The Roost of the Purple Chicken

Beware the deluge from sqbr!

2007-02-20T16:05:00.000+09:00

To anyone still subscribed to the feed for this blog: I'm going to have to move over the google or whatever, which may mean ALL my posts will suddenly appear on the feed. Given that I don't post to this blog any more, I'd say the best thing to do is unsubscribe from the feed.

Go friend my livejournal if you haven't already :)

My heart is wrenched in two

2006-01-23T12:19:00.000+08:00

Well...I've decided to do it. The realtionship was stable and happy, and I thought I could compromise on our differeneces but in the end...I had to leave.

That's right, I'm saying goodbye to Blogger and moving over to livejournal. This makes me very sad, since I won't have as much control over the layout (no more tiny chickens! No more spirally dividers!!) and I won't be sqbr any more :( But despite all that lj has suckered me over with it's commenting system (specifically notifications on replies for people other than me) and the fact I won't have to deal with the feed/blog dichotomy(*).

I'm don't know what I'll do with this blog now (I'm sure I'll think of something) but for the moment it will lay idle, so you should ignore http://sqbr.blogspot.com/ and http://syndicated.livejournal.com/sqbr/ and instead direct your attention to http://alias-sqbr.livejournal.com/.

Before you complain that the sidebar is unreadable, I'm going to fiddle with the colours some more later(**). You may notice that some of my old locked entries have been unlocked. Those of you not on my friends list may be happy to see you weren't missing much, I just wanted to keep things neat. Also I'll port over the more interesting blog entries when and if it feels necessary.

So, goodbye old friend. The Roost of the Purple Chicken is dead. Long live the Roost of the Purple Chicken!

(*)That's right, people who comment on the feed, you broke my spirit. Are you happy now?
(**)In case any of you are wondering, I chose this layout becuase it allows a very small amount of css, meaning I could make my own header and set the background.

Two requests (no blargle)

2006-01-21T17:15:00.000+08:00

Please:

can anyone suggest a good place to get ones ears pierced? I have no idea what a good price is and keep putting off looking around.
Don't Post On The Feed. I realised all the comments were getting lost so have started copying them over here manually. But I don't guarantee I'll always be bothered. You Have Been Warned.

Part of me is tempted to swap over to lj, I am kind of sick of Bloggers skeletal comments system.

A link and some blargle

2006-01-21T14:23:00.000+08:00

I have made a website compiling information on wedding stuff, for anyone who's interested. I haven't put everything on there yet, but I can feel the enthusiasm for the project is temporarily drained so I may as well post it now.

With any job, I have two priorites. First, do it well. Second, don't look like an unproffesional idiot. With the Siemens science school, I managed the first ok, but failed miserably on the second. Oh well, at least the kids went home happy and educated.

And now, it's time for some... I need a word for "longwinded babbling about only marginally interesting bits of my life". Like many people I do it a fair bit and it would be nice to go "God! Enough with the blargle!" or "blargle under the cut" and people would know what you meant. Assuming I could work out Blogger cuts. Anyway.

Recently I decided to rejoin the Brights forum. I left about a year ago, partly becuase I was using it to procrastinate on my Phd, and partly becuase I felt rather conflicted. I joined to be able to explore my opinions on religion, philosophy, ethics etc with lots of different people with whom I could assume the starting position that there's no God(*). Which is exactly what I got, but only in between lots of the sort of stupid crap that goes along with a religious discussion forum on the interent. And by gum atheists can be smug. Also the forum theoretically exists to help organise pro-Bright causes and I eventually realised that I feel about Bright-rights the same way I do about womens rights(**): Yes, they're a worthwhile cause, but there are others that feel more important/neccesary to me personally, like the environment. But then I was invited to be a facilitator (like a moderator, but more so. Or something) which I felt would be an educational experience which it was. Also really frustrating, with the trolls and the idiots and the fact I'm not naturally suited to being a Figure of Authority. Still, in amongst it all were some cool people (mostly the other facilitators :)) and interesting conversations. But it wasn't enough, and I left, saying I'd come back when I was done Phding. Which I did (but resigned as facilitator) and... I don't know. Still, I've friended some of the cooler facilitators, and apparently they all left around the same time as me and are also pondering if it's worth the pain.

Also, if you think the Brights are kind of wierd and up themselves, well, maybe a little bit. But they are nothing to the Universists.

(*)No offense to all the religious people with whom I've had discussions, they're great too, but I wanted to get into the real nitty gritty of my views on the nature of the universe etc, and interfaith conversations tend to be rather vague and universal.
(**)Only more so. Much more so.

In sickness and in health

2006-01-18T19:13:00.000+08:00

Well! This week(*) has been a rollercoaster of of emotions. I got a job at the Siemens Science Experience starting Monday and so was rather upset to wake up on Sunday with absolutely no ability to talk for no reason (at least with a cold you know it'll go away) I was sufficiently better on Monday to go to training but then couldn't find anyone which made me Very Sad until I was cheered up by this lovely first year I tutored last year who happened by. Which is kind of embarrassing but never mind. Anyway, I eventually found everyone (including my replacement: Anil!) and then saw a doctor (Reflux?? It was reflux?? I got medicine and a no-caffiene rule) and after a slow start with me in a daze all Tuesday things have gone pretty well. I was a little worried about keeping 23 14-yr-olds under control but they're mostly well behaved and enthusiastic. Zero interest in maths or CS as far as I can see, but today we had a talk on physics and afterwards I talked about the twins paradox and wormholes etc which was fun, some of them were adorably enthused :)

The doctor says the reflux is probably a long term thing, which makes sense given the list of foods which cause reflux bears an uncanny resemblance to the list of foods I avoid becuase they make me feel like crap.

Oh, and we had a rent inspection tommorrow I was kind of worried about and have been preparing for over the week, and got home today to find a note saying "From your calendar you obviously didn't realise it was today. 'Scool."(**)

Finally, if anyone cares and has gotten this far, I and Cam's current "settled" plan for the wedding (haha) is to rent a hall and get in caterers, probably Temptations.

(*)For a certain definition of week
(**)Not what it actually said :)

Inklings

2006-01-04T21:17:00.000+08:00

Briefly:

I've done a new comic.
Pavla rocks because she gave me free vegetables from her supernaturally wonderful garden (it's like something out a book or gardening program)
Oliver rocks because he gives me lifts and thus has been awarded the Giving Lifts Medal of Honour.
I'm bored.

EDIT: Is it just me or does Henry from this Decemberists clip look like a muppet, specifically the host of Buzz!? Maybe it's just cos I watched Smile Time (SPOILER!*) recently.

(*)For Angel Season 5. In case anyone cares...

HAP-py new year

2005-12-30T18:59:00.000+08:00

DISCLAIMER: This was writen at 1am on too much caffiene.

Well! And so it is 2006. I really wanted to go to Dave and Karens and/or Shay & Fe's parties but Fate (and me not grasping at oppurtunities quick enough) intervened, and I ushered in the new year with a group of Live Action Vampire Roleplayers and engineering Phds I didn't know from Adam. Which was ok, I geuss.

Some things I intend to do this year (prefereably this month) which you, my minions, can help with:

Hang out with people I really like(*). If you're not sure this means you, offer me lifts and it will :)
Get some red fishnets. This means giving someone else the not-quite-red pinkish fishnets mum got me for xmas. Any takers? Largest size.Though I may decided to keep them when I'm more lucid.
Get my ears pierced. Any recomendations for places to get it done? I'm just going for bog-standard lobes.
Give stuff away. Some sort of people-swapping-stuff-they-don't-want remains-to-charity day(**) sounds cool but complicated. Not sure I can be bothered.
Set a date for the darn wedding.
Throw (low-key) party for my set of units. (Inspired by my friend Alex Nayef who did this for her large set of units, as well as inviting all her friends and family. It was cool)
Part of me like's Alex N's mum's idea of a non-fiction book club (stuff like "Guns Germs and Steel" which coincidentally is on telly on Monday) but I have been BURNED on the whole book club thing. So maybe not. Burned I tells you!
Rasberries soaked in peach schnapps. Given how nice rasberries in vodka is (had at party) and I hate vodka and love peach schnapps.

Watched final season of Angel. Was ok, rather predictable (with one or two exceptions ;)) and did indeed have a somewhat crappy ending. Better than the last episode ever of Farscape, though. Cam showed me the last 5 minutes and..gee. Also the loose ends from season 4 (angel again) which had bugged me were tied up.

Finally, I'm sure Sheldon doesn't read this, but hopefully at least one of Margaret or Lily does: I checked, and the only ingredient of garlic powder is...powdered garlic. Hah! (This stems from me saying I sprinkle it on stuff when I crave that fast food taste and them saying it's probably just as unhealthy and not really made from garlic) Nerr!

(*)Since I kind of like pretty much everyone :)
(**)a la Mrs Schlock Mercenary(***), though I was thinking it before.
(***)The description isn't archived or I'd link it. Wife of guy who does Schlock Mercenbary does something like that every month.

The Circle is complete

2005-12-30T14:48:00.000+08:00

Well! Thanks to Phlebas expressing enthusiasm over my last update I felt inspired to draw the last two panels of the page I was working on, and now.... Chapter One of A Circle Of Stars is complete! Woohoo!

Yes, 21 pages over five months isn't exactly lightening speed, but it's more than I've done before so I'm happy. I still need to fix up some inconsistencies (Velasco's coat gains a fluffy trim somewhere between pages 16 and 18, for example) but eh. I'm not sure I'll ever do Chapter Two, since while I have several pages of scripts written out, they refuse to coalesce into a plot per se. Maybe I'll draw them up anyway.

I'm actually feeling pretty cruddy today. I got complacent about the times I've eaten cheese at parties and not felt bad the next day so ate a bunch at lilysea's afternoon tea and now my throat's gone all swollen. Noone to blame but myself...

Also, Cam's parents gave us an electric organ, yay! I'm having heaps of fun playing chords to songs I like very badly.

Bah Humbug

2005-12-25T19:38:00.000+08:00

I've had an ok christmas, though as anyone who has witnessed will attest it is not wise to make me eat a meal late. I get cranky and am less prone to pretend I like candles. (Candles! Again with the candles! Why?) Also my mum (bless her soul) managed to get all three things she bought off the gift registry just a little bit wrong, which I stopped being annoyed about the moment I remembered she got me a big day out ticket for my birthday :) Also Classic FM played an Oscar Wilde story which made me cry becuase I'm a big sook. Anyway! Enough festive angst, time for a festive comic!!

Finally, for anyone not on my friends list here is my first attempt at an animated icon gif. I've decided it's perhaps a bit impolitic for it's intended use.

It's not supposed to be about terrorism or anything topical, by the way, it's just a pun. Also, anyone else who expresses surprise at me having a mean sense of humour gets me imagining me hitting them on the head repeatedly. (Yeah, that'll show 'em. heh heh heh)

EDIT: FINALLY! Have put up next three pages of ACOS. Also updated cast page and created "deleted scenes" section. Sleep now.

Zonked ramblings

2005-12-11T11:15:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was Raes birthday, and in celebration the cactus flowered. Today, it's purpose finished, it committed suicide:

Also in celebration, there was a very cool, very shiny party. Though I must remember that while I have huge chunky ankles I have moderately tiny wrists and should take this into account when making bracelets for people. Also, I am going to have to take things more easily next weekend when I (hopefully) go to 5 parties in four days because I feel like crap. (Thus I cannot be bothered retaking the photo) Finally, thanks to Liz I now realise I am on the first page of Google Image results for "origami sun". Why? Oh well.

Big Big Day Out Table Day

2005-12-09T19:40:00.000+08:00

I have put all the bands at the big day out in a table based on how much I think I'll like them. Given the extreme annoyingness of the actual big day out website I thought people might like to use it themselves. No judging me by my choices though, I haven't heard much of most of these bands and was getting pretty sick of the whole process by the time I finished.

Oh yeah, I'm going to the big day out, did I mention that? Yay for my parents :) Oh, and I eventually decided on Turing, though I seriously pondered Tesla (but I don't understand electricity, to my eternal shame) or Lovelace (but it sounds kind of girly).

Bizarre Aria

2005-12-08T22:17:00.000+08:00

I've been meaning to take a photo of this since we moved in 4 years ago, but it's just far enough away that I can never be bothered walking there with a camera.

Also, made a page about doing a Phd in which I intend to put all the stuff I wish someone had told me, or at least as much as I can be bothered before I get bored of the idea :)

Did I mention my paper got published at last?

I am finding the influx of Very Delayed lj replies kind of disconcerting. And do I respond to them or not?

