Monthly Archive for August, 2009

Oops, Missed a Couple

Published on August 31, 2009 in Books n Stuff and Pop Culture. 1 Comment

I  was thinking. If you were an actor, writer or singer…..would it be better to be a wildly successful one-hit wonder, or would it be better to be a moderately successful stayer? I mean, where can JK really go after Harry Potter? Same for Daniel Radcliffe.

I missed a couple of books from the last post:

Robin Klein – Came Back to Show You I Could Fly. It is the school holidays and Seymour is stuck at home. By chance he meets the dazzling, unreliable and charismatic Angie. The unlikely pair become friends until Angie’s dark secret is revealed. Successful Australian author Klein writes a novel that is moving and hopeful and so very 80s.

Kathy Evans – Tuesday’s Child.Journalist Kathy Evan’s youngest child Caoimhe is born with Down Syndrome. This novel is her journey through the first few years of Caoimhe’s life and the associated shock, grief and joy. This was a confronting and beautiful story.

Stephanie Meyer – The Host. I was really worried about this one. It is a big ask when an author has a spectacularly successful series is expected to create the same magic. And you know what? She does it. I devoured this novel – a romance barely disguised as a sci-fi novel. The sci-fi aspect isn’t particularly believable but I was so wrapped up in the other bits I didn’t care. if you haven’t read it, earth has been taken over by body snatching aliens. However Melanie doesn’t let go of her mind and past easily and Wanderer, the new owner of her body falls in love with Melanie’s boyfriend. This leads them ‘both’ on a quest back to Jared and Melanie’s little brother.

My Nose in a Book

Published on August 30, 2009 in Beloved, Books n Stuff, Nostalgia and Pop Culture. 7 Comments

I too keenly feel the land of make-believe sometimes and it troubles me. Troubles me to be in the real world, where the back lawn is covered in airedale poopies, my arse is fat and my husband has to use two tissues to blow his nose regardless of the actual booger factor.

I am hiding away in my study, trying to cope with reality when all the books and stories are clamouring in my head.

My reading:

Catherine Jenks – The Reformed Vampire Support Group. In this story of Aussie vampires, there is no super strength or speed but a bunch of  sickly vampires trying to cope with their never ending existence. Things get a little more exciting and dangerous with 15 year old Nina and her therapy group are stalked by a slayer. I enjoyed this different take on a vampire life.

Joan London – The Good Parents. A country girl for Western Australia moves to Melbourne and is seduced by her boss. When her parents come to visit her they find she is missing. I enjoyed this quiet, sinister and beautiful story, perhaps  more so because I recognised some of the places, even though the country town of Warton was fictional it felt like Narrogin.

Julia Lawrinson – Suburban Freak Show. This story was another recognisable one, with Jay, a Perth uni student navigating her way through her first year of university with a greenie housemate. I really enjoyed the writing rather than the actual story – very witty.

Audrey Niffenegger – The Time Traveler’s Wife. This was a reread and the latest novel I have been lost in. I think I enjoyed it the second time because I knew what clues to look for. I found the ending hard – it was so sad, romantic and I also felt frustrated at Clare. But I guess a love like that is worth waiting for. If you don’t know the story, it is about a man called Henry who involuntarily travels through time. Henry  meets Clare for the first time at 28 , while she has known him all her life. We see how they negotiate every day life when Henry could disappear at any moment.  Awesome book, love it to bits and I hope the movie can do it some justice.

J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I can’t be arsed giving these a proper review, not out of disliking them but rather because I imagine you have all read them. I have read the first 5 books a number of times, but this was only the second time I had read the last two. I gobbled them up, realising I have forgotten a LOT of events. I can’t wait to see the last ‘battle scene’ in the movie. It felt like it was written to be translated nicely to film. As noted in a previous post I felt a bit sad after finishing them. Sometimes you don’t want things to end and people to grow up.

Reap What You Sow and Stuff

Published on August 24, 2009 in Books n Stuff, Can't be bothered categorising, Cranky/Dopey Bitch, Fur Baby, Queen Me and Teaching. 0 Comments
  • Stuff you, you little effing turds. See if I give a rat’s arse! You know what? I have a job. I have a lovely husband, a newish car, a decent house with nice furniture and gadgets aplenty. I have all the books I want and the capacity to buy more. My wardrobe is okay, I have hobbies I enjoy, friends, family and a fur-baby I love. I have been to Europe, Africa and university.   And you know WHY, you hormone-filled whinge bags? BECAUSE I LISTENED TO MY TEACHERS AND DID MY SCHOOL WORK. I mean, my parents did have something to do with it but that’s a mere technicality. So. the 9 out of 31 of you who handed in your assignment – well done. May you have as nice a life as me, if not better. The rest of you? Pull a fucking finger out before it is too late. No, this assignment is NOT directly going to gainfully employ you but as I always pontificate, the motivational and thinking skills you use to get it done will.
  • I am watching series 1 of True Blood. Wow! Awesome, kooky, dirty and very funny. A southern Twin Peakswith vampires. Bit graphic – way too many booby shots in the first scene. Anna Paquin is nicely and very clearly characterised as sweet and strong. Though all the wide-eyed, lips-parted, lingering looks get grating after a while.
  • Played Wii Bowling on the weekend and sustained a  hamstring injury. Dickhead.
  • I have never been as heavy as I am now in my life and I am not pregant nor pleased.

