Thursday Peanuts

Payback

Do not say, "I'll do to him as he has done to me;
I'll pay that man back for what he did."

~Proverbs 24:29

Book Review Wednesday by Simone

Selected Poems
By Sophie Hannah (2006)

Review By Simone

This is an excellent book - a collection of 98 Sophie Hannah Poems. I don't really write book reviews. I prefer lists. So here are 5 reasons why I think you should read these poems.

1. They are easy to understand
My husband says that poetry makes him feel stupid. Excluded. Like he's been shut out of some intellectual club. Sophie Hannah's poems aren't like that. They are readable. Delightfully readable, and able to be understood and enjoyed quickly.

from When a Poet Loves a Composer

One look at him and I forgot
Embarrassingly soon
That music ought to have, if not
Lyrics, at least a tune...

2. They are witty and fun
Deliciously witty. You will laugh.

[A valentine's day text message in fewer than 160 characters, commissioned by O2, ]

Blank spaces count as characters. It’s true.
I wasn’t sure. And then I thought of you.

If People Disapprove of You...

Make being disapproved of your hobby.
Make being disapproved of your aim.
Devise new ways of scoring points
In the Being Disapproved Of Game. [cont]

3. She writes sonnets.
Who doesn't like a good sonnet?

4. Occasionally, there will be something really good.

Thoughtful. Cutting. Read Leaving and Leaving You.

5. If you read poetry, people will immediately think you're more intelligent than you really are.
This can be desirable. This Sophie Hannah anthology is a low-effort way of achieving the higher intellectual status that readers of poetry enjoy.
[Highbrow critics scoff at 'light' verse like this, but your friends won't know that!]

Even if you've not read a poem since High School, I think you should give these poems a go. I think you'll enjoy them.

Thanks for the review, Simone. Check out Simone's great blog, another something.

Dear Fellow Train Passenger

I know that you're tired. I'm tired too. I get that. But please don't fall asleep on me.

If you really can't keep your eyes open, lean back and sturdy yourself, rather than just sitting upright, going limp and flopping all over me, with your smelly old jacket that has apparently been sitting at the bottom of your dirty laundry basket for a decade.

It's not that I don't like intimacy, but if you'd like to be my friend, there are appropriate avenues for you to follow. I'm not ready to take it to the next level. If I want to snuggle, I'll ask my wife.

First warning, last warning.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Like A Kiss

An honest answer
is like a kiss on the lips.

~Proverbs 24:26

Speech Diary

I'm going back to Toastmasters tonight after a six week break over the time of moving and stuff. I am looking forward to it a LOT. My confidence has been at a real low, and my speech has been incredibly rocky. A lot of stuttering. Can't wait to get a boost, and pull myself back on track.

Now will be the test of my dedication- what used to be a three minute drive to get to the meeting will now be an hour long drive. And that after a long commute home. But, it is absolutely worth the effort, and I hope to make it along to every meeting like before.

The Quiz

1. What was brekky this morning?
2. If you were in the Commonwealth Games squad, would you go to Delhi?
3. If I were king, I'd abolish..
4. How many hours of sleep would you get a night, on average?
5. Next to the word 'overrated' in the dictionary there's a picture of..

Better Get Cracking

Friends, it's going to be a quiet week here. Got a storyboard due Friday and have a mammoth amount of it left. Will probably have to do some at home. D'oh.

Will get here when I can for a wee bit of microblogging.

There's Always Next Year

Well, the Tige's missed getting into the grand final by one point.

ONE POINT.

The Dragons beat us 13-12 on Saturday night. I am sad, but also really pleased that they had such a good year, and that when they got to the finals they played really well in all three games.

So, a Dragons/Roosters grand final. It's difficult to decide who I loathe the least. Maybe I'll go and do some gardening instead on GF day.

Ech, these sour grapes are making me thirsty.

Can't Talk, Storyboarding

When Your Enemy Falls

Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice

~Proverbs 24:17

Thursday Peanuts

Fear Is..

..Realising you've actually got one week less to do a storyboard than you thought.

Yowza.

Book Review Wednesday By Kim

The Picture Of Dorian Gray
By Oscar Wilde (1890)

Review by Kim

I like to call this my favorite book when I'm feeling literary, but I'm usually severely undermined by the fact I can never remember whether it's "Picture" or "Portrait" in the title. Google tells me it's "Picture."

If you haven't read it, I really do recommend it, except for chapter 12, which I found extremely boring. Or possibly it was 11. The rest was sensational, though.

