LFM RL PST

Epic Conversation

2008-09-09T12:02:00.003+12:00

The epicness begins when Aaron comments on how far along I am now. (In pregnancy that is)

[11:54:40 a.m.] Aaron says: must be just over the half way mark now?
[11:54:48 a.m.] Rachel says: yes well over the halfway mark
[11:54:56 a.m.] Rachel says: 24 weeks (6 months) on friday
[11:55:01 a.m.] Aaron says: so 3 to go
[11:55:26 a.m.] Rachel says: or a further 16 weeks (4 months) somehow the weeks way is longer?
[11:55:32 a.m.] Rachel says: avg gestation is 40 wks
[11:56:01 a.m.] Aaron says: just over 9 months afaik
[11:56:15 a.m.] Rachel says: which shows how shortland st doesnt follow the same timeline as RL because Alice just had her baby prem at 30 weeks but i could have sworn i was pregnant before her
[11:56:26 a.m.] Aaron says: rofl
[11:56:32 a.m.] Aaron says: trust you to notice that ;)
[11:56:30 a.m.] Rachel says: yeah everyone refers to 9 months but 40 weeks is the real one.
[11:56:40 a.m.] Rachel says: :P
[11:56:41 a.m.] Aaron says: 40 weeks is just over 9 months :P
[11:56:51 a.m.] Aaron says: like 9 months and 1 week or so
[11:56:54 a.m.] Rachel says: 40 / 4 = 10 in my maths world
[11:57:00 a.m.] Rachel says: i guess some months have 5 weeks
[11:57:04 a.m.] Aaron says: 40/52*12
[11:57:12 a.m.] Aaron says: 9.2 months
[11:57:42 a.m.] Rachel says: im not even going to start telling you how little sense that formula makes to me
[11:57:52 a.m.] Aaron says: 40 weeks / 52 weeks in year
[11:57:59 a.m.] Rachel says: why?
[11:58:13 a.m.] Aaron says: give you % of the year that 40 weeks is
[11:58:41 a.m.] Aaron says: then times by months to convert weeks per year into months
[11:59:01 a.m.] Rachel says: i like my way better. it makes sense
[11:59:08 a.m.] Aaron says: most months are 30-31 days so 2-3 days longer than 4 weeks
[11:59:11 a.m.] Rachel says: why go backwards to go forwards?
[11:59:35 a.m.] Rachel says: months should be std imo
[11:59:40 a.m.] Aaron says: cant be
[11:59:40 a.m.] Rachel says: days and weeks are
[11:59:46 a.m.] Rachel says: chuck a few days out then
[11:59:51 a.m.] Aaron says: cant do that either
[11:59:55 a.m.] Rachel says: or divide up the solar year better
[12:00:05 p.m.] Aaron says: unless you want winter at different times of the year ;)
[12:00:15 p.m.] Rachel says: i dont care really. its cold when its cold afaik
[12:00:49 p.m.] Aaron says: i prefer summer over xmas actually as you get time off work to enjoy it if it was winter over xmas that would suck
[12:00:53 p.m.] Rachel says: see if we had 13 months we'd have 28.07 days in each one. thats a lot closer imo
[12:01:05 p.m.] Rachel says: AND 28 days lines up better with the moon and menstruation so it makes more sense
[12:01:25 p.m.] Rachel says: u can still have summer over christmas if you move to wherever its summer at the time
[12:01:29 p.m.] Rachel says: or move christmas.
[12:01:33 p.m.] Rachel says: i dont think Jesus will mind
[12:01:43 p.m.] Aaron says: i boggle at the thought of how much software would break if you added an extra month ;)
[12:01:49 p.m.] Rachel says: lol
[12:01:54 p.m.] Rachel says: it would create jobs though
[12:02:06 p.m.] Rachel says: i propose we call it Octembuary
[12:02:10 p.m.] Aaron says: im a time technician
[12:02:13 p.m.] Aaron says: i fix months
[12:02:16 p.m.] Rachel says: lol
[12:02:23 p.m.] Rachel says: i can see the business cards now
[12:02:27 p.m.] Rachel says: Rachel
[12:02:30 p.m.] Rachel says: Time Technician
[12:02:35 p.m.] Rachel says: Making time for you!

[12:02:48 p.m.] Rachel says: this is an epic conversation
[12:03:57 p.m.] Aaron says: that it is

My Foolproof Microwave Chocolate Cake Recipe

2008-07-17T10:08:00.004+12:00

Aaron requested this, so I figured I may as well just post it here. It only takes a couple mins to prepare, and 8 mins or so to cook and its so delicious! I'm not much of a cake person, but this one is divine!

