IT Crowd. (Drudgeon [snerk]. I want that on a t-shirt).

Forecast: 10-17
Attained: 11-18

Performance Feedback & Development: Annual Performance Review...
Good grief those things are unnecessarily prolonged. Yes, yes, they've got to be done but no one looks forward to them. Least of all the managers who have to conduct them!
I did but o'er glance the criteria today and still wanted to bang my head against the wall. Ok, fair enough, checking how my current duties stack up against my job description makes a sort of sense, as does discussing my performance with my manager, but honestly...?
"Review of Demonstration of Company's Values" in which I'm required to think of examples of how I've demonstrated said Values - Accountability, Compassion, Teamwork, Integrity, Respect, Collaboration.

'kin' what? [headdesk] I've already had the job interview - I went through that to get the job! - I shouldn't be obliged to document selection criteria again! I can see I'm going to have to fall back on 'management speak' here, that is, the rendering of hollow nonsense in such a way with appropriate vocabulary (ie: buzzwords) to make it appear I'm not talking bollocks while still giving the impression of earnest intelligence and dedication to the corporate ideal. (See? That was largely bollocks just there that I said.)

Eh, it'll be fine, I'm sure, with all of us trying to make it as painless as possible. Could be worse, I could have to write a report or something. [shudder]

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 10-16

Had a wee field trip today for work. Next week I'm rostered out at one of the other, smaller sites so today the boss drove me out there for orientation. This campus is only 10 minutes from home! Should be good - if we can find a spare set of keys for me...

~=o>

And, yes! I can haz holidays at the same time as the cubs! Well, one week any way. Aahhh, I foresee lots of napping...

Forecast: 7-14
Attained: 8-14

So, yes, the cubs were s'posed to get up nice and early so they had plenty of time to get to the work experience place in a timely fashion. [eyebrow] Riiiight...
I had to leave to go to work but I kept in touch with them via phone/txt.
(The following is not a verbatum transcript.)

8am:
Me: Out of bed yet?
Response: Er, no...
Me: Grrrr...

9am:
Me: Have you left yet?
Response: Er, no.
Me: Out of bed at least?
Response: Er...
Me: GRRRRR

10am:
Me: How's it going?
Response: We're just getting ready.
Me: [SIGH] You do realise you're going to have to be more organised than this in the future, especially if you get the placement.
Response: Indeed.

11am:
Cubs: We're on the train!
Me:[with a remarkable lack of sarcasm cos it's never helpful] Yay! Let me know how it goes...

Aaaand they got the placements! Start next week, only for a week instead of two but that's better than nothing. :) So that'll be me - and their WE coordinator - off their backs for the moment.

~=o>

A video of the recent FreezeFrame happening in Melbourne. My niece is in it! Look out for the bowler hat and grey bag with the red cross at around 2:30...




And this will make no sense unless you've seen any of Adam Hill in Gordon St Tonight, a sort of talk show that was shown here earlier this year on Our National Broadcaster. The clip is full of cameos from the show's guests: keep an eye out for Captain Australia!




Dalek!

Forecast: 8-13
Attained: 8-12

It hailed today, only little stones thank heavens, but after the window-breaking hailstorm back whenever I tend to get a little twitchy.

~=o>

If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done... (I lay claim to this saying, incidentally.) Cubs are in year 10 and one of the activities they have this year is work experience. They had to organise it themselves, and have known this for months, but despite prodding encouragement from both myself and their dad there's been little or no movement on that front. (We only made suggestions: refused to do it for them.) So here we are in the final two weeks of the term when the vast majority of their year level is out doing work experience and the cubs still had nothing lined up. They went to school on Monday, even though there were no formal classes for them, but I let them stay home today (Tuesday) on the proviso that they get off their bums and make some phone calls. Which they did, after more unsubtle hints from me, and lo and behold they have interviews tomorrow.
It's at the same place for both of them, a model gaming shop where they're quite well known. I think there's a good chance they'll be accepted but even if not the whole experience of organizing themselves and their travel arrangements and being interviewed will be invaluable. To be fair, it's not laziness that led to the procrastination but awkward shyness and lack of confidence, socially. Don't know where they get that from. (What? I have to leave the house? [whimper]... :)

