sooky

i'm sick of being sick - it's turning me into a sooky, pouty grump. i'm sooo bored.

still coughing, still sounding like a mutant donkey when i speak.

happiness challenge:
cheery email from mlb in london that made me smile.

today's soundtrack: fbi

spooky

things keep jumping off the shelf above my kitchen bench. is it a poltergeist or have i just stuffed too much junk up there?

my voice has improved only slightly - the seal element is gone. i have a mild fever - i keep changing between having the heater on or the windows open. the doctor agreed that i need antibiotics to kill this bug that has me laid low and told me to stay home tomorrow as well. i've had two glasses of my sore throat special concoction, taken some paracetamol for the headache & fever and am craving cups of tea - the warmth seems to ease my throat. after very little sleep last night and my marathon effort with monday madness, i snuggled up on the couch to watch lost in translation and managed to miss most of it by nodding off.


i didn't bowl tonight but ho has just sent me a text message to let me know that our team won 8 points - we may sneak back to the top!!

happiness challenge:
the first of my amazon uk cd purchases arrived today - yippee!!

today's soundtrack:
a song is a city : eskimo joe
hopes & fears : keane
the runaway found : the veils
the final straw : snow patrol
ask me how i am : snow patrol (cd single)
son of evil reindeer : reindeer section
the last broadcast : doves

guess who has too much time on her hands today...

Name 3 of your favorite.......
1. Colors purple, red, blue
2. Pizza Toppings mushrooms, corn, chicken
3. Department Stores i'm not a big fan of department stores. my three favourite types of store are books, music & stationery stores
4. Flavors of Candy mint, raspberry, chocolate (does chocolate count as candy?)
5. Scents of Candles sandalwood, vanilla, clove
6. Days of the Week friday, saturday, sunday
7. Vegetables mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes
8. Fruits banana, pineapple, mango
9. Meals to cook chicken scallopine with herbs, risotto, pasta with tomato, tuna and pine nut sauce
10. Kitchen Gadgets citrus juicer, citrus zester, a good sharp knife
11. Olympic Sports diving, weightlifting, gymnastics

i was feeling better...

...until i woke up at 4.00am coughing my poor head off. i ended up getting on the couch and watching the olympic closing ceremony until the coughing died off (i thought i might die off too!!) i'm off to see the doctor shortly. as much as i don't want them, i think i'm going to need antibiotics - bugger.

more later...

barking mad...

i have my voice back. sadly it sounds like a cross between a drag queen and a seal. mmm... very attractive. i feel better but still have a cough thats sounds more like a bark. woof! i managed to get some housework done today but not a lot else.

hopefully i'll be back to normal tomorrow, otherwise i'll have to visit the doctor.

1. GAME BOY:: boring
   
2. Biopsy:: tissue sample
   
3. Attack:: assault
   
4. Convention:: centre
   
5. Jewels:: amethysts
   
6. Genetics:: dna
   
7. Impostor:: fake
   
8. Doug:: mulray
   
9. Arbitrary:: random
   
10. Oscillate:: how do you titillate an ocelot? you oscillate it's tit alot...
    

happiness challenge:
feeling better

today's soundtrack: (made all the more interesting as i sang along with my dodgy voice)
a song is a city : eskimo joe
hopes & fears : keane
the runaway found : the veils
the final straw : snow patrol

shetland pony...

...i'm a little ho(a)rse. i've lost my voice and my energy. i've spent most of the day napping.

no soundtrack and no happiness today. i'm sure i'll feel better tomorrow.

just a quickie...

despite the rabid sinuses, sore throat and slowly diminishing voice, tonight i went to harold park with the crew from work. i only had two drinks - it just didn't taste very good. i ran into an old friend i had not seen for probably 20 years - another person from 1977 coming back into my life. she is also a friend of jules and the three of us used to get up to some mischief in our teenage years. it was a really nice surprise.

anyway it's late and i'm off to bed. goodnight!

trying hard...

... to keep the p.m.a. shiny and happy. it's a tough job.

i feel like the lurgy is upon me - sore throat, rabid sinuses, headache. i'm going to need an early night.

in the meantime, have a look at this and this... ouch!!

happiness challenge:
pre-work colorado-timchat - we've not managed to be online at the same time for a while so it was nice to catch up.

today's soundtrack:
hopes & fears : keane
a song is a city : eskimo joe
from the sea : eskimo joe (cd single)
it's too late : evermore (cd single)

to ad or not to ad...

free $$$ should i start planning my retirement now??? i'm interested but it would probably take some time before i earned $100... i'll think about it...

a 6 dog day. another late start - got to the office at 9.45am - oops... i'm so over my job at the moment. even the p.m.a. couldn't get me to work any earlier. not much else exciting to report.

i'm thinking of lashing out and buying one of these... they are currently out of stock and will not be available until november - i hope the exchange rate for the AU$ against the US$ improves by then...

happiness challenge:
um... err... i had a nice sleep in this morning until 8am...

today's soundtrack:
a song is a city : eskimo joe
singing keane songs in my head

p.m.a.

i dragged out the old p.m.a. today and it still works. still a bit of a grump but a much better day. even my hour of enforced slavery doing call-centre backup passed quickly and i spoke to some really nice customers and no nasties. one lady even said i had been the most helpful person she had spoken to in the 7 years she has dealt with us - go me!

