darkness of photo due to lateness of night.
Sunday 31 May 2009
Welcome Jeremiah!
The latest family member - 10.54PM May 30th, 7lb 14oz (I think)
darkness of photo due to lateness of night.
darkness of photo due to lateness of night.
Friday 29 May 2009
Maybe I should have watched this...
Some of you know that my beloved Molly is struggling in her new environment... maybe I should have watched this to prepare me...
Tuesday 26 May 2009
The value of small, specialist shops
As you all know, my second home is the Bead Hold. It's a small, specialist shop with warm, friendly staff. The sort of place you know you visit a lot when the staff hassle you when you come in, they know how you have your coffee (and don't bother asking if you want one...), you know all their names - and you can, to a certain extent, help yourself in the shop. It's a true community of like-minded friends - a family of sorts.
Today I visited another small, specialist shop - Masco Wools in the Downtown shopping centre. The lovely lady asked if I needed help - I explained what I was looking for.
And, instead of finding me a pattern to buy, showed me a pattern in a book and wrote down the instructions. Ok - it's not that hard, I was looking for ideas for a baby blanket for the upcoming Olivia Eilene 'Olly' - due in October, and I wanted something colourful, and easy to wash. She picked wool for me - just what I wanted too - soft acrylic, rather than wool.
And this is why I prefer to go to such shops than big chains... Support them!
Today I visited another small, specialist shop - Masco Wools in the Downtown shopping centre. The lovely lady asked if I needed help - I explained what I was looking for.
And, instead of finding me a pattern to buy, showed me a pattern in a book and wrote down the instructions. Ok - it's not that hard, I was looking for ideas for a baby blanket for the upcoming Olivia Eilene 'Olly' - due in October, and I wanted something colourful, and easy to wash. She picked wool for me - just what I wanted too - soft acrylic, rather than wool.
And this is why I prefer to go to such shops than big chains... Support them!
How has it panned out?
Before I moved, I contemplated what I was looking forward to... so, what's happened?
Yep, I can blithely talk to no one at night!
Yep, I have avoided the dishes quite well - and found places to hide them from visitors...
Yes - I can buy whatever I want in the shopping, and when I need it...
Mess - not quite there, yet - as I keep having visitors...
Photos - my mum has commented on my shrine... it just happened to be a collection of stuff that fitted on some shelves...
As to the now ex-flatmate... he, and his partner are expecting a little girl in October. So I've been shopping for baby wool... more on that soon...
Yep, I can blithely talk to no one at night!
Yep, I have avoided the dishes quite well - and found places to hide them from visitors...
Yes - I can buy whatever I want in the shopping, and when I need it...
Mess - not quite there, yet - as I keep having visitors...
Photos - my mum has commented on my shrine... it just happened to be a collection of stuff that fitted on some shelves...
As to the now ex-flatmate... he, and his partner are expecting a little girl in October. So I've been shopping for baby wool... more on that soon...
Saturday 23 May 2009
Favourite literary pairings
While cruising around the interweb, as you do, I came across a discussion thread on your favourite literary pair/couple [romantic or not]... so here's my list (in no particular order)*
Beatrice & Benedick [Much ado about nothing]
Crowley & Aziraphale [Good omens - Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman]
Mairelon & Kim [Mairelon the magician and The magician's ward - Patricia C Wrede]
Harry & Corlath [The blue sword - Robin McKinley]
Cimorene & Mendenbar [The Enchanted Forest stories by Patricia C Wrede]
Jack & Nell [The toll-gate by Georgette Heyer]
Prudence & Anthony [The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer]
Robin & Maria [The little white horse by Elizabeth Goudge]
Fawn & Dag [The Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold]
Magiere & Leesil [Noble dead series by Barb & JC Hendee]
Annabel & Owen [Just listen by Sarah Dessen]
Eric & Sarah [Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher]
Falco & Helena [Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis]
Helva & Niall [The ship who sang by Anne McCaffrey]
Grandma Poss & Hush [Possum magic by Mem Fox]
Valancy & Barney [The blue castle by LM Montgomery]
Laura & Sorry [The changeover by Margaret Mahy]
*as always, subject to change at a moment's notice, and totally incomplete because I'm sure I'll think of more...
