Patterns
{click for big}
Started this Friday night, the lettering took AGES!
Slept all day today after the chiro – missed phone calls, didn’t get errands done – but my neck and back needed it.
Desperately awaiting midnight tomorrow when we get our bandwidth back…
The Santa Tantrum Awards…
I was alerted to this by an online friend -it’s PRICELESS!!
From the San Francisco Chronicle: The Fifth Annual Santa Tantrum Awards!
(I especially like that there are “Bonus points if the department store Santa looks like he’s in physical pain, or if there’s a second non-crying child with an angelic look on their face.”)
Lipstick
Apparently the average consumption is 9 pounds, not 8 kilos, I got that wrong – it’s still a ridiculous amount of LIPSTICK to eat!
It’s too darn hot - and no Ann Miller tapping on the coffee table around here!
Had a HUUUUGEE fight with the bestie over something I wrote on facebook. Me and my big mouth/fingers, eh? In my defence, I mentioned NO NAMES. This is what I wrote:
Sad today – lost a friendship, I think. Probably gone a while ago, but I really noticed it today. (Yeah, I’m an Aspie, I don’t READ signs well, ok? JUST TELL ME!!)
Hmmmm. And no amount of saying I’m sorry seems to help. And never mind that it could EASILY have applied to more than one person… and that I did in fact have a misunderstanding with a friend online that same day.
Don’t know what to do there.
So it’s been an … interesting …week. Constance J. Woodle had another visit to the vet, and her blood test (pancreatic lipase) came back as NORMAL, yay! But now she might have an allergy to GRASS.
GRASS! She’s a dog! Where else is she going to walk and pee? Bloody GRASS!!
And the treatment (large shots of cortisone) can’t be given to dogs with … yep, pancreatitis. Poor little darling, she’s having a rough trot. But she’s almost back to normal (so long as “normal” no longer includes being able to eat anything at all interesting.)
What I’ve been reading lately:
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary. I know this book has had RAVE reviews on many blogs I read; whih often makes me reluctant to read something. But - this lives up to the hype. I would love to know if it can possibly be as elegant and erudite and charming in the original Klingon French (sorry, too many years with Trekkies) – one of my favourite books of the year and one I sincerely DON’T WANT HOLLYWOOD TO GET because they would stuff it right up and probably change the ending and that would spoil THE WHOLE THING.
*deep breath*
And a gem from my book boxes (these are the squintillions of books that haven’t made it to shelves yet, despite our best efforts) – Marie Curie by Eve Curie My copy is the 1946 edition and is quite badly foxed, but still readable. Something of a hagiography, but a good basic history – I’m itching to read more about Madame Curie.
OK, I am off to play art journals… see ya later!
Whew!
Today I slept all day. And I mean ALL DAY – went to bed at around 11pm last night, woke up at 7:30 pm this evening. Mr Beloved had to do all the errands scheduled for today. He made me lunch and I fell asleep eating it! *sigh* So much for my theory that I could get away with keep on going after a chiropractic treatment – I did that yesterday, and paid the price today.
But my lower back is slowly improving, so yay!
Went to lunch with friends on Sunday – none of us remembered to take a photo, how slack! It was lovely to see everyone… somehow we don’t seem to all be able to get together terribly often, I think the last time was in MAY! Where did the year go?
Other than that… been pottering around doing stuff:
Tomorrow I have to work on a digital scrap booking page for the Digidares – I want that freebie, LOL!
So, that’s about it from me for today…
GRUMPY BUM attempts to redeem herself; Anna Bartlett; fire stuff
Well, wasn’t *I* a grumpy bum last post? Sorry about that, folks. I eventually cancelled my appointments for the day and got back to sleep.
Hey , guess what? I won a little package from the INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL Anna Bartlett of Shiny Happy Art! Just by being on her mailing list!
(photo to be added – camera batteries flat..) – go here to see the very sweet little Tulip Bird Art Tags, she added a peacock art tag to a little pink journal for me, and a wonderful postcard of Toowoomba’s main street!
She’s also the local source for Golden paints (which are out of my price range,*sigh* but one day…) and also writes a cool blog.
