| Portraits of 2009 |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|10:21 pm] |
Well, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) stephiepenguin did a post on pictures that she took during 2009. So I'm pinching the idea and doing the same. All pictures of people, many of whom are holding Lex for some reason, and they're in chronological order. Every photo was taken by me, or was pretty much entirely set up by me and then I had someone else press the button.
I was quite pleased when I compiled this. I had felt like I'd hardly taken any pictures this year, but in actual fact I had hardly taken any travel pictures. There's plenty with people.
Goal for next year - more pictures of people (and hopefully some travel pics).
 
( +34 more, includes some harmless nudity, but consider yourself warned... ) |
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| pedantry. |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|04:12 pm] |
Yes, there was no year zero. And I'm quite happy to accept that there are strong arguments for saying the end of the 20th century was 31/12/2000
But the 1990s were the years whose name in English starts with the prefix "nineteen ninety," namely those whose decimal representation matches 199x
Pedant that I am, for me at least the Noughties are over.
(Oh, and as angriest points out, no one was using our current calendar until some time in the 6th century anyway. We were messing up leap years until 1752, too - if that year only had 354 days, I don't see why the first century has to have 100 years in it). |
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| Movies for 2009, the final statistics. |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|03:11 pm] |
So from 1 January to 31 December 2009 I managed to watch 227 movies. Yes I am a complete movie freak/nerd, you may commence your mocking. Here's how it broke down:
I managed to watch 36 horror movies in 2009 - this was boosted somewhat by deciding to run through the Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and Saw franchises.
In 2010 I plan to watch more foreign films - still pulling together the Eiga website, and that's going to need lots of material - and also more documentaries. Five in a whole year seems a bit lacking to me. |
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| Sturgeon's Jude Law |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|03:02 pm] |
With thanks to drhoz and purrdence :
Sturgeon's Jude Law: 90% of Jude Law's movies are crap.
EDIT: corrected the language. |
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| Movies for 2009, Part #34. |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|02:34 pm] |
27 December
Evangelion 1.01: You Are (Not) Alone
29 December
The Wrestler
30 December
Adventureland |
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| Oi. |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|11:06 am] |
To the people who keep harping on about the decade not really ending until the end of 2010:
Dionysius Exiguus developed the Anno Domini dating system in 525 AD and didn't actually start using it until 532 AD. It didn't fall into widespread use until about the 9th century or so.
So you're right, you joyless pedants. There was no Year 0. Turns out that there wasn't anyone there for a year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19... and so on for at least another 512 years after that. It's an artibrary dating system - if the majority of people are celebrating the end of a decade last night then I think they have a point. Maths doesn't win you this one. |
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| First day in a new year... |
[Jan. 1st, 2010|08:34 am] |
 I awoke this morning with a terrible headache and a raging hard-on, feeling nauseous while feeling exceptionally hungry, snuggled up to a sexy woman who has no interested in sex.*
Thus the eternal conflict that is my existence continues for another year.
My life is a special kind of awesome :D
* And no, I didn't drink last night, so the headache and nausea are not from being hung-over. |
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| Meme Sheep - yearly wrap |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|08:17 pm] |
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before? Canyoning and bungee jumping. Installing reticulation. Starting exercise from a place of deep unfitness. Doing the Hard Nav courses at Orienteering. Paddled a surf ski (instead of kayak). Kept chickens. Grew potatoes. Bought stuff from an arts festival. _Went_ to an arts festival! (to the same on on consecutive days, I liked it so much) Went on a photography road trip by myself.
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Don't do the New Years resolution thing. I'm already in pursuit of the goal of being able to ride my bicycle to and from work the whole way a couple of times per week. And I'm using that to work towards my other goal of dropping a bunch of this excess weight.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My Beloved Bee had her second and didn't nearly die this time, which was greatly relieving.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No.
5. What countries did you visit? New Zealand.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? More free time.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 2 June 2009 - started my new job! 17 December 2009 - bike vs car accident claim settled in my favour.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Deciding I wanted out of my old job and making it happen.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not getting my shit together to stage a photography exhibition for FotoFreo 2010.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? My laughter is not so bitter this year. I'm carrying a niggling injury in my right achilles and both calf tendons from pushing too hard in the Couch to 5km training program exacerbated by running for more than an hour in Bunbury in August. Ongoing pain and weakness in right shoulder and arm. Finally getting enough strength in my lower back and butt that the back pain is going away. 11. What was the best thing you bought? CHICKENS!!! Other than that - I can't remember a thing I've bought this year. Juffy bought me a Forerunner 305, which I've been enjoying using very much - the heart rate monitor on it is much better than my old Polar.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Juffy. For not only putting up with me this year, but for making me feel treasured and loved and desired, even though I am flaky and weird and lazy and often selfish - and also for drawing a line under the amount of time and energy he gives to other people and taking some time back for himself. Me, for trying so hard to accept my current physical limitations and working within them. grouchie, sarren and zebra for being true and faithful friends in more ways than I can count. cupidsbow for bravery. My boss, for being awesome beyond belief on an amazingly regular basis. My workmates for being smart, incisive, passionate and maintaining a sense of humour and warm wit under pressure. So many people have been wonderful in both large and small ways this year.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I've been like teflon this year. No-one has made me appalled and depressed.
