Merry Christmas!

I hope Santa brings everyone happiness for 2007.

heh. My elf name sums it all up really.

On the bright side, the year is nearly done. I need alcohol.

Christmas Elf Name My Christmas Elf Name is Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

sugar and spice

It's going to be a girl, she's due on the 21st May. Eldest definitely has pregnancy brain, she keeps coming up with the weirdest names. Kiala is the latest, I keep thinking she's saying koala and cackling everytime she says it. Eldest says, yeah but call her Kia for short. Can you imagine calling the poor kid in for tea? Kiiiiiaaaaaaa! PMSL

I know. I should be more supportive.

Speaking of which, has anyone seen those problem gambling ads on tv? Geeeeez. I'm about to be driven to an addiction just from seeing it over and over. Tonight was like 9 times in 2 hours. I hope they're not paying prime time rates for the advertising, cos seriously, they could help gamblers with problems more directly using that much money.

I'm just about all news'd out for this year. I don't know how they're going to fix the road toll. I do know that people in general seem to be more careless and lazy while driving. Today at school, we watched while 4 kids nearly got hit in the carpark. It's not just the drivers fault though, the kids aren't supposed to be walking/running/anythinging through without an adult. 3 and 4 year olds running around madly and Mum is busy yapping with another Mum 100 metres away and not even looking.

TG tomorrow is the last day of school for the year.

all Joomlad out..

After reading all of the docs and looking at 6 billion Joomla! for dummies, I have decided to run with CSS and XHTML templates I've set up instead. Rather than learn a whole new system at this stage and for time and workflow ease, it's a lot easier and I can basically achieve the same effect without another learning curve.

I will be looking at Joomla! over summer though, nothing like a little light reading over the holidaze.

As I was having a reeeeeaaallly bad day yesterday, I have been working on our new portfolio galllery today. Should be up later today. Then, I'm going to paint, I don't care if someone else has a stuff up on their part, it won't be constituting a panic on mine. heh.

I'm off, catchya's later!

somewhere in downtown Seattle, a UPS driver gets his wings...

this is the funniest post I have ever read. Normally the Interweb Jargon would make me go i. keel. j00. but while I sympathise, I laughed my head off.

OMGWTF iz up with j00? ur bein a pain in our buttses also prefectly[ OMG. I have spent too much time on Myspace, that was totally accidental!] perfectly describes *some* people I know.

Later dudes!

Light a Candle

Go here and Light a Candle.

there's a party going on...

I am all Joomla'd out. Time to put the code away and play.

I'm converting a static html site to a css site as well, so that hasn't helped. You'd think by now all the *playahs* in the field would have made their browsers conform to standards, but no, they all have to render differently. 10 years on and I'm still adding in workarounds. Sheesh.

Youngest daughter turned 17 yesterday and has a party tomorrow night. We're hiding all of them around the side of the house behind the garage so we don't get the local gatecrashers.

Back later chooks.

sigh...

Here is NOT how to start off an email to me if you want me to do something for you.

Subject : Problems found NOW HELP

Especially when the problem is the idiot operating the computer.

Yes. I was nice when I replied. I'm like that, unlike people I have encountered lately who are rude and abrupt via email and can't even spell my name correctly even if it is sitting right in front of their faces.

Why is it that politeness and civility go out the window when people get online? Geez.

Hearin' - Stand and Deliver : Adam and the Ants
Feelin' - cranky

Glutton for punishment..

I have just installed Joomla on one of our new domains and learning how to use it. SOMEONE slap me the next time I say I have a great idea.

Supposedly it is the best open source cms around. Am I showing my geek side again? heh. Am I still a geek even though I listen to Bon Jovi?
Bit of a learning curve ahappenin' but so far so good, you watch, I've just jinxed myself. LOL

Good thing the new site doesn't deploy live until January, hey.

Eldest has the same bug I just had and is running around sounding like she's hacking up a lung.

Well, my standalone joomla server just finished downloading, so I'll catchya's on the flip side Mateys!

Listenin - Have a Nice Day - Bon Jovi
Feelin' - Geekified

random normality

Well, my mate made it to South Africa safely, he just emailed me from an internet cafe to tell me so. The Riders for Health African Enduro ride starts tomorrow. Bet he has a sore arse in a few weeks ROFLMAO

We have a new recruit for the crew going to Superbikes at Phillip Island in March. He has no idea what he's in for! Max Biaggi will be making his debut on a Superbike and being a rabid Max fan for years, he's in for a huge shock at the change in my personality. In RL I am extremely shy and quiet unless you know me really well. I'm so bad sometimes that I stutter when I first meet people. I do tend to get excitable while watching races though *G* and because it's at the start of the season, so I'll be even more bouncy than usual.

Then we all go out for dinner and don't give a toss about eating heart attack inducing food or whether the alcohol is a wise decision after being in the sun all day. Me drunk? Never. heh.

I just got a new office chair, it has a tilt back and everytime I lean back it triggers my windmill reflex [ arms in air waving wildly, legs and feet flung up trying to break my fall] I've done it about 5 times today already, so that's my excercise for the year done.

Yes, it's 2.30 am here, so I'm a bit more random than usual. Sorry. Errr, not really. LOL

Hearin' - Wake Up - The Living End
Feelin' - Sleepy

Today I am not a pigeon...

I am a statue.

That is all.

upside down like a fruit bat

Someone at Dell obviously has a sarcastic sense of humour.
Youngest was playing a game on my desktop and hit Ctl+Alt with the down arrow and the screen flipped upside down. Apparently, there is a setting on the graphics card that says *Enable Rotation* It was set to rotate 180 deg each time.

WTF????????????? Why would anyone want to turn their monitor upside down? Why would that even be a default factory setting?

Both kids at home ran for cover, the youngest thinking he was going to be the new monitor holder upper for the next 10 years. I wonder how many people have had a heart attack or stroke induced by high blood pressure when their screen suddenly flips? In order to fix it, you either have to stand on your head, tip the monitor upside down or have good skills in reading and scrolling the opposite direction you're used to.

Good thing I have a laptop, so googled upside screen and the first entry told me the problem. So then, I held the youngest up by the ankles and made him do it.

LOL. Nah, I practised my reverse scroll skills and fixed it. Then I went in and unticked the *Rotate Screen* box. If hever does it again though, he will be hanging by the ankles *G*

How Sad...

Belinda Emmett died in Sydney today.

I think I lost my archives.

oh dear.

heh. nope, they're back. LOL and I thought changing over was going to be easy.