Meanwhile, there are fires burning across three states. Now, that might not sound like much, but look at this:
“Disclaimer: This illustration is indicative of areas currently under catastrophic, extreme or severe fire warnings. Please contact your local fire authority for specific warnings for your area.”
Maaan! Since the Black Saturday fires in Victoria in January this year, Australia has a new fire warning system – not to make light of it, but it goes to ELEVEN. ( Spinal Tap, what a classic movie, eh?!) Where we used to see “Extreme” as the highest fire warning on the news, radio, and the roadside signs, now we go further – to “Catastrophic” -
“A fire with a rating of “catastrophic” may be uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast moving. The flames will be higher than roof tops. Many people will be injured and thousands of homes and businesses will be destroyed..
Temperature records are being broken – where my brother lives, in Adelaide, they’ve had over a week of temperatures over 40 C – that’s 104 F. And it’s only November, we’re not even officially into Summer yet. (But don’t get me started on the absurdity of imposing a European concept of Seasons onto a continent which experiences climate in a complete different way…)
Where my parents live (Wagga Wagga, in south west New South Wales) is also in the red part of the map, with similar temperatures. It’s only 34 degrees ( 93 F) in Toowoomba, allegedly. Still hot, but not AWFUL. The fact that the ongoing drought (let’s be real, it’s no longer a drought, it’s climate change) means that water storages are at an all time low (ooh, did anyone else just get a David Bowie earworm?!) doesn’t help …we’ve been under server water restrictions for so long, I doubt we even own a garden hose any more.
Everyone is supposed to have an emergency fire plan ready to activate. Ours is very simple: If time, grab computer towers. If less time, grab pets. Get in car, GO. No staying to defend the indefensible for us, thanks very much. Everything but us and the littles can be replaced.
I was in Canberra during the big fires there in 2003. Since then I have an absolute terror of bushfires. Not a rational, sensible fear, “oh dear, we must prepare to evacuate because the fire is nearing” - just writing about them or watching them on TV can make me panicky. And when I panic I talk a LOT. So if it seems like my blog is fire focused sometimes, you’ll know why.
Ok – time for me to go showe and start collecting my supplies – play group at the scrap book shop tonight from 6:30 to MIDNIGHT – how awesome is THAT?!
INSOMNIA
Grrr. Haven’t slept yet. Not happy. Been awake since – hmmm, got woken up at 5:45 yesterday morning (after 3 hours of sleep) by some IDIOT across the road thinking that because HE was at work, everyone in the suburb should be up and at ‘em too. Slept through to about 9:30, then slept again to about 2 pm… and awake all damn night.
And of course tonight is the ONE night when I actually want to go out (to the local scrapbooking shop for play night)! Oh well.
Hoping the chiro treatment today lets me crash for a few hours. I actually have to go for at least a 10 minute walk after each appointment, so that all the manipulation doesn’t just settle straight back in to the bad places.
Outside there is the lightest of misting rains, so gentle… a grey morning. Broken by the ^&*($$**^ neighbour’s psycho dog (yes, it’s officially a Bad Dog, according to the local Council).
See, I was TRYING to be positive…
*sigh*
I haven’t been taking photos lately. Will try to remedy that. The camera is one of the gazillion things I lug around in my handbag, but I’m not inspired. Bloody depression.
Time for my thyroid pill.
BOOK LUST! (Tim Burton hero worship)
I know I won’t be alone in wishing for this:
PLUS there’s new images in his gallery AND a you tube about his upcoming exhibition at MOMA. It opens TODAY and runs til April 26, and if I happen to win the lottery in that time I AM SO GOING TO NEW YORK. There’s a series of blog posts from the curators to read too…
I’m off to buy another white pen, because I need to make STRIPEY SOCKS for my silly art journal people on coloured backgrounds. STRIPES RULE!
What I’ve been doing…
So, I’ve been doing a collage class with the WONDERFULLY talented Nancy B (aka CROWABOUT) and it’s been huge fun! The kitchen table is a mess and the floors are covered with teeny scraps of cut paper but I’ve been enjoying working with actual physical paper again.
