My Lumpy Dog

Sammy went to the vet this morning for surgery. They are going to remove two lumps from his hind leg and send them to be biopsied. One of the lumps has been there for quite a while, but the other is fairly new and harder. Lumps are fairly common on dogs (as people), but there are evil ones that must be watched. I'm a wreck and I cried when I left the vet's office. Sammy was a trouper until I started to leave, then he got a bit anxious. A friend of mine from the dog park works at this vet and will be working today. I'm glad that Sammy will have Nicky around - someone he knows. Nicky volunteers doing pet therapy by going to rest homes and visiting the elderly with her dog, BJ. I am convinced that BJ is a horse wearing a dog costume - he's huge. But the old folks love him. There is a funny photo I have showing Sammy and BJ together at the park. It might not be in the best taste, but it shows Sammy's optimistic spirit and BJ's calm nature.


On other matters....
The poem that I posted yesterday might be a bit too obtuse for general understanding. It's actually obtuse for me too. Instead of another poem right away, I'm going to post one of the many collages I've done (with inside help). Unless you zoom in, it will be difficult to capture some of the finer features of the art, but I hope you can appreciate them regardless of the limitations of the image. I believe this would be referred to as black art, so please don't expect a lovely, calming landscape.





I have many more collages, but these are two of my most recent works. I'll post some of the others later. My earlier collages are quite different to these.

Apologies for the somber tone of today's post - but I'm a bit down. Feel free to comment on anything you see or read on our blog. We only have two regular commenters, and we love to hear from them.







Oh, I forgot to mention. We had a black turkey right outside our bedroom door this morning. Tim heard flapping noises during the night, but had no idea what was causing the commotion. I'm not sure why he chose to visit us - perhaps he heard we don't eat meat or poultry!

Peace and hugs,
Judi

PS: We'll find out in a few hours how Sammy is doing. Send him healing thoughts please. :)

Poetry and Inside Cheerleaders

Tim asked me why I haven’t blogged yet, and I think it’s because I have so much to say, I don’t know where to start. I want to talk about mental health issues so we can all get them out of the closet (rather than hiding them as the dirty secret). I hardly know anyone who is not taking antidepressant medication. So, it stands to reason that at least a few people have mental health “issues.” This is one reason why I want to write about my DID/MPD. People need encouragement to talk about their personal problems and challenges. If more of us open up, perhaps that can happen.

Isn’t it fascinating? The human mind is amazing. At one point in my therapy, we identified 60 +/- “alters” – my inside people. I have male alters, women alters, child alters, partial alters, a cussing teenage girl alter, I’m sure I have a dog alter... I have one alter who has poor hearing and my eyesight varies as to “who” is seeing at the time. It is now possible for scientists to watch a person’s “switching” happening on a brain-scanning machine. Incredible!


Not long after my diagnosis in the 1990’s, I would have alters write poetry for (and to) me. I would do the physical act of writing, but it was as though I was channeling someone else’s words. I could write a five-page poem with complex metaphors, etc. in under 20 minutes. During the writing process, I would think, “this doesn’t make sense.” But at the final reading, I was always amazed how everything came together. I would like to show you some of my/our poetry. Some of it is simple, some of it is complex, sometimes it’s a little too sing-songy, but it’s always interesting. I will cut some parts out due to triggering images or if the content is too “sensitive,” but here’s a sample:

March 8, 2000 - Untitled

Pushing petals in the snow
Flowing waters whilst I go
In whose heart I barely tread
This I know I must be led.

To the point of my dismay
After which down I lay
On to heaven I will soar
Seeking justice ever more.

For the truth is hard to see
But it’s she that beckons me
Only I will rejoice for it
After which I’ll wearily sit.

Kindness grabs at my right hand
Scratching figures in the sand
Dismay will catch me this I know
But truth from heart will surely flow.

Kindness dupes the ones who hide
Pushing forth those who lied
Send me on to those poor souls
Drop me down through heaven’s holes.

Catch me now for I do sink
Buffeting winds force me to think
Cautious watchdogs we sit back
Waiting waiting for the attack

All I know and this I pray
Wonder will come to me this day
Hoping hoping for all to rise
Struggling not from those despised.

So, this I tell you as we sit
Truth unravels bit by bit
Push ahead and trounce the wall
Waiting waiting we heed the call.

I am Christopher hear me out
I’m a gentle soul and not a lout
Embrace me with your arm so tight
And hold me close with all your might.

And when I hide, you beckon me
You cannot wait and let me be.
You call me forth and make me talk
From your request I cannot walk.

But treat me kindly this you shall
And I’ll remain your sainted pal.
Kindness works of this I know
So step along and forward we go.

I bid adieu to you and yours
And go ahead and do your chores
I will work on what you ask
Preparing for the tedious task.

I won’t leave you don’t worry now
In your honor, this I vow
We’ll step ahead and get to know
From our hearts, knowledge will flow.

The rest of the poem I will omit due to the sensitive content and triggering images. Christopher, who is an older and wise “part” of me, writes the poem. I’m sure it’s not written by the “traditional me,” because I don’t use words like “whilst.” He understands that I want to know what happened to me (the trauma to make me DID). It seems he has help writing the poem. In the section I cut out, he gives me some of the information.

The final two stanzas are:

She is strong she knows such sorrow
From other moons some souls she’ll borrow
We came forth to walk the road
The seeds we planted, never sowed.

I will end this sad sad tale
Sometime soon, we’ll need to wail
But til then we’ll suffer strong
And peace I know will come along.

Blog written by Judi

Does DID exist?

Having said that Judi has DID, we'd better dispose of the idea that DID doesn't exist. If you read enough on the topic, you'll find that some people believe that DID is either a fantasy indulged in by self-absorbed people or something unwittingly taught to patients by doctors. I know a few DID people and have read a fair bit about it and I have no doubt at all that it exists. I've lived with a DID sufferer for about ten years now and have seen the effects over and over again. Either Judi is the best actor the world has ever seen or she has multiple personalities.

