Our local supermarket is having a toy sale; I picked up, very cheaply, a couple of play-do (the official goop) 'singles' which consisted of a small piece of the stuff and a shape-cutter. I got a nice looking fish and a UFO flying saucer one. Should make interesting biscuit cutters though I'm not sure how successful they'll be cos their edges are much blunter than regular cutters.

[*squeakgiggle* Back now, aijin...]

The cubs are still sleeping on the floor...

Ooookaaay, until I hear back from ICQ I'm going to use the 'lite' version... *pout* but no one I want to talk to is online!
(Aha! OkapiPrincess has just authourised me...)
From what I can see, Lite ICQ is pretty limited in application. Can't send files, and when someone messages me the dialogue box pops up in front of whatever else I'm looking at. A little annoying especially if I'm writing, or messaging someone else at the time. Hn, not sure if I can keep the histories either, will have to wait and see about that.

Heh, in other news... I think I've found the material for my quilt's background. : ) It's a sort of darkish, 'cool' shade of purple. Unfortunately it doesn't go with all the stars I've already made up, but that's ok, even leaving out the stars I can't use and the ones I'm not sure about I still have 91 finished. : ) I should be able to pick up the material next week, then I can get started on the umpteen hexagons needed. *g*

I don't embrace change willingly and when change is foisted on me I tend to pout and sulk and generally carry on like a whiney 3 year old...

Got the latest version of Internet Explorer installed ok (Joules recommended I do this before trying to download the latest ICQ) and it seems to be working fine. (*sheepish* And you were right, Joules, it looks like my only getting the basic 'edit' screen in blogger was cos I was using a geriatric browser...) I've just finished downloading ICQ but it won't run, not sure why. No doubt the reply I get from ICQ about it will tell me it's something very simple I've overlooked. *sigh*
So, I'm not live online just yet, but closer than I was this time yesterday...

(I've started my journal, Aunty Soulsis!)

Interesting triptych of dreams last night. In the first I was walking around my garden with a friend and I showed them the little spring of water that I'd discovered flowing steadily through a crack in the embankment. The water was heavily mineralised and there were deposits of salty crystals on the edges of the water flow. As the dream progressed and I kept coming back to that spot, I noticed the flow of water was steadily increasing...
In the second dream, I was caught stealing by the owner of the comic shop I worked for, only, I didn't consider it stealing, I had no intention of keeping any of the things I lifted, I just wanted to read them. So I didn't feel any sort of guilt but I acted as if I did cos that's what was expected of me...
And in the third dream, I was lined up with a lot of people waiting for what I thought was going to be handouts of food but turned out to be clothes. Everyone was given a bag containing random garments. It was too bad if you didn't like what you were given, and there were great piles of clothes lying about where people had dropped what they didn't want while fossicking through other peoples' cast-offs...

Damn, I love my subconscious...

Right, now I'm just annoyed. Had no reply to my cry for help to ICQ (fair enough, it's only been 15 hours and I'm sure they're swamped right now with irate users... *grrr*) and the website Joules recommended is not only not loading but freezing everything else up. I'm in a very bad mood. >:(

On a brighter note, this morning was the first of my volunteered 'classroom helper' mornings at the school. Really wasn't looking forward to it, but it wasn't too bad. Only had a small group of kids (including one of my cubs) for a short while, supervising them as they read through a couple of plays, 'The 3 Billy goats gruff' and 'The Gingerbread Man'. A little later both of the combined grade 1/2's got together in the music room to watch each others performances. Wasn't the most scintilating of theatre but at least each group was only on for a short time : ) The last group we saw was taking a long, long time to get through their 4 pages of script and before they'd finished the bell for recess went. In a loud, clear voice, one of my cubs said 'To be continued...' Cheeky brat! *fond grin*

Okay, I've got my good humour back, time to tackle the ICQ problem...
Carli, get into some dom cos-lay and make it behave!

*grumpgrumble*
ICQ won't load/install properly. I've emailed the company, see if they have anything useful to say...
I hate not being able to chat...

Got these from Sue today - they're so sweet I had to share *g*

THE POSITIVE SIDE OF LIFE

Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.

How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.

Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.

Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.

Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the people who have to wait for them?

Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box.

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Now, don't you feel all uplifted and stuff? *g*

The cubs are sleeping on their bedroom floor tonight - I have no idea why...

(nicked from GoodTwin's blog:)

Woohoo! GoodTwin's got a blog! (Can I post the link, please?)