Beatrice & Benedick [Much ado about nothing]
Crowley & Aziraphale [Good omens - Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman]
Mairelon & Kim [Mairelon the magician and The magician's ward - Patricia C Wrede]
Harry & Corlath [The blue sword - Robin McKinley]
Cimorene & Mendenbar [The Enchanted Forest stories by Patricia C Wrede]
Jack & Nell [The toll-gate by Georgette Heyer]
Prudence & Anthony [The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer]
Robin & Maria [The little white horse by Elizabeth Goudge]
Fawn & Dag [The Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold]
Magiere & Leesil [Noble dead series by Barb & JC Hendee]
Annabel & Owen [Just listen by Sarah Dessen]
Eric & Sarah [Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher]
Falco & Helena [Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis]
Helva & Niall [The ship who sang by Anne McCaffrey]
Grandma Poss & Hush [Possum magic by Mem Fox]
Valancy & Barney [The blue castle by LM Montgomery]
Laura & Sorry [The changeover by Margaret Mahy]
*as always, subject to change at a moment's notice, and totally incomplete because I'm sure I'll think of more...
Thursday 21 May 2009
What makes a good book... Or Ranty McRanty #7
Who knows!
Email lists I'm on have been full of discussion over the New Zealand Post Book Awards winners. I understand, agree, and sympathise with many of the comments.
The 10 PM question - yes, it's lovely - but seems more an adult book - or one of those dreaded cross-over thingies. I say it's lovely, but I couldn't remember whehter I'd read it or not, until I was reading the third chapter... For this reason, Storylines didn't include Elizabeth Knox's Dreamhunter (the Esther Glen winner) in their Notable Books List.
Old Drumble - again, a great book, but of little appeal to current children. A nostalgic visit to childhood - one with little relevance to today's 'cotton wool' generation.
Roadworks - this hasn't gone down that well amongst primary school students - the kids most of the email list members work with - but I work with preschoolers - and this rocks!!! Perfect storytime book. [by the way - why didn't we have Big Burly Blokes reading books!
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig - reads well aloud.
The Were-Nana - creepy and fun.
Violence 101 - a workmate hates this book - sees it as a how-to manual on how to be violent. I like its grittiness and raw honesty. Teens who might 'need' such a manual, aren't always the teens who read.
What would be my books of the year? Based on the Storylines Notable Books List:
Picture book: Roadworks, although I am very tempted by The Apple. Both are true picture books - that is, where image and text work perfectly together to make a whole.
Junior fiction: Freaky Fish - how wonderful to get two books (the other being Big fish, little fish) for the younger age group that work really well, and stand up against books for older readers! I picked this one because it is part of a series for younger readers, but doesn't read like a 'reader' - it has character, plot, pace, development - and it doesn't have a pat ending.
Young adult fiction: The tomorrow code - science wonderfully integrated into story - an unashamedly New Zealand book that has sold to the US, while keeping its NZ identity. Bravo Brian.
Non-fiction: Atoms, dinosaurs and DNA - educational, interesting, and readable. What all non-fiction should be. Although, I have a fondness for Learn to skateboard with Luka - like fiction, it is rare to find good non-fiction aimed at younger children.
I remember having a discussion a couple of years ago over Genesis by Bernard Beckett. Colleagues whose opinions I respect had great issue with putting this book on the Storylines Notable Books list. They couldn't see an audience for it - in that it is a teen book, but what teenagers would be interested in reading it?
I, however, argued that it didn't necessarily make it unsuitable for inclusion. For all its faults (too much scientific content, not always seamlessly incorporated into the story, for example) it is a truly notable books - it has taken New Zealand teen literature a step further. It has amazing world-building. It does what good science fiction is supposed to do: hold a mirror to our current society and makes you seriously think about where we are at, and where we are heading.