In a food processor combine:

2 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c milk
1 c oil (I usually reduce this to about 3/4 c oil because oil is pretty expensive!)
1 1/2 cups flour
3 heaped T cocoa
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3 heaped T golden syrup (I usually go a bit overboard on the golden syrup, another spoon or so won't hurt!)
1 c or so of chocolate chips (I've never actually measured. The more the merrier)

Process til smooth, scrape down sides and process again briefly.
Pour into a greased microwavable ring mold and microwave on high for 7-8 mins.
Check and if not quite cooked in the middle, give it another minute, check and repeat if needed.

When cooked, flip out onto a large plate. Smooth the melted chocolate out over the cake to form icing. (Don't forget the chocolate sticking to the inside of the ring mold!)

Done! Best enjoyed fresh and warm with ice-cream!

And lo a voice from on high spake...

2008-04-17T14:41:00.002+12:00

And verily it did sayeth:

Thanks lolbots.com for this. I knew it!

Oh no she di'nt!

2008-04-10T12:19:00.000+12:00

Oh yes she di'!

Isn't it about bloody time...

2008-04-10T11:12:00.003+12:00

That we moved on from this outdated "car" thing?

Seriously, I know there's all manner of hybrids, electric cars, whatsits powered on the farts of kittens and cars that stack inside each other like russian dolls but isn't it about time we got over the whole car thing?

If we are to believe Wikipedia (and I've not yet seen reason to believe we shouldn't) the first internal combustion engine was invented in 1806.
200 years later we still rely so heavily on the same basic principles.

When I was a child I was led to believe that after The Year Two Thousand we'd all be whizzing around in Jetsons-esque spaceships or travelling to work via nifty transport tubes.

If we can literally weave batteries into the fabric of clothing and produce clones (albeit ethically-bereft ones) of animals among a variety of mind-bogglingly amazing inventions, why haven't our best and brightest managed to surpass the humble automobile?

Husband and I were musing to this effect this morning as we bemoaned the ever-increasing price of petrol (the insanity of nearly $2 a litre is soon to be a reality) and his theory was that people enjoy the freedom the car represents.
This has some weight to it, if we rip up the roads and replace them with a futuristic tube travel system, this does severely hinder the off-road experience somewhat.
However in the interests of preserving the tattered remnants of our planet shouldn't we be prepared to sacrifice SOMETHING?

And surely if we could invent tube-travel we could come up with an equally environmentally friendly off-road alternative for the outdoorsy folks, like air-propelled jetpacks or something? Surely they see the irony in wanting to experience the beautiful outdoors in their gas-guzzling gigantic 4WDs?

I just think the human race as a whole needs to get over the car. Don't invent an "environmentally-friendly" alternative fuel, just get rid of the darn things.

I'd ride a bike if it wasn't so dangerous here. Although if my harrowing drive through town yesterday at 3pm is indicative of how much further the already abysmal quality of Cantabrian driving skills has declined then possibly no-one is safe. If an angry woman in a white Mazda Familia honked at you as she swerved and braked to miss rear-ending you yesterday on Manchester Street then you might want to revise the Road Code, if you in fact have heard of it at all.

PST's very own mascot

2008-04-03T10:24:00.006+13:00

Since he is already gracing the About Page of the freshly re-constructed PST Facebook app, I thought I best introduce our new mascot:

Bunneh, my first ever amigurumi (which is a Japanese term meaning knitted or crochetted doll), whom I made for Easter, complete with disapproving rabbit look.

I hope to make a few new friends for him soon, inspired by my favourite Jonathan Coulton songs!

EDIT: Thought'd I'd finally add this buntastic tail action shot too, have you ever seen a more squee-worthy tail? XD

In other news, none of the Facebook application making sites I've been trying to us are coming to the party at the moment so all the many droves of people waiting for their release should stop holding their breath... More updates as I have them.

PST Facebook app goes live!

2008-03-27T12:50:00.006+13:00

Thats right, we now have our very own Facebook application to give you a handy link to all recent posts right here on Please Send Tell!

To add the app to your Facebook page click here (link coming soon)

Its still in its infancy so I'd really value any feedback on it, either here or on Facebook. Please bear with it's ugliness at least til I can get some alone time with Photoshop!

Edit: I've rebuilt the Facebook app and will change the link soon as its up and running!

Titles cannot express the awesomeness...

2008-03-13T18:58:00.008+13:00

I don’t usually read the newspaper but this morning one particular headline in The Press not only caught my eye but gripped my imagination so much so that I “lifted” the page just so I could have a permanent reminder of its awesomeness (its ok, it was yesterday’s paper, bound for the bin) and of course so I could reproduce it here in all its glory. Behold:

Clearly someone at Reuters has played Horde-side and, as we all have, spent far too much time in The Barrens General Chat channel…

The article goes on to discuss how US troops in Iraq have come to idolise Norris to a level which goes beyond even that of the usual internet-dwelling pre-pubescent however thats not what so interested me.