Sure thing, Lutra. I was thinking that Sue should share this one - after all, we share a brain, our computer gremlins are twins (Pixie & Dixie), and it might be a bit greedy to have one each 8-)

Twins? Pixie and Dixie? *groooaan*
Hee, now can anyone remember the name of the cat? I can...
(The first series of Spooks is playing here at the moment, and I admit I really enjoy it. Not that I actually sit down and watch, but it's playing on the telly while I'm online.)

Right, girding loins to delete old, soon-to-be-redundant version of ICQ so I can install newer version. Wish me luck...

Tee hee hee...
Elfquest cos-play at the San Diego comics con. Ahhh, active fandom - I miss it, sometimes. : ) (Though I'd look pretty bloody silly dressed as an elf, even an Elfquest one and the last time I wore a pair of rubber 'Spock' ears I looked disturbingly like a gelfling...)

Ok, I'm not a weapons expert but in today's Mega Tokyo strip, is Miho's (the dark-haired girl) back-pack shaped like a 'Claymore' anti-personnel mine? That sure beats a Pikachu back-pack for coolness. : )

So there I was, procrastinating about getting back to the bloody novel. The reason? No matter that the basic story is a good one I have only the vaguest notion of how I want to present it. Tch. It's all very well getting starry-eyed and saying 'I'm going to write a novel' but it pays to have some clue how go about it.
So anyway, there I was, shying away from anything that could be considered 'work', chatting to Joules - or rather, whinging to her about how the novel just wasn't gelling - when my brain suddenly staggered sideways and I had an idea.
Heh, I've now got a revised break-down of the chapters and a whole new emphasis for the story direction. Well, not new, exactly, but re-discovered, and an actual plan this time to implement it. I think I'll still be able to use most of what I've written so far - there's not a lot of it, really, maybe 40 pages - but I'll need to shunt it about a bit.
So, on the whole I'm feeling a teensy bit more positive about the whole thing, and I have to *glomp* Joules for being the wonderful sounding-board/devil's advocate/voice of reason that she is. : )

One of the cubs' teachers spoke to me today, to tell me she's noticed they've started socialising outside of themselves. This is a definite step forward.
*g* I saw them playing with one of their classmates this afternoon, kicking a football around… except it was an Aussie Rules football, which is oval, and they've only really played with soccer balls! Was quite funny watching them trying to do that run and kick thing you can only do with round balls, and as for drop-kicking - forget it!
Ah, I'd much rather they got into soccer than AFL anyway. : )

Woohoo! GoodTwin's got a blog! (Can I post the link, please?)
*g* Now it's Sue's turn - though given the probs Joules' has been having…

You know what I really like about my cubs? When they've finished watching telly or a video/dvd, they turn it off and walk away. I was never able to do that when I was a kid, always had to have the damn thing on even if I hated what I was watching.
About toilet-training… Sorry, Talon, I don't think I can really be any help there, I don't actually remember any of the strategies I used with the cubs. I know it only took about a month before they got the hang of it, but at that time they were going to a day-care centre two days a week and the staff there did most of the groundwork. I was a bit annoyed at the time though, the centre's policy was that the children would/should start toilet training before they turned 3, around about the age my cubs were when they started attending. I'd planned to leave it a little longer seeing as they'd shown no interest in toilet training - ie: totally ignored my half-hearted attempts : ) - and to have something so fundamental to my babies' development summarily decided for me made me cross. But, I could see the point and ultimately the cubs benefited so I'm not annoyed any more.

Stumbled across an old episode of The Muppets last night on the Holy Rodent Empire channel. Joan Baez was the special guest and I found myself singing along with all her songs… *shakes head* I spose there has to be some benefit from having folkies as parents…

The cubs and I were talking tonight about visiting the UK - we all think it's a fabulous idea. *g* Let's forget for the moment the cost of it, let's be wildly optimistic and say we'll be travelling over in September next year... *heh, another flare-up of that 'sunny optimism' gland?*
Guess I'll just have to pull my finger out and write that best-seller.

