<happysigh> ... and the ficlet was waiting for me in my email... the fluffy bunny's very happy now... : )
Oh dear, oh dear. Arrr... the haddock be swimmin' agin the toide...
Daylight savings finishes tonight, our clocks go back an hour. I've never been able to make sense of it.
Uhoh, found out where one of my local bookstores (Borders) keeps the manga. I flipped through volume 1 of Fake, and volumes of Cardcaptor Sakura; Excel Saga; Cowboy Bebop; X; GTO; thingy Utena and others I don't remember. Heh, I should've been doing homework and it's a good thing this store doesn't do lay-bys. : )
Saturday, March 27, 2004
<dismayed squeak> What?! The ham-ham wasn't my idea - I was just following orders!
... okay, that argument didn't work at Nuremberg, either, but - <tears brimming in big, soulful blue eyes> - no Watari/Oriya smu- er, angst? That's not fair! <pout>
[... no, you don't need to make a noise to scare people, hab'lan... <smirk>]
... okay, that argument didn't work at Nuremberg, either, but - <tears brimming in big, soulful blue eyes> - no Watari/Oriya smu- er, angst? That's not fair! <pout>
[... no, you don't need to make a noise to scare people, hab'lan... <smirk>]
Hee, this was my battlecry result...
(And a battlecry's not so much about letting them know you're coming as scaring seven shades of excrement out of them before you get there. See? : )
.... this has got me thinking... what sort of carnal relations would be so unsafe they'd age the recipient? Hmm...
I spent last night making ghost costumes, for today's birthday party. The cubs and I worked on the refinements this morning. One cub is going as the ghost of a bionicle and the other as the ghost of a ham-ham. : ) It was fun making the ears! I'll take some photos later...
(And a battlecry's not so much about letting them know you're coming as scaring seven shades of excrement out of them before you get there. See? : )
.... this has got me thinking... what sort of carnal relations would be so unsafe they'd age the recipient? Hmm...
I spent last night making ghost costumes, for today's birthday party. The cubs and I worked on the refinements this morning. One cub is going as the ghost of a bionicle and the other as the ghost of a ham-ham. : ) It was fun making the ears! I'll take some photos later...
Friday, March 26, 2004
Heh, now I've done it. Volunteered myself to be Penny's deputy for putting together the school's historical record. : ) We had fun this morning though, borrowing the school's digital camera and zipping around taking photos of the temporary accomodation.
Finally got some photos of the old site scanned.
The blank space on the right side of the pic is the wing where the library was...
The front of the school. This part has been demolished now.
And lastly, my cubs demonstrating how upset they are. <rolls eyes>
(The yellow thing on M's head is a transformer; the thing S's holding is a plush stingray...)
Thanks, Joules, for resizing and hosting the pics! And thank you, Penny, for scanning them. : )
Finally got some photos of the old site scanned.
The blank space on the right side of the pic is the wing where the library was...
The front of the school. This part has been demolished now.
And lastly, my cubs demonstrating how upset they are. <rolls eyes>
(The yellow thing on M's head is a transformer; the thing S's holding is a plush stingray...)
Thanks, Joules, for resizing and hosting the pics! And thank you, Penny, for scanning them. : )
Thursday, March 25, 2004
The school's 'Book Fair' went well. Over $5000 worth of books sold, $1700+ of that in books that have been donated to the school (that includes $40 worth from the cubs and I) and Scholastic - the company that runs these things - will be donating 35% of the total sales in books to the school. Heh, not a bad effort for such a little institution, eh?
Finished fiddling with a couple of 'Dancing' chapters this week and now I'm dippiing back into Dystopia briefly. Got the next Elga chapter started as well.
Treated myself to a sliver of soap from Lush today (had to be a sliver, this stuff is expensive!). The soap's called 'Rock Star' and it smells like fairy floss...
Finished fiddling with a couple of 'Dancing' chapters this week and now I'm dippiing back into Dystopia briefly. Got the next Elga chapter started as well.
Treated myself to a sliver of soap from Lush today (had to be a sliver, this stuff is expensive!). The soap's called 'Rock Star' and it smells like fairy floss...
