Monday, August 18, 2008

Okay I'm watching One Pound Gospel - and I have decided that Sister Angela is really annoying - probably a good match for the dumb ass boxer though.

:)

I'm pretty happy with myself at the moment. I created a spreadsheet (using four different text documents) that lets you type in a food id number, and it throws back at you the relevant nutritional details about that food.

This doesn't sound too complicated but really it is! For me it is!

It saves me having to buy the program from someone else anyway.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Jdramas

I finished watching Haruka 17 this afternoon - it wasn't too bad but what I've started watching looks really good - One Pound Gospel! Yay for TV that's isn't an Australian version of an American show or Seven's povo coverage of the Olympics.

Bored

I my gawd - I am soooo bored. And do you know why? It's because I didn't waste time this weekend and got almost all the things done I wanted to! That's it - I should go back to being a procrastinator! No wait, I'll procrastinate next weekend.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

So what did I do today?

I put up a shelf in my room. Which made the taeyang shelf look terribly crocked. So I rehung that while I was at it. C worked on his assignment so he wasn't around to hinder,,, I mean help,,, so it went up pretty quickly.

And because the shelf was an old shelve I decorated the edge with lace - lol - I hot glued this fugly piece of lace around the edge :P

new shelf

I also got some sewing in

Nice things

I got in and did some sewing last night while I watched Dead Like Me on DVD.

This morning Chihiro climbed into bed with us. She always does when it's just C but hardly ever with me - basically because we share the same side of the bed. She will take over the bottom half and leave me with just the top half so I have to scrunch up or move my legs at funny angles - which she will get sick of and leave. But this morning she stayed in bed until I got up.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Why?

Why do I put in so much effort? Why is this not enough? Why do I have to explain to a parent that their child can't cook something because they didn't show me their recipe during the week and they instead have to cook something from the recipe book that they were given? Why do I have to put up with them complaining that the recipes I provided are a waste of ingredients? Why would they let their child cook muffins that they knew they didn't like the taste of? Why do I bother?

Sunday, August 10, 2008

fanlistings

Since flickr started tightening up on rules - I deleted my fanlisting pics - thinking that I had them saved in my images folders.

Well it turns out I only had some. Anyway I signed up to photobucket and reuploaded some of them. Unfortuanatly I didn't have the loveley complex pic anymore so I had to go to the fanlisting website and sadly they no longer exist :(

I signed up for Nodame to replace it Yeah for Nodame!!!

Monday, August 04, 2008

You've got mail

Yes indeedy did I get mail:

red letter day

I can't take very good photos of what I got because it's a little too dark now!

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Toffee

toffee

3 cups of white sugar
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of white vinegar
decorations

thick bottomed large pot
wooden spoon
bowl of cold water
skewer
patty cake tin
patty papers or spray oil

1.Put all the ingredients into a thick bottomed pot - you want the pot to be quite larger then the amount of ingredients.

2.Put onto a low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.

3. Put the heat up and bring the syrup to a boil. DO NOT STIR! At this stage I put in the food colouring and watch it spread and evens itself out.

4. Leave the syrup to boil for at least 15 minutes. To test the consistancy of the toffee, put a little bit in a bowl of cold water and scrape it together. I like toffee to be a little crunchy but still tacky - this usually takes 19-20 minutes.

5. While the syrup boils prepare your tins (oil or line with patty papers) and ready your decorations.

5. Take the pot off the heat and wait for the bubbles to subside.

6. Pour into the prepared tins and leave for about 5 minutes. To check if your toffee is ready for decoration use the skewer to gently press the surface - don't use you finger as the syrup may still be very hot.

7. Decorate to your hearts content!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Wounded

Feel sorry for me - my hands and arms look like mince meat. I was in a cat fight last night, literally.

Last night, just as I was begining to snore, there was a cat fight. I sent C out to find out what was going on, partly because it's amusing to see how Chihiro reacts to other cats.

A few minutes later, C has not been able to find OUR cat, but we did find the laundry window,,, open. Carol had obviously opened it yesterday and Chihiro found it too.

So we go outside, and see Chihiro at the corner of the house with the cat next door. C follows them and picks her up on the other side of the road.

She was okay until she saw me - this is just my own private theory mind you - and takes a bite out of C. Somehow I have her, but I'm falling down and kind of land over her and it went down hill from there.

She came in after being tempted with food, and has been ignoring me since then. The feeling is somewhat mutual at the moment because my hands really hurt.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Nodame

I just caught up with the scanlation of the Nodame - so I'm all happy and chirpy! I love that manga/drama/anime!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

So much to do - but very little motivation

So I have been wandering the Internet and saw a link to this:

Keath

I think I like buying the 'homemade' dolls - I would rather pay more for them then have a doll that a company churns out. So I really like Keath.

We've had a bit of bad week. At the moment quite a few of us are talking about how long we really want to be teachers for - we are honestly not being paid enough for the abuse we get from 'clients' and community. All I can say is that most of us are great teachers offering great education opportunities - and most of what we do is taken for granted or misunderstood by people who have no idea about the role school now has to play.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Three things

I did three nice things this morning. Firstly I recoloured the pink streaks in my hair. I did really well keeping the bathroom clean - up until I had to to get rid of the bottle and the alfoil - that's when I made a mess! There ended up being dye on the sink, on the floor, on the back of the door!!! Honesty I don't know anyone can make more of a mess cleaning up then I did.

I then went ahead and cut a fringe. I have been wanting a fringe for a little while now - so I just did it - it had been years since I cut my own fringe so I had a little heart attack when I made the first chop.

newfringe

And then we went to the Post Office to pick up my zines that I had ordered from Shelbyville.

zines

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I don't know if this link works - but this guy is cute - his name is Arno - and it's a doll just so you know.

arno

And this guy cracks me up:
naughty esheki
super esheki

Iguana no Musume

Ok so I don't usually review dramas that I watch - but I have to say something about this one. Let me preface this review with the acronym "PMS" and the words "highly emotional"!