my old primary school is having a reunion of sorts shortly, to celebrate their 85th year. i'm so looking forward to that. my sister is planning to come down for it and i rang my childhood best friend to see if she can make it too. it should be fun.

happiness challenge:
duran duran are releasing their first album in 21 years - can't wait!!
tim & neil finn on rove live as i type this!

today'soundtrack:
galleon : richard pleasance
colorblind: richard pleasance *
*daily coincidence - someone cruised by here today after doing a google search on the aforementioned mr pleasance...

on the up

1. Which is more fun, kid's toys or grown-up kid's toys? (ie. Lego's vs. power tools) um, kid's toys - i'm 43 or is that 4, maybe 3... i love blowing bubbles and i just got out my bottle of wedding bubbles and blew them around the room. i'm not very good with power tools.
2. What's your favorite food and why? Which food is your number one weakness? too hard!! anything tasty goes into the extensive list of favourites. i think my number one weakness is chocolate.
3. How many blogs/journals/diaries would you say you read? apart from all of the ones in my blogroll, i constantly read other blogs either via links at other blogs, blogsnob, blogrolling's fresh list, the 'next blog' button in the blogger navbar, anywhere i can find them.
4. Do you feel you have an obligation to spread your religious belief system to others, or do you think religion is a private matter that everyone needs to decide for themselves? religion is definitely a private matter. i don't believe any person should force their religious beliefs upon another and if they feel they have to, they should not then abuse and question the 'goodness' of the person they are preaching to, when their views are rejected... (guessed who has been preached to, too many times???)
5. Did you keep a paper journal before blogging? no, i tried but just could not do it. i think that having spent all of my working life (27 years next month) behind a keyboard, i find it easier to type it than write it.
6. Describe your life in 3 words. up and down
7. What was the last thing you were wrong about? ooohh, i won't tell you the details but i recently sent a rather vicious email to someone and while i think it was justified, it was probably the wrong thing to do. let's just say i've apologised and been forgiven (i hope...)
8. What one thing would you do to help the world be a better place for all? be nice, be happy , blow bubbles, sing, love , feel, think, communicate (oh bugger, i can never answer a 'one thing' question with just 'one thing'...)
9. Are you a dog person or a cat person? ha ha ha... dog!! i do like cats but i am obsessed with dogs (and just for the record, today was an 11 dog day!)
10. If you could start your own meme (And you can!), what kind of questions would you ask? probably something musical.


144, 109, 102 - 2 under average for the three games. i think we got zero points...

happiness challenge:
today was a good day. the coffee spill last week came back to haunt me - it got into the phone on my desk but i thought it was ok as the phone was still working. today when i had to log in to do back-up for the call centre, the buttons i need to log in has siezed up and i could not do it - break my heart!! it's been replaced now but at least i got one day free...

today's soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol
galleon : richard pleasance

another day wasted...

another day of sleeping in way too late and getting nothing done. i dragged my lazy butt from my nest at 11am and then spent most of the day on the net or on the couch watching the olympics (i was too lazy to change the channel...) i have to get out of the blahs. it's getting too hard to get out of bed in the morning. if i stay there, i don't have to think, i can just sleep and pretend the world doesn't exist - if only it were that easy. i'm falling back into old ways and i have to make a conscious decision to be happy. sadly, i keep putting it off.

1. Olympics:: medals
   
2. Wicked:: evil
   
3. Intoxicating:: liquor
   
4. Radical:: free ...s
   
5. Misinformed:: misled
   
6. Triplets:: opals
   
7. Coronation:: street
   
8. Asimov:: isaac
   
9. Contemporary:: art
   
10. 1:: ...is the loneliest number
    

happiness challenge:
retail therapy: the joy of buying 3 more snow patrol cds from amazon uk. i don't necessarily need them but i really, really want them. it's only money!

today's soundtrack: all played incredibly loud and sung along to so i can't hear my thoughts.
son of evil reindeer : reindeer section
the last broadcast : doves
the runaway found : the veils
a song is a city : eskimo joe
the final straw : snow patrol (twice)
hopes & fears : keane

saturday slug

i had big plans to get all the housework done today so that tomorrow i could bugger off, up or down the coast. nah! i did the washing (but that was only because i didn't do it last weekend and i was quickly running out of clothes...) the rest of my flat still looks like a bunch of little oinkers lives here... i'm determined to get up early tomorrow and do what needs doing and at least go for a ferry ride around my beautiful harbour. my yearly travelpass allows me to ride on all the inner harbour ferries, so i can hop on and off to my heart's desire. like today, it should be 23°C tomorrow - perfect for being out on the water.

happiness challenge:
scraping the bottom of the happiness barrel today: drinking flat warm vanilla coke - i love flat warm coke!

today's soundtrack:
rage video that i taped last night
the voices in my head

i used to istj... what happened??

i know these things change but i appear to have changed sides completely (except for the introvert bit, that will never, ever change...)

INFP - "Questor". High capacity for caring. Emotional face to the world. High sense of honor derived from internal values. 4.4% of total population.

