i'm an ellipsis

Given the amount that I use the ellipsis, this didn't really come as any kind of surprise...

ellipsis You scored 38% Sociability and 76% Sophistication!

...

Your life can be difficult because of your insecurities, but you should know that it isn't your fault. YOU didn't ask to be thrown in around thirty times per page in every bodice-ripper on the shelf! Those who overuse you can kiss your . . . you know. You need to learn to hold your head high and glory in your solitude. You really do have excellent, scholarly tastes. You must never forget that your friend, the period, will be there to support you at the end of every sentence where you truly belong, and, if what is left out is as important as what is said, why, then you are as vital as the alphabet!

Which Punctuation Mark Are You?
Current Mood:

ipip-neo test - conscientiousness

The ongoing trainwreck which is my IPIP-NEO Personality test results...

We've had Extraversion and Agreeableness... so the domain for today is...

Conscientiousness - 13%

Your score on Conscientiousness is low, indicating you like to live for the moment and do what feels good now. Your work tends to be careless and disorganized.

Conscientiousness concerns the way in which we control, regulate, and direct our impulses. Impulses are not inherently bad; occasionally time constraints require a snap decision, and acting on our first impulse can be an effective response. Also, in times of play rather than work, acting spontaneously and impulsively can be fun. Impulsive individuals can be seen by others as colorful, fun-to-be-with, and zany.

Nonetheless, acting on impulse can lead to trouble in a number of ways. Some impulses are antisocial. Uncontrolled antisocial acts not only harm other members of society, but also can result in retribution toward the perpetrator of such impulsive acts. Another problem with impulsive acts is that they often produce immediate rewards but undesirable, long-term consequences. Examples include excessive socializing that leads to being fired from one's job, hurling an insult that causes the breakup of an important relationship, or using pleasure-inducing drugs that eventually destroy one's health.

Impulsive behavior, even when not seriously destructive, diminishes a person's effectiveness in significant ways. Acting impulsively disallows contemplating alternative courses of action, some of which would have been wiser than the impulsive choice. Impulsivity also sidetracks people during projects that require organized sequences of steps or stages. Accomplishments of an impulsive person are therefore small, scattered, and inconsistent.

A hallmark of intelligence, what potentially separates human beings from earlier life forms, is the ability to think about future consequences before acting on an impulse. Intelligent activity involves contemplation of long-range goals, organizing and planning routes to these goals, and persisting toward one's goals in the face of short-lived impulses to the contrary. The idea that intelligence involves impulse control is nicely captured by the term prudence, an alternative label for the Conscientiousness domain. Prudent means both wise and cautious. Persons who score high on the Conscientiousness scale are, in fact, perceived by others as intelligent.

The benefits of high conscientiousness are obvious. Conscientious individuals avoid trouble and achieve high levels of success through purposeful planning and persistence. They are also positively regarded by others as intelligent and reliable. On the negative side, they can be compulsive perfectionists and workaholics. Furthermore, extremely conscientious individuals might be regarded as stuffy and boring. Unconscientious people may be criticized for their unreliability, lack of ambition, and failure to stay within the lines, but they will experience many short-lived pleasures and they will never be called stuffy.

I like that last bit... never called stuffy...

Self-Efficacy - 17%

Self-Efficacy describes confidence in one's ability to accomplish things. High scorers believe they have the intelligence (common sense), drive, and self-control necessary for achieving success. Low scorers do not feel effective, and may have a sense that they are not in control of their lives. Your level of self-efficacy is low.

While I would say that I do have the common sense to achieve things, I'd agree with the other stuff... to a degree anyway...

Orderliness - 67%

Persons with high scores on orderliness are well-organized. They like to live according to routines and schedules. They keep lists and make plans. Low scorers tend to be disorganized and scattered. Your level of orderliness is high.

Yep... lists and schedules... that's me... in fact I used to get shit from Ma, Ludo and Lownee about my lists... it even got to the point where I think I made a list of all my lists... I'm better now, I promise...

Dutifulness - 27%

This scale reflects the strength of a person's sense of duty and obligation. Those who score high on this scale have a strong sense of moral obligation. Low scorers find contracts, rules, and regulations overly confining. They are likely to be seen as unreliable or even irresponsible. Your level of dutifulness is low.

I'd say I was reliable and responsible... but I do chafe at rules and regulations...

Achievement-Striving - 5%

Individuals who score high on this scale strive hard to achieve excellence. Their drive to be recognized as successful keeps them on track toward their lofty goals. They often have a strong sense of direction in life, but extremely high scores may be too single-minded and obsessed with their work. Low scorers are content to get by with a minimal amount of work, and might be seen by others as lazy. Your level of achievement striving is low.

Yeah, I can't say that I'm big on the whole achievement striving thing... whenever anyone has ever asked me "where I see myself in five years time" or variations on that question, my standard answer is always "I want to be happy"...

Self-Discipline - 8%

Self-discipline-what many people call will-power-refers to the ability to persist at difficult or unpleasant tasks until they are completed. People who possess high self-discipline are able to overcome reluctance to begin tasks and stay on track despite distractions. Those with low self-discipline procrastinate and show poor follow-through, often failing to complete tasks-even tasks they want very much to complete. Your level of self-discipline is low.

This one I disagree with... not totally... but some... yeah, procrastination is my middle name... but when I start a task... or if it's something I really want to do, I will see it through... I might occasionally do a half assed job at the end (see the previous subdomain)... but I'll finish it eventually...

Cautiousness - 13%

Cautiousness describes the disposition to think through possibilities before acting. High scorers on the Cautiousness scale take their time when making decisions. Low scorers often say or do first thing that comes to mind without deliberating alternatives and the probable consequences of those alternatives. Your level of cautiousness is low.

Yeah, I'll pay this one... but by the same token, there are other times when I do go over the alternatives and consequences to things... almost too much...

Which brings us to the subdomain you've all been waiting for...

Tomorrow: Neuroticism

Current Mood:

photo friday: zoominutia

I realised the other day that at the rate that I'm adding to my Photo Friday collection, if I only post one per Friday then I'll never get through them all... so I figured there was nothing stopping me from doing some bulk posts...

Tada... three images for the price of one...

These are all from my recent Zoo Trip, although that might not be completely obvious, since only the middle shot is actually from inside the zoo...

The other two are from the tail end of Linear Park... well, the tail end where it hits the city anyway... and where I "got off" when I did the first major walk.