This drama is about a girl, Rika, who believes that she is an Iguana, as does her mum. In fact when the mother looks at her daughter all she sees is some freaky human sized Godzilla - as does Rika when she looks in the mirror. The rest of the world sees her as human.

So one of the little hiccups I had with this was the question - how does she do her hair and make-up in the morning if all she can see of herself is lizard skinned and bald?

The second issue I had was how accepting people were about the mother's borderline crazy-as-a-coconut actions.

The third happens later in the drama, when people found out that she is an iguana. They were 'okay' with it - as if it was fact. I would be rather shocked if my best-friend suddenly said "I'm really a cane toad" and would possibly, in the nicest way, suggest therapy.

However - aside from those three things - I loved this drama. It was kooky and melodramatic. Elton John provided the theme song. So many episodes had me big snotty tissue crying. People died, the ending was sort-of happy but you need to overlook the poorly transcribed sentence about her not loving her own daughter.

Overall - I put this own down as a must watch drama.

 Iguana no Musume
Reflection of Rika!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Well I'm back - I had a root canal done on my tooth - expensive and a little painful - I'm waiting for the pills to kick in right now.

So the trip to Townsville went pretty quickly - I bought an Eee PC (it's a tiny cute laptop)

Right now I'm trying to fin dmy password piece of paper - because I can't remember my password for facebook.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Gah!

For weeks I have been ebay stalking some fabric - ramie linen - from a seller and I have kept missing the sale! So yesterday I finally won it - to have her email me and say she had sold out of it. Wait? You sold out of 13m of fabric? Surely you would have cut off 13m from your roll to make sure you had your ebay sale ready?

I left neutral feedback something like - Seller could not send item. Thanks for letting me know :)

Usually I pay immediately after I have won a single item but I guess I'm lucky I didn't because it would have negative feedback. Man am I too nice?

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

smart?

I was nominated by Bec for the Smart Classroom Teacher Awards - but I had to get my response to selection criteria in last Friday.

It was weird - the entry form was due on the 6th - we faxed it in on the 5th just to make sure. I never got the application kit - so I kept ringing up during the last week of school - no response on Monday, rang and left a message on Tuesday. They finally got back to me on Wednesday.

They gave me an extension until Monday (yesterday) because they said the hadn't received my entry form - but they didn't email my an application kit like it says the will!

So yesterday I rang and left a message in the morning, then again at lunch time - until finally at 6:06 pm the women sent me the kit!!! Considering that my extension would have been over at 5 that afternoon I thought it was all a bit rude - and still no return phone call mind you to apologize! Anyway - I sent in my application at 6:26 - and if that's not good enough then they can shove it!

Sunday, June 29, 2008

I really like food blogs - but I am too lazy to have one, that and the fact that I cook at night time so the photography wouldn't be very good. Anyway - I had some left over spinach tart from last night and decided to photograph it before I ate it!

Spinach Tart

Easy Spinach Tart

20cm square baking dish
3 sheets of short crust pastry
Spray oil
1/2 packet of frozen spinach
4 rashers of bacon
6 eggs
salt and pepper
1/3 packet of unsalted nuts – I use slivered almonds or pine nuts
1/3 packet of grated cheese

Method
1. Set the oven to a moderate temperature.

2. Partly defrost two sheets of short crust pastry, I do this in the microwave, zapping each sheet for 10 to 20 seconds. Spray the baking dish and press a whole sheet into one corner – I have about 3-4 cm of the pastry overlapping the top of the dish. Cut the second sheet into 10 cm strips and press them into the dish so that the dish is covered and the overlapping is even all the way around. Leave the third sheet to lay flat until you need it.

3. Put half a packet of frozen spinach into a covered microwave dish and zap it for 3 to 4 minutes, until defrosted

4. Remove the fat and rind from the bacon and then dice.

5. Crack the six eggs into a large mixing bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then whisk until the eggs are a little fluffy and thoroughly mixed.

6. To the egg mixture add the bacon, nuts, cheese and finally spinach and mix well.

7. Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish and smooth out.

8. Using a pretty cutter and the last sheet of pastry, cut out small shapes and place on top of the egg mixture. Cutting the pasty while it is still part frozen works best. Glaze the pasty with milk or egg – but I always forget to!

9. Place tart into the oven and cook for 40 minutes or until the egg mixture sets.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Updated want lists

So yesterday was the last day of school. It ended with me being told I will be teaching Japanese next term - on top of everything else. We headed over the pub and had a few drinks, C and I ate dinner there and ended up at Lianna and Mitch's house to play Buzz.

Today I was in holiday mode. Chihiro woke me up for breakfast, so I gave her food and them ate some peanut butter on toast. Then read DOA for little bit before going back to sleep until 11:00.

My tooth hurt a lot so I took some pills and put on some clove oil. We ordered from Helene's and ate lunch while we watched 'Firefly' - I then proceeded to vomit up my lunch because a bit had gotten stuck on the back of my throat. Such a waste of good food!!!

Charles went back to bed after that - so I really should get him up - at least to buy me more cat food.


ABJD list:
* Tanned female body for Monsoon
* Vampire head of Migidoll miho
* Any head from Immortality of Soul *drool drool drool* but I can't afford $250!

But I would also like:
* Curo bunny!
* Peakswood girls - a set of three - any three - maybe one of each eye type

Monday, June 23, 2008

Cold

It was cold today - there was a wind that ripped right through you - Brrr

Last week of school, starting to relax a little now that I have finished a few things off. Will start stressing again soon about work but this afternoon I just don't want to think about it.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Slowly chipping away at my list - still.

I have just looked at some photos of the Rei pullip - and she is pretty. man -_- i have no willpower.