Take Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Conscious self	Overall self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism |||||||||||| 46% Type 2 Helpfulness |||||||||||||||| 63% Type 3 Image Awareness |||||| 23% Type 4 Sensitivity |||||||||||||||||| 76% Type 5 Detachment |||||||||||||||||| 73% Type 6 Anxiety |||||||||||||||| 70% Type 7 Adventurousness |||| 20% Type 8 Aggressiveness |||| 16% Type 9 Calmness |||||||||| 36% Your Conscious-Surface type is 4w5 Your Unconscious-Overall type is 4w5

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

a bit of fun...

i found this at gemmak's and being the handbag slut that i am, i had to have a go.

One rule: you have to be honest!

this is the fear, this is the dread - these are the contents of my handbag:

Description: big, black, leather, satchel style

Contents:
black leather purse with a million cards and some money; funky new mobile phone and it's user guide; keys/my place with ladybird keyring, my bowling locker, my mother's house with crab keyring, mil key for the office; purse pack of kleenex tissues; orange comb; box of panadol; black leather bus ticket holder; artline 2.0 calligraphy pen; 'buy one get one free' drink ticket that came with the tickets for eskimo joe on sept 19th at the enmore; small compact mirror; nail file; my lucky log (a piece of wood with little plastic eyes that i have carried around for about 23 years...); no worry beads; olive oil lip balm; winter gloves; another nail file; silver parker pen - a farewell gift when i left a job in 1993; contact lens comfort drops; listerine cool mint pocketpack; rechargeable nimh battery for minidisc player; minidisc player; umbrella

what a lot of crap!

your turn...

tfif

this rotten week is over. next week will be fabulous (it has to be!)

i make no secret of the fact that i lurk around a few online dating sites. i've even been on a few dates with men i've met through these sites. the funny thing is, despite my 'profile' showing that i'm interested in men in my own age range, i keep getting messages from youngsters - a 29 year old and a 32 year in the last 24 hours. they just want to 'have some fun'. maybe there is some subliminal message there or they just think that a single 'older' woman is just gagging for it... i'm happy to admit that i like younger men, although i guess the truth is, i'm looking for 'mr right', not just 'mr right now'. sometimes i wonder if i could/should 'have some fun' with one of these youngsters....

nah, probably not.

happiness challenge:
double happiness today!
a host of golden daffodils - i picked up 2 bunches for $8 on the way to the bus stop this evening. they are in my big blue vase and looking fabulous.
upon arriving home, i found a parcel in my letterbox... thanks shirl!!! a post of lovely ladybirds!

me me me me
borrowed from nisi
1. Copy this whole list into your journal/blog.
2. Bold the things that are true about you.
3. Whatever you don't bold is false.
4. When you're done, add your own to the end of the list.

01. When I was younger, I made some bad decisions.
02. I don't watch much TV these days.
03. I love broccoli.
04. I love sleeping
05. I have loads of books.
06. I once slept in a toilet.
07. I love playing video games.
08. I adore marijuana.
09. I watch porn movies.
10. I watch 'One Tree Hill'.
11. I like sharks.
12. I love spiders, I think they're adorable, especially the ones with bright colors on their backs.
13. I was born without hair and I still have no hair.
14. I like George W. Bush.
15. People are cool.
16. I have changed a lot mentally over the last year.
17. I have a Toyota and a pool.
18. I have a lot to learn.
19. I carry my knife everywhere with myself.
20. I'm really, really smart.
21. I know more than two languages really well.
22. I have a secret.
23. I hate rain.
24. I drink health juice.
25. Punk rock rules.
26. I hate Bill Gates.
27. I love Vietnamese food.
28. I would hate to be famous.
29. I am not a morning person.
30. I have semi-long hair.
31. I have short hair.
32. I have potential.
33. I'm pure Afghan.
34. My legs are two different sizes.
35. I have a twin.
36. I wear those long ass socks.
37. I can roll my tongue.
38. I like the way that I look.
39. I'm obsessed w/Italian food.
40. I know how to french braid.
41. I can be pessimistic or optimistic whenever I want.
42. I have a lot of mood swings.
43. I skateboard/snowboard.
44. I think that skateboarders are HOT.
45. I'm in a band.
46. I have talent.
47. I'm always hyper no matter how much sugar I have.
48. I think that I'm popular.
49. I am currently single.
50. I can't swim.
51. My favorite color is blue, red, or white.
52. I practically live in sweatshirts.
53. I love to shop.
54. I would classify myself as either punk or goth.
55. I would classify myself as ghetto.
56. I'm a prep, shop at abercombie, and ADMIT IT.
57. I'm obsessed with my journal blog.
58. I don't hate anyone.
59. I know how to square dance just a little bit.
60. I have a unibrow.
61. I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mom.
62. I have a cell phone.
63. I believe in God.
64. I watch MTV on a daily basis.
65. I know how to play the tuba.
66. I need coffee to live.
67. I have had a boyfriend before.
68. I've rejected someone before.
69. I currently like someone and they have no idea that I like them.
70. I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
71. I want to have kids when I get older.
72. I have changed a diaper before. unfortunately.
73. I've called the cops on a friend before.
74. I bite my nails.
75. I am a member of the Hilary Duff fan club.
76. I'm not allergic to anything.
77. I love broadway plays and have been to at least 3.
78. I have no idea who the 38th president was.
79. I plan on seeing Mary Kate and Ashley's new movie.
80. I am completely shy around the opposite sex.
81. I'm online 24/7; not always there though.
82. I have at least 25 away messages saved.
83. I have tried alcohol or drugs.
84. I loved Rush Hour.
85. I've read all of the Harry Potter books.
86. If I were a dwarf, I would be Dopey.
87. When I was a kid I played with my G.I. Joe.
88. I don't mind country music.
89. I might die for my friends.
90. I think that Juicy Fruit is the best type of gum.
91. I watch soap operas whenever I can.
92. I'm obsessive and paranoid and extremely jumpy sometimes.
93. I would love to be Demi Moore because Ashton Kutcher's a major hottie.
94. I love the Beatles.
95. I know all the words to 'Barbie Girl'
96. Halloween is awesome because you get free candy...
97. I watch Spongebob Squarepants and I like it.
98. I have to fart.
99. I want this damned thing to be over!
100. I'm happy.
101. I am VERY easily amused.
102. I'm angsty.
103. I like rock.
104. I like love Fight Club.
105. I absolutely adore mexican food.
106. I have a boyfriend/girlfriend.
107. I have more than one tarot deck.
108. This survey is way too American.
109. I like Canada. (i've never been there, but i like the idea of it...)
110. I know how to play a guitar/bass.
111: I love tattoos and piercings!!
112. I would do almost anything, as long as someone dared me.
113. I'm a big tease!
114. I am obsessed with sex!
115. I am a big tennis fan
116. i have some truly magnificent friends and i hope they know how much i love & appreciate them.