Unlike the Monkees, I'm not a believer. I find it hard to believe in anything - I have to see it to believe it and even then I wouldn't call it belief to accept what your eyes tell you, I'd call it knowledge. Given something strange, I'd far rather find a simple explanation than a complicated one. In the case of DID, the simplest explanation is that people can have multiple identities. To understand this, we have to reflect on what a personality is. To me, it's a pattern of behavior exhibited by a person that is repeatable and predictable. As a physicist, I like to think of a personality as being indicative of non-linear dynamics but if that means nothing to you, don't worry. Here's an analogy - in the days of long playing records played by a needle running around in a spiral groove, they used to make trick LPs with multiple but separate grooves. By choosing the starting point at random, you could select an entirely different song, or by nudging the record player, you could skip from one song to another. When DID people get nudged, they can switch personalities. This analogy isn't quite right but it's suggestive.

So why do people not accept the idea of DID? I can think of a number of reasons:

• It's pretty strange - if I haven't lived with Judi, I probably wouldn't have believed it.
  
• Some people have a very straightforward view of how the mind works that doesn't accommodate something as strange as DID. As a long time meditator, I know that my mind is really strange anyway so it doesn't bother me.
• DID is supposed to be caused by the severe and persistent abuse of young children. This is horrible to even contemplate so for some people it's preferable to deny DID.
• For the same reason, some parents or family members implicated even indirectly may wish to deny DID.

So, yes, it exists. As I said, it's the simplest explanation of what Judi and I have experienced.

Tim

Being dissociative or "MY DID"

Sheesh, what to say now? Ever since we started this blog, I have wanted to talk about my DID…. Now that I can… I’ve got BLOGFRIGHT!!!!!

The real problem is that I have too much I want to say. I want to tell you about my DID, but I also want you to know more about DID in general (i.e., How does it start, how long does it last, is it curable, how many people have DID, etc.) I remember when I was diagnosed in 1997, well, some things I remember. For example, I remember not being able to comprehend that I had +/- 60 different parts/alters in my head. I remember going to work and wondering if anyone could see how fragmented I was. I used to be so secretive about the DID – (in little, backward Socorro, NM) that I was convinced if people found out, they would burn me at the stake as if I was a witch.

Most people would not ever know when I was “switched” (i.e., someone else). A lot of my “alters” were regular people who did specialized jobs for when I could not. Stephanie was the professional worker (mostly the Human Resource Manager). I also have various “professional” drivers, so that I am probably a better and more consistent driver than most people on the road (I think I had one parking ticket, but I’m not sure). There are others. You probably recognize some of these “people-types” – you probably have your own set. The difference is one of degree and level of dissociation. Common dissociation is spacing out as you drive down the freeway. Not so common dissociation is spacing out so much that someone else comes out to deal with life, while you’re perhaps hiding in a corner of your own mind.

I hope you are as impressed with my husband as I am. How many men could sit and talk to their 40-something wife (after recent marriage), and still sit and talk to that woman when her seven year old alter comes out. Think about it. Actually, I was probably more freaked out than he was. Tim has been incredible during this entire ordeal. Since he met Patricia, he has chatted with numerous alters of different ages and temperaments. Surely, I would never have made it without his support over the last ten years. As difficult and challenging as it has been, he still has fun watching me (and my little folk) watch “kid” movies. When I was watching the movie, Alaska, about two kids looking for their father in cold country (the father had crashed his plane on a mountain). The kids were adopted by (and adopted) “Cubby” the polar bear cub. Of course, these children got into all sorts of frightening and dangerous situations, during which my little one, “Tanya,” would holler out, “Cubby, save boy!!!” or “Cubby, where girl, go find girl!!” I have to say I’m incredibly cute as a kid.

There’s so much more to say, but I have time.
Judi, et al

Judi's DID

Some of our friends will know that this blog has omitted to say much about one very big thing in our lives - Judi's struggle with Dissociative Identity Disorder. We've kept this private until now but both of us think it's time to be more open.

Judi and I are approaching the tenth anniversary of our first date - April 27, 1997. That night was wonderful and something that we both remember. I also remember well the next date - we drove out into the desert east of Socorro to a waterhole that I knew about. We walked around chatting happily but then it started to get dark and the stars came out. We decided to leave but as we got up to go, Judi told me that she'd had many difficult times in her life. The increasing darkness of the night matched her mood shift. It was a striking moment - too dark to see much of her face but I could hear something unexpected in the tone of her voice.

Shift forward 6 months, and we're married, sitting on the bed in the evening. It's been a wonderful 6 months and we're really happy. There have been some tough times - she occasionally goes into a strange state that I don't recognize - sometimes crying inconsolably. An ice pack on the neck will bring her back. So there we are, talking on the bed about something - but I can't remember what. All of a sudden I realize that Judi's voice has changed, and that she sounds like a young girl. I don't mean that metaphorically - I mean that she really sounds like a young girl. I realized almost immediately that I was talking to another person so I asked her name - she said "Patricia". We had a reasonably long conversation. The key to talking to alters, which is what Patricia is, is to respect them and treat them just like a real person. I did that and she talked. I can't remember much of what we talked about.

Shift forward a few more months, and I'm in a taxi looking out the back window at Judi. She's standing at the window of the in-take office of a hospital in Dallas, watching my taxi drive away. It's a terrible moment. I have to be back in Socorro but she needs to stay there for intense therapy. She's really broken down into fragments - bit and pieces of a person. There are many, many alters, most of whom I have met over the last few months. Meeting an alter is not always as easy as meeting Patricia since some carry huge amounts of rage and anger.

Finally here we are now in Australia. Judi is much, much better. She and I have been through some really tough times together and honestly still expect to have more in the future. I've had one episode of really bad depression since we met but I feel good now. We have a wonderful relationship as we always have had despite our problems.

Judi is still in therapy. She still cannot work and I don't know if she ever will be able to. I hope so since I know that work means a lot to her. It's important to her to feel that she's making a contribution. And she has a lot to contribute.

So that's the story from my perspective but it's mostly up to Judi to tell about it. I'll chime in with my own recollections and thoughts but it's over to her.....

Why Does Everything Want to Kill Me Here??????

Some friends told me about the Blue Ringed Octopus. They said that it can be found in the waters off New South Wales, which made me very nervous since I was frolicking around NSW tidal pools last week, and picked up lots of beautiful shells. I didn't think that reaching down into the water to get shells from the various tidal pools would present a problem - I thought that the terrible "Cone Shell" and "Blue Ringed Octopus" were only found on the northern coasts of Australia. Hopefully, this article I've read is correct and that they really are only found in the northern parts. Ugh! Here's the lowdown of the octopus poison:

Blue Ringed Octopus Poison

DANGER! The blue rings on a blue ringed octopus are only visible when it is about to attack. The blue ringed octopus can cause death to an adult human in minutes. There is no known antidote.