14. Where did most of your money go? Mortgage.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? CHICKENS!
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Mumford and Sons "Little Lion Man"
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Even more content and thankful for the all the many sources of joy in my life.
ii. thinner or fatter? Exactly the same - sitting on enormous.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, I guess, but with no more cash than previously.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Photography.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Being tired.
20. How did you spend Christmas? Hung out with my parents first thing in the morning, then 'brunch' with Paul's aunt/uncle/cousins and immediate family. Quick visit home to feed the pets, then off to Mr_booboo's for a very enjoyable evening meal.
21. Who did you meet for the first time? Too many people to count. Standouts are my new boss and workmates, Bee's new daughter and the wiggly ultrasounds that will be (god willing and the creek don't rise) my first niece or nephew.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009? Many, many lovely moments of falling in love with Juffy again. I should really share those with him when they happen, I guess.
23. How many one-night stands? LOL.
24. What was your favourite TV program? Really enjoyed Lie To Me and White Collar this year. Lewis is rapidly creeping up on me. The only thing I recced first though was "Lawrence Leung's Adventures" (with the very necessary embarrassment squick warning).
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Nup.
26. What was the best book you read? Sheesh I don't know. I really enjoyed a number of books, including "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" and "Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change"
26a. Favourite fanfiction story? I don't know! I haven't fallen in love with anything in particular this year. I haven't recced anything on here and Delicious only has older stories.
26b. Favourite vid? Hoping to find out soon!
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Presets (yes I know I'm behind the times).
28. What did you want and get? CHICKENS!
29. What did you want and not get? Amazing, awesome recovery and unexpected ability to compete in mulitsport / adventure races.
30. What was your favorite film of the year? Juno (yes I know i'm behind the times).
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 33 and I have absolutely no recollection of what I did. Chances are good I went hard at work and then came home and cooked dinner.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Being able to run 5km at 5min/km pace. Yes. I'm that shallow.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Getting used to being fat.
34. What kept you sane? Pottering in the garden.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Had a sudden and random rush of Karl Urban love in the middle of the year. Otherwise I was consistently fond of Malcolm Turnbull, who always makes me want to give him an affectionate noogie.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Wrote into the senate inquiry on marriage. Felt furious and helpless at what happened in Copenhagen. Have been reduced to frustrated rage on a number of occasions at work over the steady increases in police powers and reduction of judicial discretion. Have been in tears about the upcoming euthanasia legislation.
37. Who did you miss? Missed my family in NZ badly on a number of occasions. Have been writing to my grandparents to deal with it, but I miss my aunts and their zest for life.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: When I stop listening, it's time to take a holiday.
Zebra's bonus questions:
39. Something new that worked out really well for you during the year: Telling myself that the restrictions I"m living with are just for now, not forever has allowed me to deal with my current situation with a bit more grace than I had in 2008. And of course CHICKENS!!!!
40. Most useful piece of advice or comment I received: The "just for now, not forever" advice received from the pain specialist who assessed me as part of the insurance claim process. I cried for a week afterwards, especially when he pushed the estimated recovery time out another couple of years, but once I buckled my big girl's pants on again, it really, really helped. |
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| Balanced! |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|06:00 pm] |
On NYE of 2003, a small group of people gathered in a tent at the Woodford Folk Festival to reflect upon the year that had passed, and they chose a Word for 2004. 2003 had been a year of building new foundatations for me, so my word for 2004 was "Beginings". As I neared the end of 2004 I asked some of the other participants how their year had been, and then asked how it had been in relation to their Word.
I've repeated the practice each year.
My Word for 2010 will be "Balanced".
Balanced finances
Balanced timetables (between Uni and Socialising)
Balanced diet
Happy New Year Everyone! I hope that 2009 was a good year for you, and that 2010 is even better!
: )
xoxox |
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| 2009 |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|03:25 pm] |
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I can't be bothered with the memes. 2009 you fucking suck. You know it, I know it, let's put aside our differences, get through the last eight and a half hours peacefully and without incident and then fuck off for good, never to return without a time machine. |
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| Year in Review |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|03:21 pm] |
I started the meme where I go through my last ten years, but an awful lot happened in the last ten years which I can't speak about.
:-)
( Stolen from Dr K ) |
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| NYE! |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|03:18 pm] |
Hello folks. I've barely been around online - part of this is because it's pretty bloody hot at the moment and being online is a bit miserable. Partly it's because for once I and all of my friends who don't suffer the tyranny of distance are off work at the same time, so I'm catching up on socialising.
I do want to say, specifically, to all of my overseas friends and those I haven't managed to catch, that you're very much loved and I hope you have a happy and safe New Years Eve.
In about 30 minutes, I'm going out with chaos_crafter to meet up with vastneonwolf and partner in the STINKING HOT AUSTRALIAN HEAT and then we'll be heading out to a NYE BBQ with friends. lokicarbis will be there too, and I'm sure we'll be thinking of those we aren't with, and drinking a toast to you all.