today's soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol (yes, i'm obsessed)

one of those days...

i got to work (very late) at 10am then promptly spilled my coffee all over my desk... luckily it missed the hardware but i can tell you that paper goes a lovely colour when bathed in coffee. i can also tell you that coffee made with soya milk is very hard to mop up - it kind of just spreads further, the more you try to soak it up... at least i learned something from the experience...

what a great way to start the day (not). feeling severely decaffeinateed i had a little cry then cleaned up the mess. as soon as that was done it was time to get another coffee. the divine danny at i'm starving very kindly gave me another and would not let may pay for it - thanks!

not much else to report. i'm sooooooooo looking forward to friday because then this week is over.

happiness challenge:
err.. um.. fresh passionfruit.

today's soundtrack:
the runaway found : the veils

hump day...

yesterday i had the hump, today is hump day - maybe there is a link somewhere...

today was the coldest day (12°C max) in sydney since june last year and the wettest day (105mm of rain) since february 2002. it did not stop the whales from visiting.

went to bingo with miss jane tonight. she won a $30 voucher, i didn't. we put $5 each in the poker machines and left with $20 each - a free night out!

happiness challenge:
uummm... pay day! (phew!! had to think hard about that one today...)

recent soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol
the last broadcast : doves
the runaway found : the veils

i need... i want... i have...

...a holiday. i'm kinda stuck in a rut and have it in my head to run away. don't ask me when or where but i might just up and disappear for a bit.

...a puppy. i've just seen some labrador pups on the tv and i want one.

...nothing to be happy about today.

clarification & illumination

a lie told often enough becomes the truth.

1. truth
2. lie - my sister's birthmark was shaped like a palm tree, not a pineapple...
3. truth



otto says "Another selection of questions suggested by our fellow participants!! Have fun!! =)".

1. If you could only take one item with you on to a deserted island what book, movie, music would you take? one item only or one of each??? i can't just play the game - i have to ask more questions...
book? ooohhh!! too hard!! um... i have to cheat and take more than one. dorothy parker, bill bryson, my edward gorey books....
movie?? do they have dvd/video players on desert islands? i'd probably cheat again and take one dvd box but stick in two or three movies - bridget jones's diary, fight club & high fidelity
music??? i'd need a power outlet to recharge the batteries... and once again i'd cheat and take snow patrol, duran duran, new order, the panics, the veils...
oh bugger it, i think i'll just stay at home...
2. What's the most disgusting thing that you have ever eaten or even just put in your mouth?? something call 'ark shell' in a japanese restaurant - it was gross and i had to spit it out into my napkin and hide it...
3. What one thing would you do differently if given the chance? where do i start??? there is no such concept as 'one thing' in my life... i would have finished high school, travelled more, made better decisions... it goes on and on...
4. What political party, if any, do you belong to? none
5. Do you like icees? i have no idea what an icee is but i think it may be related to a slurpee. crushed ice and syrup? yum, nothing better on a hot summer's day.
6. East or West? north, south, east & west. they don't exist without each other...
7. Will we ever "all" be happy with the current political situation???? duh!! of course not...
8. Cookies or Crackers? cookies, please...
9. What fun thing did you do today? dragged out my edward gorey 'amphigorey' books and had a quick read while playing monday madness.
...and #10 has nothing to do with any of the above questions.........
10. Why?? aarrgghhh... i have asked that question a million times in the last week. i don't know why!


