Autumn Zebra

At work, I decided I wanted fancy tea, so went through the building, briefly outside, and then into the organic food shop. I'm wearing my paint splatter effect tights, nearly-knee-high very expensive brown leather boots, orange dress with the purple striped top underneath, and a red and blue tartan cloak (so I figure I don't fit in anywhere). (They are my favourite clothes.) I ended up doing some very expensive grocery shopping, getting only 5 teabags as I am trying the dandelion and burdock flavour, no-salt NZ peanut butter made from Aussie peanuts, organic yellow yams (oca, from South America), organic cha soba (green tea noodles) and spicy blue-corn chips. I have some crackers at work that I might try some peanut butter on as I work late this evening. The soba luckily have a little recipe on the back for an appropriate soba sauce, which I might make, and somehow I will cook the yams and mix them with salady things I got from the Farmer's market last weekend, and that...

Outside the Farmer's Market today, and a few weeks ago, there was a guy busking - with a drum kit. Which is something I haven't seen before, and looks pretty unusual on the grass lawn, with a few saplings growing nearby, outside the railway station. I took my camera to the market a few times after I saw him the first time, but he wasn't there then, and then I didn't have my camera today. Very unusual. Today, in addition to the crazy drumming, only 50m away we had a bag-piper who may have been busking, or may have been there simply for general ambiance, as they like to have bag-pipers for special occasions and in touristy places (like the railway station). Anyway, bagpipes and drums at most 50m away from each other equals a lot of competing noise... Exciting Farmer's Market purchase today: crab apples.

3 little sewing machines, all in a row. The centre one is my good sewing machine, the Bernina 840 which was unfortunately not going properly so the sewing machine man is coming tomorrow, and hopefully he only needs to clean it or something... :( It's good. I hope it gets better. The one on the left is Mum's Globe which I am using instead of the Bernina, and which I borrowed before I got the Bernina. It's pretty good. It's quite heavy - that's how you can tell it's good. If I've got my companies right, then it is actually a copy of a Bernina. The one on the right is my first one and is the worst sewing machine ever, which is why I eventually borrowed Mum's. Not only is it terrible, but you actually feel insulted when you use it. It was the cheapest one available though, but I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone as unless they are very enthusiastic it will not help them to enjoy or improve at sewing. I use it to do button holes as I don't know h...

Two videos I found quite funny. An Engineer's Guide to Cats , by engineers. Suitable for other non-engineer people as well. (approx. 7 minutes) Something from an Australian TV Program(?) - Who will receive the Trojan horse ? Features real wooden horse. (approx. 2:45 minutes) EDIT! More from the Australians - why you should dress like an American rather than "a crude Arab cliche" if you want to film or take photos of landmarks or nuclear power stations.

The online shop "Edible" has rare and unusual food items such as chocolate covered ants and Thai curry crickets or even sugar-free toffee-candy with an edible scorpion inside. You can order them and eat them. There are non-insect products like the "brandy like liquor fermented in a cask with lizards" and a lollipop made of ground pearls and sugar. The stuff is fairly expensive although it's not like you're likely to be buying it frequently. They seem to ship all over the world. I'm not sure if I would want to try any or not. Maybe. http://www.edible.com/shop/

What would be a good name for an autumnal coloured zebra? I can't think of anything. Imagine if you had an albatross in a tophat called Whimsy and an orange-yellow-brown zebra called.... What?

We've all seen A Dress A Day (well, some of us have), but have you seen Skull-A-Day ? And that's the little thing they have on their site for people to use to promote them. I believe it is a link.

At work, there is a gap created by someone moving away an empty desk for use elsewhere in the office. I suggested that we put a pit there and keep dragons in it; some one else said they would prefer a couch. pfft.

The sun is so bright here, when it's out, that the world looks like a badly taken over-exposed photograph. Things end up looking whiter then they are supposed to be or reflecting pure white instead of their colours. Details are washed out in the glare. Things end up looking stark and strangely lacking in true colour. The sunlit parts of this picture are more-or-less what I mean, taken in Oamaru, but doesn't convey the proper brightness. I don't have another photo of the effect because it tends to look ugly, and the sun is not yet at it's worst for today so there is no point in taking one right now. Some people like sunny weather, but along with making me feel exhausted, it also hurts my eyes and even in moderate brightness I have to look straight down at the ground - which ends up hurting my back and neck after a while - and I generally am still squinting or have one eye shut and it still hurts. This includes if I'm wearing a brimmed hat, as simply looking at things...