I’m absolutely fascinated with internet memes and their impact on language, that of the community in which they are rampant yes, but also the general “RL” version of English.

Already it’s quickly becoming (in the right circles) socially acceptable to say “lol” rather than actually laughing. One only has to spend 1 evening on the turps with our friends to bear witness to this.

In my house it’s quite usual to call food “noms”* or to use the “I has a noun” sentence structure. Here we see a brilliant example of internet phenomena making its way into the mainstream media, not in a report about said phenomenom (pun intended) but as a heading which the author and editor clearly expect their audience to understand.

Of course given that newspapers intend their content to be readable by someone with a reading age of 12 perhaps its little wonder that the Chuck Norris joke has finally transcended the tubes of the internet.* (C wut I did thar?)

This is the end of the post now, and nowhere else seemed to fit to put this pic this so here goes, enjoy!

Source: [Jinx Clothing Company]

---------------------

Footnotes:
* More nom definitions

* The average reading age of inhabitants of the Barrens is in fact not 12. That’s their biological age. Reading age is generally calculated by the following formula: r = (b / l)/n

Where r is reading age, b is biological age, l is the level of their current character and n is the number of times they refer to your mom.

Total Requests Live comes to LFM RL PST!

2008-03-12T18:55:00.003+13:00

Well I guess I did say "who dares me to post it" and though it wasn't directly a dare, its close enough, so here it is:

Queue bad Australian accent: I'm Mike Whitney and this was Who Dares Wins!

Kumara Mash

2008-03-12T18:24:00.005+13:00

I always DESPISED potatoes as a child and still refuse to eat them in any form other than crisps or fries however, oddly, one of my most favourite foods of all time (since I discovered it 6 months ago anyway ;P ) is kumara (similar to sweet potatoes for those of you not from NZ.)

So I decided to do a kumara mash to replace our regular potato fries to go with dinner as part of a new healthier eating goal and it turned out to be a winner.

Here's (roughly) my recipe. I say roughly because I'm more of an "intuitive" cook, I don't measure or time things much... good luck following it!

Kumara Mash

Serves 2

1 Medium-Large Sized Kumara
3 (approx) Sundried Tomatoes - chopped into small pieces
1 t approx. Olive Oil
3 T Margarine (I use Olivio Lite which is Olive Oil based)
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Wash, peel and chop the kumara into approx. 3cm sized pieces.
2. Bring kumara to boil in water and boil til soft.
3. Drain kumara and mash to preferred consistency.
4. Stir through olive oil, salt & pepper and margarine.
5. Chop up sundried tomatoes and stir through.

I served this with lamb steaks and peas and it was simply divine!

Enjoy and please post any feedback you have!

So I was going to post this....

2008-03-12T15:52:00.004+13:00

as a Happy Birfday pic for Aaron, then I realised it looked far too dignified so the official picture this year (heh who dares me to post last year's birfday midget cowboy?) is this:

Much more fitting :P

Its not often a great question is followed by an even more brilliant answer...

2008-03-11T16:24:00.001+13:00

Source credit: http://www.wowbash.com//images/1202610884.jpg

Spot the problem here...

2008-03-11T16:04:00.001+13:00

Source credit: http://www.wowbash.com//images/1202808933.jpg

Lament of the Baddie

2008-03-11T14:32:00.003+13:00

Well as of Wednesday last week his reign of terror was officially over.

I speak, of course, of none other than our own home-grown serial killer... Joey Henderson, resident of El Rancho, Ferndale. Shortland Street ED Nurse by daytime, crazed-psychopath and wannabe-surgeon by night.

And I have to say, I'm sad he's dead. Not that it wasn't a satisfying end to the story arc, just that its an END. They managed to string this serial-killer thing out for *months* now and it really made for exciting watching. I was always a reasonably avid watcher of Shorters but over the course of the whole murder-mystery-whodunnit I've been increasingly so. Just ask Aaron how many of our team's arena games were put on hold because 7pm had rolled around.

Life has revolved around the daily installments of suspense filled soapy goodness, not to mention the Sunday morning omnibus (oh the benefits of evening church services!) which showed the entire week's episodes marathon-esque. Hours of recapping on the week's thrilling events.

And it wasn't just me either! Hubby managed to get just as wrapped up in it as I was, albeit with a grain of salt and we also caught a friend out by discussing events light-heartedly to find him jumping enthusiastically into the conversation before he realised he'd given his secret away!

We even downloaded missed episodes of particular import that we had missed online from TVNZ's legal downloads section (pure win btw!)