Friday, June 13, 2008

So

It's Friday - the computers are work are all okay! Yay! My tanned head should get to me by Monday so that will be something to look forward to, and then I have to go to Longreach on Tuesday.

We had a house inspection today - don't really know how it went though and when I came home I noticed a few odd things:
- a brick in our front yard had been moved
- power cords in our carport
- a box in front of the stairs
- a bottle of coke beside my computer
- the DVD player taken off the top of my TV

See - I am the Midsummer Murder's Detective, Charles! :P

So I called C up to find out what had happened - but it's okay they needed my TV to check a new satellite TV system for work.

hi

Chihiro and Bi say HI!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Yes Mum, I was sick at home yesterday, and I am today too :( I'm vomiting and feeling nauseous today.

I have a dr appointment for 3:15. But he or she will only tell me that I have a virus and to keep hydrated - really I'm doing it so that I can prove to Gregg that I am sick. At least I don't have a sore throat today.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

I'm so sick today. My throat feels like sandpaper every time I swallow and I've had an upset stomach since last night.

Today is a pretty important day at school too! They start converting us over to the new managed operating environment (MOE) so I hope it starts out okay.

I paid for the new Pullips, I hope I got the right amount - they cost a bomb but I won't open them until my birthday I think.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Found him!

So don't panic.

We went to the show today. C got lots of photography prizes, and I got a few craft ones for my jewelry. I went on the show rides, ate a dagwood dog, a doughnut (which is a miracle because we don't have them out here and last year that stand didn't have any) and bought buckets of fairy floss.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Were are you C?

I've had the worst week, of the worst month. And after thinking my crap week is finished, My husband is now missing.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Show prep

So this morning, C and I put in our show entries. I hope we do okay - but it's good to enter just to make sure there are lots of things for people to look at.

Today was a crappy day - I ended up forgetting to do something very important - but I hope to do that tomorrow morning before school starts. But the whole day was just a series of jobs that I needed to get done :( and of course nothing went without a hitch.

It's okay - tomorrow is Friday. The weekend in the show - and Monday is a holiday!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Diet Coke V's Pepsi Max

I think I have always liked Pepsi - but it's pretty hard to get out here and anywhere that serves alcohol - so I usually drink Diet Coke.

Lately, Lisa has been stocking our staff fridge with Pepsi Max - because it was on sale in Longreach and she went and bought up a heap of cartons. The money we pay for the soft drink goes into the social club pool of money.

But over the last week, my taste buds decided to go on strike and refuses to accept Diet Coke anymore. I can't stand the taste! Finally found a carton of Pepsi Max at the corner store - so I should be fine for a while.

So I did a few quizzes and the answer was:


Pepsi

Presents

Mum got her mother's day present yesterday - she liked it so that's good. It was a solar powered cat that moves its paw - just like in the Asian grocery stores - but far cuter.

And yesterday I got presents for myself - Deathnote Goodsmile dolls. I'll take some photos on the weekend but they are pretty cool - basically they are dolls that you swap their head or bodies,,, maybe that doesn't sound too cool - but trust me they are! I love L.

On the weekend, after I took photos of the debutants, I put in an order for my tanned miho head. So Bi is finally going to get a sister, well her head anyway.

Sometime this week I have to pay off the Pullips as well. Which will make me over budget - but I earned a little bit with the prac teacher being here.

So - still working on show entries. Must go and look at photos tonight.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

This afternoon C and I went up to see John. John taught me in high school, and for the last few years has been teaching out here. At the start of the year he found out he had a brain tumor after complaining of headaches, blackouts and forgetfulness for three months (He went twice to a doctor and they told him to take a panadol). It was hard to see him in the state he was in but he held our hands and I think he said my name a few times, he also smirked when I cracked a couple of funnies. But he really wasn't with it. Wendy (who made me some great woolen socks and is his wife) doesn't think he will make it for much longer.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Shh!

So I had a great day today - my prac teacher did not but that is so not a story I'm going into here.

I got some great English stuff today - first of all I bought 4 packs of magnet letters. This is so that I can play spelling games with my class. Splitting the class into two (two packets per side) and they have to spell the word I call out - making sure each student has to spell at least once. I think my class would like that.

The spelling activity that I am doing tomorrow though is about mobiles - last term all their comprehension/friday afternoon activities were around mobile phones and that worked really well. But today I printed out some photos of a mobile phone and they will have to "spell" the spelling words using the numbers that they would be on a phone. Does that make sense? Probably not but I know what I mean and so will they.

Tonight at 6:30 I'm going to deb practice to see where they will walk etc.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

I agreed to buy some lego for C's Christmas present, the Millennium Falcon to be exact. At just under the $1000 mark - I wonder if that means I can buy a doll for Christmas?

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Feeling good

Had a pretty great day today - make me wonder what's going to happen tomorrow though :(

I'll just copy and paste my ATP reply to the 'happy happy' post thread:

My good things - well I have heaps today!

- I'm getting over my cold

- My first lesson today was English with my lovely seniors, they had to stand up and talk about their hero and one of them chose me!!! So cute - "My hero is Ms Collett because she can cook really well and sew nice things. She makes difficult things easy for us to understand. She's nice and friendly..." She did pretty well for impromptu speaking - but a lot of 'things'

-My second lesson was English with my nasty Year 8 and 9s. But they worked so well on their short stories - not a single behaviour management issue

-My third lesson was Creative Arts with the seniors and we sat around a big table, chatted and folded paper for their projects

-For my middle lessons I had a cooking prac, the girls made pastry for a flan

-and lastly I had my Snr Home Ec class and I worked individually with each of them to make sure they were meeting the assignment requirements. And before we left for the day, they wrote Home Ec Rocks! on the window with my liquid chalk.

-My last happy thing was finding smoked salmon at our supermarket - it's a rare thing to find out here,,, so I bought 4 packets.

