The Jamjar

Linkity wabbits

I haven't linked to anything kewl in ages.. so here's one of the nicest examples of animation in Flash I've seen in a long time - nice whiskers Bernard; thanks for the link James.

Everyone's Had More Sex Than Me

but wait, there's more - this made me LAUGH !!

While I was out

Getting home from my walk this morning and finding a parcel on my doorstep I was at first disappointed - thinking my client had *finally* couriered the sound files over and would be one less thing I could complain about - and then happily surprised to see it wasn't from a client but from the lovely Eroica.

I am now drinking wonderful coffee with a goofy smile on my face amazed at such a sweet and unexpected gesture. Thank you, sweet girl, for such a lovely surprise on a rainy grey Monday morning.

This weekend I...

got a bit sloshed
phoned for company (bring wine)
woke up too early to a cooked breakfast I didn't eat
took far too long to get over my headache enough to drive
bought 6 escargot (pastry scrolls) from Bakers Delight
arrived late to class (but didn't miss anything)
drew a horse (on a piece of paper)
got a bit lost (listening to a guy talk about propaganda)
learned to say hello and goodbye in Spanish (adios!)
tried very hard to speak some Dutch (failed to speak much Dutch *sch*)
passed on the chocolate while thinking about stress
shared my 6 escargot (pastry scrolls)
watched a variation of the pickle-jar time-management-metaphor
learned to shimmie (belly dancing 101)
got horribly nervous unexpectedly
taught some people how to make fridge magnets
gained a basic certificate in teaching adults
received a postcard (made my day)
slept a whole 10 hours
dozed another 2 hours
drove to Botany Town Centre to buy a book
bought a Nintendo DS instead
played multiplayer Mario Bros while drinking great coffee at EdBrowns
hugged an 83 year old woman
practised my game skills quietly at home after being beaten soundly during multiplayer Mario Bros game (game name: Captain Un-co)
picked up for cafe reconnaissance mission
drank a really mediocre coffee at a new cafe (vowed not to return)
managed to control my temper
paid my tax on time
paid my GST on time
paid my late file fine to the IRD (from last/last time)
took outrageously cute photos of my (sometimes demented) kitten
wondered briefly if I had enough money to cover my tax cheques (see nintendo purchase)
stopped worrying (read: didn't care)

Impulsive purchases

Him: hm, I dunno if I shoulda bought the deluxe case
Me: sure you should have
Him: I don't really need it
Me: of course you do, if for no other reason then just for the caribbean it has on it
Him: the what? the little group of islands it has dangling from the corner of the case? You mean carabiner mum
Me: shuddup

Surfing Kitten

Signage

Tuesday Movies

I decided to mosey over to the Rialto in Newmarket to see a movie I'd spotted on their website. School for Seduction was due to start at 8:50pm and I was running a little late. Seems I wasn't late at all - due entirely to the fact I may be able to read maps, but the cinema timetable trips me up over and over and the movie doesn't start until *thursday* (!! arg.. I make this mistake about once a month.. it drives me bonkers) So I paid for the next movie, The Motorcycle Diaries which started at 9:15pm. Part of my movie-going-decision was based on time - I had to pick Simon up from work at 11:20pm and the movie didn't get out til then, so I txt'd him with news of my expected lateness and took my $2:80 flat white coffee (what a bargain) into the theatre.

The Rialto theatres are really quite old, and really quite ugly and uncomfortable. Seats fold up, no leg room, noisey stairs for those girls and their tiny bladders. I've never understood that - why don't people go before they settle in for the movie? Imagine being on a "hike" in "nature" with these chickies, you'd have to be stopping and averting your gaze every 20-30 minutes. That's the trouble with the young women of today - weak pelvic floor muscles. Squeeze dammit - I hate that clomp clomp clomping of dumb-girl-shoes in the middle of a movie.

_anyway_

The movie.

What a good movie. Solid, beautifully shot - with a faded 50's palette and enough camera jiggling to really make it feel authentic/homemovie-ish. Driving home I was trying to figure out the word that connected me to this film, and I think I've decided that word is "intimate".

There are tons of reviews online for The Motorcycle Diaries and lots of information about Ernesto "che" Guevara - I'm not even gonna attempt any explanations or thoughts or history or anything on the matter. I'd just like you to know this is a really good movie.