To clear my good name

2005-12-07T14:40:00.000+08:00

I'm going to be a leader at the Siemens science school this summer and need to choose a scientist to be the name of my group. I'm thinking Newton (well known, easy to pronounce, did important maths) but am a little paranoid there's some much cooler name I'm not thinking of, can anyone think of one? The other group names are:

Carson
Darwin
Dr Karl (pfft)
Einstein
Franklin
Hawking
Mendel

EDIT: We're doing all sorts of science, I just chose a mathematitian out of loyalty to my calling :)

Will the madness ever stop?

2005-12-01T10:31:00.000+08:00

Well, thanks to the ever wonderful Cam I have a comics blog. Yes, that is three blog type things I have now (four if you count the lj-feed) but I got sick of how crappy comics look in this blog but still wanted to be able to add comments. I actually made it a little while ago but waited till I drew something new. It's annoying, I really want to finish a circle of stars but I've been all headachey and un-draw-y which makes it tricky. Anyway, any time I add a new comic (and given that I could only find 22 comics online drawn over eleven years this shouldn't be that often) I'll mention it here. In case anyone is panicing at the possibility of missing one of my Great Artistic Expressions :)

Also, "Brothers Grimm" was...flawed but interesting. Enjoyable if you go in expecting large sections of it to be incredibly crap, but probably really annoying if you don't.

So very, very old

2005-11-23T11:13:00.000+08:00

Well, it's my birthday again. I woke up this morning feeling all grumpy and antisocial and tired (possibly a result of doing a LOT of walking yesterday) so am planning on having a quiet at-home day. Maybe buy myself a sorbet later. I have cheered myself up with hot chocolate made from 80% cocoa Lindt plus sugar and milk. Mmmm....so I may be a little erratic in that sleepy-but-on-caffiene kind of way. Also longwinded, and I haven't gotten the hang of how blogspot does "lj-cuts". Tough, it's my birthday.

As I said I'm feeling antisocial today, but on the whole would like to spend more time with people. Three things I would like to do are:

Have a craft day, though I'm not sure how this would work.
Have a bunch of girls get together and swap clothes (I've just gone through my wardrobe) Mine are mainly 12s but as long as we have at least two of any given size it should be ok :)
Go into the city and use up my free Hoyts ticket.

I'd prefer to do these durting the day on a weekday since my weekends seem to always be pretty busy and I'm not a night sort of person, but I'm flexible. Any takers?

This morning Cam and I were discussing the significance of ages, and while 25, 27, and 28 are all cool numbers (being a square, a cube, and a perfect number) we couldn't think of anything cool about 26. But he just emailed me with a bunch of ways 26 is Deeply Significant. Most importantly: it's the number of sporadic simple groups(*). Best fiance ever :)

The cactus has not flowered for me this year, instead it's been "about to flower" for ages, I think as a (so far successful) ploy to avoid being pruned.(**)

Went to the wedding/formal dress shop Penny reccomended yeserday (and thus much walking, since it's in Joondalup) which was indeed pretty good. I was reminded that I don't like satin, though. Which kind of makes things difficult. I went into a nearby scrapbooking shop which was both inspiring and horrifying: it saddens me to think of all these women spending so much on supplies and putting in so much creative energy to make horrible twee monstrosities out of their photos. Still, the woman there was very helpful, and advised me to buy a $40 scrapbook, $8 photo corners and $1 card. Instead I went into officworks and bought a $1.50 folder (ringbound plastic sleeves) and $10c card, and then used these instuctions and the punch I got from Anna for my birthday to begin to make a postcard album (thanks to lilysea for the idea). This one was a trial run, I may redo it using a ruler and better colours :) I would just put them into a photo album but they're too big. This should be fun, anyway. I have quite a few postcards, since its cheaper than buying prints. Also I have a bunch of historical ones from my grandad (Perth in the 70s etc) which is cool though looking at them reminded me that I'm a Bad Grandaughter for not visiting him more often (he's in a tricky-to-get-to home with Alzheimers)

My birthday party went very well and the registry was a success (modulo my incompetence) I've already eaten much of the confectionary, drank some of the peach schnapps (So Nice!!) used the fabric pen and punch, read some of Anansi boys (good, though the plot is a bit like a cross between "Theif of time" and that Buffy episode with Xander's twin) used both loofahs and reorganised my jewellry using two of the containers presents came in.

Well, I'm hungry, so..that's it! ...wait! I'm not sure if this counts as an edit since this stupid entry hasn't shown up yet but anyway: Note the new interesting posts page I've added to my links section. I don't know that anyone but me will use it, but it's there if you care :) Now I'm off to get some sorbet (the cafe a block from my house has started selling Gelati gelati. Don't they know I'm trying to diet and save money?)

(*) This may not mean much to you, but they're the main focus of my thesis. I can't believe he had to tell me :)
(**)I don't know if you're supposed to prune cacti but I do anyway becuase otherwise putting out the washing would become an extreme sport.

BOOKS!

2005-11-13T08:17:00.000+08:00

I have decided to attempt to read all the books that have won a Hugo(*). Since of the 30 I've already read I only actively disliked one,"The Snow Queen" by Joan Vinge, and really liked most of the others, this should be fun :) Read "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" by Kate Wilhelm (after Lily reassured me that the 70's author from unisfa is the same as the 90's author I read during my exploration of the W's of Freo Library) which was pretty good if a little old-fashioned (Asimov not Dickens :) ) in style. Currently reading the winner from the previous year, "The Forever War", which actually comes across as more modern and a Real Book. It manages to convincingly and interestingly extrapolate war of the future while including the sort of gritty, satirical take on what war is really like that "mainstream" fiction has been exploring since WWII (and even more since Vietnam, think Catch 22 or MASH) but doesn't seem to make it much into s.f.

I got this really strong sense of deja vu reading "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang", all those rather cold but not evil not-quite-human children reminded me of something I've read, I think Beggars in Spain. Which then combined with this blog entry on attitudes to the poor to help me realise that's exactly what bugged me about "Beggars..": while it was made clear that the poor and stupid needed looking after, it was implied that that's becuase they are incapable and uninterested in looking after themselves. I got the strong feeling the author had never had any lower class, ill-educated friends and tends to view them as a Scary Other.

Next week, the Postgrad Careers fair! Good timing, eh? Oh! And "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is great, I'm very glad Phlebas managaed to persuade me to see it.

Finally, a link for Katie and Penny :)

(*)I'd do the Nebulas but I can't find a decent printable list with just the novel winners. I may have to compile my own from here.

Squeezing out sentences like..stuff...from a ..thing

2005-11-10T10:08:00.000+08:00

The last week or so it's felt like I keep saying Exactly The Wrong Thing, and I am reminded why I used to be terribly terribly shy. Oh well.

Ok, according to Cam a reasonable number of people have now reserved/bought stuff on the registry without hassle (as far as we can see). I realise it could come accross that I want everyone to buy me Muchos Gifts or I'll get all offended and think you don't like me, when really I just wanted beta testers and was getting all paranoid that it was All Going To Go wrong. I get really paranoid about parties, it's the main reason I don't do them very often. Anway, noone should feel obliged to get me anything big (or anything at all) if they weren't going to naturally. Also the reason there's So Many Gifts is that I'm using it as a general repository for things I want, including christmas or just to buy for myself at some point. *is probably being unneccesarily paranoid in the opposite direction but never mind*

Saw "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" yesterday, which was pretty good for a spin-off from an animated tv show but I'm not sure if I agree with the people who think it's the Best Batman Movie Ever. Also I've given up on "Game of Thrones", I think I should avoid long fantasy for a while it doesn't seem to be my genre at the moment. It is very good for what it is, but what it is is fairly run-of-the-mill politics-and-epic-family-history in a moderately interesting but not extraspecially original fantasy setting. The fact that all the characters are fairly well drawn and 3 dimensional, rather than the usual mildly characterised hero plus cardboard cutouts, is certainly a plus. And there was no point where I went "Oh come on that's just STUPID/cliched etc" On the other hand after a few chapters I got a feel for the rhythym and general direction of the various storylines so there was no surpise or interest. That and the way he keeps killing/maiming the main characters meant I didn't let myself get too attached :) Still, I reccomend it to anyone who likes fantasy unless they only like the super-happy light stuff.

Death by Strawberries

2005-11-06T21:31:00.000+08:00

** EDIT:Ok, ok, I take it all back, plenty of people have signed up for the registry, just noones reserved anything. Which in the light of day probably just means either you don't want to get me a present and were just curious (acceptable) or you haven't gotten round to it yet (also acceptable, unless you all do it at the last minute and the system breaks). So...not sad. Happy :) **

A reminder about my Party weekend after next. It seems noone is using the registry. This makes me sad. Do you want me to be sad? *sniffs piteously* (People who simply aren't coming are exempt, though if NONE of you come I'll be extra sad )

After much research into cat species (read: some searching through wikipedia and google to find breeds that look anything like the characters do in my head) I redesigned the character Celeste to look more like more like this (though not really). Who's Celeste you ask? Why, you clearly haven't read my new pages in A Circle of Stars. You have, and you're still confused? Why not try the shiny new cast page.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to get the plot between pages 14 and 17 to flow nicely.

I've finally figured out why people kept sending me emails thinking I was Isobelle Casrmody despite the huge, bright red banner saying I'm not: where it now says "webmaster" it used to say "me", and people somehow managed to miss the banner not to mention my name underneath the email address, and assume "me" meant her. I geuss I help weed out the less intelligent fans leaving Miss Carmody more time to FINISH HER FRIGGING SERIES.

Finally: after eating a LOT (no really, a lot) of plums and getting hives, and then eating slightly less strawberries in a shorter period of time and getting hives again it seems the "eat lots of fruit to feel healthy" theory has some drawbacks. If I turn out to also have an intolerance for carrots I may have to start living off a pure beef diet.

Easy sausage rolls

2005-11-01T18:59:00.000+08:00

Yes, another recipe. Also possibly an indication why it is I need to lose weight :)

Ingredients

1 square puff pastry
a little bit of milk

filling

250g pork mince
3/4 piece of bread finely chopped or grated
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
about a tablespoon of herbs. I use 4 leaves fresh sage and a dash of dried thyme.
a dash of chicken stock
salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 200 C.
Cut pastry in half.
Mix filling ingredients. On each piece of pastry, place half of the filling mix in a long sausage and roll up. Use wet fingers to secure the edge. Cut each roll in half.
Place rolls on baking paper on an oven tray and brush the tops with milk. Bake for around 20 minutes until browned.
Makes 4.

I find they always go a bit soggy on the bottom, you can either put up with this or do something like drying them off and putting them in upside down on a new piece of baking paper. Some recipes call for dried breadcrumbs, that might help. Other recipes call for grated zuchinni, this does not help.

The uncooked rolls can be frozen, and the cooked ones are quite nice cold.

Also, for many years I have harboured the secret desire to put this up in the maths learning centre :)

I walked to perth today!

2005-11-01T15:30:00.000+08:00

And thus, now I've sat down, I am trying to come up with as many things as I can do without getting up from the computer. Still, that's like 5km! I reccomend walking down Beufort street for anyone wanting a fun little street to walk down. Though it was difficult not buying food from all the little shops (I have resolved exercise more and eat less in an attempt to be healthier and thinner)

I have become rather taken with the idea of Patience with all the aesthetes replaced by goths. Now all I need is my own band of operatta singers to perform it for me...(Or I may draw it. I suppose) Googling to see if anyone had already done it I found The bizzarre adventures of Gilbert and Sullivan, indicating that I'm not the first person to note that it's pretty gothy as 19th Century comic operas go :)

Also, I just came across Alan Moore prodying Frank Miller via Linkmachinego.

EDIT: On my walk I noticed that

Planet Video is selling off many of their videos for $4, including some anime/star trek. I got "La Cage A Follies" (subtitles) plus "Divorcing Jack".
"Memory Lane" costume shop sells coloured fishnets for $10!

Also I seem to have gotten mildly sunburnt.

My teeny little thoughts all lined up in a row

2005-10-27T21:25:00.000+08:00

At a party last weekend I bumped into haute_kitten, my first ever friend from highschool who I haven't seen since like 1998. (partly because she moved to England, where she lives in a co-op and is training to make corsets, because she's just that cool :) ) Anyway, after looking at her lj I had a look at my blog, thinking about how it would look to someone who doesn't know me-as-I-am-now very well and came to the conclusion that I have been influenced by spending so much time around teenagers and use a smidgeon too many smileys.(*) The fact that I care about what my smiley-usage stats say about me got me contemplating the way I put a lot of effort into not being an unsuccessful try-hard and what that says about me, and all in all I got so self-concious about what I do and why I couldn't post anything!(**)

So..*cough* for no especially deep or significant reason, another list of things.