Now, its all over. Deflated, depressed, lifeless. Much like Harry Potter after Voldemort carks it, or Lord of the Rings post-Sauron's demise, Shortland Street is now remarkably devoid of drama. Life is moving on, Shanti & Scotty plan to get hitched on Thursday, everyone seems to have forgotten the atrocities they have suffered through in the last few months, except Alice of course but then why should she forget when they can wring a few weeks of sobfest out of her at least.

Good grief, its almost like its not real!

Warning the above text contained spoilers. LFM RL PST takes no responsibilities for this. If you didn't want to know you shouldn't have read it now, should you?

Rachel's Recipe Hour

2008-03-10T14:19:00.005+13:00

I know I promised I wasn't going to do this but my blog = my rules so tough bikkies! Or scones in this case!

---------------------------------------------------

Over the weekend I whipped up a batch of Sundried Tomato & Basil Scones and thought I should share my recipe.

The scone base is the good ole Edmonds one, and the tomato and basil are my own additions.

Enjoy!

Sundried Tomato & Basil Scones

Ingredients:

3 cups plain flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
75 g butter
6 or so good sized sundried tomatoes
2 cup approx. fresh basil
1-1 1/2 cup milk
Extra milk

Directions:

1. Chop basil very finely, until nearly resembles a paste. Should appear to be about 1/4 c in quantity now.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. (Or if you are lazy like me, don't sift at all!)
3. Cut butter in until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. (Personally I use my (clean!) hands to rub the butter through to ensure its mixed thoroughly.)
4. Chop sundried tomatoes into smallish pieces. The more you enjoy chunks of sundried tomatoes the larger you can leave the chunks!
5. Add basil paste and tomato pieces, stir thru til vaguely mixed. The basil tends to clump a bit so you may wish to rub this through similar to step 3.
6. Add milk in halves (i.e. half the total amount of milk first and mix in, then half the remaining amount and so on until you have a nice non-sticky mixture.) Mix quickly with a knife to a soft dough.
7. Knead a few times and add small quantities of flour slowly if your mixture is too sticky.
8. Lightly dust an oven tray with flour.
9. Press scone dough out onto this.
10. Cut into even-sized pieces. Regular sized scones will make about 12 per batch but since scones are fairly stodgy I prefer to make mini-sized ones and got about 24.
11. Leave a 2 cm space between scones.
12. Brush tops with milk if you are fancy and have a pastry brush.
13. Bake at 220C for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Sad News for all Nelsonians...

2008-03-05T08:46:00.005+13:00

Natureland is to close! =S

The closest thing Nelson had to a zoo or in fact an animal related destination has to shut down due to a lack of funding.

So many fond memories going there as a kid.

:(

Hopefully the community can rally together to save Natureland. Come on Nelson!

News story link.

Blog Direction

2008-03-05T08:09:00.002+13:00

So when I decided to blow the virtual dust off this blog last week, I had a think about the topic of the blog and what I want to do with it, namely not just ramble on about the boring RL things I try to replace WoW as a hobby/passtime/obsession.

No really, it occurred to me that no-one else actually wants to hear about my baking exploits, my knitting/crochet projects nor what book I'm currently reading. Since I don't do much else I may still *have* to wax lyrical about these from time to time but I'll attempt to keep the snorefests to a minimum. You know the old adage, "If you can't blog something interesting, don't blog anything at all!" Well, something like that!

Also the quitting-WoW theme of the blog was *really* restricting our other contributor's veritable slew of posts, as he's back playing just as much as ever (not to mention raiding at the forefront of Khaz'goroth alliance side raiding.)

So now the blog has a more open theme, as described by the new tagline:

"Tales and ramblings on "real life" such as we know it."

A mix of RL and WoW related posts. Undoubtedly less of the latter...

I'll also be updating the links on the right, adding the webcomics which make my days a little brighter as well as a few more choice blogs and sites.

Hump Day Funnies...

2008-03-05T07:39:00.003+13:00

Originally posted by Cassieann of Big Bear Butt Blog, from whom I'm liberally "borrowing" the following post:

This one is particularly for the ladies ;)

*******

Dear Tech Support:

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower
and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable
programs such as WoW 5.0, Comic Books 3.0 and Sci Fi Books 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no
avail.

What can I do?

Signed, Desperate

==============

DEAR DESPERATE:

First, keep in mind Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and don’t forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application
works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

Also do not attempt to reinstall Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,

Tech Support

Muse Correspondence

2008-02-28T18:28:00.002+13:00

From: Right-brain [mailto:right-brain@rachel.co.nz]
Sent: 30 July 2007 10:31 a.m.
To: 'Euterpe - Muse' <euterpe@muses.pantheon.gr>;
Subject: Hey

Hi,

Haven't heard from you in a while, hope everythings ok!
Just thought it was about time we had a catch-up, are you free anytime soon?