Especially, hello Pol and Karrin and stay safe this NYE :) |
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| Happy new year! |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|02:38 pm] |
It's been a while since I've posted and I wasn't in a terrific headspace when I did...
Some of you know about my tradition of choosing a word for the year...
Last year, I wrote: My word for this year is "open": opening physically to give birth, opening emotionally to love this new addition to our family, being open to change, being open to challenge.
I think I've done pretty well with that, although I didn't open physically to give birth very well (in the end, there was a scalpel involved) but I think I succeeded on all the others. Certainly it's been a tumultuous year of change and challenge, and of love and laughter as well. Harper has turned out to be an absolute delight. Doug, I think, would also say she's a handful and he could probably do with a year of better health and more energy to devote to himself as well as to the family.
Last night at the Prodigal Sons and Daughters' picnic, I was chatting with Julian, who I used to live with and with whom I had a fairly fraught relationship. We discussed meds and moods and how we've grown. He observed that I seem to have everything going for me right now and to a great extent that's true: I have a wonderful partner in Doug, and Harper is absolutely the child I dreamed of. I have friends and work and food on the table. I live in a terrific city that I adore. I have my challenges still: I put my foot in it often enough, sometimes badly, and the most recent person I've upset is one of my sisters (I've apologised profusely; now I wait). But my complaints are mostly minor niggles: that we're not at Woodford for New Year this year; that the work I'm doing is not yet the Dream Job.
I think this year my word is "empathy". I think that the issues that I have had towards the end of this year have mostly been a failure of empathy. I like that it's about feeling, and not a conscious thing. I can get the words right as much as I like, but like smiling on the phone, unless the expression is coming from a place of genuine care and understanding, the tone will still be wrong and maybe the words, no matter how innocent, will still be the wrong ones for the situation or will come out tinged with some negative air that I didn't consciously intend.
What's your word? |
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| Notable people in the Queen's New Year Honours List |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|11:17 am] |
Don't know why, but I always get a kick out of seeing what arty-filmy types get honoured by the Queen each year. Here are the 2010 New Years honourees that caught my attention:
- Sir Nicholas Hytner, awesome theatre and film director.
- Sir Patrick Stewart, brilliant actor of stage and screen.
- Phyllida Lloyd CBE, amazing theatre director.
- Margaret Tyzack CBE, great actress.
- Craig Armstrong OBE, awesome film composer.
- Richard Parfitt OBE, co-founder of Status Quo.
- Rachel Portman OBE, another awesome film composer.
- Francis Rossi OBE, co-founder of Status Quo.
- Paul Collyer MBE, co-creator of Championship Manager.
- Oliver Collyer MBE, co-creator of Championship Manager.
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| Woo! |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|10:54 am] |
The US National Film Registry, which picks 25 films each year to store in their archive to ensure great cinema masterworks and significant motion pictures are saved for all future generations to enjoy, has selected The Muppet Movie as one of this year's picks.
They picked another 25 films this year, but quite frankly I blacked out with joy after hearing about the Muppets. |
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| 101 resolutions to be done in 1001 days |
[Dec. 31st, 2009|09:59 am] |
The meme is to record 101 resolutions to be done in 1001 days.
Actually, I don't have anything like that many – that would be too much like A Plan, and not a flexible enough one. But the idea is to actually set some resolutions, and maybe I need to for a change. Usually I know what I'm doing, I'm a map-maker and navigator by nature, so the point of resolutions is a bit lost on me. The important thing about these resolutions, really, is that they are resolutions *for me*, and do not reference Sparrow. My life is already Sparrow-centric to an extreme, so I figure I can take it as a given that there are resolutions that cover things like "teach her to X" or "introduce her to Y" as well as the basic one "make sure she ends the 1001 days happy, healthy and alive". I'll pretend that there are a whole bunch of those that fill in the remaining bits to get me to 101, and just write down the ones that apply to me specifically. Because, that's what you tend to forget all the time when you look after a small child, the stuff to do with you. And that's why it's finally appropriate for me to make some resolutions.
( 20 or so things I want to accomplish... ) |
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| Borrowed books |
[Dec. 30th, 2009|05:55 pm] |
I have a stack of books on my borrowed-books shelf with no labelled owners (I have of late taken to writing the owner in pencil in any book I borrow, but these all date from before that). List is below: if you recognise any of them, please claim. (Otherwise I'm going to either amalgamate with my own books, or donate to the charity, & if they get claimed at a later date I'll just buy the owner a new one.)
Ronald Searle "The Terror Of St Trinians"
Alastair Reynolds "Revelation Space"
Charles Bukowski "Ham On Rye"
Charles Stross "Singularity Sky"
Kenneth Grahame "The Wind In The Willows" (rather nice new hardback edition)
(there are also some with owners, which I shall endeavour to reunite with ppl forthwith). |
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| General call for assistance. |
[Dec. 30th, 2009|10:17 pm] |
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I don't seem to have contact details for Jenny and Peter Kelly to hand, and am worried about them since they live in Toodjay. Has anyone on my flist spoken to them and checked they're out of harm's way and that their house is standing? |
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