I saw a sign today that went a bit like this (with actual pictures, instead of words saying there are pictures): Which do you pet, and which do you eat? [picture of cat] [picture of pig] WHY? GO VEGETARIAN and keep the spirit of Christmas alive. Does anyone get this? Not withstanding the problems with people who really like pigs, and those who are happy to eat a cat, I don't get what it's got to do with the spirit of Christmas. (Although, Jesus was Jewish, and they don't eat pork, and probably don't eat cats either, but I don't think that's what they meant.)

We got a letter from the council telling us that our hedge was encroaching vegetation, and that encroaching vegetation, in general, can be a danger to pedestrians and motorists. Our hedge wasn't encroaching much. It had blocked some of the pavement in one section, but the pavement is rather narrow there in any case, and there is a metre or two of grass beside the footpath before you get to the road, so I think it was fine. This is our hedge before: And this is what G did to the cable of the hedge trimmer. Luckily, we had an outdoor surge protector thingy, otherwise bad things might have happened. His confidence was shaken initially and he wanted me to finish the hedge ;) but he went and got another cable and then resumed cutting. G did the road side, and I did the house side and most of the top:

An online quiz with a difference!! Find out the worst about your worst personality traits. I got: Brute You are 42% Rational, 0% Extroverted, 57% Brutal, and 57% Arrogant. You are the Brute! You are introverted, arrogant, brutal, and more intuitive than rational. Like a big, dumb animal, you are driven by your emotions more than your reason, and as a result of the fact that you care very little for the feelings of others, you tend to be rather selfish. You also possibly fling your own poo. Because of your selfishness, you also tend to be a bit arrogant, seeing yourself as big or strong or smart or always correct. This makes you a stubborn, irrational, emotion-driven brute. King Kong best represents the gorilla-version of your personality. Emotional, introverted (King Kong was isolated on his own island, after all), brutal, and arrogant (proud to be the largest ape on Earth!), Kong would probably get along very well with you, seeing as how you share many of the same traits. As...

Thanks people for your congratulations, and hope to see some people tomorrow - just an update for anyone around reading now - the ring engraver had a heart attack so the rings had to be sent to Wellington, but we got them back 2 days ago. The ring engraver is apparently still alive, so that is good; the best man missed his plane - he is arriving tonight but his new plane is now delayed by an hour, the groom is at the airport waiting for him; the cat broke one of the cake decorations (we painted little Warhammer 40k figures, awww; they are about 1 1/2" tall) but it is glued back together now; my mother and sister each spent over an hour picking shoes and now they aren't sure they are right. My shoes were picked in 5 minutes off the bargain table, and I'm not sure I am that worried about them; the groom is totally stressed out; the groom and bride are both ill - we went to see a movie today and I had to leave half way through to have a major coughing fit, you know, from all...

I think our cat, Slayer, occasionally suffers from hallucinations, as she will sit there and rapidly look from one place to another as if she is watching something, but there is nothing there.... She is also very jumpy and nervous, and will startle often when you come near or if there is any kind of sudden noise. This may sound relatively reasonable, but the same sudden noises or appearances of people will, at the same time, not startle me. She often gets in "pinball" moods, where she will run backwards and forwards through rooms and through the house, generally stopping before she hits things, just bouncing off and obstacle and going back more or less the way she came. Often obstacles like couches and tables will be approached and climbed as if they were merely more flat ground with no loss of speed. Sometimes she will run towards an obstacle and jump and put her feet on it to springboard herself back the way she came, like when you approach the end of a swimming pool, put y...

Ha ha, silly title, Dunedin is silly. Last weekend was great. As well as buying Plucky and a giant overnight bag (thanks for your comments about how great Plucky is by the way, I have passed them onto him), we went to "Port Fest". This is what that involved: Oh yeah, baby. A few people sitting around by the asphalt at Port Otago , by the woodchip piles, listening to random people, some absolutely awful and incapable of singing, sing. Or try to. There was a sausage sizzle. There was a Mr Whippy, or whatever the place selling icecreams was. There were some absolutely minimally inspiring displays in an enormous shed about 100 years of frozen meat shipping. However, there was also this: Which is a small section of a straddle carrier . Apparently that is what they are called. I don't know why I didn't actually take a picture of the whole thing while I was there. How silly of me. There was also this: A big ship with 3 cranes. Yay. And then I got to stand around eating a su...

