Saturday, April 30, 2005

Imagine That 

Imagine and Walk on the Wild Side by rx left me cold.

After spotting a reference to it at Blogdex, I downloaded it without knowing anything more than the title. I heard an American male speaking the words to John Lennon's Imagine, with a few words from Walk on the Wild Side, and making a world without anything to kill or die for sound insane (maybe it is). The track finishes with an insulting and ironic 'peace.'

I learnt that Boing Boing heard about it at
WFMU's Beware of the Blog (29 April 2005).

And the 'speaker'? US President George W. Bush.
// posted by Deanne @ 16:29
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Thursday, April 28, 2005

Tennis 

On Anzac Day Erin asked me if I wanted to play tennis. I looked at her like she was mad and she looked at me like I was pathetic not to believe I could. Fine.

We drove to the Augusta tennis courts to meet Megan. There we discovered that the Augusta courts are locked. To unlock them you need to pay $10 to borrow a key from the local fruit and vege shop. And it was nearly five o'clock.

So Erin checked her fuel gauge, and Megan checked her fuel gauge, and we agreed to ignore the fuel gauges and drive out to the Karridale courts instead.

I spent most of my time attempting to hit a tennis ball against a brick wall, while I dodged my six-year-old nephew. Callum hit a different ball against the same wall. I'm sure I did just as much running around after balls as everyone else but not as much hitting.

Later we drank rainwater from Karridale primary's tank before Erin and I had a hit. In the early evening light I could look away from our new fluorescent ball and take a swipe. Tuh duh! Bizarre, they said. I know, but it works. If I look directly at the ball it disappears at a critical moment.

So we returned to Karridale last night. This time we spotted the gold coin donation box between the nets. Money raised goes to the Karridale P & C, and seeing as how Callum goes to Karridale Primary, we think that's more than fair.

So maybe I can't play tennis very well. Maybe I run around in work boots instead of sneakers. But we have fun and there's no shame in that.
// posted by Deanne @ 18:26
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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Caught Short 

Subjects I am resisting as blogmatter:


  • A sore throat - Possibly exacerbated by smoke in the air from CALM burn offs - every night we sniff the air and check that our house isn't on fire. Gargling with salt worked to soothe my throat on the first night. Tonight I gargled with Jim Beam bourbon. My tongue went numb but my throat is tickling again.
  • Dog poo - Every evening I wonder if I look a bit odd, dog leash in one hand and a freezer bag of poo in the other.
  • TV - Dancing! If I don't look silly with a bag full of dog poo, I do look silly dancing into the kitchen to jingles for Karratha shopping centre ads played during Dancing with the Stars. I was right to resist blogging about this. Next I'll be blogging the Summer Bay Stalker.
  • Football - Not so hard to resist after Fremantle lost to Richmond by 48 points. I should stick to dancing about to jingles and maybe so should they.

Now I'm cranky again.
// posted by Deanne @ 22:05
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Sunday, April 17, 2005

Too Cranky To Blog 

I'm too cranky to blog today. Too cranky to think. Too cranky for anything to go right. Just far too cranky.
// posted by Deanne @ 15:23
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Thursday, April 14, 2005

Five Years Ago This Month 

I bought a new handbag at Christmas time, just a cheapy to replace my regular handbag. They're not so much handbags as daypacks - big enough for my purse, a notebook and pen, and my camera. And my glasses case but that's a bit nerdy to be mentioning in my blog. Anyway, I took awhile to transfer my stuff from one to the other.

Apart from the practical items I also keep a stone, a marble, a small card with a quote from Mary Mackillop written on it, a feng shui good vibes talisman, and keys to my best friend's house.

And, it turned out, stuff from a trip to Tasmania I made maybe five years ago. Wow, I've just checked the Spirit of Tasmania boarding pass and it seems I arrived in Tasmania five years ago yesterday. Other items include:


  • A Greyhound Pioneer bus ticket from Adelaide to Melbourne (seat 4c)
  • A ticket to see Hung Le and Ningali Lawford at the Melbourne Town Hall as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival
  • A receipt for casual knitwear from Sportsgirl in Hobart (store 562)
  • A visitor's information brochure from Port Arthur (along with a Port Arthur playing card we received as a ticket on the boat tour - mine was the five of clubs).
  • Sonia's telephone number. Either I don't know or can't remember Sonia but I don't like to throw it out in case I need it.