~=o>

While the cubs were doing all that today, I was dancing with Centrelink. All a bit of a teeth-grindy process but necessary. However, when I went in I was told that one of the cub's is now on the system but there was nothing for the other. This was despite both sets of paperwork being in the same envelope I'd sent off last week. [headdesk] Fortunately the very helpful person I saw got the ball rolling to find the missing paperwork and I was given a call a couple of hours later to say it was all sorted. [sigh] Ok, fingers crossed 'twill be smooth sailing from here on in.

Forecast: 11-17
Attained: 11-16

I know I said the benefits of living in a concrete house was knowing it wasn't going to collapse around me in high winds, but knowing that doesn't make these high winds any less disquieting...

~=o>

The mound of chaos on the kitchen table is sorted. Of course, now I spend my time telling KittenKong to get off the table.

~=o>

From Lolcats. It made me giggle...


see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

Forecast: 9-16
Attained: 10-16

Concrete houses do have their issues but at least when the wind's blowin' hard - as it is now - I don't feel like the whole thing's going to collapse around me.

~=o>

The cubs have bought themselves a copy of Holst's Planet Suite. With their own money and everything. :)
Been a good long while since I've listened to it: forgot just how thrilling some of those pieces are.

~=o>

I'm looking forward to July: cubs turn 16, and the final HP movie's going to be released!

Forecast: 10-16
Attained: 10-16

Eeeee, Time Team's back! It's one of my favourite tv shows and I've really been missing it since the last ep was aired here back in September 2010.

~=o>

And I've rewatched the mini-series Blackpool, again. [happy sigh] Another favourite, one that strokes the one romantic bone in my body I'll admit to.

~=o>

I'm continuing to wittle down the piles of stuff. Iz very satisfying, though the shed's getting full as I transfer things around. I almost cleared the mound of chaos beside the computer desk today - might tackle the mound of chaos by one of the bookcases in the lounge room next.

~=o>


New house. With sentinel cat. We've been here almost 9 months now : ) .

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 9-14

One of the funnest things about having a vivid imagination is that it's rarely the most mundane explanation that springs to my mind when something's not right.
For example...
One day, when I was in my teens, I was sitting in my room when I heard a rustling noise coming from the floor at the end of my bed.
Omigod, of course it was a giant spider! I could just imagine it's 'orrible, hairy - huge - legs as it hauled itself up and over my doona!
It wasn't a giant spider, it was just the cat making herself comfortable.
Forward a few years and I'm driving home from ballet class one night and I notice the highway is lined with people. Omigod, is it a bomb threat!?
But wait - I think - there's no sign of panic, and no emergency services present. Not a bomb threat then... Omigod, aliens!
I'm still driving at this point and trying to peer up through windscreen skywards to see if I could spot anything...
[sigh] Nope, not aliens either, merely a crowd gathered to watch the frontrunners in that year's Sydney to Melbourne marathon come through. I only worked that out after I'd watched the news later on...

~=o>


At last, I can finally get some of my pretties out where I can admire them. The figure to the left (...right? Um...) is indeed a plastic, glow-in-the-dark statuette of Mary, bought 2nd hand from a convent garage sale. Always pure class with me!

Forecast: 5-17
Attained: 4-15

I woke up at 3.30 am - needing to go to the loo - about an hour too early for the lunar eclipse. By 6.20 am, when my secondary alarm finally bludgeoned me out of bed, the eclipse was well and truly over. Bum!

~=o>

I've not been able to find any reasonable footage of the eclipse so have the 'literal version' of Bonnie Tylor's Total Eclipse of the Heart, instead.
(Sorry, could only get the 'cat-framed' version here in the Antipodes.)