Oscar Wilde would be amusing enough if he did nothing besides sit around and spout couplets all day, and Dorian shows he's certainly capable of that. However, it also manages to tell one of those legendary stories you feel certain must have been around for centuries, yet wasn't. It seems classic without having stolen its plot, which is way more than you could ever say for Shakespeare.

The premise is that a painting of Dorian Gray from his young adulthood takes on all his physical, mental and spiritual scars from that point in his life forward. He himself remains utterly unscathed and unaged, which allows him to live a life remarkably unhindered by concerns about what Jesus would do. Or even Clinton for that matter.

It's a compelling story cleverly told, and the only non-academic book I've ever allowed myself to underline in. "It is rather fashionable to marry Americans just now," you know. You didn't? Now you do.

Thanks again, Kim, great job! Read more Kim-ness over yonder.

More Bronte Goodness

In the spirit of Jane Eyre trading cards, here's something cool that I saw on Gary's blog- Bronte Sisters Power Dolls!

Very cool.

Picking up on that clip, and how the sisters wrote under male pen names to get published and taken seriously, I love this strip by my favourite web cartoonist, Kate Beaton--

Heh, Johnny Guns!

You'll Probably Think Less Of Me, But...

..I like getting to work early enough to be able to take a book into the bathroom. It's exactly what's required after a long commute. This morning it was a massive hard-covered volume about old newspaper comic strips.

But this simple pleasure is only to be enjoyed very early. To be seen walking out of the bathroom with your reading glasses and a big book is sadly, socially unacceptable.

Endings and Beginnings

Yesterday was our final day at Village Church Annandale. It's been a good place for us, and we'll miss people a lot. One moment you are part of a church community, and the next you're gone. It feels strange.

So now we'll take a small breather to regroup, before checking out a few of the churches around our new area. I feel half excited, half melancholy about the prospect.

Taking The Bins Out

Last night after the kids were in bed, I walked out the back door, down the rickety steps, into the quiet, cool evening.

I wheeled the rubbish bin up along the narrow side path of the house, smelling the jasmine growing on the fence as I passed it.

Up through the front garden, tripping over one of the kid's toys, up the steps and out the old wire front gate, and into the deserted street. All was quiet except for the hum of crickets and a distant dog barking.

I put the bin on the gutter, stood still for a moment and let out a long deep breath.

All was right with the world.

Geez, Not Another Football Post

Wow, the Tige's did it! Beating the Raiders on Friday was a massive thing. The Raiders were like the Tigers of '05, the team on a big roll of wins, with all the momentum. To beat them after the big disappointment of last week, was so great.

So, funnily enough, we face the Dragons to get into the grand final, just like we did in '05.

It's poetry, I tell you!

Happiness Is..

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The Quiz

1. I'm mildly embarrassed to admit that..
2. I wish I could set aside a whole day to just..
3. Something you want to do today
4. Something you want to avoid today
5. Three things that will define 2010 for you when you look back

Tige's v. Raiders

Big, big game tonight.

Hopefully Benji, Ayshford, Ellis, Lawrence, and the rest of the walking wounded will be able to make it on to the park..

I can't look.

Edward Rochester

After a bit of a hiatus from reading Jane Eyre, I got back into it this morning on the train. Jane met ol' sourpuss Rochester this morning too, so here he is--

Connections, Please

I'm after a bit of advice.

Frustratingly, we can't get internet connection at our new place. It worked for about a day, but since then, nothing.

We are with Unwired, and have one of those contraption thingies. It's been okay, but has always been a bit temperamental, regularly disconnecting for no apparent reason.

We are wanting to get something else, so we can get connected asap, but I am very clueless about all this stuff, and don't really know what options there are, let alone what the best options are.

E was talking about one of those USB thumb drive ones that you see people use with their laptops... are they good?

Any other ideas??

Thursday Peanuts

No Gloom Could Hide Us

For we as lost sheep were so desperately lost, and had wandered into such a strange country, that it did not seem possible that even the Good Shepherd should track our devious roamings.

Glory be to unconquerable grace, we were sought out! No gloom could hide us, no filthiness could conceal us, we were found and brought home. Glory be to infinite love, God the Holy Spirit restored us!

--Spurgeon

'Garden Path in Louveciennes', Afred Sisley (l873)

Alfred Sisley, I think was one of the best, and most under-rated of the Impressionists.

I love his paintings- the humble subject matter, the quiet nostalgic seclusion and the gentle, Monet-like brush strokes.