I think I still have cinema ticket stubs from seeing Wog Boy and Me, Myself and I in Adelaide - one film on the way over, the other on the way home. I may have mentioned that I don't go to the movies very often.

I wonder what I'll find in my handbag five years from now?
// posted by Deanne @ 16:45
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Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Searching Circuitously 

I borrowed Stephen King's On Writing from the Augusta Library on Friday. I started out at the Margaret River library, looking for a book that suggests going easy on the adverbs. Then I discovered that On Writing, which is often recommended by others but not spotted in bookshops by me, was on the shelves in Augusta. The bigger branch does not always have the desired book.

This copy's spent time in the Shire of Narembeen, in Rocky Gully, and in Leinster. I like that it's moved around a bit. Now I'm wondering how I'll ever read more and write more - as recommended by everyone plus Stephan King - if I'm distracted into daydreams by the 'date due' slip?

Not surprisingly, I haven't read as far as the section on writing yet. Fortunately, he mentions Strunk & White's The Elements of Style in one of his three forewords. I pulled out my copy of The Elements of Style and found what I needed to know.
// posted by Deanne @ 22:05
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Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Hot Pants 

Meme alert! I read about this at PaperTrap. The idea is that you pick a random selection of music from your collection and add the words 'in my pants' to the song titles.

I went with random and it was a bit embarrassing (Guns & Roses - Welcome to the Jungle in My Pants) so we at number 5 went with an Australiana theme. John Williamson featured a little too heavily with Cootamundra Wattle in My Pants and It's Raining on the Rock in My Pants. Slim with I'd Love To Have a Beer With Duncan in My Pants. Too silly by far.

I should be writing about advances in vision research. I wonder if I could just add 'in my pants' to the titles of articles and media releases instead? 'PTC Therapeutics Presents Data From Phase 1 Multiple-Dose Study of PTC124 at the 2005 American Academy of Neurology Meeting In My Pants.'

Yep, it still works!
// posted by Deanne @ 14:04
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Sunday, April 10, 2005

Free To Be 33 

My teeth are now appliance-free! Friday morning I attended my last appointment with my orthodontist and I'm very happy with the result. I still have more work to be done on my teeth but that phase is finished. At last I won't be feeling as if strangers are deducting 15 years from my mental age every time I smile. I'm sure I don't look younger but somehow the late orthodontic work indicates I might be late in other ways. But that's okay. It's finished and I never stopped smiling!
// posted by Deanne @ 13:03
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Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Stumped and Saving Paper 

Today my self addressed stamped envelope came home to me with the That's Life! Fast Fiction guidelines inside. I felt like I imagined I might feel if I'd ever sent away for the x-ray vision glasses sold in the back of comics. Is there anybody out there? Will they arrive? Having waited since January, I now know that should I write a fast fiction, it's best not to make the narrator a tree.

In other writerly news, a friend's manuscript for a short children's novel arrived by registered post today. Somehow she worked out how to print the pages in landscape, in two columns and on both sides. So I'm impressed already!
// posted by Deanne @ 18:42
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Friday, April 01, 2005

Rain and Wind, Dogs Indoors and DVDs 

Rosie's inside today because it's raining and windy. Not that I mind, I like being inside on a rainy day and not having any sunshine about to bugger up my eyes. Erin's worked out how to hook up the Xbox to our telly, so I guess that's an advantage too. Stop Press: Erin's worked out how to connect one of the two DVD players sitting on top of our telly! Actually, I think Rod's electric shaver cord somehow helped with the Xbox. I've now seen Lost in Translation on the small screen. Our other DVD choice is Freaky Friday. Not heaps to choose from on a rainy day in a small town just a few minutes before closing.
// posted by Deanne @ 14:31
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