This shot is a Rainbow Lorikeet, one of a pair who were fighting with a pair of Galahs over a nesting spot in an old gum tree... I had left Ma in the car and gone along the pathway to see if I could find the "Angel" statue which is the bottom shot... but it was further along than I thought, so I had to call her to get her to come find me, and while I was waiting I noticed the lorikeets and galahs and managed to snag this shot.

This one is a Ganesha statue (obviously)... I LOVE Ganesha statues... well, the aesthetically pleasing ones anyway... and this was outside the old elephant house at the Zoo...

And, as I already mentioned this is the "Angel" statue... I don't know what it's really called, there didn't seem to be any kind of plaque or anything, but, to me, it just looks like an angel... a heavily stylised angel, but an angel none-the-less...

Current Mood:

ipip-neo test - agreeableness

Part two of the IPIP-NEO Personality test...

Yesterday was Extraversion, today's domain is...

Agreeableness - 0%

Your score on Agreeableness is low, indicating less concern with others' needs than with your own. People see you as tough, critical, and uncompromising.

Agreeableness reflects individual differences in concern with cooperation and social harmony. Agreeable individuals value getting along with others. They are therefore considerate, friendly, generous, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with others'. Agreeable people also have an optimistic view of human nature. They believe people are basically honest, decent, and trustworthy.

Disagreeable individuals place self-interest above getting along with others. They are generally unconcerned with others' well-being, and therefore are unlikely to extend themselves for other people. Sometimes their skepticism about others' motives causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly, and uncooperative.

Agreeableness is obviously advantageous for attaining and maintaining popularity. Agreeable people are better liked than disagreeable people. On the other hand, agreeableness is not useful in situations that require tough or absolute objective decisions. Disagreeable people can make excellent scientists, critics, or soldiers.

"Sometimes their skepticism about others' motives causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly, and uncooperative."

I'll go with that one...

Now... onto the subdomains...

Trust - 10%

A person with high trust assumes that most people are fair, honest, and have good intentions. Persons low in trust see others as selfish, devious, and potentially dangerous. Your level of trust is low.

I'm not going to argue with this one... although I will say, you usually get one chance with me where I will trust you, or maybe take you at your word... if that word proves to be false, or a lie... then I'm not going to trust you again in a hurry.

Morality - 65%

High scorers on this scale see no need for pretense or manipulation when dealing with others and are therefore candid, frank, and sincere. Low scorers believe that a certain amount of deception in social relationships is necessary. People find it relatively easy to relate to the straightforward high-scorers on this scale. They generally find it more difficult to relate to the unstraightforward low-scorers on this scale. It should be made clear that low scorers are not unprincipled or immoral; they are simply more guarded and less willing to openly reveal the whole truth. Your level of morality is average.

Thank goodness I got one decent score in this section... sometimes I'm open and candid... sometimes I'm guarded...

Altruism - 1%

Altruistic people find helping other people genuinely rewarding. Consequently, they are generally willing to assist those who are in need. Altruistic people find that doing things for others is a form of self-fulfillment rather than self-sacrifice. Low scorers on this scale do not particularly like helping those in need. Requests for help feel like an imposition rather than an opportunity for self-fulfillment. Your level of altruism is low.

Sad, but true...

Cooperation - 7%

Individuals who score high on this scale dislike confrontations. They are perfectly willing to compromise or to deny their own needs in order to get along with others. Those who score low on this scale are more likely to intimidate others to get their way. Your level of compliance is low.

This is a weird one... I HATE confrontation... hate it... but I'm also not willing to compromise my needs in order to get along with others...

Modesty - 37%

High scorers on this scale do not like to claim that they are better than other people. In some cases this attitude may derive from low self-confidence or self-esteem. Nonetheless, some people with high self-esteem find immodesty unseemly. Those who are willing to describe themselves as superior tend to be seen as disagreeably arrogant by other people. Your level of modesty is average.

So obviously I'm somewhere in the middle-ish on this one...

Sympathy - 0%

Sympathy. People who score high on this scale are tenderhearted and compassionate. They feel the pain of others vicariously and are easily moved to pity. Low scorers are not affected strongly by human suffering. They pride themselves on making objective judgments based on reason. They are more concerned with truth and impartial justice than with mercy. Your level of tender-mindedness is low.

I'll go with that whole "making objective judgments based on reason" thing... that sounds better...

Tomorrow's Domain: Conscientiousness

Current Mood:

ipip-neo test - extraversion

Yesterday I posted the overview for the IPIP-NEO Personality test...

Today is the expanded subdomain info from the first of the domains.... let's remind ourselves how I scored on that shall we...

Extraversion - 13%

Your score on Extraversion is low, indicating you are introverted, reserved, and quiet. You enjoy solitude and solitary activities. Your socializing tends to be restricted to a few close friends.

Extraversion is marked by pronounced engagement with the external world. Extraverts enjoy being with people, are full of energy, and often experience positive emotions. They tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented, individuals who are likely to say "Yes!" or "Let's go!" to opportunities for excitement. In groups they like to talk, assert themselves, and draw attention to themselves.

Introverts lack the exuberance, energy, and activity levels of extraverts. They tend to be quiet, low-key, deliberate, and disengaged from the social world. Their lack of social involvement should not be interpreted as shyness or depression; the introvert simply needs less stimulation than an extravert and prefers to be alone. The independence and reserve of the introvert is sometimes mistaken as unfriendliness or arrogance. In reality, an introvert who scores high on the agreeableness dimension will not seek others out but will be quite pleasant when approached.

And here are the six subdomains...

Friendliness - 8%

Friendly people genuinely like other people and openly demonstrate positive feelings toward others. They make friends quickly and it is easy for them to form close, intimate relationships. Low scorers on Friendliness are not necessarily cold and hostile, but they do not reach out to others and are perceived as distant and reserved. Your level of friendliness is low.

Actually I don't disagree with this one... I don't make friends quickly as a general rule, but if I do then I know that it has to be someone worthwhile... and I'm quite happy with my own company too, most of the time anyway.

Gregariousness - 19%

Gregarious people find the company of others pleasantly stimulating and rewarding. They enjoy the excitement of crowds. Low scorers tend to feel overwhelmed by, and therefore actively avoid, large crowds. They do not necessarily dislike being with people sometimes, but their need for privacy and time to themselves is much greater than for individuals who score high on this scale. Your level of gregariousness is low.

Yep... don't like big crowds of people... especially don't like big social gatherings where I don't know anyone.

Assertiveness - 47%

High scorers Assertiveness like to speak out, take charge, and direct the activities of others. They tend to be leaders in groups. Low scorers tend not to talk much and let others control the activities of groups. Your level of assertiveness is average.