The blue ringed octopus has two poison glands that secrete different types of poison through the saliva. One type is quite mild and is used to paralyze crabs and other prey when hunting for food. The other type is very toxic and is used as a defence against predators, including people.

The blue ringed octopus has a painless bite that is not much more than a scratch. The poison in the blue ringed octopus saliva, however is very strong and can kill an adult human in minutes.

Bites generally occur when a blue ringed octopus has been picked up out of its pool or stepped on so most bites are inflicted on the hands, arms, shoulders and feet.

At first the victim feels nauseous, then there is a loss of sight, touch speech and the ability to swallow. In 3 minutes, the nervous system stops working, paralysis sets in and respiratory failure commences. Without immediate help the victim will die.

Mouth to mouth resusitation and heart massage must be started straight away and continued until professional medical help is reached. There artificial respiration and heart massage will continue unitl the poison can work its way out of the victims system. This usually takes about 24 hours and leaves the victim with no obvious side effects.

Victims are aware of their surroundings throughout their ordeal but are unable to respond in any way. They may appear dead but if aid comes quickly enough, they will survive.

Because the poison is in the saliva, it can be injested through the skin. Some people have reported a tingling in their hands after touching rocks or water recently occupied by the blue ringed octopus.

A friend of mine at the "doggie park" said he loves Australia because it is so DANGEROUS!!! Excuse me? What is he thinking? I suspect he wouldn't be quite so cavalier if it were his kids that found one of these unfriendly creatures.

Hmmmm. I guess I need to find out the typical bite/mortality rate of these charming little critters. :)

Luv Ya, Judi

Random observations from our trip

• It is possible to buy a good bottle of Shiraz for $1.99. I did so in Coff's Harbor. Actually I bought 6 for $11.99. I wish I'd bought more. We're big fans of clean skin wines. Our current favorite is a Shiraz-Viognier that Dan Murphys sell for $6.50 a bottle in a case.
  
• Nimbin is one of the armpits of the world. I'm not particularly opposed to inhaling but this place made me think again - there are a lot of seriously wasted people here.
  
• North NSW is spectacular - well worth visiting. We'll definitely go back.
  
• Southern QLD on the beach has been Californicated. We'll have to route around it next time if we want to go further north.
• You just can't eat too many fish tacos when close to the ocean. Reading this it's ambiguous so let me say it plainly - eat all the tacos you can when close to the sea!
  
• It is possible to survive 12 days without checking your email.

Judi and I had an excellent time on our vacation. Caravaning is ideal for those who like a comfortable bed but also eating outside and seeing the sun rise. It's also cheap - only $20 per night typically for a powered camp site. Also you get to meet interesting people and critters. Our caravan needs a few more comforts - maybe we'll take the coffee machine next time. But we didn't miss the TV although I was shocked to hear that England had finally won something in cricket - the one day international series.

The dogs had fun, I think, though I believe that I managed to exhaust Sammy by all the walking I did. In the end he sort of refused to go with me on a walk, which was a first.

I hope we can go again soon.

Tim

Our Maiden Voyage

This is going to be hard, because I have already forgotten a lot of what we've done. Hmmmm. We were going to try to leave on Saturday, but it became clearer that we wouldn't get organized in time. Even on Sunday, it took a while to get it together - but we finally did and set off around mid-day. It takes some time to set up a camper caravan for a maiden voyage. I had downloaded checklists from the net, so I had some pretty good lists to go by - but even with all my preparation, I still forgot some important items. I also thought that I had forgotten a few items only to find them later tucked efficiently into some nook and cranny in the caravan.

This actually had its advantages, because one thing I forgot (i.e., "thought" I forgot) was my pair of Tevas. I nearly drove Tim crazy searching stores for a replacement pair - they had to be water durable, comfortable, and when I thought Ialso had forgotten my hiking boots, sturdy. The advantage came about when we stopped for lunch in the town of Kempsey. Kempsey does not look particularly prosperous. The first building we walked past after parking the car was the AA meeting place and then there were the Salvos (Salvation Army) type stores and more than its share of cheap variety stores. No one in Kempsey looked healthy and not surprisingly, I think everyone smoked - even the five year olds (kidding). I digress. After a nice lunch of a prawn sandwich on Foccacia bread, we walked back to the car via the main street. Always on the lookout for shoe stores to replace my sandals, I dashed into a small shop. Guess what? I found my shoes! They are fashioned after Keen brand water shoes and marked down to $19.95 from $59.95!! There was one pair left and it was a male shoe (I'm not fussy), but in my size. Wow, what luck. Even Tim was impressed with my find, but I think the shop lady thought I was nuts.

Let me back up. After leaving home on Sunday, we headed up the coast not knowing exactly where were going - we knew we were going north and we knew we wanted to start out by the beach. I had done lots of research on the net for dog friendly caravan parks that offered powered sites (Tim needs electricity to run his cpap machine - it forces air into the mouth for sleep apnea). We REALLY wanted to bring the coffee machine and bread machine... but that would be overdoing it I guess. One park was a comfortable distance for our first day of driving and was rated five paws for dog friendliness. The park's name is Weeroona, and it is located at Manning Point, NSW, which isn't far from Taree. Weeroona Holiday Park turned out to be an excellent choice for our first park stay. We wound our way through rows of aging permanent caravans (and their aging residents) to the back of the park and chose a site near the entrance to the beach.



Twenty five meters on the other side of our site was a small tract of rainforest.... and it turned out to be aptly named.

Our first night at the park was lovely and we had a long walk on the absolutely gorgeous beach. Karma and Sammy had a great time. Sammy would wait for a wave to come in and then before it got to him.... run up the beach to get away - just like a little kid. The next morning we woke up to some nice weather but the skies looked slightly forbidding. Tim is walking a lot to get extra points on his weight watchers diet. He's being incredibly good on this diet -- good food and exercise - go figure. So Tim, the dogs and I went for a long walk on the beach. A looooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggg way down the beach the skies opened up -- it poured and we had nothing with us - no coats, no hat, no umbrella, no nada. Not too smart. The dogs didn't like it any more that we did so they were using us for shelter. Tim took the hero role and wrapped his body around me to protect me a bit from the wind and rain and to warm me up --- I was sooooo cold. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but I know that I didn't take my eye off the snake that was sharing the beach with us - only meters away. In all my summers as a kid loving vacations on Cape Cod - not once - not once!! - did I ever see a snake on the beach.

