Last night, him on the phone, ranting angrily about "Christians" for quite a while. Then suddenly he stops and says, "Oh. I'm so sorry. You're a Christian, aren't you. You're not like them, though."

This morning, SMS from him. He's at Mass.

I'm puzzled.

This afternoon, I was thinking about Doctor Who and the way in which daleks and cybermen always return. Even after they've been utterly destroyed and gotten rid of and shall never be seen again.

But next series, there they are again.

Having hidden behind the sofa.

Just brush off the cat fur, and there we are. Like some sort of elderly relative wheeled out at Christmas. They're ready to go again, away to terrorise the solar system and try to bring the universe to an end. Or destroy all humanity. Or hand out elderly peppermints. Or whatever their latest activity may be.

All that said, I still really like Doctor Who and not just because David Tennant is in it. But really, what about a new kind of monster/alien being that's appropriately humanity-free and wonderfully intimidating?

^ Devil kitty, his eye and him about to pounce. I know the pic of the pounce is all blurry, but the way his tongue is poking out in concentration is too cute.

He's a nutter. A scratchy, grumpy nutter.

Overheard on the peasant wagon today

Random chumpy ginger guy: She's got a nice personality.
Girl he's with: People always say that about fat girls. If you haven't noticed, I'm not the skinniest girl in the world. If I ever hear you saying that about me, I'll punch you in the nuts.
Random chumpy ginger guy: *looks fidgety*

Mum and Dad sent me their spare copies of Dad's Army DVDs and videos and I watched the episode Ring Dem Bells this afternoon. Nearly cried with laughter over Pike standing out of the top of the van, being all German soldier-y.

I love the gentle ridiculousness of Dad's Army.

Pike: (dressed in a German officer's uniform and speaking with a German accent) Schweinhund! You haf five seconds to tell us your plans or it is kaput! (back to English accent) I like being an officer, don't you, Uncle Arthur?

I am in lust with this.

Why must it be in Germany!?

In other thoughts, this site dedicated to the work of Verner Panton is really fascinating. And kind of kitsch, but in a wonderful way.

Obviously I have a schitzophrenic approach to interior decoration, considering the ultra-sleek prefab modernism and then the 60s/70s glorious horror. And how my house in no way currently represents either of them, but a total jumble of styles.

Reminds me to finish painting, actually.

A paradox, a paradox...

Photo from The Age.

To be honest, I'm actually rather excited about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) being fired up today. This might be a fantastic way of finding out more about particle processes, dark matter and explore the differences between matter and anti-matter.

Maybe there is a possibility of it causing black holes or the end of the universe or something, but meh. Why not see what happens? I highly doubt it's going to cause the end of ages or the world to be sucked in to itself or a profusion of purple velvet flared trousers to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

I'm astounded the scientists working on the project have been receiving death threats (and that article is also fantastic for this bit: "Prof[essor] Brian Cox of Manchester University, add[s]: 'Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat.'"). You sort of wonder, "What, so people are saying, 'If you cause the end of the world and kill everyone, I'm coming 'round to kill you!'?" People have more to worry about from climate change, and yet they get all hot and bothered about some particles colliding.

Even better is that there are a couple scientists who say this could be the beginning of time travel (see the quote by Professor Cox at the end of the article). Obviously they've been watching too much Dr Who. And who knows what might happen if people went back in time and accidentally stopped the LHC being created or some other paradox...

Update: Oh my goodness. People really are that stupid (although it is the Herald Sun) (thanks, RP).

^ Mucking around with the lillies and a torch last night.

^ Photos from Friday night.

There comes a strange moment in a relationship when you realise that someone sees you in a very different (and rather inaccurate) fashion, compared to the way you actually are. It's their fantasy version of you who's far more interesting than the real you. And they're so sure that their version of you is the real one that no matter what you say to the contrary, they think you're being cute/a liar/a cute liar.

Which is awkward.

And kind of sad when you realise just how dull you are...

H'anyway.

I have tonsillitis. Lucky me! Just when I started feeling better on Thursday and was thinking, "Ah, finally this 'flu is gone!" I woke up on Friday with an uber-sore throat. By Saturday, swallowing was agony. By Sunday, I'd made quite a lot of jelly. Jelly's really nice, but not for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Went to the doctor today to see if there was anything I should be doing about it, but the only thing I really should have done was stay at work. Doctor said whatever I was doing was working and they looked like they were getting better. Hurrah for Betadine concentrated sore throat gargle. The doctor also said it's not something to really worry about when it comes to sharing it, as it's inside the mouth. I just said, "Ah, so no tongues then." He laughed.

See? This is how exciting my life really is.

^ Stump and metal.

^ Tree sap stuff.

^ Arum lilly curl.

^ Flowers found on walk at lunchtime.

Random recent conversation

"Girls don't like scars," he tells me, referring to the scars he owns. Not that I'd actually really noticed them.

I think about it for a while and then say, "I think they can be kind of hot. Maybe they make people look more interesting or something like that."

