About Me
I live in Western Australia, near the water, in the city. I like to wander about. I love my family and friends. I read when I can, write when I can, take photos and hope for the best.
"When, however, I look over the hints and memorandums I have taken down ... my heart almost fails me at finding how my idle humor has led me aside ..."
Washington Irving
'The Author's Account of Himself'
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon
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Weblog Feed
Blogs I Read
- me, my life + infrastructure
- urban creature
- Benjamin Solah's Blog
- Free Beer
- Papertrap.net
- Monday Sunset
- an evening with Andrew
- One Dog Said To The Other
- Ruminations
- Librarians Matter
- Abstract Gourmet
- Tama Leaver dot Net
- The Journey
- enter the goatlady
- Rachel from Minti
- Clique Communications Blog
- Freo Stencils
- Double Half
- The Not So Secret Life of Simone
- RetGen
Whatever takes my fancy...
Reference Section
On Line Activities
In the Age of the Automobile - and nothing has shaped our culture like the motor car - there have been many great drivers but only one great passenger.
Tom Robbins
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Reading, Not Blogging
Everyone's coming and going except me. Mum's in Tassie visiting my sister Megan, Shan's moving to Bunbury, Andrew's expected back from Darwin next week (having flown there only this week gone), Erin's home in Geraldton after a visit, Boot's in Perth for a 21st and a friend from Singapore stayed Wednesday night. Somewhere in there was Easter, a writers group meeting and my first ever book group meeting. I was one of only two people to read all of last month's book, Benang: from the heart by Kim Scott. I'm now reading Conditions of Faith by Alex Miller.
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Sunday, April 11, 2004
Writing Links Update and News
Members of the Augusta writers group brought to my attention FictionAddiction.NET, which offers a daily writing exercise (and which is now linked to on my writing links page), Powells.com, a Portland, Oregon bookshop that offers new, used and out of print books and includes book reviews on its site, as well as ABC Radio's Regional Production Fund's Short Story Project.
While checking links I also discovered that the Official misc.writing Web Site has a new address, as does the Hunters Writers' Centre.
West Australian on-line magazine Readers' World (once found at http://www.readersworld.com.au/ appears to have shut down while OzPoet, a site for readers and writers of contemporary Australian poetry and formerly found at http://www.ozpoet.asn.au/ is gone.
Crawford Kilian's Writing for the Web is now listed on my site too.
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While checking links I also discovered that the Official misc.writing Web Site has a new address, as does the Hunters Writers' Centre.
West Australian on-line magazine Readers' World (once found at http://www.readersworld.com.au/ appears to have shut down while OzPoet, a site for readers and writers of contemporary Australian poetry and formerly found at http://www.ozpoet.asn.au/ is gone.
Crawford Kilian's Writing for the Web is now listed on my site too.
Transport Links Updated
A quick check of my Public Transport Stop using the W3C's Link Checker showed that the Transport Ticket Society's site has a new address and that Brisbane City Council's Transport and Parking is now the place to go for information about public transport in the city of Brisbane.
Gone is ABC Radio National's Trammit! and information about K & L Systems UK Ltd"s Bus Spotter's Log, which was a database application for bus spotters (really).
While searching for signs that dead links might represent sites that have moved rather than disappeared altogether, I found and added links to Carfree Cities, Light Rail Atlas, the Light Rail Transit Association, Ballarat Tramway Museum and BadTransit.
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Gone is ABC Radio National's Trammit! and information about K & L Systems UK Ltd"s Bus Spotter's Log, which was a database application for bus spotters (really).
While searching for signs that dead links might represent sites that have moved rather than disappeared altogether, I found and added links to Carfree Cities, Light Rail Atlas, the Light Rail Transit Association, Ballarat Tramway Museum and BadTransit.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Peace and Blue Skies At Easter
Augusta Spinners and Weavers held and exhibition at Centennial Hall this weekend and so Mum and I drove down to check out the hand-made scarves, bonnets, beanies, change mats, jumpers and rugs on display. Then we drove into Margaret River where we each bought two CDs and milled about with the Easter visitors before stopping for lunch at the Witchy Cafe in Witchcliffe. Sunny weather for the holiday and the river is still (hopefully not too still for all the families here for the Augusta Yacht Club's regatta). The park is full of children, on the tramp, playing tennis on the half-court and running around down by the jetty and swings. Andrew flew home from Darwin yesterday too.
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Thursday, April 08, 2004
Butterfly Gardening
We have a cocoon in our kitchen, taken from a Happy Wanderer (Hardenbergia Violacea plant recently transplanted into the park. I know nothing about the plant or the caterpillar/butterfly that likes to eat it but two of Doonbanks' permanent residents are very enthused about the prospect of watching the caterpillars become butterflies. They first learnt about the Happy Wanderer and its caterpillar companion at school. The caterpillars are green and shiny and I've taken a pic of my cocoon. The Happy Wanderer isn't native to WA but you can read more about it and Australian butterflies at Butterflies of South Australia and Caterpillars of Australian Butterflies.
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Sunday, April 04, 2004
Tea for Two
Suddenly blowy here today. The sky is overcast and doors are slamming.
I think I've had too many cups of Traditional Afternoon Tea. A guy came in for an unpowered tent site and noticed that I use the Opera browser. I was already distracted because for a short while I was serving two guests at once. Having enthused about Opera and how handy the mouse gestures are for people who can't see too well, I wished the guy a good evening. Then I realised I'd forgotten to a) write him a receipt or b) ask him to fill in the guest book with his vehicle registration. Surely there is a way to use nervous energy for good rather than for personal confusion?
