February 2010 – Page 2 – Disco Knitter

School has started

And our group is awesome.

We have a landscape architect, a few designers, an art director, a pattern maker, a career coach, a rare book maker, and a lawyer. And three of us used to work in the film industry. It’s an ecclectic group, but mostly with a strong design/art background, or at least a strong interest.

I did some sketching/doodles the other day and I realised that I haven’t done anything like that for about 20 years. So I got to class early, and sketched away happily, absorbing the “studio air”.

We have about 6 weeks of school and I may not produce anything I’ll want to share with the world, but I know I’m going to have fun!

Boys and girls – should we parent them differently?

I’ve often thought about this, and have made the decision to try to raise an emotionally connected boy who isn’t afraid of colour, who doesn’t use violence to solve his problems, and who doesn’t pee on the toilet seat. I’ve wondered if the boy/girl divide is more nature or nurture, so I was happy to find this post.

Especially since (no matter how he dresses), heaps of people seem to think he is a girl anyway.

First paid gig

I took some pics for a newborn baby and her family a few months ago, and word got around, and now I have my first paid gig.

Check out the rest of the shoot here.

Perfect Popcorn

Thanks to Not Martha, I now have a recipe for perfect popcorn, and I can throw away my stupid microwave bags. Anyone up for a movie night at mine?

Edited to add – if you want to stick with microwave popcorn, try this.

A new low

Greetings:

I am sorry to intrude into your private and peaceful life, all the same
My name is Mrs. Rosario Ana C. Labindao, I work as an accountant in a
bank in Haiti. I contacted you to work together with me in claiming a
fund that I tend to use 50% of the money for assistance of displaced
people here Haiti.

I wait for your prompt response so that I can give you more briefing on
what you need to and how to do it.

Best regards from,

Mrs. Rosario Ana C. Labindao.

At least this one will only be attractive to particularly selfish and greedy people who deserve to get scammed!

A few thoughts

Vanilla vodka makes a surprisingly good Gimlet (though my favoured version has equal parts vodka and lime juice – half cordial and half fresh
Cooking with a child that hasn’t had a nap is quite like going to a teppanyaki restaurant. But much less fun
When said child that says “I’m not going to sleep”, and I reply with “yes you are, you’re so tired that you’re almost dead”, and he picks up the chant “almost dead, almost dead”, it’s not exactly funny, it’s hysterical
Parents and children have different needs, sometimes they intersect, sometimes they collide
The bunny is now unofficially named Carrot. Inigo insists that his name is neither Vizzini or Tiberius, but it is most definitely Carrot. I have been told, but I am a recalcitrant type
I am loving TransUrban beyond words. Yes, I know it’s unusual to profess undying love for a company that builds toll roads, but if it means that my husband is home BEFORE 5pm to deal with the feral offspring, then build me another M5
According to Head Office, I have completed my last unit, and have now applied for a volunteer position with the Australian Breastfeeding Association. I now have a Certificate IV, I did it in under 12 months, and I have proved to myself that I have a small ability at this study thing. Now I just need to apply myself a bit more and do other interesting things. What next? Is there a diploma in World Domination?

Just because I need to remind myself…

…that he isn’t always a toad.

Happy Housewarming

Nanna brought over Inigo’s new house yesterday, and after a few minutes of assembly, Inigo got very excited, and then very confused as to why we were bossing him around to take a picture instead of letting him enjoy his fabulous new toy.

Co-incidentally, mum bought this at a garage sale on the weekend, from a man that I used to play pool with twenty years ago.

More singing

Warning – this one starts out quite loudly – turn the sound down if you have sensitive ears!

This one was shot in the car, so apologise for the wonkiness. Inigo was shouting his songs out for ages before I decided to video him, and halfway through he seemed to get shy and pipe down a little.

Happy Birthday Alex

I made a rainbow cake. The cake is itself was a bit of a fail, due to my extreme tiredness, I put the oven on the wrong temperature, and the cake ended up strangely dense, even for a mud cake. But I think I did OK with the icing, and the Alex letters that were made out of biscuits iced with royal icing.