[clicky for bad scan, bigger]
Today was pretty hot – around 37.4 at the computers before we shut them down. And Summer’s not even “officially” here yet! I slept through most of the hottest part of the day: I’m finding that on the days I have chiropractic treatment, I just CRASH OUT. Apparently that’s normal – but gosh it’s disconcerting! I’m not complaining, mind you, since it’s the best sleep I get all week.
(again, clicky for biggy, and apologies for the bad scan – this book is so distended that it’s about to BURST!)
This page isn’t finished yet.. needs a lot more pen work/ doodles. It’s a true story though – I won’t name the very senior person in the Uniting Church (at the time) involved in the conversation, but it was the start of the end of my belief.
In other news:
Constance J Woodle continues to improve BUT is still pretty much refusing her Special Food. We figure she’s got a pretty big hump to live on (as do we all, oops!) and so the reduced intake isn’t too much of an issue. (The Vet agrees.)
I have *sob* officially quit the gym. What with swine flu and the thyroid thang, it hasn’t been a good 6 months for exercise, and I have to allocate the gym money to paying off the debt from Connie’s treatment. Gotta do a lot more walking!
Oh, and I am DEFINITELY on thyroid replacement pills for the rest of my life. The thyroid is BUNG. But good news – the dosage is right. Bad news? Any memory loss now is NOT due to thryoid dumbing-down-ness…
Reading:
Oh, I have been awful about not updating my Shelfari list! In fact, haven’t even got it up here yet, have I?! I am reading library books mostly, since I’ve already read everything we own (duh!)
I Blame Duchamp by Edmund Capon: reading this in bed just won’t do – there are too many images referred to that I am unfamilar with, and so I have to read this with an internet connection open and google ready to go. The pictures that ARE in the book are beautifully produced, as is the quality of this book overall. *sigh* I’d own this one if I could! Great writing, opinionated and learned – just the way I like it.
Last night (in sheer desperation at having Nothing To Read) I started to re-read The Hill by Ray Rigby (I didn’t know til I went to look for a link that it had been made into a movie starring Sean Connery – wow!). Brutal, but great writing. Probably not the best thing to be reading on a stinking hot night, though, since it’s set in a punishment camp in the desert (Egypt in the book, Libya in the film) and the mentions of thirst are tormenting.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman: Undecided how to review this one: in some ways it’s a grown up (well, only slightly so, college age) version of Harry Potter – a magical school, yada yada… but could be considered allegorical. Hmmm.
Chalcot Crescent by Fay Weldon: A favourite author. This is near future dystopia at its most imaginable… all too plausible.
There have been numerous others, of course, but – meh. Mostly forgettable.
Ok, I’m off to see if the house has cooled down enough to let us sleep…
Bwaa haaa haaaa!
Mr Beloved sent me the link to this – I laughed SO HARD!
Expect some RIVETING photos from me soon…
Miss Constance J Woodle is continuing to recover, thank you for all your good wishes. Cost us another $100 today – the vet (who is a real character, we adore him!) says it’s all part of his Health Plan For The Nation. He figures vet fees come out of disposable income that would otherwise be spent on beer, pizzas, and cigarettes, and that he is actually providing a community service by removing that money.
Hmmm.
Not such a good theory when you have so little disposable income as we do!
Never mind, we’ll get through.
Back to bed for me – my hip is KILLING me!
SHE’S HOME!
We got our baby girl back yesterday arvo!!
She’s still not completely well, and because she’s now had such an acute case of pancreatitis she has to be monitored carefully. Back to the vet for more blood work next week; and a very special diet ($3.20 per can OUCH!) which has to be low fat. She can still have broccoli and carrot (which she loves!) but no more corn 
and she gets to eat boiled chicken and rice (not sure we cna afford to ALL eat that well, LOL!
BUT she’s much brighter and back to her smiley self today. (And so is her Daddy – we worked out he’s NEVER been separated from her before for more than about 6 hours at a time – I’ve been away for various trips but he’s stayed here, so he was really lost without his girl.)
It’s been a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG week… and The Austerity Drive has begun. Nearly $1000 of vet bills later, we will be doing without a lot of “luxuries” like biscuits and soft drinks and magazines and going out for coffees for a long time yet.
But she’s worth every penny.