Depends on the group... I usually like to put my two cents in though. Not that that will come as a big surprise to some other bloggers out there...

Activity Level - 6%

Active individuals lead fast-paced, busy lives. They move about quickly, energetically, and vigorously, and they are involved in many activities. People who score low on this scale follow a slower and more leisurely, relaxed pace. Your activity level is low.

Yup... no fast-paced, busy life here...

Excitement-Seeking - 24%

High scorers on this scale are easily bored without high levels of stimulation. They love bright lights and hustle and bustle. They are likely to take risks and seek thrills. Low scorers are overwhelmed by noise and commotion and are adverse to thrill-seeking. Your level of excitement-seeking is low.

I don't mind bright lights and hustle and bustle... but I'm more than happy without it too...

Cheerfulness - 37%

This scale measures positive mood and feelings, not negative emotions (which are a part of the Neuroticism domain). Persons who score high on this scale typically experience a range of positive feelings, including happiness, enthusiasm, optimism, and joy. Low scorers are not as prone to such energetic, high spirits. Your level of positive emotions is average.

See... I have positive emotions too...

Tomorrow's Domain: Agreeableness

Current Mood:

random spyboy hotness

[Warning: Naked Man Alert for these links]

Today's Random Hotness is completely inspired by the new porn DVD I got this week... SpyBoy 2 from Eurocreme (which, naturally is the sequel to SpyBoy)...

I finished watching it last night, and I have to say, it has to be the only porno every where I actually cared about the story (well, kinda)... since it was a James Bond (James Bonk, naturally) spoof, it kinda sorta had a plot that made sense... mostly... and parts of it were funny... on purpose... okay, so it was about the same level of funny as some of the later Roger Moore Bond movies, but still... it made me chuckle in a couple of spots (there were a few other spots where I rolled my eyes too, but I did that with some of the Bond movies).

The "international" cast was fun too... Australian, English, French (mmmm, the very hot and very, very, very pierced Aurelien Duval) and Scottish...

Although the sex was pretty formulaic, and they did that "suddenly naked" cut thing (I hate that... I'd much prefer to see them strip), I'd give this one a couple of very enthusiastic thumbs up...

Thanks to JuicyGoo I found a bunch of shots of the two "leads", brunette Chris Cooke as the hero, Bonk, James Bonk (I'd love to know what his tattoo is supposed to mean, it looks like a symbol for not littering or something) and platinum blonde Aussie Jamie Summers as Willy Blondini, the villain of the piece (who unfortunately for him has the same "stage name" as a female porn star)... Cooke is almost albino pale, which was a little scary at times... and Summers, although as cute as a box of kittens at Christmas, is quite possibly dumber than a box of rubber hammers...

Current Mood:

ipip-neo personality test

I did this nearly two weeks ago, but couldn't actually work out how to cull it down for posting, since it's a big beastie... so I'm going to give a big shout out to Tom for posting his results, which gave me an idea of how to set at least part of it out... but for a change I didn't actually steal the quiz from him, but from My Slant... I think it was during some of the blogroll foraging I've been doing the last few weeks.

Anyway... here's the preamble...

This report compares yaniboy from the country Australia to other adult men.

This report estimates the individual's level on each of the five broad personality domains of the Five-Factor Model. The description of each one of the five broad domains is followed by a more detailed description of personality according to the six subdomains that comprise each domain.

A note on terminology. Personality traits describe, relative to other people, the frequency or intensity of a person's feelings, thoughts, or behaviors. Possession of a trait is therefore a matter of degree. We might describe two individuals as extraverts, but still see one as more extraverted than the other. This report uses expressions such as "extravert" or "high in extraversion" to describe someone who is likely to be seen by others as relatively extraverted. The computer program that generates this report classifies you as low, average, or high in a trait according to whether your score is approximately in the lowest 30%, middle 40%, or highest 30% of scores obtained by people of your sex and roughly your age. Your numerical scores are reported and graphed as percentile estimates. For example, a score of "60" means that your level on that trait is estimated to be higher than 60% of persons of your sex and age.

Please keep in mind that "low," "average," and "high" scores on a personality test are neither absolutely good nor bad. A particular level on any trait will probably be neutral or irrelevant for a great many activites, be helpful for accomplishing some things, and detrimental for accomplishing other things. As with any personality inventory, scores and descriptions can only approximate an individual's actual personality. High and low score descriptions are usually accurate, but average scores close to the low or high boundaries might misclassify you as only average. On each set of six subdomain scales it is somewhat uncommon but certainly possible to score high in some of the subdomains and low in the others. In such cases more attention should be paid to the subdomain scores than to the broad domain score. Questions about the accuracy of your results are best resolved by showing your report to people who know you well.

Yeah, yeah... low scores don't mean you suck... we get it...

Extraversion - 13%

Your score on Extraversion is low, indicating you are introverted, reserved, and quiet. You enjoy solitude and solitary activities. Your socializing tends to be restricted to a few close friends.

Agreeableness - 0%

Your score on Agreeableness is low, indicating less concern with others' needs than with your own. People see you as tough, critical, and uncompromising.

Conscientiousness - 13%

Your score on Conscientiousness is low, indicating you like to live for the moment and do what feels good now. Your work tends to be careless and disorganized.

Neuroticism - 99%

Your score on Neuroticism is high, indicating that you are easily upset, even by what most people consider the normal demands of living. People consider you to be sensitive and emotional.

Openness to Experience - 60%

Your score on Openness to Experience is average, indicating you enjoy tradition but are willing to try new things. Your thinking is neither simple nor complex. To others you appear to be a well-educated person but not an intellectual.

Honestly, I'm not sure how happy I am with the way this whole thing came out... I think it's partly because I've been sitting in this dumb house on my own for so long going slowly insane (insaner... which isn't a word, I realise) and not really dealing with people...

Sadly, I don't know that any of it is necessarily wrong per say... well, except maybe the disorganised thing around work... careless maybe, but I can be very very organised...

I'm not sure if I'll post the rest of the sections... I might, but maybe later...

Current Mood:

porn swap

Like I mentioned on Monday, I had a pile of old porno tapes to either swap or give away or whatever... which was also the reason I discovered my car battery was cactus... so after I picked up my car today (turned out it had been on charge overnight, but the battery wasn't holding a charge anyway, so hot little Anthony at the garage put a new battery in for me instead... mmmm greasemonkey), I took a quick trip to see what I could get for old random VHS porn...

The short answer... $25 store credit...