[snerk] "And they shouldn't fence at night, or they're going to hurt the gymnasts..."

~=o>

Aww, my cubs are awesome! They've found an mp3 version of Adriana Celentano's Prisencolinwhatsit! The full 7+ minute disco epic version!
(Iz groovin' to it right now. KittenKong's looking at me funny...)

Forecast: 6-16
Attained: 5-15

I'm reinstating the squid-divider!

~=o>

There we go... : )

~=o>

I've had to declare a moratorium on hoiking stuff out of storage for the moment. Fun as it is to rifle through the boxes and discover old treasures, the stuff's been building up in teetering piles around the house as I'm emptying boxes faster than I'm putting things away. True, I've been able to shift a goodly proportion off to op-shops or the bin, but there's still a lot left over.
So, no more new stuff to sort until I've dealt with what's here already. I've made a start: several individual shelves on the bookcases are now neat, and underneath the kitchen table is finally clear. However, we'll avoid looking at the top of the table for the moment.

~=o>

Apparently there's going to be an awesome lunar eclipse early tomorrow morning. Too early for me, alas - 4.30ish am. If it wasn't a work night I'd be there, but, eh...

~=o>



KittenKong. Up the apple tree...

Forecast: 8-15
Attained: 8-14

Well, I'm not a student anymore. Signed the forms and handed in my student ID and everything [sigh], which only leaves the question of institute parking. It's a very convenient car-park for work - and a fraction of the cost of other parking in the area - and although technically I probably shouldn't be using it, I still have the sticker on my car... and I did pay for a year's worth of access...
I guess I'll keep sneaking in there and see what happens. If I get reimbursed the remainder of the fee - all $2.50 of it - or get a fine, then I'll know I should stop. Perhaps I could start taking public transport again?
Nah...


Strike a pose!

This is Loopy Lou, a doll my mum knitted for me when I was little: she's just come out of storage. She's not actually posed, that's just the position she ended up in when I shoved her up there out of harm's way with her sister, Loopy Li, while I decide what I'm going to do with them.

(Wow, after 3.5 years I don't actually have the threat/goad of homework hanging over my head anymore. I could... do something else... )




This is a picture painted for me by my neice, BeccyBoo, a couple of (several?) years ago. I've finally managed to get it out on display! By a happy coincidence the light filtering through the slats of the blind falls across the image not unlike dappled light over water. Neat, huh?

Forecast: 5-15
Attained: 8-15

Emotional storms aside it was quite a nice day, today. Bit of cloud, bit of sun - could soak up some vit D without the risk of frying.

I've withdrawn from the course I was doing. M$ Access has defeated me. (There's more to it than just that, naturally, but the long version is rambling and doesn't make me look good, so, no. :)

And now some random uploads so I can check whether I know what I'm doing or not.
A pic wot I took earlier this year:















And a link to a tubeyclip of a song I quite like. 70's Italian disco/funk ftw!

[Edit: Ok, that didn't work. Hm... Ah, embedding...]

Aaaand it's been almost a year again since my last post. Good grief. Let's see if I can remember how to drive this thing.
Joules, I may squeak for assistance...

[edit:] Ok, apparently it's been closer to two years. Tch, slack.

[edit:] Wow, Blogger's the ultimate hoarder. Never chucks out anything...

[eyebrow] OK, it's been a year since the last post, and that was mine. Is it safe to assume this blog is now defunct? Extinct? A deceased blog?

Click on the water to feed them. They follow your cursor.

More here.

Last week of term. Woot!
I was looking forward to days off and lie-ins... but the diary is already looking pretty full. Tch. It'll all be fun stuff with the cubs, however.
Scienceworks is having a special exhibition, based around Star Wars!
Melbourne Museum is hosting A Day in the life of Pompeii [squee!].
We'll be going up to Mum's for a few days.
There's movies to see! Transformers! Star Trek! (again : ) Ice Age 3... and of course the rest of the Harry Potter franchise for me. (Speaking of which, saw Chamber of Secrets last weekend. Had only seen it on DVD. The spiders were even scarier on the big screen!)
And the cubs are having their birthday and party in the middle of it all.
I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze in a nap or two somewhere.

