The est Obsession.

The TV is on the background and I have just heard them mention the worlds youngest guitar player - or was that ukulele? It got me wondering why people view it as being important to be the 'est' (ie, youngest, oldest, biggest, smallest, longest, highest etc). I consider this phenomena especially strange when attached to totally unrelated pursuits; and that would include the 'est' guitar player (of course this excludes Best as 'est' is not a suffix in this case).

Since a musical instrument is an aural experience, what difference does it make to the listening, whether it is played by the youngest, tallest, widest, person in the world? Contrarily, I would have thought it detracted from the experience as more emphasis would be placed on who was playing rather than how they played.

The est phenomena becomes increasingly ridiculous as the media (or individuals) try harder to create it. For example there was the first solo yacht sail around the world and then there was the first female solo yacht sail, then the youngest solo yacht sail, the youngest female solo yacht sail, then the youngest Australian solo yacht sail...infinitum.

What I want to know is when will the first pink-laced corseted Ethiopian male with 3 fingers missing solo yacht sail will take place. I will be there to wave him on as his sail can be seen on the horizon off Fijian territory - if I can afford to go to Fiji at that particular time.

So Long Taddy.

I was just sitting thinking about writing a blog about how Bug (one of the Little's) suffered a seizure. Thinking it might be a snake bite I rushed him off to the vet. Thankfully, it wasn't. However, as I was about to start writing we had a phone call to tell us that Taddy, a little Foxie that I'd spent hours, days and yes, years playing with, had bailed a snake up and had it cornered. As a precaution, the owners took her into the vet but she died an hour ago. Apparently the snake got the better of her.

Although not her, this pic shows a Foxie almost identical to her. She was a sweet and playful dog; a perennial puppy.

So Long Taddy.

Simply

Every once in a while I come across a photograph that I really wish I took because it has a wonderful simplicity. This is one of those pics that has it.

Pulling the Plug

A few days ago I decided that I didn't really need the torture that this years NaNoWriMo was providing for me so I pulled the plug. The relief was enormous and tainted only by the thought that I wasn't finishing it.

NaNo has always been about doing it for the fun, but I was not having fun this year. There have been nights when I have woken up thinking I have to write 5k words tomorrow because I hadn't written anything for the past 3 days because I was too tired. I wasn't satisfied with simply writing 50k, it had to be coherent - which goes against the very spirit of NaNo.

My failure here isn't the fact that I won't complete the 50k, but that I couldn't do what I was supposed to do and simply write; neither thinking nor caring about how good it would be. One idea of NaNo is not to go back over what you've written and get caught up editing. There was no doubt that this year I was doing it wrong and basically couldn't stop myself from imposing a rational string of cause and effect.

So today I am declaring officially that the plug has been pulled.

On the Brink

Here we are on NaNo eve and all my plans for NaNo have changed completely - yet again. I have decided to go with the following:

The Gathering
Never had the visionary Luhane, seen so much magic in one place. Agendas clashed, power struggles ensued, and all to take back the much coveted prize home to their people; but what was the prize and how could it be won?

Savaged

Once again Hervor's life and mine have paralleled. While Hervor was off in the Goldfields attending the wedding of a friend, I was doing the same in Bunbury. Well a renewal of vows anyway (is that still classed as a wedding?).

However, the only other similarity was that I was home by midnight as well. But not only did I spend the intervening time with friends, but I also had the company of evil with wings; mosquitoes. They bit my arms. They bit my back. They bit through my hair to leave 1 doz calling cards. They bit my waist. And for chrissakes they even bit my navel!



I have woken scratching and bleeding. I have put several different 'relievers' on the bites and have now scratched not just the top but some of the surrounding skin off some of the bites.

If ever I go to war the only weapon I want on my side is mosquitoes...so long as they find the enemies blood as tantalising as they seem to find mine.

Why must I be irresistible to the wrong bloody things?

Now I just gotta hope I haven't managed to inherit a case of Ross River Virus.

A Rare & Rewarding Day

I don't recall ever having such a rewarding day. I got what I wanted several times, or at least close enough to make it feel as if I had gotten it.

Today my boss and the CEO of the company I work for turned up to discover the most consumers we've ever had in one day utilising our services (we are a new branch of a mental health support centre and the amount of consumers we have is justification for our presence). Not only that, but they were clearly enjoying themselves. It couldn't have looked better. But that was just icing on the cake.

What my boss and the CEO came over for was 1)to give me money (to spend on the punters YAY!) and 2)to offer me permanency. Since I love my job, and the people I work for are wonderful, this is a relief and a joy. The Punter's themselves are a great bunch of people and I'm glad not just to have met them, but to continue to know them.

Talking to my boss and the CEO, I was overjoyed when they agreed to get me everything I wanted for the place. No haggling, no hassle. Just like that. YAY again!

On the way home I was thinking how nice a barbecue would be and woe and behold, Curtainman had the same idea and already had the meat out when I arrived home. YUM!

Then Curtainman says "you got an email from Mr. M yesterday. Didn't you see it?"
"No," says I. Then it turns out that I had received several emails all regarding my last place of employment where the injustices were added to daily and I continue to fight against even now, months later.

There have been no resolutions, but at least something appears to be happening. However, it is a government dept so think of how long something would usually take, multiply the time by 5 and then add ten years and you have the approximate amount of time it takes to get even a reply. Just of late, I've had several replies which indicates someone is finally on the case. Fuckin YAY!