While the true calendar start to spring is still over a month away, today was indeed the first day of spring. It was a balmy 12 degrees, the sun was shining and so I went walking arm-in-arm with my best bub along the seawall and down to Stanley Park. It was glorious. We saw our first daffodils and both honey and bumble bees of the season. I took some nice photos of the Vancouver spring.
Then we came home and watched the Academy Awards, but I'll keep mum on that until our friends downunder have had the chance to watch the show on time delay.
I came across this amazing blog post on building for your books on Ectoplasmosis* the other day. This is just the most amazing looking housing for books. I dream of one day having enough space to present all of our book collection, which is currently spread across two continents.
*Warning: while this article is decidedly harmless, a good portion of what you see on Ectoplasmosis is indeed Not Safe for Work.
Newfound dinosaur Eocarcharia dinops grew to about 25 feet (7.6 meters) long.
It had powerful limbs and 3-inch-long (7.6 centimeter-long) blade-shaped teeth, likely for disabling prey and severing body parts, according to a study released on February 12, 2008.
The dinosaur's brow was also massively swollen, giving it a menacing glare. Scientists speculate that the feature may have been used by the reptile and related species in head-butting contests over mating rights.
Eocarcharia was a carcharodontosaurid, meaning it was from the family that gave rise to some of the largest southern predatory dinosaurs, matching or exceeding Tyrannosaurus rex in size.
I am so looking forward to the new "Be Kind, Rewind" movie. I am an avid Michel Gondry fan, and a massive filmophile, so this looks great. But if the trailer was not great enough:
Michel Gondry decided to take a page for the movie, and reshoot the whole trailer again with himself playing all the roles:
Just finished my Writing for the Web course, which was awesome. My teacher was fantastic; I thoroughly enjoyed it. But along with imparting lots of knowledge, my teacher alerted to me a fabulous new site. Most readers may already know this, as I am often last in the loop, but in case you haven't already, check out http://flickrvision.com/ . Its like a marriage between Flickr and Google Maps. And for those who also like twitter, there is the associated site of http://twittervision.com/.
Somehow these two sites (especially when viewed in 3D) really emphasize how interconnected we all are on this planet. I love the internet.
While people have many opinions on this event, no one can say this was not an historic moment. Personally, this makes me proud to be Australian (and it's been a while since I've said that). Saying Sorry is important, and now we need a plan to right the wrongs our government has done to the indigenous peoples. I hope they will set up a Resolution project like they have here in Canada. Though I hope they can come up with something that is more than just cash hand-outs. That does not solve the problem.
Was talking to someone the other day about this video and received blank stares. Apparently, they had not seen this awesome video. So I present it for the viewers out there, and start my series on my favourite music videos.
OMG, OMG! We just bought our plane tickets to Europe! We are actually going. Its so exciting but I'm so anxious about getting enough money, especially as I'm not sure about my whole job situation. Still, this is something we really have to do.
The plan is to hit Paris, Düsseldorf, London, Edinburgh (and the highlands hopefully) and west england and maybe even Wales. And of course visit a whole bunch of friends we have living over there. This is awesome.
Good News for Me: I achieved my target of cataloging 10 000 artefacts at work. On what would have been the last day of my six-month contract (it's now been extended indefinitely).
Good News for Friends Here: Our friend Rob has just officially become a Permanent Resident of Canada. He never has to go back to the stinky States if he doesn't want to.
Good News for Friends There: Our friends Joe & Ellie are expecting their first baby. This is wonderful news and I know they're going to be great parents. Congrats guys :)
It may be cliche to say it, but this year sped by so fast. Which is not surprising as I pretty much spent the first half of the year recovering from my broken foot and DVT. So this didn't leave as much time as I would have liked for achieving my goals. My greatest disappointment this year was not making it to Europe for Abby & Pete's wedding in September. Financially, this year was a write-off; between the all the physiotherapy bills, non-working recovery time and working at the museum, I've done very poorly in the money department this year. But I have to say that overall I am left with a feeling of achievement when reflecting on the year.