127, 99 129 - could be better... last week's 173 pushed my average up 2 bits to 119.
we've slipped back to 2nd place and with tonights meagre two points, it may be worse next week... eek...

happiness challenge:
lunch with miss marina - she cheers me up immensely.

today's soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol

weekend wrap-up

up early on saturday and got the train out to blacktown where i met up with j and baby j. we went to penrith for the pet expo. there were soooooooooooooo many dogs and i got to pat nearly all of them. there were all sorts of dogs but my favourites were the dingos, the norwegian elkhounds, the manchester terrier, the greyhounds and the basenji. the cutest dog was a little black german short-haired pointer puppy - he was gorgeous! i even got to pat a snake...

last night was spent over at miss e's flat. we had a pizza delivered and celebrated saturday with a bottle of freixenet and another of rose. we had a long d&m about life, the universe and all men are bastards, we laughed, we cried and then we went down the road to a construction site where there is a billposter for the next eskimo joe concert that we are going to. i snapped a photo of the poster on my new phone-cam and when i work out how to email it to myself, i'll post it here.

today we went to see 'before sunset' courtesy of this month's filmink freebie. a lovely, lovely film. i'm going to try to find 'before sunrise' - the local video store does not have it but i'm sure it is available.

1. Server:: nt 4.0
   
2. Charlotte:: north carolina
   
3. Jackson:: pollock
   
4. Resentment:: anger
   
5. Controlling:: dominating
   
6. Intense:: extreme
   
7. November:: nine
   
8. Donkey:: inky pinky ponky
   
9. Weave:: warp & weft
   
10. Satisfies:: snickers
    

happiness challenge:
i have to do a double happiness today to cover for yesterday.
saturday's is fairly obvious - a gazillion dog day!
today i am happy that i'm not as unhappy as i have been lately (weirdlogic'r'us...)

weekend soundtrack:
the runaway found : the veils
a house on a street in a town i'm from : the panics
the final straw : snow patrol
hopes & fears : keane
the last broadcast : doves

p.s. sorry about friday night's bad tempered posting... i sure did have my grump on. anger does not sit well on my shoulders and it tends to have physical side effects if i hold on to it. this time, i let it get to me and it took it's toll. my anger is justified and i've done what i need to do to remove it. i try not to let this stuff seep into my wee bloggy but i'm finding that it helps when i put it somewhere outside of my head.

windy

it's windy enough to blow a dog off a chain and somewhere there is something loose that is making enough noise to wake the dead. i am not dead therefore i am still awake...

i will tell you all about saturday later today (with pictures!)

obfuscation

i had to come back to play the game...



i'm playing 2 true/1 false

1. when i was a child, my mother used to make almost all of our clothes. i thought it was because she was clever. (which she is, i'm sure she could knit, crochet & sew in her sleep if she had to!) i found out when i was about 28 or 29 that she did it because we were poor because my father used to gamble too much.

2. my sister used to have a pineapple shaped birthmark on her stomach, just above her navel. whenever she got a suntan the pineapple mark would stay white.

3. when i was about 10 or 11, i was walking home from my friend kerrie's house. i was about 4 houses away from my place when a man in a car stopped and asked if i wanted a lift. i screamed 'f*ck off' at him and ran home. i think that was the first time i ever said f*ck.

the truth and the lie will be revealed on monday...

blue friday

miss e and i went to see the director's cut of donnie darko tonight. maybe i'm dumb, but i'm still mystified. i love the film - i just don't understand it. jake gyllenhaal makes it all worthwhile...

a 10 dog day but i'm feeling a bit pissed off with the world at large. i might hide out for the weekend and try to find my life. i'll be back soon.

happiness challenge:
my new phone arrived today. i still have to work out how to use it.

today's soundtrack:
a house on a street in a town i'm from : the panics

where there's smoke...

...there's fire... men... after getting my hair cut, i walked down to coogee where i saw a fire-truck load of firemen - all in their uniforms - drool... tonight, i went down to the village shopping centre to meet miss e and there were about 10 firemen going into the gemini hotel - drool x 2... i called miss shell, who is going out with fireman (lucky, lucky girl), to see if there's a fireman's convention or if it was just my lucky day...

enough of my drooling! while i was down at coogee, i had lunch at the globe cafe and then walked along the beachfront. it was such a lovely day, not too hot & a sky as blue as the sky should be. watching the waves made my cancerian soul very happy. on the way back, i went to the post office to pick up my e-bay treasure. do you know how hard it is to get a frame for an A2 sized poster - bloody impossible!! after searching the village shops for one, my quest took me to beastgardens where i searched for two hours without luck. i will not give up, even if i have to make it myself! the trip was not entirely wasted - the 13 dogs in the pet shop pushed the daily dog count to a very satisfying 21 and muffin break was flogging off their muffins at $6 for 4 which means breakfast for the next few days is sorted!

happiness challenge:
despite the timezone challenge, i got to chat with colorado tim, on his birthday, while it was still the 12th of august for both of us!

todays soundtrack:
the runaway found : the veils

a day in the sun

happy birthday to my dear friend colorado tim! i hope you have a great day.

i'm enjoying my day off by doing a morning blogcruise. i'll be off shortly to get a haircut and go for a walk down to coogee. it is such a beautiful 21°C sunny day here so i should not waste it sitting on my butt & surfing the net!

some interesting links found at darrenbarefoot (via blogsnob)

if i met a man with one of these, i'd sue for false advertising (but only after laughing my head off at his stupidity)...
i've been supporting this movement for a long time without even knowing it...
you want it? you can get it!

more later...

yippee!!!!

and the winner is...
i don't know!!! an unknown referral from the net.au domain... is it someone i know or just a random surfer? oh well, no prize until 10,000 now...

happy hump day!