The Motorcycle Diaries site (click "Traveling Music" button to hear some of the soundtrack)

Advanced Parenting: Bonding Through Music

Her, turning the volume up at each comma: I really like Usher, listen, oh yeh I love this song, arg but I don't like Ludichris' voice listen , , ,
Me, getting grumpy cos she's changed all the presets on my radio *again*:
Her, talking and singing: Usher sounds so great, and Little Johnie sounds so sweet but Ludichris sounds like he's singing into a garbage can.
Me, as pre usual: arg turn it DOWN, arg I hate this music.
Her, turing it down one click: I hate YOUR music too
Me, grumpy: what's MY music, everything that isn't THIS?
Her, inbetween singing: geeze mum, _calm_down_
Me, snapping: I hate HATE Usher, I HATE BLOODY USHER, I'm trying to be a bloody SUPPORTIVE parent and letting you listen to bloody USHER in my CAR and you're ranting on and on like there's going to be an EXAM afterwards and I just REALLY hate USHER!
Her, changing the radio station: geeze alright don't have a.. OH GOD I LOVE THIS SONG , , ,
Me, recognising the tune: Oh god, not more arg.. I HATE this kind of music.
Her, singing sweetly along:
Me, recognising the tune some more: is this that chick with the straight hair?
Her, singing and answering: yeh, this is Shikira, she's really beautiful.
Me, disagreeing as usual: arg god she's so UGLY. Is this the one featuring Missy Elliot?
Her, surprised: yeh, it is.
Me, letting it drop and proving I am a real parent: Oh, Missy Elliot, she's better looking that that Shikira - I don't mind listening to *her*
Her, still a little bit surprised I recognised the song:
Me, thinking of a song I do like: You know, Will Smith's Switch is kinda good.
Her, gasping excitedly: Oh GOD i love that song I love EVERYTHING Will Smith he's such a babe!!
Me: gonna go see Hitch?
Her, still overly excitedly: Oh god yes, I mean, I'd go see *any* movie, I love going to the movies, but I'd definately going to see that.
Me: oh.. so.. you wanna come to the movies with me tonight?
Her, dancing to the music in the passenger seat: nah, I don't think so. *singing sweetly all the way home*

Please Note: I have no idea how the singers in the above converstation spell their names, so that's my best guess and seeing as I can't STAND them on the radio in my car, I'm hardly going to GOOGLE for accuracy. Thank you for your patience cos God only knows, I didn't have any in the car.

(at least I didnt say "it all sounds the same" or start any sentence with "back in my day...")

Guarana Pusher

Me, walking into the service station and noticing the RedBull promotional Mini parked close to the door: *oo, a redbull mini - i must buy a can of V*
Her in her tiny faded denim miniskirt and bare legs, pushing the product: Excuse me, would you like a can of RedBull?
Me, walking back to my car: ah.. no thanks.
Her, following me: no wait, it's free!
Me, turning but still walking back to my car: no, really, I just bought a V, i'm good.
Her, persisting: yeh, we saw you buy the V, you can swap it for a RedBull, free of charge.
Me, trying to leave: Look, no, really, I'm good.
Her, insisting: Just, first, please, tell me, why did you buy the V? did you buy it for yourself?
Me, sighing, stupidly NOT leaving: because I'm tired, and thirsty and I saw your mini and it made me want one.
Her, screwing her nose a little and saying: you know, we have scientific (at this point I start to turn to leave again) evidence that RedBull..
Me, having had enough: look, I like the taste, okay? I just.. like.. V.
Her, screwing her pert little nose up some more and pulling a face at me: ew.. really?
Me, not staying to have my tastes insulted further, turning, leaving, calling back: yeh, really.
Her, still talking about RedBull's "scientific evidence" but I'm not listening, I've left.

If I'd *had* my V inside the service station I think I might have nipped the entire thing in the bud by telling her the V *wasn't* for me but for my pet cockroaches. Now *that* would have put a scowl in her brow and shut her the hell up. Pushy skinny blonde haired annoying little slappa.

Mouse?

I came back.. for you, my love.