Bear III

Cool Fact: Bear Grylls was offered a part in Clash Of The Titans, but turned it down.

It's unclear what his role would have been, but I imagine he would have come in contact with that giant scorpion thing. No doubt he would have defeated, and then eaten it.

Tastes disgusting, but it's just the sort of important protein needed to survive in the harsh climates of Ancient Greece.

Bear II

Speaking of Bear Grylls, here he is the other day at the MTV VMA's, after spotting Lady Gaga's meat dress.

Bear I

There's an article about Bear Grylls in The Herald today.

It's kind of epic, so I skimmed, but there's some interesting stuff in there. Apparently he bought his very own remote island, and lives there with his family. I like the guy even more now.

The points he loses for me in having a kid called Marmaduke he makes up for having another kid called Huckleberry.

Book Review Wednesday by Soph

The Thrifty Kitchen
by Suzanne Gibbs & Kate Gibbs (2009)

Review by Soph

Who doesn’t love cookbooks? With pictures that promise succulent roasts and berry tarts that glisten like sparkling jewels, there’s something about a good cookbook that oozes happiness and good times with friends.

What I don’t love, though, is how inaccessible many cookbook recipes are. Whether its obscure ingredients, complicated cooking steps or dishes that need more time to prepare than a busy weekday allows (honestly Neil, who has the time to stuff gourmet sausages or moosh their own olive tapenade?) too many books look pretty on the shelf, but fail to deliver when all you want is wholesome recipes that can feed a family.

This is why I highly recommend The Thrifty Kitchen by mother-daughter team Suzanne and Kate Gibbs. The book’s title pretty much sums up its content. Working on the premise that families want to save on the grocery bill without compromising on quality, the chapters deal with themes like “making meals from leftovers”, “dishes you can freeze”, “entertaining on a budget” and my personal favourite, “what to do with all those…” You can never have enough recipes for that box of tomatoes you bought on special, or that big bag of lemons from the backyard tree (and the chilled lemon sago pudding in this chapter is a real winner).

What I love about this book is its lack of pretension. In an age where celebrity chefs insist on cooking with flair and fancy ingredients that cost more than it would to feed a family of four, the Gibbs women deliver tasty and relatively healthy recipes that are very easy for anyone to replicate. The book is also full of tips on how to eliminate waste, such as making chutney out of leftover stone fruit or freezing big batches of bolognaise sauce in small portions for future meals. And just in case you’re a bit of a novice in the kitchen, it also includes information like how long different types of food last in the fridge, what types of dishes freeze well and idiot-proof baking instructions.

So go ahead - buy the book and try all the recipes. I assure you my copy is well worn with oil splatters, cake batter and thumbed down page corners. You won’t be disappointed, and neither will your bank balance.

Thanks, Soph! Check out Soph at the fountainside.

If You Want To Come In..

..you'll have to get past the bouncers first.

Sorry To Trouble You, Lady Gaga

..but there appears to be a steak on your head.

But apart from that, your meat dress is very tasteful.

Wounded Tigers

Oh man. Things are not looking good for the Tige's. First a stack of injuries, and now there's some mysterious illness in the camp.

I think they'll be roping in the bloke who brings out the drinks, and maybe a Tigerette cheerleader or two to make up the numbers for Friday night's clash with the Raiders.

Dark days.

Comparisons

The view out the front of our old place--

..and the view out the front of our new place--

Finals, Week 1

On Saturday night I watched one of the most stressful, painful games of footy EVER.

Thankfully we have one more chance...

The Quiz

1. Monarchy or republic?
2. I'm resigned to the fact that...
3. I don't understand how anyone can not like...
4. A phrase you're sick of hearing
5. Add up all the different places you've lived in throughout your life. What number is the place you're in now?

Some Things I've Learned About The Shire After Living There For Five Days

1. It's a long way from the city. I've done many hours of driving this week. Did my first commute this morning. Long, but fairly painless. Only 15 minutes longer than before.
2. Strangers are friendly to you
3. It's a lot less 'culturally diverse' than where we've been
4. People love to drive right on you tail. It's their favourite hobby
5. There's a lot of birds
6. Reception for Channel 2 sucks.

Heya!

Good to be back!

I hope you've had a good week. Mine has been pretty full on, hectic and surreal. The move down to the Sutherland Shire went well last Wednesday, and the past few days have just been trying to settle in and unpack.

I'd expected the actual move to be stressy, but actually the most stressful bits have been since moving. Having a messy house with half unpacked boxes everywhere, with two unsettled kids getting in to EVERYTHING and two short-fused parents trying to do a bunch of things at once has been way more difficult than I thought.