6 dog day - with bonus points for the black labradog guide dog on bridge street - i love those guys more than any other dogs.

the new job is kicking into gear now. we've started working on the account management type stuff. some of the bigwigs came to visit today to see how we are progressing and they even put on some yummy muffins and pastries for morning tea. having a bunch of accounts to look after will be a lot of fun but we still have to somehow manage our normal workload and do backup for the call centre... added to that is the overtime required to catch up on the backlog of work, which makes me think it is going to get a little stressful soon. ah, it pays the bills.

happiness challenge:
tomorrow is my rostered day off - i'm going to sleep until i wake up!

today's soundtrack:
the last broadcast : doves


the 2nd visitor from now is the winner...

oooohhh!!!!

4993 down and only 7 to go until the 5000th visitor enters the third daughter's cubby house!!

will it be you?

if i can identify you and you're happy to email your snail mail to me, you'll get a prize!! *

* always read the small print
competition open to all visitors to my humble wee bloggy.
subject to terms and conditions (i.e. if you visit multiple times just to force a win, you lose...)
competition closes when vistor 5000 pops in.

Help Make Blogs More Visible!

swiped from Firemind:

"There are by some estimates more than a million weblogs. But most of them get no visibility in search engines. Only a few "A-List" blogs get into the top search engine results for a given topic, while the majority of blogs just don't get noticed. The reason is that the smaller blogs don't have enough links pointing to them. But this posting could solve that. Let's help the smaller blogs get more visibility!

This posting is GoMeme 4.0. It is part of an experiment to see if we can create a blog posting that helps 1000's of blogs get higher rankings in Google. So far we have tried 3 earlier variations. Our first test, GoMeme 1.0, spread to nearly 740 blogs in 2.5 days. This new version 4.0 is shorter, simpler, and fits more easily into your blog.

Why are we doing this? We want to help thousands of blogs get more visibility in Google and other search engines. How does it work? Just follow the instructions below to re-post this meme in your blog and add your URL to the end of the Path List below. As the meme spreads onwards from your blog, so will your URL. Later, when your blog is indexed by search engines, they will see the links pointing to your blog from all the downstream blogs that got this via you, which will cause them to rank your blog higher in search results. Everyone in the Path List below benefits in a similar way as this meme spreads. Try it!

Instructions: Just copy this entire post and paste it into your blog. Then add your URL to the end of the path list below, and pass it on! (Make sure you add your URLs as live links or HTML code to the Path List below.)"

Path List:
1. Minding the Planet
2. Firemind
3. third daughter
4.(your URL goes here! But first, please copy this line and move it down to the next line for the next person).

a nice bit of crumpet

A

single dog day but he was a cutie. soup and a crumpet for dinner - yummy winter comfort food. i've tried to use the drop cap as found at mandarin daily so i had to add more text to make it look good. i hope this is enough. obviously not, so i'll just keep prattlng on for a while. did you know that i had my appendix removed 22 years ago this month? they first started to hurt 6 months earlier but i insisted on a second opinion... that was silly. six months later when the 15th opinion matched the first, they came out. i must say, i don't miss them...

happiness challenge:
one of my favourite websites is back in action!

today's soundtrack:
substance : new order - disc one - it suits my mood

mincing monday

i think i've been to some of these restaurants... tee hee hee...



1. What's "it" all about, anyway? 'it' is about truth, honesty, decency & treating others with respect - sadly lacking in too many people these days. some in particular who shall remain nameless but i'm sure they know who they are.
2. What radical political ideas do you have, if any? make all politicians accountable for their words and actions and cut their salary/wages back to that of the 'average' income earner (ha, bloody ha - i'm a dreamer, aren't i??)
3. Do you believe that you 'fit' the profile of your astrological star sign? yippee!!! my question!!! of course i do! typical bloody cancerian - hurt me and i'll hide in my shell but not before i've snapped my big nasty claws at you.
4. Will blogging survive 2005 or is it a fad? it will for me. i have no intention of giving up.
5. Do you Ebay? If so, what and how often? Is it a full-time job, part-time hobby, or just to clear the junk from your house? just a bit of fun. i have sold one thing and bought one thing.
6. True or False: When I vote, I am all for one party. false - i don't give a sh*t. most politicians don't deserve my vote.
7. Meat or veggie sauce on your spaghetti? a little bit of both.
8. Would you ever be on a TV Reality Show? noooooooooooooo!!!
9. What is one thing (or place) that you would like to do (or see) that you have not yet done (or seen?) i want to go to mauritius and madagascar and see lemurs and chameleons on the wild. oh, and i want to go to sumatra and volunteer in one of the places that rehabilitate orang-utans back into the forest.
10. Do you answer memes honestly? very, i think that is fairly obvious...


we only got two points from 10 and are now 2nd on the ladder :(
the good news? i bowled 125, 120, 173 - YIPPEE!!!!!!!

happiness challenge:
apart from my fabulous 173 game, my friend harryo has lent me (on a permanent basis) one of his old minidisc recorder/player thingies. it is one of the tiny ones that weighs next to nothing and i can record stuff using my dvd player because it has a digital output - yippee!!!

today's soundtrack:
the runaway found : the veils - still loving it

subdued sunday

another day of the blahs. dragged my butt out to the ritz to see 'fahrenheit 9/11'. i cried, i laughed and i worry about the state of the world with men like that in charge.