DISCLAIMER: may or may not contain spoilers - I dunno, can't figure it out. yes, yes this post contains spoilers for the movie House of Flying Daggers - there, you were warned. Not that there are very *big* spoilers just.. you know, I don't want to spoil it for you in case you go to the movie and think she's going to live happily ever after or anything.

I hate to tell you this *whispers David as the lights dim* but I've seen House of Flying Daggers already
oh, I thought you might have.. did you enjoy it?
meh, I dunno, I kinda skipped through it and it had subtitles
yeh.. thats cos it's Chinese
no.. it had *Japanese* subtitles
so you watched a Chinese film with Japanese subtitles
yeh - I hate subtitles.

so, now you've watched the whole movie with English subtitles, what did you think?
I thought that was truly *lame*
really? you didn't like it?
meh, no, it was lame.
I want specifics, why do you think it was lame?
mum, she died _three times_
well technically she only died *once*
she should've died of *hypothermia* if nothing else
maybe the snow kept her alive, slowed her heart rate kind of thing
_mum_
she is very beautiful.
meh.
not your cup of tea?
nah, not really.

There is a lot of breathing in this film. No seriously, you can hear them *breathing*. I thought House of Flying Daggers was beautiful, theatrical, the fight scenes were at times wonderous - my favourite being the *rescue* of Mei by Jai in the forest while she fended off her four attackers. It was overly long, and although I *get* the whole repetitive thing, the movie managed to make that tedious even though it only repeated once. As with Hero, I think we lose a lot in translation - the movie looks like it's script should be more intricate/delicate and maybe it is but we just don't have enough words in the translator's repertoire to express the nuances - or maybe it's just a corny plot and that's what sells in Beijing. Or maybe it doesn't matter.

Nice camera-work and computer enhancement. Lovely cinematography and fight choreography. The screen is saturated with colour - it's just damn beautiful to look at. As is Ziyi Zhang and Takeshi Kaneshiro who incidently, has the best_nose_EVA!

House of Flying Daggers - view the trailer

you know when...

you get that ringing in your ears? and there's no *real* ringing *outside* your head but you can still *hear* ringing? well I've had that for most of this afternoon - but it's less "ringing" and more "bagpipes" playing Scotland the Brave.

No? you don't have that same thing happen to you?

oh right, yeh, neither do I *ahem*

==> added stuff - click to hear what i'm hearing

Unlock your imagination

I guess lately I've been noticing how generally unskillful a lot of actors can be. Yes I have an opinion on things I know nothing about. I bought a movie ticket!

I went to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow a week or so ago and it shone like a beacon in this department. Maybe they all tried too hard or maybe they felt they needn't try at all. Left me thinking they'dve been better off gambling on unknowns rather than blowing the budget on the beautiful Jude and the uncomfortably-fitted Gwyneth. Don't even get me started on Ms Jolie and her eyepatch - pirates are *so* last year, Angelina. (I think Giovanni Ribisi must be offering "hire me for two movies, get one free" at the moment - he seems to be everywhere - sometimes I think he went to the Keanu School of Acting)

The movie I ended up seeing was Finding Neverland, 8:30pm at the new Botany Berkeley. God that theatre's comfortable. Perfect seat, feet up on the handrail in front, lots of leg room for the slouchers amoung us, screen dead centre - and, unusually, an icecream - chocolate no less - and I don't really like chocolate so what's up with that?

Pretty good evening so far, my shoes were off and I was happy and then, it got better; the movie started. And the skill of the actors cast in this movie began revealing itself - subtle, confident, a gentle steady hand. Johnny Depp - restrained, accented. Easily wore the intelligence and talent of the writer J M Barrie with a lonliness that left him when he shared scenes with the Llewelyn Davies family. Kate Winslet - widow with 4 ruff-and-tumble boys she worked very hard and with such grace to raise. Her mother, Julie Christie - stiff, domineering. The love for her daughter gradually shone through her sterness born of the period and situation. Dustin Hoffman - a playhouse owner, very similar if a lot quieter than the playhouse owner in Shakespeare in Love, with faith and love for Barrie and his talent, with - gosh, like.. hardly any lines, a small supporting role really and yet you knew when he was on the screen - a quiet command. They were all like that. Highly skilled, nicely cast, wonderful story of J M Barrie at the time he wrote the play Peter Pan.

