It was my birthday at the weekend (I can usually be found shouting that from the rooftops a few weeks prior. Not sure what happened this year. Life, I suppose), so I've spent a good part of the week in a flurry of wrapping paper, cheese knives, wine corks and kisses.
It's been marvellous.
There were a number of highlights--Sparky, who may have noted my technology obsession--got me some new gadgetry to play with. Love it.
Also, I lunched nearby at The Lane, which is a completely gorgeous thing. Stunning food, beautiful scenery, luscious wines, great company. I was in heaven.
Here's a teaser pic of my favourite red wine, Reunion Shiraz, off The Lane's website:
Nom nom. I was lucky enough to try the '09 on Friday. It was different, but no less lovely.
Since I have nothing for you, how's about I talk about people who have actually done something?
One of my super-fab CP's, Anna, has blogged about Archimedes.
Eleni, one of my SARA buddies, has a very active and dynamic blog at Eleni's Taverna.
If you're still hungry for news, check out the latest SARA News blog. Compiled by none other than moi.
You all know that Sparky and I adore our children. Well, he does always, and I do most of the time.
I suspect because he sees them less, that he isn't as exposed to the circus that is our children on a daily basis.
I found these posters on Flickr. They're by Nathan Rippenberger, and the collection is titled, "Things I Have Said To My Children."
They are startlingly, scarily accurate. Except, our giant inflatable penguin is called Mawson, so I used 'Mawson' instead of 'Penguin'.
Also, we don't have a cat door, but we do have a snorkel. And a cat. Two, in fact.
It's true, too, I won't hold a conversation with anyone who is naked (there are a few rare exceptions to this rule, but the offspring should be at least partially clothed).
Just YESTERDAY I had to ask Anarchy to stop licking my arm. I didn't addend, because "that's what weird kids do." but you can bet your bottom I will mention it next time.
And there WILL be a next time.
I consider us very lucky, the offspring rarely say inappropriate things in public (Oh, there was a, "Look at that fat lady" that one time in Woolworths...), but how mortified would you be if your children came up with some of these?
Yes, of course, I mean that Joanne Kathleen. AKA, JKR.
Rejoice, Potterheads! JK Rowling has another book coming out--for grown-ups. She will be publishing this one through Little, Brown and not the HP series publisher, Bloomsbury.
She has reached gazillions of young readers through HP, and I see no reason why she can't reach those kids again as they get older. Or, as adults just plain get older than they used to be. As will be the case for those of us that devoured all seven HP's running as twenty-somethings. *Ahem*.
I am, to quote Emily Kribs from The Rocky Mountain Collegian, "hellaciously pumped."
Go, JK!
(That yellow book up there is the official release picture. It looks large, no?)
(Interestingly, Joanne has no middle name, according to Wikipedia. She took on her maternal grandmother's first name, Kathleen, as her middle initial after the first HP book. She used Joanne Kathleen Rowling to give evidence in the Leveson Inquiry, which is an ongoing public inquiry of the British Press after the phone hacking bizzo.)
When I thought of the words 'ingenious' and 'the blog', some images that were floating about in the netethos last year came to mind. Do you remember the one where someone was leaving sculptures in thanks in library, with little verses attached? They were something like this:
Middle English ingenyous, from Middle French ingenieus,from Latin ingeniosus, from ingenium natural capacity — more at engine
First Known Use: 15th century
From: 'Ingenious' www.merriam-webster.com
Phew. It would seem I have the usage correct. God forbid I would use an obsolete word.
I am currently lobbying to get netethos recognised by the Oxford Dictionary, so I can use that in good conscience as well. Actually, that is a fib, but do have a look back to a post I did a while back about other words that the OD made legit in 2010. You can see, a legal netethos can't be far away.