Ok OK. Let me start from now and then go back and then forth again. Our current locale is at Corindi Beach Caravan Park. Our site is grassy and overlooks the beach which is about 50 meters down the hill.



The beach goes for miles and miles and miles - beautiful sand, interesting shells, and fun tidal pools.



The surf in front of us is a little too dangerous for swimming, but down the way a bit is a nice beach for swimming and surfing. This is not a patrolled beach since it is far from any major town. The caravan park is dog friendly which is how we happened upon it. Dogs are supposed to be leashed while in the park, but the beach is leash free and the dogs love it. One of the funniest things we saw this trip is Sammy and Karma discovering a crab. You don't see the crabs too often since they usually stay hidden down their holes, but unwary crabs - look out - dogs! It actually wasn't clear who was winning for most of the "contest," but I'll tell you the dogs finally won out. Until that time, Sammy spent his energy barking at the crab and whenever the crab went toward him, he would madly back up - still barking. Karma, a herding dog, decided the way to deal with an ornery crab was to keep running around it - round and round and round. If the crab ran towards him, he would trip over Sammy trying to get out of the way. Unfortunately for our crabby friend, Karma got braver and braver and tried to bite the crab a few times, eventually giving it a good chomp - goodbye crab. Neither dog showed any interest in eating the crab, but I don't think the smell clicked any innate canine yearnings. This whole little dance would have made a great video complete with music... perhaps an opera depicting dueling gentlemen.

Doggie Dootie - so to speak.



Kisses, Judi

Japanese poetry

Long time readers will know that I love Japanese poetry. I just discovered the following....

Tim

To Galston Gorge

I walked to Galston Gorge this morning. It's about 10km of fairly tough walking and took about 3 hours. The paths in this part of Sydney typically go up and down a lot. It's excellent exercise which helps with my new endeavor - to lose weight via Weight Watchers For Men.

Here's the track I made with my new GPS. I finally got one (a Garmin Legend C) that knows about Australia AND can talk to a computer.

Tim

More stuff....

I got a good giggle yesterday while looking at my flickr photos. I was checking to see which photos have been viewed most by visitors and was surprised that my "Birdie Porn" photos have been displaced by: The Boys New Bike Tights (A scanned, poor quality, blurry photo). Now, I could be kind and say that hundreds of women are lusting after Tim and Gavin in their sporting togs.... but when you think about it.... hmmmmmmm. Are these viewers women?

My little baby Lorikeet is growing less little and more assertive. When I go onto our balcony with grapes, he (she?) immediately jumps onto my hand/wrist and starts eating the grape as I hold it. I have to sneak the other grapes to its parents, because he wants those grapes as well. Assertiveness, however, is a trait common to Lorikeets. I haven't seen the bird who is "bird" enough to stand up to them, and size doesn't matter. Particularly amazing is the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo. This large bird (+/- 20 inches) is twice the size of the petite Lorikeet, yet is scared off screaming (and I mean screaming!) by the little birds. For this small service, I am grapeful (er, I mean grateful). I have heard many horror stories of innocent home owners who feed the lovely Cockatoos, only to have their homes destroyed, pecked by angry - "can't get enough to eat when I want it" - Cockatoos.

Lastly, I want to tell you of the wonderful Australia Day we had Friday, January 26. A coworker of Tim's and friends, John and Alison, invited us on their boat for the day. The weather was perfect - not killer hot like the previous day - perfect. Australia day seems to be a good reason for all Australians to party - something, I must admit, they do very well. We boated out into Sydney Harbor to watch the Ferry Races, admire the Tall Ships, drink some good wine, swim a bit... life is hard. Our captain, John, should get several stars for safely navigating through a gazillion boats of varying sizes while tipping to and fro in "washing machine like" conditions. I got a couple of good photos during all the excitement, but Tim snapped some interesting photos that really captured the different moods of the day: Festive, Frantic and Serene.


An understated vessel...

Arghhhhhhh!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....

....and some native wildlife....


I took one beautiful photo of a tall ship, but it was nothing compared to this one - Tim's life in actual peril!!!!

Love and Kisses! Judi
(PS: That's a bull shark - actually found in this particular swimming spot, and actually dangerous!)

PSS: I forgot to mention... I was taking the sheet off the laundry line outside, and ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! a GIGANTIC spider the size of my palm was sauntering down the sheet - ugh!!! Then he disappeared, so I had to encourage his journey to the ground. Had he been a funnel web spider, he would have raised up like he was going to strike. I think this guy (or gal) was a Wolf Spider - not a killer, but a painful biter. Fortunately, I don't have to report how a bite feels, and I was impressed at how casual and non-aggressive this spider seemed to be. Hmmmmm, a spider in wolf's clothing perhaps?????? (Almost scared the sheet outta me!!!)

Is Photoshop Elements 4.0 Worth All This?????

Adobe continues to astonish and amaze me (and not in a good way). Since my last post, I received three emails from Adobe. One email was from Adobe Asia/Pacific and incredibly it was from an actual human - obviously a human who had not read my complaint. This human suggested that I log into my account first so that I can view my order and download history. Well, duh!!! Then, I received two more emails - duplicates. Guess which Adobe group is responding to my "Open Case?" UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What are they thinking (or not)????

More amazing still is that the messages contain a pdf document that I could read or I could go directly to the UK open case site. The message on each was the same - log in to view my case history. There is no Adobe response listed - all they have is my initial request!!! Have I fallen in to software company Hell??? Is there no end to their incompetence? ADOBE, IF YOU ARE REALLY OUT THERE.... PLEASE HEAR MY PLEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers? Judi

Summer in Australia

It's hot - very hot. I went for a walk on Sunday morning and the temperature rose about 10 degrees C while I was out. Somehow my brain got fried and I didn't realize how hot I actually was until I got home. Took me most of the day to recover. Highest temp was about 41C at our house. It was actually too hot to go kayaking if you can imagine that.

Other news....

