Monday, December 21, 2009

Ferns



Stream



Curl

Flinders

The Quarter



Meh-tro

The most outrageously expensive bound books ever seen


Well, by me at least.

And they were just notebooks! But they were very pretty.

The silence


If you've been wondering why things have been a little quiet around here lately, this is just one of the reasons why. I've been busy getting my house on the market for sale. And thankfully, within five weeks of it going on, it's been sold. The main reason for that is because my job was made redundant. Which has sucked a fair amount, but such is life.

Plus redundancy means they pay you to go away, so that's not too much of a terrible thing ;) More like a slush fund for travel!

The main problem is that I have absolutely no idea what on earth I'm going to be doing in the new year. Or where, for that matter. Really should get on to working that out. Family wants me to come to New South Wales, friends want me to stay in Victoria, I have no idea what I even want to do do. It's all a challenge.

And people keep asking what my plans are. As if I know!

Might just have to resort to making something up and telling them that I'm moving on to become the chief wig wrangler for Her Majesty or something.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Cue "misanthropic" rant

I should start by stating that this isn't directed at friends who are in various stages of the breeding process at the moment before I go further.

But I read some interesting articles recently.

Janice Turner's Worship of children has gone too far

Nancy Gibbs' Helicopter Parents: The Backlash Against Overparenting

I'm not overly fond of children. Although recently, I realised that it was more than I am not fond of parents who allow their children to behave like complete jerks. It's not the kid's fault when they're little - they're learning about social situations still. But their parents know how to behave and shouldn't act as though they're being persecuted when people are unimpressed by little Tarquin smearing banana on a wall.

Or shouty small children in cafes.

Especially when they're screaming, "I NEED TO WEE!!!" at the top of their lungs while the parents just ignore it and keep on chatting. Parents who comment, "Oh, she's so independent already!" while watching their child running around said cafe shouting loudly should possibly be locked in a cellar. I wasn't aware that being independent was code for screaming child jerk. I presumed at the time that the child's little brother who had been smashing his fork on the table for five minutes was showing how musical he was already.

But thank you, entitlement jerk parents, for sharing that with us.

Just because you've managed to force something watermelon-sized out of your vagina doesn't mean that you're any more special than anyone else who's managed to do the same thing at any point in earth's history.

And no, people aren't annoyed because you're blessed enough to have two kids and they're just bitter about having forgotten the magical joy of childhood. They're annoyed because they're fond of their eardrums and, strangely enough, eating in peace. Who would have thought?

But we're really the selfish ones for that, because we don't understand about that special thing that is parenthood. And never will, because screaming about needing to wee at the top of your lungs is obviously part of the beauty of life. Although you do wonder how those parents would react if an adult started bashing forks on tables and running around screaming about bladder function.

Actually, I'd pay money to see that. It'd be a fascinating experiment.

Anyway. I digress.

The long and short of it is that it's surely not all that hard to ensure that your children behave in manners appropriate to their surroundings. That doesn't mean they have to sit around at all times looking like they've been given five Valium. Just that people ensure that their loinfruit learns how to act in different social and environmental settings.

*end rant*

I hate truffles


I made far too many truffles yesterday. They're Christmas presents for people at work and some neighbours - it's cheaper than trying to find something for everyone that's different, people like chocolate and in some ways it's kind of fun to do something creative.

In other ways, I hate it and I hate truffles. By the time you've made more than 60, you are so tired of seeing them. The next 60 are just as infuriating, especially when the white chocolate for the mint ones decides to be temperamental. But at least they're all done and people are saying they're delicious.

The one I think would probably taste best would be the pistachio one. I made six different types - plain, rocky road, mint, pistachio, butterscotch and ginger. Will probably make the pistachio, plain and ginger ones again. The rest? Meeeehhhhh effort.

Colour


Wisteria