I'm back again, yes, I know, today I am just a blogging fool. Annnnnnyway, I was over at Meatareda's blog [ lucky sods off on holidays!] and I realised just how much I miss going down to Queenscliff now that Nana isn't there anymore. I think we might have a trip down there in our near futures. This is the first year I haven't been there at all since I was born, I was only born in Geelong cos there was no maternity hospital there then, so Mum had to go to Geelong.

feelin' - loopy
hearin' - White Wedding - Billy Idol

cue twilight music

this is a test to see what happens.

sigh

Santa beat me at checkers. Can you believe that? Harumph. Better be a damn good pressie under the tree this year is all I'm gonna say.

Next time, I'm taking on Rudolph.

How on earth are baby boomers still alive? | NEWS.com.au

Great article on the removal of personal responsibility that is so in vogue these days.

This was the best part of the story though -

But perhaps the greatest question of all is this:

Why did a generation that spent the first half of its adult life dedicated to excess, independence, freedom and loud music decide to spend the second half of its life writing rules that tell everybody else how to live?



How on earth are baby boomers still alive? NEWS.com.au

a tomato a day...

Yesterday was a public holiday here and my partner in crime Dragonsand came over for a visit. We worked through some stuff, had a natter about art as artists do. Then he helped me pin put the new hide and sand it down with pumice sand. We have no fingerprints left *g* and the neighbours now *know* I am nuts. Thanks Dragonsand, you did good and saved me from many hours of work by myself. Although, you could have told me I was still wearing the facemask on my head like a hat. heh.

I can't get used to daylight saving, it's thrown my whole system out of whack. Being a North Queenslander, I am not used to it. I think it's why my curtains are fading quicker than normal, hey. Ok, not really but I thought I'd chuck that in to see if you were still awake.

Not so good news this week, my FIL has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He's going for bone scans to see if it has spread before they decide on treatment. He gets tested regularly as his Dad had it as well, so it's been caught fairly early on. Phew. I like my Inlaws, so it's been a bit hard.

We just had a new fresh fruit and vege place open up down the road. Cheap prices on most and it doesn't go off the minute you get it home. They have absolutely the best tomatoes around as they were originally tomato growers. So, hubby is going to be eating lots, as well as tomato sauce. Usually I sigh when he slathers TS over everything, but I've learned that Tomato Sauce has high levels of lycophene and so helps prevent prostate cancer. FIL stopped eating tomato anything about 5 years ago after he had a bout of gout.

Well, that's about it for now. The youngest daughter is in exam mode and got a job working at a restaurant on weekends, so she's happy. The middle one's car is almost ready for the road [ACK!] the eldest is 12 weeks along and throwing up every 5 seconds. The son is creating his own computer games and needs to clean his room.

Hugs everyone.

Feelin' - Sad
Hearin' - The Police Chopper coming in to land at the airport.

spiders...

Hmmmmm.
Dear Mr RIAA, nope. won't find what you're looking for here. Although it's just amusing now, that you guys waste so much money and resources. You should look into more time/cost effective policing procedures.

Speaking of spiders, last night I had a hitch hiker on the drivers side window of my car at eye level. Not sure what kind it was, but it was half the side of my hand, so I kept leaning towards the passenger side of the car. Yes. My window was wound up tight. You should have seen the eldest & youngest jump out of the car when we got home and run. They left all their crap in the car, so guess who had to hold all of it and get out of the car at the same time. Little chickens.

Anyway, when MOTH got home later, he relocated the spider to the bushland down the road. You watch, 10 to 1, the little bugger will wait till I drive past and jump on again. He probably wants to go shopping.

I've been busy. Uhuh. reading books and blowing your nose can take up a large part of the day. You know that week off thing? Totally out the window.

I had a water feature in my office yesterday. Streams of water from the storm we had poured in through the top of the window between the bricks and window ledge thing. I ended up standing on the arm of the couch with a towel trying to stop the flow. Yes, was useless.

My brain has taken a holiday without me.

I have a bad cold.
Really, that's the only explanation I can come up with for the totally stupid things I did and said today.

Of course, now when I can't think of anything to say, blogger works perfectly.

I decided since I was sick, it was a good enough reason to go shoe shopping today, my favourite place is closing down. I thought I'd found a bargain except they didn't have the boot I wanted in black, only a beige colour [eeeewwwww!] so thought I'd go to my 2nd fave shop, except they too only had the dreaded beige. So, in my logical frame of mind, came home & rang my fave art supplier in Sydney and ordered more art stuff. hehehehehehe. Yep, cost more than the boots. I ordered some of their papyrus as well as vellum, to do some more experimental art pieces in ATC size [ 64 x 89mm ] so may put them up here as freebies. Not sure, depends on how they turn out. I may put them up as What *not* to do's! heh.

I'll be back in a few days. Hugs everyone.

welll....

blimey.
blogger is actually making it quite easy for me to decide whether to keep it or not.
I am sick and tired of the bloody thing hiccuping all over the place. The last few weeks everytime I have something actually worth blogging about I forget by the time I can actually log in. hmmmmph.

Ya know, I only have so many years left in my life, I ain't wasting those spare minutes waiting for a log in. LOL

Back shortly.

Antikva Art & Design - We Listen. We Hear. We Create.

Just finished the redesign of antikva.com, well nearly. Have a couple of things to finish off when I get stuff and then it's done. I even redesigned the logo, so I put it all online.

So, this blog will be reverting to personal stuff now we have a production & design blog. Can't decide whether to change publishing platforms or not, if I do leave Blogger, the blog will stay at this url anyway. I just discovered my rss feed switched itself off yet again. grrrr. I won't be changing the link, but will probably rant more *g*

So, yep, I'm officially back as a web designer/developer, amazing how much I missed it. I'm still going to do artwork though, otherwise I think my head would explode.

In fact I am working on a new one, this one has multi strips of gold/platinum throughout and really looks pretty but the strips are microscopic and I keep seeing double LOL

Well chickadees, I am off to sleep. I feel like I haven't slept in a year!

'Avagoodweegend mateys!

feelin' :: tired
hearin' :: Underneath the Radar - Underworld

New client : Business Franchise Australia and New Zealand

Here's the new site I just finished.
It's a new franchise information magazine in Australia published bimonthly.