In the weekend, we did many things, and one of those things was shopping. We went and bought Plucky from Kmart. Plucky is an Easter duck. Possibly, since he was the only one at Kmart and there didn't seem to be shelf space for any more, THE Easter Duck. I don't know why they only had one and bothered to advertise it in their mailer, and I don't know why he is an Easter duck, rather than a regular large duck, but I think it probably has something to do with the Easter Duck getting rid of the Easter chicken somehow and taking over the egg laying for itself; no doubt in league with the Easter Bunny, or Rabbit, if you would prefer. Here is Plucky: And here is Plucky again. Plucky is a large duck you will have noticed: Mum thought I had called it "Clucky" but I am actually not quite that weird. Plucky is a good name, both a word on its own (think courage and determination) and also reminiscent of feathers. We also bought me an overnight bag. An expensive overnight bag....

This link will take you to pictures of the Christian Dior spring 2007 Couture collection, by John Galliano. (If you were wondering how that works, fashion houses have to hire new designers when the original, founder designer dies, in order to keep going. But then if you're not sure who's dead and who isn't, and if the hired head designer changes, it can be hard for a casual observer to actually know who designed stuff. Pictures in magazines are sometimes attributed to "Dior" for instance, rather than "John Galliano for Dior".) It is pretty awesome, and crazy, and pretty awesome. The " runway review " that you can also get to from that page is idiotic, for instance, saying the designs are "delicate". Umm, no. No way are they delicate. About as delicate as an elephant I say. They are large, heavy, heavily constructed items in bright colours that try and smack you in the head with a mallet. I think they are too stiff and out-there to b...

On the Dilbert Blog today, Scott Adams wrote about being easily amused and the (strange) things he likes and prompts readers to list their things they like. So I thought I would try and think of some things I like, that are a little more unexpected and odd, not things like cats, fashion, or other things that many other people actually understand. You should add yours in the comments (because I told you so). Read the linked Dilbert Blog for more information. insects - but not ugly ones - especially weta, beetles, cicadas, stick insects fabric, of course - esp. the feel of natural fabrics leaves rows of short lines or dots (eg. quilting stitches, African body decoration) series of smaller and smaller things that fit inside each other the sound water makes high and extremely high magnification photographs of pretty much anything colours names of people moving mechanical things other things not that mechanical- pipes , machinery, cables , dams and control gates , electricity pylons Tha...

After spending 1.5 hours last night searching the entire house for the battery charger to charge the batteries for the digital camera, I didn't find it, and today we bought a new one. Thank goodness. Now I can start taking pictures again of everything. Then all I need is a digital SLR someday.... If we're lucky, the courier will deliver my stuff from ihug today and I can have internet at home by the weekend!! Otherwise it won't be until at least Monday. The sooner it's done the sooner... umm, something. I also bought this album at lunch time, Holy Wood by Marilyn Manson ( Amazon link ) Mine has a slip cover over it which is plain on the front and some weird picture on the back. It is also R18. Although I really like my other Marilyn Manson album and it is one of my favourite CDs I have and I really wanted to get another one, I didn't really want to buy any of them because (other than the fact that the newest available at the shop was from 2000 and none were cheaper ...

Our cat seems to love catching insects in the dark and then bringing them inside and tormenting them and lying on them before eating them, although sometimes she just leaves them on the floor if they are moths. It can be useful to get rid of annoying flies. I don't really get why she lies on them or rests her head on them, particularly since whenever they move she sits up and shakes her head around, as you would to if a beetle tried to crawl into your ear. And cats have comparatively large ears. On at least a couple of occasions, including just a few days ago, our cat has caught a weta. I really like wetas and think they are pretty awesome. This seems to be pretty much at odds with the views of everyone else, who apparently think they are very ugly, and various native names basically mean ugly bug. New Zealanders may be unaware of the fact that wetas are in fact found in a variety of countries, generally those somewhat near NZ or that used to be joined to it along time ago, like Au...