Which works out to $2.50 per tape... not exactly stunning, but better than a kick in the rubber parts...

I must have looked at every damn DVD in the store... I was hoping that there would be a couple of titles there... and while I did find one of Hunter's movies, it wasn't the one I was looking for, but I did stand there for a while going back and forth about whether to get it or not... but really, I would only have been getting it to see Hunter in action... so instead I just went with random skinny twink movie (although, just for something different, I think they're English, and the blonde on the cover is Australian, which will just be weird hehe)... I haven't watched it yet... there's something about watching porn in daylight that just seems unwholesome... granted, buying it in the middle of a a bright and sunny weekday seemed vaguely unwholesome too...

And even with the $25 credit, it still cost me $25... which I actually wasn't expecting... I don't know why, but I'd got it into my head that because the "swap price" of the DVD was $25 and I had $25 credit, that somehow it was going to work out at $0... alas that wasn't the case... ah well, you live and learn...

Current Mood:

procrastinate no more

Now, it's not really any kind of secret that I procrastinate... in fact, I could procrastinate for my country if necessary... I could give a course on procrastination... so long as I could do it later...

Anyway, I decided that rather than just making the phone call to the RAA this morning, I would make all the phonecalls I've been intending to make for however long at the same time and get them all out of the way...

Got all my papers spread out... disconnected the computer from the net... grabbed the cordless phone... and the phone battery was dead... Grrrr... the Universe was messing with me, seeing if I would give up at the first hurdle or not...

But I didn't... okay, I nearly did for a second, but I just grabbed my mobile instead...

I called...

• the RAA about my car battery...
• Cash Converters to find out how much ID I would need to sell them something (my non porno videos)
• my current agency girly and left a message (she may be avoiding me, she still hasn't called me back)
• my previous agency and left a message for someone to call me
• two of my three Superannuation providers to get the paperwork to roll it all over into one provider (it's in the mail)
• then a girly from my previous agency called me back and I told her to put me back on the "available" list (why was I ever off it?)

And then the nice RAA men showed up... I actually got two because one of them was just back from a really long amount of leave, so I think they sent him out with a buddy just in case he screwed up...

They started the car for me, and told me that the battery wasn't cactus, but it just needed charging and gave me a list of "RAA Approved" places that would do it... so rather than turning the car off, waiting until tomorrow and discovering that it wouldn't start again, I called the place in town, asked how long it would take and what it would cost... since he said it would take the better part of a day, I kind of ummed and ahhed, told him I would think about it, and then like three minutes later called him back to tell him I was bringing the car in. Drove in, dropped the car off with the very cute boy I'd spoken to on the phone (a little woggy, but a tiny pocket person, and sweet), then grabbed some lunch at the Central Market and headed home...

The only other thing I really need to do to check off all the phone calls I should make is calling somewhere about my old BMW which is slowly disintergrating in the car park... in fact, I discovered on Sunday that somebody had broken both tail lights... but getting someone to come and take it away will cost money (although old BMW parts are worth real cash money, so I might break even), so we might just put that on the back burner for now...

I did have a brief heart attack moment while I was tramping through the city to the bus stop though... I'd been wandering along thinking that given the state of the Universe, I would probably run into somebody I knew, being in the middle of town and all... and coming down King William Street, I looked up and very nearly stopped dead... former second-best girly friend (Lownee being first-best girly friend), Sheba...

Or at least someone who looked like it could have been Sheba... over dyed red hair sticking up like a vaguely goth parrot, too much black eyeliner (although really... is there such a thing), dressed head to toe in black and standing outside having a cancer stick... it SO could have been her... it even looked like her... maybe a little thinner than the last time I saw her, but it still looked a lot like her.

But I wasn't sure... my brain just froze though, at the thought it could have been her... completely... like I said, I nearly stopped walking, and I think if she'd turned towards me instead of away from me as she butted out her ciggy and went back inside I might have frozen... but she didn't... and if it was her, she either didn't see me or else saw me and chose to ignore me...

Current Mood:

montage monday: zoo two

Today's Monday Montage is also from last weekend's Zoo trip... I had all these photos left over that weren't animals, so I figured, what the hell... It's interesting actually, I don't know what it's like in other zoos (having never been to any other zoos), but our zoo has a lot of animal art happening alongside the actual animals. I think it all possibly started with the statue of George the orangutan in the middle there, made by sculptor John Dowie... but every time I go there seems to me more artworks.

This weekend wasn't a Cleanfest weekend... I'm saving up Stage 3 until the weather levels out a bit... and also because I don't really want to start it yet...

We did go out very, very early for shopping though... I think after last week's success we decided that it was possibly an ongoing plan... plus, I really enjoy it... there's no people around at 8am on a Saturday morning, or much less people, anyway, so everything seems to take much less time... it might take exactly the same amount of time, but it feels quicker.

But even though this wasn't a Cleanfest weekend, there's still ongoing Cleanfest fallout...

I mentioned a while back that I'd gotten a new quilt... well, on Saturday we took the old quilt to Dyne to have them check it out, and possibly refill it, or at least give it the once over and tell us it was cactus... and the nice woman at Dyne took it out the back and poked a hole in it, gave it the business... there was good news and bad news... "We can rebuild him, we have the technology"... sorry... where is that from anyway? So, yeah, the filling could be saved, mostly, however, the old cover was so "well loved" (ie filthy) that it is going to have to be replaced, at a grand total of $150 for both filling rejuvenation and replacement cover... which seems expensive, but is still cheaper than the "new" option of $240 that she was going to float past us.

On the way down to Dyne we passed some place called "The Christmas Shop", so, mostly for shits and giggles, we went back to take a look... OMG! Tack-a-freakin-rama! It was a pokey little store, with three or four little rooms, each one was filled from floor to ceiling with every manner of scary ass Christmas ornament, tacky plastic novelty, angel, nativity, singing Santa or Dean Martin or Bing Crosby or Homer Simpson and a million other types of random crap in the Xmas oeuvre... luckily, now that we've been there, we don't ever have to go there ever again...

As I mentioned briefly yesterday, I went through my VHS tapes on the bookcase behind the door, firstly on Saturday night, just to tidy them up and made some space... and then again on Sunday morning, when I went through all the tapes I'd recorded from teevee, movies or whatever... and my sadly extensive porno collection, most of which was pretty damn tragic...

About three quarters of the recorded stuff got ditched, although I did find a few things that I forgot I had... like Torch Song Trilogy (I SO need to get that on DVD... love, love, love that movie... and it was the first "gay movie" I ever saw), Beautiful Thing, Edward II, Ridicule and three tapes full of Will & Grace episodes I've never watched (don't ask).... so they got kept, at least until I've watched some of them.

