A Dingo's got my Barbie!!!

I'm over at the other place.

This is a slight update/edit of an earlier post. I just came here to do a bit of housekeeping and realised that it's over between us. So as of now, I've moved out of the blog I shared with TypePad and have moved in fulltime over at Wordpress' place. So don't forget to change your bookmarks, favourites and feeds.

Anyway, in an effort to make things a little easier, I'm giving you the link to update your feedreader (you don't have to delete my existing feed, I may post here occasionally but I won't duplicate the posts), so all you have to do is click on the picture.

If you don't have a feedreader (why the hell not?) and you just want to bookmark the new blog, just click on this picture and it will take you there, from there you can add to Bookmarks (Firefox), add to Favorites (Internet Explorer) or if you are a Mac person, do whatever it is you do...

Oops!

No, I didn't close the comments on the Beau and Belle clip on purpose, thanks Laurie for letting me know. The draft post was so old that the comments had closed automatically (I do that to cut down on spam). Although I thought I'd been abandoned this morning when there were no emails for me!!

Seems strange to just post that paragraph, so here' a Belle pic that MDW took when we were on the Coast last weekend (technically the weekend before last)...

Exciting Announcement!!

Hold on to your hats, this is huge!... I'm going to write another episode of Willover's Travels in the next few days! Woohoo!!! (it's lucky that we're in the age of technology, all those exclamation marks would have wreaked havoc on the ribbon!!!).

Yeah, I know, it's not really that a big, in fact I only wrote this post to force me to actually write it. In the meantime, here's a couple of music clips.

This first one is a piano duet by Dr. John and Jools Holland...

Now this one is pretty rare, it's a Perth band called the Valentines (too bad it's not in colour because their outfits were bright pink!). It's rare because the guy sing backup vocals is Bob Scott, the original AC/DC frontman...

And finally, this is more of a musician's band, and yep, that's Bon Scott again (this was just before AC/DC kicked off)...Hmmm, that is so weird, the Fraternity clip has been on YouTube for well over a year, and it was there when I embedded it in this post just a couple of days ago, but as Kila has just informed me, it's "no longer available". Too bad, it was a Rock rarity.

Thanks

Belle would just like to thank all of you for your kind words and encouragement over the past month, it has really meant a lot to her. Ok we all know that's total bullshit, she's a fucking dog! The only thing she cares about is food and water, and the occasional chin scratch, but your thoughts have mean a lot to me.

If you look closely at the photo you'll notice that the right hand side of her face is swollen, that's an injury that happened before the accident that I haven't even told you about (something bit her), nor did I tell you about the eye that got all full of puss for about three weeks before that (it's fine now). Yep she's a real medical encyclopedia!

But here's why I keep her...

She just makes me laugh! That was when I gave her some vegemite.

Oh, and by the way, despite popular belief (Equoni and others) I do read and appreciate every comment, but lately I just haven't been responding to them regularly like I used to.

Still down in the dumps

I'm still not really in the mood for writing, but eventually...

Something a little more current.

I'm pleased that a few of you have found my old travel stories interesting (the emphasis being on old), however it occurred to me that you may like to read something a little more current. If you think that you'd enjoy reading about exotic travel as it's actually happening, why not visit my friends Mau and Evenstar at the Dreaming Track, you won't regret it.

So that this post isn't a complete disappointment, I offer you this...Please click me.

Update: I just found this, it's fun!

Cause and effect.

The smallest of things can have the greatest of impacts. Many years ago one such event set me on a course that ultimately brought me to where I am today. Tomorrow I'll tell you what it was. Anyone want to take a guess? I have mentioned it before, and if anyone gets it, you'll win  a nice prize worth at least three dollars (not counting postage).

TypePad just shit itself, so I had to rewrite the entire post (the whole paragraph...lucky it wasn't longer, but even then this one's nothing like the one I hit 'Publish' on)

Update** See, I told you, the other post just showed up (actually there were three when I just checked), but I turned the comments off for the others so you don't get confused.

Cause and effect.

It's funny how the smallest of things can cause you to go in unexpected directions. Tomorrow I'll tell you about something that had huge impact on mine life. I've mentioned it briefly in the past, but I doubt anyone would have remembered it.

But if you do, or if you are just lucky enough to make a wild guess and get it right, I'll give you a prize. Tune it for a truly riveting story (and no, that's not a clue!).

Geez! Lighten up!