Cheers

Right Brain

----------------------------------------

From: 'Euterpe - Muse' <euterpe@muses.pantheon.gr>;
Sent: 28 February 2008 05:17 a.m.
To: Right-brain [mailto:right-brain@rachel.co.nz]
Subject: Re:Hey
Attachments: idea.jpg [Scan this for viruses]

Hey, sorry its taken me so long to get back to you, I've been flat out!

Heres that file you were after, should be enlightening!
Don't know when I'll be next in town for a catch up, so don't wait for my call.

/air-kisses

Ciao!

Apologies to Leo Sayer...

2008-02-26T15:58:00.002+13:00

...or An Ode to iGoogle

-------------------

You've got a cute way of updatin'
You fill my History yeah
Just refreshed your feed and I'm loading
Like a widget on your screen
I'm in a spin, you know
Posting from work, you know

You make me feel like blogging
I'm gonna blog the night away
You make me feel like blogging
I'm gonna blog the night away
You make feel like blogging
I feel like blogging blogging blog the night away
I feel like blogging blogging ahhh

Quarter to four in the morning
I ain't feeling tired no no no no no
Just hold me tight and save to My Drafts
Cause I don't want to go home

You put a spell-check on me
I'm right where you want me to read

You make me feel like blogging
I want to blog the night away
You make me feel like blogging
I'm gonna blog the night away
You make feel like blogging
I feel like blogging blogging blog the night away
I feel like blogging blogging

You take my hit count higher
I'm gonna catch on fire 'cause

You make me feel like blogging I wanna blog the night away
You make me feel like blogging I'm gonna blog my life away
I feel like blogging blogging blog the night away
I feel like blogging blogging blog the night away
I feel like blogging blogging blog the night away
I feel like blogging blogging ahhh

You really gave me a tastin'
I can't get off of the post-count score
All this perpetual dictation
You gotta give me some more
You gotta give me some more

And if you'll let me post we'll blog our lives away
You make me feel like blogging I'm gonna blog my life away
You make me feel like blogging I'm gonna blog my life away
You make me feel like blogging I'm gonna blog my life away
I feel like blogging blogging

-------------------

Now to see who actually watches this blog's feeds!

/wait

The Wagon

2007-07-26T11:07:00.001+12:00

and falling off it.

So yeah, our vast hordes of readers may have noticed there haven't been many posts of late, and as one astute anonymous commenter noted, I have indeed been playing WoW again. :(
But mature though I am, (stop laughing! I AM!), I'm not above dragging others down with me, so I hasten to add that I'm not the only contributor around these parts to have also begun playing again. /points finger at Aaron. Fair enough if you didn't know he was a contributor, he only wrote one post thus far, but his names over on the right -----------> so he must be.

I also hasten to add that I've subsequently re-canceled my account again.

Not even Blizzard themselves can count now how many times I have quit and renewed my account, though estimates are in the tens. Of thousands.

So yeah, I made it just over a month, 'til I saw the new Children's Week festival pets, (scroll right down to the bottom ones, which are the new ones) which after much squeeing I HAD to have the baby Elekk, though sadly now I wish I'd gotten Sleeping Willy :( It was the end of semester and I needed something to do as a break from all the assignments, however I quickly fell back into old habits :(

But I'm back at tech now and have an upcoming project for work, so I cancelled the account in the hopes of re-regaining that life balance once more.

Also, I'm planning a new blog project, although I don't quite have the topic yet, I'd like it to be like the great i can has cheezburger, But instead of lolcats, I want to create a new offshoot. Thats where I get stuck, I don't quite have the topic yet, so add your suggestions here please!!!

There, are you happy now, Anonymous?!

New Kitteh Pics

2007-05-05T12:16:00.000+12:00

My personal favourite:

and for those of the "IM IN UR _noun_, _verbing_ UR/MY(delete one) _noun_" persuasion:

Three Weeks down!

2007-05-03T18:16:00.000+12:00

...and still going strong.

Its not even really an issue anymore. I just don't play. I don't even feel like I'm ''quitting'' anything in the way that say, recovering alcoholics might. I just am now a normal(ish) person again.

And so, being a normal(ish) person, I went out and got a job. Just a small part time data entry thingamy, but it seems like a nice place and they let me listen to my iPod whilst I work, so I'm happy as Lawrence :)

Kitteh is growing heaps, she seems to be about 3 times the size she was when she first came home, but is just as demanding and rascally. Definately living up to her name >.< Oh and I did birthday type things last weekend, met up with a rag-tag assortment of friends for drinks which was lovely. I say rag-tag in the nicest possible sense, in that they were a variety of friends from various places, ex-flatmates, ex-guildmembers, ppl from tech etc. T'was nice. And the highlight of the night had to be my wonderful new kitteh badges which Sev made me as a birthday pressie:

No new kitten pictures recently as she has become quite camera-savvy, meaning whenever she's doing something really really cute or amusing and I whip out the camera-phone she stops doing it. >.<

I'll probably take some in the weekend. Weekdays are suddenly getting quite busy!