Originally I was planning on taking the unwanted porno tapes to the sex shop on Melbourne Street, because I know that they used to have a "swap library" where you could buy something, then take it back and swap it for something else... although I think there was a fee involved... but I'd be happy to take them the 10 or so tapes and just swap the lot for a couple of DVDs... alternatively I'm either just going to "donate" them to the store and they can do whatever they want with them... or something... I don't want to just throw them away... and I can't be bothered attempting to sell them anywhere... anyone want to send me postage money for free movies?

Like I said, the whole sex shop thing was the plan, but when I jumped in the car to go down (no pun intended) there, the car wouldn't start... dead battery I think... but very annoying... and unfortunately, unlike the last time my battery died like that, the stupid thing isn't in warranty anymore (two year warrant... which expired a year ago, dammit)... so I need to call the RAA about that this morning... yaaaay...

Actually I need to make a bunch of phone calls this morning... I'll do them all later though...

After I discovered the dead battery, I called Ma to tell her about it, and we ended up talking about the fact that I'm not working (yet again... the talking about it bit, not the not working bit), and I actually told her some of the stuff that's been on my mind for a while now... although I didn't go into that much detail... more detail than I'm going into here though... but it kind of left me in a slightly odd mood... again...

I finished up sorting out both the video bookcase, and the bottom couple of shelves on my other bookcases, partly because I moved the box of comic books behind the door to make room on the bookshelves... which then lead to me going through my entire collection of DNA magazines and reducing them to a pile of pages to keep, and a pile of stuff to trash... I have to say though, that in general DNA is a difficult magazines to tear pages out of... constructed both well and oddly... course it didn't help that I was tearing out great chunks of pages, since they have/had really great "fashion" spreads. I did keep Issue #1 and the second birthday issue intact though... for no particular reason, other than the fact that I don't like destroying first editions of things. And who knows what stuff like that could be worth one day... yeah, I know, not likely... but possible...

So yeah, lots of standing around tearing stuff up, but at least now I have more space on those bottom two shelves...

But on the downside, I no longer have the free space in the top drawer of my desk like I was bragging about last week... c'est la vie!

On a vaguely side note, Richard Hammond, cute little hobbit presenter of Top Gear (which I watch when Mythbusters isn't on (although MB starts again at the beginning of October... yaaay), just because it's amusing) and Brainiac (or as I like to call it, Mythbusters Lite with Tits), was involved in a very serious accident last week... and which I only heard about on Saturday when I was reading the paper... it seems like they expect him to make a full recovery (which is good, since the article I read on Saturday was giving him a 50/50 chance) even though he had a "significant brain injury"... but I hope he has a speedy and complete recovery... Get well soon Hamster...

Current Mood:

ten years ago...

Normally I would have come up with something more interesting than back to back quiz thingies... but I spent the morning sorting through video tapes, discovered that my car battery is flat and then stood up tearing up yet more old magazines...

I'll be interesting tomorrow instead...

Promise...

You've Changed 56% in 10 Years

You've done a good job changing with the times, but deep down, you're still the same person. You're clothes, job, and friends may have changed some - but it hasn't changed you.

How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

Current Mood:

my values

Some of this one seems very true, some of it not so much... I'll let you work out which is which...

Your Values Profile

Loyalty: You value loyalty a fair amount. You're loyal to your friends... to a point. But if they cross you, you will reconsider your loyalties. Staying true to others is important to you, but you also stay true to yourself. Honesty: You don't really value honesty. You do value getting your way, no matter what. And if a little lying is required to do that, no problem. A few white lies never hurt anyone (at least, that's what you tell yourself!) Generosity: You don't really value generosity. Your needs always come first, no matter what. And you'll possibly help someone else out... But only if it helps you in return. Humility: You value humility highly. You have the self-confidence to be happy with who you are. And you don't need to seek praise to make yourself feel better. You're very modest, and you're keep the drama factor low. Tolerance: You value tolerance a fair amount. You are open to new cultures, beliefs, and ideas. You have very few prejudices that you're aware of. And while you are tolerant, you do stand true to what you believe.

The Five Factor Values Test

Current Mood:

blogger code

It's amazing what you find wandering aimlessly around the net...

"Geeks have one. So do hairy gay men and their admirers. Isn't it time bloggers have a code to describe themselves as well?"

B5 d- t- k s+ u-- f+ i- o+ x e- l+ c+

Decode me...

Current Mood:

photo friday: hippo

This is from last weekend's zoo trip obviously...

I can't help feeling there's something a little melancholy about this hippo... but then, that could be saying more about me than it actually does about the hippo.

This hasn't been a great week... Monday was fine, but as I mentioned earlier in the week, everything kind of went downhill after that. I got a particular email on Tuesday morning that pretty much flattened me and got me really, really down...

I'm a little better now, but still not as chipper as I was say a week ago...

It's amazing how the words of one person can do that.

Current Mood:

random skater hotness

I honestly don't remember where I found this week's Random Hotness... but what could be cuter than a naked skater boy with a giant deck...

I said DECK ya perverts... *grin*

Current Mood:

matching meteorology

My mood and the weather have so matched perfectly the last few days...

Monday it was warm and sunny, a good day...

Yesterday it started out bright and sunny, then turned nasty early and was grey and raining and chilly...

Today has just been uniformally grey and cloudy... but at least it's not raining so it's better than yesterday...

You do the math...

Current Mood:

movies: lady in the water

You know when you see the trailer for a movie and it looks really, really good, and you just hope that the actual movie will be half as good... Lady in the Water was one of those. The trailer definitely caught my attention, but then, just before it came out, I started hearing rumblings from the critics about it not being that great.

In some ways, they did have a point.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie... but there was just something about it that seemed off... I tried to sum it up with Ma on the way home, but the best I could come up with was "self conscious"... the movie almost seemed to be aware of itself, which I know sounds strange, but it's the best way I can put it into words. There are points where it seems to be saying "yes, I know I'm a movie, and if you're paying attention to the fact that I'm talking about movies within a movie, and I'm actually predicting myself here, look at that... it all seems terribly clever"... only I'm not sure it does seem terribly clever... it just seemed kind of awkward.

And there a couple of spots where it's just trying too hard to be funny... and, honestly, I think that this movie might have played better if it had been approached a little bit more like perhaps The Sixth Sense... or just a little more "straight" and letting the comedy come from the realism of the situation, rather than feeling a little forced.

