talula

Kiddie's ABC

I just heard a 3-4 year old sing the ABC it went something like this:

A B C D E F G H S T J kaka Meeniooo. Concrete Truck R H J S T.

Wonderful.

Balance

I'm a libran*, so balance is pretty important to me. I want a balance between time spent places. I don't want to feel like I'm only at work. I want to feel like I'm getting enough sleep. I want to feel like I don't watch only one type of movie.
Balance betweem friends and family is hard because I don't live with my family anymore.

I do have a balance ball though, and I'm getting better with that, although last night I did the video and pulled something in my back, which is OK except I couldn't sleep on that side, and apparently I want to sleep on that side a lot. Go figure. My sleep was thusly broken, as I had strange school room based dreams that I kept waking up from with pain. Plus Lee was stealing the duvet again. We need a better system, one that gives us balance.

*I'm also a librarian, but that's more about order.

Animal ark

First of all, I'm sorry that my entries haven't been hugely exciting lately. Just haven't felt like blogging. I've been thinking of things that I could put on, but they seem kinda trite. It didn't stop me from putting up pony pictures, you'll realise, but that's just the sort of girl I am.

Contrary.

Evie can vouch for that. (I don't want the candy bought specially for me, I want that other candy, that Evie bought for herself and picked specially.)

In other news, we had the final of our Sunset Buffy role-playing game on Tuesday and it was an extremely sad ending for me, although not for my character as she doesn't have the information yet.

You see, the *real* problem with having an empath demon for a boyfriend is that he's still a freaking DEMON. In other words, kind of inherently a bit evil. So even though he did it to get out of the evil cult and be with me in a devoted type fashion, he sold out one of my friends to the cult as a sacrifice.

Which is wrong.

And, you know, she got away with my help and then had a vengence on for him and the show ended with Buffy preventing him from running away and handing him to Charlotte to do whatever she likes. Charlotte is also a slayer. Of course, Jo doesn't know that Bax put Charlotte in that place, she just knows Charlotte was in trouble and I helped her escape. Bax ran away.

So, yeah, my big Buffy romance was exactly what it should have been: Lovely and Tragic. But that doesn't make me feel happy at all. At least I didn't die I guess.

Where can you see lions?

Only in Kenya.

Music, animation, extremely cute lions.

I love it, I have the song stuck in my head. It's soooo cuuuuute!

New ponies

This morning I dreamed that Giffy and I were guest speakers for Anime and Armageddon at a high school. We were dressed in bizarre costumes and did a talk and then fielded questions. The school had a very high proportion of cosplayers, so I was very happy. In my dream the English language version of Chobits was called Pumpkin Chobits. Those crazy Americans, translating everything all kooky.

Good for me

I did a Beginners Pilates workout video yesterday morning. It was quite hard, but I had so much energy after it that I cleaned the house.

I felt great!

People came over in the afternoon for board games. We played "Acquire" which is an evil corporate capitalist game that I seem to be rather good at, as I came second. Fun!

We played Cranium, which I suspect I may in fact have played too much, as it is good fun and I like it a lot.

We played Settlers, and I decided that I want the 5-6 player expansion and also the seafarers of Catan, because I really like playing seafarers. I didn't win, because I'm better at the first half of settlers.

Then we played two games of Beanie. Everyone loves Beanie. you love Beanie, I love Beanie. People who have never played it should play it. Beanie is great.

Today my legs are achy from the workout, so I did the mat workout part again today, and my legs are still achy. Pilates is good for me. Ouch.

Also, on Saturday I bought a new My little Pony, her name is Sew-and-so, which is funny if you've watched the Teen Girl Squad cartoons off homestarrunner. Also she's the sewing type pony, so appropriate for me. She's lovely. I'll post a picture later today.

Sparkler

*Picture removed, Sparkler was getting self conscious!*

The pony that came in the mail. I have Sparkler again! Hooray!

Too Late

I nearly called this entry "too Lare" which while it sounds good, makes no sense.
A whole bunch of books were book-released in Wellington yesterday evening. This means they were left somewhere for someone to pick up and keep. or read and release again.

The problem with book alert is that people are always releasing books at an inconveniant time for me. They leave them places that it's hard to get to, or I have to be at work or something. *sigh*.

It's hard to type with one hand because the other is holding a breakfast donut.

I'm still having dreams all night. That's cool. Last night I dreamed about going to a sexy Antonio Benderas movie at Reading. Only once the ticket people had torn our tickets it was a veritable maze to the theatre. We had to go downstairs and round little corridors and then up some other stairs. It was like Reading if designed by Escher. Cool.
The movie was good too.

