I'm updating my archery wish list with the help of some expert phone advice. My arrows are going to be a smart carbon / aluminium blend in classic black (to co-ordinate with my auto-generated three stage world domination plan) but the big question - of course - is what colour choices to make for the accessories.

I really am a big fan of classic black, but all-black can make the arrows difficult to see at a distance. There's also the shocking faux pas of wearing the same outfit as someone else and not being able to tell which arrows belong to whom if you're using the same target. So embarrassing!

I have decided to use orange for the nocks (the bit at the end that clicks on to the bow string) and the vanes (the feathery bits on the arrows). You can actually buy vanes that come in a sort of tiger print pattern, but I think they're a bit showy.  

My list also includes a nifty new sight and a scope with a built in SPIRIT LEVEL! I have been coveting one of those with geeky desire ever since I first saw one. Gadgets, what fun.

Engineers love gadgets.

Saw Avatar last night (main motivation? Air conditioned beautifulness). Was vaguely interested from the previews, more interested with the swath of Golden Globes. Visually, it was...something else. Really. It shouldn't be missed in the cinema, just for the visual effects alone. Insane. The story? Well, I mean it's not like James Cameron has ever gone for the deep before, but this was twee to the point of setting my teeth on edge

Umm...got a bit spoiler-y, if only in terms of character development:

( rambly on Native American mysticism )

Bush fire weather out there...so very dry, hot, and windy. The grass has been scorched for about a month now; the damage is evident up and down the sides of the mountains.

I'm feeling itchy and tense, as if all the nerves in my body have condensed into a ball in my stomach.

Quick post, just for you to know that I made a formspring account !

http://www.formspring.me/Angrymonkey

If you have things to ask, don't hesitate ehehe.

The shield generator is destroyed, as is the new Death Star. The universe is safe again. Chewie, Luke and I are hanging out in this great big cave-cum-lounge room. The phone rings. Luke picks it up. It's Hans and Leia. They're on the Millenium Falcon, heading to meet us so we can get our party on.

Hans & Leia (clearly on speakerphone): Hi Luke!

Then Hans picks up the receiver to talk to Luke. He's all 'look man, we know we're supposed to meet you and everything, but we've decided to head out in search of more adventures!'

Luke's face is disappointed, but he pulls it together to smile gently and wish them luck. The Millenium Falcon makes a jump into hyperspace right in front of a sun.

Luke hangs up the phone, turns to me and says ' they're not coming back', then smiles gently again, looking into the sunset as if he can see the Falcon, then turns to me adding, "I'm really going to miss them."

I smile back at him, and tuck my feet up underneath me on the sofa chair, before turning to my sister, who is now sitting on the chair next to me. As I watch, she de-evolves back to a baby (but not a real baby - one of those weird mechanical/special effects babies they used to use in old Sci-Fi movies). I'm not worried about this.

Why is it when I have the most to do, I am least likely to actually sit down and do it?


also Golden Globe noms are out. I've only heard of 2 of the pictures up for best picture- drama, and have only seen one.

I thought Inglorious Basterds was an awesome movie, but not really worth a best screenplay/picture nod: Tarantino went for the easy outs. But I would have liked to have seen at least one of the two main actresses get a nod...

also: really really really happy to see (500) Days of Summer get a nod. Loved that movie. Listening to the soundtrack right now!

So my boss over at Booktopia is, and I quote, 'horny for romance' at the moment, meaning he's trying to make Booktopia the place to go to get romance in Australia.

Fine goal, says I, especially when it means he's selling romance novels for less than $10.

Except he keeps calling me and telling me he's horny for romance, which, frankly, is just a bit weird.

Anyways, the upshot of this is that I've been trying to categorise romance novels into neat little category strings for the whole weekend. Not as easy as I thought it would be, especially as for awhile I segued from 'category' into 'plot device'. Secret babe, for example - not a category. Just a trope. A bad trope, but a trope nonetheless.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to do 'not' searches. As in, I would rather not ever read a secret baby, surprise werewolf, second chance at love story ever. Thanks.

(Featuring the Killers :))

( Want a drabble ? )

I didn't realise that opera directors have such a ribald sense of humour! We saw Cosi Fan Tutte yesterday and I laughed like mad, it was wonderful fun. They sang in English (very good translation by Jeremy Sams) but still with surtitles on the screen above the stage so you don't miss anything.