~=o>

Penny had a Winter Solstice (afternoon) party on the weekend. There was sooo much food that neither the cubs nor I had the slightest bit of interest in dinner that night. There were competitions, too! Rocket came second in the 'Eat the salada biscuit the quickest' - winning a Darryl Lea giant freckle - and I came first in the 'Guess the songs', winning a Penny-made Beelzenef hand puppet. 'Twas fun. : )

~=o>

Driving this morning I saw a bumper sticker on a huge, 4WD ute-monster thing:
"My other toy has tits."
.... nice. >: /
But what really makes me cross is that if I'd made an objection I would've been a humourless dyke/feminist. Tolerance goes both ways, shit-for-brains.

Joules has been very positive in her comments about the UK series Being Human, so I squeaked happily when it was advertised over here.
Watched the first ep tonight and loved it! Good, solid characters right from the start, plus a smattering of back-story to be going on with along with a scary potential menace = yep, got my attention. Looking forward to the next one. : )

~=o>

A little while back I finally got 'round to watching the movie version of Mama Mia. I'd heard a lot of good stuff about it but ultimately it failed to charm. I didn't think Meryl Streep's singing was anything extraordinary and the majority of the characters just made me huff in irritation. (I don't care about you, get over yourselves!) Except for Harry (Colin Firth); I liked him, and, I have to admit the - literally - Greek chorus was a fun idea, but... meh. Won't be going back to that one.
Unlike Across the Universe! Being based on the music of the Beatles gave it a BIG tick to begin with but combined with the excellent casting and performances and excellent use of the music to move the story along I was sold on it completely. Definitely going to get hold of a copy all for my very own. And probably the soundtrack as well. Hmm, and I really do need to replace my Beatles' vinyl eventually...

~=o>

Ooh, I'm not as young as I used to be and if there's anything that'll bring this sharply home to me it's the not being able to stay up really late without consequences rippling on for a couple of days. Case in point: last Saturday night, instead of trotting off to bed between midnight and 1 a.m., as was sensible, I hung around watching Rage until gone 3. To be honest it wasn't because I was enjoying the music, it was more of a omigod, can't look away train wreck sort of thing. The theme last week was Retro Dance and we were treated to such gems as Batdance, and Vogue, and, gods help us, Love is a Battlefield. Not to mention Thriller and U Can't touch this. [shudder]
But anyway, I thought I'd be fine cos I had the buffer of Sunday to recover, it wasn't like I was staying up late on a school night. Heh, Monday rolls around and I still slept in past the alarm and ended up dragging myself through the day 'til I got home and had to nap. Tch.

~=o>

In the lead up to Half-Blood Prince my local cinema (which is actually part of a huge chain) is running all the previous films in limited re-release. I went to see Philosopher's Stone last weekend; tomorrow I'll be seeing Chamber of Secrets. Hee.
Yes I have the dvds and yes I've watched them a lot but there's something special about seeing them on the big screen.

~=o>

This past semester, instead of doing boring old sport, the cubs' school has had the year 8's involved in learning dance and circus tricks. Yesterday evening there was a performance...
I've definitely seen worse! But seriously, the kids looked like they were having fun and it was obvious they'd been working hard on the routines. Good job, y'all! : )

I haz a sick [coughs].
Well, all right, I'm almost better now, but I've just had a week off from practically everything - except cooking - cos I couldn't move without violent coughing. Eh, just a cold, albeit a nasty one, and not in the least bit flu-like.
Apparently there's now over 700 people in Victoria confirmed as having the N1H1 virus. What's not been made clear, however, in allllll the news reports and statements, is whether they are actual cases of the swine-flu, with symptoms, or just people who've tested positive. There is a difference, surely?