Yesterday I wrote what I thought was a humorous (well, at least I thought so, I was laughing when I wrote it) introduction to another 'Close Shave' story and found myself in the midst of a maelstrom! (when was the last time you used maelstrom in a sentence, seriously..I want to know). So I'm breaking my 'WT shalt not blog on Sunday' commandment to address some of the comments I received (it's not really a commandment, but I like the way it looks like a bigger version of 'comment', or someone with a severe stutter trying to say comment).

The point was not about dwindling comments, my numbers are always fairly consistent, it was about how my 'Close Shave' posts usually get a good response and it was time for another one. It was just a set up to the post, that's all, end of story! The fact that there was such a huge outcry (strangely, a lot of it attacking me! can you believe that? and all I wanted was some sympathy) can mean only one of two things, either you're like me and only read the first paragraph of the posts you read, or you're a catholic and therefore wracked with guilt anyway. If I wasn't so dependent on your comments for my sustenance, I'd insult the lot of ya. Hell, I've got a good mind not to even tell you if I survived the crash or not!!

On the plus side, it did bring some 'non commenting readers' (aka lurkers) out of the shadows, including a menopausal old bag, who some of you already know, but if you don't it's worth a visit, as she's a very clever writer (albeit a bit sporadic of late).

And while I'm venting my spleen (what the fuck does that mean? can you really vent your spleen? is there actually a vent somewhere?), there were a couple of comments about my non commenting, and I've been meaning to address that for a while, so now's as good a time as any...

You probably recall that I had a 'mid-blog crisis' around New Year, where I decided to stop blogging. The reason was largely due to the amount of time I spent wasted at the computer; the bulk of it spent writing all the comments I left hither and yon (seriously, I'm not using a dictionary here). In order to continue with a hobby that I really do enjoy (attacks on my character notwithstanding), I had to make some changes.

Obviously, reading and commenting was top of the agenda, as it took the most time. So here's the current situation...

• I'm ironic by nature (sarcasm generally relates to the spoken word), so I tend not to comment on posts about the day to day goings-on in the lives of children;  I don't want to incur the wrath of a protective mother for some perceived slight against their child or how they're raising it.
  
• I'm not generally supportive by nature, so I tend not comment on posts that are full of woe, but I'll always give condolences where appropriate.
• I try to be positive most of the time (a struggle for someone who suffers from depression), so I tend not to comment on whiny posts (rants are another matter, if done right, they're ok).
• I'm a non theist, so I don't comment on 'faith based posts', you have a right to your beliefs, as do I, so what's the point of commenting? Further, I have no desire to insult anyone by saying something negative about their faith, even if it's in jest.
• And finally, as I have made a conscious decision to try to (most people erroneously say 'try and') cut down my blogging time, I tend not to comment on posts that only produce and extract feed.

That last point may need some clarification. I read all my blogs through a feed reader and some bloggers only produce an extract which means that I have to go to the site to read the whole post. The thing is, this takes time as I have my browser set to force a refresh at every page load (there's good reason for this), and I don't want have to load a page just to get the gist of the post. Ok, I know I said earlier that I only read the first paragraph, but again, that was irony.

I cannot stress strongly enough that these are simply the reasons why I don't comment as much as I used to, and are in no way to be taken as either criticism of, or suggestions as to how you should blog (it was either cut down on commenting or quit blogging altogether).

How you blog is your business, just as how I comment is mine. However, if you are producing an extract and aren't doing it on purpose, or if you don't know if you're producing an extract or not, send me an email or leave a comment and I'll tell you how to produce a full post feed. And Swampy, the reason I haven't got back to you is that you now produce a full post feed, so there's point.

Happy New Year

We wish you a very Happy New Year.

And I bid you all a fond farewell.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas
to all my
Blog Buddies

from

Willowtree
and
Family


Wishing you a
safe and happy
holiday.


Like most bloggers, I'll be taking a Christmas break.See you all on the other side.

Don't blame me!

This is a Public Service Announcement....

Some of you have had to pass a Word Verification  test  recently (TP calls it Captcha), consider yourselves lucky! Others have been accused of being dirty rotten spam and had their comments confiscated! I assure you, None of this is my doing, apparently TypePad has decided to help increase my comment count by alienating all my commenters.

And in case you're wondering...yes even I had to do WV on my own blog, even though I have WV turned off. Arrgghhh!! Hopefully enough TP customers will complain and things will be rectified, but for now, please don't abandon me. If you do get told by TP that you are nothing but spam, hit the email link on the right and just send me an email saying 'I am not spam!!' or something like that; then I'll know to go and get your comment out of the spam can. I have opened a support ticket and hopefully will get some answers.