So overall - a very nice day.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Catch Me Catch You

Wee! They came today - so quick too! My Clow Cards!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Bla

Both C & I stayed home sick today. I'm feeling okay right now, and C sounds better too - for once I was better off!

Someone logged into ebay as me and changed my contact email address - I've now changed my passwords for everything :P I also got a message saying that the person I had bought something from was fake - who knows...

I really like this mushroom lamp: http://www.modcloth.com/store//Modcloth/Apartment/Toadstool+Lamp
But I wonder how much it would cost to get to Australia - just too much I reckon.

Chihiro was quite nice to me today, but I had to laugh:

glomp

Sunday, May 11, 2008

C got home from his Gold Coast jaunt yesterday. I gave me a pair of socks!

socks

We just caught up with Dr Who and Bleach this morning. And I am waiting for my miso soup and noodles to cool down before I eat - man am I hungry.

Happy Mums day.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

So

I found out this morning that Migidoll is going to be doing a run on her heads soon, but then I found that in June she will be doing them in tanned skin! Have I died and gone to heaven?

I always wanted a big sister for Bi, using the Miho head but if she is tanned that's like even better! Her name is already Monsoon, she's Indian-Australian.

I just realised I have international dolls. First is Bi (Korean-Australian) Raiu (Japanese-Australian) Mazin (Persian - remember he's a genie) and hopefully Monsoon.

Gapyoo!!!

Nodame news - I have read all the manga that I can get my hands on. I love it so much! I have been thinking of something... maybe next year.

We went to karaoke. Yay! It ended up being a 4 team competition - and it turned out we were the only adult team - other adults sang but not in teams. So of course the kids teams all won - even through they sounded like screeching cats. In fact a number of high schoolers turned up after I told them about it in last lesson - so really it was my fault.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Cleaning

no not me - but the cleaner, Carol. She comes on Wednesdays and cleans. I thought she would vacuum and mop and maybe straighten and dust. But no - she does everything - even some of the laundry!!! I was in shock, still am.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Must Know Mandarin

I guess because our Prime Minister speaks Mandarin it is now the in thing to speak it too :) I just searched the ABC website for 'Mandarin' and found all sorts of articles about it and Rudd.


Anyway - what I was after is a program called Must Know Mandarin. The ABC website that is on is so poorly designed:

1
2
3
4
5

Languages

This afternoon I learned how to sing Happy Birthday in Mandarin from this blog:

http://blog.wku.edu/~haiwang.yuan/


I also found this great forum which has some great resources:

http://www.gchinese.com/

It's here

It was probably here since Monday - but it was actually couriered not Aus posted - so it was at the Newsagency. They could have rung us up though!

So I have a docking station for my ipod and some av cords and a little remote - but my ipod doesn't play videos and I'm trying to work out how to put jpgs on there. Also - setting it up to test the theory in this house is pretty scary - too many wire for me to unplug and stuff up!

ANZAC day tomorrow - I'm going to the dawn service again.

Mmm, hungry - I've had two pieces of toast and some miso soup today - no wonder I'm hungry.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Fontage

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Not much

The Ipod stuff didn't get here today so that makes me sad - I could have used it today and tomorrow :(

This week is just not working well - tomorrow and all day Wednesday we have visitors coming to the school - so the kids are going to miss a lot of classes. I just feel that something is not right, I feel all out of sorts I guess.

Friday is ANZAC day. We'll get up early and go to the dawn service.

I did a bit of crafting today - just because - and made a notebook. It worked really well - so I might make some more for my stall at the markets - they start up again this weekend. Hopefully I can get some doll money together.

Oh yeah - while make the book I watched a few episode of Card Captor Sakura ! Yay so cute.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Survived

the first week back! All except my tongue which I burnt last night on miso soup.

I'm waiting for my ipod stuff (AV cord) to come it - hopefully Monday. So I'll be set to show movies, clips and powerpoint slides from it!

I think they - as in Jake my past student - have finished with the windows for a while. We have big new windows in every room of the house now. Excellent for when i take photos - not so good because I have to make curtains now.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

I made a new pattern today, for a tight sleeveless top - to be singlet. Pretty happy with how it turned out I just need to use thinner strips of fabric for the neck and sleeve edges.

Here is Raiu in the making of the pattern - I use him because he is the larger of the two SDs
pattern making

And this is Bi trying to be manly in it.
new pattern


I like random flickrs that post cute images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25308692@N07/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/endless_sky/page2/

there was another one but I can't it anymore. This might have been the original artist:

http://www.toonzoo.co.kr/

Had my hair cut yesterday

We were going to go blue - until Cailee realised that Pinky (the owner of the salon) had taken the blue with her on holidays. WAHHH! I think I am the sole reason why the salon got in blue and I have still yet to get it put in my hair.

new colour

So we went back to magenta :3

The holiday has gone by too quickly - today I plan to mark some assignments and sew. Tomorrow I plan to write an English unit :(

Thursday, April 10, 2008

I'm addicted to fonts - 10 step program coming up!

I collect fonts – I can’t help it – I just love them. I have a huge folder called “Pammy’s Fonts” that I have lugged around from computer to computer since 1999!

So anyway, I usually only get free ones but, whenever I see a font that is so wonderful that I must purchase it – I do.

I bought two fonts from flat it today - they are pretty cool fonts – I won’t tell you which ones they were though ;-)

Also this page is awesome because it has so many links to Japanese fonts – or fonts that are made in Japan – that you wouldn’t normally find!


Anyway – I finally set up an Etsy store called spare clothes. It’s where I’ll sell the spare clothing that I make, hence the name of my shop Spare Clothes. But I need to take some photos of the clothes,,, right after I eat my cup of noodles.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

So,,, not much done today

I did put up a lot of books on Ebay and I did a lot of school work.