Mega Quick and Mostly Pointless Brain Fart

Published on August 18, 2009 in Books n Stuff, Can't be bothered categorising, Cranky/Dopey Bitch, Pop Culture and Teaching. 3 Comments

Just nipping in to chuck some feelings down. I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last night. It is only the second time I have read that one. Same with Half Blood Prince. And now I feel strangely unsettled. I don’t want it to be over. Or rather, I don’t want them to grow up. But time moves on. Sucks. I like how in theory HP is around my age in ‘real life’. Heh heh – do you like how I use ‘in theory’ and ‘in real life’ in the same sentence? And Snape. Sigh. I knew he wasn’t a baddie. But didn’t we all?

Anyway. I gotta go to work and teach some kidlets. And I hope I can shake this feeling. It is kinda like grieving.

Rethink the Drink

Published on August 12, 2009 in Beloved, Can't be bothered categorising, Married Life and Queen Me. 2 Comments

You would think that being of a mature age, I would be a seasoned drinker. And that I am. However, occasionally a drinking disaster comes along that makes you rethink your drinking strategies.

Beloved and I were invited to a wedding.  A small do, with the reception at a swanky Perth restaurant. As the custom with most weddings, there was a gap between the ceremony and dinner. So we set ourselves up at the restaurant bar, chatting and having a few drinks.  I was merry, sipping and gossiping; the celebrating groom filling up my glass, making up for the tardy wait-staff. There was some flat-bread and hommus but other than that I had last eaten a banana and 2 rice crackers at 11am.

After 2 hours of waiting we were finally to be seated. It was then I realised that I needed to pee. Once enthroned in the bathroom, I realised I felt very, very sick. I managed to return to the reception and order my meal and take one spoonful before I realised it wasn’t gonna happen. I asked Beloved if he wanted to come outside with me for some fresh air, which he did. It was outside that I began to bawl like the lush that I am: ‘I am so sorry Sweetie, I feel like such an idiot!’ He dutifully patted my head, said it was okay and collected our stuff. In the meantime the groom’s step-mother came and checked on us, saying she got our meals put aside, and asked if I was I okay- I looked pretty sick. I have never felt like more of a doofus. I was so looking forward to enjoying some nice company and fine food, not to mention dragging Beloved away from his pal’s celebration.

On our way home, 7pm-ish on a Saturday night, I managed to puke on three major roads. I got home, changed into my pyjamas and passed out on top of the bedclothes. When I awoke the next day I felt surprisingly good. Which indicated it was not the amount of alcohol that was the problem, but the lack of food. What a rookie mistake!

I spent the rest of the weekend cringing and writing apology emails.

Harry Potter and the Melancholy Bee

Published on August 4, 2009 in Beloved, Books n Stuff, Can't be bothered categorising, Nostalgia and Pop Culture. 3 Comments

I haven’t got a proper post in me, but some things I would like to mention:

  • My Beloved and I cannot play board games together. If we are on the same team I bitch at him if he stuffs up and if he is on the opposite team I pay out on him. Although, now that I think about it, we did successfully play ‘Buzz’ – a music trivia game on Playstation 3 without killing eachother. But that is probably cos technically it isn’t a board game and we were kicking ass.
  • I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night. I liked it. I really don’t know why everyone chucked a fuss initially saying that the actors would be too ‘old’ to play their characters by the time the final movies came around. I think they looked just about perfect. However I must say that I think Ginny would look much more striking if she was a little more Ranga-ish(that is Aussie slang for a red-head) like she was in the previous movies. Bits I loved? Harry and the ‘pincers’ and Cormac McLaggen being all sexy with his dessert. I think I may have snorted.  Bit from the book I wish was in there? The stuff regarding Snape and his time  as a student at Hogwarts. (Edit: I just read the book again and the bit I was thinking of wasn’t in this movie. I perhaps think I am thinking of something that was in the 4th(?) book but not the 4th movie?) It humanised him. I felt really melancholy at the end of the film. There are still 2 movies to go and I know how it ends but the movies are darker, the kids are growing up, I am getting older and these films have been so comforting and familiar.
  • A Facebook acquaintance has found out he is going to be a dad. How far gone is his girlfriend is? 8 months. You read it right. 8 MONTHS. I really cannot fathom this. I have heard of people giving birth without even knowing they are preggo but this is actually someone I ‘know’. Does this baby not kick? How big was this chick to start? And how unaware of your body would you really have to be not to know? Odd.