Business Franchise Australia and New Zealand

Tremor shakes suburbs - National - theage.com.au

HA! I win the bet, we were debating these choices for what happened:
1. Small earthquake
2. Methane build up at dump causing an explosion
3. Someone's drug lab blew up

House shook and it sounded like thunder a few times, Dogs in the neighbourhood went batshit.
I'd read that there were earthquakes in NSW that also sounded like thunder yesterday, so I thought that was what it would be. Plus, I couldn't hear any sirens, so obviously not 2 or 3.
Well, I just finished working, so I am off to bed.

Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs were shaken by a mild earth tremor late last night.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Fire Brigade said calls were received from people in St Kilda, Brighton, Caulfield, Elsternwick, South Yarra and Clayton reporting sounds of explosions and rattling windows over three minutes from 10.40pm.
Tremor shakes suburbs - National - theage.com.au

Masterful coup for Melbourne | Herald Sun

Masterful coup for Melbourne | Herald Sun

Guess where I'm gonna be going next year!

Not much happened today.

I'm in the process of rearranging my workspace though. I get bored if I don't change the furniture around at least every month or so LOL Drives everyone crazy. So, I'm sparing them the stress of having to find things. Of course, it won't stop the plaintive cry of " I put it right here, now I can't find it" that I hear every day.

I did buy a new ring today, it's celtic knotwork and matches my claddagh ring I wear. Aaaah, pretty shiny things! ROFL

hearin' - Whip It - Devo
feelin' - sleepy

Countdown - Supernaut - Young & Innocent - Google Video

Wow. I was in love with Gary Twinn when I was 14 or 15, I thought Supernaut were wonderful and drove all my friends crazy. They liked Bay City Rollers and Abba. I had my hair permed at one stage and it was stuffed up, so I told everyone it was supposed to be like Gary Twinn's. ROFLMAO I've only been able to find 2 of their video's though, but they also did *Too hot to touch* and * The kids are out tonight*
Talk about going backwards in time!

Click below to watch Young & Innocent on Countdown.
Countdown - Supernaut - Young & Innocent - Google Video


Hearin' - Aussie History
Feelin' - Nostalgic

sigh...

Spent the afternoon watching 80's music vids on you tube. Ahhhhh,Icehouse, Men at Work, Depeche Mode... I am in heaven. Marti Pellow and that smile!

Eldest is pregnant, so went to Baby Shop so she could show me the pram she was going to buy. Saleslady freaked out when she called me Mum, she thought I was her older sister supposedly. I am too damn short for my age.

Hearin' - Great Southern Land - Icehouse
Feelin' - tired

Charlie on my mind, Customer Service Special

My favourite perfume is Fidji by Guy Laroche, sadly it is getting harder to get and more expensive if you can find it. So, I've been on a mission to find an alternate. I'm pretty picky at how I smell and hate girly cloying perfume. I may not be girly girly but I like to smell nice.

You can get it at Duty shops at airports but I am not planning on leaving Australia any time soon. The only person I know going OS is going on a charity ride in SA for Riders for Health [ yes, my fault LOL* ] and I don't think he'd wanna be carting around exy bottles in his bag. Anyway...

Charlie - by Revlon, the original was based on Fidji. Supposedly it is readily available. Ok, well, yes, that would probably be true if the 2 checkout chicks could be assed to do anything more than say Nope, don't have it. They had Charlie Red & Charlie Blue, so I sprayed the Red & wanted to test the Blue, so back to the disinterested chicks again, answer was Nah, don't have a tester for it. So, my answer was, Well, that solved my problem of where to spend $100 +, not here that's for sure. I'm sure with that kind of stellar customer service the Store's future is guaranteed. When I see the 2 of them near a Centrelink Office, I certainly won't be surprised.

The shop I went to was not the shop I linked to above, they are great and answer stupid questions over the phone and are apparently interested in selling their items. Unlike another national company who specialise in female beauty products, like perfume & makeup but obviously not so specialised at customer service.

Charlie Red still smells nice on me after 12+ hours, so I think I might just go for that one.

* I saw an article about Riders for Health and showed my mate. After 2 years of fundraising & planning he leaves in a few weeks for it, he's the only Aussie going this year. I hope he has great fun but gets home safely in time so we can go to testing days at Phillip Island.
Hugs matey!

winds of change

I've just spent ages trying to locate a font designer. He was very popular and seems to have disappeared into cyberether. I want to use his font on the new site I am designing, so if anyone knows how to contact Graham Meade of Australia, please let me know at antikva@gmail.com

Antikva Art & Design is changing as well, I have a partner in crime now. Dragonsand is a mate from Uni who loves print design [ Why? I have no idea either! LOL He's demented.] All the legalities have been done, so we are off and running... err well, he's running, I'm kind of waddling along behind. So, there are going to be changes apart from the move to our own server [ yeah, sorry 'bout that! it was a bit of a cluster]

Dragonsand is an excellent graphic designer/illustrator/artist and friend, so I'm in a happy place with this change. Plus, he's used to random convo's with me LOL and is quite happy to put up with me charging off into the Illumination side at the same time.

Well, I am off to get some work done. Might go play JewelQuest for a while. Yeah. I know *G*

Motogp06

Back from the Motogp at Phillip Island. Yes, of course we had a great time :-) It only rained when the main race was about to start, then when they swapped bikes, it pretty much stopped raining as well LOL So this year the weather was pretty good. Sunny and cool at the same time. First year I didn't get sunburn and frostbite on my ears ROFL

Did hear good news though, Max Biaggi has signed to ride for WSBK next season.
Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra to be precise, so that made me a very happy lil vegemite. LOL, yes, diehard Max fan here, so there! I like the WSBK paddock better than Motogp as it's less formalised, less people, we don't sit in the stands, we hang off the fenceline near Turn One.

Working on a new artwork, so I'll put up some work in progress shots later this week. This one is a lot larger than I normally work at, so I'll have to work out how to manouevre it as I move along the sheet of paper.

Well, I better get to the backlog of stuff I have to do. heh. See what happens when you sneak a week off!

Antikva

Blimey. That took a long time! Didya miss me? no? ok. moving on.
Let's see...

I just had my annual full check up, I am as healthy as a horse this time. They took so much blood this time, I think I actually lost weight LOL My PA indicators weren't so crash hot though, which would explain why I walk as if all my clothes have been washed in starch a hundred times. That's cool though as everything else is normal. Hubby will have to go to Plan B to get rid of me now :-)

I wasn't going to go to the Motogp this year with all the drama of the kidlets etc but I am now. Dave is flying down from Sydney, so if you see the 2 nuts doing the F18 flyover wave at the top of the Wayne Gardner straight stand, that's us! heh. Sorry, it's extremely funny to us at least. I'm a bit sad though, my favourite rider Max Biaggi isn't going to be there this year. *sigh*

I have a new online project underway, but it's a secret for a while until I get it done. I do need a couple of female beta testers though, so feel free to put your hand up if you'd like to read and give feedback. Err, you do have to like sports though, in particular motor sports.