1. Sting:: scorpion
   
2. BMW::
   
3. Jeremy:: ron...
   
4. Audacious:: bold
   
5. Drag Queen:: ...'s cook book
   
6. Title:: miss
   
7. Stamp:: collector
   
8. Bad:: luck?
   
9. Snow White:: visible light & vibration frequencies
   
10. Delegate:: union...
    

happiness challenge:
i only decided to go see a movie at 12:35pm and it started at 1.15pm. i managed to get showered, dressed and at the cinema just at the previews started!

today's soundtrack:
the runaway found : the veils
son of evil reindeer : reindeer section

slow saturday

a very dull saturday. did 4 loads of washing and that's about it.
i'm in an odd mood today and not inclined to do much so i'll be off now to sit on couch and mope and maybe do some knitting & watch 'the young ones' on dvd.



happiness challenge:
the first jasmine blooms on the back fence. i picked some and it's sitting in a cup on the bookshelf.

today's soundtrack:
the runaway found : the veils (from nz - another one of my music stylist, miss e's, inspired choices. i'm liking it very, very much.)
the final straw : snow patrol
it's too late : evermore
hopes & fears : keane
the last broadcast : doves
son of evil reindeer : reindeer section

faking friday

a 4 dog day - the first sighting, while on the bus coming home from work, was a little pug marching importantly down oxford street. i sooooo want a pug of my own.

there was a raffle at work today. i bought 8 tickets but only filled in 5 then handed the book onto vm, who sits next to me. i realised while she was filling in hers that i had to get three more, so vm handed the book to me and we joked about her winning a prize with her first 3 tickets... ha ha ha... guess who had tickets 45-49 and 53-55 and guess again who won 2nd prize with ticket 50??? the way i see it, if i was meant to win, i would have had the right ticket. even i had ticket 50, it would not have been drawn out. such is life.

happiness challenge:
i'm a winner in the friends raffle. this evening, miss e and i went to the spot and got some noodles from nooddi, some cider from the bottle shop and some ice cream from sugarplum then came home, sat on the couch and watched tele.

today's soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol
it's too late : evermore (the support band single i bought at the snow patrol/keane gig - good stuff!)
the last broadcast : doves

So Happy It's Thursday...

we visited our soon to be new workplace today. the company put on some nice luxury coaches to take us there. a single workstation was set up so we could see how it will look - funky flat screen monitors and cordless headsets for the call centre - wooh! the place is HUGE but when the cube farm is built, it will surely lose that perspective. after checking out the view we had a barbecue for dinner (which was provided by the building management company - very kind of them!). it's all a bit of a wank really. i know i shouldn't be negative but it just seems such a waste of time and money and an excuse for some of the bigwigs from melbourne to get a free trip to sydney. having a nice work environment will be nice (the place we are in now is a wreck) but it wont change the management viewpoint on the things that matter... i did take a step forward today and returned the call of a recruitment agency who made a follow up call last week. i really don't think i have the strength to change jobs at the moment but i'm going to go mad if i don't do something - i'm already regressing into old stress behaviour and that's not where i want to be.

happiness challenge:
we were given a 'ticket' for the bus trip. the numbers on the ticket were used for some lucky door prizes - the usual guff of caps, backpacks, water bottles, t-shirts etc. the main prize was a hp ipaq thingy and miss e won it. i was so happy for her and she is very pleased with herself. it could not have gone to a more deserving person. go girl!

soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol - i just cannot go to long without hearing this.

stolen from nisi's via sarah...

Things n Stuff

Ten things you will never hear me say:

1. no thanks, i don't like chocolate.
2. it's 8.30pm - i must go to bed!
3. sure, i'll babysit your three year old!
4. yum, a plate of capsicum and beansprouts for dinner.
5. mmm, bourbon and coke.
6. i love doing housework. i find it relaxing.
7. wow, 41°C - what great weather. i love it when it's this hot!
8. delta goodrem - she's great! so talented!
9. john howard isn't that bad. *
10. i can't drink coffee, it keeps me awake.
(* pinched from nisi)

Nine reasons to befriend me:

1. i can cook
2. i'll keep your secrets
3. i'm funny (ha-ha and peculiar)
4. i'm low maintenance - i don't need to be coddled and fussed over
5. i'll share my chocolate
6. i can't sing, so i wont make you listen to me when i do
7. i'll let cry on my shoulder and pour out your heart when you need to
8. i won't ever judge you but will be there to hold your hand when it all goes pearshaped
9. occasionally i'll surprise you

Eight dogs I want and the names I'd give them:

1. gordon setter - gordon
2. pug - igby
3. labrador - penny
4. jack russell - ziggy
5. schnauzer - rex
6. dalmation - mac (short for macchiato)
7. beagle - snoopy (what else!)
8. a shaggy, fuzzy bitzer - bob

Seven favorite unsafe web HEX colors:

1. um,
2. i
3. don't
4. know
5. what
6. unsafe web hex numbers
7. are...