Oh, and don't forget the boys - four young boys playing the parts of George, Jack, Peter and Michael Llewelyn Davies. The young boy who played Peter, Freddie Highmore, has since been cast again with Johnny Depp, as Charlie in the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I dunno - how do kids do that kind of thing? act, I mean - in front of people - just the way the director tells them. Hell I can't even get mine to sit on chairs properly!

The cinematography was lovely, some of the imagination sequences just so delightful; not too many of them and they were not overdone. The music was really good, too. This movie just got it right in so many ways without being bogged down with slop and sentimentality although it had all the ingredients to do so - that talented cast kept it real and touching. I don't know directing from my elbow but I'm sure that's all part of what makes this film well worth the admission price and then some.

And yes, I cried, but no wracking sobs, and only near the end. Just a few great big fat teardrops for the bonds between the different characters. I was wrong thinking it was going to be overly sad - it's quietly delightful, and gently funny, sometimes sad, and touchingly hopeful.

Coming Attractions

It's that time of the day, when my intake of caffine is such that my fingers feel the need to move over the keys and tell you stuff - that and I'm so_very_sick of changing all the 14pt text to 12pt text except where it needs to be 16pt text for no damn-good-reason and if I see another hyphenated paragraph i'm going to climb the nearest clock tower and start picking off those personally efficient people in expensive tailored business suits. And to save those few poor bastards who usually suffer through great long stream-of-conscious emails from me when I get like this I decided the blog draws the short straw today. I like to strike while the iron is hot [yeh, right] even if it's to tell you of something i'm *about* to do, rather than something I've *done*.

I was going to say something else then but I forgot. Maybe it was just the font size thing*. hm.

So, yeh I know, I'm really good at starting things, but putter out along the way - like the Illustration Friday thing: one friday, one friday, miss a friday, what friday? so take it with a grain of salt when I say - I am planning to go to the movies a minimum of once a week because I'm missing too many films - and going to try to make *one* [read: preferred] of those nights a Budget Movie Tuesday because lets face it, $14/reg.night is just too much money to pay for a movie. well OK, some movies are worth their weight in gold but most movies aren't but I still want to see them so that's the plan.

Tonight we have Finding Neverland at 6:30pm and although I'm considering that seriously I bet it'll be sad and I'll cry and BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING, yes I do cry at a lot of movies regardless of their emotional strings because well, sometimes, I just do. OK? *stern finger* I bet I wasn't the only one who cried at AI. And *everyone* cried at ET, I'm sure I wasn't the only one still crying leaving theatre.

ANYWAY.

oh yeh, there is also Electra on at 7:10pm and I doubt *very much* that's a tear jerker so that might be the one to see on a day I am feeling a little fragile due mostly to the double digit number of coffees I have consumed since 6:30am.

Look I can't be bothered to even link to those movies.. you all know how to use Google by now if you really need to go watch trailers and such. Which ever one I go to, I'll tell you about, even though you've probably seen both by now because I am _so_far_behind_the_times it's not even funny.

see?

not even a cough, let alone a laugh out of that one.

*look.. I have this thing - well i have this world of things that irritate me but this thing irritates me on a weekly if not daily basis. And hell, I may even be wrong but what the heck, it's my ball and this is my game and god dammit when you talk to me about fonts can you *please* get it the way I like it? A font is a specific typeface at a specific size.. so.. Helvetica 14pt Bold is a FONT. Helvetica is the TYPEFACE. Helvetica is not a font it's a TYPEFACE. I mean, I don't even care if that's right that's just the rule in MY office so we are all speaking the same Anglais, capisca?

Speaking of which can we PLEASE clarify what we mean by PROTOTYPE because after 4 years of misusing this word it's really starting to grow warts and feet and get a life of it's own and is spitting bile at people from it's dirty corner of my brain and if we don't curb it soon there'll be an almighty hell to pay one day.

A Prototype is not something that is *thrown* together in an afternoon - it is something that proves the concepts, the structure, the coding decisions etc. It is built to be *broken*. It takes a _long_time_to_MAKE. It requires input from _all_the_team and it has to be *designed*. What most people who use the word prototype around me *really* mean is "interactive sketch" or "pretty thing with a bell and two whistles to fool the client into believing 55K is not too much money to pay for a powerpoint presentation and a postage stamp"

!!

gawd, I'm on the wrong blog again aren't I.

