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!

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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!