Anzac Day

2007-04-25T10:40:00.001+12:00

I figured I really should at least make some mention of Anzac Day since its the reason I'm at home blogging rather than at school blogging.

But really all I can think of is, are we odd in that we have a BISCUIT to commemorate soldiers dying at war? Do other countries have baked treats named for important military holidays?
Perhaps VE day scones? Nagasaki shortbread? Treaty of Versailles spongecake?

I mean, I understand the back-story to the biscuit, but other than the poppy thats really about the only connection most NZers of my generation have to the day. My grandad did something in the second World War and thankfully he came home safely. But he never talked about it, at least not in my hearing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not being disrespectful, I do appreciate that they gave their lives to protect our freedom, it just doesn't really translate into my life, perhaps because my generation has grown up de-sensitized to war thanks to television. There's always been some war somewhere going on as long as I can remember, but they never directly effect my life. Theres no bombs being dropped on Chch, I don't need blackout curtains, no air raid sirens wake me up. Probably the price of petrol is the only way it ever effects me. Its just stuff on the news.

Is that terrible of me?

Anyway, heres a jolly recipe for Anzac Biscuits, who knew Wikipedia had a cookbook section! Gosh the internet is wonderful!

A Visual Treat

2007-04-25T09:09:00.000+12:00

I write too many words sometimes, so heres some pictures instead.
Starting with some more autumnal shots I took the other day:

And some new kitten ones:

And lastly, 2 random pics I found on other ppl's photobuckets that I thought were amusing:

A Brand New You, or The end of week 2...

2007-04-25T08:20:00.000+12:00

As my second full week away from WoW draws to a close I reflect on the changes I've noticed in myself.

New Rachel doesn't get bored, she gets reading!
New Rachel enjoys cooking interesting meals where she used to just throw something together in a rush to get back to the game.
New Rachel even freezes leftovers for James' lunch and thinks she should bake more.
New Rachel delights in the quiet life; playing with her kitten, curling up with a good book, (currently its Polgara the Sorceress by David and Leigh Eddings) or simply watching TV with James.
New Rachel tries not to swear and is much slower to anger.
New Rachel doesn't drink coffee and energy drinks all day but rather enjoys a nice herbal tea.
New Rachel enjoys in being thrifty with her money rather than squandering it.

There are still some of Old Rachel's bad habits lingering, the ability to lose an entire day drifting about on the internet for one. This extends into an almost complete inability to get any work done but hey, its only been two weeks, can't expect miracles :P

As for World of Warcraft? No thank you! I like my real life far too much. WoW holds no spell over me anymore. I haven't the slightest bit of interest in wasting my day away.

Kitten!!!11!!one!!eleven11

2007-04-22T19:03:00.000+12:00

So last week this tiny bundle of joy arrived home:

Her name is Jezebel and she's sssooooo cute XD
I'm thoroughly besotted with her, her every movement (even those of the bowels) is subject to intense scrutiny and much ooohing and aaahing.

Verily, no kitten before her has been this clever, this amusing nor this quickly to become accustomed to the whole litter box idea.

Heres some more of her (captioned) exploits:

As for the WoW withdrawls its still going really well, have no interest in playing at all, and I don't miss it. I spose given that quite a few of us have all left at the same-ish time makes it a bit easier because you don't feel like you're missing out on stuff.

The sermon at church today was quite moving, about really claiming a new life, and living differently to how you lived before and it really made a lot of sense and I feel like quitting WoW was a good step in the right direction towards living the way I should be. ^_^

In other news, holidays are over now so back to tech tomorrow, which means no more IRC =/ However it will be really good to get back into a routine and get out of the house!

Of course the downside to that is the harsh reality that I have a 1500+ word essay due Wed that I haven't started will probably really hit home soon...

I will miss the tiny terror too :*(

Ok, just one more piccie:

One week without WoW....

2007-04-19T09:16:00.000+12:00

...... and I am doing fine :)

So far since quitting I have spent more quality time with my better half, the furry monster (AKA Brodie, pics later), catching up on sleep and generally feeling alot better about life in general.

I'm still flat out at work, I spent from 7pm-10.30pm last night in the freezing cold working on a system at a winery and also worked till 6.30 the night before last recovering a borked pc at another winery, fun times i tells ya.