Gah, it feels like Friday. Why isn't it Friday?
Got a full weekend coming up. Saturday the cubs are going to a birthday party; on Sunday Soulsis and her chicks are bringing Mum down and we're going to Smorgy's for her birthday; and on Monday (which is a day off school for the cubs cos they'll be shifting into the portable school) the cubs and I are planning on going into the Museum to see the new Bug's Alive exhibition. I'm exhausted already! : }
Hee, Soulsis rang me today to see if A: I had a copy of the musical Camelot on DVD and B: if not would I like one?
I said yes, naturally, I love musicals and Camelot is one of the fluffy-bunny's favourites, so beautifully, tragically Romantic.
I like musicals so much I swear there must be a part of my psyche that's a gay man. Oookay, before anyone squeaks about 'stereotypes' just let me say that every gay man I've ever known enjoys musicals. So there. : )
Got a full weekend coming up. Saturday the cubs are going to a birthday party; on Sunday Soulsis and her chicks are bringing Mum down and we're going to Smorgy's for her birthday; and on Monday (which is a day off school for the cubs cos they'll be shifting into the portable school) the cubs and I are planning on going into the Museum to see the new Bug's Alive exhibition. I'm exhausted already! : }
Hee, Soulsis rang me today to see if A: I had a copy of the musical Camelot on DVD and B: if not would I like one?
I said yes, naturally, I love musicals and Camelot is one of the fluffy-bunny's favourites, so beautifully, tragically Romantic.
I like musicals so much I swear there must be a part of my psyche that's a gay man. Oookay, before anyone squeaks about 'stereotypes' just let me say that every gay man I've ever known enjoys musicals. So there. : )
I have one little niggle with the X series - sometimes I can't read the yellow subtitles when the backgrounds are pale. Be much easier to follow with closed captions. Ah well.
I've had to resort to listening to the English dub in places cos I just can't follow what's going on otherwise. I have the subtitles on at the same time which makes for an interesting effect. It's surprising how many extra words the dub uses, makes it quite wordy compared to the almost spare subs. This isn't necessarily a good thing - the more words used to expand or explain the subtleties the more the original meaning is submerged. I've found, however, I've been getting a 'feel' for the Japanese voices and am picking up clues as to content from the intonations. Fascinating. The cultural slant on the two tracks in noticeable as well, and quite funny in places. (No, no examples, it's late and it's been a long day. : )
And another quick word about the movie version... The more I see of the series the more I realise how bastardised the movie is. It hasn't just been compressed, it's been completely re-edited and the plot significantly changed. I mean, it still works, but the series is way more satisfying. Hope this isn't putting you off the movie too much, Joules!
(One last word... Mmmm... Fuma... And once again the bad guys are all dead-sexy. Tch.)
Wow, this is the second last week of term. Two of my subjects finish next week, another one finishes the first week of term 2, and the fourth finishes 2 weeks after that. Still haven't had any confirmation about places in other subjects, but if I end up not doing any more classes this year I'll cope no doubt, can always make them up next year.
The cubs were well enough to go to school today which was good cos I had an assessment test scheduled for one of my classes and I really didn't want to miss it. How'd I do? Okay, I guess, I'll be surprised if I failed, but I don't think it'll be another 100 percent score.
Sorry to hear bratling's having difficulties, Joules. : ( Hope it settles down soon with the minimum of aggravation.
I've had to resort to listening to the English dub in places cos I just can't follow what's going on otherwise. I have the subtitles on at the same time which makes for an interesting effect. It's surprising how many extra words the dub uses, makes it quite wordy compared to the almost spare subs. This isn't necessarily a good thing - the more words used to expand or explain the subtleties the more the original meaning is submerged. I've found, however, I've been getting a 'feel' for the Japanese voices and am picking up clues as to content from the intonations. Fascinating. The cultural slant on the two tracks in noticeable as well, and quite funny in places. (No, no examples, it's late and it's been a long day. : )
And another quick word about the movie version... The more I see of the series the more I realise how bastardised the movie is. It hasn't just been compressed, it's been completely re-edited and the plot significantly changed. I mean, it still works, but the series is way more satisfying. Hope this isn't putting you off the movie too much, Joules!