No sewing - :(

However I got my Momoko dolls:

Presenting:
Good Night Cherry on the left and School Mix on the right.
lost their heads


School mix doesn't actually have a body lol!

much better

I had to pull the neck joint out of Cherry's head and put her all together again. Unfortunately - when you pop off a Momoko's head her neck will get little cracks in it. I heated up a needle and melted the worst of the cracks together and then sanded the plastic with a nail file until it looked good!

A Good Night Cherry costs about $70 US when clothed (She normally wears a nighty). Cherry did come with some clothes and I paid $52. Plus I got School Mix's which if whole would cost $90 - it's too bad she didn't have a body and that she doesn't have her original hair though :( Oh well - I don't mind a fixing her up!!!

Monday, April 07, 2008

Sew much to do

So I set up my overlocker today, on my desk, in my workroom. But it no longer works :(

So I set up my spare sewing machine, on my desk, in my workroom. But it no longer works :(

See a pattern?

So I buggered around and finally got the sewing machine to work. But really it no longer sews.

So I rang up the local electrical place to see if they could take a look at the overlocker's pedal - in case it was something was wrong with the wiring. But no one was there.

I gave up.

Fortunately - nothing is wrong with my normal machine - touch wood - and I got two jeans made which are totally awesome if I do say so myself.

Tommorrow I'm planning of making a few t-shirts, some jocks and stuff - plus do some school work :)

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Decisions about zippers

This morning I broke Mazin's glasses - twice - Doh! Oh well, at least I got a few photos of him in them - I'll look out for a new pair though.

We had August's birthday party today so we went to that - yay - I wish I was 8 again!!!

We moved the linen cupboard from my workroom to downstairs, and put in my desk in its place. So now I can finally set up my overlocker and second sewing machine!!! The 2nd sewing machine is usually set up with a double needle or a zipper foot depending on what I am doing.

So now it's time to make some doll clothes - serious business now. But I was getting worried about buying doll sized zippers.

I compared a normal dress zipper to the pair that were in the Soul Doll jeans and really there isn't much size difference except that the zipper pull is longer on a normal zipper.

Honestly - why buy a doll 4" zipper for $1.20 US when I can buy a 12cm zip for $0.99 Aus from Spotlight?

I would think that doll zippers would have to be much smaller though. Is it just Soul Doll being cheap like me? I don't know, I only have one pair of official jeans :P but the zipper in them feels more flimsy anyway.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Make backgrounds in a folder for Windows XP

I decided to give myself a headache.
I decided to add interest to my folders.
I decided that I couldn't remember the name of every drama or anime we have on file.
I decided that I could remember images of the drama or anime though.

So a quick tutorial on how make a .jpg image into a folder background.



Step 1 - Find a picture to use as a background.
Step 2 - Open the folder that you want to add a background to.

NOTE
To make sure this all works you will need to select "Tools" from the top menu of the folder. Select "Folder Options" from the list. Click the "View" tab and make sure there is a dot beside "Show hidden files and folders". Press "OK"

Step 3 - Somewhere in the folder right click with the mouse.
Step 3 - In the menu that pops up, click on "New".
Step 4 - Select "Text Document".
Step 5 - A text document will now be in the folder called "New Text Document.txt".

Step 6 - BUT it will need to be renamed:
- the name of the file may already be highlighted - so type in "Desktop.ini" (without the quotation marks).
- or right click on the text document and select "rename" to highlight the name of the file and then you type in "Desktop.ini" (without the quotation marks).

Step 7 - Windows will pop up a warning after you change the name - just press "Yes".
Step 8 - Double click "Desktop.ini" to open it up.
Step 9 - Copy the following confusing code stuff and paste it into the opened file.


[{BE098140-A513-11D0-A3A4-00C04FD706EC}]
Attributes=1
IconArea_Image=background.jpg
IconArea_Text=0x00000000


NOTE
- to copy you need to highlight the above text and press the keys "Ctrl" and "C" on your keyboard at the same time.
- to paste you need click in the opened file and press the keys "Ctrl" and "V" on your keyboard at the same time.

Step 8 - Close the "desktop.ini" file and say "Yes" at the warning.
Step 9 - You will now need to put the image into the folder.

NOTE
- drag the image icon over from the folder you already have it in or
- select the image icon and copy and paste it into the folder - see above NOTE
- if it is still on the Internet, right click on it to pop up a menu and select "Save Image As" and save it into the folder.

Step 10 - You will need to rename the image to "background.jpg" - use the same method as above.

Step 11 - Right click somewhere in the folder, and click on "Customize this folder".

Step 12 - Click on the "Change Icon..." button, and just select the closed folder picture that it normally is. Press "OK". And press "OK" again!

Step 13 - You might need to shut the folder and open it up again before the image will appear.


NOTE
If you are doing more then one folder you can just copy and past the Desktop.ini file into each of the folders, copy in the background.jpg image and do step 13.


Now - what if your image is on the small side and tiles? What I have done is in some sort of image software, create a new image to the size 600 height and 800 wide - white background. Then paste the image you want to use into the white space. I also fiddled with the transparency!!! Then save that image as background.jpg to use.

Done - hope that wasn't too confusing!
I'm William John Cavendish-Bentinck-Scott, the Fifth Duke of Portland!
Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

This guy had an obsession with pink rooms, roasted chook, hat boxes and making his servants skate when he wasn't happy with them. I like him a lot.

Blogs

I've found two great new blogs to read:

hello kitty hell
A husband dealing with cuteness overload of hello kitty dealt out by his wife. I need to get me a Hello Kitty belt sander!

the road to otakuness
Gritty reviews of dramas!

Friday, April 04, 2008

Nathan Cavalieri

After watching Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, We started talking about Nathan Cavalieri - Where is he now??? sort of thing. I don't really know where the link of Bill and Ted and Nathan came from buy hey!!!

