Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Musings from a Crowded Mind

Bushfire sun. Melbourne sky 8am Wednesday 13th December 2006.

**********

It is my firmly held belief that all aspiring agents at Real Estate School are missing a crucial subject in their curriculum; to wit, proper usage of the English Language. I admit that I might be unable to spot a split infinitive at 50 paces like some bloggers. Notwithstanding, my fascination for real estate boards has given me plenty of material in support of my belief. Here is the latest one bothering me.

I keep wondering whether to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe this IS the place one needs if one has slapped a demmed blaggart across the face with one's glove, issued one's challenge and made the all important decision between swords or pistols? Who knows? But I suspect this has more to do with upstairs and downstairs toilets...

**********
Lots of blogs are featuring their lovely Christmas trees. I thought I'd display our scrappy and chaotic one. Notice the lovely handmade star on the floor next to the tree? Yeah. That should be on top. The boys are a bit fascinated by the candy canes, and a few decorations have hit the floor as they hide and seek them. My excellent eye for detail meant that I only noticed that 3 days after I took the picture...

I have a thing for the smell of real pine-needles at Christmas time. The downside to the heavenly Christmas-sy aroma is of course the cleaning up of the dropped pine needles in January. As the original I-hate-to-housekeep girl, I'm not sure why this doesn't bother me too much. Possibly I live in hope that Fixit will deal with it? (Fingers crossed!) Last year I'm pretty sure Nell took care of it for me, but she was living with us then, I surely couldn't expect that again this year ...

I've included a close-up shot to display the handmade decoration I won from Kirsty, just for knowing the name of Suzy Quatro's character in Happy Days. (Leather Tuscadero, sister of Pinky)

**********
On Saturday night I will be performing with 4 tap-dance students (including Nell! Go Nell!) at the Darebin Council's Carols by Candlelight . This is what I'm wearing. Yes, yes, with a shirt underneath and some Yuletide accoutrements. Wonder if this is what all the other tap troupes will be wearing this time next year?
(Don't mind me, just my little bitchy private in-joke.)

The boys will be having a sleepover with Grandma and Pa (and they are very excited!) Fixit's got his work Christmas party. So I hope the photos and video footage work out so I can show the performance to my family later. And also obviously that we are really good and steal the whole show.

**********
Last Saturday it was waaaaay too hot to cook, so we ordered in, and as a special treat, we ordered in Japanese. Yum. You'd think. But we won't be using that so-called restaurant again. Everything was slightly under par but this was the last straw. Check out the Yakitori Chicken. They've used Birds Eye (or equivalent) frozen veg, the bastards.

How did it taste, you ask? Well, I'd prefer a meal from a food court to this.

14 comments:

  1. Yes, my favourite was an agent who claimed that our suburb was a very sort after area. On printed card, no less.
    But watch those apostrophes, or lack thereof. It is = it's and its = possessive pronoun.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I took the same photo at the same time this morning (albiet from the other side of town but still...)
    Kids sleepovers with the grandparents are great. Mine are off to theirs this w/e too. Bliss, for everyone.
    I'm sure you'll wow them at the Carols. We don't have anything nearly as interesting here. And that chicken? Yuck. They call that Japanese food?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Argh, forgot the apostrophe in kids, and I'm too tired to think where it should go :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ditto tired LC. The sky was amazing, wasn't it? I think a lot of us were getting out the cameras this morning. And wishing we'd brought the washing in. Hideous smokey smell.

    Another Picky Person, you just made me scroll anxiously through my post looking for it's/its. Couldn't find one (possibly because I am quite cross-eyed now!) but noticed an offending instance in a previous post title so have amended - many thanks! Duly noted! (ps. are you my mother?) I've seen sort after before, drives me nuts!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Interesting that you still settle things with duels in Australia! Reminded me of the "personnel" watermelons they were selling last summer at a market near us....oh, and how about this sign at a filling station---"obsoletely" no checks! enough to make your hair stand on end....after you've finished laughing that is.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Read down the sign, hit 'duel amenities' and started to giggle. Perhaps the back yard's about 40 paces, 20 in each direction from the center?

    Cool bushfire sun.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh blech to that awful looking food!
    I can's seem to get many posts to work on the comments, but now I am getting nervous.
    I had no idea the grammar & English Police were keeping watch!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Duel amenities.

    Let me guess. A good house for a piddling competition?

    Your Christmas tree is the first one I've seen this year that looks recognisable, which is comforting.

    But no more candy canes for us. We had a disaster one year with the dogs discovering them, and getting stuck into the tree while I was out. They got tangled in the fairy lights and I arrived home to a ruined tree in the back yard and 2 very freaked out, sticky dogs on their mats in the laundry, dismally failing to look innocent.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, Meggie, they are everywhere, and fighting back: they never rest, because they never get a chance to relax. We are the Eats, Shoots and Leaves battalion. Egregious errors leap out and bludgeon you, but if you've had a hard day, sometimes you don't even register the blows, and that is even worse. Today's ABC bushfire reporter talked about the situation having deteriated.
    And well-spotted, Stomper. I am indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was about to ask if you all had read Lynn Truss' (note there is no additional s after the apostrophe!)book Eats Shoots and Leaves.

    Go Girl at your tappin' carols do. Pics please. And the outfit it too cool.

    And as to the Yakitori - shouldn't it be renamed the Yukitori (Oh I just had to put that in there!)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Another Picky Person is welcome to get pedantic on my ass any time they like.

    You'd think that 7 years with a writer would have taught me where to stick the apostrophe. And the less said about split infinitives, the better.

    But, no....

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gold stars for the amusing comments, internets.
    Molly's obsoletely no checks, Ewe's crack about the 40 paces, Meggie's grammar police, Shula's candy cane disaster and Nutmeg with the Yukitori all gave me a chuckle. As did my mother.

    ReplyDelete
  13. My God - where to start ... what a long blog !! I've started on several like this .. so much on my mind, things to share, silly things, not-so-silly things ... and then I forget, then remember again, and then it's too late to blog about it ... anyway...

    I also took a picture of that sun, something else I meant to blog but didn't ;) I couldn't capture the deep orange though, and it came out kinda white.

    I think your tree is lovely. I can see you decorating it in your short-alls. Ye-hah ! Daisy Duke watch out !

    And yes, your Japanese looks like puke. Hope that Helps ;)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I can see loads of fun coming up, with such an open invitation. Thanks Shula and Stomper.

    From the bus in George St this morning I spotted

    Streak's tint's
    Mens Pensioners

    ReplyDelete

Don't let the cat get your tongue.