Still not depressed (oh noes!), but the fact I'm letting myself do all the stuff I avoided during my phd becuase it made me sleepy (chocolate, late nights etc) is making me, suprise surprise, sleepy.
"Y the last man" is a brilliant graphic novel you should all read. I nearly recomended it to my mum and then remembered what happened the last time she read something of mine where someone dies horribly in the first scene. Anyway, the first issue is online so..go!
Garden state is a pretty good movie.
I love the new Pride and Predjudice becuase it is a thing of beauty. Well, in terms of actual physical prettiness and swooniness of leads the BBC version wins hands down, but the movie makes it feel like they're actually real people instead of pretty Romantic Archetypes.
I have given up on Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrel. However I did read "Peace" by Gene Wolfe, which is absolutely nothing like the book I remember reading in highschool. I wonder what book it was, I know it was from the W section and had a tree on the cover. Oh well.
My loyalties are somewhat divided between White Dwarf Books and Fantastic Planet. On the one hand Tim was friends with Cam in highschool (and gave me a free romance novel to give Cam's mum), on the other hand I've known Stephen much longer and he's written some pretty funky books. Also he doesn't swap "horrible child abuse stories from when I was in ER" with Mandragora :) Of course it's not like I spend any money on new books anyway.

(*)The footnotes, italics and brackets are juuuust right.
(**)Also I've been kind of sleepy, see the first entry on the list :) ....oh no! A smiley! I lose at the internet!

Paaaarty!!

2005-10-20T08:27:00.000+08:00

Yes! To celebrate me entering my late twenties and the handing in of my Phd, a party. Since my house is teeny, it's at Jocelyn's.

What: Sophie's 26th Birthday Party
Where: Jocelyn's house. Email/comment etc for the address (I forgot to ask her if it was ok to put it online :))
When: Saturday 19th November at 7pm (I may change the time)
Who: Joc is a little paranoid about her house getting full and exploding, so I'd prefer people who actually know me to a a reasonable extent and are coming because it's my birthday, rather than because they're bored and want to go to a party.
Theme: Things you never get a chance to wear. Clothes/accessories that have been sitting in your cupboard forever and you can't bear to get rid of. Anything from ball dresses to that hat your grandma made you :)
What to bring: A present. It's not set up completely yet, but I'm trying out a gift registry Cam wrote for the wedding. Please use the registry, there will be lots of Very Cheap gifts.

If you have this marvelous idea for the perfect present that's not on the list, that's ok :) But if you buy something on the list without registering for it, so I get two, well that's not so good :P

My email address is sqbr, and the registry one (for getting an account) is account, both at distantwisdom dot net.

Behold the tiny chickens!

2005-10-16T21:25:00.000+08:00

I've been having fun fiddling with my blog layout. Since anything I design from scratch is likely to

look crap
not work

I used the "Scribe" template and fiddled with things a little bit at a time. Hopefully I can eventually make it mainly original content with only the basic layout stolen :) It doesn't work on low resolution IE but as far as I can tell that's becuase of the big comic a few posts down, not the template. So, if it doesn't work for you/is unreadable let me know! I'm super proud of the little chickens. Next step: replace the "Links" etc pictures with a better font.

I've gotten very sleepy all of a sudden (why I stopped cssing) so my deepest apologies if this entry makes no sense. Assuming you can read it at all :)

What I had for breakfast

2005-10-16T10:02:00.000+08:00

I'm not normally into public introspection, but since I've been wondering how I would feel once it was All Over I thought I'd share my thoughts, briefly. I feel... like the mental equivalent of when you do a bunch of exercize and then stop, so your muscles ache and you want to rest, but at the same time you feel like you should be doing something. "Luckily" we have a rent inspection on Tuesday, so I've been cleaning which is easy but keeps me busy. My brain basically said "That's it!" around mid-Thursday, I'm hoping it recovers soon, there's Stuff I Want To Do. Still, I've not yet fallen to the dreaded Post-Thesis-Depression people keep talking about. Maybe this is beause we bought a playstation yesterday. I feel more joy about getting it than I do about finishing, since the former has a definite benefit but the second has yet to really sink in.

Planning on organising a birthday party around the 26th of November, unless people have Strong Objections I haven't thought of. I'm actually quite busy this week (probably a good thing) but come next week I'll almost certainly be Utterly Bored so anyone who wants to hang out is free to give me a buzz. Hmm..the main side-effect of not being a student seems to be an Excess of Capitals.

One of the things on my List Of Things To Do In My Holidays which I've actually done is to go through my "Unsorted links" folder. So, here's a list of interesting links I've collected since the last time I sorted through it which are too cool to delete but not cool enough for my links page. Apologies if I've linked to some of these before.

Longmore does Romance Novels Very amusing retitling of romance novel covers.
Purple dots Stare at the centre cross. Really, it's cool :)
Baby name wizard plots popularity of names in real time.
Warptera Models little machines made from levers and spinning thingies.
Intelligent falling With apologies to any creatoinists :)
Gallery Serpentine A sydney shop that sells coats and stuff which are Very Pretty.
The Foglios draw the begining of "Good Omens" Found when I was about to draw it myself then went "I wonder if this has been done.."
The Gravity Discovery Centre A new museum! Just a bit far away...

Oh, given the title I geuss I should add that to celebrate I bought "Crunchy Nut Clusters" cereal and made some Cadbury Brownies, both of which sounded like they should have been great but were actually pretty dissapointing. Also watched Solaris which was somewhat interesting and Very Slow. Oh! And thanks to all the people who gave congratulations :) even the ones who commented on the lj-feed. BAD people, you know lj doesn't allow email notification of comments to feeds. (Or at least you do now)

Unemployed at last!

2005-10-14T16:22:00.000+08:00

You know, if someone told me they gave you a mug when you submitted I'd have been done ages ago.

I'd do a shot of me in the matching shirt I got from Phlebas and Enforced Equanamity but Cam isn't home yet.

Woot! *Does happy dance* *is.....speechless* :)

Things I declare to be cool

2005-10-07T21:20:00.000+08:00

Porco Rossi (just got round to watching the tape I made when it was on tv) and Miyazaki in general.
Daria (finally got to see "Is it College yet" thanks to theducks)
The Kate Beckinsale "Emma", if only because it's not the Gwyneth Paltrow one. Any Austenophiles who wish to watch it are welcome to borrow it.
Being nearly done on my Phd.
Energy. Thus it would be nice if I had any. Stupid body, there's like a week to go, then you can nap all you like!!
Phlebas/Asphodel, for ringing me up and having a good old chinwag.
the_riviera_kid, for giving heaps of helpful advice on my thesis. Also Oliver for offering, though I didn't get round to organising him a copy so I'm not sure if he's had a chance to read it.
The latest Bob the Angry Flower. teehee.
Me, because I'm a genius.
Cam, for hugs.

The end!

So close!

2005-10-04T17:22:00.000+08:00

This Is My Life. Yes, that's right, a little over two weeks to go and all three of my supervisors are out of the country leaving me with noone to sign my submission of thesis form. Guh!

Rather than forgery I went for emailing the form to the closest (in New Zealand), hopefully she can send it back to me in time. The lesson being be organised early.

I've reached a print-this-draft-and-check-for-errors stage (after a super fun day of wrestling with ispell and making sure all my references match) and would be greatly appreciative of any mathsy people (and to make it clear: Asphodel, this Does Not Mean You. Read at your own risk :)) who had a bit of a read to give an outsiders perspective, mainly on the flow/clarity etc. I'll understand if the prospect sounds way too much like hard work! Given that both Adam and Rae found errors by just glancing at earlier drafts briefly even a vague skim is plenty helpful :) Less mathsy people may enjoy critiquing the awful title. (Try as I might I can't think of a better one that fits the content)

I would try to say something interesting and non-mathsy but I'm not sure I have it in me :) Wait! I saw a teapot exhibition today. It was fun. EDIT: Since the mysterious SP (my best geuss is fallimar) does not consider this to be interesting, some other facts:

Ski Smoothie balls are like maltesers made with fruity yogurt instead of chocolate.
I found an interesting (imho :P) photo of my mum at my age. Yes, that's me next to her :)
Asphodel thinks A circle of stars needs more hacking up of hairballs.

And that will just have to do.

Time Scales

2005-10-02T11:54:00.000+08:00

This is going to be a very, very mathsy post though hopefully not too hard to understand for anyone who's done "proper" first year maths. I've screwed around with notation and am pretty ignorant about this sort of stuff, so knowing too much maths might be more of a problem :)

I just finished attending the Australian Mathematical Society Annual Conference. Becuase it's all of maths there were many talks on areas I know nothing about, and when I felt like stretching my brain would go to talks on Logic (which was fascinating and made me think I may have chosen the wrong area to study) or "Unstable non-corpuscular nodes of a scalar quantum field in an expanding accelerating universe" (which utterly broke my brain and made me glad I changed out of Physics). Anyway, I went to one Applied talk (Dynamic Equations on Time Scales) and I thought the ideas were so cool, and simple, I'm going to natter about them here :)

This is a differential equation:
x'(t)=3x(t)+t^2, x(0)=0

This is a difference equation:
x(n+1)-x(n)=3x(n)+n^2, x(0)=0
In a sense these equations are "equivalent", but they are not the same.

There is a large area of mathematics devoted to solving differential equations, but as far as I can tell the way difference equations are generally solved is by treating them as if they were differential equations and hoping for the best. The problem being that not only do the solutions differ but there are equations which, say, have infinitely many solutions in the differential case and none in the difference case. For this reason we (by which I mean the guy giving the talk) define dynamic equations.

In this sort of equation (which covers both difference and differential equations) you have:

A time scale T. This is a closed subset of the real numbers, usually just all the real numbers or the positive integers.
A function x(t) defined over T.
For any t in T you define s(t) to be the "next" point, ie in the real numbers s(t)=t and in the integers s(t)=t+1.
A "derivative" x*(t) where
- if s(t)=t (ie in a differential equation) then x*(t) is just the derivative x'(t).
- if s(t)>t (ie in a difference equation) then
  x*(t)=[ x(s(t))-x(t) ]/[ s(t)-t ]. Note that if s(t)=t+1 you just get x*(t)=x(t+1)-x(t).

A simple dynamic equation would then be
x*(t)=3x(t)+t^2, x(0)=0.
If you substitute in s(t)=t or s(t)=t+1 you get the equations we had to begin with. Which all seems a bit pointless except you can define things like the product rule to work for x*(t) regardless of T (you just get some funny [ s(t)-t ] terms which vanish when T is the real numbers) and so come up with results which work for any dynamic equation. Also, and I think this is super cool, you don't have to have a boring old time scale like the integers. Pretty much ANY closed subset of the real numbers will work, including things like

A collection of continuous intervals ie T={ t: 1<=t<=2 or 4<=t<=5} so you have s(t)=t for most t, but s(2)=4.
Bounded infinite sequences like {0, 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, ...} (plus the number 1 so it has an upper boundary)
Crazy sets like the cantor set. Can you imagine differentiating a function which is only defined on the Cantor set? Craaazy!

If you got this far and aren't bored out of your skull, you can read the first chapter of a book on this stuff for free. Also I should mention that the "sort of derivative" x* is actually denoted by x with a superscript delta, but that was too hard to type :)

The Adventures of Tom and Max

2005-10-02T10:34:00.000+08:00

Went to Tom and Max's wedding yesterday, it was great. They were utterly adorably happy :) Anyway, here are some photos, taken by Cam except for a few after the ceremony where a bunch of technogeeks enviously played with his new camera for a while. (I mention it since otherwise people might think I actually managed to take a decent photo of Cam :) ) It was really nice to talk to people other than mathamatitians and students for a change. Also, Tina is annoyingly photogenic :)

Lost amongst the familiar

2005-09-26T08:32:00.000+08:00

Just a brief post before I toddle off to another day of fun and hijinks at the Victorian Algebra Conference at UWA. (Yes, the organisers grasp of geography is a little thin. And no, we don't go round talking about *tries to think of a victorian era algebraist* ...Gauss?)

Last night I eneed up being the lone sandgroper amongst a bunch of easterners and so became the native guide. I showed such a poor knowledge of Nedlands pubs and the basic layout of UWA (I got us lost on the way from Broadway to the maths department!) they decided I must only be pretending to be from UWA :) It is not wise to get between mathematitians and their beer. Today I've been given the task of taking this Iranian woman out to lunch, presumably because I'm the only female UWA attendee who's free :)

The blog is supposed to be meme free, but the "quote some shakespeare" one gives me a chance to do one of my little rants. The first line of "Twelfth night" is the oft-quoted "If music be the food of love play on". The second line is "so that in surfeit of it the appetite may sicken and so die". And the guy saying it (Duke Orsino) does fall out of love with the women he's sick of being in love with, and gets together with someone else (his manservant Bob...I mean Viola :) ). Thus proving that it is better to make up your own pithy sayings than to quote the classics out of context.