Six favorite CDs*:

1. snow patrol : the final straw
2. reindeer section : son of evil reindeer
3. doves : the last broadcast
4. eskimo joe : a song is a city
5. duran duran : greatest
6. tears for fears : elemental
* all of the above as of right now. subject to change

Five stores I love:

1. i'm starving - my morning coffee fix
2. any 2nd hand bookstore
3. shoe shops that sell shoes > size 10
4. dymocks bookstore
5. body shop

Four screen names from my past:
1. sfm2406
2. smee4
3. mntsnq
4. marilyn monroe - ha ha ha ha

Three favorite cities:

1. london
2. paris
3. sydney

Two ways to turn me on, baby:

1. talk to me intelligently, make me laugh
2. we'll see what happens from there...

One thing I'd like to eat right now:

1. the first word that came to my head was pizza... not sure if that is what i want but my mind seems to think so...

divine secrets

nowt much exciting to report. 7 dogs. posted off the payment for my e-bay treasure.

spent the evening with mrs jane - dinner at subway (and i didn't have sweet-onion chicken teriyaki!!! had one of the new items, a chicken and bacon ranch 'wrap' which was delicious but i had it with honey mustard instead of 'ranch' dressing, which was way too disgusting.) we went to bingo at the labour club and won zero, nada, zilch. oh well, it was fun to catch up.

happiness challenge:
my ya-ya names:
      my real name: Empress Crazy-as-a-Loon
      3rd daughter: Countess Had-It-Up-To-Here

get your ya-ya sisterhood name here. thanks again to the lovely shirl!

today's soundtrack:
son of evil reindeer: reindeer section

good night!

tuesday marinara

a very windy day today. i hope my roof stays on.

i had lunch with miss marina again today. i'm so glad we have refound our friendship.

happiness challenge:
a 7 dog day. dog number one: as i was waiting at the lights to cross the road at lunch time i saw a lovely white poodle. s/he was sitting proudly on the front passenger seat of a car while a human passenger sat, looking very hunched and uncomfortable, in the cramped back seat. it brought a smile to my face and made me very happy.

and just because there is not limit to happiness: eskimo joe are playing again at the enmore theatre on sept 18th. miss e and i have decided that we simply must go. another scottish band is the support - what an interesting but heartbreaking name for a band...

today's soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol

i'm off for some dinner and to clean up my flat. after several weeks of houseproud susan, it currently looks like a junk/clothing bomb has exploded...

motley monday

it was bank holiday today but we had to work - at least we get paid double time and a half - yippee! would have preferred a day off in lieu but that was not an option.

a 4 dog day. not much else exciting to report.



1. I always exercise my right to vote. (If you are under 18, 'I will always exercise my right to vote as soon as I am old enough to.') true, here in oz we have no choice. we get fined for not voting...
2. I pay little or no attention to the campaign ads aired on television prior to a presidential election. true, especially for american presidential elections i ignore the crap before aussie elections too.
3. I can see myself running for some type of political office someday. false, i'm too honest...
4. I believe we will see a woman become president in my lifetime. true, i certainly hope so!
5. I try to keep an open mind regarding all political issues. neither, i have no interest in politics. they are all liars and cheats who will promise anything to get elected and then break all of their election promises.
6. I believe the drinking age should be raised. true but it would not make a lot of difference. young people will still drink.
7. I think the legal age to vote should be raised. false
8. I thought these questions were interesting. true, but i have to answer from an australian viewpoint...
9. I will be back to play again! true, of course!!
~Bonus~ Question (stole this idea from wild fl0w3r!)
10. If I was the moderator of this meme, one question I would ask is........ Do you believe that you 'fit' the profile of your astrological star sign? (nice way to get questions otto!!)



no bowling tonight - i've done something to my back and it hurts so i'm going to rest up tonight...

today's soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol

UPDATE mark I
oops, i almost forgot my happiness challenge!!
this morning miss e's yearly bus ticket got eaten by the ticket reader on the bus. the people at the bus depot were very helpful and got the ticket back to her this afternoon. i was very happy for her.

UPDATE mark II
the always lovely & generous shirl has very kindly provided me with a link to put a google search on my wee bloggy. thanks shirl!!! you'll find the google search at blogbottom...

happiness part II

mmm... what is it with happiness today - i linked to this via blogsnob and there was that word again...

happiness challenge

i found this at nisi's - i've already post(er)ed my happiness for today but now i'm double happy that i joined this challenge before knowing it was happening

sluggish sunday

another bit of fun with typogenerator...

here is my sunday...


i was soooo tired last night that i was in bed by 10.30pm. this morning, i did not fall from my nest until 11.55am so technically i did not sleep for half of the day... i have done nowt but blogcruise since and it looks like not much else will get done. i'm having a slug kinda day.

1. Testicles:: possibly the least pretty things ever created :)
   
2. Ribald:: raunchy
   
3. Auction:: dutch...
   
4. Inch:: mile
   
5. Tony:: anthony
   
6. Phony:: fake
   
7. Stool:: toad...
   
8. Coyote:: wile e...
   
9. Cinderella:: fairy tale
   
10. Battery:: duracell bunny
    

today's soundtrack:
the final straw : snow patrol
hopes & fears : keane
a song is a city : eskimo joe
the last broadcast : doves
son of evil reindeer : the reindeer section

speaking of snow patrol and keane, i got this poster on ebay! yippee!! i did not win it but got it on the 2nd chance option & paid less than the winner so i'm happy!