To pass the little spare time I have Ive been playing Lord of the Rings Online with some mates, currently enjoying it alot better than WoW due to the well balanced class mechanics (no more 2 button characters /yay) and huge amount of story threaded through the game. I don't plan on going back to a playing style similar to whats required in WoW to do anything but thats the beauty of LOTRO, you dont seem to need to spend 20+ hours a week to get anywhere. Also just received my preorder bonus pack from GamePlanet as well and that was pretty cool for a freebie.

Today my chores involve the following, whore forums with Rachel, whore IRC with Rachel....... and possibly some productive work in between the whoring :)

Oh first post on teh blog to, Rach will be so proud.

Day 7 - Thats right, a whole week!

2007-04-18T11:24:00.000+12:00

So I've survived the first week. Its probably easier than the second week or even the third, but I guess we'll see how those go when I get to them.

IRC, Uncyc and making attempts to do assignments now pretty much take up the time I would have spent in WoW, oh and reading. And the excercycle still has been getting its daily usage. 25 mins today :D

The hand over of guild power is almost complete, just the contents of the herbbank to turn over to the others and I'll be done. I spose I could uninstall WoW then, something to think about.

So the internet is playing up today, can't seem to stay connected to IRC and pages loading painfully slowly, I think its a sign that I should be working on my assignments more. Currently I have lost all internet connection, xfire, IRC, even the guild page is all down for me =/

Anyway, the hand over is nearly complete, I've been demoted on the guild site now so I habs no admin powers, no officer forums and an awful plebian GREEN for my username, and I believe I've informed all close in-game friends as to my absense now (if not then eeep! sorry!) so I'm nearly entirely free and gone from the game.
Its not the stopping playing that is the hardest bit, its all the goodbyes and explaining why you are leaving that is so hard.

I never did get round to doing any decent pony/monkey sketches, I did do a couple of lame attempts but I'll never disclose those. I think I prefer sketching when I should be listening in class. Why sketch when you have the whole internets to play with?

Thats kind of all I have. Its hard knowing what to write when your readership is practically none =/

WTB Readers PST

Day Four

2007-04-14T10:48:00.000+12:00

Minutes on Excercycle: 20
Breakfast: Herbal Tea & Museli (with soy milk)

I thought I'd start today's blog post off like that because it makes me look oh-so wholesome and good. >:D
Don't worry I don't intend to chronicle every facet of my day. Mostly because a lot of it would be:

"Posted on blog. Refreshed guild website. No new posts. Talked in IRC. Refreshed uncyc. No new edits to arc2.0. Refreshed guild website. Checked 'Who's Online' to see what they are all doing. Guildmembers are viewing the main page. =/ "

And so on. Thankfully theres only one more week left of the holidays and it promises to be a lot more action packed than this one. For starters on Monday I'm babysitting teh nieces. (neices? no definately nieces) Which should at least completely exhaust me.
Tuesday is the big 3 yr wedding anniversary so there are preparations to be made for the big surprise and then the obligatory dinner out afterwards.

I guess the rest of the week should be devoted to doing my assignments which I have (as usual) woefully neglected til the last minute.

As for today, plans thus far are to go to Armaggedon with a couple of friends, hopefully that should be fun.
Fingers crossed for Blue Eyes White Dragon!

Possibly I shall spend some time this morning drawing a cartoon tribute to this song:
Skullcrusher Mountain by Jonathon Coulton.

In particular this verse, which is possibly my favourite musical lyric of all time:

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don’t like it
What’s with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don’t like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn’t it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

I've been pondering just how to draw a half-pony, half-monkey monster so I think I'll give it a bash.

Wish me luck!

Also sketches pass time nicely

2007-04-13T20:47:00.000+12:00

So I've been tidying up one I drew a while back of my succubus... (in-game one, not real one. She won't pose for me >.< ) Heres the full image. However I quite like viewing it zoomed in. I like the line quality on the torso, its rather reminiscent of Tank Girl comics if I do say so myself! I'm not entirely happy with it yet, the heads so flat compared to the attitude of the body, and I haven't drawn in her whip or tail yet. Also the wings bug me. Ok so I really only like the torso but people are so funny about disembodied torsos. Or should that be "disemheaded"? Probably "headless" makes more sense I'm guessing. Gosh english is so diverse! There's a word for everything! Anyway its a work in progress and I certainly have plenty of time to tweak it!

The original:

The zoomed in cropped version: (I had to include teh bobes because I knew there'd be tears and tantrums if I didn't)

Diversions...

2007-04-13T20:13:00.000+12:00

well, Kingdom of Loathing is pretty damn crazy. Played that for about 5 mins. I'm a lvl 2 turtle tamer.

Also zombo.com kills a good 5 mins or so with riotous laughter. (sp?)

Going through old photos is always nice, I found some lovely ones of the recent lantern festival, this is probably the best one. I'm always amazed by how good the pics from my phone actually come out. So far every picture I've posted here was taken on my cellphone!