Proof of noLife

I have so little of interest to share - here is my breakfast. (I'd say it pretty well looks like this after I've eaten it too)

Magazine Killer

I saw him as I drove past, but I was too intent on parking the car after not being able to find space in the client's car park. Walking up to the offices, I was a few minutes late for my meeting so my walk was brisk. I saw him up-ahead. He was going into each shop doorway, one after the other. I figured he was selling something or dropping leaflets off - but as I got closer I realised he wasn't entering each shop, but just their doorways and alcoves. He had a rolled up magazine in his hand, and he would lean out of each doorway, looking up Pitt Street and pointing his rolled up magazine at arm's length. I thought maybe he was pointing at a friend, saying hello but there wasn't anyone in the Taxi he kept pointing at, or anyone else on the street that I could see when he changed the magazine's focus.

He popped out of the last doorway and started walking up Pitt Street slightly in front of me. He glanced behind and we made eye contact. He slowed until we were walking together. God, I was late - I didn't want to talk to this guy and I kept up my brisk walk not making eye contact again. He said "They should be all dead by now" God. I ignored him. He lifted the magazine up again, pointing it at arm's length up the road in front of us and made noises as if he was a child shooting a toy gun. "That taxi should be dead by now, I've filled it with enough lead!" I made a surprised sound, I didn't mean to but I did - like a laugh crossed with a surprise, and looked at him and he looked back "I'm gonna kill them all, you know" he shot some more things with his magazine as we slowed to wait for the crossing lights, picking off the people standing across the street waiting at the intersection. I didn't answer him or look at him again. He stood beside me for a while, then the lights changed and we could cross - he went further up Pitt Street and I crossed to the Vodafone building.

Rangitoto [from Kelly Tarltons]

Puppy Love

It's no secret to anyone who is close to me, and especially at the time, that when I became pregnant with my youngest son, I was less than happy. 3 bottles of gin less than happy. Tears for Africa, less than happy. I found out I was pregnant the same week my daughter started school. My plans that had involved retraining, returning to the workforce and getting out of my house were shattered with the unexpected news that I was pregnant. I spent almost the entire pregancy depressed and *horrible*, though I was well, and delivered a healthy baby boy in May of 1991.

And from the moment I saw that boy, I fell in love. He looked different from my other children - dark to their light, straight to their curly, quiet to their noisiness. He had big green eyes and long dark eyelashes. He hardly fussed, not even weeks later when gravely ill he was rushed to hospital and lived in an oxygen tent for 10 days. He just lay there, weakly, letting them prod and poke him. He would burrow against my chest when I cuddled him and spent a lot of his time as a baby sleeping on me. Once he was better life resumed and he was content and happy and loved and let me drag him all around town and to meetings and all sorts of long trips in the car and hardly ever fussed and I enjoyed his company *so* much.

When he first started making sounds, they were animal sounds. He didn't talk til late - mostly because he couldn't get a word in edgewise - and one of the very first sentences he ever uttered was "I want a dog". Through the years that changed at times to "I want a baby brother" but that's a different story.

There are some children in this world that just *have* to have a dog. David was one of these kids - almost seemed incomplete without one. And we never had one. Cats were our thing and David loved those and they him. He could talk to cats and they'd seek him out, but so would other animals - he had a knack. Friends and relations loved when David came to visit because their dogs loved David and they would play and play and run about and snuggle together on the floor and be best buddies for the entire visit.

For the last few years I've been trying to convince Greg that David *needs* a dog. There are always excuses that seem so valid - the fence needs fixing, its the wrong time of the year, we just got a cat, no one is at home during the day. And of course i don't live there anymore so it's not like I can just *show up* one day with a dog for a household I no longer live in (though I was on the verge of doing just that not so long ago).

For a while mid 2003, there was a lot of talk and flurry with Greg's parents about getting a dog for David. I think in part my exmother-in-law knew how much I wanted a dog for David, and she wanted to be the one to get it for him - her personal hobby is upturning any and all of my applecarts. So, as the story goes, they went out to get a puppy one weekend only to come back with a bird. I'm still not so sure how that happened but I think it had something to do with my exfather-in-law wanting one and you know how that sort of thing goes. Well the bird turned out to be a fantastic pet - really intelligent and David loved it dearly and was heartbroken one day soon after Christmas when it flew out the door never to be seen again. He was miserable the entire summer holidays and quite withdrawn and sullen.