• Man escapes from shark by vicious poke in the eye (man pokes shark, that is).
  
• Teenager dies from brown snake bite but man lives after a bite. The moral is if you get bitten, rest, bind the bite area, and send for help rather than go yourself.
  
• Australia is crushing all comers at cricket (was England during the Ashes but now includes New Zealand). No link since (*sarcasm alert*) there hasn't been any reporting about it here.
  
• Bush fires up the valley from us. Probably an arsonist. No danger to our neighborhood but we can smell the smoke.

On the Australia acclimatization front, we've discovered that putting a big shrimp (called prawn here) on the barbie isn't a good idea. A wok is much better - sprinkle a little spicy stuff such as chili powder and then stirfry quickly - Hmmmmm, prawns.

On Australia Day (Friday), we have an invitation to go sailing with some friends in the harbor. The ferry boat race is a highlight, evidently.

Life is mostly good, obviously.

Tim

ADOBE.COM uses bad Muzak and Robots to terrorize customers!

I don't complain that much. Really! But this got me sooooooooooooo mad. The major source of irritation? ADOBE.COM. I generally like Adobe products, especially Adobe Photoshop Elements - 2, 3 and now 4.0. Did you hear that Adobe???? 4.0!!! I have it. I downloaded it from your website after I paid for it. Why don't you remember me? Why do I have no history? Why do I not have any downloads to return to so that I can reinstall? Why I ask you - WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???

But, that's not the worst part. Do you think I have been able to get Adobe to rectify this problem. Not a chance.


The sad history:

December 18: I wrote an email to Adobe telling them about my problem.
PROBLEM: No response.

Then, about two weeks ago, I called Adobe customer service in the US. After a robot suggested I press #1, I was taken to Muzak Hell. First call: nine minutes of muzak. Second call: nine more minutes of muzak. Just the robot and the muzak. No human. Not even another robot!

Then I tried a chat which is conveniently only available 9-5 Pacific Time. This time, I didn't get muzak, but I'm pretty sure I got a robot. The robot's name was Kendall. I won't bore you with the whole conversation (he didn't send me the transcript by email like the first three chat's that got cut short). The bottom line, however, is it seems that the problem is theirs (Adobe's), and Kendall says it isn't a problem they can rectify with the chat opportunity (Although the chat is shown to be a method to correct registration problems - which mine is!)

After Tim fed me some tranquilizers and a few days passed... and before I opened a so-called "case," I called customer service again (I'm not usually this masochistic!)...
two more 8-minute sessions of muzak. Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I opened a case with Adobe. They promise to contact you about your case within 1 business day. It's January 19 here in Oz Land.

Please note this was completed and sent to Adobe January 15.

Description of Issue:

I have quite a few issues at the point in time, but the main one is that
you don't show an order history for me or any downloads. I have had
Photoshop Elements for Mac 3.0 and several months ago purchased
4.0.

Trying to rectify this problem I have written one email with no response
dated December 18, 2006, called customer service twice and without
any indication of what is happening, was stuck listening to some terrible
muzak for eight minutes each time - I finally hung up as I didn't know if
anything was happening. The worst experience though, was when I did
the "chat". I don't know if you use computers to do the "chat" with
customers or if this was a human - I really couldn't tell, except that
"Kendall" never sent me a transcript of our conversation, and the three
previous times (was disconnected) received e-mailed copies of the
chat. So if that was a computer the computer chose not to pass along
any incriminating evidence. Kendall told me that I had to talk to
customer service and that my problem seemed to be one on your side
(Adobe's). When I mentioned that I had already tried to call twice, he just
repeated the same words. He eventually just hung up on me. It was truly
the worst customer experience I have ever had.

I guess I really don't expect any helpful response from this email, but I
don't know where else to turn in order to access my download so that I
can reinstall my Photoshop 4.0. If there are actually any humans at Adobe,
I hope I have the opportunity to interact with one.

Judi Lowell (judi.lowell@gmail.com)

Hey, thanks for listening to me, and I know only some of you are robots.

With Love, Judi

A walk in the woods

Despite her declared view that a walk is down to the shops, Judi and I went for an excellent bushwalk yesterday, along the Great North Walk. We drove to the trail head - the white building at the corner of Elouera on this map - and walked from there. The trail runs down to the GNW itself and you can go north or south. North takes you pass Westleigh, the Fishponds, through Berowra Regional Park, across the Hawkesbury and eventually to Newcastle (about 250km). South takes you through some beautiful bush to come out in Thornleigh, you can then cross into Lane Cove park and thence down to Sydney (about 40km).

I've walked along part of this trail many times now, mostly now to Galston Gorge and Crosslands. Walking fast you can go about 4km an hour at most. The path goes up and down the sides of the valley - when this occurs, the climb is usually very steep and it helps to have a walking stick. On yesterday's walk there's only really one hard place - a climb up of about 200m (in length). Apart from that it's pretty easy and mostly level walking. The bottom of the valley here is lush and green - lots of eucalyptus and causarina trees, strange Australian bushes, and ferns. After rain, it can be very humid and you almost expect to see dinosaurs poking around in the treetops and pterodactyls swooping overhead. Instead, there are birds - like the ubiquitous and very noisy kookaburras - and lizards - small ones, water dragons, and the occasional big old goanna.

On yesterday's walk, we went down the valley, through the "Jungo" and nearly down to de Saxe Close, and then back. It took about 2 hours in all. I've done a few walks close to three hours but two is a comfortable time to be out and about. Probably as it gets cooler in the fall, we'll take some longer ones, perhaps up north towards the Hawkesbury river.

The most amazing and wonderful thing, of course, is that you can bushwalk for hours in this big metropolitan area, Sydney, and not see any sign of the city. This is a great triumph of rational planning and one of the things that makes Sydney such a great place to live.

Tim

A WALK IN THE FALL IN THE DESERT WITH A PRINCESS

It's strange enough coming from the northern hemisphere where winter is December, January, etc. Here in Oz, winter is June, July, etc. Consider our Xmas. It's bloody hot! Many people have their holiday dinners midday and then a later picnic at the beach. Tim and I barely even noticed it was Xmas. If we hadn't visited friends and had an outstanding Paella (Turkey? Boooooring!), December 25 would have been just like any other day. And despite Spring being our "old" Autumn... Oh my, I'm sooooo confused.