One important lesson I have learnt is to be specific with your box labelling. Oh man, this has been annoying. Writing 'kitchen', or 'bedroom stuff' or 'kids stuff etc' just doesn't really cut it. That first night the kids were screaming hungrily as I opened about 17 different boxes on the hunt for cutlery.

You know what it's like? That card game 'memory'. You see some random thing in some box while looking for something else, but then when you go back actually looking for that thing you passed over, you have no idea which box it was in. And round and round it goes.

Next time, I will be writing up an exhaustive inventory.

Anyway, enough of the griping and moaning.

The place is nice. We love the little suburb, it's so quiet and pretty. It's near the water, and rather than traffic and smog, it's just birds and fresh air. The kids are enjoying the yard, just exploring and playing. It's pretty massive, long and rambly. Gotta get a mower soon though.

Our place is kind of the old run-down place in the nice street. The places around us are a lot flasher. Disconcertingly, yesterday we had surveyors come over taking all these readings for an architect. My guess is that after our 6 month lease is up the house will be torn down and a new, flash place will go up instead. Sad. Still, there's something kind of romantic about being the last people to live in an old place before it disappears in to oblivion.

It's a nice suburb, but I doubt we could afford to buy in it, so over the next few months we'll be looking around the surrounding area on the lookout. It hurts to think we'll be doing this moving thing all over again in a few months, but we'll get there.

See You Soon

Well, that just about does it, friends.

This'll be my last post for a week or so. Sniff. Parting is such sweet sorrow. When I come back, I'll probably be quite a different person, practically unrecognisable to you.

Chances are high that my hair will be naturally bleached blond by the sun and the sea, and I may or may not have gotten some kind of patriotic southern cross tattoo on my recently bronzed shoulder. But things can't stay the same forever, can they.

Anyways, have a fantastic week, be good, and I'll see you soon.

The Language Of School Girls

A Day Of Lasts

Today is my last day of work for a week. Suh-weet! On Monday we get the keys to the new pad, and on Wednesday we move in. The days leading up are going to be pretty hectic. We still have a big chunk of packing and cleaning to do.

Today is also kind of a day of lasts. This morning I got overly nostalgic about silly little things. It's my last day of travelling to and from work from where I live, so as I walked to the station I was going, oh no, this is the last time I will ever see that tree/ walk on this bit of path/ cross this road/ look at that cool house/ smell the roses in that yard/ hurry past that scary dog/ be baffled by those mysterious bags of beansprouts on Burwood Rd etc.

But I am highly amped about the upcoming days of firsts. I can't wait to get into the new place. You know, it's nearly eleven years since I lived in a house? Too long!

Getting People To Comment On Your Blog, or Hand Feeding Baby Deer In Their Natural Habitat

Blog comments. We say we don't care about them, but we do. We love them. We long for them. But all too often we go about it all wrong.

Getting people to comment on your blog is like hand feeding a baby deer in their natural habitat. It can be done, but it requires patience and discipline. Blog readers are a flighty bunch, inclined to bolt at the first sign of threat. I know I am.

You want the deer to eat the grain in your hand. You like the deer, and you know you have something nice to offer the deer. But you must bide your time. You can't just be all like 'DEEEEER! COME HERE AND EAT THIS GRAIN!!'. They'll be halfway to the other side of the valley by your first exclamation point.

In blog terms, the equivalent is comment-neediness. Being comment-needy is par for the course, but you need to disguise it. You don't want to look like you need it too much. Now listen close as I drop some science:

The blog reader will not give you what they think you need too much, except as a one-off token pity gesture. This makes sense. They just want to kill a bit of time on the computer while they wait for the kettle to boil, they don't want the responsibility of making or breaking your happiness.

If you come across as sulky when you don't get comments ('no one commented on my last post, so I won't post again until 2014') or if you mention it a lot in posts ('why aren't you commenting, is it because you hate me? You think I'm ugly don't you, is anybody there? Speak! Love me, love meeee!')then the proverbial baby deer will break eye contact, start whistling casually, and walk slowly backwards in to the undergrowth, never to be seen again.

You need to play it cool. Don't be an intruder in the forest. Be the forest. Just chill, sit down on a cushion of pine needles, get out some grain, then stretch out and wait.

Soon there will be deer. If you build it, they will come. But when you see one, keep your poker face. Don't jump up and down and run to greet them, saying 'Oh it means the world to me that you're here, look I have grain! So much grain, and it's all for YOU. Yes you, special Y.O.U.'