Last year, Greg's parents took David to the SPCA to pick a puppy. I was so pleased thinking Dave would finally get his heart-felt wish. But because my ex-inlaws are the weirdest people on_the_planet, they would arrive at the SPCA and get David to pick a dog, then bring David home *without* the dog. Returning the following weekend to find the dog he'd picked had gone (oh BIG surprise) and have him pick another, only to repeat the process of not getting a dog 3 or 4 times. why? i have no idea.. they are *freaks*. So he was getting quite depressed and disillusioned and just said he'd like to stop going to the SPCA please.

All this time, David has been quietly and patiently longing for a dog and believing he'll only ever have a dog once he left home where he was planning on having 3 golden retrievers and his own house.

Until today when I went to the pet store to buy a kitten.

They were cute kittens too - I really liked the black one. But in the cage next door to the domestic kittens (as opposed to the $990 ragdoll kittens) were 3 very lively Jack Russell terriers. I'd been told they were hard to get, and expensive and here were three reasonably priced (considering they were pure breds) puppies leaping about like crazygonuts on caffinated drinks. I just loved the face on the little brown and white terrier and wanted to scoop him up and take him home to David. But, of course, I don't live there so being a *good* exwife I phoned Greg who, strangely enough, was in the Glen Innis area.

He didn't sound so keen on the idea of buying a dog on this overheated Wednesday but was worn down by my phone whinning and came to see the puppy anyway. And he wavered too, was making all the signs he was going to say "lets think about it some more" or "I know where I can get a cheaper one" or the old chestnut "once i fix the fence" right up until I put the puppy into his arms and it burrowed its wet little nose into his neck. Thank goodness the puppies had worn themselves out leaping around like lunatics the 30 minutes before Greg got there and now this wee pup was knackered. And Greg melted, and said yes. So we bought the pup and took it home.

Unusually, David was lying on the couch watching television - normally he is on his computer playing games or watching episodes of his favourite shows one after the other. I have a sneaky suspicion he likes "Home and Away" but he keeps it on the downlow. I had a bag of puppy chow so I asked if he'd had dinner and when he said he hadn't I gave him the bag of dog food. He scoffed and thought it was cat food for Trixie. Then he looked at the label and said "hey, this is dog food, she won't eat this" and I said "i know, it's not for Trixie"

Just then, Greg came in and put the cardboard box containing the puppy next to David. He was just asking what it was as the lid opened as the puppy pushed it's nose out and looked at David. He was so excited, exclaimed how cute the puppy was and asked who it belonged to, not thinking it was for him. The look on his face when he realised it was his dog was priceless. Absolute joy.

Later David told me that when he saw the dog his heart jumped into his throat he was so happy.

Today was a good day, I think we made a memory for David he'll never forget.

Star Sign

ARIES (March 21-April 19): During my quest for the advice that might be most helpful to your love life, I gathered the following words of wisdom. 1. "There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." -Friedrich Nietzsche. 2. "Love is not about losing freedom; it's about sharing freedom with a partner who's as talented a liberationist as you." -my friend Sarah. 3. "I hunger for your sleek laugh and your hands the color of a furious harvest. I want to eat the sunbeams flaring in your beauty." -Pablo Neruda.

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Time-lapse post

This was photographed yesterday when it was overcast - today it is hot and humid and blue sky as far as you can see. This post will evolve throughout the next little while. Why? because I can't wrangle my words very much at the moment and some stuff happened today that I want to tell you about. And because I need a cup of coffee so I'm gonna go do that now. *posts*

right so *back with puffed wheat and no coffee* today is HOT. Squinty eyed, my arm is burnt from driving my car, road is melting *hot*. It's so nice to go places with air conditioning and of course the first place I went to this afternoon didn't have any. I had a mid-afternoon meeting with a local college who had asked me to teach a few nightclasses when i popped in there with my brilliant How To Blog course which, of course, they didnt want because pft, who the hell has heard of *blogging*. But, they needed a person to teach Photo "enhancement" they call it - you know, getting rid of red eye, cutting people out and sticking them in photos there were never in to begin with, putting your head on Colin Farrell's body - all that groovy digital stuff.