I don't see the point of sitting at meetings discussing books when whether a book is 'notable' or not comes down to 'I didn't like it' or 'I loved it'. Yeah, sure, personal preferences/prejudices can - and do - influence your opinion, but... this isn't a decision about whether you buy/keep the book. Personal opinion, unsupported by facts, should NOT be how books are judged, in a formal context. It should be 'I don't think that the pictures and story work together' or 'that character development is unconvincing' or 'their action doesn't match the personality so far portrayed in the story'.
When on a judging panel personal preferences shouldn't outweigh quality. Someone on a notables panel with me didn't bother reading Single Fin by Aaron Topp - because they didn't like/get surfing. WTF?!? I don't either - but the book ISN'T all about surfing! Surfing is the acitivity that moulds the book, the characters, and acts as support. What the book IS is about Fin's grief, his community, and love - love of activity, love of friends, love of nature. It is staggering for a first novel.
We often wonder whether we're judging a book on its own merits - or on the backlist of the author. It IS hard, excluding a much-loved author from the notables list, but sometimes it IS necessary. Honestly, I love Margaret Mahy - but The Magician of Hoad is not one of Margaret's better works but, not only that, it just isn't a good fantasy novel.
Here endeth the rant...
Email lists I'm on have been full of discussion over the New Zealand Post Book Awards winners. I understand, agree, and sympathise with many of the comments.
The 10 PM question - yes, it's lovely - but seems more an adult book - or one of those dreaded cross-over thingies. I say it's lovely, but I couldn't remember whehter I'd read it or not, until I was reading the third chapter... For this reason, Storylines didn't include Elizabeth Knox's Dreamhunter (the Esther Glen winner) in their Notable Books List.
Old Drumble - again, a great book, but of little appeal to current children. A nostalgic visit to childhood - one with little relevance to today's 'cotton wool' generation.
Roadworks - this hasn't gone down that well amongst primary school students - the kids most of the email list members work with - but I work with preschoolers - and this rocks!!! Perfect storytime book. [by the way - why didn't we have Big Burly Blokes reading books!
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig - reads well aloud.
The Were-Nana - creepy and fun.
Violence 101 - a workmate hates this book - sees it as a how-to manual on how to be violent. I like its grittiness and raw honesty. Teens who might 'need' such a manual, aren't always the teens who read.
What would be my books of the year? Based on the Storylines Notable Books List:
Picture book: Roadworks, although I am very tempted by The Apple. Both are true picture books - that is, where image and text work perfectly together to make a whole.
Junior fiction: Freaky Fish - how wonderful to get two books (the other being Big fish, little fish) for the younger age group that work really well, and stand up against books for older readers! I picked this one because it is part of a series for younger readers, but doesn't read like a 'reader' - it has character, plot, pace, development - and it doesn't have a pat ending.
Young adult fiction: The tomorrow code - science wonderfully integrated into story - an unashamedly New Zealand book that has sold to the US, while keeping its NZ identity. Bravo Brian.
Non-fiction: Atoms, dinosaurs and DNA - educational, interesting, and readable. What all non-fiction should be. Although, I have a fondness for Learn to skateboard with Luka - like fiction, it is rare to find good non-fiction aimed at younger children.
I remember having a discussion a couple of years ago over Genesis by Bernard Beckett. Colleagues whose opinions I respect had great issue with putting this book on the Storylines Notable Books list. They couldn't see an audience for it - in that it is a teen book, but what teenagers would be interested in reading it?
I, however, argued that it didn't necessarily make it unsuitable for inclusion. For all its faults (too much scientific content, not always seamlessly incorporated into the story, for example) it is a truly notable books - it has taken New Zealand teen literature a step further. It has amazing world-building. It does what good science fiction is supposed to do: hold a mirror to our current society and makes you seriously think about where we are at, and where we are heading.