Just be all like, 'Oh yeah, I see you there, that's cool, whatever.' And then just turn away, and look at some tree or something. They've scoped the grain in your palm, but you must stay nonchalant. This lack of neediness will disarm and attract them. They will approach with caution.

Now they are beside you, tasting some of your awesome grain. This is when temptation will again be very strong. You'll just want to wrap your arms around their neck to give them a tender Bambi cuddle. Fight the urge. Be cool, or be alone again. Show you are pleased that they are there, (respond warmly to comments) but don't pounce.

Just let them graze without pressure or expectation. Before long you'll be patting their warm little faces as they nuzzle you playfully. And then shortly after that you'll be prancing across sun-drenched prairies together. This is blog friendship confirmed. This is what we all should aspire to.

So, absorb this case study. Soak it in, and let it do its magic. Savour the grain.

Make a comment if you like, but whatever, I'm just going to be over there by the fire toasting some marshmallows and reading Walden.

Comment, or don't comment, whatever.

Thursday Peanuts

Spring Has Sprung..

..a leak.

Replacing Broken Walls With A Fortress

Feeling pretty humbled this morning by my own foolishness of late, I just sat down and flicked through Proverbs. It is an amazing book. Each little sentence is a precious jewel that you could sit and ponder for an hour.

Three verses particularly got to me, and were very apt for where I'm at. Here they are, lined up together:

Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control (25:28). A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control (29:11). He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge (14:26).

I Know You're Being Very Sensible, But..

Your 'word verification' thingy is slowly killing my soul.


Turn it off. Please.

If you love me, you'll do this one small thing that I'm asking of you.

Girls and Boys

Elsie has some interesting thoughts on why we often refer to ourselves as 'guys' and 'girls' rather than men and women.

"I feel there is an element of self-fulfilling prophecy about how we address ourselves. If we call ourselves boys and girls, then we don't feel like adults. If we start addressing ourselves as men and women, perhaps we start feeling like adults (whatever that means)."

I'd like to just use 'man' and 'woman' if that's what we are, but it feels kinda awkward when I say it. And I must say that I never know what term I should use with the opposite sex. Girls? Women? Ladies?

'Girl' sounds young and overly familiar. 'Woman' sounds serious and scientific. 'Lady' sounds flowery and Jane Austeny, or sometimes a bit creepy (eg. Hey, laydeeeeez).

What's a boy/guy/man to do.

Spring!

Happy first day of Spring, friends!

If you are indoors, I command you to go outside and frolic.

Book Review Wednesday by Kim

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
By Stieg Larsson (2004)

Review by Kim

Everybody else likes this book, but everybody else is not curling up under their covers halfway across the world from the safety of their mother's assurance that they can go safely back to bed because it was just a bad dream.

It's a crafty little book; it sucks you in with no disclaimer that it's going to get incredibly psychologically graphic just at that point where you really can't put it down. And, until then, I found it reasonably agreeable. It certainly reads fast and keeps you mindlessly intrigued, rather like a Dan Brown novel. You enjoy the ride, though don't end up drastically enlightened in the end. Great for flights on United.

The story follows a couple different characters, which keeps things chugging nicely along. I'd call Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist I suspect author Stieg Larsson of living vicariously through, the protagonist and he was my favorite character, if not my newest role model. He's contacted by Henrik Vanger, an odd duck of an old rich guy, to solve a family mystery regarding the disappearance of Vanger's great-niece decades previously, and the plot goes from there.

Lisbeth Salander is the title character who ends up assisting Blomkvist on his quest, among various other personal and professional exploits such as fictional characters are wont to get themselves up to. Corporate politics, a long-standing love affair and trip to that far-flung continent down under all play their roles in the story. And, really, what more do want besides an illusory trip to precisely the place you already are?

Someone to tell you it is illusory, if you're anything like me.

Thanks Kim, for another fantastic review! I'm trying to work out a way to con you encourage you to do this on a regular basis.

Speech Diary

Been a while since I posted a speech diary thing. I have been in a bit of a slump, and the past week or two feel like the worst my speech has been for months. Feels pretty crappy. A lot of stuttering, and no control.

The confidence just seems to have evaporated, and I guess that coupled with lots of other hectic stuff going on, my speech has been on the slide. I wish I could just rewind two weeks, and do all those conversations over again.

Anyway, no point in dwelling on the past. Today needs to be a back to basics day. I did a lot of practice this morning, prayed about it, and am determined to really try hard to turn things around again.