Tomorrow will be fun, visiting my parents and then roleplaying madness. Yay!

. Man, I'm insipid in the morning aren't I?

Hello Mr Zebra

Work is busy busy, so I am writing after work instead. What am I doing?

I finished the book of Big Fish, and it was good and I liked it.

I've been taking class visits and reading "Wolves in the Walls" by Neil Gaiman, which they all get, and like, and laugh at the jokes. It's great fun. Now I just need to convince the others we should do a poetry module and I can play them Tori Amos reading "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout". That would make me happy. I must spread my obsessions...

Last night we had changeling and it was good and I liked it, even though my character had some rather disturbing things happen to him regarding an old love.

I've been having nights full of little dreams about things that really happen and things that don't. I have discovered something. *Every* time I realise that I'm dreaming I use that knowledge to wake up. I never seize control of the dream, I just wake from it. This is a little annoying as I'm sure I could make some cool stuff happen if I tried.

Trademe is still addictive. There are so many My Little Pony's to be had. I just want so many of them! Just the pretty ones though.

Also, I am very tempted to upload pictures of Evil Demons, just to placate the person who searched for them and got me instead. I will put this off though, and instead watch some more anime. Sailor moon I think, then Azumanga Daioh.

yawn, blink

I dreamed that my alarm went off and it was very loud and it surprised me. Then I was awake. But then my alarm actually went off and it was loud, but I wasn't very surprised and then I was actually awake. Stoopid dream.

More search terms hilarity

Evil demon pics
death demon pics
chloroformed Tara photos
neopolitan lolita board

bdsm
anime photos Amalthea
scrapbooking layouts batman
"the scroll, the scroll"
firebird fairytale

Maisy Mouse.

movies and the weather

On Friday I went to see 21 Grams. It was more arty than I had expected, with handheld camera action and grainy film quality. This doesn't bother me at all, but the overall depressiveness of the story and the characters was something I didn't cope with particularly well.

So much pain and misery in one movie! The last minute happy ending was too little too late for me. I thought the actors all did spectacularly well, and I guess in a way I'm pleased I saw it, although it didn't give me anything to think about or mull over except a feeling like I was going to be in a car accident all weekend. Maybe I'm not pleased I saw it.

After all that, we came home and watched Kiki's Delivery Service, which is a studio Ghibli film and just wonderful. Cheered me up no end.
It's about a 13 year old witch who leaves home for her independent year or training and sets up a broom-based delivery service in a seaside town.

I loved this. her cat Jiji is so cute it makes you go "what the Hell?"* Every time that cat did anything it was terribly cute and adorable and I loved it.

If you like animation, if you enjoyed Spirited Away, you should watch Kiki, it's very light and cute and just lovely.

*quote from Azumanga Daioh.

and now for the weather. I am wearing today an outfit that I would normally wear in the middle of winter. Seriously. We've got the heaters going at work, and it's supposed to be the middle of summer.

Railway lines have been closed, Wainui is closed. No-one can get in or out of Kapiti or the Hutt. Read about the storm here. Awful stuff. I feel half dead today because I was woken so many times in the night. Fingers crossed the Gale Force Southerlies die out today like they're supposed to.

Global climate change sucks.

Top ten

Lines that happen in movies a lot (made up, so probably not true):

1. Let's get out of here!
2. (poetry is read aloud) That is so beautiful.
3. Do you think any of that matters to _me_?
4. Nooooooooooooo!
5. Get out of here! (alternatively.. Get out of my house/life!)
6. We'll always have (Paris, New York, Winter, this day...)
7. I wish I'd never even met you.
8. Don't say anything...(don't move)
9. Bond, James Bond
10. Wha' happened?

heheh. Go watch Mighty Wind if you don't get number 10.

Lines from Princess Bride:

1. Hello, my name is Inogo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.
2. Buttercup: what about the R.O.U.S.'s? Westly: Rodents of Unusual Sizes? I don't think they exist. (Is then attacked by one.)
3. W: I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely.
4. Goodnight Westly, good work, sleep well, I'll most likely kill you in the morning.
5. Not to fifty!
6. Woo-ooo! Humperdink! Humperdink! Humperdink! Humperdink!
7. Vinzini: No more rhymes now, I mean it. Fessick: Does anybody want a peanut?
8. You've always been so kind to me and as soon as I get to the bedroom I'm going to kill myself. King: Won't that be nice, then?
9. Do we _have_ to hear the kissing part?
10. As you wish.

This has been a Friday theme.