My feet hurt - the cubs and I went to Scienceworks today. :)
It was fun, though tiring. There was a new exhibit to explore, 'House Secrets' full of oversize models of household items with accompanying displays of how they work. Very cool! (And the 'mascot' for the exhibition is little brown house mouse, there's photos of it everywhere - so cute!)
Heh, the cubs don't like seagulls. When we were eating our lunch outside one cub was patrolling to keep the seagulls away while the other tossed our sandwich crusts to the sparrows. Sparrows aren't stupid, within minutes they'd sussed the situation and grouped together on the opposite side of the cubs to the seagulls. *g*
Had a little money to spend in the gift shop today as well. The cubs each got a fridge magnet, a tiny shark floating in a half-sphere of clear plastic - and I bought myself a prettyshiny. It's, I assume, a piece of clear quartz that's been tumbled round and smooth. It's surface looks frosted and one end has been sliced through creating a kind of window to look inside. It's lovely, you hold it up to the light and the inside of the crystal 'room' sparkles! *happy grin*

Now, what goals shall I set for myself this week? Think I'll make this another week to concentrate on my novel. (Tch, does that sound as pretentious as I think it does? :) I realised today that even though I haven't written an awful lot yet, I haven't incorporated anything much about what was one of the original, central ideas. Do I try to include it now, in this first draft? Or do I just try and get as much down as possible and tweak the emphasis later? Hn...

Good grief, where did the weekend go?

Onna, I'm enjoying reading your fic! I'm not all that familiar with the anime, I have to admit, but it seems you've captured the feel of it, and the characters. : )

'S funny, Joules says she can't work without music whereas I find it easier to concentrate when it's quiet. I can tune out the television if necessary but music is always a distraction. Love having music when I'm doing the housework though. I was listening to the Beatles today, sang myself hoarse while I cleaned.
I've loved the Beatle's music for a long time, been listening to it for most of my life. My favourite period covers the 'Help', 'Revolver' and 'Rubber Soul' albums when their music started evolving from simple love songs into something more complex, and before they descended into psychodelia. 'Yellow Submarine' has a special place in my heart though, it's the first time I can remember being prompted to use my imagination to extrapolate a situation. What would it be like to actually live on a submarine? How would the living quarters be organised? Where would the food come from etc? *g* (Can't remember how old I was at the time, under 6, i think...) I've used that mental dexterity to good effect ever since, first for over a decade of role-playing and now in my writing.

Mum gave us her old vacuum cleaner and the cubs and I used it tonight on their bedroom floor. It's got a 'power head' attachment with a built-in light and the cubs thought it was fabulous fun being able to vacuum in the dark. *shakes head* Whatever it takes to get them to help out... : )

WAAAAH! *sniffle* BeBop's finished. Too sooky to say much about it other than damn those Japanese and their enigmatic endings! *poutsniffle*
(Oh and *grumble* the only characters that really caught my, um, attention - Shin and Gren - both ended up dead. Hmph.) I will get this series on DVD – I'm determined to...

(nicked from Joules' blog re Jackson:)
...but to bring to life someone so thoroughly nasty... [shakes head] I may have fun torturing him, but he's your creation, and I am very, very impressed...

Cor, thanks! *blush* Needless to say I wouldn't have been able to do it without what I've learnt from you... : )

Once again I grovel in awe at the feet of the Queen of Casual Torture (tm). *g*

Hooboy, when Joules gets to play with someone she doesn't like - ie: Jackson - the results are... ack... but no less than he deserves I think. (Hee! I did it! I wrote a character that has no redeeming features! *oddly proud of self*)

Right, that's the Dystopia chapter done, which means I've completed the targets I set for myself this week. *satisfied smile* Heh, this setting goals stuff can be useful, might keeping doing it - until I get bored and go back to my normal slap-dash habits. : )

(nicked from Onna's blog:)
I feel awful about it. I really am not ignoring everyone on purpose. I just cannot seem to get back on my feet.

Tch, give yourself a break, onna - you've been ill, it takes time to get back to normal.

(...and:)
Looking forward to seeing that quilt, Lutra! Can anyone take a picture of you holding up some of the squares so we can see?

Don't worry, sweetie, by the time I get round to putting it together I'll have a digital camera and can take the pics myself! (By that I mean it's going to be a while before it's at that stage! *g*)

I found this quiz on Talon's blog...

You Are a Like Lips!

You are a deep and sensual lover - who loves to spend hours making out.

A kiss is still the sexiest thing in the world to you.



And although you may not know it yet...

Your gentle untapped sexuality will be explosive once it's unleashed.

And if the tiger is out already ...then keep up the good work!



What Body Part Are You Most Like?

More Great Quizzes from Quiz Diva

Aww, that's so sweet! A word of warning though, the site it comes from is loaded with adult-rated images...

