tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58448892011-05-30T22:19:03.609+08:00Third Monkey, Hear EvilLife and times of someone who should know better....thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comBlogger371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1149571265004949282006-06-06T13:15:00.000+08:002006-06-06T13:21:05.016+08:00I've discovered that there is nothing like the internet for making me realise how little I'm aware of, just how large the big scary world is, and how obvious my ignorance can sometimes be. The story? I was looking for the lyrics for "Hine ma tov". The first 'oh wow' moment was looking at the lyrics written for spanish readers (oh, my, that's different, why's that different, huh, oh, right, the thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1148972658936345742006-05-30T15:00:00.000+08:002006-05-30T15:04:18.936+08:00more on the CV...Of course, what I wasn't thinking about when I was writing up my CV is that _one_ of the people who was going to see it is a friend. It also didn't occur to me that she was going to show it to other people (duh!). It turns out that it was some of the little 'throw away' bits that she commented on. Stuff that I've done that doesn't actually relate to the job in question, but I thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1148972348177906412006-05-30T14:51:00.000+08:002006-05-30T14:59:08.186+08:00maths, music, and other borderline art/science ideasI was thinking about the Dragon Singer series (Anne McCaffrey - Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums), and why I really like them. This started because I picked them for our bookclub as the book for June, and I was trying to work out _why_ I find them so good. I think it is because in the field of science fiction/fantasy, there is so little thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1148442319255498632006-05-19T14:00:00.000+08:002006-05-24T11:45:19.266+08:00CVI'm currently in the process of updating my CV, and I'm finding it very confronting. It is not so much ignoring things that I'm not so proud of up (I've no qualms about not listing the grade on my psych honours, for example), but trying to put things in that I am proud of, without sounding like a twat. I don't like saying what I do, but I know perfectly well that these are complete strangers, thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1148015340283412092006-05-19T13:03:00.000+08:002006-05-19T13:09:00.293+08:00bought a balloon pump today. Slower than blowing them up by mouth (at least the first few balloons), but without the associated head spin/ache. The funny thing about it is that youngest child is insisting on calling it a pumpkin. She keeps saying 'I put balloon on pumpkin'. Everytime I correct her (hah! I should know better), she smiles, copies me, and then goes back to saying what she will.And thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1144906077850052462006-04-13T13:17:00.000+08:002006-04-13T13:27:57.866+08:00family crapyesterday was my mothers birthday. It made me kind of miserable and grumpy, and today I'm just pissed off with her. For those who don't know, my mother and I had one of _those_ fights on my eighteenth birthday. Three years ago I found her address, and went and introduced my kids to her. I left her all my contact details, and told her the next step was hers. Last year, after not having thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1144905426193868412006-04-12T16:47:00.000+08:002006-04-13T13:17:06.203+08:00AquisitionsWe've managed to aquire rather a lot of new stuff over the last few months, what with xmas, five birthdays, and a bit of a January spending spree when we discovered that we had managed to save more money than we had hoped, so had some to put towards larger items that we've been putting off.Some of the stuff we've been given has been strange, unloved or not appropriate, but some of the thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1142388444251743802006-03-15T09:54:00.000+08:002006-03-15T10:09:55.846+08:00This is a bit of a vent. I've just unsubscribed from an email list I've been on for years. Up until about 6 months ago, I was very happy being on the list, although I didn't have much time to be an active participant. Having said that, it didn't seem to matter if I was participating, because in recent months, anything I've posted has been roundly ignored. But I figured that I was just being over thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1141782654315020362006-03-08T09:45:00.000+08:002006-03-08T09:52:44.250+08:00Post-SwanConWell, we've just made it home and sorted from SwanCon 2006 (West Australian regional Science Fiction Convention, for those who are not familiar with it). It was a pleasant weekend - especially given that there were some concerns about the standard of the convention, as much of the organising committee were new to such things. Guest of honour was Merceded Lackey, so we made the attemptthirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1137745470495045712006-01-20T16:21:00.000+08:002006-01-20T16:24:30.506+08:00changing