Blogs I've caught up on today are Where is Raed? (Salam Pax's blog), Me, My Life + Infrastructure (for the second time today I've had to correct my mispelling of infrastructure from infrustructure - I guess infrustructure are buses that don't run on time and public buildings without wheelchair/pram access etc), and another blog that I'm not sure I'll link to from here. For some reason I feel that a site connected to a site about a health condition that affects people of all ages shouldn't contain rude words or link to content that isn't appropriate for kids. Maybe I'll revise that later. Suffice to say the author of the unnamed blog probably doesn't forget what she's doing when serving two people at once. Okay, so I guess it doesn't matter that I link to a working girl's blog - Belle de Jour. Actually, I first discovered Belle de Jour by reading a blog by another RPer, Alys's once upon a keyboard, so there you go.
The upside of having too much tea is that I was able to give our maidenhair fern two teabags. My Nanna says that maidenhair fern love teabags.
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I think I've had too many cups of Traditional Afternoon Tea. A guy came in for an unpowered tent site and noticed that I use the Opera browser. I was already distracted because for a short while I was serving two guests at once. Having enthused about Opera and how handy the mouse gestures are for people who can't see too well, I wished the guy a good evening. Then I realised I'd forgotten to a) write him a receipt or b) ask him to fill in the guest book with his vehicle registration. Surely there is a way to use nervous energy for good rather than for personal confusion?
Blogs I've caught up on today are Where is Raed? (Salam Pax's blog), Me, My Life + Infrastructure (for the second time today I've had to correct my mispelling of infrastructure from infrustructure - I guess infrustructure are buses that don't run on time and public buildings without wheelchair/pram access etc), and another blog that I'm not sure I'll link to from here. For some reason I feel that a site connected to a site about a health condition that affects people of all ages shouldn't contain rude words or link to content that isn't appropriate for kids. Maybe I'll revise that later. Suffice to say the author of the unnamed blog probably doesn't forget what she's doing when serving two people at once. Okay, so I guess it doesn't matter that I link to a working girl's blog - Belle de Jour. Actually, I first discovered Belle de Jour by reading a blog by another RPer, Alys's once upon a keyboard, so there you go.
The upside of having too much tea is that I was able to give our maidenhair fern two teabags. My Nanna says that maidenhair fern love teabags.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Out The Window And In The Details
Mango tea and a friand at the cafe in Witchcliffe on Friday morning went down very well after my orthodontist appointment. Just a shame that the only time we stop at the only cafe I'll order sweet stuff from is always directly after a visit to the orthodontist. Except on Friday I also found myself at Colourpatch in the afternoon having tea and cake. The weather was gorgeous and people were swimming in the inlet while we were there - hardly anyone in the cafe and sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe we have such a beautiful spot for a pot of tea almost to ourselves.
Tuned into a romantic comedy on GWN last night called Someone Like You. In at least the fourth speaking scene featuring a cute American character I did a double take - he suddenly sounded Australian, just on one or two words or phrases. Then I remembered reading about the film in the paper and realised it was Hugh Jackman. When Hugh Jackman's on screen and you don't notice until you hear his accent slip, you realise just how much you rely more on sound than sight. But at least I could still tell he was cute.
I'm enthusing about WildWatch Australia (must hurry home to watch Richard Morecroft Goes Wild, imagine that) and all the wildlife to be found in our backyard. The people living at Doonbanks probably have a little more to be surveyed. Magpies, pelicans, ducks, seagulls, pesky pink and grey cockatoos, a kangaroo and joey and I guess whatever's in the river plus a few frogs and blue-tongue lizards are about and a lot more I don't see. I think I'll wander about with my camera and see what I can spot.
Lots of sites are distracting me lately, in between preparing for Easter and disconnections, but the Fremantle Prison's Convict Database was probably the most interesting. The database allows you to browse surnames alphabetically and then click on a name to find out about a convict transported to the Swan River Colony here in Western Australia between 1850 and 1868. Also read 'It Might Help If I Didn't Wear Heels' by Rebecca Atkinson at the Guardian (March 29, 2004), which really rather made my day. I sent a copy along to the RPList but I think it was mostly lost amongst other threads with subject lines such as 'Religious Commentary.' Sometimes e-mail discussion is such a valuable tool and then you're learning way too much about kosher vitamin supplements.
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Tuned into a romantic comedy on GWN last night called Someone Like You. In at least the fourth speaking scene featuring a cute American character I did a double take - he suddenly sounded Australian, just on one or two words or phrases. Then I remembered reading about the film in the paper and realised it was Hugh Jackman. When Hugh Jackman's on screen and you don't notice until you hear his accent slip, you realise just how much you rely more on sound than sight. But at least I could still tell he was cute.
I'm enthusing about WildWatch Australia (must hurry home to watch Richard Morecroft Goes Wild, imagine that) and all the wildlife to be found in our backyard. The people living at Doonbanks probably have a little more to be surveyed. Magpies, pelicans, ducks, seagulls, pesky pink and grey cockatoos, a kangaroo and joey and I guess whatever's in the river plus a few frogs and blue-tongue lizards are about and a lot more I don't see. I think I'll wander about with my camera and see what I can spot.
Lots of sites are distracting me lately, in between preparing for Easter and disconnections, but the Fremantle Prison's Convict Database was probably the most interesting. The database allows you to browse surnames alphabetically and then click on a name to find out about a convict transported to the Swan River Colony here in Western Australia between 1850 and 1868. Also read 'It Might Help If I Didn't Wear Heels' by Rebecca Atkinson at the Guardian (March 29, 2004), which really rather made my day. I sent a copy along to the RPList but I think it was mostly lost amongst other threads with subject lines such as 'Religious Commentary.' Sometimes e-mail discussion is such a valuable tool and then you're learning way too much about kosher vitamin supplements.