But getting back to FALL. At our house, it is Fall all year round. During winter, leaves fall. Spring and Summer?... more leaves and bark. That's right. The gum trees shed their bark each year and grow it anew - sounds like a dermatologist's fantasy (or nightmare depending upon your perspective). Then in the Fall/Autumn... yes, more leaves... and so on. Now I'm not big on raking (and don't even ask Tim), but here in Thornleigh Bush Country, I MUST rake. If you don't keep up with the tree shed here you could A) Be in serious trouble during a bushfire, and B) Get covered and never seen again.

Now let's talk about "walks." Since I came from the US, I call a traipse around on a mountain or by a river, a "hike." If you come from England or Australia, however, those same activities are considered a "walk." To me, a walk is the two blocks to the local convenience store. For example, "Hey honey, I'm going out for a walk. Can I get you anything?" That's a walk. So when Tim invites me to go on a "walk," I think, "How pleasant... a little stroll." WRONG. A "walk" here, particularly a "bushwalk," could take several hours and take you through five towns and two shires before you even get close to your home base. Catch me once.

Tim wants me to talk about our recent musical experience - Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It was outrageous and excellent and incredible. I bought front row seat tickets since Tim and I often like that "close range" approach to viewing. The seats happen to be at the end of the front row - which was fine - great seats. I have had two "15 minutes of fame" in my life. I know, you're only entitled one. Actually, neither added up to 15 minutes, so it's ok. During the song, Thank God I'm a Country Boy, the cast came down and dragged certain people up on stage to dance - notice that "drag" is the operative word here (and I don't mean as in "drag queen.") So, with the help of Tim's firm shove, I found myself on stage in front of a gazillion people (at least!) learning how to do some line dancing thing that I never could learn - even after living in cowboy land USA for the last 35 years. After the little line dancing number, the cast had us all hold hands and dance around in a big circle - wow, that was fun! Since I was oblivious to anything else besides my two feet, I didn't even notice that the music stopped and the entire cast had left us alone on stage. Hah!! They think they are sooooo funny - the audience laughed. Afterwards, we did a little hand raise and bow thing.... and returned to our seats. That was too bad, because I was just warming up! I highly recommend the musical. They follow the movie quite closely, and the singing and dancing were high energy and wonderful. Go. (Oh, the other 15 minutes of fame was dancing with the cast of Hair - in Boston no less - it was banned at first.)

I will stop now or you'll never read our blog again. Since our hiatus, I have all kinds of things to tell you. Ah. Later.

Hugs, Judi




Photo: A baby lorikeet and his (her?) parents are regular visitors to our balcony lately. Besides making the most obnoxious noise while begging nonstop for food from birdie mom and dad and me.... baby gets so excited he jumps onto my arm to get the yummy grape I veritably have (yes, a bribe).

We're back

• 

We're back..... Don't worry, despite the picture, I haven't gone Shining crazy.

It's time to write again. I hope someone is still reading.

What's new?

• We're applying for permanent residency. Yes, we like it here enough to want to stay longer, maybe much longer.
• Judi has lots and lots of new friends from the dog park and other places - so many that she had a birthday party when I was out of town.
• My job is still fun and challenging, even though I've traveled about 10,000km for every month that I've been here. I'm staying at home for a while now. In fact, I have no plane tickets in hand which is quite rare for me. In the last six months, I've been to Paris, Tucson, the Netherlands, Western Australia, and South Africa (I think I'm missing something....)
• I saw Gavin and Zoe in Tucson a few months ago. They're both fine - Zoe is working (temporarily) in Socorro at Socorro Mental Health providing life coaching for young adults, and Gavin is finishing his degree at UT, Dallas. We went to Nogales together and ate good Mexican food. We also spent a great evening with Judi's friend Vicki. I really liked being in the Southwest again. In fact, the first thing I ate was fish taco from a local taco stand. On returning to Sydney, I brought a bag full of can of green chile so we can have burritos and quesadillas again.
• We're into bush walking at the moment, well me more than Judi. There are excellent trails all around where we live on which you can walk for hours without seeing a house.
• Make Judi tell you about seeing the musical of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
• Book recommendation: "Dirt Music" by Tim Winton, Movie recommendation: "Look Both Ways".
• I deny watching any cricket at all. I am totally unware of any recent international games between Australia and England.
• We're planning a road trip up into northern New South Wales and maybe southern Queensland. I can't wait. Here's one place we might visit.
  

That's it for now.....

Tim

PS This is really me looking happy and lighthearted.

PPS Here's the short version of the Shining.

Did You Think I Forgot You???

Tim and I have been lazy about blogging lately. It’s probably due to several reasons, none of which I’ll go into here. We have gotten out recently – left the house – explored – etc. Urvashi (Tim’s student) is here from Socorro (originally India), so we had a good excuse to take the ferry to Watson’s Bay (south of Sydney). Here is a photo that I took from South Point at Watson’s Bay.

As you probably know, Sydney is a photogenic city.



Last week Tim and I made it to the Manly Wine and Food Festival. Saturday was miserable, but we decided to go on Sunday because the weather held up. We did not find the food booths until after we had eaten at one of the beachside restaurants – costing us considerably more than a nice gourmet cheese plate from a booth. We tried a couple of short glasses of wine from two booths, and with our money, we received a wine glass (actually glass), and cute little wine glass hangers that you put around your neck. These leave your hands free to stuff yourself with a dessert plate (for example) that had eight sample portions of different types of pastries – hmmmmm. Tim and I split one plate, which was more than plenty.

Several posts ago, I mentioned Aussie words that have “i.e.” added to them (e.g., sunglasses are sunnies). I cannot remember which ones I mentioned before, but, but here are a couple more:

Your mailbox is called a “Postie”.
Presents are called “Pressies”.
Breakfast is called “Brekkie”.
A Mosquito is called a “Mozzie”.
Parents are called “Oldies”.
Your car registration is called a “Rego” (not “i.e.”, but still….)
A relative is called a “Rellie”.
Surfers are called… what else? “Surfees.”
I could go on, but you get the point, right? I get the feeling that Aussie slang was developed by three year olds (no offense meant!)

On the other hand, some terms and phrases are endearing. I love the Aussie way of say “no problem” or “it’s ok.” They say “No worries!” I smiled when I left the butcher the other day (I’m a “veggie” – the bones were for our dogs!). After handing him my money, he said, “Good on ya’, G’day!” Ya gotta love’em!