(One last word... Mmmm... Fuma... And once again the bad guys are all dead-sexy. Tch.)
Wow, this is the second last week of term. Two of my subjects finish next week, another one finishes the first week of term 2, and the fourth finishes 2 weeks after that. Still haven't had any confirmation about places in other subjects, but if I end up not doing any more classes this year I'll cope no doubt, can always make them up next year.
The cubs were well enough to go to school today which was good cos I had an assessment test scheduled for one of my classes and I really didn't want to miss it. How'd I do? Okay, I guess, I'll be surprised if I failed, but I don't think it'll be another 100 percent score.
Sorry to hear bratling's having difficulties, Joules. : ( Hope it settles down soon with the minimum of aggravation.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Ok, so technically the cubs were well enough to go to school today but I thought it'd be good for them to have a quiet day at home. Means I'm missing my classes, which I'm less happy about, but I'm tired too. Heh, really looking forward to the term break, I have to admit.
Take the Teletubbies, devolve them, then prescribe LSD...
Apparently there is a point to this show but I obviously haven't got it yet. Mind you I thought the Teletubbies were pretty pointless at first but ended up being well and truly charmed. <shakes head> I dunno, put something prettysparkly in front of me and I'm smitten...
Take the Teletubbies, devolve them, then prescribe LSD...
Apparently there is a point to this show but I obviously haven't got it yet. Mind you I thought the Teletubbies were pretty pointless at first but ended up being well and truly charmed. <shakes head> I dunno, put something prettysparkly in front of me and I'm smitten...
Monday, March 22, 2004
Got a call today from the school to go and pick up my cubs from the sports-day excursion. <sigh> The one who'd been sick last night had been sick again. He flaked out on the couch for the rest of the afternoon while the other one (he'll probly get sick in the next couple of days) bounced around bored and distracted cos he had no-one to play with. I blame their father, he was ill over the weekend... : ) Not sure what's going to happen tomorrow – if the sick cub has to stay home do I send his brother off to school anyway? Either way I won't be able to attend my own classes. Eh well.
Aaaand the healthy cub wanted to help me with the washing-up tonight.
<smiling through gritted teeth>
It's good he wants to help – it's good he wants to help.
There's a fine line between gentle, encouraging instruction and tching in barely concealed irritation. I know the only way he's going to learn to do this effectively is by actually doing it but the process took 3 times longer than usual. : )
Started work on chapter 6 of 'Dancing' (hang on? Have I finished 5? Must check...). Had a 'ping' (imagine light-bulb over head) about it, as well. This is good, feel like I'm making progress finally.
I still have no idea what's going to happen when I've finished it though. What do I do? Find an agent first or just start sending out copies to publishers?
<cue Procrastination Princess> I'll think about it later...
Aaaand the healthy cub wanted to help me with the washing-up tonight.
<smiling through gritted teeth>
It's good he wants to help – it's good he wants to help.
There's a fine line between gentle, encouraging instruction and tching in barely concealed irritation. I know the only way he's going to learn to do this effectively is by actually doing it but the process took 3 times longer than usual. : )
Started work on chapter 6 of 'Dancing' (hang on? Have I finished 5? Must check...). Had a 'ping' (imagine light-bulb over head) about it, as well. This is good, feel like I'm making progress finally.
I still have no idea what's going to happen when I've finished it though. What do I do? Find an agent first or just start sending out copies to publishers?
<cue Procrastination Princess> I'll think about it later...
Of all the mummy-duties that fall to me there is none I enjoy more than cleaning up after a sick child... (Yes, I'm being sarcastic. What sort of weirdo do you take me for? I've seen those adult websites - I don't understand the attraction in watching a naked woman vomit.)
I digress.
And there's no better time to perform this duty than just before I go to bed. <sigh> (Ok, could've been worse, sick cub could've come to find me after I'd gone to bed.) But of course, all the icked on bedding (and toys) had to be cleaned straight away or they would've stunk up the house, and then I couldn't go back to bed until the load in the washing-machine was finished cos I'm paranoid about fires started by unattended electrical appliances. Who needs extreme sports for action and adventure, just try parenting...
