... I really should take the xmas tree down. Leaving it up 'til the Australia Day weekend is just slack. :) Trouble is, this year it's tucked away in an inconspicuous corner, not out where everyone can trip over the damn thing. :)
Tch, and I'm fed up with my domestic arrangements, as is usual after the cubs and I have house-sat for Niki. Was even better this time cos Mum had lent me her car for the week, so I had the illusion of having my own house and my own car. [grits teeth] Eh well, not a lot I can do about it at the moment, my finances and the outrageously expensive rental market being what they are.

Cubs are back at school next week. Once again the holidays have zipped past. Of the suggested list of 'fun things' we've done about a third, not bad going. As for the 'holiday jobs'? Heh, that one thing I did right at the beginning remains the only thing ticked. Oops. Really should make myself some new trews though...

And now, a meme. Forget who I nicked it from. Oh yes, undunoops

1. You have 10 dollars and need to buy snacks at a gas petrol station:

Coffee flavoured milk. I'd probly have to use the rest for petrol.

2. If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be?

Mermaid!

3. Last book you read?

'Hornet's Nest' - Patricia Cornell (Cornwell?). Currently reading 'Two for the Lions' - Lindsey Davis, a Marcus Didius Falco thriller.

4. Describe the last time you were injured?

... can't remember. Um, slicing my thumb open 2 decades ago while preparing dinner? No, there must be something more recent. Ah, pulling a muscle in bed - I was just stretching, honest. Oh, I know, doing my ankle at the snow. My own fault, wearing the wrong shoes...

5. Of all your LJ friends, who would you want to be stuck in a well with?

[blink] I wouldn't want to be stuck in a well.

6. What is the wallpaper on your cell phone? If you don't have a phone what would it be if you did have one?

Varies, but it's always a pic taken with my camera phone. Currently it's this:


Previously, it was this:



7. If you could only use one form of transportation what would it be?

Magic carpet!

8. Most recent movie you have watched in the theatre?

'The Waterhorse'. Wasn't bad, but David Morrissey as an upper-class Brit threw me for a moment.

9. Name an actor/actress/singer you have the hots for:

Jared Leto. Oh, Hephaistion... Boys in eyeliner. Mmm...

10. What's your favorite kind of cake?

Proper, heavy fruitcake. With marzipan and icing!

11. Look to your left, what do you see?

Are we talking the 90 degree arc between head-on and over-the-shoulder? Purple sparkly lamp; red flocked Buddha money box; 'puter stack, stacked with books; cat tree; cat igloo; window.

12. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

Laces?

13. Favorite toy as a child?

My plastic horses. I made them stables out of cardboard, and tack out of brown vinyl. I drew plans for landscaped dioramas they could roam.

14. Do you think people talk about you behind your back?

Yes. But only when I'm paranoid. The rest of the time I don't give a shit.

15. Do you like running long distances?

What is this 'running' of which you speak?

15. Have you ever eaten snow?

Probably, when I were a wee lass in England. Heck, I remember eating dirt so snow wouldn't have been a stretch.

16. What color are the sheets on your bed?

Blue. But only cos I can't find violent pink, purple or orange in 100% cotton.

17. What is the first television theme song that pops in your head?

Dr Who.

18. Do people consider you smart?

Only if they know me.

19. How many piercings do you have?

One.

20. What is your favorite salad dressing?

Either good quality olive oil and/or vinegar, or something indulgent like a blue-cheese dressing.

Golly. Wasn't that interesting? :)

I really should listen to my intuition. The other day I found myself thinking that perhaps I should make sure there's candles and matches handy. Two days later there was a blackout - while I was online - that killed my modem. [grump] ...Not that having the candles accessible would've stopped my modem from frying, however.
(I'm online and posting due to Niki's good graces. The cubs and I are house-sitting for a few days, and yay, she's got internet!)




... but in a nice way... :)

[giggling] Skittycat has done a Mills&Boon style illustration for one of my Snupins. Should I warn for cross-dressing...?