Cheers! Judi

THE ART GALLERY OF NSW

Tim and I had a great time yesterday. We finally (yes, finally) got off our butts and out of the house in order to do "something." The something was a trip into Sydney to visit the Art Gallery of NSW, and specifically the Archibald Exhibit.

We were going to take the train into the city, but opted to drive - I'm not sure why - it's faster I guess. We parked at the Sydney Opera House parking facility and walked up through the Opera House. We chose to eat outside along the water's edge - and yes, it was a splurge for lunch. We opted for a vegetarian platter for two. This turned out to be a great choice - tasty, unusual, and just enough food. It was Mediterranean food -- eggplant, filo pastries, flat bread, capers(?), and so on... finger food. It's hard to beat a glass of Chardonnay, good food and a fantastic view of Sydney Harbour - in good weather. After a satisfying lunch, we strolled along the water and the Botanical Gardens, cutting through the Gardens to get to the Gallery.

The Art Gallery of NSW is a beautiful museum. It's a nice size in that it's not intimidating or overwhelming. Since it was Mother's Day and Sunday afternoon, the place was packed with people. The crowds made it difficult to read the information that accompanied each piece of art. I found myself darting in front of people to read this information which was not exactly formatted for those of us with older "sight-challenged" vision. The Archibald Prize exhibit is comprised of portraits that artists have done of either themselves or of an "interesting" other person. Be sure to check out the winner of the Archibald.



It took the artist a year to complete and he was close to burnout near the end. You'll be able to see why! The original is extraordinary, and unfortunately you can't see by this image the detail and charm that the work possesses. We visited both the painting and photographic exhibits (The Photographic Portrait Prize), and it's amazing to see the various techniques that are used in the portraits. The posted information explains how each artist chose their subject, why they chose the technique used to portray that subject, and any other tidbit about the project. If you check out the web site, you can see examples of the exhibits.

Tim and I love to go to museums, but we both reach our respective saturation points within an hour or two.

I recently became interested in the art of Brett Whiteley. The Gallery only has a couple of his works, so I'm planning a trip to the "Brett Whiteley Studio" which is located in a nearby suburb.

I'll let you know how that goes....

This piece is: BRETT WHITELEY SCREEN AS THE BATHROOM WINDOW 1976

Cheers, Judi

Cape Town

I just came back from a week long trip to Cape Town to work with the computing group of the Karoo Array Telescope. I had a very good time working and also enjoyed some side trips. One was a day of winetasting in the wine regions around Cape Town. They have some really excellent wine. I also spent an evening driving around, ending up at Camps Bay:




This looks a lot like the Sandias in Albuquerque in the evening - the same watermelon coloured mountains which is what Sandia means. Turning around though, we see the sea:



Cape Town is a lot like Sydney - a truly spectacular physical setting with lots of beautiful green suburbs. The long recovery from apartheid still continues though and the poverty is everywhere (unlike Sydney). However, South Africa has a good rate of economic growth and a reasonable government (apart from AIDS). They certainly are friendly to radio astronomy as reflected in the resources that they are putting into their bid to get the Square Kilometre Array in South Africa. The government sees this as a way to bolster high tech in the country. It's interesting that many of the people associated with the project were formerly defense contractors - now that's a fine change to encourage.

I expect to be going back fairly often and I'm looking forward to it!

Tim

FIRST YEAR RESULTS, Part 1a

Just a quick one...

Language: It took me awhile to understand Australian. I'm still learning to speak it. Some examples of the dialect:
Lounge Room = Living Room
Benchtop = Countertop
Timber = Wood
Mate = What guys call each other
Almost any word can be made "Australian" by adding "ie" to the end of it.
For example: Brekkie = Breakfast, Pressie = Present, and get this one! Truckie (the big, burly semi-driver "truckie"?)= Trucker, and Barby = BBQ

Cheers, Judi

FIRST YEAR RESULTS, Part I

I haven’t posted anything here for weeks. My creative urges have been focused elsewhere, i.e., painting the house, making wall hangings, doing a collage, etc. It has been one year now that Tim and I moved to Australia. ONE YEAR! I remember in November 2004, we made a chart to help us decide whether to move. We each ranked various items of consideration: Tim’s job, Socorro VS Sydney, dogs, finances, kids, housing, etc. I thought I might provide an update on how things have turned out to date and add a few items that we had not considered…

1. Tim’s job: He loves it. NRAO? What's that?
2. Socorro VS Sydney: Duhhhhhhh. Socorro doesn’t stand a chance.
3. Dogs: This turned out ok, although I still miss the big white dog I had to leave behind. I’m glad we went through the incredible expense and difficulty to bring Karma and Sammy, though. They have adjusted to Aussie living with no trouble at all.
4. Finances: Hmmmm. Well, it is more expensive to live here and we make less money… but we’re scraping by. ☺
5. Housing: Ouch. Houses are expensive here. We found a nice home in a nice area, but it took the sale of our two New Mexico houses to put down to buy this house.
6. Weather: OOOO la la, the weather is great here. Socorro isn’t bad, but Sydney has it beat.
7. Scenery: The water and beaches are beautiful here, but it is hard to beat the American Southwest for spectacular scenery.
8. Diversity: Sydney. It is truly a melting pot here. Our next-door neighbors are from Chile, the man across the street is from Singapore, our friends Jerry and Yvonne, down the street, are from India (he is half British), as well as the nice family across the street. In addition, one street over is a man from Iran. I have a Chinese friend at the dog park and have met several people from South Africa. I just met a woman down the street who is renting a home with her partner who is Indian. She is from Sri Lanka, and they both arrived from the US one year ago. Socorro has some diversity in that the demographics are made up of Anglo, Hispanic and American Indian, with some international additions that work at NMTech or NRAO. However, Sydney definitely wins in the diversity category.
9. A cool thing: In Australia, they have a system called BYO. As you are probably aware, this means “bring your own” bottle. BYO is an excellent levelling strategy for restaurants that can’t afford a liquor license. Even at the smallest pizza joint, you can enjoy a nice bottle of wine with your meal. Some licensed restaurants even offer BYO along with their own liquor menu. These restaurants charge a corkage fee per person, and this amount seems to depend on the “upscale-ness” of the venue. The corkage fee ranges from $1.00- $4.00 per person.
10. …TO BE CONTINUED…

Cheers! Judi

Bush and Cheney: The Hippie Kings

As someone who was there (the sixties, I mean), I can affirm that this is good stuff -
Petty Larseny: Bush and Cheney: The Hippie Kings

Tim

Todays's useful word - Kakistocracy

Kakistocracy

Fine article on the role of the USA in the world

What 5 years of Bush has done - The World's Dispensable Nation

Ulysses in audio

Many months ago I listened to Homer's Iliad in audio. That was a wonderful experience making the drive to and from work quite a high point in the day. I took a long rest and eventually dived back into listening with James Joyce's Ulysses. I'm about half way through now. I've read the book a couple of times. It's really hard reading but immensely rewarding. Listening to it is quite superior.