Oh, and becuase it's so darn heavy I haven't been taking "JS and Mr N" to uni to read, so won't finish it for a bit. So far it's interesting but a little heavy going since I don't like Mr Norrel and (not to spoil the plot) he's one of the main characters so hard to avoid :)

Fate laughs wetly

2005-09-23T13:23:00.000+08:00

It was the washing machine getting stuck on "fill", in case you were wondering. Meanwhile I was happily working on my Phd in the study (on of the two rooms NOT to get flooded. Luckily these two are the ones with all the electrical equipment!) with the door closed. *sigh* Once I noticed I swore for a while, turned off the washing machine, and rang the real estate agent who sent round a carpet guy. Currently we have a rearranged damp bedroom and the loungeroom is full of all the shoes I rescued from getting too sodden but on the plus side all the rooms with lino are very clean :/

I'm off to read "Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrel" and have a bit of a lie down.

Put the lotion in the basket

2005-09-22T20:58:00.000+08:00

In case anyone's wondering, turnout to my impromptu movie showing was me, Cam, gelignite, hipikat and miss_kittylix. Also Alex would have come if I'd thought to contact him properly, for which I feel kind of guilty, ah well. Anyway, it was lots of fun, and from Retro Betties I have stolen the idea of iced herbal tea (or tisanes, if one wishes to be all Regency Romance) plus lemonade. Lipton cranberry, rasberry and strawberry= good, twinings lemon and ginger= ok.

I did a comic for Skeletor and Hordak: Partners in Crime which was fun. Man, did I used to love He-man. It's left me with an affection for black mages which if nothing else made Final Fantasy 9 extra fun :)

Finally, isn't my new lj-icon pretty? It's from Digger. Oh- and the title of the post comes from the song I've had stuck in my head since I found out what it means...(Note: I'd pay attention to that warning, it's kind of a freaky video. Catchy tune though)

A night at the pictures

2005-09-20T09:31:00.000+08:00

So, having belatedly realised it's uni holidays and thus my last block of comparitively free time before ze end of ze thesis, I've decided to go see a movie. Since I am feeling a little socialness deprived, I'm inviting any of you who can come. So...

What: Wallace and Gromit, the curse of the Wererabbit
Time: 7pm for dinner for a 8:45pm movie.
Where: Innaloo Megaplex. Meet at Retro Betties before hand.
Who: People I like who also like me. If you read this it's probably a fair bet :)(*)

I don't want an impractical number of people coming, but given the incredibly short notice I don't see that being a problem. People who don't read my blog are welcome too, assuming they somehow find out about it...Oh, and I get hungry early so we are not waiting around before eating. I don't mind waiting around while latecomers eat, though.

And in unrelated news, there was a mixup with my poster being printed for Open Day :(

(*)Unless you're reading this on planet ucc and don't actually know who I am. But you are of course free to organise your own outing to see the movie tonight should you feel so inclined :)

Stupid Muse

2005-09-10T22:33:00.000+08:00

I haven't felt very artistic recently, but felt I had to draw this comic anyway. Since I didn't feel like making it pretty, I did it in about 45 minutes (from pencil on paper to upload) and apart from the text and speech bubbles it's pretty much the original line drawing. (I normally spend ages tweaking) It's based on this realisation, I must admit that while I do remember being fascinated(*) by staplers as a child I can't remember exactly when I noticed the plate thingy can be twisted. Maybe such complex functionality had yet to be invented way back then.

Looking at old photos of me as a kid for reference I was amused to realise I still wear summery dresses over skivvies, a habit my mum managed to get me out of between around 1988 and 1999 :)

And huzzah for Blambot fonts!

(*)Also terrified. What if I stapled myself?

Duck!

2005-09-05T18:33:00.000+08:00

This is just to say I am SICK and it SUCKS! Though if I'm going to be sick I geuss this is the best time, since I'm waiting for my supervisors opinion on a bunch of stuff anyway.

Also, Cam got me The Hallowed Hunt! He is the best fiance ever. I have also

played Penultima (A fun NWN module) with a stupidly powerful character Cam made for me so all the fights took like 20 seconds.
Watched "Paycheck", which was ok.
Watched "Sahara", which was great, at least to my fevered brain.
Finished watching Full Metal Panic which I quite liked, in a "I need an anime fix" kind of way :) It gets points for having an organisation called Mithril and a submarine called the "Tuatha De Danaan". But is not about elves, not even a little bit.
Felt sorry for my self until Cam came home with The Book and some fruit. Yay for Cam!

The name of this post refers to a little russian duck I made at the St Petersburg exhibition. Becuase...well, it just does :P

Also: Phlebas, thanks for the offer anyway :)

EDIT: Read "The Hallowed Hunt", quite enjoyed it though not as much as the previous two. I had just been pondering the lack (in my reading, anyway) of any fantasy with a country like England, which had been taken over and assimilated. All the fantasy worlds seem to have Always Been That Way, or get taken over and treated horribly and then previal. If one ignores all the bitter(*) pagans who are clearly writing about England/Ireland etc in particular rather than exploring the idea more dispassionately :) (Yes, Marian Zimmer Bradley, I'm looking at you)

(*)Not that they don't have a right to be bitter, but that's a different type of story.

New LMB book!

2005-09-03T22:03:00.000+08:00

Yes! It's called "The Hallowed Hunt". Looking for reviews I came across this rather bad one but I don't care. Waiting till it comes out in soft-cover though.

This page of Lois McMaster Bujold photos I also came across has a cool necklace she got made with all the tie-pins she has won plus a photo of her as a teenaged Star Trek geek :)

And to stop being quite such a fangirl: went to the russian exhibition with kitsune_iii today, which was heaps of fun. I discovered that paneforte makes a good energy bar if one is fatigued and the only source of sustenance is a pretentious cafe. Also bumped into the kids from next door (who looked mildly shocked to discover that I exist outside our street :)) and two fellow fangirls who told me about the book (yay! *ahem*) which I had to go look at, but sadly left in the store ($55! I'm not paying that!) then went home where I fell asleep for several hours. Which is why I'm buzzed but incoherent now, stupid nap.

The Phd progresses. Thankyou to the people who commented on my poster.

Help with my homework

2005-09-02T09:56:00.000+08:00

Guh. Feeling very stupid today so I'm doing all the things on my to-do list that don't require thinking. Anyway, I would be very grateful if people could give me a non-maths perspective on my Open Day poster- careful, it's pretty big and the colours are wierd since it's designed to be printed, not seen on a screen.

Cam understands it, but he does have 2/3 of a maths degree, and I'd like it to be understandable to at least the brighter highschool students. If you don't undertstand it TELL ME, it's not because you're stupid it's because this is my first attempt at explaining my thesis to anyone who isn't a group theorist. I'm especially after feedback from people who did some maths in year 12 but haven't done any "real" maths at uni since that seems like the closest I'm going to get to highschool level. But anyone's opinion is good.

If you spot any typographic errors etc that would be cool too :) Note that the light green only looks weird because of my kludge to make the green letters visible, its ok on the actual poster. And yes, I used powerpoint, I tried doing it with Latex and it was All Bad.

The Goblin Caves

2005-08-23T08:27:00.000+08:00

This is a poem I write for Cam's bard charcater in Neverwinter Knights Online. Yes, I know, we are very sad :) It's actually the third one I've written, but since I had to type it up anyway (I'd scribbled lots out) I thought why not share my genius with all of you...

It was a cold and moonless night,
when Simon, brave and true,
Rode out to kill the goblin king
with his bold and loyal crew.

They journeyed long benath the earth,
worms danced above their heads
But then at last the reached the caves
where goblins cast their dread

The loathsome creatures crowded round
Their king chortled with glee
"No human born," he smugly cried,
"Could best the likes of me!"

Brave Simon smiled, then with his axe
chopped off the blackguards head.
Hid grisly trophy in one hand
he then struck six more dead.

And so their foe defeated
Our heroes headed back.
Threshold glad to hear
of the success of their attack

To Captain Nessus went the spoils,
the goblin cheiftans head.
But Simons fame will live on still,
long after we're all dead.

Cam's character is being paid to write these by "Simon", star of my first work "Mighty Simon, slayer of ants!"

Speaking of my genius, I've written some more of A circle of Stars, feedback much appreciated. Much thanks to Phlebus and Cam for paying me back for my comments on their endevours :)

I love channel ten

2005-08-12T17:31:00.000+08:00

"It seems actress Jennifer Aniston has found love with her co-star Vince Vaugn. Aniston, former wife of Brad Fit, claims the pair are just friends. Vaugn can be seen in the film "The Wedding Crashers". Coming up next, entertainment news..." (Note this is just my impression of what they said, please don't sue me for defamation Mr Channel Ten)

Luther is a moving painting

2005-08-05T21:01:00.000+08:00

So you should all go watch it now. Especially if, say, you have a real interest in that era of history, and are in search of reference material for a comic set in a similar world. *coughs* I swear I drew the dress in the first panel of the next page before seeing a certain nuns dress!

Anyway, it's a great story well told, though apparently Luther was a bit of an elitist peasant hater which is not the impression they gave. I can see why they chose not to muddy the story, though.

Also, the Diet of Wurms is the best name for a historical event ever.

I was planning on avoiding the whole state religion being evil thing in Circle... we'll see if I still do. My surprisingly strong (given I'm an atheist) iconoclastic Protestant streak has been all fired up again :)

Angsty Swoon

2005-08-04T11:52:00.000+08:00

I suddenly realised that it is August, and that I am not as far along as I would like as a result of feeling really quite icky for almost the entire month of July. Two consequences of this:

I may become very bad at responding to email etc since I've been feeling headachey and want to save my limited concentrating-on-screen time for my thesis. Also I'm just feeling absent minded.
No more Circle of Stars for a while :( Or at least only that which I can do at night by hand then scan in and quickly colour. (Which is how I did pages 5 and 6)

Anyway, I thought I should finish off a few things I'd been meaning to say blogwise so I can really get into Ignoring the Internet (except the read-when-I-wake-up bits) While writing The Comic Formally known as "Un-named" I came across some useful links:

Blambot fonts They pretty much all rock :)
1001 fonts A VERY wide range, most available for the mac.
Colour schemer Helps you come up with harmonious colour schemes. As you can probably tell, I have yet to fully take advantage of it. but probably should :)
ArcheoAstronomy Because the most important thing about any world is how they viewed cosmology. At least to me :)
Fantasy World Building Questions Only found these this morning, but they look useful.
The name links lilysea talks about here. She and I had a nice chat about this sort of thing yesterday.

Also, worldbuilding is fun. LOTS of fun. I have a bunch of (generally childrens level, I'm no arts student :) ) books on various cultures etc from the library (The internet has a wider range of information, but you can't flip through it and look at the pictures as easily). It may never get into the comic, but just trying to construct an interesting and consistent Other World is cool. Not sure I'd ever do it for it's own sake though. Must pick Phlebus' brain, since she has that handy anthropology degree.

Also, we have a printer! Expect more "handmade" cards from now on :)

Dreaded Continuity

2005-07-23T23:14:00.000+08:00

A while ago I decided a good way to practice drawing longer comics would be to draw interesting dreams, since they come with ready-made imagery and plot. I actually started one, but since I was inspired from the end and ran out of steam before I got back to the beginning I haven't posted it :) Anyway, this time I've been inspired from the beginning (I have six whole pages scripted! After that god knows what happens) to make:

A somewhat unoriginal comic (edited this entry to reflect new shiny..ok, crap.. page)

Suggestions about style etc are welcome. Suggestions for a title are especially welcome. Cam's idea of "Catnip/tuck" doesn't quite work :) I can't help feeling I've cribbed some of the character and plot from Digger and the moon sequence in Narbonic (The whole female-guard-babbling-incomprehensibly thing) but it does change a bit later on....(assuming I can be bothered doing any more)

Also I revamped my maths homepage, comments also welcome but it's a lot less interesting.

Death and Rebirth

2005-07-21T17:05:00.000+08:00

We have a new fridge! Woohoo! Well we think it's exciting news.

Also, the flower of death is dead:

It got infested by some sort of itty bitty white bugs. Pictured is the largest of what turned out to be three plants. Included for scale is one of the many pegs that had fallen into the boobytrapped mess of vincas and cactus over the years. It's that teeny blue dot near the base.

There was something else, but I've forgotten what. This was an exiting entry wasn't it!

Getting my priorities straight

2005-07-06T15:55:00.000+08:00

I have emails/comments to reply to etc but am feeling too sleepy and cold and stupid (though not actually that sick) Woo. Woozy. Anyway, I regardless feel compelled to post my ingenius response (made at the heught of illness, for my muse knows no mercy) to the recent Mars/Snickers thing.

I give you: Masterfoods turns distater into marketing ploy

And since when do Masterfoods own Mars? eh. Back to the couch.....

Free Cameron!