I don't see the point of sitting at meetings discussing books when whether a book is 'notable' or not comes down to 'I didn't like it' or 'I loved it'. Yeah, sure, personal preferences/prejudices can - and do - influence your opinion, but... this isn't a decision about whether you buy/keep the book. Personal opinion, unsupported by facts, should NOT be how books are judged, in a formal context. It should be 'I don't think that the pictures and story work together' or 'that character development is unconvincing' or 'their action doesn't match the personality so far portrayed in the story'.
When on a judging panel personal preferences shouldn't outweigh quality. Someone on a notables panel with me didn't bother reading Single Fin by Aaron Topp - because they didn't like/get surfing. WTF?!? I don't either - but the book ISN'T all about surfing! Surfing is the acitivity that moulds the book, the characters, and acts as support. What the book IS is about Fin's grief, his community, and love - love of activity, love of friends, love of nature. It is staggering for a first novel.
We often wonder whether we're judging a book on its own merits - or on the backlist of the author. It IS hard, excluding a much-loved author from the notables list, but sometimes it IS necessary. Honestly, I love Margaret Mahy - but The Magician of Hoad is not one of Margaret's better works but, not only that, it just isn't a good fantasy novel.
Here endeth the rant...
Tuesday 19 May 2009
We love Gok
and here he is in NZ! Watch & enjoy - for all those (like me) who missed it on Close Up.
Plasticine @ Chelsea
Check out James May (Top Gear) and his plasticine garden, currently showing at the Chelsea Flower show...
Article from The Telegraph
Video interview from The Guardian
Info from the official RHS site
Article from The Telegraph
Video interview from The Guardian
Info from the official RHS site
Friday 15 May 2009
A moving week
Friday: packing; meet the landlords; pick up the keys; final bit of measuring up
Saturday: up at 6 - final packing; 7am sister & brother-in-law arrive - bed dismantled, etc; 8.15 movers arrive; 10am at new place, have a coffee, eat morning tea (thanks mum) and watch the movers; 11am most of the family arrive & start unpacking... 5pm all alone...
Sunday: spend 10 minutes figuring out how to work the shower; Mothers' Day morning tea at mum's; shopping for essentials - knives, pots, rubbish bin & lots of other stuff, mostly in red.
Monday: sleep & read; stare blankly & worriedly at the number of boxes & bags I have to unpack (how many clothes, bags, shoes & books do I own!); ring Sky
Tuesday: reprise of Monday; ring Sky & phone company (no phone).
Wednesday: Sky-man arrives; TV still black & white, or weird colour options - bother; phone on; start seriously working on unpacking clothes.
Thursday: 11am Mum, Sara & Kaydin come to take me TV shopping; get home - Sky cables don't fit on new TV; phone dead. Ring Sky & phone company; finish sorting out clothes; start sorting out books.
Friday: finishing sorting out books - realise I do need one of those shelves I left behind; phone men arrive & fix phone; Sky rings - just as I'm heading out the door to town to go to a writers' festival event; walk to bus, timing the trip; get to town & buy drawer organisers; return library books - get more out; go to writers' festival, meet up with friends, see art installation organised by niece (good job Hannah); lift home; ex-flatmate & his partner visit - pass over stuff. Hear the disasters they're having with their phone.
Saturday: I pray Sky come back, either really early or late afternoon - but I have to pay them for it... the joy!!!
Saturday: up at 6 - final packing; 7am sister & brother-in-law arrive - bed dismantled, etc; 8.15 movers arrive; 10am at new place, have a coffee, eat morning tea (thanks mum) and watch the movers; 11am most of the family arrive & start unpacking... 5pm all alone...
Sunday: spend 10 minutes figuring out how to work the shower; Mothers' Day morning tea at mum's; shopping for essentials - knives, pots, rubbish bin & lots of other stuff, mostly in red.
Monday: sleep & read; stare blankly & worriedly at the number of boxes & bags I have to unpack (how many clothes, bags, shoes & books do I own!); ring Sky
Tuesday: reprise of Monday; ring Sky & phone company (no phone).
Wednesday: Sky-man arrives; TV still black & white, or weird colour options - bother; phone on; start seriously working on unpacking clothes.