Though a day has not gone by when I haven't experienced a lot of pain from it, I have pushed my broken foot to get back to normal. The day I had my cast removed after ten weeks, I walked (or more limped) the 25 blocks back from the hospital. A few months later I managed to start getting to ballet classes again, and a couple of months ago I took up flamenco dancing. My foot it is still all mangled and "clicks" with every step, but I'm gonna make it do what feet are meant to do. Next year I'm gonna start either indoor soccer or floor hockey again.
Career-wise I managed to finally get a job in my industry here in BC. Working as Research Assistant for the Archaeology Lab UBC has been a great experience. I have personally cataloged 8500 artefacts in five months. Talk about a crash-course in First Nations material culture. This project will be winding down 2008 and hopefully I will be moving on to finally start working in the Historical Research Analyst position I was hired to do last year. I will miss working for the museum, but will enjoy the bigger paycheques.
Relationship-wise, it's been a tough year for us. We've had injuries, bad finances, family-issue crap and even immigration nightmares working against us. But even so, I can honestly say that every day I grow to love my hubby even more. He is my rock (well, a really cuddly rock).
So as this year draws to a close I will make some resolutions:
Get our asses over to Europe. We're aiming for April/May as its less expensive to get there then and less full of tourists. We just have to do it.
More time creative/learning pursuits. I was so lucky to get a new camera last year, so I really need to start actively creating photos. Also on the learning front: thanks to free UBC Continuing Education I will be studying Introduction to Computer Programming. I will find out if I suck at it, or totally love it.
Make a real effort to keep in touch with people more often. Maybe rekindle friendships that I have let lapse. And make more new friends here in Vancouver.
Live more hopefully. I've really be living like there's another drama round the corner (cause there totally has been!) but this year I'm going to hope for smooth sailing. I've got a good feeling about 2008.
...ahem...so, hello. Remember me? I use to blog here but have gotten so far behind in everything I have to do that of course my poor blog was forgotten. It was on my to-do list. There was A LOT on my to-do list. It was so intimidating, and I thought I'd found some help in the form of lovely little productivity blogs like Ririan Project, Productivity 501 and Lifehacker. Unfortunately, the lovely "top 10 blah to blah" tips didn't help me but instead I ended up with "Read my RSS feeds" hovering on my to-do list (as I currently write I have a tab open advising me that I have 1000+ feed articles to read (gulp!). So the to-do list has been retired and is now reincarnated in my new "Stress List". It isn't just a list of what I have to do, but of all the things I'm stressing over having not done. Using the categorization technique I learned in my time management class back at ole Usyd, I have developed four categories and corresponding ink colour:
Crimson "I'm always in the Red" ink designates urgent actions that are financially dependent i.e. paying very overdue bills.
"Terrifying" Torquoise ink designates urgent actions that are energy and time rather than financially dependent i.e. building a new website for the Archaeological Society I am now volunteering with.
"Procrastinating" Purple ink designates non-urgent actions that are financially dependent, i.e. taking driving lessons so I can get back on the road after eight years.
"Hopelessly-forgetten" Hot Pink ink designates non-urgent actions that are time and energy dependent, i.e. tidying up my paperwork.
So lets see if this new "I'm stressed and I'm not going to pretend I'm on top of it" list works any better. At least I can now scratch "post to your blog" off my list.
So to catch up, thanks for all the well wishes. I am certainly behind in my blogs, email, and flickr. So we are now comfortably ensconced in our new tiny apartment in the sky. Both Jaime and I are feeling much happier about our surroundings. My health has improved and almost all the effects of the allergy have departed. We still need to get some new bookshelves to unpack all our books and cds, but at least we are now feeling we are in a place we can finally unpack that stuff.
Other good news: civic workers strike is almost over! By almost, I mean that 2 out of 3 of the unions have settled. So garbage collection is starting again, and most importantly for us, the community centres will reopen meaning the gym, swimming pools, ice rinks and dance classes - hooray. The librarians are still on strike and I wish them the best with their negotiations as their key issue is wage equity for a female-dominated industry.