~=o>

[snerk] Knicked from Undunoops by way of blpaintchart...

Fish - The Freshmaker!

Enter a word for your own slogan:

Generated by the Advertising Slogan Generator. Get more fish slogans.

~=o>

Borrowed a copy of the Speed Racer movie from the library. Once you get past the 'oh my god, my eyes!' reaction to the hyper colours, there's really nothing in it. It's a bit clever in a couple of places, I suppose, and the smattering of slash potential kept me vaguely interested (Racer X/Taejo yes!) but at the heart of it, it's just a race movie [snore]. Cubs loved it, unsurprisingly. It does deserve to be seen on a big screen though. Even one of them new-fangled plasma tellies'd do the trick.

~=o>

25 years of Tetris!
Have you seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0LtUX_6IXY

Well, I've been prodded! See, I've got the bruise an' all...

Sooo, it's been months since I last updated, has it? Goodness, how did that happen? [Look! Fleeing haddock! -> >@ >@ >@ ]
What have I been up to? School. And school. And r/l's minor crisis and irritations. And school. What I haven't been doing much of is writing - which I really do miss, as evidenced by the increase of graphic dreaming - but I find it difficult (really difficult) to switch between the necessarily different mindsets of writing and study. Let alone updating a blog...
~=o>

So yeah, 2nd year of the Library Studies has been pretty full-on. Class work's fine, and I'm not having any problems with the content but, ye gods! The homework! Fair enough, it's entirely my own fault I haven't kept on top of it, but there is significantly more work to do than last year. Still, I'm enjoying it, and I'm still convinced this is what I want to do. :) (Though some of my classmates have got it in to their heads that I should be teaching. [eyebrow] I don't think so. I have taught, in the past. Don't want to do it again. I tried to explain my lack of enthusiasm for teaching thusly: when I think of library - or archive/records management - I get a warm, happy buzz. When I think of teaching there's a huge, welling bubble of disinterest. Just because I can teach, and could be quite good at it, doesn't mean I want to.)
~=o>

What else have I been doing? Reading a lot of books, a lot of books, and seen quite a few movies, the most recent of which was Star Trek!

Do I need to warn for spoilers? Ok, consider yourself warned.


Squeee! [happy dance!] Marvelous! No matter how smooth the later series of ST were TOS was always my first love. It was wonderful to see the uniforms, the ship's corridors, the bridge! The characterisations were spot on, too, and I found the whole thing entirely plausible. Alternate Reality? Sure, why not? Star Trek, like any Sci-fi worth its salt has always entertained - if not actively explored - the possibility of alternate universes. :)
I want to read some fiction now, but there doesn't seem to be much about. Well, not in the places I trust to host decent stuff.
~=o>

Season 3 of Torchwood will be airing soon! Andandand, UKTV over here will be showing it around about the same time 'twill be airing in the UK. [bounce] I won't have to wait for the DVDs to see it!
~=o>

Ok, that's it for now. Given my track record I should be posting again around - what? - xmas? [smirk]...

[glowers at Lutra] If I remember rightly you did say you had some news and reminisces and maybe a few photos to post... This is me PRODDING. I know you're busy and have a lot to get done but honestly! No post since January? C'mon, if I can continue while writing three books, surely you can post the occasional quickie bit of news...?

Three days in a row of 40+ heat and society is falling apart! Srsly! Transport, electricity and the 'net have all had 'difficulties', and by 'difficulties' I mean severely disrupted train services due to buckling tracks; large portions of the state blacked out by an overloaded electricity grid; and my webz server falling over. [grump]
Lots of people are going to the beach, apparently.
... why? Don't they know how hot it is out there? Sheesh. Wouldn't do me any good - I don't need 30+ UV protection to stop the sunburn so much as spakfiller! I look at the images of people baking on the sands and I don't see healthsome frollicks, I see melanomas and skin like leather. [shudder]

~=o>

Egad, cubs go back to school on Monday! There's so much to do! Cos of course I've been putting it off all holidays cos there's been plenty of time. Oops. : )

~=o>

This article caught my eye: "Sexy swimmer denies Thorpe relationship". It amuses me that her surname is Beard. [snerk]

Cubs are sleeping over at a friend's place tonight. Not the first time they've been away from me but I'm really missing them this time. Eh well, they'll be home tomorrow and then their (boy) cousins will be staying over with us for a couple of nights.