I know how to do that stuff - not *well* but well *enough*. Trouble is, I can't teach. The last time I taught anything it was in my cousin Debbie's family garage (a very nice new swish Skyline aluminium garage - all the rage back then) calling the role (made from names from the Listener) to my imaginary (I wore glasses made of magnifying glasses so as to look "teacherish" but looking back I figure I just looked "freakish") class (not so much as one doll - all invisible students) and although, I might say, I did a bloody good job of teaching my class *ahem* I'm not *overly* sure going from that to teaching 14 adults is *quite* the easy step it might at first appear to be. Oh.. coffee is ready *post*

*back with coffee* So.. basically, they've given me a book on Photoshop Elements and 7 x 2 hour classes and said "teach them" which is all well and good EXCEPT a component of the class description is "taking better digital photos" and I'm all WTF? I can't teach THAT. I don't know *how* i just point-and-shoot. so I guess i have some homework and try'n figure out what a person might want to know if they are new to digital photography/digital photo "enhancing". um.. help? *posts and thinks about more stuff to write*

And then after that, I had another meeting further South in Manurewa, but I can't tell you about that *whispers* it's a secret.

And then after that I went down to Drury to Greg's work so his mechanic could look at my car. My car is old and it's not aging gracefully. It's not even classically old it's just - old. It runs well but bits break and make strange sounds and earlier this week it was sounding more like a tractor than a Nissan. The first thing the mechanic said was "get some other poor sucker to buy this! off load it!" I got all defensive and bleated how good a car it was *really* even though I know it's really not the best. Then Greg and his partner Steve got into the act. Three men looking at my car, topping up the oil, washing the crusty battery acid from around the connections, generally being my Pit Crew for a few minutes.

Steve: Oh it's one of those wanky engines that's in sideways
Michelle: yeh, I like those wanky ones that go in sideways. That's why I married Greg *pit crew chuckles under the hood* and pretty much exactly why i divorced him too. *Pit Crew laughs while Greg makes huffy noises*

*posts*

Um, oh, maybe I didn't have so much to say afterall.

*wonder what they sell*

Amy: *jesus* do you *have* to use that tone of voice with me?
David: it's an *exasperated* tone, Amy, the *exact* right tone of voice for this situation.

Unhappiness is..

um.. I don't have a cat anymore.

This morning, the kids who had found the cat a few days ago came around and took him [turned out he was a boy] away saying the girlfriend of one of them had promised the cat to someone else and she wanted it. So I had to give Mini back.

Then, after spending most of today feeling quite sad, they turned up again with Mini saying that person had decided she *didn't* want the cat afterall, so I could have it.

Joy.

Short lived - just a few hours of deflea'ing, combing [he lovvved being combed] smooching, feeding, playing, foodging and computering [he snugging between me and the keyboard while I uploaded stuff] one of the boys came back and said that the owners had shown up and wanted their cat back.

so, yeh.. no cat. I'm really very sad right now.

Illustration Friday: Friendship

Click to learn more...

After vaguely wishing for a cat for some time now, I decided this evening to get one. By the time I reached this decision, it was 15 minutes until the shops shut and there wasn't time to get to the pet shop to pick a kitten - well there probably was but I was a few beers in and thought I'd wait for tomorrow. I decided to be *really* sensible and go to the SPCA and pick a cat and bring him or her home on Saturday. But, just like you can't help who you fall in love with, you also can't help which cat decides they want you. Somewhere in my evening, a cat picked me. She was destined for the SPCA drop-off tomorrow, but her path crossed mine and so I said I'd take her. The clincher in this whole deal is she already had a name. Mini. It was meant to be.

This little guy dropped into my line of sight while watching television earlier this evening. He seemed to tie a knot in his silk [you can see the white blob there and fine strands of silk from his feet] then scampered back up to the ceiling and sat there the rest of the evening.

I cropped this out of a much larger picture - I don't have macro on my lens so I couldn't really get close enough - some bits of him are in focus - heh, at least he doesn't have red-eye.

How did YOU get here?