Uhoh, housemate's found a bookshop that sells and more importantly will lay-by the 'How to draw Manga' series. This could be bad, I haven't purchased any of these books yet cos the only other place I've seen them doesn't do lay-bys. Eh, I'll add them to the list. : )
Well the cubs' projects weren't as painful to complete as anticipated. We walked up to the newsagents on Saturday to get all the card/coloured paper/crepe paper etc we needed then after lunch sat down and got to work. Took just over an hour to finish them. Tch. Fair enough they're not particularly involved or detailed constructions but they're done. The integrated subject for this term turned out to be 'Natural Disasters', not 'Art & Artists' (the kids took a vote, apparently) and so my cubs decided to construct volcanoes for their projects. This consisted of a roughly torn ('clever tearing' - it's a technical term : ) piece of brown paper glued to backing board to represent an island, then a green-paper cone set onto that as the volcano with lava streams made up from strips of crepe paper flowing out from the centre. That was the fun bit, less fun was the writing of volcano 'facts' on the card but it was done and we all sat back blinking at each other at how quickly it had been completed. Heh.
... and then yesterday I initiated some cleaning-up of the house.
Telling the cubs that they're going to clean up their room doesn't work, it's too big a task for them to contemplate and I have to reboot their brains with cordial and a snack. Instead I asked them to do one task - pick up their books and put them back on their bookshelf. There was still grumbling and I still had to supervise them but it wasn't the wholesale trauma of an overwhelming job. Tonight I might ask them to do another small task, and tomorrow another. Call me an optimist but if this works their room should be in order before long...
I did some book-covering last night, using the last remainder of the school library.
A few weeks ago (can't remember if I mentioned it or not) I took home some of the library's supply of the product used to cover books' dustjackets. The stuff has been sitting there for years with little chance of being used as the school didn't seem to buy books with dustjackets anymore. So I asked the librarian I worked with if it was okay for me to take some and she said sure, the stuff was likely to end up in the bin anyway. I only took enough to cover 5 of my books, thinking I could always come back for more... A week later the library and everything in it was gone. Oh well, if I want to cover the rest of my books I'm just going to have to shell out the dosh and buy the product myself.
(But covering the books was enjoyable - I did a good job of it if I say so myself : )
Okies, chapter 4 of 'Elga' is posted in DarkRealm (thanks, Joules, again, for the coding and such : ) I've had a good look at the superhero fic from years ago and I think I can do something with it. Needs rewriting desperately but the basic premise is good.
But first I shall work on another chapter of 'Dancing'.
Oh, have you seen this comic-strip? Get Fuzzy. Onna's sent me some of the strips before but I stumbled across the actual website yesterday. If you're a cat-person you'll probly wet yourself laughing over this - I did. <bg>
Happy Mothering Sunday, Joules!
That's one sweet bratling (and mate) you've got there. : )
I digress.
And there's no better time to perform this duty than just before I go to bed. <sigh> (Ok, could've been worse, sick cub could've come to find me after I'd gone to bed.) But of course, all the icked on bedding (and toys) had to be cleaned straight away or they would've stunk up the house, and then I couldn't go back to bed until the load in the washing-machine was finished cos I'm paranoid about fires started by unattended electrical appliances. Who needs extreme sports for action and adventure, just try parenting...
Uhoh, housemate's found a bookshop that sells and more importantly will lay-by the 'How to draw Manga' series. This could be bad, I haven't purchased any of these books yet cos the only other place I've seen them doesn't do lay-bys. Eh, I'll add them to the list. : )
Well the cubs' projects weren't as painful to complete as anticipated. We walked up to the newsagents on Saturday to get all the card/coloured paper/crepe paper etc we needed then after lunch sat down and got to work. Took just over an hour to finish them. Tch. Fair enough they're not particularly involved or detailed constructions but they're done. The integrated subject for this term turned out to be 'Natural Disasters', not 'Art & Artists' (the kids took a vote, apparently) and so my cubs decided to construct volcanoes for their projects. This consisted of a roughly torn ('clever tearing' - it's a technical term : ) piece of brown paper glued to backing board to represent an island, then a green-paper cone set onto that as the volcano with lava streams made up from strips of crepe paper flowing out from the centre. That was the fun bit, less fun was the writing of volcano 'facts' on the card but it was done and we all sat back blinking at each other at how quickly it had been completed. Heh.