2005-06-24T18:41:00.000+08:00

Clever little monkey, turning the web-blog survey into a meme. I wonder how many samples he'll get?

I have discovered the best way to write a Lit. Review: find someone clever who wrote a Phd on a similar subject and read theirs(*). Pity I didn't do this earlier, the bits I'd already written (with much pain. I hate finding references) were almost identical anyway. Then again, the gaps I need to fill he'd mainly glossed over himself :)(**)

Ooh! And happy birthday to this blog! Was it only a year (and twoish hours) ago I finally succumbed to peer pressure? And I still haven't come up with a better name. Maybe next year.

(*)As a source of reccomended reading, not for straight plagarism :P I'm not the worlds best mathematitian, but I do try to at least be honest.
(**)As indeed have all those of his references I've read. Cam's of the opinion that the algorithms noone has a reference for don't actually exist, but noone wants to have to write them so they all pretend somone else did.

More fangirling

2005-06-22T17:43:00.000+08:00

I have recently become addicted to the web-comic Narbonic thanks to Web-Snark, despite my reluctance to read a comic whose archives were inaccessible without filthy lucre. But I found myself liking it enough I was actually pondering paying the exhorbinant fee of $4 to read them..and now they're free! Till July 3!

I wish I'd realised I had till July 3 before I finished my fevered dash to read them all before they dissapeared. Anyway, go read! Or at least have a look while you can.

Also, I got inspired to draw a fan-comic. Yeah, I know :) It won't make much sense unles you've read the most recent storyline, though I geuss it has a kind of surreal charm. And yes, I traced a bit to get the style right, I just haven't felt very drawingyish recently. To be honest my main reason for posting it is so that if the artist does the same joke herself I can go "Hah!!" :)

Cheating with chemicals

2005-06-20T17:10:00.000+08:00

WARNING: Pure, unadulterated geekery ahead. Chemistry geekery at that.

gelignite came over and infected me with the need to work out how to model the diamond "lattice" using one of those magnetic stick and ball sets. (All Peter Hills fault, apparently) Anwyay, today I did a little angularly-correct model using blu-tack and toothpicks and realised I was clearly completely off since it's impossible to make anything with rotational symettry containing rhomboids, despite my memory of the shape of the lattice. So I looked it up, and made this model (see here for a different angle)

I did warn you.

Also, my paper has been accepted for publication, yay!

Pomp and circumstance

2005-06-19T16:09:00.000+08:00

Just so as people who are interested know, I and Cam decided (rather suddenly, as is sometimes our wont) that we don't want a formal reception after all, so we're just going to have it at someone's house, probably Cams parents or Pavlas.

Also, my computer is possessed. Really, the cd tray comes in and out at random intervals, I keep expecting the speech function to turn on and go "DIE.. DIE..." Probably in the "whisper" or "bad news" voice.

Finally...uh, I forget. *edit* That's right! Saw Madagascar with gelignite, Phlebas (alias nico_wolfwood), mandragora, Enforced Equanimity and the newly (and very happily) divorced Alex M (nee N) who clearly needs to be peer-pressured into getting a blog. Anyway, it was reasonably amusing, but I am still rather annoyed that they managed to get the animals right (I hadn't even heard of a fossa), but also gave the impression that Madagascar is a small island with no human population. Which is not strictly true.

I'm so looooooooonelly sniff

2005-06-11T21:16:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I've been really obsessed with my Phd recently. Which is good, but means I've been paying very little attention to my other priorities, like buying my brothers birthday presents and social stuff. The fact I keep feeling cruddy and having to cancel things doesn't help. But I really am obsessed, so I can't motivate myself enough to organise anything. (It's been a force of will not spending today trying to get the stupid index to work) This is fine when unis on and I can just hang in unisfa etc but now its exams I have Noone To Talk To (apart from Cam, but the poor dear can only do so much)

Thus: I now declare Wednesday my official Anyone who is Also Bored And Has No Exams Comes To Sophies day. I'll be home working on the old Phd, and if anyone chooses to visit well all and good. I live walking distance from a video store and own several games. My house isn't very big, but I'm more worried about noone turning up, really :) (*)
Any time between 10am and 4pm is cool(**). Anyone who would like to hang out but is busy can organise something themselves :P
email me at sqbr-at-tartarus.uwa.edu.au for the address if you don't have it.

I'm pondering posting this to the unisfa list, but it seems a bit disorganised and crap, even for a unisfa thing :) And yes, me getting around to "organising" something is a direct result of finding out Terracon is booked, meaning I won't neccesarily be hanging with the people I thought I would be hanging with. (I'm sure it'll still be fun, it just made me think is all)

(*)Or like one or two people turning up and it being really awkward. So, come in a group! Bring food!
(**)I'm not a big fan of late nights, which is why this isn't a party. Well, that and parties are Too Much Effort.

Ah, if only it were accurate...

2005-05-22T20:05:00.000+08:00

The following comic uses only text from todays TV guide in the West Australian magazine(*): Celebrity Circus.

This is what happens when I keep myself awake by reading Dinosaur comics. Yes, ok, it's exactly the opposite of what I did. Still the same. *stupid muse making me draw when I'm too sleepy to do it properly*

(*)Ok, ok, I did add a little punctuation and emphasis. Bah.

The Big Day

2005-05-22T13:20:00.000+08:00

This is all about weddings. Anyone who isn't interested in weddings is quite welcome to skip it all :)

By request of the penguins: No, we haven't set a date yet. But we are heading towards doing so. We've been looking at places, and realised we're going to have to let go of our dream of an indoors, secular ceremony becuase there is nowhere. We also let go of our dream of somewhere utterly gorgeous which would do for both ceremony and reception. Instead we're going for outdoors (grumble!) under cover (a marquee maybe?) ceremony Somewhere Pretty with a small, fairly informal reception at a hotel because nowhere else can get their heads around the idea of a buffet wedding for less than 60 people.

Because we're having such a small reception, almost nobody who reads this is invited(*), at least not to the reception. We still love you! I'm thinking of having a big party at some point for everyone to come to but not sure how to organise it.

Since this is the sort of thing some people might like to see (though half the engaged couples we knew beat us already) the results of our labours:

I have a second hand dress I'm going to get altered.
Places with decent buffet (ie not inedibly pretentious, but still fancy) and a reasonable atmosphere: The Hyatt, Caversham house and The Atrium at Burswood.
The Cottesloe Civic Centre has the prettiest grounds, but is probably a bit far off too get married in. Pity the catering is all food we don't like. Still, pretty.
Cam is hiring a suit from Ferrari snce they were so helpful at Matt and Kellies wedding.
We're doing something Cam thought of at their wedding: he set his laptop up so people could download camera memory cards onto it, and set iPhoto up to cycle through them as a slideshow.

Yeah, thats about it. I fell asleep at two the last tow days so am suddenly feeling Very Sleepy. Will be strong! Must prepare for not sleeping though 1-4pm tute tommorrow!

(*)I'm still angsting over precisely who to invite. Man, I hate making this sort of decision.

Friends, randoms, countrymen...

2005-05-20T17:41:00.000+08:00

In case anyone is going to the red cross thing: I'm probably not :( As I psychically predicted, I did not fulfill my expectation of lots of happy shiny Phd work today, or even very much minor doing-the-dishes type work. Instead I lay in bed on a carefully positioned pad of pillows, a hot water bottle and heat pad thinking very little beyond "Ow. Stupid body". I don't think I'm sick, its just my joints and throaght deciding they wish to punish me for some real or imagined transgression, *grumble*

Ok, enough grumbling. Since I'm very bored (My brain is slowly waking up, and feel like a break from "Diplomatic immunity") you get a vague attempt at something I've been pondering for a while. Recently I've seen a couple of things which have made me think about the nature of friends lists and blogs etc. I'm too sleepy for a real exploration of the ideas I've been pondering, but would like to say

My friends list in theory consists of the people who's ljs I enjoy reading the moment they update. However I came to a point of not having room for any more, so some people I would have added if it had occured to me earlier are off. Also I read a great many other blogs/ljs (either every day or whenever I feel curious/bored enough), especially now I have Tiger and Safaris RSS feature.
This blog is specifically designed to be read by anyone who knows me(*), as well as anyone else who happens to come across it. I write every post imagining my parents etc watching over my shoulder. Absolutely anyone is welcome to read it and comment, as long as its not with any sort of malicious intent(**) and you try to respect the fact this is my "property" so to speak.
I have trouble really getting my head around blogs/ljs that aren't written in this way(***) (except ones with a specific purpose like Lizs Fangirls Only lj :)) So I apologise if I breach any nettiquette by reading and commenting on other peoples. If you specifically tell me not to I'll go away, though I may suffer Deep Emotional Pain at the rejection.

Um. Yeah. I think thats it. Oh, and the lj feed is acting funny. Thanks to Pooky, in one of the rare instances where commenting on the feed (rather than the blog) is not a Very Bad Thing.

(*)Although if my supervisors saw it they might have a few words to say about effective use of my time :) And sometimes I fail in my design and say something tactless
(**)Since theres no portion of my life where malicious intent is welcome :)
(***)I mean I can understand say slagging someone off on the assumtption they won't read it, and if someone did that I wouldn't point said person in the slaggings direction unless I felt it was really warranted. I might stick up for them though.

Too sleepy for wit

2005-05-19T16:34:00.000+08:00

Oh God it's so true... and I'm halfway to twenty six :(

There was something else I was going to say, but I forgot. So I'll say something else: everyone should read the following (non-fiction) books:

Guns, Germs and Steel
The Selfish Gene
Everything Douglas Hoefstaeder has ever published.
Other stuff which I have forgotten so you will have to work it out psychically

In good news, I actually got some work done today, despite being mostly too sleepy for thinking type stuff. I am feeling quite optimisitc about The Dreaded Thesis, also wedding. This Cannot Last.

Meeting under the sign of the red cross

2005-05-14T22:18:00.000+08:00

Recently I've been alternating(*) between being very motivated and hardworking and so sleepy I'm not up for email. This has meant lots of Phd work (good) but little to no work towards anything non-Phd related, like answering email or socialising etc. So. Anyway. The Red Cross clothes sale is next saturday. This sale is quite good, large range of op-shop type stuff plus new designer seconds. I got what will probably be my wedding dress for thirty dollars at this sale. Starts 9am Claremont Showgrounds (Gate 1).

In previous years people have organised things and I have tagged along. This doesn't seem to be happeneing this year, so I thought I'd let everyone(**) know so you all can come, and if anyone chooses to organise something I'll tag along to that :) Otherwise I'll be there whenever I can be bothered (probably 9:30-10, unless I sleep in) and if I see someone I know there I'll say hi. There are some larger sizes (Up to 16 maybe?) in the designer stuff unlike most op-shops. I think.

So, all women(***)! Come! Buy clothes! Be merry! I think I'll go to sleep now...

(*)Note: this verb comes to you thanks to the wonderful thesaurus widget and the F13 key.
(**)Anyone who doesn't read this is noone. Um..yes. I said I was sleepy right?
(***)And transvestite men. There's some non-transvestite men stuff if any of you others wish to come, but I remember Enforced Equanimity(****) looking rather bored last year.
(****)Who none of you who weren't there will know. Never mind...Oh, and I had that blog style first, before him and Darth Vader.

Meme, evolved

2005-04-29T09:46:00.000+08:00

Your brain: 20% interpersonal, 15% visual, 10% verbal, and 55% mathematical!

A substantial difference in scores between two people means, conclusively, that they got different scores.

Matching Summary: Each of us has different tastes. Still, I offer the following advice, which I think is obvious:

Don't date someone if your ages differ by more than 80%.
Don't be friends with someone if they only offer salad.
Don't have sex with someone if they think any percentage can be over 100%(*).

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 79% on interpersonal
You scored higher than 64% on visual
You scored higher than 62% on verbal
You scored higher than 93% on mathematical

So clearly your average 25 year old woman uses less than 100% of her brain.

Link: This Nonsensical IQ Test written by chriscoyne who gets a 0% mathematical score from me.

(*)Where here I'm just talking about dividing-into-pieces-of-pie percentages. Duh. Cos, for example, it's fine to say "2(**) is 200% bigger than 1". Happy now Mr Pedantic?
(**)Where by "2" I of course mean "3".

And I was kidding about the salad :)

Further down the spiral

2005-04-26T20:02:00.000+08:00

I was talking to someone at a party (tandia maybe?) and came to see the truth about the internet. I think goth_grrl is coming to realise it too. This truth is simple: We are all on the path to being internet fangirls. And I'm not talking looking up fan-sites every now and then, I mean several hours a day doing everything from reading critical analysis of furry web-comics to writing erotic stories about hobbits to moderating a thread vitriolically arguing about the nature of light.(*)

Sure, you might start just using the internet for email. Then all your friends get blogs so you start reading them. And you realise, heck, you might as well get an lj just to keep track and comment. Then you hear about an interesting forum and see cool meme you can post. Pretty soon you're writing fanfic. And from there things can only accelerate downwards.