Not much info out there except people mentioning that they played with him, some photos of his CDs and this:




However he is in a band called 'The Dirty Skanks' and here is their website

Thursday, April 03, 2008

I stayed home today with the headache sick thing - runny nose, sore throat, dry lips. I had it on Saturday as well. I'll have some more panadol before I go to bed.

Monday, March 31, 2008

New things

Okay - my parcel arrived. I got a unazukin and 2 hidamari no tami for myself - although charles has climed the unazukin:

unazukin2

Watch this:


I'll take photos of the hidamari later in the week.

We also have a fully finished fence now:
fence1

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Hmm, I accidentally won a doll today - I had forgotten about it, and so when I saw that it had 2 minutes to go - I was like 'phhh I'll just put $2 more on it' to see how high the bidding would go - and I ended up winning it!!! I can't tell C because I'm an idiot.

I spent this afternoon putting in a back yoke in the jeans pattern, I also tried a different method of putting in a waistband. So now I'm pretty much ready to make some to sell.

Although I hate putting in snaps - because it takes me about 5 goes (and snaps) to make them work correctly. I'd put in a jeans button - but I hate sewing button holes too!!! I like putting in zips though @.@

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Pure Neemo

I will be making some doll clothes today - I should start soon,,, instead I have been searching for info about Pure Neemo: I love that they are chubby.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21170973@N07/2237785169/ - a blythe with a Pute Neemo body

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/fake-box/searchdiary?word=%2a%5bPure%20Neemo%5d - lots of pics

http://www.azone-int.jp/doll/catarog/51aod/81pod/index.html - Snotty Cat? I love the name of them

http://pureneemo.6.dtiblog.com/ - the designers page

http://search.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/search?p=%a5%d4%a5%e5%a5%a2%a5%cb%a1%bc%a5%e2&f=0x2&alocale=0jp&s1=cbids&o1=d&mode=2&auccat=0&apg=1 - yahoojapan address

Friday, March 28, 2008

Flash backs

Tonight I donned blue eyeshadow and mascara, crimped my hair and put it half-up with a fair bit of fringe to the side. Yes tonight was 80's Roller Disco Night!!!

I made some CDs last night, but I was put on the late shift so I missed out on all the "good" music.

Have since been watching Agro's Cartoon Connection outtakes - Argo was such a ditry bugger: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpt2FN4OvxU

Still no large post parcels for me - hopefully Monday.

Running out of Easter Eggs...

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Home

I'm home from doctor's appointment - all went well with my knee Yay!! Chihiro is stuck to me like velcro - follows me from room to room - and is at the moment being my desk warmer.

Other then that - not much is happening - C is doing a uni assignment :P

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

what's up

I'm eating chocolate - a big chocolate bunny to be exact. Today was just extra long and I'm tired - might go an have a nap if the chocolate doesn't kick in soon.

About a week ago, I broke down and bought myself some cute stuff, although some of it is for birthday presents. However I got myself an Bandai Unazukin - she nods her head to answer questions. And I also got two (an original type and a xmas one) Tomy hidamari no tami. They are solar powered head nodding things. So super kawaii things coming my way, ne?

Anyway, I got excited because there was a "You have a parcel" card in the PO Box today - but they had just put it into the wrong box :(

Also - he's a good looker isn't he? Definetly into realistic dolls.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Forgotten Crafting

While I was in Brisbane a month or so ago I bought some really nice yarn, a dark turquoise with sequins. So instead of going out on the town I spent the night making a scarf while watching Hairspray.

First of all I French Knitted the yarn to make it thicker to work with then I finger knitted!

I learnt to finger knit from this image here I'm amazed that it is still there to be honest.

French knitted is when you use a finger instead of a crochet hook - so really it could be called Finger Crochet?

scarf1

I also bought some fine black crochet thread - so I want to make a few doilies X-)

Friday, March 14, 2008

Well - we survived catering for the masses. It went ok - still to count money though.

My feet are like minced meat though.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Nope

It didn't work - it stopped.

WTF - how to use gigeshare and yastorage

OK - I have been waiting for ages to get this episode downloaded by bittorrent, finally found a website called dramaffa.com - which has it.

But I'm so frustrated and I have only just worked out how to download from the place they use - gigeshare.com

You go to the URL, and wait until the word 'continue' or something shows up- which you click on.

You then click on the big blue arrow.

Which then takes you to yastorage.com - where you click the word 'Request' to the the left of the screen.

Then you find the words 'Downloading File' - in which one letter has a link to the actual file.

Oh my god!!! What is this? Some kind of secret club? I feel like Indiana Jones and the Website of Crap.

EDIT: I have it! and it seems to work with the sub file I have - Yeah FINALLY! Gapyoo!

deleted

GHAA! I deleted not only the hjsplitted files, but also the joined files for an episode I was about to watch. I've run a restoration, but I've only found an episode which appears to be the next one. I don't know what I have done.

So - redownloading it, and guess what - the last file is unavailable 'at the moment'.

I shared my pattern for jeans:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/g99b2k

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

a ok

Liana hit me up to cater this Friday for the netball trials, but I'm okay with it because I have organised as much as I can! Liana is just happy that someone is doing - she doesn't care otherwise if we sell sausages on bread or a full three course meal. PHEW!

Managed to finish these off last night - jeans for Mazin. Hopefully I can scan the pattern tonight and put them on the net.

mazins jeans

No other news - Charles is almost finished watching Nodame Cantible! It is so good, and at the moment is a tie with Lovely Complex for my favourite manga/anime/live action suite!!!

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Old

Last night was Krystal's 18th birthday - makes me feel so old. Most of my night was spent with two current senior students and an ex-student (and C too!). It's funny because as my students get older I can be more normal/human around them.

18!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Pee tales

It has taken forever for this to load... I was going to tell you that I was busting for a pee but I couldn't go because an ex-pupil of mine was working near my toilet... but I really needed to go and I was sick of waiting, so I went.