... and then yesterday I initiated some cleaning-up of the house.
Telling the cubs that they're going to clean up their room doesn't work, it's too big a task for them to contemplate and I have to reboot their brains with cordial and a snack. Instead I asked them to do one task - pick up their books and put them back on their bookshelf. There was still grumbling and I still had to supervise them but it wasn't the wholesale trauma of an overwhelming job. Tonight I might ask them to do another small task, and tomorrow another. Call me an optimist but if this works their room should be in order before long...
I did some book-covering last night, using the last remainder of the school library.
A few weeks ago (can't remember if I mentioned it or not) I took home some of the library's supply of the product used to cover books' dustjackets. The stuff has been sitting there for years with little chance of being used as the school didn't seem to buy books with dustjackets anymore. So I asked the librarian I worked with if it was okay for me to take some and she said sure, the stuff was likely to end up in the bin anyway. I only took enough to cover 5 of my books, thinking I could always come back for more... A week later the library and everything in it was gone. Oh well, if I want to cover the rest of my books I'm just going to have to shell out the dosh and buy the product myself.
(But covering the books was enjoyable - I did a good job of it if I say so myself : )
Okies, chapter 4 of 'Elga' is posted in DarkRealm (thanks, Joules, again, for the coding and such : ) I've had a good look at the superhero fic from years ago and I think I can do something with it. Needs rewriting desperately but the basic premise is good.
But first I shall work on another chapter of 'Dancing'.
Oh, have you seen this comic-strip? Get Fuzzy. Onna's sent me some of the strips before but I stumbled across the actual website yesterday. If you're a cat-person you'll probly wet yourself laughing over this - I did. <bg>
Happy Mothering Sunday, Joules!
That's one sweet bratling (and mate) you've got there. : )
Saturday, March 20, 2004
In my dream last night someone (I don't know them) was trying to organise my life for their convenience. They looked quite surprised when I growled at them... : )
Apologies beforehand to anybody involved in this 'sport' but don't you think Ballroom Dancing is inherently ludicrous? I could be biased but to me it's faker, more pointless even than ballet (and I should know, I used to teach ballet...) All those big happy smiles that have no emotional connection, the homogenising and sanitising of vibrant, overtly sexual dances into insipid, controlled pap. The costumes can be beautiful though, spangles and fringes and tassels, oh my! <bg> Eh, what do I know? Every BD'er I've spoken to has said they love it - I might too if I could be persuaded to try...
The fourth chapter of Elga is finished. Been a while coming - I had to remind myself that to get to the exciting bits I've got planned for this arc I first have to lay the foundations. Heh.
Going to have to take the cubs up to the newsagents soon so we can get card and such for their projects - the projects which are due to be handed in this coming monday. Oops.
I foresee glue and sticky tape in my weekend... how about you?
Apologies beforehand to anybody involved in this 'sport' but don't you think Ballroom Dancing is inherently ludicrous? I could be biased but to me it's faker, more pointless even than ballet (and I should know, I used to teach ballet...) All those big happy smiles that have no emotional connection, the homogenising and sanitising of vibrant, overtly sexual dances into insipid, controlled pap. The costumes can be beautiful though, spangles and fringes and tassels, oh my! <bg> Eh, what do I know? Every BD'er I've spoken to has said they love it - I might too if I could be persuaded to try...
The fourth chapter of Elga is finished. Been a while coming - I had to remind myself that to get to the exciting bits I've got planned for this arc I first have to lay the foundations. Heh.
Going to have to take the cubs up to the newsagents soon so we can get card and such for their projects - the projects which are due to be handed in this coming monday. Oops.
I foresee glue and sticky tape in my weekend... how about you?
Friday, March 19, 2004
I miss Boy Meets . <sigh> I want to see how Skids and Ty are getting on in New York.
The superhero universe I started dabbling with a few years ago has resurfaced. It started off as an AU for a fandom but, again, I think it could work well as an original stand-alone. Hm...