Soulsis, I hope Flower(pot) doesn't give you too much grief about being put on a diet. Tee hee hee, poor little (hefty)kitten. : )

Yay! End of the week! I've asked for a quiet day at home tomorrow, with a sleep-in, then the cubs and I can go somewhere on Sunday. Haven't decided where yet, it was Scienceworks first, then the Aquarium and now we're back to Scienceworks. Ah well, they know the rules, if they can't decide then we don't go.

Tch, I'm sure I had something else to say....

I bought the cubs some cheaters chopsticks, the ones that are joined at the top, which they love using. Eventually one day they'll graduate to real chopsticks. : )

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not but at the end of last term they had a Video Day at school where the different classes got to make a short film and try their hands at stop-frame animation. We got the video of that today. *shakes head* Overacting at any age! The cubs were thrilled to see each other on television though - no doubt we'll be seeing a lot of that video for the next little while. : )

The next Dystopia is coming along nicely – even though the main character isn't nice at all. I really don't like Jackson... >: (
Joules kind of issued me a challenge today to try and write something that will really squick her.
Hah! Yeah right – her tolerance to squick is greater than mine and for me to write something that really bothers her means it's likely to traumatise me! *g* [Fluffy bunnies-R-us!]
Kitty seemed to do the trick though... *smirk*

Egad we're at the end of the second week of term already! It's another short term, 9 weeks long. *sigh* Already looking forward to the break!
Though I can't deny I'm revelling in having time to myself while the cubs are in school, it's when I do the majority of my writing. Sometimes I can manage to get some done in the evenings as well, especially if the cubs' father takes them out for dinner, and sometimes – if the distractions aren't too bad, ie: television, room full of people – I can get something done at night. : )

(nicked from Joules' blog:)
Oh, and special certificates (I have the sneaking suspicion everyone got one for something) were given out - Kai's was for being the best smiler in the class!

Awww! Well done, bratling! A lovely smile is more valuable than gold. : )

Mmmm. tinned tomato soup with added thyme and white pepper, served with fresh bread smothered in real butter... *happy sigh*

[blinkblink] Well that was interesting...

The ningen took one look at the picture of the chickens on the cans and went pale, muttering something along the lines of they look like overweight blokes sitting on the bog, and declared that under no circumstances would she ever willingly eat something a) physiologically so toxic and b) so visually repugnant....

And I have to confess, having tasted her own version of ginger and lemon-steamed coley, cooked in the wok, I'd be fascinated to see how she adapts the recipe. Because I know my ningen, and I know she can't resist a challenge....

Heh, Okapi found this link for me. It's a recipe for 'beer-can chicken' - with a picture... (We've been discussing the possibilities of putting the liquid into something non-reactive and cooking it that way, cos it does sound yummy, just don't fancy having my meal infused with aluminium... Hn, I spose you could use a steel can...?)

[blinks]

I'm still pondering the logic of using the whole can and frankly a little worried about the mindset of the person who thought it'd be a neat idea to shove a drink can up a chicken's bum...

Not to mention the possibility of some sort of reaction from the paint coming off the can during cooking! [ponders the wisdom of eating anything that's been cooked with aluminium 'stuffing' - especially since aluminium's been linked to Alzheimer's disease...]

(nicked from Talon's blog - further ruminations on 'soda-can chicken':)

//[Me:] *confused* You shove the can into the chicken?
[Talon:] Yup...right up the backside. Yummy!!!

I'm still pondering the logic of using the whole can and frankly a little worried about the mindset of the person who thought it'd be a neat idea to shove a drink can up a chicken's bum...

It's been raining for 2 days now. I'm not complaining, gods know we need it (stage 2 water restrictions are about to be enforced - they should have been put in place a year ago, but that's just my opinion) but I do get annoyed at the muddy footprints through the house. Not the cubs, they take their shoes off when they come inside, it's the bloody cat. Little pawprints all over the place - over the floors, the kitchen bench (where she's not allowed to go, ahah! Sprung!), the cubs' homework they left out on the coffee table, my bed *grumble*.

Ack, I think I'm on the verge of collecting chicken tat the way I do fish tat. I don't understand it, I don't even like chickens!
No, I can resist this, I can. So there.

Next Dystopia is in the works, should be finished in a day or so..

[blinks] A pineapple-shaped ice -bucket... uhuh... the ningen has 'Saru's 'Turtle Mage' and your own 'Golden Turnip of Prosperity' on top of her TV.

[blinkblink] You shove a can up the chicken's backside? Interesting notion... [eyes Lutra warily...]