When I went downstairs - he wasn't around - the coast was clear. I made it to the toilet and made moves to relieve myself when he dropped a piece of wood or something just out of the window and gave me a heart attack.

It's so hard trying to pee when you know someone is just right there!!!

I dealt with an amusing situation today. One of my students had poop on the brain. We were working with paint colour chips and he found a really awful brown/green chip. The class agreed - yes it was baby poop coloured - he then proceeded to tease the girl sitting beside him by touching her with the chip and saying 'I pooped on your arm' etc...

After a while we had had enough of it, it stopped being funny and he ignored my directions to stop it. So I found a yellow one and walked towards him with a huge grin on my face - his eyes widened and the whole class started laughing - 'Stop it, or I will pee on you.'

That cracked up the whole class but it was okay because we were having fun doing a fun project - planning a mural. I hope the parents don't take it out of context though - can you imagine the up roar it I had really threatened to pee on him!!!

It frustrates me because if I didn't use humour (or sarcasm) then the only option I would have had with that boy was to send him outside or to the Principal. Sending him outside allows him to distract other classes and doesn't teach him anything because missing out on class is usually a good thing. Sending him to the Principal really doesn't do much either except he also gets to sit on a comfy chair, get chatted to and then sent back to class.

I talk about school far too much.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Holy Crack Heads

I just finished writing our ICT plan for this year - and I had until Friday to do it!!!

Last night we went and saw a friend of the family that was passing through town - it's a rare thing out here.

Mmmm, I think a deserve some chocolate!!! I love the eggs that have the white and yellow icing in it - I love Easter. I price up an easter egg out here - $7.00!!!

Monday, March 03, 2008

Tickling my Fancy

I've just finished watching the Japanese version of It Started With A Kiss - some of it made more sense then the Taiwanese but it was too short and didn't have as much character development. It still 'tickled my fancy' - lol a student said this today - they say some funny old fashioned things sometimes - I remember one saying 'It's feeling a bit nippy today' - Bahahaha - nippy!!!!

I have some work to do - but I can't seem to get motivated!

Saturday, March 01, 2008

I found this website - because I have trouble hearing the 2nd and 3rd tones this is going to be really helpful. It is an online game that sounds out pinyin and you have to figure out the tone.

http://pinyinpractice.com/tones.htm

My first score is 50 correct 25 wrong!!! One third of my answers are wrong!

I just had another go and got 50 correct and 16 wrong. Dang those 2nd and 3rds.

I'm back

from out of space... well it was really Surfer's Paradise but it did feel like a whole other country. I woke up at 3 this morning, to catch a bus before 4 to go to the Brisbane airport by 6 to catch a plain at 7 to get to Longreach for 9, to wait for Charles to get there after 10, and to get home to sleep at 12.

The conference was good - and I am now an accredited facilitator of the ICT license - which really means nothing to you if you're not a teacher at EQ - but it took a year to get so I'm really happy about it.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Books

The next unit in Creative Arts is about paper sculpture - and I found some amazing books on paper pop-ups on ebay - but because of the strike - I won't buy them just yet - I hope they will relist them later.

However I managed to get one of the books I wanted a few weeks ago on etsy. I didn't know you could sell books on esty - but apparently your can - sweet!

Update on the dye job front:
bi3

It works pretty well - just excuse the photo and that fact that it isn't finished.

And I took photos of the three boys on the weekend:

mazin5

These are off Mazin's hands. I decided to name him Mazin - it's still Arabic and fits in with him being a Genie - and it means storm clouds.

Monday, February 25, 2008

NG

NG is used for 'no good' takes in movies and TV. This morning has been a big NG for me. Diarrhoea. I've got it.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Dye job

I've been experimenting with dyeing my dolls wigs. So far though I have used some sharpies on the faux fur.

This link is about using an ink:
http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=57484

This link is about making sharpie ink:
http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=92437

Although I only have pastel sharpies - but I think it is working well.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

He's here

Yes he is. I feels a lot different from the Bi and Raiu. Bi is very fine like porcelain or ivory. Raiu has more tooth and Mum and I noticed this a lot in comparison to Bi. However the new guy is a lot rougher - but just feels so much more handmade.

He has a lot more detail then the other two boys - and I like him. So he's staying with me.

Hmm, tomorrow and Thursday I will be Acting Principal. Tonight I don't feel like doing much schoolwork - oh well.

Monday, February 18, 2008

I just spent the last 2 hours making a who wants to be a millionaire revision powerpoint show. URGH! It was so frustrating using the new version. Still haven't eaten or found receipts.

Good news - Tanned Mano is Australia! But is now in the hands of Australia Post!!!

Busy

I feel I got a lot accomplished today. I probably didn't but here is my list

- uploaded the next set in our school's ICT project
- rang Canberra to find out about student visits - free apparently!
- marked homework sheets and sorted out spelling for a while
- set up most of the computers in the computer room (all new!)
- rang up the book company to find out what is happening with my books (they didn't have two - but the one I want the most is on its way)
- printed out the English teachers assoc. paper work - to fill in at some later date when I have money
- researched and printed out English unit stuff
- printed out this week worksheets for my students so I don't have to photocopy them

And tonight I will find the receipts so I can claim back my expenses!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Swimming

No I didn't go swimming and my team lost but we had a great night.

I was chief timekeeper/judge and wore my Indian headdress. I kept two stopwatches in case people stuffed up, and decided between close calls. My time keeping thumbs are pretty good - I got my two stop watches in sync with each other - it's nice when they both read the same times. Our time keeping is pretty serious business - we only had one altercation with a parent this time.