... and Joules has begun the second of the Oriyal tales. : )
(refer last post:)
I loved the Dune movie, as well, for much the same reasons (and the added attraction of the fabulous tech! So baroque...) but the book held a wealth of details and back history and all sorts of stuff that helped it form its own little world. X the series is much the same, you're diving the depths not simply skimming the surface... It's involving and complex and answers the questions the movie threw up.
The superhero universe I started dabbling with a few years ago has resurfaced. It started off as an AU for a fandom but, again, I think it could work well as an original stand-alone. Hm...
... and Joules has begun the second of the Oriyal tales. : )
(refer last post:)
I loved the Dune movie, as well, for much the same reasons (and the added attraction of the fabulous tech! So baroque...) but the book held a wealth of details and back history and all sorts of stuff that helped it form its own little world. X the series is much the same, you're diving the depths not simply skimming the surface... It's involving and complex and answers the questions the movie threw up.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
In my house I would really like to have a library with a secret room hidden behind the bookcases...
Decision made - I picked up volume 3 of X. : )
Joules has now got the X movie DVD I sent her but I'm tempted to advise her not to bother with it. The movie is to the series what the Dune movie was to the book: it's internally consistent but there's so much missing. Mind you the DVD is worth watching for the animation. (Hee, and there's so much more of that in the series too : )
Joules has started the first of the Oriyal fics! <boing> She says it's gone haring off in an unanticipated direction - gosh, what a surprise. Can't wait to see what happens!
Decision made - I picked up volume 3 of X. : )
Joules has now got the X movie DVD I sent her but I'm tempted to advise her not to bother with it. The movie is to the series what the Dune movie was to the book: it's internally consistent but there's so much missing. Mind you the DVD is worth watching for the animation. (Hee, and there's so much more of that in the series too : )
Joules has started the first of the Oriyal fics! <boing> She says it's gone haring off in an unanticipated direction - gosh, what a surprise. Can't wait to see what happens!
One of my cubs had a nightmare last night so came in to me... Of course, he had to clear the accumulated crap off the bed before he could snuggle - maybe it's time I cleaned my room again?
Decisions, decisions. I've poked at my budget and it appears I can afford one DVD this week. What shall it be? Volume 3 of X? Or the first volume of Last Exile or Excel Saga? And there's a CardCaptor Sakura there as well... <put-upon sigh>
'K, I've told the cubs' father and housemate that I intend to have moved by the end of the year - I think 6 months is fair warning.
KittenKong doesn't like my alarm clock. I use my mobile phone's alarm (cos where my bed is in the room I can't reach the powerpoint without running a cord across the floor) and the tune it plays must irritate her. More than once I've woken up to the alarm and found my cat chewing on my phone. Hn...
Decisions, decisions. I've poked at my budget and it appears I can afford one DVD this week. What shall it be? Volume 3 of X? Or the first volume of Last Exile or Excel Saga? And there's a CardCaptor Sakura there as well... <put-upon sigh>
'K, I've told the cubs' father and housemate that I intend to have moved by the end of the year - I think 6 months is fair warning.
KittenKong doesn't like my alarm clock. I use my mobile phone's alarm (cos where my bed is in the room I can't reach the powerpoint without running a cord across the floor) and the tune it plays must irritate her. More than once I've woken up to the alarm and found my cat chewing on my phone. Hn...
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Heh, <smug> I got 20/20 for my first test. Won't do so well on the assignment I handed in today though, I know I haven't given as much information in the answers as was required. Oh well, my lecturer won't be giving me a bookmark as a reward for doing well - I can live with that. : )
The last time I was doing this course, a decade ago, results were graded from Unsatisfactory, through Pass, Credit and Distinction. That's all been scrapped, it's now CO (competent) or NYC (not yet competent). Hn, I don't know, I rather liked the old system, it gave you an idea of how well you were doing, or not.
Only 2 more classes to go for a couple of the subjects. I've been organising getting onto waiting lists for other subjects throughout the year. Shouldn't be too much hassle, and it's all an object lesson, innit? Next year I'll be waaay more organised... : )
They've started clearing the school site – what's left of the wing that was completely destroyed has more or less been dealt with now. Quite sad, really, I got a bit teary-eyed while walking past the site today, peering through the holes in the fence...