My point? Well...I just wrote my first piece of fan-fiction. Harry Potter fan-fiction. Inspired by some Snape/Harry slash(**) I came across linked from the lj of a friend who got me to beta her Hikaru No Go slash.

And of course my first reaction is to write a blog post.

(*)I have done two of these things.
(**)I attempted to skip all the sex scenes but there were too many so I just skipped to the end. I didn't get it :) Not that I have huge issues with slash as such, I just can't help imagining such mental conversations(***). So why did I read it? Boredom.
(***)Only it's not quite right. Anyone got any suggested improvements on the dialogue? Huh?

Drowning my sorrows in black metal

2005-04-22T22:08:00.000+08:00

Since I'm stuck home purely as a result of my own stupidity I decided to finish updating the jewelry section of my Arty stuff page, as well as my freeform jewelry page so I have some small glimmer of goodness in an otherwise dark and empty evening *sob*. I did the css myself, aren't I clever? This despite a UWA computer science major.

So, go look! You may have seen the blue bracelet or super cool eyeglass chain, but only me, Cam, and the fine customers of Subi markets have seen the glory that is this choker. The chainy ones are so easy I'm considering making more for other people, if they want them. I stole the idea from here, but it was my genius idea to make them black, thus more goth. Also 50 times cheaper.

Gee, expounding on my own genius has cheered me up :)

I'm big in Europe

2005-04-15T13:50:00.000+08:00

A week or so ago I was chatting to davyd, and he mentioned the wierdness of having fans in Finland or something. "Gee", I thought "That'll never happen to me." Well it has! Kind of...

I got emailed (at my maths address, for some reason) by a spanish guy wanting to put my Old Ones picture on his Lovecraft Page. I said yes, and he replied gratefully and full of enthusiasm about me drawing some more and joining the forum despite the fact I speak absoltely no spanish. So I had a look, and with the help of babelfish found this message. The incomprehensibility of the translation of his translation of my email indicates how well babelfish works :)

I emailed my handy neighbourhood spanish postgrad to ask if they really do think I'm a professor, and also to check if they're unaware that my comic was meant to be silly and humourous :)

Edit: It turns out "professora" just means teacher, so thats ok. Also I should make it clear that whats above is the babelfish translation, I'm sure the original spanish is quite well written :) (Certainly if the english sections of the site are anything to go by)

Pearly whites and smiles

2005-03-30T14:15:00.000+08:00

A little while ago Zoe gave me an insane quantity of beads, including lots of slightly different white/pearly ones. "Now what am I going to do with those?" I asked myself.

At Swancon Lily expressed mild dissapointment that my bracelet wasn't a big chunky necklace as she had thought from the photo. "Hmm.." I thought "That would look cool, but buying so many beads that big would cost way too much."

And then the two ideas collided, and I made this:

So huzzah for Zoe and Lily!

Also Swancon was great. Whatever everyone else says, one good thing about it being at the Emerald was affordable rooms, and having one made a real difference. I got to go to a room party, woohoo! Lily got over her dissapointment and bought the bracelet anyway making me a happy little capitalist. Also, my enrolment is now extended till October, so I've decided to slack off and spend all day on the internet. I can see myself starting work again in November maybe.

Jut kidding :) It is nice not having the April 19 deadline any more though!

FINALLY

2005-03-19T09:02:00.000+08:00

First off: Zoe rocks! She gave me an insane amount of beads and wire and stuff. Hurrah for Zoe!

Secondly, if any of you can remember back to early december, when it was supposed to happen... we have tiles!

Hurrah for the tilers!!

Also, Cam has left Immersive and now is on holiday before starting his new job. So hurrah for that too :)

Oh! Saw "Ella Enchanted" last night, really fun silly pantomime which Miramax only managed to slightly sully with attempts to aim it at early teen girls. Cary Elwes as a neo-nazi evil uncle grand vizier with a giant talking snake. Really, what more can you ask for? Be warned, despite being pretty picky with films theres certain films I love that many other people hate, and this feels like one of them. Eg Van Hellsing, Equilibrium, Constantine...only less violence and more singing :) My main complaint is the girl from Bend it like Beckham was in it as the token foreign best friend (theres a big "multiculturalism good" moral) and had like two lines, which felt a bit wasteful. Also Minnie Driver, why do people keep casting her? Anyway..must go book shopping!

Craaazy vinca!

2005-03-05T17:03:00.000+08:00

The vinca, or flower of death is an annual, about 30cm tall. Except for the ones in my garden, that are like a metre tall and have been here for four years:

There are two explanations: the little old lady next door is putting steroids on her roses, or the vinca is Possesed.
Now that I think about it, possesion makes sense...I mean look at the other plants, they're all either sickly looking or dead. Even the cactus has fallen over! There I was thinking all my plants died becuase I didn't water them...

On the plus side, I always have cut flowers when I want them :)

Also, I have the contact details for Jaqui, the now-ex-Subi-markets funky goth/medieval clothes lady. Not sure why she gave 'em to me, since I never spent any money there, but her clothes are quite nice and made to order, if anyones interested.

Yes, I was bored to have made this post. So bored I typed it out again when Blogger swallowed the first draft. Maybe I should clean or something...

Shiny!

2005-03-04T09:15:00.000+08:00

Well, with the help of the good people at the lj beadwork comunity (Who put me onto the technique of free-form peyote) I made this bracelet:

If you really like it come to swancon and buy it. Or at least bid and raise the price :) I decided to put it in the art show partly to show off (duh) and partly because it didn't turn out how I wanted, but I'm sure there's someone out there who'd like it. Also if I successfully sell some art it gives me proof to show my parents that its really not that hard and they should do it. (Being much more talented than me, but lacking in self confidence)

I just had a scary experience. (Apologies, this is going to get slightly mathsy)
I have a simpler, but not faster, adaptation of the "Keller Gehrig" algorithm to find the characteristic polynomial as part of my thesis. I realised I had no section on the history/use of characteristic polynomials in my Lit review so rather than just copying from my 2nd yr linear algebra book did a google search. And found a paper saying "We have a simpler adaptation of the "Keller Gehrig" algorithm.."
...
"Guh! Crap! Pleasepleaseplease let it not be faster!" I thought. Turns out it's not. Phew! Also it's not simpler than mine (And is fairly different) and was published less than a month ago. Still, scary!

On the path of good intentions

2005-02-21T17:19:00.000+08:00

Hmmph. All this discussion of religion has forced me to spend my precious Phd time thinking about my own beliefs and thus updating the f.a.q. question on why I'm an atheist. The reason I'm linking to it is I find myself somewhat (though not extremely) annoyed by the assumption that what works for oneself is right for everyone, although I realise it's hard not to assume this when it's basic tenet of your faith :) Anyway, this way rather than a badly written rant filling up your friends page you get a link to a somewhat considered rant you can read if you like.

I think my annoyance is a hold-over from discussions with members of religions like Hare Krishna(*), where while they don't think you'll go to hell, if you disagree with them they just go "Ah, well, if you were enlightened you'd see why I'm right". *grumble*

Note the "b" in the "f.a.q 2.02b". I may later realise it all came out wrong, and change it. So feel free to comment if you think I'm full of crap :) If I send it off now I can get back to work. Hopefully.

(*)Is that the name of the religion? I realise I don't actually know. Hare Krishnaism?

Lost shirt from ages past when magic ruled

2005-02-21T16:44:00.000+08:00

I decided to go through my draft posts, and came across this shirt I did last year: front and back.

Yes, thats the stained shirt I couldn't work out what to do with at Terracon, I think the orange splotches look intentional now, which is nice. And yes, I stole the little-hand-written-note-at-the-bottom idea from Stephie, the text was suggested by someone on a message-board I frequented at the time.

Since I took these photos I washed it and all the colour came off :(
(Except the orange stains, of course) I might make another one day...

A couple of things before the workers arrive

2005-02-18T15:43:00.000+08:00

First off, it turns out some of you didn't know I was in a coma. I felt like I told everyone I knew, I suppose it was just a subset, several times over. I'm also engaged, and doing a Phd (just to be on the safe side) :)

When I was a kid I had a number of phobias that would make me absolutely miserable with fear. I'm over most of them now. I have proof. Last week I had bloodtests and every bin we own which contained any fruit scraps whatsoever became infested with fruitfly. While checking the compost bin yesterday (Which also appears to have mice, and I really don't care), I got a bee-sting. I went to the dr (Since I'm possibly allergic) and she was like "Oh, the beestings ok, but you should get a tetanus shot". Thats needles of both types AND bees AND larvae-maggoty things, all of which I dealt with without too much stress. Now I just need to end up in a high place somehow, and I'll have a complete set. (Clearly some higher power is messing with me and Rae)

Also I got stung by a wasp on Christmas Day, but I think that was just God punishing me for getting presents on his birthday when I don't even believe in Him :)

The reason for the title of this post is that Joc is coming over after work for company. If you don't know why you should probably go read her livejournal, unless you don't know who she is in which case you should get to know her (possibly under better circumstances), she's nice :)

Last, and probably least in most of your estimation, I made a crochet Sierpinski_carpet today, mostly in the doctors waiting room and while on the phone to my grandma. (Who talks more than my mum, who talks more than me. The three of us together is quite intense) The piece I did is pretty boring, but I like the look of the larger version I photoshopped:

Wouldn't that make a cool blanket or something? No? Fine :P

Smoke on the distant horizon

2005-02-16T17:43:00.000+08:00

Some photos I took way back when we were engulfed in smoke but didn't get round to dealing with til today.
First, from around 2pm:

Then, a few hours later:

I know it's way old but I thought the contrast was worth recording.

Happy Anti-Hallmark Day

2005-02-14T19:18:00.000+08:00

I have recently decided to boycott major card manufacturers on holidays designed to sell greetings cards. Since the people who are affected by this are either members of my family or Cam, and thus used to my foibles, I should be able to get away with it :)

Acceptable sources of cards are charities (Such as Community Aid Abroad), small local companies/individuals (such as my local art gallerys hand-made cards) and of course ones own creativity.

Another alternative is what Cam got today, namely an sms at 3pm when I suddenly remembered it was valentines :) (Plus some lollies I'd bought earlier, I'm not completely without romance)

An advantage of the anti-cards stance is it puts single people at a definite advantage, which I say they deserve after all the smug sentimentality they they have to put up with from we coupled folk.

Viva la Revolution!

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Squares

2005-02-12T13:10:00.000+08:00

Thats right, a recipe! For the past couple of weeks I had this incredible craving for mars bar slice. I made it, loved it, and felt very ill. I then had to work out what to do with the remaining box of rice bubbles. After some experimentation, we have..

Ingredients:
-2 cups rice bubbles
-1 tablespoon peanut butter
-1 teaspoon margerine/butter
-100g marshmallows

Directions:
Grease and line tin (20cm square is a little big but ok)
Microwave first 3 ingredients for about 10 sec, till marshmallows puff up.
Mix in rice bubbles and put mixture into tin. Flatten.
Cool in fridge, then cut into squares and put into an airtight container.

Obviously you could make more, this is is about the minimum worth making. The basic idesa behind these sorts of recipes seems to be melting caramel/chocolate/marshmallow with a small amount of nicely flavoured fat (generally butter), then mixing in crunchy carbohydrates like cereal or biscuits. Next idea is melting jersey caramels and mixing with biscuits..mmm...

Just me and my personal obsessions here folks.

2005-02-11T21:35:00.000+08:00

First off, I have a paper online!! Sorry, forgot to post this for ages. I don't expect you all to read the actual paper, but I'm sure there's at a few people who'd like to read the abstract, or at least the title :) Not that I wrote many of the actual words, per se. I did write the draft of a chapter the first draft of the paper was based on, though! Plus a few sentences here or there.

To anyone who likes beads, the Gypsy Bead in North Perth is quite nice (I prefer Benjamins Crafts, but I have a feeling this is purely becuase everything comes in little plastic jars. I like jars) and there is a bead/jewellry/knickknack store in freo (on the Queensgate block) so huge it fills three shops. Only one of which has eftpos, meaning I paid in one store for a purchase in the other, which was surreal. In the post-mars-bar-slice fevered daze I was in at the time they didn't actually seem that good, but I'll have to look again when I can think clearly.