my lifestyleYou know someone has finally pissed you off too much, when you choose to change an established part of your lifestyle, just to be less like them.So, until I get over this fit of pique, I am no longer vegetarian. I will continue to serve vegetarian food, and respect the sensibilities of my vegetarian friends, but damned if I'm going to be tarred with the same brush. Not sure thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1137732161011410832006-01-20T12:31:00.000+08:002006-01-20T12:42:41.026+08:00mmmmm, dessertHave managed to 'invent' a marvelous, sticky, very kid type dessert today. Required: jelly, and an icecream maker. Make up the jelly as usual, but rather than putting it in the fridge, put it in the icecream maker. Use icecream maker as per instructions. Mine is the type where you have to turn the handle every couple of minutes, it scrapes the ice off the walls, and then mixes it thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1137163278650150622006-01-13T22:34:00.000+08:002006-01-13T22:41:18.666+08:00booksesSo much for reviewing everything I read, and making sane comment. I've been reading a wide variety of stuff recently, not all of which I have any hope of remembering. I've been trolling through home decorating books (and there are some exceptionally peculiar ones, including the one that starts by discussing chakras and their associated colours), reading foodie magazines from the mid 90s, thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1137162495304974872006-01-13T22:25:00.000+08:002006-01-13T22:28:15.316+08:00wheeeeee! broadbandwe now have the evil broadband, which is sucking up my time, and I'm still not geting much done. On the upside, I have at least cleaned out some of my inbox....The whiteboard, on the other hand, is still over one square metre of cramped handwriting indicating things that I'm supposed to consider doing.bah humbug.oh, and to anyone who has my student email address, and I wasn't thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1126665575696666592005-09-14T10:24:00.000+08:002005-09-14T10:39:35.700+08:00thinkingI've discovered an interesting phenomenon in the last few days. After 7+ years of talking all the time about what I am doing, or just talking to keep infants amused, I can no longer just think things through. Instead, I feel the need to talk them out loud - even if no-one is listening, or if the topic is completely unsuitable for talking about in front of toddler. And after a determined thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1120365157959215682005-07-03T12:30:00.000+08:002005-07-03T12:53:22.573+08:00Oh, CanadaWe've been here two weeks, and done some pottering around. I don't mind the place, and the relatives are nice, but it would be much easier if we could just pop over briefly every six months or so, rather than having to trek what feels like forever to get here (and back) and then stay for ages to justify the expenditure of time, energy and money.The weather has been okay - there have thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1114159963394137292005-04-22T16:45:00.000+08:002005-04-22T16:52:43.393+08:00Something about this year is bringing some people back into my life, albeit briefly. The strange thing - most of them went to Guildford Grammar. I met them all at UWA getting on for 10 years ago, and I haven't seen any of them since I graduated that uni. So far, I've met one at the local swimming pool, with his ~7 yr old daughter, one has been in contact via email, I met two at a mutual friends thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1113885399768881232005-04-19T12:33:00.000+08:002005-04-19T12:36:39.770+08:00RhubarbThis is a stupid book. I don't care that it is about places I know, or anything else. I hated the characters, the wanky lack of quote marks around the speech, the sometimes forced mentions of rhubarb (plants, concoctions, whatever) in (I think) every chapter. There was one positive thing in it, but later in the book it turned out not to be a triumph of the human spirit, but rather morphinethirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1112763783771749722005-04-06T12:55:00.000+08:002005-04-06T13:03:03.770+08:00Life has been its usual fun self, and I've not managed to get to my blog to write about it. I really shouldn't be here now, except that I'm at uni, attempting to do an assignment that I really don't care about, that is so far overdue that it is getting very very embarrassing.But the important thing about today is that it is Bryn's birthday. After the scare (meningitis) of last year, I'm really thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1106783304161244772005-01-27T07:36:00.000+08:002005-01-27T07:48:24.160+08:00It's going to be a quiet year...
...and I can tell this, because I woke up this morning and decided to do a fanzine for SwanCon. It's not like home, family, study, and other fannish activities are going to take up every waking hour, and some of those I should be sleeping in as well.