We have managed to see a plethora of great films: 3:10 to Yuma, Eastern Promises, and Elizabeth: the Golden Age. Though somehow I have yet again missed the entire Vancouver Film Festival.
I have volunteered as the Membership Secretary for the Archaeology Society of British Columbia. Not sure what exactly I've gotten myself into, but I'm hoping to help them discover a little thing called the 21st Century.
So October is for me again my month of renewal and rebirth. It is the end of one year and the beginning of another. This week we have Jaime's birthday celebrations, and then the week after that, a week of Halloween events including the wonderful "Parade of Lost Souls".
Thanks for the positive thoughts everyone - it must be working.
Also, it's nice to see the new faces on crackbook :)
The internet has recently served me up not one, but two lovely little morsels. And coincidentally, both involve the wonderful Stephen Fry. First off, I was delighted to see that Stephen Fry has started a blog. A very gifted writer, his blessays (blog essays, as he calls them) on such things as the iphone and the nature of fame are fabulous reads. It is my new favourite blog.
Secondarily, while channel surfing the other day, we came across this lovely little children's show called Pocoyo. Made in Spain using a C.G.I. style that mimics claymation, the show tells lovely little tales of Pocoyo ("little me"), a mischievous but delightful little boy that reminds me so much of our good friends' gorgeous son Dante. I am rarely impressed by children's television, but I haven't seen anything as good as this since the likes of Sesame Street or Pingu. And who narrates the English version of the afore mentioned Pocoyo?: Stephen Fry! I could listen to that voice all day. And thanks to youtube, I have been able to watch many episodes of Pocoyo. Ones like this:
Sorry for the absence. Our move did not work out so well. The new place we moved into turns out to be an absolute dump, so after some scrambling we will be moving again on Monday. We shall be renting an apartment in the same building as mum. Its nice as its on the 20th floor across from the beach, but it means moving out of the community we like and into downtown, which isn't ideal. Still, we couldn't stay here.
To top it off, I have been offline due to a severe allergic reaction. The doctors think it was to antibiotics, seventeen days after I started taking it. So I once again found myself in the hospital, where I was literally in the waiting room from hell. Imagine a poorly-lit, smelly waiting room. Populate it with an angry junkie, a homeless man, a concussed bike-courier, a man with the worlds stinkiest, ugliest fungal-infected toe nails, and me and my long-suffering husband. The TV was stuck high out of reach with no remote-control, so I could not turn off the back-to-back episodes of Dog the Bounty Hunter, followed by Criss Angel. My feet and hands swelling up like balloons and paralysis in my legs. Fun, fun, fun. Follow by five days of steroids and antihistamines. Now I am learning the pain of Prednisone withdrawal.
However, I am hoping things are on the upswing and next week I will find myself in a new home and in less pain.
Today is Abby & Pete's wedding over in England, and I was supposed to be there as Maid of Honour. Instead I'm packing up house and getting ready to move in two hours to less nice but less expensive apartment. I had so hoped and planned to be there for Abby. Its so disappointing to have a goal you work to toward and not achieve. So much seemed to conspire against us this past year; trouble with steady work, massive health issues, and work visa problems, but I still held out hope we would make it to Europe. I guess it will have to be next year now.
Abby will walk down the aisle in ten minutes. Have the best day Abby & Pete - I'm there with you in spirit.
Aussie-born, Canadian-bred, Aussie-cured. I've flown over the Pacific more than forty times (and the most I've seen of Hawaii is the Airport passenger terminal - and the Wikiwiki Bus). I'm a full-time mum, and part-time Historical Research Analyst
While the true calendar start to spring is still over a month away, today was indeed the first day of spring. It was a balmy 12 degrees, the sun was shining and so I went walking arm-in-arm with my best bub along the seawall and down to Stanley Park. It was glorious. We saw our first daffodils and both honey and bumble bees of the season. I took some nice photos of the Vancouver spring. 