"Maybe."

There's a pause.

"How did you get that scar on your back?" he asks.

"I fell in the shower when I was 12 or so," I reply. "When it happened, I could put my whole hand into my back under the skin. Blood everywhere. It took 17 stitches to close it up. But it's all good. The scar's a lot smaller than it used to be, really."

"It's still pretty f*****g huge," is all he says.

I like the scar on my back.

Walking to work

It should be a time that allows for philosophical reflection.

But instead, today I had a medley of Fiddler on the Roof songs going through my head. That was rather peculiar.

After three weeks of the 'flu, I feel like I'm finally emerging from the 'flu-haze and returning to some variety of normal. Or whatever normal may be when it still involves having a sore throat that feels like I've been gargling razorblades. Rather emo.

The worst thing about it has been the head fuzziness, which has led to saying things quite spontaneously and without prior editing. This has included describing Bono as a "serially annoying pompous git" to U2 fans and telling a guy who struck up a conversation with me in the supermarket on Friday that he was "gorgeous." Which he was, so that's okay.

But self-editing is a good thing on the whole.

And that's where I end this for today.

Spring is (nearly) here...

Why doesn't the breeze delight me? Spring is here, why doesn't the night invite me?

Starting spring cleaning is hard.

Moved some stuff around, but still haven't really made any progress. Also haven't gotten any further on a landscape of Melbourne I've been trying to force myself to complete. It's currently languishing on the dining room table, the most recent place for it to be moved to.

Sometimes art is hard, particularly when there's not much time to do it. Or inclination.

Plus there's all the dustbunnies to round up and exterminate.

Spring resolution: give more things away to charity. Then they get to deal with the things I'm not sure I want any more. Lucky them.

On another train of thoughts entirely, Midsommer Murders has a secret tunnel on it tonight. Back in the old house, I always wished we had something like that to match with our fantastic cellar.

Too many books?

I'm trying to clean up the house - a serious spring clean. But it's taking a while. For a start, there's too many books and I keep pausing to read bits of them. I need another bookshelf or something like that. I've got an idea for something like a bookshelf headboard for my bed - something that sort of surrounds the bed at the head. Maybe with a light included...

But not being a carpenter, I think it's more idea than reality.

I also want to do a whole lot of cooking, but I'm not totally sure what to cook yet. Maybe another lot of caramelised onion, leek and roast pumpkin pies. Or cakes. Or some other variety of delicious thing. Gourmet Traveller and delicious. magazines inspire me a crazy amount. The latest Gourmet Traveller has a recipe for persian nougat, which is making me think, "Ooh, that looks complicated. I could make that!"

Kind of like the puff pastry recipe they had a couple months ago that's got me wondering whether or not I could actually make it myself. Has anyone tried making puff pastry before? Is it really that complicated? Or just utterly time-consuming?

^ Some photos from where we were doing filming during the week.

^ A photo of the lake from on holidays.

I'm thinking of warmer weather and so on at the moment, as I'm still afflicted with this God-awful 'flu. It's worse than ever, dammit. Yesterday I was meant to meet friends in the city, but I took some Codral early in the morning to help me soldier on.

The only thing that did was make me soldier on with the puking. So I spent the day either sleeping or throwing up. Grossness. Fell asleep in the afternoon and only woke up at 8.45.

I HAAAAAAAATE being sick.

And I'm never touching Codral ever again.

But I shall think about a nice lake instead, warm weather and more pleasant times on holidays. I love holidays. Need more of them.

^ Mum's birthday flowers.

^ The painting where it lives now.

Reasons I Hate Borders

Mainly, it's because whenever I go in to one, I have the overwhelming urge to buy practically everything in the store. Also, you just want to spend hours there. Which isn't really the best way to spend the day.

When I was visiting Mum and Dad, we dropped into a Borders store near them. Within minutes, I'd found a huge tome of Pablo Neruda's poetry and a good Wilfred Owen collection. I'd thought that would be good enough, but then while I was poking around in the fiction section, I found seven other books I just had to buy.

See, that's the problem with Borders. They've got such a huge range of stuff, which means that they've got things other book stores have to order in for you. And I hate waiting for things to be ordered in. Being able to just pick it up off the shelf is such a satisfying feeling.

So there I am, wandering around Borders with a mountain of books in my arms and a look of sheer ecstacy on my face.

Also found The Mighty Boosh 3, which I bought.

I feel like I should type in a hushed whisper, but I really didn't enjoy it. Perhaps it's because of having the 'flu from hell, but there were hardly any parts that amused me deeply. It was a big difference from the first two series, which never fail to make me laugh outrageously.

The books are all most excellent, though.

The day I slept with Chopper

With an interesting title like that, you'd be expecting more than what you're about to get...

Last Friday, I flew up to NSW to stay with my parents for about a week. I arrived nice and early at the airport and discovered on entering a large group of cameramen waiting for the Hawthorn coach or something like that. After checking in and wandering up to the gate, I saw Stephanie Alexander. Then Dipper was around in a gate near the one I was leaving from.