Thursday: 11am Mum, Sara & Kaydin come to take me TV shopping; get home - Sky cables don't fit on new TV; phone dead. Ring Sky & phone company; finish sorting out clothes; start sorting out books.
Friday: finishing sorting out books - realise I do need one of those shelves I left behind; phone men arrive & fix phone; Sky rings - just as I'm heading out the door to town to go to a writers' festival event; walk to bus, timing the trip; get to town & buy drawer organisers; return library books - get more out; go to writers' festival, meet up with friends, see art installation organised by niece (good job Hannah); lift home; ex-flatmate & his partner visit - pass over stuff. Hear the disasters they're having with their phone.
Saturday: I pray Sky come back, either really early or late afternoon - but I have to pay them for it... the joy!!!
Tuesday 12 May 2009
Queen of the procrastinators
Yep, that's me.
A finely honed talented due to many years of study - cleaning out the freezer instead of writing essays, for example.
Now, it's doing sweet FA instead of unpacking. Mainly due to the realisation that I have so much crap! Thank goodness for the family who unpacked what they did. The books in no particular order on my shelves - as my sister said, at least they're there. So, it's like a fun hunting game trying to find a certain book.
Or, reading books that aren't in my challenge list on goodreads.
Or, playing games on the computer instead of making dinner.
Or... anything other than what I should be doing.
Anyway, I'm back at work on Tuesday, so I have a few more days to sort my stuff out. But, first of all, I'm enjoying doing in particular - sleeping in, and Nana-napping as much as possible.
The joy of living by myself - it doesn't matter!
A finely honed talented due to many years of study - cleaning out the freezer instead of writing essays, for example.
Now, it's doing sweet FA instead of unpacking. Mainly due to the realisation that I have so much crap! Thank goodness for the family who unpacked what they did. The books in no particular order on my shelves - as my sister said, at least they're there. So, it's like a fun hunting game trying to find a certain book.
Or, reading books that aren't in my challenge list on goodreads.
Or, playing games on the computer instead of making dinner.
Or... anything other than what I should be doing.
Anyway, I'm back at work on Tuesday, so I have a few more days to sort my stuff out. But, first of all, I'm enjoying doing in particular - sleeping in, and Nana-napping as much as possible.
The joy of living by myself - it doesn't matter!
Friday 1 May 2009
NZ Music month
It's that time of year again, when we celebrate New Zealand music. At work that means, occasionally, being unable to hear or to talk customers when there's a concert.
This year, The great New Zealand songbook has been released. Discussion around it made me think of my favourite kiwi songs... I'm not a music historian, nor trained, so I don't know if all of these were written by NZers. With that proviso, for what it's worth - my list (subject to change at a moments notice), and in no particular order:
This year, The great New Zealand songbook has been released. Discussion around it made me think of my favourite kiwi songs... I'm not a music historian, nor trained, so I don't know if all of these were written by NZers. With that proviso, for what it's worth - my list (subject to change at a moments notice), and in no particular order:
- "There is no depression in New Zealand" - Blam Blam Blam
- "Nature" - The Fourmyula
- "Out on the street" - Space Waltz
- "Stuff and nonsense" - Split Enz
- "Dominion Road" - The Muttonbirds
- "I love my leather jacket" - The Chills
- "Dance all around the world" - BLERTA
- "She's a mod" - Ray Columbus and the Invaders
- "E Ipo" - Prince Tui Teka
- "French letter" - Herbs
- "Destiny in motion" - Satellite Spies
- "Cleopatra" - The Mockers
- "Blood and money" - Knightshade
- "Falling in and out" - Mi-Sex
- "We three kings" - Fredd Dagg
- "Who loves who the most" - The Exponents
- "Gutter black" - Hello Sailor
- "L'Amour Est L'enfant De La Liberte" - The Rumour
- "April sun in Cuba" - Dragon
- "Heart and Soul" - The Narcs
- "Sway" - Bic Runga
- "Yesterday was just the beginning of my life" - Mark Williams
And, I'm sure, numerous others!
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