The 2 eldest heiresses [heirii???? LOL] both have f/t jobs now, so they are going to be able to flee the nest again shortly. The 3rd heiress in line is doing well at school and the heir is playing runescape or off flying a kite. Really. he is. Mind you it's 3x his size, so he has to have parental supervision so he doesn't take off into the stratosphere.
He's grown an inch in the last couple of months, he is going to be very tall like my brother. I'm still going to be the shortest person in the family. How rude.

Last week was a shocker, I'm still gobsmacked at the deaths of 2 Aussie legends.
RIP Steve Irwin
RIP Peter Brock


Feelin' - creative
Hearin' - Advertising Space - Robbie Williams
Readin' - The inside of my eyelids as much as possible lately.

At least I provide friends with entertainment!

Just signed up for a server, what fun. Not. If I manage to disappear and don't return whilst transferring the domain etc over. Feel free to have a belly laugh at my expense.

Or.

You could email me at antikva at gmail dotcom and let me know you miss me.

Hugs Bunnies!

Technorati Profile

My laptop is home.

YAY! My laptop had to go in for repair, they replaced the harddrive. So we upgraded the RAM at the same time. Now all I have to do is finish loading all the software I use again.
So much fun.

If you download the new google toolbar and can't work out where the Blog This button has gone, read here:
Google Toolbar Help

Anyone want a Vox invite? I have some.
Email me.

I have finally gotten rid of the damn bug! Talk about being sat on your ass. I finally feel as if the truck that parked on my chest has moved on. LOL

So, have done absolutely zero this past week. Boring.

Hey Dragonsand! I emailed you :-) I removed your post cos you might get spammed.

I have been sick with the same virus the kids had. So, I've been lounging in bed, watching tv, ignoring housework and reading books. I'm grumpy cos I feel so crappy. Got the laptop working again [Please, don't ask, I'll get even more grumpy]

It's times like this I miss Townsville winters.

I don't normally watch a lot of tv and would be quite happy without one. However, with the recent bout of illness in the house I have been watching weird crap in the wee hours.
Of course, I had to watch the World Cup like all good Aussie citizens and while watching that discovered the Tour de France when Ch31 stopped playing the fishy thing with music. Who knew a bike race could be so exciting? I'd always thought it would be extremely boring but it's not. Between the breakaways, the sprinters and the peloton chasing them, it's almost nailbiting to see who will cross the line first and if anyone will crash or get a flat tyre.

To all those doubters, it's a lot better than watching the endless repeats of the inane Infomercials at least :-)

Did I tell you I got a new Razr? hehehe. Sorry, I always only ever had a basic mobile until then, so I love my new phone with it's bells & whistles, such a pretty shiny thing. I can even set multiple alarms, so I don't have to remember to reset the alarm each time to do things like get up, pick kidlets up from school or remind me to stop hunching over something I'm working on.

I don't have to pay for ringtones anymore or fiddle around in composer hitting the wrong keys & torturing perfectly good tunes. So, I have put mp3 snippets on as my ringtones, I have 2 I use at the moment, both from Adam Thompson's RECONNECTED cd, She's a Machine and Electric Jesus and Yes, I have permission to use them [so snoopy spy companies, stick that in your pipe.] I even worked out how to put the album cover on as my wallpaper.
Did I mention I love my new phone? heh.

Apart from that, I have done nothing all weekend except sit on my butt watching tv, reading and beading. Tomorrow, I work & battle the beauracrats.

Hugz Bugz!

Feelin' - creative
Hearin' - Car Song - Cat Empire
Readin' - Hair Raiser by Nancy J Cohen

The Virus from hell arrived, the cold variety, thankfully! So everyone has been sniffling their way around for the last few weeks. The whole house smells of eucalyptus from the vaporiser and Eucy Bear rub. Strangely, of all things Mr Fussy Eater [11] loves Ginger tea, so he sits rugged up on the couch with chicken noodle soup, ginger tea and a good book and is in bliss. LOL Yes, I know. He does watch cartoons as well, so he's not that strange but he prefers to read rather than watch tv.

In work news, I have returned to doing print & web design for small businesses, so I have been flat chat with work. I didn't really want to go back into the print side but economic reasons have made it so that I'd be a complete idiot if I didn't. I've also been teaching myself gilding on glass, which is similiar to the gilding I already do, except it's glass rather than paper. It is similiar to working on scratchboard as you work in reverse, so it hasn't really been that hard for me to do. I'm also making each kidlet a necklet and so teaching myself the art of beading. I already sort of do beading with/on my bookcovers, so this is just a different form.

Stringing beads is good physio for my hands & wrists too, so wonder if I could claim the costs as a medical deduction? [ I'm only joking! I know it's not]

I've also been watching the Tour de France, as I've been up with sick kidlets, way better than watching infomercials LOL

unmountable_boot_volume

Sounds wonderful! My less than a year old laptop Acer 3503 is showing this error message and is stuck in a loading loop. I'm about to throw it out the freaking door.

So, of course Tech support for Acer is enjoying time off and I am going insane trying to repair it. Who was it that said computers make life easier? BAH!

On a brighter note, I have plugged my phone in and am merrily making new ring tones for my phone YAY! Although I did cause the kidlets to have a fit when I put a wallpaper on of Robbie Williams and all you could see was his bare butt. MUWAHAHAHAHA! I am sure that will cause some future counselling sessions! hehe. It could have been worse...

I'm off to continue the search for answers to my dilemna! Adios.

I was going to do Fridays Feast, but it's Saturday and I still haven't gotten to it! Story of my life lately. heh.

I found out all my comment messages were going to the spam folder, so I'll answer everyone who has commented that I have missed. Sorry, sorry, sorry! See, and I just thought nobody loved me. Why Google thinks their own blog service is spam is beyond me though. *snigger, snort*

I got a new mobile for my birthday, so I've hooked it up to the laptop and made a couple of mp3 ringtones for it. It's only going to take me 3 years to read the instruction book LOL Everyone better be careful now, it has a video camera as well as a still camera. So, be prepared for some amusing vids of my hubby & kidlets.