When I got home - after going out for icecream that is - we were just in time for Cash Cab (A game show that is played in a taxi) and it was the Super Duper episode - so we got Kyle to capture it for us! Youtube here we come.
http://thystoryteller.deviantart.com/gallery/#_featured
just wanted to share this address - beautiful dolls!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Story Books and Fairy Tales

I love them. I only have a few of them from my childhood (what? I still am a child) but the ones I kept a fantastically illustrated. This evening I was searching for illustrators so my search led me to:

Kay Nielsen whose work is just beautiful - I would like to have a few of his prints

And then a search of papercut led me to this webpage which I know I have visited before and loved: Ullabenulla

Which led me to this great book Storybook Style which features homes in the style of storybook homes. I think living in a sotrybook home would be so much fun - I would love a turret.

One of Dad's friend made himself a castle - but his new wife didn't like it much so now it is more French storybook style. It is so cool.

I have been thinking that I would love to own a fairytale store for a long time - I would like to call it The Crystal Cauldron. It would have all sorts of lovely things like artwork, crystals, classes and cups, lace and books. I keep a list of things whenever I think of something new.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Tan Mano

So some of the aircons are in place and working. It was great being cold for once. But we will all now come down with a cold or something because we were moving from hot to cold all day.

This morning I ordered a few books for senior English - I hope I get them by the end of next week because they are really good and were recommended by the head honcho of my district.

I can't find the postcards from the exhibition! So frustrating!


TOY NEWS
Remember when I found a doll that is perfect for a character. I never thought that I would actually get him though because there were only 20 or so made. But this morning one was put up for sale - and I have already contacted the person. Thank goodness I didn't try for the other doll I was talking about the other day. You see I have a doll budget this year - after I buy this guy - if I manage to get him that is - I will only have $400 or so left.

I have been looking at my other collect of vinyl dolls - there is a pinky:st that I must get shortly.

I must get a Mimo doll soon - because they are becoming rarer then hen's teeth.

And I am still after solar toys.

I am a sad sad person.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Codes

I'm tempted to buy another 2nd hand doll - but I won't just yet because I want to make some stuff for the ones I have already. I'm planning on selling some clothes using an Easter theme (pastels and stuff) - maybe I can use any money made for another doll.

I'm pretty tired still - I don't know why.

I bought a book about learning different languages - the author is Australian and he has a nice writing style. I haven't finished reading it yet - but what he says is interesting and I could see that it would work.

What really caught my eye was that when he was growing up he thought that learning another language would be cool because he liked to write in codes - so if he could speak another language it would be like speaking in a secret code. Can you see me nodding: yep, yep, that's me too!

C spent last night working on uni - when I looked over his shoulder I was pretty horrified at the maths. Run away! Maths is not a secret code that I want to learn.

Laptop update - if I wait until after July 1st - there is a Government 50% rebate for things bought for educational purposes - which will include laptops!!!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

I'm Back

So I went to Brisbane this week. I flew down on Monday and came back today - for a half day course on copyright. In May (?) our school has to audit our use of digital material - so Education Queensland can find out who owns copyright and who gets paid for their stuff.

So anyway - I went into Borders after the conference and bought a few magazines, some yaoi, a few language books. It frustrates me that they have so many manga titles but there are holes in their volumes - usually in the first few volumes! So I didn't buy love com because they had random ones. I'll just save up and buy online later.

I also went to the Andy Warhol gallery. It was great - picked up a few postcards and some magnets.

Our front yard looks like we are preparing for war - trenches. They found out the issue that we had with the bath was caused by tree roots. So at least the bath now drains - but they need to come in and fix up the plaster etc too.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Books that I want

55 clay animals - for a creative art unit

silver clay accessories - I found out you don't need a kiln to use silver clay

Boy's Clothes - because I have a lot of girl's patterns

Basic hat book - My first piece of clothing I made was a hat!


I named my new boy Raiu - it's Japanese for thunderstorm. I also made him a wig that suits him much better then the wig he automatically comes with. Although the light was funny when I was taking photos yesterday.

raiu2

Bi - oh so squishy and cute.
bi1

Friday, February 01, 2008

I stayed up late last night and watched most of Nodame - it was really good. Even David got a little hooked. I'm now downloading some new Ouran Host Club - I want to buy it - from here.

I'm in Brisbane next Monday and Tuesday - maybe I'll pop into Borders.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Current downloads

I thought I might share the things that I am currently downloading

- Lovely complex (manga) from stoptazmo.com so close to finishing
- Koukou debut (manga) just found it then on stoptazmo.com
- Nodame Cantabile (anime bittorent) from animesuki (yet haven't started yet)
- 101st Proposal (live action) from JDramas

Is it wrong of me to wish for a laptop?

New things

New boy - tada - he hasn't got a name yet:::
jinwoo7

And Bi is sporting a different outfit:::
bi1

Poor Bi is eyelashless still.

New school term started today - it went ok - except that there are NO aircons!!! Fracking hot. I have one crappy class (for the time being) but I had a double of them today. There are a few idiots that will need stepping on tomorrow though.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Missing In Non Action

Okay - I spent this morning unpacking from the holidays. I am pissy because the eyelashes still have not turned up - even though other things that I bought at the same time are here. However I also bought a purple eyeliner too and it is missing.

I'm so close to getting Bi finished with his new eyes in - but he really needs eyelashes. It's very frustrating.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

I bought some eyelashes - and goddamit I can't find them!

Friday, January 25, 2008

What been going on

Ok I'm back in Winton. We went to Tincan Bay for new years and it rained every day. We spent a fair bit of time with Charles' dad before he passed away. His funeral was last week, Wednesday. I went to the knee doctor and have to do exercises (which I haven't started yet).

I'm very hot and uncomfortable, I have to organise myself for a conference in a few weeks as well as all of the subjects (but I'm almost on top of that).

My cat loves me - in fact he has his head on the keyboard right now which makes it difficult to type.

I have a new doll - I'll explain later.

And I think I will myself another diet coke.