Sorry for the inconvenience but to make it up to you, here is a bonus cute picture...

~Update~  Seems you can't please everyone, so here...

WT's Trivia Challenge November results.

Well it seems that Lene got a bit miffed at being pipped at the post last month, so this month she decided that she would teach us all a lesson. And she did. She won by a whopping 70 points (I came second, but being so far behind kinda takes the gloss off it).

So Lene, congratulations on your win, you smart arse!

While we're on the subject of the WT Challenge, who the hell is JTMASON? If you are them or you know who they are, please send me an email.

In case you're interested, these were the standings:

Nov 07

31 players played during the month.

1. Lene (373 points, 5 wins)
2. glenyalla (303 points, 3 wins)
3. melissa (300 points, 7 wins)
4. Fianna (295 points, 3 wins)
5. gibnjen (263 points, 1 wins)
6. janet (258 points, 0 wins)
7. KarmynR (246 points, 4 wins)
8. laurie (243 points, 0 wins)
9. mjd (224 points, 0 wins)
10. Bethany (218 points, 1 wins)

Oliver Beep and some non-sequiters

Before I give an update on the Beep sitch, I've got a bit of housekeeping to do. First off, if you haven't already figured it out, I'm on the Coast and will be until at least Wed (when I see my specialist), I have to come down a few days beforehand so that can take blood and urine samples (well actually they take the blood but I give the urine). So you won't bee seeing my humorous and insightful comments on your blogs until I get back to computing civilization (which ironically is in the middle of nowhere and about as far from actual civilization as you would want to be).

Secondly, I'm not participating in this week's Fun Monday, it's not that the topic is no good, in fact it's a very good one, it's just that my memories of holiday traditions aren't so good and I don't want to be a wet blanket. Fact is, the only holiday tradition my family ever had (and it goes back to when I was an infant) is that every Christmas someone in the family had to fight someone else in the family. When I was a kid that meant the older generation; my day and his siblings or my mother and her mother in law, or any combination thereof. If it was my dad and his brothers it would be physical, if it were his sisters, my mother or my grandmother it would be verbal.

When I got older the responsibility fell to the next generation, and I can't remember a Christmas without me and/or my brothers and/or cousins getting into it. Now that my parents are both dead, and I haven't spoken to  (or in fact even seen) either brother for many years, this obviously no longer happens, plus I stopped the cycle by not having children myself. So no, I don't have any holiday traditions I'd like to write about.

Now, on to current events... Well, the adoption process went off without a hitch yesterday, I actually wrote the post before the event knowing that I wouldn't get a chance to post once I left the farm, as it's a three hour drive and then I'd be caught up with human interaction. Oh, speaking of a three hour drive (how come all of a sudden I have an image of Gilligan in my mind's eye?), I forgot how noisy Beep was in the car, which is strange as she's not usually a talker. I had three hours of nonstop meowing! It was the same when I took her up to the farm when I first got her, but I'd forgotten about that. Beau, on the other hand didn't make a sound. If you're keeping count, that would be 3 dogs and 2 cats in the car for a three hour trip.

It was actually a bit embarrassing really, I felt like Mr Bumble dropping off one of the orphans at the new, rich foster parents' house. They had gone out and bought just about every cat toy ever made, plus one of those scratch pole deals with little hidey holes and sleeping quarters, sheesh! And to make matters worse, that little bitch of a cat went straight to the cat food and chowed down like she hadn't eaten in a week, even though it was actually only about three hours since she last ate! And it wasn't like it was special food or anything, it was the same crap that I give them!

But wait there's more. While the little bitch was stuffing her face and acting like she'd been mistreated, Ruth, who had also bought one of those cat grooming gloves, decided to try it out by giving her a quick brush. She came into the room where Joel and I were watching TV and held up what I initially thought was Booey (who I haven't seen for a few days), but which turned out to be fur that Beep was no longer wearing seeing as how it was now summer. Ok, I'll cop to that one, Beep didn't get all that much individual attention, plus all the other cats have sleek fur so I tend not to brush them (not to mention the the fun I have watching them trying to dislodge furballs). But it did look pretty bad for me. Oh well.

So as it turned out, Beep settled in immediately and made herself right at home, it was almost as if she were relieved! On the other hand, Beau the most friendly and gregarious cat I've ever had, hid under our couch for the first five hours, go figure.

Have a good Fun Monday if you're doing it.

BloMeDown post #5