Groceries take up time, lets do groceries!
And buy awesome icecream! Its awesome! Really!
See for yourself:

Thinking about going to Armaggedon tomorrow, not the end of the world, the comic expo. Looks interesting, I hope I get to wrestle Spongebob. Also the voices from Yu-gi-oh will be there. We are particularly hoping to see Blue Eyes White Dragon's voice. Or would that be hear it?

However I think possibly the biggest drawcard is the costume competition. I can't really imagine the nerds of Christchurch going too all out there but who knows, perhaps they will surprise!

Still waiting for Aaron's amazing contribution...

Things I missed out on while I was too busy playing WoW - Number One

2007-04-13T15:04:00.000+12:00

Outside.

Thats right, all that time inside playing WoW and I forgot how much I like outside.
Not the hill-climbing-jolly-brisk-walk kind of outside, the stroll-through-the-city-hugging-lampposts-and-smiling-like-an-idiot kind.

I love this city, especially in autumn/winter. Because the sun still shines (don't listen to the weather reports, I'm telling you it does) and all the trees along the river turn golden and theres wonderful big drifts of leaves to kick up (yes I totally do this, don't care how silly I look) and its so beautifully crisp and chilly!

I've always liked autumn and I've always attributed this to my being born in autumn and also my preference for the cold and the assorted wintery items of clothing which go with it (big fan of wool here) but I think living in Christchurch has deepened my love for this time of year. Its so much more picturesque.

Dammit now the post needs a picture to illustrate my point. Brb... Done.

The promised picture of goodness

2007-04-13T13:14:00.000+12:00

So yeah, there it is, in all its glory.

Come on, how awesome is that?!

I swear I took that picture myself on my own crappy phone camera, just metres from my house. I'm gonna be famous!

Also added Aaron as a contributor here in a fit of madness, not sure what he'll contribute yet but it just seemed wrong to be writing all by myself. Who knows, perhaps we'll reproduce the one-word post thread here...

So...

2007-04-13T11:40:00.000+12:00

The big scary 'first post' is out of the way, as is the dreaded first comment. No prizes for guessing who won that honour ;P

Hopefully later this arvo I'll post the funniest pic you are likely to see, well within a 5 minute timespan unless you're purposely looking at funny pictures in which case its probably just a mildly amusing, or possibly even completely UNfunny one, but its redeeming feature is that *I* took it myself. Ok that was maybe too much hype, I guess we'll find out later.

So yeah, this is day 3 of no WoW, although I did log in last night as there was a bit of an uproar in guild chat over my leaving announcement (in hindsight the one word at a time alternating post may not have been the right format...) and I still have to make some flasks for Sev but I have no compulsion to play so far which is good.

In other news Dave, our new dehumidifier (the names a long and silly story that I'm happy to explain later ;) ) is settling in nicely, even if he does suck. Ba-dum-dum-chh!
Also its very very windy here today, and um...yeah thats kinda the extent of my news, although I do have an exciting errand to run later. Ok not exciting really, just a trip to the land lords to drop off a spare key but you know, my life is pretty unthrilling atm. I get my kicks where I can.

Oh and the last easter egg is half gone. May they all rest in pieces...of delicious chocolately goodness!!!

Considering kicking my knitting up a notch, not so much for something to do but just so that I have another natty scarf to add to my wardrobe of natty scarves. Even if I do only wear one or two of them. I'll totally wear this one I swear, the wool is very nice and soft and it looks very tidy so far, only one hole!

First!111oneone!!1!eleven

2007-04-13T10:10:00.000+12:00

*deep breath*

So, I've finally taken the plunge, not just to 'have a break' or 'take some time out' but to entirely quit WoW. Thats World of Warcraft for those of you who have somehow mistakenly stumbled here.

No its not a pickup site, at least not in the sense you're thinking. The title refers to a common in-game message frequently used to find more players for a particular dungeon, generally abbreviated. RL stands for real life. Don't make me explain it any more than that!

The purpose of this blog is for me to have a creative outlet while I detox, and to share my pasty-white withdrawls with anyone brave enough to read it.
Its not pretty yet I know, but these things take time. This is my first foray into blog-hood so my steps are still a little shaky. Or perhaps thats the withdrawls kicking in already... >.>
More on that soon, I just really want to get a first post up here so I can see what its going to look like.

-Rachel

(Well, must say its weird signing off with my real name, for 2 years I've gone under various psuedonoms and handles, feeling very exposed suddenly! eep!)

P.S. Apologies to Nina for stealing her blog layout, I tried heaps of them, but as usual your impecable sense of style prevails. Though you may notice I tweaked the colours a tad, it may not be puce but its a start

Edit - Because I said common and commonly in the same sentence. *shudder*