And if I didn't scare you all off there, more crochet! Yay! With maths! Double yay!! I know of only one crocheter who reads this, and she hates maths, so really this is for me :)

James, King of Links sent me the gallery of crocheted hyperbolic models which I thought was way cool, especially since the shapes are pretty easy to make. I sent a post to the lj "crochet" community, assuming there wouldn't be any other maths geeks, and got an absolute avalanche of responses. That'll teach me to make assumptions. Anyway, they suggested some pretty funky maths crochet links (No that's not an oxymoron!) :

More technical article about hyperbolic planes.
Crochet Lorenz Butterfly I am truly in awe.
Sierpinski trinagle shawl pattern
Pictures from that funky American Maths Soc. Maths in Fibre Arts session.
Someone with no consonants writes a post with geeky crochet links..other than me :)

And from the post where I discovered the intersection of crochet and maths, we have a more topological shapes and a klein bottle hat.

I am aware that I talk about crochet more than I actually crochet, and will probably bore of it soon. Thats the joy of a blog, rather than boring everyone I know in person I can ramble about it here and you can all ignore me, but have evidence to bug me about it with later. Everybody wins!

Nerdily creative

2005-02-07T19:36:00.000+08:00

Hmmph. I have this cool idea for a comic..(well, an idea anyway) and it just won't coalesce.

To make myself feel better, we have John Howard pulling his sensitve caring polititian face. (You know, the face. No pictures of it online, afaict(*)) His eyes are so squinty I just geussed eye colour.

My first ever political cartoon! And its..chibi. Hmm. I stole what sad chibis look like from this Kagerou cartoon since I'm not much into the manga drawing, usually.

To further illustrate my odd geekiness we have

Which in retrospect might have made more sense in green on a black background.

I have eaten too much Mars Bar Slice, and I don't care :)

(*)I have decided to coin my my own acronym, since a good half of my sentences require an "as far as I can tell" disclaimer. And look! It's almost "A fact" :)

A meme

2005-01-31T18:35:00.000+08:00

hatesink: (noun) A person or persons who act as a focus for all of someones resentment, regardless of whether or not the hatesink is in any way the cause. e.g. "Sophie was always calm and happy unless she was talking about her ex, who acted as a hatesink."

As coined by Chas with regards the example mentioned :) Like any good larval achedemic, I'll reference him this once then act like I invented it from now on.

Also, I was thinking...why do fruit bruise (sometimes really quickly), yet you can grate/juice/chop them and they don't go all icky and bruisy? Speaking of Important Science, Schlock Mercenary is clearly written by a man who knows what makes science tick.

A lively and varied journal post

2005-01-30T19:14:00.001+08:00

First I said I'd never get a blog. Then I got one, but I promised myself I'd never post a meme. Or whine lengthily about my day. And I would never , ever get a livejournal.

Well....I lied. Deal with it :)

My main reasons were: notifications of replies to comments, the crochet community (No, really. Oh shut up :P), friends locked posts, and being able to post in tormsons lj so I could get "Declare" back. (Damn "No anonymous comments" people) The friends list has turned out to be pretty cool too.

Speaking of which, who has my copy of "Brothers in arms" by Lois McMaster Bujold? I want it back, then I'll have the complete set! Well, 'cept I'm lending Oliver "Mirrordance".
*spoilers this paragraph for Angel/Brothers in Arms*
Rereading it I suddenly realised that the character Connor reminded me of is Mark, only the paths they took diverged quite a bit from the initial "Angsty clone/son created for evil purposes and trained to kill his father but now deeply conflicted and questioning the very meaning of his existence" stage :) (Theres a bunch of other similarities but that'll do)

Finally: Since I got Rae to do a rant about Stargate I suppose I owe a Meme. But because I'm a freespirited creative genius who refuses to be bound by rules and conventions, I'll change it slightly- give me any topic and I will write a short, very bad, poem about it. I feel like writing some short, very bad poetry :)

Unaustralian of the year

2005-01-27T20:33:00.000+08:00

I didn't eat red meat, get drunk, or even get round to watching the fireworks, choosing intsead to watch LOTR special features and eat fruit. But I am unrepentant, for I finally have Mirrordance! Yay! Reread it today (I was feeling too dizzy to get much work done. Possibly the result of too much fruit) so Oliver can borrow it. All hail singaporean bookshops! My total haul from Phlebus, her dad and Enforced Equanamity also included a funky Berkley Maths t-shirt and two spindles of anime cds. All hail singaporeans! She even liked the the comic, her exact words being "Yeah, its quite..OH MY GOD THATS ME" (Well..something like that)

I've noticed that recently I've become relatively grumpy and irrational and, well, stupid, I think as a result of a combination of stress re The Dreaded Thesis and whatever is making me so light-headed and wierd about food. I'm not saying this to angst, just to apologise in advance (or retrospect) for any wierd or annoying behaviour, such as... say... getting narky at someone for delaying lunch while they find out about their grandads cancer. (Some people can be so selfish. Not like she ever did anything for me)

Anyway, in case anyone wants to borrow it, I'm quite happy to share my good fortune. No, you can't have the Berkley shirt, but the anime I have is:

Arjuna
Vampire Princess Miyu
Somedays Dreamers
Blue Gender
Gravion
Infinite Ryvius
Please Teacher
Voices of a Distant Star
Kai Doh Maru (?)
Burn Up Excess Sequel to W.
Burn Up W
Armitage 4 It turns out there is no Armitage 4 (nor 1 or 2 afaik), just various Armitage 3 things. God knows what I have :)
Full Metal Panic
Noir
Chobits
Rahxephon
FLCL
S Cry Ed
Steel angel Kurumi

No making assumptions about quality, completeness, or what kind of person would watch all these titles, since as far as I can tell its just VCDs of whatever looked interesting at the video store.

And of course if I really like any of them, I'll buy them. (I'm seriously considering buying FLCL) EDIT: added links (just the top google hit, mostly) so that when I feel like watching anime I can remind myself what they all are. Thus possibly no links for the ones I've seen. I don't care if thats not what blogs are for :P

Thoughts on waking into a post apocalyptic world

2005-01-19T15:06:00.000+08:00

I'm with Rae. Ominous.

I am not unique! Argh!

2005-01-17T19:54:00.000+08:00

That's right, there is another sqbr (Go to the bottom of the page) Damn Norwegians.

I found this link as part of going through my "links to deal with later" bookmarks folder. Also updated my full links page as a result.

And now, some wacky links I collected in my "unsorted" folder before I had a blog to scatter them to.

Antarctica journal of Mathematics As I recall, I was sent a link to this via my maths email account from some wacky maths guy. Maybe we should submit our(*) paper to this guy!
Maths in futurama
What claims to be a picture of Greg Egan!

Wasn't that exciting?

(*)Oh, yeah..I have a paper that is this close to being submitted! Yay!

Captain Vegetable strikes again!

2005-01-15T23:04:00.000+08:00

This comic popped pretty much fully formed into my head while I was cooking lunch. Originally the tall put apon vegetarian was Tommo (since he did ask to be in a comic) but I couldn't draw him right so decided to just do a random guy, ending up with a suprisingly close resemblance to Stephen from the maths department (also vegetarian) who wore precisely that expression when I told him gelatine was made from bones :)

Of course the only person who'll actually find this amusing is me. Then again, Jocelyn has seen Pav and Phlebus's reactions when I insist on bringing vegetables to things, remembers Sesame Street, knows Lisa (Whose hair really is that long now. And can't you just see her as a superhero?), and has the happy trait of laughing at my jokes. Not sure she reads this blog though :)

Perhaps I should be more worried that one of them will take offense at being a part of such a shonky comic....(I mean no disrespect to anyone but myself!)

I was very happy to discover someone else had done the hard work of finding the words and costume of the original Captain Vegetable. And thats real Brazillian my friends. Note how I chose pretty much the only non-obscene phrase.

Is it just me or has doing a Phd made be a little overzealous with the references? The reason I have time to do this, by the way, is an accidental excess of caffiene. I already got a whole heap of (real) work done which is good cos tommorrow I'll be a big pile of sleepy ooze...

General Pants

2005-01-10T13:24:00.000+08:00

This is the picture I got in my head every time I passed General Pants in Melbourne. I had everything else (stance etc) in my head but did a google for uniforms and the first decent picture I found was the second one on this page. Its like I've tapped into some archetype! Just look at Zapp Brannigan... It's not plagiarism if you call it an archetype, right?

heehee. pants.

To answer Penny's question

2005-01-06T20:33:00.000+08:00

This is the next thing I'm going to have made. Wait...have now will have been going to make? Anyway. It's pretty, though gee the camera catches all those imperfections when you zoom in doesn't it? (Just look at the pretty beads)

My excuse for beading and not working is a headache. Which'll just get worse if I stay online, so off I go!

Fettered Genius

2005-01-02T20:29:00.000+08:00

Well, the holiday is over. Back to the grindstone :(

Back when I was a free spirit unburdened by the weight of the world, I got given some of those strips of paper you make stars out of(*), and was so inspired by the end result I made a necklace:

It never occured to me to make beads out of origami before.

This in turn made me go out shopping for supplies to make the necklace better (it was originally on fishing wire and held together with knots) at which I point I discovered that rather than paying $4 for 3m of "tiger tail" plain nylon coated wire from a craft shop, I could pay $3.50 for 10m of black nylon coated wire plus several crimping beads (To hold stuff in place) from the fishing section of K-mart. Then I got all inspired and went to my local bead shop ("Benjamins beads" in Mt Lawley. They rock) where I bought a clasp and a box to sort all the beads I've accumalted over the past fifteen years as someone who loves beads but didn't know what to do with them, and finally had a go at wire crochet:

And now I am happy :) Though I feel like going to the bead shop and making more necklaces and I really don't have time :(. Oh well. I might later anyway, but only crochet at night after a long day working. Like I am with this blog!

(*)By Wanda, the penfriend who also got me an artists model thing and for whom I made the Klein-bottle hat. She's cool :) I also gave her the first necklace as a thankyou for being so inspiring. And as an easy birthday present...

The dark abyss of fandom is staring at me! Make it stop!

2004-12-26T21:49:00.000+08:00

Ahh, the internet. You start googling for something innocuous like discussions of Buffy and eventually find yourself in the wierd world of banner ad wars and ljs for fictional characters.

Of course as Cam pointed out I wouldn't find these things if I didn't look.

But yeah, I finally got around to what I've been meaning to do once I finished Buffy, namely reading some of this tasty literary discussion I've been hearing so much about. (Forgetting there'd be Angel spoilers, but never mind) It reminds me that I am a bit of a closet arts student wannabe, though I could never write the essays, I just like reading 'em.

Still. The internet is wierd.

Happy Boxing Day!

2004-12-26T09:52:00.000+08:00

I now own enough paintbrushes to last me a lifetime. In fact everyone seems to have gotten me art supplies for christmas/my birthday this year. I now have the aforementioned paintbrushes, more paint, an art book, and the graphics tablet. I also have a artists dummy (which I've always wanted. Just a little one, mind you) and..a scanner! Woohoo! In celebration of which I scanned and coloured a comic I did over a year ago then realised the lines were too thin to "scan" using the digital camera. (It doesn't suit shrinking to blog-suitable sizes)

My least favourite christmas present would have to be the wasp sting I got trying to wake Cam up before we went to my parents. It really hurt! And now its gone all itchy :( Yeah, I'm a big sook.

Off to Cams parents today!

Merry Christmas!

2004-12-25T06:39:00.000+08:00

And a happy birthday to Jesus's everywhere! Now get offline and eat some fruit cake.

Since she's presumably opened it now (and if you went online before opening your presents well serves you right(*)) I can say that I got my penfriend Wanda a Klein bottle hat, and so can link to the page. Surely I can't be the only person who wanted a cheap alternative to Acme!

(*)Yes, I did, that's different.

Tales from the MLC

2004-12-22T19:41:00.000+08:00

My first multipanel comic since I got my graphics tablet, yay!

So all those people(*) who wanted me to do comics can leave me alone. I even made a special page.

I got sick of never getting myself right in pictures so used a photo to get the proportions, I think quite successfully. This isn't based on any particular incident, but I am prone to "helping" Maths Learning Centre attendees with completely wrong answers. Keeps 'em on their toes I say.

I love my graphics tablet.

Also, Cam has a photoblog!

(*)Really, there's at least one :)

Strawberry tea and bagels

2004-12-21T21:04:00.000+08:00

Doing the gallery (Which should be working now!) reminded me of the picture I was determined to put up on my blog as being...Melbourne:

Also I discovered that the truly fantastic strawberry tea Lily got me for christmas tastes even better when you make it with hot apple juice instead of water (with less sugar :)) Mmm....

The gallery is up!

2004-12-21T13:52:00.000+08:00

After the last one died a horrible death we now have a nice new gallery (Set up by Cam, of course).