Poor things, they tried to get me tickets to the Robbie Williams concert in Dec but didn't. They even tried to win some on the radio stations but missed out. Poor MOTH nearly had a heart attack when he saw the prices on Ebay. So, they bought me the phone to make up for it. I nearly fell over when I opened it!

MOTH also gave me a hula hoop ?????????? ROFLMAO.

Son gave me a special present which he wrapped himself. I'm still unwrapping it 2 days later. He's a cunning little toad, he's wrapped it in packing tape and then hidden the start of it with more tape. I'll have to think of something more evil to do to him for his 12th birthday. MUWAHAHAHA. I could cheat and cut it, but he thinks he has one over me. And, as all parents know, letting them think that, is a good thing. heh.

Well mateys, don't forget to avagoodweegend! I'm off to get sleep!

Like I was sayin'...

heh.

So sorry, been very slack. I'm a bit stressed, a bit tired and a bit peeved and have been that way since the last time I posted. I have heaps of drafts that I wrote and didn't post. I ended up having a minor meltdown at my wonderful GP, who says I should just be me instead of worrying what other people will think. Their problem,not mine. But, nah, think I'll leave them as drafts, baby steps and all that. heh.

So, here is a little of what's been getting me cranky and frustrated. Seriously, Idiots piss me off and I have met many in the last month and a half. I'm sure I'll strike an intelligent person soon, it's just the number of idiots we have to deal with first that's driving me up the wall.

We have been on the Government Agency merry go round for the last few weeks. How the hell they think they are *helping* detoxed addicts out by being so slow is beyond me. She's trying & setting herself small goals, I can see why so many give up though.

First, Eldest is supposed to have 2 support services in addition to another she has to be tested at. Has she been to those 2 agencies yet since she moved here mid April? No.


So, we are dealing with the withdrawal symptoms she still gets by ourselves, which can be a bit hard. She's with me 24/7 eveywhere I go, she goes and vice versa, which is hard on both of us. It's not so much that we think she's going to start using again, it's just she has no other way of getting to places.

We've been trying to get her into a short course so she can see if she likes what she wants to do and can cope with it. First off, she gets sneered at by a Govt employee about how it's only 2.5 hrs per week. Well, trust me, after what I've seen in the last month, that's a lot more than he actually works. Sarcastic asshole.

So, then she finds out she's not supposed to be looking for work or education opportunities for at least 13 weeks. WTF?????? We've been chasing our tails trying to get this organised and been palmed off to another organisation each time. It starts on Tuesday and she's still getting frigged around. Because she moved, they cancelled her file instead of transferring it, we finally got a referral done, only to find they don't provide the service there. GRRRRRRRR.

I'm off to slap some pollies around the ear once we get it all sorted out.

In between all this, I've been trying to get some work done. Had a slight trauma with a gilding size and ended up having to toss the lot and start again. I ended up frustrated as I have to keep going and doing other stuff, so I keep losing the flow. I wouldn't mind except for the fact that it leads to yet another follow up and appointment, only to be sent to someone else.
And we pay these people? Geeeeeeez.

Hubby & I have decided that we are running away from home.

hello

I'm still around, we have been busy. Eldest daughter has moved home for a while, we're taking her up to see her boys tomorrow for the day. So, anyway, it's been interesting arund here! LOL

I've also worked out what [or, I should say WHO!] has been blowing up my modem, youngest daughter has a positive electrical charge that fries electrical stuff when she builds up enough in her body. HA! So she has to be earthed before she touches anything, especially computers LOL Poor kid!


Apart from that, I've been busy working on some images, can't go to NY like I'd been planning as Eldest will be here until May next year [if all goes well] and then I'll be able to. So, I've decided to run with an exhibition again, so need to get new work done instead. Good thing i'm flexible, although I was a tad stressed the other day. I am not used to someone being around 24/7 and it freaks me out, even though it's one of mine hanging around LOL

She's upset she didn't know Nana had died, so we're going to take her down to Queenscliff/Pt Lonsdale so she can get to say Goodbye. She also has some memory gaps, so sometimes she looks at me as if I'm batshit.

This time it's looking good though,she's looking at jewellery design courses at TAFE. She goes to counselling 3x week, but she's done the hard part herself.
Anyhoo, catchya's all later, I have so much blog reading to do *g*

Hmmm, the thing about making blueberry ink? It makes your hands blue if you forget gloves. DUH.
I got raspberries cheap for $1 a punnet so I'm testing them as an ink as well. Blueberries are 6-98 for 150 gms. My eyebrows shot so high, I won't need a facelift for years *g*

I'll have to get Dad to send down some mulberries to use as well.

I also need to make new glair. If I use what I have now, I won't need to paint any beards or hair, I can just put glair there and they will grow all by themselves. Eeew. I spose I could market them as Living Art. heh.

Ok, I'm off to keep playing kitchen chemist. Catchya's


Feelin' - cooking with gas LOL
Hearin' - Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi

Slipping & Sliding

I had a fun day today.

Some freaking moron idiot changed his mind about turning the corner at the roundabout & planted his foot on the accelerator to get through.

I was already moving out into the roundabout as he had his indicator on to turn, so I accelerated to get out of his way and the back end of the car slid out, hit the concrete barrier and bounced back out, no damage except it stuffed my wheel alignment. All I remember is he was a dark purple truck/van.

I stoppped and so did the other truckie that had seen it all and asked if I was ok and something about the fuckwits on the road this side of Melbourne. He didn't get his rego either, but if I wanted to make a complaint he'd give me his details. I was a little amazed as normally noone would stop.

It's true, for some reason the SE side seems to be busier with more trucks and 4 wheel drives than the other side of the river.

Also, honestly, I really think they should bring back the Give way to the Right rule as everyone on your right never stops anyway. Too stupid to actually know and comprehend road rules.

So, make it easier for them, they can't understand the concept of give way to vehicles who are there before you. Much like Amber & Red lights don't mean pull out to the middle and turn out quick when the light turns red or plant your foot to beat the red light.

Highlighting the moronic turn driving life has taken this week is the ongoing saga of the running of the bulls. For years, the parents park in the back part of the school grounds, all in rows, well, sort of.

This year we had some daft cow who was told you can't park past the end of the cricket nets go absolutely ballistic. She said there was no white line indicating she couldn't park there [errr, no, but you'd think a gajillion kids walking past her would be a clue of how dangerous it is to park there & why we have the imaginary do not cross line] So, they've had to draw a white line across the entire length of the carpark area, just for her.She must feel really special now. Wonder what she'll do when they put up the plastic barriers for damaged grass and we get to play obstacle course. I can hardly wait for that tantrum.