The music is beautiful. The singers were marvelous. Best of all - they could all act as well as sing! Three highlights:

- Henry Choo (Ferrando) and Luke Gabbedy (Guglielmo) doing an absolutely top-notch hilarious job of singing while depicting the aftermath of the classic knee-to-the-groin maneuver by the beautiful ladies Hye Seoung Kwon (Fiordiligi) and Sian Pendry (Dorabella).

( tickling, vibrating, was Mozart being a bitter bastard, and the virtue of not being an idiot )( Read more... )

We leave tomorrow at 6:30am for the country of the Kiwi. I'm very excited. My sister and I spent the whole day watching LOTR movies in order to acclimatize ourselves to the culture. :p I'm determined to wear my Flight of the Conchords t-shirt and the One Ring (on a chain) all the way across the South Island.

I'm sure I'll fit right in.

Yeah, so I'll be away till next Sunday night. :)

(Aaaaaaaah, and for anyone who cares, TYRA BANKS was in Queenstown last week filming cycle 14 of ANTM! I can't believe we were so close to finally meeting her highness.)

• Canberra intersection, Adelaide Avenue & State Circle, just below Parliament House. A red Rabbit (or whatever, all those little hatchbacks look the same to me) pulls in front of me, bumper sticker reads Life is Short. Pray Hard. I get to read it close up because her frickin' brake lights don't work.


• Adelaide Avenue, Kent street exit. Cars lined up because of the dog-leg turn at the top. Car in front of me, fish symbol on the back. I get to see it up close because she keeps slamming on her brakes with three car-lengths of space in front of her. Then she gives me the evil eye in her rear view mirror when I come up behind her. This is not a bad thing, lady. In fact, this is appropriate stopping distance, especially in a long line-up of cars that is now creeping into a highway lane because you won't move forward.

JESUS DOES NOT SUPPORT YOUR BAD DRIVING, PEOPLE!!

My sister has just called from Paul Mccartney's concert and he was playing my favourite song, Blackbird, and oh my gosh I feel like crying because this song means so much to me. Oh god, I should stop being all giddy and fangirl BUT HEY I'VE HEARD PAUL MCCARTNEY SINGING MY FAVOURITE SONG !!!

*flails*

New Mattress, I could marry you. So soft, so lofty - so far to fall, but let's not think about that. You are brilliant and kind and squishy in all the ways that my old mattress was not.

Though, like me, you are single, you can be the king and queen in my bedroom.

----------

Pre-mattress times, I was having a discussion with my friend about the quality of writing in tv shows, particularly dramas. We agreed that 30 Rock, House, Buffy and The Wire have excellent writers. Which show do you think displays the best writing/dialogue?

(When I suggested The OC, she snorted in derision, but I maintain that the first season was epic.)

It's been a long time since I posted icons, so here I come :D.

[x] Please credit na_shao if using. Don't claim them as your own.
[x] Textless icons are not bases.
[x] Comments are love and make me really happy. ♥
[x] NO HOTLINKING, or an alien will eat your brain.
[x] Enjoy. ♥

All of these icons are from s2, THERE ARE SPOILERS. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.



( We love you, Mr Moonlight )

Well screw you LJ...I did 2!!

Edited: and I'm a bit honest. I must be feeling comfortable today :)

( If I wanted info, I'd click on the cut for info... )

I'm about to put this on the fridge. Because I am SHAMELESS.




Yes: I did use a mirror to take a photo of the writing the right way around. I lead a primitive, scanner-free life.

My sister wakes me up at 7:30am. It's raining heavily. I think my house is leaking. One of my best friends turns out to be a back-stabbing bitch. I feel a bit like I'm wasting my life. I've got writer's block for fanfic and original stuff. I'm home alone.

And yet -

I am wearing the One Ring. And I'm wielding Sting, my trusty plastic sword. So all is good.

(Re-watching LOTR heals all wounds.)


MOOD: Omnipotent
(and slightly wet)

Wow - I was just led to this link by a post from Lois McMaster Bujold. It's a TED talk, "Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity". She talks about writing, creativity, and different cultural interpretations of the idea of 'genius'. She likes the idea that instead of rare people 'being' geniuses, all of us 'have' genius, and every now and then time stops for one of us and we shine...

She is funny and touching and insightful. I loved watching this.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html