The 'portable' school should be ready to use in just over a week. That'll be interesting, shifting everything over from the hall. Not surprisingly the fund-raising activities have kicked into overdrive. Tomorrow there's a sausage sizzle, the 'disco-night' is this weekend (I won't be going), next week there's the book-fair and we've just been given the tickets to sell for the Easter raffle. To be fair, everything except the sausage sizzle was being organised before the fire, there just seems to be an awful lot of it all at once, or maybe it's simply there's more emphasis on the need for fund-raising now.
Looks like I won't be able to buy second-hand unforms for a while either. All of the stock has gone and the portable school won't have the storage room for the gear. Ouch, brand new uniforms are hideously expensive. The cubs have got enough to get them through winter, especially if I keep haunting the major dept. stores for the cheap, un-logo'ed shirts and windcheaters. Eh, I'll deal with the summer stuff closer to the time.
Chapter 4 of Dancing is reviewed, on to chapter 5 I guess. I'll get that done at least before finishing my next AC/Elga/Dystopia. Heh.
The last time I was doing this course, a decade ago, results were graded from Unsatisfactory, through Pass, Credit and Distinction. That's all been scrapped, it's now CO (competent) or NYC (not yet competent). Hn, I don't know, I rather liked the old system, it gave you an idea of how well you were doing, or not.
Only 2 more classes to go for a couple of the subjects. I've been organising getting onto waiting lists for other subjects throughout the year. Shouldn't be too much hassle, and it's all an object lesson, innit? Next year I'll be waaay more organised... : )
They've started clearing the school site – what's left of the wing that was completely destroyed has more or less been dealt with now. Quite sad, really, I got a bit teary-eyed while walking past the site today, peering through the holes in the fence...
The 'portable' school should be ready to use in just over a week. That'll be interesting, shifting everything over from the hall. Not surprisingly the fund-raising activities have kicked into overdrive. Tomorrow there's a sausage sizzle, the 'disco-night' is this weekend (I won't be going), next week there's the book-fair and we've just been given the tickets to sell for the Easter raffle. To be fair, everything except the sausage sizzle was being organised before the fire, there just seems to be an awful lot of it all at once, or maybe it's simply there's more emphasis on the need for fund-raising now.
Looks like I won't be able to buy second-hand unforms for a while either. All of the stock has gone and the portable school won't have the storage room for the gear. Ouch, brand new uniforms are hideously expensive. The cubs have got enough to get them through winter, especially if I keep haunting the major dept. stores for the cheap, un-logo'ed shirts and windcheaters. Eh, I'll deal with the summer stuff closer to the time.
Chapter 4 of Dancing is reviewed, on to chapter 5 I guess. I'll get that done at least before finishing my next AC/Elga/Dystopia. Heh.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Zipping around yesterday paying bills and such only to come to a screeching halt in front of the newsagents...
I have a soft-spot for model kits and diaoramas and I discovered for sale, not one but two 'week-by-week' collectible model kit thingys.
<whimper> Each has 100 parts to it, at $12 per part; that's more than $1000 spread over two years for each kit...
The first was a model of HMS Victory – Nelson's ship at Waterloo. I can leave that one alone, there's some lovely, top-class wooden ship kits available for way less than that. I'm still debating the other one though. It's a 'build your own Medieval Fortress' where you get to make, and decorate, various types of medieval buildings...
I can live without it, I can. I mean, realisitically, what would I do with it? And the $50 a month I'd be spending on it could buy me a DVD, or two. <sigh>
You'd think 2 years would be long enough to drop off of a library's system, yes? No.
Went to join (or rejoin, rather) my local library after not going in there for a couple of years. I owed them a lot of money in fines and I thought, if my records had slid away in the tides of time, I might be able to sneak back onto the system with a clean slate. No such luck – I was still registered, and the fine was still outstanding. Needless to say I can't borrow anything until it's paid off, which is a pain, but I really don't like having these odd financial spikes hanging over my head. I'm going to chip away at it anyway (there's too much for me to be able to pay all at once!). I guess it can all be part of me getting my act together. : )
I have a soft-spot for model kits and diaoramas and I discovered for sale, not one but two 'week-by-week' collectible model kit thingys.