That's not to say that I didn't like the movie... I did... the "fairy tale" aspect of it was actually quite beautiful, and possibly the most "complete" part of the story (probably due to the fact that M. Night Shyamalan based the movie on a bedtime story he wrote for his kids), and in parts it was quite a moving and emotional movie (yes, I cried towards the end), and part of me does want to know more about the Blue World and the Narfs (although, seriously, could M. Night not have come up with better fantasy names than Narf and Scrunt and Tartuic... although the last one isn't too bad... but "narf" c'mon), perhaps because a fuller explanation of their world wasn't necessary for the story.

Bryce Dallas Howard was disturbingly ethereal as Story (again with the bad names), assisted partly, I think, by some very clever makeup, most notably the use of white mascara, and the fact they kept hosing her down... but as a redhead with very pale skin, she has that whole "other worldly" thing going on anyway. And Paul Giamatti was perfectly cast as the "everyman" building superintendent, Cleveland Heep... I think possibly the only other way they could have cast that part was to go with a complete unknown, like they did with the majority of the cast, which worked in the movies favour, because you weren't pulled out of the moment thinking "Oh, look, it's So-and-So".

Actually, most of the cast are excellent... with special snaps to Cindy Cheung... but I very much felt that the characters are people that you don't really like to begin with, but you warm to over the course of the movie (I'm not sure if that was actually part of the movie's intention, or just my interpretation... I'm thinking it's probably the latter)... during the first introduction to the apartment building and it's tenants I was kind of cringing internally a little... but by the end of the movie I was very much in their collective corner. The only person's performance I didn't really warm to was Bob Balaban... but then he was part of that "self conscious" issue I was talking about before, so maybe that was why.

Like I said... I enjoyed it, but I don't think that it was M. Night's best work to date.

yani's rating: 2 Madam Narfs out of 5

avast ye scurvy dogs

Yarrr.... International Talk Like a Pirate Day it be!

Okay, so I know Orlando wasn't actually a pirate, but do you think I could find a decent shot of Cap't Jack?

I'm also not just going to post a lot of random pirate lingo either... that's so last year... I'd like to get all philosophical for a second if I may... while checking out a couple of links for this post yesterday, I came across two things... the first was Yaaarrr! (Ye Auld Australian Association of Rum Riddled Rapscallions), the Australian homepage for TLAPD... and the second was Tori "Mad Sally" Baur's account of her experiences on the teevee show Wench Swap, er, sorry, Wife Swap.

Now the Yaaarrr! site says that they'll be celebrating TLAPD on September 23... which is Saturday, because, and I quote, "most 'o' yer lilly-livered, land-lovin' boss types don't like this sort 'o' thing in amongst the office cubicles" which would have made a bunch of sense to me if I hadn't then gone on to read Mad Sally's article...

Again, I quote...

True pirattitude means living your life the way you want to, with no apologies. It means never having to keep up with the Joneses, or the Davy Joneses for that matter. It means not settling for the mundane. Having pirattitude means having the courage to question authority, and knocking it on its arse if that's what's called for. Pirattitude means living and loving passionately, having a zest and zeal for fun and appreciating the little things in life like a homegrown cherry tomato, a dog who misses you when you're away at sea and rum. Pirattitude is seeing life for all its possibilities, grabbing the cannon by the balls and firing away into the unknown for the sheer adventure of living on the edge. Pirattitude means being free and living freely. And acquiring doubloons. And rum.

Which just says to me that the folks at Yaaarrr! have missed the whole point of TLAPD... well, other than the rum...

Makes me wish I had a little more pirattitude too...

But if all that was a bit deep for you, just enjoy this Pirate Day Wallpaper (via Robot Spacers) instead...

Current Mood:

more zoo shots...

I got my Zoo shots back from the lab...

They were actually pretty damn good...

I love my 100-300mm lens... particularly when you consider that the "lion butt" shot in today's montage (dead center) and the shot above were taken through the same chain link fence. Oh what a difference a little selective focus can make...

I always go a little overboard in the bird house... lots of birds... no bars (since you're in the bird house with them)... and as a general rule you can get some good shots. This bird (I have no idea what it is... I keep thinking that it was possibly something from Egypt, but I honestly don't know) was kind of drab until the light hit its feathers just right...

Current Mood:

montage monday: zoo

Yes, yes, another big surprise for today's Montage... it's the Zoo! I bet nobody saw that one coming...

Okay, enough sarcasm...

One thing I didn't mention on Saturday was the fact that I'm now obviously much more used to my digital camera than the SLR, since on two occasions I held the shutter release on the SLR down too long and instead of taking a single shot, I took two shots in quick succession... hopefully both shots actually turn out, although they will be pretty much identical, so I'm not sure what I'll do with them. I'm guessing that the shutter on my digital is harder to press than the SLR, or else I've just gotten into the habit of holding it down longer... will have to keep an eye on that...

*does the "waiting to get photos back" dance*... Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait... I've mentioned it before, but I just love getting photos back from the lab... and that build up when you know you're going to be picking them up later that day... and then you can see what you did... of course, sometimes the reality doesn't match the build up, but on the other hand, sometimes it's better...

The other thing I didn't mention about Saturday was that I had my first banana for at least six months (since Cyclone Larry back in March... god, was it only March, it feels like so much longer than that!)... we decided to splash out since we were going to the Zoo (I don't know either, it sounded good at the time though) and get a couple of bananas... which worked out to be $1 each (and they were only the little stubby kind of banana)... and then after all that we didn't end up eating them at the Zoo. I have to say though... when I did eat one, it wasn't like it was anything special really, even though I haven't had one in so long... in fact it was pretty average. Oh well...

And for the record, it turns out that I actually didn't really get sunburned on Saturday... well... maybe a tiny bit overcooked, but not burnt... I'm not pink, my skin isn't warm to the touch (warmer than usual that is) and it doesn't sting when I'm in the shower, which are all usual results when I have been burned. My shoulders on the other hand are really sore, possibly only from carrying around my backpack... which wasn't really that heavy and is quite comfortable, but I just feel all stiff through my shoulders now...

Ma brought me her shredder down on Saturday, so I could dispose of all my old bills and bank statements and suchlike without having to nearly give myself RSI from ripping them up like I did a couple of years ago. Shredding is fun! But once I'd shredded all the bills and stuff that I had collected together for that purpose I decided that I really needed to go through all my drawers and see what else needed to hit the blades.

Not out of some desire for random destruction of paper products, you understand, but my drawers were collectively a pighole and I actually had no idea what might have been hidden away in them.