I've made a deal with the devil Immun Specialist, I can go back to making my own paints & inks as long as I don't use any of the toxic pigments & wear gloves, face mask etc. I didn't have the heart to tell him. LOL. So, I'm making some blueberry ink instead and researching a couple of others. It sounds simple I guess, but takes time to check lightfastness and how stable it turns out to be.

Ooh, I also bought a new sable brush. It's so pretty I may put it in a shrine and worship it every day.It's verrrry pretty. See, I told you all, I can be bribed with pretty shiny things very easily!

Well, I'm off to research some more. Hope everyone is well.

Feelin' - busy
Hearin' - Stupid Girls - Pink

Elite ArmchairAthlete

Well, this week has been interesting in many ways. I didn't go down for the WSBK. I did get more gesso made for gilding. I also got given [yes, I almost fainted dead away] some platinum leaf to play with. So, as a thank you, I am going to use some of it to make an ATC for him. I'm also playing around with Melaleucas bark [paperbark tree] that some kids had ripped off a tree near the school. I don't know if I can salvage it for use in an art piece though as the outer sides look like they've been burnt from car exhaust emissions. Hopefully I can peel that part off.

Speaking of which, if you want an ATC, email me at antikva at gmail dot com and tell me your favourite quote, colour and mailing addy and I'll send you an original signed miniature artwork. ATC's are 64 X 89mm so don't expect a full size artwork. These are free and come with no strings. Some may have gilding, some not, it depends on what I do at the time. May also take a couple of weeks.

My left shoulder has been sore ever since I first fell down the stairs, now it appears I have a small tear in my rotator cuff. So the moral of the story is: Always drink before you fall down stairs. You don't tend to think quick enough then to grab the rail and yank your shoulder out of it's socket.

I now have to do special excercises in addition to the other excercises to stop me turning into an elite armchair athlete. No longer am I allowed to fling my hand to my brow in anguish [damn. there goes my drama queen fantasy!] or raise my arm while I am sleeping. But,I am allowed to smack the MOTH one for waking me up to tell me to stop raising my arm in my sleep. heh.

Well, I am off to work on a new image. Nite all.



Feelin' - creative
Hearin' - Reckless - Australian Crawl

Gremlins must be loose around the Internet today. My Blogroll keeps vanishing. PITA. How can I read blogs I actually like if they're not listed? I took the plunge a couple of weeks ago and removed my manual blogroll list and replaced it with BlogRolling. So, now it's having a brain fart and I am left with blogs I read rarely as they aren't as interesting. How Rude!

Then recently, for the last month, I haven't been getting comments by mail, so I'm not being rude on purpose. Well, at least not in this case.

The mechanic comment in my last post was related to a discussion with MOTH.

me: how do you stop that whine in my car [ power steering pump thingy or something :-)]
him: keep you out of it

how rude! but funny. heh.

Gah! Next time I say I have a bright idea, someone smack me back into reality!
Yoda's 11th birthday was on Tuesday, so by Sunday, we'd done 3 cakes, 6 pizza's, 9 candles & a truckload of gifts.
I had an empty wallet, 3 burnt fingers and a singed fringe and now know the reason I am not a teacher or provide any kind of childminding related services.

He had a birthday party on Saturday night, so I had 7 boys running around drunk on sugar for 5 hours. Huge storm just as it started, so I couldn't even release the pack out into the wilds of our backyard. It was supposed to be a pizza and dvd party, instead it degenerated into a Who can be the loudest and most obnoxious party. Guess who won? ME! heh. MOTH ran for the garage and hid out there, all the while claiming urgent repairs to his car. He's a mechanic, remind me to tell you about that later. heh.

So, Sunday, off to MIL & FIL's for the day. People who are older, really shouldn't get offside the only person likely to let them live with her rather than a nursing home. We are now the proud owners of a Hammond organ. Do I need say more?

Of course, this adds to Mia's repertoire of noisy musical instruments used to annoy the total crap outta of me, as teenagers do. The MOTH knows only one song to play, Amazing Grace, which when you think about it, is highly disturbing! and freaking irritating too, when it's been played 100 times in one day. Could be worse though, I could be teaching them! I can't even hum in tune to save my life, so they must have got the music genes from Dad.

Let me tell ya, by last night, I was thinking of packing and running away from home. No, not to join the circus, but I am seriously considering applying for an Internship in New York for an Illuminator. If some guy can get money to paint trees blue, I might have a chance to get a grant for airfare. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Bargain!

I have been busy. I bought 116 pkts of fimo clay for 50c each as discontinued lines. Luckily for me, the colours are more suited to what I want it for but not for most people who buy that type of clay. I can always paint it anyway, so I saved over $500-. I'm a happy lil vegemite.

I'll put up pics later today of what I have done so far in the clay.

Woman's remains found in unit - BN NSW - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au

Another one! When I was a bankie [yes, a witch one, I still have my broom in the cupboard] I was at a branch which worked with the Red Cross to have Volunteer staff make telephone calls to local elderly residents each morning to make sure they were ok. They rotated the calls around monthly so you didn't get too attached in case something happened. If you didn't get an answer, you rang the RC and they contacted the police. It didn't cost the person any money and obviously it cost the branch the cost of the local calls each day and the few minutes of each staff members time, but it did help stop this type of thing. Something so simple and easy to do and cost effective.

Maybe the Red Cross could actively market the service again to Corporate Oz. What about the pollies sitting in their electoral offices in each electorate? You know, give back to the community in a small way that isn't expensive or hard AND meaningful.

Adding:
Just after I read this story and was feeling a bit depressed, I read a great entry by Bill that made me feel there is hope for us humans. Even though he could have gotten into trouble at work, he stopped to help someone out. Bouquets to Bill for being a top blog bloke!

capping & casting

Today my thoughtful hubby gave me a huge box of chocolates for Valentine's day. Hmmmmm, guess he's forgotten about the $2500- gap payment for my dental surgery. hehe.

So, I toddled back down to the dentist today as the temp filling for the crown part was a tad sore. I thought it was no big deal & he was gonna tell me I was a big wimp, go home etc. Errrrr, no. It turns out it was infected, so he whacked the temp off, chucked some really seriously disgusting tasting stuff in my mouth and redid the temp.