PS Just finished VENGEANCE BORN, by Kylie Griffin, that featured in my F is for Fabulous post. It's a ripper! Loved it. Gave it 4.5 stars out of five on Goodreads. Completely mesmerising world building, a hero to die for, a gorgeous blend of paranormal/fantasy with a smack of epicness (there I go again) about it. I very rarely give five stars (the perfect book?), and the only glitch for me had to do with the heroine (I would have liked to have seen her a little more kick-ass, given her heritage) , but all in all I loved it. Kylie Griffin is a new auto-buy for me, and I look forward to (with maybe a little bit of drooling involved) to ALLIANCE FORGED, coming out in about 128 days and 13 hours, according to the widget on Kylie's Blog. :)
Doing a little Hon Peter Garrett AM MP dance here (for no other reason than I am not much of a dancer. Pete & I have that in common), because I have, rather to my surprise, successfully attached a dot com to this blog!
Just to prove it wasn't a fluke, there's also a new web address for SARA - South Australian Romance Authors. Find us at www.romancesa.com
Just in case you were wondering who Peter Garrett is - he's one of our federal pollies. But the most interesting thing about him (aside from his activism) was that he fronted one of our iconic Aussie bands, Midnight Oil, from '73 to 2003. Are you ready for the dancing?
Let me give you a bit of background before I launch.
Before I wrote, I was a Reader. I was always a Reader. I read LORD OF THE RINGS better at eleven than I could now. So, before high school, I was a Reader. Nothing much has changed there.
I could always hold a note, had played a little piano and guitar, but wasn't especially impressive. Then, I was cast in a musical at school, and spent many months rehearsing. I LOVED it. As I rehearsed, I improved every day. Even my dancing became passable. We performed, and it was great. The following year, I was cast as the lead in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. I could still hit notes, but I was much LOUDER. I had more control over my voice.
I was suddenly a vocalist. Or, maybe less pretentiously, a Singer.
I still am. I sing at home, I sing in the car, I sing with the offspring. I've even been known to sing in churches for weddings and memorials, and other events. I sing with choirs and solo. I love show tunes, jazz, R&B and your general popular stuff. I sing a lot.
One thing I don't do much of is watch television. Too BUSY, dudes.
So I completely missed the onset of Glee.
Who wants to watch a show where the kids are in high school and dealing with angst and teenage ick? Been there... I glossed over it, without even meaning to.
Had no idea what it was. Then, one of the kids asked me to put 'Don't Stop Believin'' on her ipod. I listened, I bought a few albums.
As I listened, I wondered about the characters, who was singing what. I'd seen the covers, but never put an actor with a voice. I bought season one, and the rest is, as they say, old news.
Yes, there is teenage angst, but it's rarely belaboured and the shows move so quickly that you're never mired. It's whimsical, and not intended to be real. There are cute little romantic pairings that aren't saccharine, and are handled like we probably did in high school. The relationship between the staff and students is interesting, and possibly a little TGTBT. (I'll help: Too Good...). The storylines deal with issues ranging from coming out to weight problems, from problem solving to peer pressure, from drug use to blended families. They should be supremely awesome, but the rest of the school insists on giving the Glee club members a daily slushie facial.
I love Sue Sylvesters' character. Awesome, cutting, witty one liners. I wish I was her.
I ADORE the music. I love their Mash-Up of It's My Life/My Confession, and they do a better (IMHO) rendition of PokerFace than Ms Gaga does. They are all Very Talented Vocalists. Some are Very Talented Dancers.
They are all gorgeous, or course. Which is why there are gazillions of fan vids on You Tube that must be trawled through to find the shiny gold bits.
In Cory Monteith, who plays Finn, I've also found my latest hero (in his younger years):
Are you seeing why this nearly thirty-year old has been cast as a teenager?
You should hear him sing. It's not pretty and polished, but I swear my skin moves.
Makes me gleeful.
With the sad passing of Whitney Houston this week, check out this Glee Youtube vid featuring Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) singing 'I Will Always Love You.'
I love some other people's stuff, and if I use your stuff, I try to tell everyone that it's not my stuff - it's someone else's stuff. But, if I have used some of your copyrighted stuff here and you would like me to remove your stuff, let me know.... It's all for non-commerical use...
See 