That led to a very long and drawn out process yesterday afternoon when I emptied every single drawer (well, except for the ones with my socks and underwear in them) in my bedroom and instead of doing what I've done in the past, where I pull all the drawers out of one piece of furniture, sort through it, rearrange it and then put it all back... this time I pulled out all eleven drawers, took EVERYTHING out of them, spread it all over my living room and sorted through it all before grouping it all back in sensible groups.

What a pain in the butt...

And while it was a GLORIOUS day yesterday, it did kind of get a little bit warm for my liking in the afternoon (although I actually don't know what the maximum temperature was yesterday), and that combined with a sniffly nose from all the dust (which I still have, and which is driving me mental) and just being annoyed with myself for having accumulated so much shit over time, it wasn't the most fun job on the planet.

But it was worth it... I now have almost nothing in the top drawer next to my bed, which is a massive achievement, since that drawer is normally filled to the brim with random crap... Hmmmm... there's a thought... leave it with me... let me mull that one over... sorry... where was I... oh yeah, top drawer, clean. And even better, once I'd sorted and organised and grouped and packed, the top drawer of my "desk" is completely empty now too. Woohoo!

Part of that was due to the fact that instead of keeping all manner of magazines (you know... THOSE magazines...) in the bottom drawer of my desk, I went through, tearing out whatever pages I wanted to keep or whatever, and then ditched the rest. This isn't the first time I've done it, I think it all started after I did my big massive clean up a couple of years ago, and I just didn't have room for all the complete magazines, so I started this system. I know it's not a perfect system, I mean what the hell am I going to do with all these loose pages out of magazines... but it's a start...

I also found my other mousepads in amongst all the clutter (I knew I had them, but couldn't have told you for the life of me where they were), so the old, nasty, dirty Winnie the Pooh one I had been using is out, and the (slightly irritating under my fingernails and could annoy me) sleek, red Triple J one is in...

Of course, on the downside, I literally can't remember where I put a damn thing, so finding stuff will be an adventure...

So that's it... possibly the shortest Monday Montage Musings for quite a while... which is probably a good thing, since I think they were getting a little unwieldy...

Current Mood:

left-brained

You are Left-brained

Most left-brained people like you feel at ease in situations requiring verbal ability, attention to detail, and linear, analytical ability. Whether you know it or not, you are a much stronger written communicator than many, able to get your ideas across better than others.

It's also likely that you are methodical and efficient at many things that you do. You could also be good at math, particularly algebra, which is based on very strict rules that make sense to your logical mind.

The Brain Test

Current Mood:

lions and tigers and bears oh my...

I'm tired... I'm vaguely sunburnt (which I shouldn't be, because I was wearing sunscreen)... I have a heat headache...

But I had a good day...

As you can probably guess by the title of the post, and the photo of the nice zoo keeper (mmmm... dreadlocks) and his macaw buddy, Ma and I went to the Adelaide Zoo today. We went partially because we've been saying we should go for a while now, and partially so we could see the gorillas they have "on loan" from Taronga Zoo before they head off to, I think, Holland sometime next month.

Plus, as I mentioned last Monday we managed to get passes letting us in at children's prices (almost half price) which was a bonus.

It's been a long day though... I was up by 6:30 this morning (stupid body clock responding to sunshine... grrr), and was dressed and ready to go by around 7... Ma was here by 7:30-ish and we were out of the house and at the supermarket by around 8 or so...

Granted we only hit the Zoo by around 10:30...

I took both my digital and SLR camera... I must have looked like a total tool on a couple of occasions... film camera with my mega-zoom lens strung around my neck, but also snapping pics with my digital camera too. And on top of that I was carrying my backpack (with the seperate section for my SLR in the base) which had lunch for Ma and I in it.

The two rolls of film I took (70+ shots in all) is in being developed (we dropped it off on the way home), but I won't have any of those shots to share until Monday afternoon. I think there are some good ones though... because I did have my big zoom lens on the camera I got in really, really, really close a few times on various animals... we'll have to see how well those worked out. Hopefully not too much camera shake courtesy of the zoom lens and my shaky hands (never a good thing for a photographer).

It was nice to see the changes they've made (yet again) to the Zoo... they keep improving stuff for the animals and the place just keeps looking better... the only downside is that with much more natural habits for animals like the Sumatran Tigers, you don't always get to see them because they're either hidden in the underbrush or else down the back of the enclosure. The tiger and orangutan enclosures are the newest ones, and really beautiful... although I have to say that the tiger one will be stunning in three or four years when all the plants in there have had a chance to get nice and massive. Plus there might be a better chance of actually spotting said tigers...

What was interesting, although not particularly photogenic, was the "historical display" in what used to be the Elephant House, back when the Zoo had an elephant (I'm sure there's a random photo of me on the wagon it used to pull around the grounds somewhere)... and it showed the way they used to treat the animals, through no fault of the people at the time, but in some cases it was really depressing... like the all concrete lion enclosure, where the only piece of "furniture" was a concrete bench right in the middle... and the poor lion family clustered around it.

It was also nice to see all my favourites... the Red Panda, who I "adopted" and wrote a report on when we spent four days at the Zoo when I was in Year 7... the Squirrel Monkeys, who are just too damn gorgeous, and who I sat with for about three quarters of an hour on a previous visit, just trying to get a good photo of them (unfortunately they're in a new cage now, and the bars are much less conducive to photography... although I did try, so we'll have to see what happens there)... the gorgeous and very old Chilean Flamingo (from memory he's well over 50 or 60 years old, which is possibly why his feathers aren't really that pink anymore... or, as I just read online, it might be because he's not eating enough carotene, which is actually what makes them pink rather than white) who is always good for a photo opportunity, and seemed to be very interested in people today... and last but not least, the Meerkats, who are just adorably cute, and thanks to their position in front of the giraffe enclosure, they're in a perfect spot for some good closeup photos.

And the perving wasn't too bad in a couple of cases either... a few cute boys out with their girlfriends for the day... managed to clandestinely snap a couple of shots of them too... mostly without even looking... hehehe...

Ma made a fatal mistake when we were on her way out, she turned to me and said "Take me out of here before I go back to the Zoo Shop and buy a giraffe"... we'd already stopped off at the shop once on our rounds... it's a nice shop, but hideously overpriced mostly, but you find things in there that you don't really find anywhere else... so of course I then suggested that we go back... I think she wanted me to talk her out of it, but my exact words were "Hi, I don't know if we've met, but I'm an enabler!"... she found a plushie giraffe, and, of all things, a plushie Leafy Sea Dragon... so she got that too... she also got me this gorgeous antelope head statue that was just breathtaking... I think it's an Addax from the horn shape, but I just fell in love with it... unfortunately it's going away for Christmas...