How to....

customise a my little pony's hair. That's removing the old stuff and putting in something new. Fun.

Wheee!

Got my My Little Pony today!

It is making me ridiculously happy, so it must have been worth the small amount of money I spent. She's just so pretty!

I am now reading the book of Big Fish which is written by Daniel Wallace and is great fun already. I'm only a wee way in.

Last night we watched some more Witch Hunter Robin which I am enjoying immensely. Then the first half of Edward Scissorhands. I haven't seen Edward for so many years now, that I can only remember pieces of it. Lee doesn't want to watch the second half when everything starts to go wrong, but I can't even really remember what happens. Except the end, where he moves back into the mansion.

So, I will be watching the rest.

I also want a huge Tim Burton designed cookie making machine as seen in the opening credits. It's just too cool. I wonder if there are any listings on trademe?

The problem with...

Having an empath demon for a boyfriend is that well, empathic!

So he finds out that these people need his blood to perform a spell, and yeah, that's *all* his blood, but because he picks up on what other people feel and want he's like OK with that. They really want this and it will help them, so I'll give it to them. No thought for personal safety because he doesn't in a lot of ways have his own personality. He's a kind of amalgam of whoever he's around.

So, he's in with a potentially evil group at school because he rooms with it's leader. You can't live with someone and not pick up on what they feel, and it's like a zillion times worse if you're an actual empath demon.

Plus there's this whole thing where he's feeling what everyone else is feeling but before they know they're feeling it and before they have worked out what it means.

This means that he can see to a degree what's going to happen next relationship-wise and gets jealous of something that *has never happened*. This is not just annoying, it's confusing as all Hell.

Still, you gotta love the guy. Especially since he chose me over the crazed witches and now I'm super-cool with the Slayer powers he's a bit worried that he's not cool enough for me.

..............This has been a Joanna rant, based on Hix's Buffy game "sunset".

Kitty and wool

edit. 19.4.04

Why do cats like wool so much? Tommy grew out of playing, she got too old and cool for catnip mice, but as soon as Mum started knitting she'd have to eat the ball of wool. She was drawn to it with an inevitability.

Long weekend, where art thou?

I wish every weekend was a long one. *sigh*

I have been spending a lot of time, although not a lot of money on trademe. It is very time consuming to look through all the thousands of listings and find what you want.

So far all I have bought is a My Little Pony. She's called Sparkler and was the very first My Little Pony I ever had. I gave her away to needy kids or something about 10 years ago and have regretted it late at night when I can't sleep. So, it'll be great to see her again.

I also bid on one called Windy, which was the second one I had, but I got outbid at the last moment and then the auction closed. Well, thems the breaks I guess, but it does seem very mean, when I was leading on the bid for days. Also there was a vey pretty one called Moonstone, but someon'e put 'autobid' on it, which means they automatically outbid you when you place. Which means if I chose to I could just keep bidding and they'd have to pay heaps for it, but I don't get it either way, so there's no point.

Went to Giffy's, Margie's and Regs' new flat last night, it is very pretty and lovely. Happy Birthday for yesterday Margie!

This morning I finished reading my latest teen romance Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning, which is a fantastic account of a garage band that actually succeeds and how awful it is to be a rockstar. I loved it to bits, although a little let down by the end. Very well written.

Sewing stuff is fun.

I made a rainbow fairy doll this week. She is very pretty. She has rainbow wool hair and a purple dress with pink sleeves. She has a rainbow stiped overskirt and pink wings.

Not sure what I'm going to do with this doll. She might be a gift for a niece in a year or two, or I might keep her for when nieces visit. Or I m ight give it to one of my friends for their birthday....who knows?

It's just fun to create.

Mooks everywhere

I've been very busy this week at work. We're a tad understaffed, so I've been working very hard. This makes me tired when I get home. So I have no time to blog at work, and no desire to when I get home.

I have however, seen three movies this week, that I would like to share with you. The first was The Belleville Triplets, which I saw courtesy of Svend at Weta theatre. Thanks Svend!

It is an animated French film about a grandmother and her grandson who is a champion cyclist in the Tour de France. I liked this movie, but there were lots of things I didn't like about it, and I won't rush out to see it again in a hurry.

Primarily the style of animation was very grotesque, and this doesn't normally bother me. I can watch people getting decapitated in anime and not think much of it, but there is a scene in Triplets where the main guy is eating. He was eating green goo, and we watched him chew and swallow and the sound effects were quite real and it just made me feel sick. I don't think this bothered anyone else in the place, so don't let me put you off, that's just how I found it. Also, the eating of frogs was gross.

