hey, now I'm getting really narked. the archives only go back to 2001. this blog is way older than that.

right, so now I have archives but this newfangled xml thing won't accept my old list of images, links etc. I did save a copy of the html, but when I try to put it back, it spits it right back at me. so I'm stuck with this new look and no pix.

ah, this I remember. stuffing around for ages trying to get the blog to look right. sigh. memories. archives missing, will find. :)

February? really? if it didn't contain a lot from when I blogged ten times a day, I'd let it die a natural death.

what have I done since February? got back on my bike. doubled my swimming session distance. tried to surf (and have the sandpapered knees to prove it). not read enough books. completed my honours thesis. set up a rental flat, which is supposed to be my mini-job. worked a little, but not much. made a snowman out of the last dregs of ice because I'd promised my son snow.

it all doesn't sound like much of a life, and you'd think there would be time in there to blog, but there hasn't been - I don't think it's that I've had nothing to say, because I email my friends and I am still, but not as much, writing fiction. maybe it's because of the fiction; if I have an idea it goes into the notebooks these days. or is it the home-with-kid thing kicking in?

whatever it is, I racked up nearly two thousand posts before Feb, and then nothing, and that only inane Britney raving. my latest media annoyance: the British couple who are accused by the Portuguese cops of killing their own daughter. can anyone say Azaria?

(oh, and PS: I got to the comic book show and Arkley. and I was converted: Arkley was not just a man with huge canvases and an airbrush. he had composition, themes and incredible textures.) It's still on in Queensland until September 16 if you're up there.

gotta say, the crazier Britney Spears gets, the more I like her. so she shaved off her hair? big deal. it's hair, people. just hair. so the pop idol isn't staying clean and pretty? why should she?

actually, the comic book show is still on, until 25/2. so now I have to choose between that and the Arkley at the NGV. no time to do both.

I'm on Blogger New, whether I like it or not. Noticed in the process that I have made 1,906 posts to this blog so far, even though I treat it like an ugly cousin to be kept in the basement these days. (all complaints about that comment to jennysinclairATgmail.com please - I've realised lately that I'm missing out on criticism of me because I have been inactive in the blogosphere)

anyway, the reason I blogged on was not to upgrade to Blogger Fabulous, but to post a link to this: a comics web site written by, I have to say, the most geeky comic wonk you can imagine - Kevin Patrick's Comics Down Under. I am writing up a report that includes the media coverage of his exhibition at the State Library last year and am very sorry I missed it. and when I looked at his blog, it started off with a discussion of the influence of Spanish/South American culture on Australian comics. Brilliant. You have to admire that level of commitment to a topic: the comic, the whole comic and nothing but the comic.

btw, if this new Blogger Wonderful is so good, why do I still have to hand-code my links on the Mac? Hmmm?

the litmusphere; an online version of a print magazine I was in a while back. go and surf around; lots of slightly odd writers and illustrators from Melbourne and beyond.

3000 in the east village

more apts, , and more

2br in the village; expensive, but

village flat

another

/begin NY obsession/

an apartment in the East Village

seeing as it's now compulsory, I finally went and looked at YouTube. and I'm sure there are gems in there. but so far I've watched three foolish-dancing videos, one commercial but sexy rock video, one incomprehensible video, and one video of a dog of the same breed as mine playing soccer. there was also one of a dog "doing his business" but I can see that for free at home. the "channels" seem dominated by what used to be called webcamgirls. I know, I should get in there and try to Understand. and I can see what a great time-waster the whole thing could be. when I find a compelling use for YouTube, I'll let you know. citizen journalists? bring it on. global slide nights? I don't think so.

from the department of environment's PR machine:

The world could achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gases simply by changing the ‘standby’ power standards for household appliances like TVs and computers, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, told an international forum in Zurich today -- media release attached.

Senator Campbell is at an international Ministerial climate change summit in Zurich this week to informally discuss ways to address climate change and help set the agenda for the annual meeting of the United Nation’s Climate Change Convention in Nairobi in November.

(ends)

hahahahahaha! or you could RATIFY KYOTO!!!

excuse me while I go turn on the electric fan. I must have got overexcited at the good news, and I'm feeling a bit warm.

the big issue seller at the market is called Jim. I know this because he wears a name tag, and because people there greet him as Jim. he's not particularly endearing, or clean; he smokes continually and never smiles. but he's been selling at the market for years.

yesterday he came up to me and said, as usual "copy of the big issue, ma'am?". sometimes I say yes, but yesterday I said "not today, thank you," looking him in his watery old eyes. the man's skin is like crocodile leather.

tthen I watched him go over to two women, possibly a mother and daughter, with a baby in a pram. the older woman - maybe 50 - looked up at him and then went on fishing in her bag. he stood his ground. after a second I heard him repeat the pitch to the younger woman. he must have got some response then, probably a rude one, because he then said "I didn't get an answer", meaning that the first woman had simply ignored him. and I felt like slapping them, and obliquely proud of Jim for standing up for himself. he's not begging. He's politely selling on his pitch. he never insists (though sometimes he inadvertently asks twice as he does the rounds). and like anyone else, he's entitled to a polite response to a polite question in a public place.

funny where the moral high ground can be found sometimes...

florence broadhurst stuff

i have a strange weakness for dilapidated old houses: this is the latest target of my obsession. the lack of a photograph of the bathroom probably indicates that it is not worth laying eyes on. it's a two-hour drive from Melbourne, in the middle of nowhere. and I already have a crappy money pit

but I want it anyway.

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test