We had a great day though... beautiful weather, interesting outing (much better than the ongoing Cleanfest!), pleasant lunch out in the world...

But after all the sun and the walking and the schlepping of the backpack, I'm just knackered... I need a cool drink and maybe a lie down...

Current Mood:

photo friday: wisteria

Spring has sprung, and there seems to be wisteria everywhere in North Adelaide at the moment...

If I watched the show, I would probably be making a Desperate Housewives joke about now...

I snapped this on my walk yesterday... and what was interesting was that because I was holding the camera up to take the shot, I happened to catch a glimpse of the wisteria next to the image of wisteria on the camera screen... and I swear the image on the screen was a whole lot bluer than the very purple wisteria I was seeing with my own eyes...

It made me spend the rest of my walk thinking about how our eyes perceive colour as opposed to the way a digital camera does... maybe it also explains why I love purple so much, my eye is already skewed in that direction...

Current Mood:

random steven hotness

Today's Random Hotness has a blonde theme... I can't really explain it, but I've been having the biggest thing for blondes recently... normally I don't have a thing for any one hair colour (well, except maybe redheads), at least not to the exclusion of all others. Although I have appreciated various blondes in previous posts...

But this blonde underwear model was just hot... I have no idea what his is, but he's modelling the Steven line of underwear... and sadly, the tattoo in the shot on the left is fake.

Current Mood:

exposing my apartment

I'm taking another leaf out of the book of Eddy again today...

You've seen my favourite things, and what's on my bookshelves.... what's in my DVD collection and then where I blog...

Today I'm exposing my loungeroom/kitchen...

Since Ma and I have busted a proverbial gut over the last couple of weekends cleaning all the filth out of the kitchen, I figured now was as good a time as any to take a photo and blog about it... granted that also lead to me reorganising one of my kitchen counters on Monday night so that the stuff that has been cluttering them up (although it was still tidy) is now away in one of the cupboards.

And while this shouldn't come as a great shock to anyone, I will say up front that I am so NOT all about clean lines and surfaces (unlike some people I could mention... you know who you are)... I'm all about the tchotchka baby! Although I have to say, that what I have now is a totally stripped down version to how it used to look...

I actually shot these yesterday morning, which was good, because the last two mornings have been very sunny and pleasant, but today was a world of grey (although still pleasantly warm, which was good)... and much less worthwhile for taking photos...

My apartment has three rooms... my loungeroom and kitchen are one room, my bedroom is the second room, and the bathroom is the third. So the loungeroom shot was taken with my back (literally) up against the shelf on the back wall of the kitchen (I was half sitting on the countertop actually, since I was using the tripod)... and the kitchen photo was taken from just in front of the teevee and stereo.

This is my loungeroom...

Most of the stuff in here that would fall under the interesting banner has already featured in the other Expose posts I did... but you can also see the painting J did for me in it's new home atop the bookcase...

The poster for A Midsummer Night's Dream is actually from around the time of BlueDragon's visit... I got tickets to the preview upstairs from where I used to work and they gave me the poster at the same time... it also serves a second purpose in that it covers up a hole I made in the paintwork when I pulled down the previous poster (damn that sticky BluTack). It's set at exactly that height because I used to have another four foot bookcase in the gap between the six foot ones, and it came exactly to the bottom of the poster.

The skinny dark brown thing on the wall above the DVD bookcase is an "African" dagger... I don't know if it's actually from Africa or not, or even, really, how it came to us, I think it was sent by some random relative to somebody in my family, and it ended up with me. I've always had a fascination with it ever since I was a kid... it's bound in leather and has a little leather tassle at the bottom... the blade is as dull and rusty as all hell, but I still like it.

And the thing hanging in the top right corner is a wooden model (one of those build it yourself kits actually) of a pteranodon, that I've now had in all four houses I've lived in, which would make it about fifteen or so years old... he's hanging by fishing line from the top of the curtain rod, and only has enough wing space to rotate about halfway around fortunately, otherwise I'm sure I would spend all my time looking at dead-dino-butt...

For the record, my bedroom door is between the walking staff in the loungeroom photo and the three photos on the wall in the next photo... it just didn't actually feature in either of the photos properly...

And this is my kitchen...

The freshly cleaned, newly organised, incredibly spotless kitchen...

Unfortunately there isn't really a way to get a well lit photo of my kitchen (although I did think later that I probably should have switched on the kitchen light when I took this shot... d'oh), since it's not really possibly to get a full shot from inside the space, since it's less than a metre wide.

I've mentioned the matching yellow countertops and door knobs before... the wardrobe and dressing table (which is also topped with the same yellow top) in my bedroom have the same knobs, and my showerhead, toilet seat and bathroom mirror surround are all the exact same yellow colour...

Well, what do you expect, there's a date stamp inside my wardrobe that tells me that the place was built some time around 1965...

Just to the left of the shot is my front door... you can actually catch a glimpse of all the crap that hides behind my front door at the extreme left of the image, although I did spare you the full view.

And the dragon that sits on top of the counter on the left is supposed to be good feng shui... supposedly, it's good to have a dragon to the left of your front door... but since my whole apartment is basically to the right of my front door, this was about the best I could come up with...

On the short wall of the shelves you can just make out my Joe Phillips calendar (the other one is actually inside my wardrobe)... and on the fridge you can just see my 2006 Wish List...

You will probably also notice Blossom and Cartman in amongst the clutter on the shelves... and very sharp eyed viewers may notice that the glasses between the pasta jar (possibly the gayest pasta jar ever, since I stuck a rainbow flag sticker on it) and the Grolsch bottles (mmmm... Grolsch) have superheros on them... god bless Nutella (although the last two have Donald and Daffy Duck on them, and were actually presents I got for my 21st from a girl I worked with at the time)... what you can't see from that angle are the Snoopys (in random "native dress" from various places around the world... I did have most of the set, but culled it down to just the places I liked the look of) and a couple of the X-Men and the small handful of Mister Men... oh hush...

If you look carefully over the top of the microwave, you can just see the top of the magnetic lion I mentioned on Monday...

And, for the record, there aren't strange things sticking out of the top of the green chair... there is actually a small bookcase (that I keep all my photo prints in) behind there... and, like all other bookcases in my house, it has stuff on top of it.

So that's my house...

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