The music was very cool, though, and the main theme "Belleville Rendezvous" is ridiculously catchy.

The second movie of the week was The Last Samurai, which was...OK. Actually I quite liked it, although it could have used a bit of editing. I really liked quite a lot of this movie, all the Samurai warrior philosophy was very nice and the landscape is gorgeous. A nice epic. Not too Hollywood.

The movie I saw last night was a preview showing of Big Fish, which is Tim Burton's latest and has Ewan Macgregor in it. I just love it when things come together like that. The film is about a teller of tall stories, and it was fantastically well done. Ewan is lovely in it, all smiles and Alabama accent, and Tim was restraining himself with the weirdness, so I think a lot of people will like this movie. It is not Monkeybone. I liked monkeybone, but I don't think I know anyone else who did.

Big Fish is sort of like a boy version of Fried Green Tomatoes. It has a very cool huge catfish in it. It rocks.

Characterisation

This is me and Jarratt at Kapcon, he's Leo, I'm Piper. You can tell just how in character I am from the serious and worried look on my face. Now that's characterisation.

Great fun, that night.

Beanie

By Request.
The rules of Beanie.

Beanie has been described as "real time gin rummy" but with other rules. I'm not sure how helpful this is as I have never played gin rummy.

Everyone is dealt seven cards. The goal is to get rid of all your cards. You do this by putting down sets, such as a bunch of sixes, or runs, like 4,5,6 of clubs. Runs must always follow suit, and aces are always low, you can't put an ace on a king. As soon as you have three cards that match you can put them down, it doesn't matter whose turn it is. Everyone can put things down at any time.

You can add to other people's sets if you have something that matches, you can do this at any time.

The kicker is that every round there's a 'beanie' card. It is a wild card and it can be used however you like. The first round beanie is kings, the second round it's queens and so on until you reach aces.
Beanies can be added to runs instead of the actual card, then if someone has the actual card they can put it in and take the beanie.
Beanies cannot be added to full sets, such as four tens, but if there are three tens you can add the beanie. If someone adds a card to a set where there are three of a kind and a beanie, they must take the beanie. If it is two of a kind and a beanie, they can take it if they want it or they can leave it.

The person to the left of the dealer starts.

On your turn you have to draw and discard. The draw pile should be in the middle where everyone can get to it. You may pick up from the discard pile, but if you do you have to take the *entire* discard pile. This can be painful, since as soon as someone has put down all their cards they say "Beanie!" in a loud and excited manner. No-one else can put down any cards, and whatever cards they have in their hands at the end count against them.

Scoring:
The person who beanies gets no score.
cards ace-nine count for 5 points
cards ten-king count for ten points
Beanie card = 25 points, so don't hold onto them unnecessarily.

After the scores are totted up, the person who started the last round dealt and the next lowest card is the beanie for a whole new round.

If the draw card runs out and no-one has beanied, the person whose turn it is when there are no cards in the draw pile can choose to draw the discard pile. If they choose not to, the round is ended and scores are added up.

Have I missed anything? Does that make sense?

Finding Me

So, last week the most popular search term that lead people to me was "Maisy Mouse". I'm sorry if you came here looking for exciting information on your favourite little picture book mouse.

Next most popular was "googilism" and this comes up all the time. People just love reading baout other people's adventures with googilism. Now I've said it heaps more times and more people will find me that way.

Other good ones include:

Chii naked
Whitcoulls stock digital camera
"a kiss is not a contract" poem
"russian fairytale" porn
Legolas hot
Tori Amos sneezing
Welly girls
Lord of the Rings plastic fake playful swords

In pieces

This is the late version of the Friday theme...

My car failed it's warrant on Friday. The guy read me the list of reasons over the phone and said "To be honest, if you get this work done it'll be OK for six months, but you shouldn't try for the next warrant. You should throw the car away. It's falling apart."

Well, that'll put a damper on your mood. The thing with a car is that it becomes a part of you. Once you have one, you don't want to have to live without it, because it becomes the part of you that gets you places quite fast. My car used to belong to my sister. She had it for a good few years and she got it second hand too. I knew it wasn't going to last forever, but I didn't make any good plans for what to do when it died.

I feel like I've lost something, and I hate losing things. On the flip side, we have the possibility of a good car reasonably cheaply. Waiting to hear about that today. Fingers crossed.

The other thing about Pieces of me, is that it's from one of my many favourite Tori songs (Tear in your hand). It has the line "If you need me, me and Neil'll be hanging out with the dream king." referring to Neil Gaiman and the Sandman.

It's also catchy and pretty and I love it.