Come time to board, I notice Mark "Chopper" Read is at the front of the line. I wasn't sure if it was him at first, but then the lack of ears was kind of a give away. Thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be funny if I was next to him." Instead of giving it more thought, I msg'd a few friends about it and L messaged back to say not to ask about Keithy.

I get onto the plane and you know what? I am sitting next to Chopper.

Which was kind of awkward, because everyone stared at him and he's kind of intimidating. But there was some smalltalk and headphone wrangling and so on. But once we took off, he fell asleep.

And snored.

Kind of like how my grandma used to.

I took my cue from that and though, "I've been up since 6am, may as well have a snooze!" So I dozed lightly and in spite of it being Jetstar, the flight was actually rather enjoyable. Obviously the answer is to sleep through it so as to avert the thought that with it being Jetstar, things may not go quite so well as they might with other airlines. Qantas not included.

And thus, this is where the blog entry title comes from.

Apart from that, the week away was great. Still have this awful 'flu, though. That was one thing that amused me, actually. Thanks to the 'flu, my voice has gone all deep. It was deeper than Chopper's. So much wrongness.

If I hadn't seen Azrael on Tuesday (after an absence of about a month), I might have thought this is what could have happened to him... (Thanks to Lina for sending on the vid!)

As it was, he looked beat-up enough. Some scarring on his face, a rather nasty cut above his left eye and looking generally out of sorts. Maybe he'd just been busy beating up all the other neighbourhood cats. He looks the sort to enjoy that kind of thing.

Birthday snow part one

Snow for my birthday made things perfect, even though I've got the 'flu most unpleasantly and was feeling about 1/4 conscious. And I'm older now than I was before.

But then again, I'm even older now than when I typed that last sentence.

Anyway. The snow was fantastic! It had been cleared to the summit, and there were hardly any people there. We were in work clothes, but cruised around for quite a while, taking loads of photos, plunging through the snow, getting snow down my boots.

On the way back down, some lady in suitably sensible snow gear said to me, "I bet you're regretting wearing that skirt!" I said I wasn't, because it meant I didn't have trousers that were getting soaked instead. I mean, my knees were somewhat cold, but it wasn't too bad. And I'm that sort of impractical girl.

By gosh, I love snow.

"That was Chinquo. He was my friend. As children, we played together in forest. My father warn us, 'No go too far, for there are hunter at t' edge of forest.' But Chinquo curious, he always say, 'Bollo, please, please let us go to edge of forest,' over and over and over. And so finally, one day, I chopped his head off. Cup of tea anyone?" - Bollo, The Mighty Boosh.

Birthday snow part two

^ Somehow it kind of made me think of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The icicle had dropped off the rock that had a whole collection on there and just the top of it poked out of the snow. So I uncovered it and as I did so, remembered where my winter gloves were at home.

What timing.

However, I think my hands are actually colder tonight at home than they were up in the snow today. It's freezing tonight. And I have no Milo. But I do have The Mighty Boosh DVD amusing me at the moment. So I can laugh as I freeze.

Snow and 'flu

^ Snow!

Sooooooooooo cold today. And I have the 'flu rather badly. Which is just in time for my birthday (tomorrow). The excitement never ends really. My voice disappeared last night near the end of filming. At least it lasted for most of the time, but by the end, it had become something that sounded like I'd recently given up a 10-pack-a-day habit. So that should be interesting.

The only thing to do is embrace the Anticol.

In other thoughts, why couldn't it snow here in the town anyways? Surely it was cold enough if it managed it elsewhere. Plus ads for Double the Fist remind me of the mullet I saw on Friday. Rather horrifying.

Garlic bread's good for the 'flu, right?

^ New shoes.

I'm not totally sure what I think of them, but I kind of wanted them the second I saw them. When I got them home, I thought, "Hmm... They're more like gladiator stripper shoes. Oh well!"

Now for some more clement weather to wear them in.

Update: I actually found some shoes that were somewhat similar in a French Vogue from around the middle of last year. It's nice how long things take to get out here in Australia...

Went to see The Dark Knight last night.

Most excellent, particularly Heath Ledger.

But the amusing thing about the whole thing was:

A) The "Dark Whopper" ad. We were all in stitches about it. But it got better, because it was followed by...

B) An ad for condoms, including "king sized" ones. And then...

C) An ad about how Australians love big things. It was for some Big Eats canned food thing. By that time, we were all laughing until we nearly cried.

Very immature, but oh-so-funny.

Anyway. The Dark Knight was really very good. Christian Bale was great. But Heath Ledger was amazing. He completely embraced the character, and I think it sort of showed how poorly so many actors now days (attempt to) act. So many of them are simply themselves with a little bit of a change for a character, but Ledger really was The Joker. He was too fascinating to be scary.

If you've not seen it, do. But try not too laugh too hard about Dark Whopper burgers. Or big things.


*bwahahahahaha*