I've added all my photos (apart from a few odds and ends I'm not sure anyone would want to see) but haven't gotten round to a few housekeeping things like giving the albums nice underscore_free names and rotating all the sideays pictures. The photos from my childhood are horribly fuzzy, I'm still waiting for my family to scan them properly. (I'd say "hint hint" but I'm not sure any of them read this :))

...in with the new

2004-12-16T18:39:00.000+08:00

Well! I and Cam returned from his operation at around 4:30 to see the builder cleaning up, and once I'd finished getting the invalid all settled in the builder had left. I forgot to take a picture until I was halfway through unpacking our shopping (lots of soup :)), but here we have our kitchen circa 5:30pm ish:

The owners cousin is apparently going to come and do the tiles at some point, I don't see how!

Poor guy (Cam, not the builder) is alseep right now. I hope he doesn't feel too bad when the painkillers wear off!

Out with the old...

2004-12-15T08:59:00.000+08:00

First off, sorry for making Planet UCC bold! Should be fixed now.

I and Cam suddenly remembered mid watching of the increasingly crap Buffy that we needed to finish emptying the kitchen. This is how it looked at about 9pm last night:

Andf this is how it looks now, at 9am:

It was kind of cool watching the (anti)builder dissasemble the plywood with a crowbar. He also told me he's removing a tree from our garden, which I don't have a problem with as it happens but it might have been nice to be asked or at least given warning. Oh well.

Bideh ma!

2004-12-14T16:56:00.000+08:00

Tommorrow they take our kitchen away :(

As a result I've had to put all ther crap that has accumulated in said kitchen into the houses few nooks and crannies I and Cam haven't filled with other junk.

If you look closely you can see the teapot on the..thingy. Which I and Cam decided is for putting hot teapots on.

I was going to go out today and buy The Return Of The King but my neighbour Khadesha(*) invited me over so I spent the afternoon chatting with her and playing with her absolutely gorgeous toddler Suhaib. I learnt that when I thought he was babbling "bidehbidehbideh" he was actually saying "I want! I want! I want!" in arabic. It was cuter as gurgles :) In order to be able to help babysit I also learnt "ma" (water) and "didai" the meaning of which I'm unclear on but is what you say when a toddler tries to eat things they shouldn't. (ie all the frigging time)

I'm trying not to turn into my mum who is rather aggressively multicultural- every time she meets a "foreign"(**) person she's like "Where are you from? How do you say 'hello'? Isn't it true that in 100 BC during the roman occupation of your country.." and I have feeling they find it a bit scary :) (No offense to mum, mind you, better than being all insular) but it is very interesting discussing cultural differences etc. Including the pain that is being invited to a bbq when none of the meat is halal!

Yes, this post exists to a large extent so I can remind myself of how to say "shufig/shufug" (Lebanese slang for "seeya") next time I see them :P

I and Cam watched Season 6 of Buffy. I can see where all the Spike fangirls come from now :) I also managed to score us copies of the elusive Season 7, from Coles of all places.

(*)I am almost certainly spelling all of this wrong. But hey, its a transliteration anyway :P
(**)Including those who are related to someone who may have, at some point, been to a foreign country.

What is this??

2004-12-10T19:43:00.000+08:00

Found while cleaning out our cupboards in anticipation of having the entire kitchen replaced starting Wednesday. (Note that Cam is going in for wisdom teeth surgery on Thursday, fun!) I have included a mini-grater for scale. My grandma gave it to us with a teapot, creamer and sugar bowl. Somewhere to put the spoons maybe?

Yes, I'm bored :)

I went swimming!

2004-12-07T10:59:00.000+08:00

Anyone who has tried to get me to even go near a swimming pool will understand the momentousness of my deciding off my own bat to check out Bayswater waves and see if I hated swimming as much as I used to. Which it turns out I don't, so that's nice. I mean I still don't like it very much but might not run away if people invite me to pool parties etc :)

Also I chucked together a new version of a card I drew mum last year since otherwise I'll lose the idea and I quite like it.

The refugees lost their noses in the long journey, ok? I thought about adding a donkey but decided it was too much effor..I mean too obvious.

In case Wanda reads this: I did decide to wear your hat at the hat party. However Cam thinks it suits him better:

Caving in to peer pressure

2004-12-04T13:52:00.000+08:00

I have waay too much free time.

Quiz Quiz: Why do I post these things to my blog/lj?
brought to you by Quizilla There! I posted a "meme".

Still, at least I wrote it myself :) It could do with a lot of improvement but I just don't care enough. The idea has ben buzzing around in my head for ages and I needed to get it out. No offense intended to people who do post such things all the time! Blame my muse!

And finally...

2004-11-30T19:51:00.000+08:00

Photos from a party in 2002.

Not that my pages are perfect now, I've just dealt with all the little pages that were hanging about. The big ones are still kind of crap :) Sorry to bother you all with my spring-cleaning.

I am psychic

2004-11-30T19:00:00.000+08:00

Yes, another cleaned out page, now I'm up to fish.html :)

As further proof of my propheticness, a few days ago I dreamed I found myself unexpectedly at city west and got licorice from somewhere I wouldn't have expected, and the next day thats what happened! (In a completely different way, of course. Still psychic)

Part one

In May 2001 I had a dream, the picture of which is to the left. The text reads:

"Blue transparent perspex. Genetically engineered cells form tiny processing unit.
Acts like normal fish but cleaner. At the end of the dream I discovered a remote control, but it was all in japanese!
When its jaw fell off a little message came up on the t.v. with instructions and (the jaw joint) had tiny little turning things to close the jaw."

Some time around the begining of 2002 I bought a copy of "Newton", a very boring science magazine. In it was an article on electronic pets, with the photo on the right (I've flipped it for a better comparison):

Wierd eh? I like the jellyfish, I must say. And in case you're wondering, I very rarely record my dreams, but I thought it was a cool idea. And I geuss somebody agrees!

Part two:

I had a dream set in a future earth where humans have been taken over by aliens. (There was a long preamble where the aliens took over and their side of the story was given) I was part of the resistance fighting the aliens (Who had I think at this point become pretty humanoid, so there was interbreeding and general cross-cultural influence, defectors to both sides etc) We were successful in lots of small sorties against their overwhelming odds despite our smaller numbers and lower level of technology. Then we found out that in fact they were running (or at least tolerating) the resistance and it was all part of their plan.

A week or so later "The Matrix:Reloaded" came out :)

(In case you're intersted as I woke up I decided it was more interesting if the aliens were in fact humans from the future who felt we as a race needed population control and a reason to band together so we didn't screw things up the way they did.)

The 3p3 song (Blame Tom)

2004-11-30T18:31:00.000+08:00

I have been inspired to fix up my home page after Tom pointed out that my links page was completely crap.

I'm planning on cleaning out all the crud that I'd have put into my blog (rather than making a seperate page) if I'd had one so as a result odd things may appear here. Right now I'm up to "B" and we have a rather stream of consciousness entry from my diary (circa late '99) which I liked enough to put online:

The 3P3 Song

Oh I don't feel like studying any more.
Oh no I don't feel like studying any more!
Go to sleep at six 'cos my eyes are sore,
Wake up in a sweat at half past four!
No I don't feel like studying any more.

Oh I don't feel like my exam today.
Oh no I don't feel like my exam today!
Any more 3P3 and my hair will turn grey,
Who cares about honours anyway?
Oh I don't want to do my exam today!

Underneath it is written "Yes, i did just wake up at 5:30am to write this and then go to my exam. My life is completely meaningless."
As I was trying to sleep the previous evening, I woke up with the following joke:
Q: Why did Adam cross the Unisfa room?
A: To get to the "Xenocide"

Unfortunately this was not one of the questions in the exam.

So Freaking Old

2004-11-23T08:42:00.000+08:00

Cam got me a graphics tablet! Woohoo!

No offense to the other fine presents I got this morning but my second favourite has to be the cactus flowering for the first time in the 3 3/4 years we've lived here.

Aslo, since I forgot to mention it before, they're reprinting Dorothy L. Sayers! Life is good. Even if it's hot.

Red versus Blue

2004-11-18T20:25:00.000+08:00

As most of you probably know I get a lot of colds. One of my supervisors recommended I go see Dr Beck since he put her onto a good specialist for her son. So I made an appointment.

His office is pretty typical, but there was a door saying "NeuroTuning (EEG Biofeedback)" and wierd flyers. I was eventually taken behind this door, and asked a bunch of questions like "Rate your quality of life" and "Have you ever thought someone was living in your ceiling?".
"Now", said the nurse (well, neurotherapist as it turns out) "If you just sit in this chair we'll attach some electrodes.."
"Uh..." says I, "I came in for throat problems." "Oh" says the neurotherapist.

She gave me the test anyway since the doctor was busy and its covered by Medicare. It involved sitting in a chair watching the video to Coldplay's "The Scientist" with two electrodes on my head and wierd...thingies on my ears.
Thus, in lieu of a meme, we have my Beck Brain Electricity Assessment (Well, not the whole thing, it's like seven pages)

Caught the train into Bassendean for a bloodtest (the result of actually seeing Dr Beck) and discovered that the second hand bookshop there has a quite good science fiction range. Also theres a good crepe place next door.

On the way back opposite me were these two women:
who didn't know each other as far as I can tell. The Woman In Red had this exercise book crammed with close red text with no spaces in which she wrote frenetically, while the Woman In Blue sat quietly for most of the trip until suddenly grabbing a notebook and writing something which inspired me to scrawl a sketch myself and thus miss my stop!

And I still don't have an lj

2004-11-16T15:12:00.000+08:00

Was going through my (computer) files and I found this comic I drew a few months before I decided to get a blog, and is pretty much exactly how a real conversation went between me and Cam:

Its wierd looking at a picture of me at this desk!

Poor Cam!

2004-11-15T10:23:00.000+08:00

His wisdom tooth has gone all painful and wisdom-tooth-y so he's sitting at home on mega-pain killers all woozy.

I've had this incredible forboding feeling that something was going to happen to cast a shadow over my trying-to-get-rid-of-stress holiday. So I've decided to listen to my "Don't change the date of your picnic! Keep it the 28th!" feeling too. That and Phlebus is busy on the 5th. (Yes, I know, you're all busy on the 28th too, tell that to my Dark Sense Of Forboding)

I've watched almost all of Season 4 of Buffy, and I must say: (Spoiler warning, btw)

You think Riley is the annoying thing? Not, you know, the way they showed complete contempt for a certain unconventional relationship by completely glossing over its beginning and the presumably Buffy-esque levels of angst that must have gone with it. It's worse than the "Oh, yeah, and noone was surpised when they got together. Which they did." end to "Persuasion"! Though I must say he was kind of annoying, especially since I get the feeling the writers have no idea what Grad students actually do, apart from..*ahem*.."grading papers".

Anyway, bikkies!

Holiday!

2004-11-09T07:41:00.000+08:00

I got my confirmation letter yesterday: two whole months off my Phd! Woo! Man, do I feel better, I was going crazy with stress.

I'm feeling a bit better after my stupid 3-weeks-with-a-sore-throat thing, too. Anyway, below is a copy of an email I sent to the unisfa list:

Since I am now officially on holiday I have decided to have a birthday picnic to celebrate being a quarter of a century (!) old.

Anyone who knows me and would like to wish me well is welcome. Presents also welcome but not neccesary.

So:
What: 25th birthday picnic
Where: Kings Park womens memorial, just off Forrest Drive
Date: 28th November
Time: 11:30 and if you're late I'll eat all the nice food before you get there. I'm talking 11:31 here, I get hungry!
What to bring: Food to share. A present if you like. Something to sit on.

And since people always forget: if you bring something that needs cutting/drinking, bring a knife/cups! I'll try to bring both too :)

If anyone wants advice on what to get me, see this site which may be down for a few days.

If theres any huge glaring problems (like a clash with something Everyone is going to) let me know :)

I love the internet

2004-11-02T15:02:00.000+08:00

Hmmph. I'm sick AGAIN for the third time in about a month. I'd apply for a suspension of my Phd so I could have a rest if I had the energy to get to uni. Anyway, to all the people who I'm supposed to ring, I'm sorry! I actually had to hand the doctor a piece of paper saying "I've lost my voice"! I'd watch Buffy but I've run out :( Anyone who brings me Season 4 or Angel Season 1 in the next few days becomes my automatic best friend for like a week. No takers? Fine, I'll just watch Delia Smith videos or something.

Anyway, enough whining, back to what you all really want to hear about: crochet! (And all the Planet UCC people go down to the next poster) I realised the reason all the cocheted snood patterns were so dorky is that anyone with half a clue knows that what people wore in the middle ages were called cauls and were basically hairnets, since crochet wasn't invented yet. So I bought a hairnet and Lo! I looked cool. I'll post pictures when I can be bothered.

Anyway, today I sat here all bored and Buffy-less and decided to look up a crochet pattern to do even though I was sure the end result would be something dorky and crap. And then I found...crocheted klein bottle hats!! Not to forget Mathematics Education in Fiber Arts and knitted topological shapes.