<whimper> Each has 100 parts to it, at $12 per part; that's more than $1000 spread over two years for each kit...
The first was a model of HMS Victory – Nelson's ship at Waterloo. I can leave that one alone, there's some lovely, top-class wooden ship kits available for way less than that. I'm still debating the other one though. It's a 'build your own Medieval Fortress' where you get to make, and decorate, various types of medieval buildings...
I can live without it, I can. I mean, realisitically, what would I do with it? And the $50 a month I'd be spending on it could buy me a DVD, or two. <sigh>
You'd think 2 years would be long enough to drop off of a library's system, yes? No.
Went to join (or rejoin, rather) my local library after not going in there for a couple of years. I owed them a lot of money in fines and I thought, if my records had slid away in the tides of time, I might be able to sneak back onto the system with a clean slate. No such luck – I was still registered, and the fine was still outstanding. Needless to say I can't borrow anything until it's paid off, which is a pain, but I really don't like having these odd financial spikes hanging over my head. I'm going to chip away at it anyway (there's too much for me to be able to pay all at once!). I guess it can all be part of me getting my act together. : )
Sunday, March 14, 2004
<wriggle> Isn't that the cutest pic of the tenshi? Thanks, onna!
Watched volume 2 of X today. Damn, this is a fine series! The characters are developing depth and complexity, I'm getting involved with them (which could be a problem seeing how I know most of them end up. Eh, won't be the first time I've cried watching an anime. : )
The cubs asked me today if (and I quote) it was possible to get stuck in someone's butt?
<blinkblink>
Er - I hedged - stuck how?
A frown, then: Like getting your head stuck.
An inward sigh of relief from me, I knew where this is coming from now, it was something revolting they'd seen on Cartoon Network, not something yaoi they've inadvertantly stumbled across. I then jokingly pointed out how big most heads were and we concluded that, no, it wasn't something that was likely to happen...
I've <gasp!> come to a decision. (Those who know me will realise what a momentous thing this is : )
I'm planning that, car or no car, the cubs and I will be in our new house by xmas this year. Unless something happens in the meantime I'll start seriously searching the rentals in October, that'll give me 6 months to get my act together. In the spirit of organisation I sat down and listed things I'd need for the new place. There's not an awful lot, really, I have most of the necessities already. Yes, I'd like a proper bed but it's not essential, likewise, I'd like a new fridge, and couch and computer, but the ones I've got will do for the time being. It takes some of the financial pressure off, knowing there isn't that much I need to get, and heh, I've got 6 months now to plan for the rest.
D'oh! The cubs have got a project due in tomorrow and we've done nothing. Ooops...
Watched volume 2 of X today. Damn, this is a fine series! The characters are developing depth and complexity, I'm getting involved with them (which could be a problem seeing how I know most of them end up. Eh, won't be the first time I've cried watching an anime. : )
The cubs asked me today if (and I quote) it was possible to get stuck in someone's butt?
<blinkblink>
Er - I hedged - stuck how?
A frown, then: Like getting your head stuck.
An inward sigh of relief from me, I knew where this is coming from now, it was something revolting they'd seen on Cartoon Network, not something yaoi they've inadvertantly stumbled across. I then jokingly pointed out how big most heads were and we concluded that, no, it wasn't something that was likely to happen...
I've <gasp!> come to a decision. (Those who know me will realise what a momentous thing this is : )
I'm planning that, car or no car, the cubs and I will be in our new house by xmas this year. Unless something happens in the meantime I'll start seriously searching the rentals in October, that'll give me 6 months to get my act together. In the spirit of organisation I sat down and listed things I'd need for the new place. There's not an awful lot, really, I have most of the necessities already. Yes, I'd like a proper bed but it's not essential, likewise, I'd like a new fridge, and couch and computer, but the ones I've got will do for the time being. It takes some of the financial pressure off, knowing there isn't that much I need to get, and heh, I've got 6 months now to plan for the rest.
D'oh! The cubs have got a project due in tomorrow and we've done nothing. Ooops...