I was busy in one room when my phone rang in another.
I found myself saying, out loud - 'accio phone'. [rolls eyes] The thing was, when it didn't fling itself in to my hand I wondered why...

Some shameless self-promotion. (I think I can do this now that All's Been Revealed...)
My SnuSa gift was for Rudika who requested 'Snupin as Mafia Bosses'.
'Like Minds' (link goes to the 'age consent' page rather than straight to the story, just in case...)
Be warned, it's male/male; Harry Potter Alternate Universe; Adult rated and contains torture. One of my nice, light pieces. [smirk]

*****

Scab Red
Bad Moon Yellow
Graveyard Earth
Tentacle Pink
Rotting Flesh
Chaos Black
Vermin Brown
Snot Green

Natural Moss
Marron Glace
Tangerine
Love Bird
Silverfox
Moorland
Stained Glass Black
Aurora

One of these is a list of wools, the other, WarHammer 40K model paints. Can you tell which is which? :)

... I have no idea what day it is.
Saturday? [checks] Yes, Saturday. The lack of daily structure during holidays is nice, very relaxing, but it does tend me make forget where in the week I am. :) Not helped when my regularly watched TV programs are missing or moved from their usual time slot. I don't like to think of myself as a creature of habit, but there's the evidence to the contrary.

I finally got 'round to watching the movie version of Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I didn't hate it, though I'd expected to, but then I remember the moaning about the TV series not being as good as the book, and - going back even further - the moaning that the book was a pale imitation of the radio play.
Yeah, it was irritating that so much of the original dialogue and plot had been excised or fiddled with in this version, but I thought the casting was true to the characters. Sam Rockwell made a particularly obnoxious Zaphod, but then Zaphod's a particularly obnoxious character. Mos Def was a convincing Ford and Martin Freeman was as good as any other Arthur I've encountered. The least convincing character for me was Marvin. I really don't know why. Maybe because Mr Rickman's voice is so distinctive? I just couldn't make the voice and the robot suit match up.
As for the new bits...? Hm. Not sure why the decision was made to change the plot so substantially but it hung together well enough. I admit I wasn't impressed with the resolution of the Arthur/Trillian thing - it felt a little too much like pandering to an LCD audience that expects Romance between the leads. [sigh]
I did however like the dolphins, and the little references back towards the TV series, and Stephen Fry as The Book. And the Vogons. The realisation of that 'callous and beaurocratic' species was superbly done. (Yay for Jim Henson's Creature Workshop!)
So, all in all the movie was - dare I say? - mostly harmless. (Yes, yes, no one's ever heard that before. Sorry :) The cubs loved it, but I want them to read the book so they can fully appreciate Douglas Adam's peculiar comic genius.

A noble sentiment for the new year. I heartily concur. We shud lissens to kittehs - dey iz wize.





(Strangely, Badger and Rocket's father can't cope with lolcatz speek. [smirk] )

Right, so, here we are almost at the end of the first day of 2008. It was quiet, too quiet. The sort of quiet that bespeaks a day of staying as still as possible cos of the stupid hot temperature, again. Gah. Eh well, no matter, cool change's come through early enough that I should be able to sleep tonight. I can cope with hot hot days as long as the nights are cool enough to kip properly. If they're not...? Well, cranky just about covers it.

Twas a very quiet NYE, as well. Essentially just me and the cubs at home, catching sight of the occasional - probly illegal - firework being let off nearby. I really didn't mind, it's been years since I thought it was tragic to not have something to do on NYE.
Resolutions? No, don't bother much with them anymore, either. Other than sensible ones like 'bloody look after yerself, idjit, you're not getting any younger and half your family's dead of strokes and heart disease!' Yes, helpfully motivational things like that. :)
2007. Hm, not the best year I've had - not the worst, either - but there's definitely room for improvement. But let's get through the holidays first, eh? I've got a list of things I'd like to have achieved by the time the cubs go back to school. I've even managed one of them so far. That's better than this time last year!