So, for anyone who knows my email address, or can find it somewhere, I'm interested in submissions. I'm not going thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1102855920170631562004-12-12T20:42:00.000+08:002004-12-12T20:52:00.170+08:00slackOkay, so I'm slack. I've not posted anything in months, and there must have been lots I've done to write about. But if the state of my thoughts are anything to go by, I doubt I've done anything.
Some things in life have changed. The family and I are living in a shiny new(er) house, with lots of space. Some things haven't. The place is still chaos, and I still can't find a whole heap of thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1097936279536845372004-10-16T22:09:00.000+08:002004-10-16T22:43:32.900+08:00Favourite Book
The ABC are running a favourite book campaign, and I'm having difficulties. I've considered Lord of the Rings, or other Tolkien, I've considered the Menolly books (Anne McCaffrey). I'd go wandering along my shelves to think about it, if the books weren't all either in boxes or at someone elses house. Somewhat frustrating. I've thought about my favourite authors (Dianna Wynne Jones,thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1097935733749853912004-10-16T21:48:00.000+08:002004-10-16T22:58:49.590+08:00For Love of Mother-Not
Although the title here sounds like this could be a rant about kids, it is in fact the title of the book that I've just finished reading. It's by Alan Dean Foster, but I must admit, I keep wanting to say that it's written by Piers Anthony. Not for any reason that I can think of, either.
And it's awful. Road crash awful. Good premise, okay plot. But it suffered from have thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1091022570061835332004-07-28T21:39:00.000+08:002004-07-28T21:49:30.060+08:00cookbooks
Cookbooks are one of my favourite playthings. I use them when I'm tired, to look for ideas. I use them when I'm bored, to think about things that I'd like to do some time. I distract myself with them when I'm supposed to be doing other things. I look at them for the sheer pleasure of finding out what other people do with food (or at least the preparation of it). So recently, when somonethirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1091021610768077952004-07-28T21:31:00.000+08:002004-07-28T21:35:32.836+08:00This is a piece I wrote a while ago, but have only just made it electronic...
Hospital/Hotel
It's been an interesting few weeks (I want to say days, but looking at the chunk out of my life, I realised it's been over 2 weeks) - stuck in a hospital, watching a sick baby, slowly getting immersed in a somewhat surreal feeling existence, coming to believe that it's never going to end.
This is thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1089163714597828872004-07-07T09:12:00.000+08:002004-07-07T09:28:34.596+08:00nursing (breast) pads
(beware, for people who know me, there might be more here than you want to know)
Okay, so there are a lot of things I've been thinking about commenting on recently, but this is one thing that has impinged on life quite a lot lately. I've friends who say they've never had a use for these contraptions, but for me, they are wonderful.
I've always tended to go for the washable thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1086159213808469842004-06-02T14:35:00.000+08:002004-06-02T15:12:56.270+08:00time in review
Well, I've been away from the great wide web for a while, courtesy of hospitalisation of infant, difficulties with computers, and sheer laziness. I'm in my standard mid-year slump - the list of things that should get done is increasing much faster than my motivation to do any of them. I could blame this on smallest child (now 2 months - a girl to complement the older two boys), butthirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1078465958574437322004-03-05T13:52:00.000+08:002004-03-05T14:18:34.500+08:00Whinge. Ignore at leisure....
Well, I started this blog to talk about books, and whinge about life with kids. I seem to have done lots of the former, and not that much of the latter. Not that I'm really going to change that with this post, but the topic I'm going to whinge about is kid related...
At this point I'm at the significantly uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. I've been quite large for athirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1076315899855261872004-02-09T16:36:00.000+08:002004-02-09T16:55:31.623+08:00Well, it's been a while since I've had time to post anything - I blame summer school holidays, which seem to have left me with no time to get near a computer, no energy to do anything, but lots of reading seems to have been done! The pile of books that needs to be reshelved is getting dangerously tall - probably going to fall and land on one of the kids, given that it is balanced on top of some thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1070859179938200182003-12-08T12:52:00.000+08:002003-12-08T12:53:11.090+08:00For some odd reason, I've been doing a bit of rereading of books recently. This week, I've been reading the Galactic Mileau (sp?) trilogy by Julian May - 'Jack the Bodiless', 'Diamond Mask' and 'Magnificat'. Although I've not quite finished the third one, I'm still going to comment on the set.