Once he realised, poor hubby raced off and came home with 1/2 dozen roses and the Rogue Traders cd for me instead. Isn't he a darling? So, I regifted him the choccies as his present didn't arrive in time. I know S.A is behind us timewise, but not THAT much! You watch, it'll rock up tomorrow. GRRRRRR

I was laying on the couch before watching the news and Yoda suddenly says, Mum, look at my goatee. HUH? Did I fall into a coma and wake up 10 years later or something was my immediate thought. Nah, he stickytaped black paper onto his face and was singing Shannon Noll songs. Yes, I took photo's, I am an old hand at recording kids for future blackmail purposes.

Well, I think my cold porcelain clay has cooled enough to knead, so I better get casting.

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day.

Cocomment'ing all over the blogosphere

I am a sucker for pretty shiny things that scream USE ME, I am going to be the next best thing. You have to be INVITED to use me, I am not just for anyone.
See, I can be shallow and egocentric, just like everybody else. heh.

I am not a gadget person in RL unless it's related to computers, yes, I know I'm geeky. That's a very desirable trait donchyaknow! This is where my Gemini'ess comes into play, the arty farty & geek parts of my brain that constantly battle for control. So, if I see the words on the web " Beta, by Invitation Only" to me, it's the equivalent of Manolo Blahnik shoes on Sale after Christmas. Get out of my way, I want that. I must have that.

Sooooo, word must have gotten out about my Beta tester fetish and I got sent an Invitation to Cocomment. Pretty cool, you know how you comment all over the place and then have to remember where? Well, that's what cocomment does basically. In a nutshell, you sign up, add a link to your browser & comment as a normal, cocomment saves a copy of your comment in your conversation page or to access as an rss feed in your reader, then you can see where & to who you've commented.

I can see where some problems could arise, but they seem to be actively working on them. So, based on that, it seems like this could be a really good way to keep track of your own conversations on different blogs.

Here is my latest finished piece. It's the Hippocratic Oath in Latin with an illumination based on a 15C woodcut Anatomy Lecture by Joannes de Ketham & painted in the style at the time. The latin on the image side says, First Do No Harm.
It's done on Parchmentine with gouache & watercolour with 24ct gold leafing.
He loved it.





You can see more of my artwork at Antikva Art & Design

Well, my theatre date with the dentist went well. No major drama's except I woke up with a bloody nose, no, I didn't get punched out, I did pay the Anaesthetist. Apparently the right side of my nose didn't like the tube, so they had to change sides.

Root planing by quadrant is not as painful as it sounds when you wake up either.

So, I'll be able to tell you in a few weeks if I think the anti-amalgam brigade are correct or not.

Arrrrggghhhhhhh

I'm tempted to slap a stamp on the MOTH's forehead and ship him off to whoever wants him.

Going to hell in a handbasket.

Seriously. Yesterday I was tidying the family room while the kids were still in bed snoring and saw a group of Jehovah Witness people outside. So, I turned off the music and sat on the couch quietly resisting the urge to answer the knocking on the door. I didn't even grit my teeth and send nasty Go Away vibes.
So, it's very quiet except you can hear them knocking still, thought I had them fooled as the stoopit doorbell is not working, but they obviously caught onto that.
Suddenly a small head peers through the staircase at me and says, Mum, there is someone knocking at the door and he runs halfway down before I managed to hiss in my best Evil Mum voice, Open that door and I'm taking away your next birthday, Go back to bed!
heh. He turned tail and ran.
They came back later just as I was weeding the garden bed. *sigh*

Normally I don't mind doorknockers, however lately, they just won't take a polite No Thank You and GO. I've had 4 or 5 phone, gas & elec salesman who I've practically had to shoehorn off the verandah to make them go away. Not to mention, the number of telemarketers who also do the same thing on the phone. Which, btw, we have a silent phone number, so I always have to go through the rigmarole of saying, No, sorry, this isn't the *******'s number anymore. [They changed their number at least 5 years ago and even their friends still ring it] Most of the time the response I get is "Are you sure?" heh. Then the conversation just goes downhill from there, because then they want my surname to alter their records. One lot kept ringing back, obviously on the off chance to see if I would change my mind about who I was. I can be politely nasty when necessary, it's a by-product of being a bankie so long. They've never rung again. I think I made him cry.

The funniest one I've ever had though was the Privacy Commission dept coldcalling people to do a survey on Privacy & telemarketers. Huh?

I'm a busy little bee the next few days. I have a new source to check out [opals] and another supplier to freak out. Hope you all have good one's!

PS. Who knew 2 blogs would be such a PITA to do. I really wish the baddies would take a break. Sheesh.

Feelin' - tired
Hearin' - Fox on the Run - Sweet [Oh shut up! LOL]

Hello

I repeated my earlier trick of falling a over t down the stairs with pretty much the same success rate. Stupid bloody thick carpet on the stairs. I managed to hurt the same shoulder but luckily it doesn't seem as bad as last time.
The kids are talking about rigging up a motion activated camera so that they can score $500 from Funniest Home Videos. harumph.

The new washing machine arrived yesterday, hooked it up and nothing. doesn't work, so now they are delivering another one tomorrow. The MOTH is working all weekend so I told them that they'd have to send a guy to install it as well. The weather has been shit for me so I've been doing that cool walk I do when my joints stiffen. No way would I be able to undo/redo the connections up myself at the moment.

My saphhire and black spinel order arrived today! Veeeery Nice, Thank You Andrew and Leah fromAussie Sapphire Beautifully drilled sapphire & black spinel beads & gems, so pretty! Gazing upon them all day has pretty much kept me entertained. I can't decide what to do first *g*

I also made friends with a semi retired jeweller and he's interested in what I'm doing, so we're going to join forces and he's going to make the connectors I need and I'll be using some of his cast designs on the book covers and quills as well.

So, I've been pretty busy running around between the artshops, antique/2nd hand shops and not to forget the bookshop and music shop. Strictly for business and marketing purposes. heh. [ hey, it's my story, I'm sticking to it!]

Kids have settled back into school easily, except we're all glad it's the weekend, so we can sleep in. Well, except the MOTH cos he's working and won't be home till Sunday night.

Ooroo, avagoodweegend mateys!


Feelin' - sore
Hearin' - Play Me - Adam Thompson

WooHoo!

Kidlets go back to school tommorrow! I will have my house & computers all to myself for 6 hours every weekday for 6 weeks until the next lot of holidays.

What am I going to do? Shove 'em out the car door and scream down to the beach or go stick my nose in books at Borders? Decisions, decisions.