~=o>
The cubs, their dad and I went to see Valkyrie this afternoon. It was quite good, gripping in places with believable performances, even from Mr Cruise. Amazingly, the cubs' father had no quibbles about the accuracy of uniforms, vehicles etc; one of his bugbears in historical fims. I did have a quibble however, about one of Stauffenberg's justifications for Hilter must be deded!!!1!!, but, after consulting with the resident military historian (cubs' father) we concluded that it could be within the realms of possibility, just not very likely. Anyway, I was kind of chuffed I picked it up.
Cubs' father and I did have a few reservations about taking the cubs to see this movie - it was the first non-comic/tv show 'M' rated movie they'd seen at the cinema. But it wasn't too graphic, or gruesome, and they enjoyed it, declaring it 'awesome!', though I suspect that was because of the explosions (and military hardware) rather than the emotional and political ramifications of Hitler's assasination. : )
What I really enjoyed though, was sitting with the cubs and their father afterwards discussing potential 'what ifs...' of European history. [grin] So cool...

~=o>
And, yay! I'm all safely re-enrolled for another year of study. Good news, too - all our workbooks this year are included in the 'materials fee'. Phew! That'll be about $300 I won't have to find...

Joules prodded me. "Don't you think it might be time for a blog update?"
Oops, well it has been a month...

~=o>

Right!

Xmas: very quiet. The cubs and I went with Mum and Soulsis et al, to a restaurant. Food was good, though the cubs and their (boy) cousins hardly ate anything of the set menu. Alas, they were too old for the 'kids' menu so couldn't have chicken nuggets and chips. [rolls eyes]

New Year: crowded. Niki, Soulsis and I took advantage of the free (therefore crowded) public transport to go in to (crowded) Melbourne for the free 'family-friendly' fireworks on the Yarra. Show only went for 15 minutes but it was fun. Been a long, long time since I've seen live fireworks...
Then we - plus the rest of the families - squeezed our way out of the (even more crowded) city and on to the (even more crowded trains) as the non-family party people tried to squeeze in. Won't be doing that again in a hurry.
Made it back to Niki's before midnight, though, so we toasted the new year in there.
Resolutions? A few.

School Holiday: ongoing but rapidly drawing to a close. Cubs and I have managed to get out and about a bit.
We went to the Melbourne Aquarium! Penguins! Fish! Happy Lutra!
We house sat for Niki. Cubs really enjoyed having a room each. And I finally got to see Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. It was so laughably awful! And very clever. I've been to Romford; I'm sure I don't remember there being a spooky moor... (And having watched the program I finally got to read Joules' fics. So funny, and so accurate! [snerk])
We went to Nana's for a few days. We had a ride on the Healesville Trolley, and a visit to the Blue Lotus Water Garden. Nice.
We've seen movies. Madagascar 2 (better than the first. I laughed.); Bolt 3D (excellent animation, ludicrous plot); and Igor (amusing, bordering on witty in parts but otherwise not that engaging).

Upcoming: busyish. I'm re-enrolling for the second (final) year of my degree course in a few days. Woot! I haz new stationery and a cool metallic Batman (not Dark Knight) contact with which to cover my student diary! I'm all set.
Also, I've promised Joules a slashy fic for her birthday in February... Better get on with that then, eh?

~=o>

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

~=o>

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

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

~=o>

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

~=o>

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

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

~=o>

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

~=o>

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

~=o>

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

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

Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.

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

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

Take the test!

Yeah, I'd agree with that.

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


Your results:
You are R2-D2

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

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

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


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


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