Just a few observations before I actually comment on what I think of the books. The further through thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1069894660783774992003-11-27T08:55:00.000+08:002003-11-27T08:57:49.810+08:00Just a quick one: Of the people who read this blog, did any of you borrow a Women's Weekly 'Best Ever Cakes and Slices' (or some similar title)? I can't find it anywhere, and I've just discovered that all of the cake recipes I use are in it. Given that I bought it about 10 years ago, I'm not very hopeful of finding a new copy (and it won't have all of my helpful notes on the variations I've made,thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1069826107715369252003-11-26T13:55:00.000+08:002003-11-26T14:03:45.400+08:00McCaffrey, Anne
(warning: to understand some of this post, it would help to have at least encountered the titles of some of Anne McCaffrey's works, as I'm not going to necessarily discuss them explicitly)
Having been talking in the previous post about books that I do and don't reread, I thought I'd discuss one of those authors that many of my friends love to hate. Now, I wouldn't object to thisthirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1069825736578228822003-11-26T13:48:00.000+08:002003-11-26T13:49:04.690+08:00'Magician' by R Feist
Raymond Feist, ex-RPG designer, short-to medium bibliography of fantasy (won't say trashy, I've only read the one, and a horror one). The blurb to 'Magician' tells us that he is a great new writer, and mentions the RPG history. The next book in the series, which is a reprint from much later, doesn't describe him in nearly as glowing terms, fails to mention the RPG history, thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1067409530665518492003-10-29T14:24:00.000+08:002003-10-29T14:38:51.696+08:00This ones for Chris (and anyone else who has ever wondered why the Wiggles are so popular)...
Wiggles - four unattractive examples of new age Australian males who formed a band. But unlike the traditional plot for this kind of story, these are (I'm told) trained early childhood educators, and the band that they started is aimed at the preschool market. And boy have they done well.
I gather thatthirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1067408643339816492003-10-29T14:16:00.000+08:002003-10-29T14:24:16.443+08:00Well, was writing a lovely commentary on the most recent issues of F&SF to land on my couch (Thanks Justin!), but have managed to press a wrong button somewhere and lose the whole thing. So, to paraphrase:
Have the Sept, Oct/Nov and Dec issues. Have just finished the September issue, on to the December issue. Really shouldn't be reading as much as I am, what with assignments, but younger son andthirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1066638621374907562003-10-20T16:30:00.000+08:002003-10-20T16:30:21.173+08:00From last post: the Greeley book was "Happy are the Meek". I've also read "St Valentine's Night" in the interim, which is interesting in that it is set in the same general location, with several of the same people, but the point of view (and the mystery solver) are different. Rates as well as the other tho'!
I promised a friend verbally that I'd review the Wiggles (yes, the colour-coded lunaticsthirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1065432853306745142003-10-06T17:34:00.000+08:002003-10-06T17:34:13.040+08:00Well, it's been a week. Or possibly several. I had lots of things I was going to write about, when I finally got near a computer, and at time-I-should-be-going-home (and collecting kids), I can't think what any of them were. Instead, I'm going to talk about crime/mystery stories. I kinda like this genre. And I kinda don't. Depends on the author (some) and the topic (a lot). I've spent the weekendthirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5844889.post-1064218801534021772003-09-22T16:20:00.000+08:002003-09-22T16:21:18.170+08:00Hokay, so I should be hard at work doing something else, so I thought I'd join the throng, and start a blog. I'm intending to spend whatever spare time I can get to write things here reviewing things I've read/seen/eaten, and whinging about life. Not that I don't get enough practice at the latter, but at least this way I'll see how coherent I can be. thirdmonkeynoreply@blogger.com