I really should do housework but that's nowhere near as much fun. Depends on the weather I guess.

Mia lost her USB drive for school 6 mths ago, she found it today in the pocket of a pair of her school pants. I'm not quite sure what caused me the most shock, the fact that she had just tossed them in her cupboard without putting them out to be washed OR the fact that she was cleaning her room properly AND without being told!

Oh, has anyone tried the new Silver Art Clay from Japan? I'm really interested in trying it out to sculpt some dragons but it's extremely expensive to use as a test. I've just ordered some sapphires from a mine in NSW, so should get them later this week and have pics of the books up by Monday.

I've just finished a commission, so will put that up at the same time.

Well cobbers, that's all that I can think of at the mo, no neighbourhood drama this week to moan about.



Feelin' - tired
Hearin' - Bat out of Hell - Meatloaf

Stolen Clagg guitar equipment - Melbourne

Melbourne based band Clagg had some gear stolen, if you see any of it around, you can let them know at teamclagg@hotmail.com

This is what the little gnats pinched:

-Marshall JCM2000 DSL100 head
-Marshall JCM900 1960A speaker cabinet
-Gibson Les Paul Classic 1960 reissue (vintage sunburst)
-Epiphone Les Paul Studio (blackish with a woodgrain finish)
-Marshall JCM2000 TSL100 head (a few knobs on the front are missing, also had a Shakira sticker - could leave a residue if peeled off)

I told you this neigbourhood is suddenly busy, now nature is conspiring against us! Last night we lost power for hours after a huge tree fell across the road wiping out the powerlines. Luckily noone was driving through when it fell, so noone was hurt. They ended up getting the cops to block the road, so for hours we had their flashing lights bouncing all around. I felt sorry for the poor guys that had to just sit there and do nothing.

This arvo we've had a bushfire threatening to jump the road and come through, so all you could hear was fire engine sirens as more units kept turning up. They got it under control after a couple of hours though, so we thought it would be a bit quieter. Nope, Police chopper come screaming through at a great rate of knots really low. Have no idea what it was about, but he was moving.

Hope everyone is managing to keep cool. Remember, drink plenty of water, if you don't have a/c, wet towels or cloths & stick in the freezer to drape around your neck.

Andy Caldecott

I've had a lot of people searching for information on Andy Caldecott's funeral service. Click here for the family notice

Awwww, my baby is all grown up. He passed another rite of childhood last night. heh.

Yoda had a late night snack of fruit loops and milk, Mia [not her real name] & Yoda [not his real name either] were stuffing around & Yoda snorted what was in his mouth up his nose.
And it truly was an impressive amount! It took him 10 mins of sneezing and blowing his nose to get all the fruit loops back out. He started freaking out thinking his nose was bleeding, but it turned out he had actually snorted a complete red fruit loop into his nose that was one of the last to be removed.
I would have taken a photo, but, ewwwww.

Did you know that the phrase often credited to the Hippocratic Oath - First, do no harm - is not actually part of the Hippocratic Oath? I never realised that until I had to research it. Also, the latin version is much longer to write out that the English version. *sigh*

I'm rearranging my studio today just for something different to do.

Catchya's later!

Feelin' - exhausted
Hearin' - Made in Heaven - Queen

I am not a hoon

I feel like I'm conjuring people up today. Bit scary!

I am getting a slap in the mail from VicRoads as the parker lights on the front of my car are illegal. Apparently, you can have every other colour except red. Guess what colour the MOTH put in? Yeah.

What happens when you knock over a jar of water onto vellum? I scream and kids run for their lives. They even cleaned their rooms. I'll have to remember that one for the future. Altho, I think I'll fake it next time.

Feelin' - a bit of this, a bit of that
Hearin' - Midday Hurricane - Adam Thompson

Vale Andy Caldecott

AUSTRALIAN motorcyclist Andy Caldecott has been killed in a crash during the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally, organisers said overnight.

KTM rider Caldecott, who won the third stage of the Rally from Nador to Er Rachidia in Morocco last Monday, fell from his machine 250km into the 599km stage between Nouakchott and Kiffa.

Australian killed in Dakar Rally - Top stories - Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au

Uhoh

This is a just in case the cyber cops come looking again...

The music mentioned in the post below that I am using for the dvd, is out of copyright and in the public domain.



Feelin' - working
Hearin' - I want you now - Depeche Mode

A quiet neigbourhood?

The MOTH went to the local supermarket to buy silverside for lunch on Saturday. As he was walking out a guy sitting on a bench near the carpark stood up and waved a meat cleaver at him. Obviously, he didn't want the MOTH to trespass on his walkway.

So, MOTH goes back in to the supermarket, they call the cops and the Manager hides out the back office. In the time it took for ONE cop to respond, the guy had put his meat cleaver in his pocket, got his shopping done and was walking away. Well, to be fair, he got his shopping done quickly cos everyone got out of his way. Maybe I should try that method of speed shopping? Cuts down the checkout queue time by about an hour. heh.

Apparently he's known to the cops and is possibly the person charged with all the neighbourhood vandalism.
According to local gossip.

And, I still had to cut up the silverside to fit in the sandwiches. Gah!

I have been busy though, I'm working on a dvd of Nana's life that my Mum & Aunt asked me to make. The funeral home gave us a cd of the slideshow but she wants one that can be played on a stand alone dvd player. They also missed music and photo's when they duplicated it, so I've added them all back in. I really hope they didn't pay a fortune for it to be done as they used only basic fade effects to make the original.
So, I finally cried and feel much better.

Oh, I forgot! My friend Matt's exhibition opening is being televised on Gallery Watch on Aurora Tv and Foxtel. It's great as he has worked really hard on this.
You can see some of his work at his site


Feelin' - Today I am the work in progress
Hearin' - When you wore a tulip - Walter Van Brunt

Happy New Year

I hope all of you have a wonderful 2006. I have decided I am.

Last night was interesting, fireworks surrounded our house, let off by enthusiastic neighbours. They tried to recreate the specialness again tonight. Don't think he quite meant the fireworks to hit & dent his car parked in his garage though, hard enough to set off his car alarm. heh. Part of it landed on our roof, luckily for him it fell off again onto the ground. I have no idea what kind of cracker it was, but it had solid bits and was still aflame.


I got a call from the local police to tell me that they caught the person who has been vandalising the neighbourhood [previous post here]. Apparently it makes him feel better.

Well, this year's off to a good start. I hit Save as Draft, instead of Publish. DUH!