The book defies easy summary. Imagine a conflation of Homer (the Odyssey) and Shakespeare (mainly Hamlet) tranposed to Dublin, 1904, as told by an Irishman totally in mastery of the English language. Stephen Daedalus is a Irish-Greek - a mixture of Telemachus (Odysseus's son) and Hamlet. Leopold Bloom is Odysseus as a Irish-Jew wandering the street of Dublin for many a hour before going home to his wife Molly who is beseiged by a suitor (only one) as Penelope was. The scenes from the Odyssey are transferred to Dublin so that for example the Cyclops becomes the Citizen - an Irish patriot who only has one view on everything. But the book is not simply diagrammatic. Joyce pioneered stream of consciousness and so you live inside the head of Stephen, Leopold, and Molly. Bloom is very sympathetic - he is Homer's "master of stratagems" brought into Dublin. He does come home eventually to Molly. The book ends with a long soliquy by Molly. The pleasures of the book (and audio as read by Jim Norton) are quite varied. It's very entertaining and funny, for one. Joyce demonstrates his ability to write in a wide range of styles and voices. And his ability to describe conversations between groups of people (sharing a few drinks perhaps) is superb. The net result is a book that simply towers over other great novels. It should be read (or listened to) by anyone who loves literature.

Tim

WHEN YOU THINK OF WATER, think of BOB

Living most of the last 30 years in the US Southwest desert (New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado), it became clear that outdoor gardening is not my forte. Of course, it never helped that I was miserly with water - but with the drought and all.... I just felt it was the right thing to do. Of course the gophers didn't help much and the bind weed.... oh, the bind weed!

Well, an unusual thing happened the other day that I want to mention. I went to Bunnings (sort of an Oz "Home Depot") and while there, decided to invest in a few plants. Bunnings is probably not the best place to get plants (an employee even told me they don't take care of the plants there at all!), but since I was there, I thought "Why not?"... and I grabbed a few. As usual, my selection criterion were price, hardiness, easy care, drought and frost resistance, does it pass the "is it pretty?" test, and I do like natives. You might think I'm being cheap putting price first on my list, but remember that this sport is not my forte - do I want to sink a bunch of cash into something that's just going to die soon anyway?

.... well, to cut this story short, I planted one little plant right away, and the rest several days later (I'm not into heat much). This was a little guy with a lot of potential. I planted this plant (we'll call it BOB), next to the steps going up towards the house from our driveway. I'm hoping that BOB is a forgiving plant, because I had to build up a soil base for him. Oh, there's plenty of dirt here, but it covers plenty of rocks. So if BOB keeps his roots short, he should do alright. After planting him with some nice black soil mixed with other stuff that looked good, I gave him a nice bath of seaweed water. I don't know if seaweed is good for BOB or other plants, but it's usually green and I think that's probably a good sign.

The clincher.... what I have been leading up to with this story... is that an hour later, water actually fell from the sky and gave BOB an even better bath. Hey, you don't see that happen much in New Mexico... WATER... falling from the sky.... There might be some hope for me... better yet, there might be some hope for BOB. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers! Judi

Ben and Katie and a possum

My nephew Ben and his girlfriend Katie are travelling around NSW and Queensland on what seems to be an idyllic trip. They sent some great pictures recently and I thought we'd rip off a couple to show here. They say that one night a possum got into a bag of flour.

Japanese Death Poems

Zoe is working in home care at the moment, and one of her clients was slowly dying from cancer. So Zoe and I had some conversations about dying via Skype. I didn't and don't have anything particularly helpful to say. Death, like life, sucks.

What I did tell her about (and send her via Amazon) was a book, "Japanese Death Poems", of poems written by Zen monks and haiku poets on the verge of death.

Autumn breeze:
driftwood
landing lightly on the bank

Kanna (1744)

On a journey: ill,
my dream goes wandering
over withered fields

Basho (1694)

A parting gift to my body:
just when it wishes
I'll breathe my last

Ensei (1725)

The foam on the last water
has dissolved
my mind is clear

Mitoku (1669)

And my favorite:

Now it reveals its hidden side
and now the other - thus it falls,
an autumn leaf

Ryokan (1831)

Tim

Leura - Australia's Blue Mountains

This week, Tim and I drove to the town of Leura in the Blue Mountains - a short 1 1/2 hour trip. Tim was attending a conference at the Leura Garden Resort Wednesday through Friday. We decided to stay over Friday night so that he could enjoy some down time. The resort didn't look like a very interesting place to stay, so we booked a room in a B&B called Megalong Manor. The B&B was charming and our suite was truly comfortable and self contained. I missed the communal breakfast, because you can meet some of the most interesting people at B&B breakfasts, but the privacy was nice. The only thing I found uncomfortable about the Megalong was the fake cat lying on the chair in our corridor. I had to pass the cat to get to our room. For some reason, the cat, which looked very realistic, gave me the creeps. I felt like covering it or hiding it until we left. Being a good guest, I left the cat alone... but if I ever stay there again it's the cat or me!

I guess the only other bother were the little spiders who were abseiling from high up on the wood trim and down the drapes. The spider's energy in this pursuit provided some interesting observation for a while, but there's just so long you can watch without doing. (Forget it - I don't do heights!)

On a walk out to Sublime Point (think a not so Grand Canyon mixed with the Blue Ridge Mountains) a young Eastern Brown Snake crossed the path just in front of us. I read later on the internet that this brown snake is the second most venomous in Australia. Yikes! ... and he looked so cute.

Here are photos of Tim and I at Sublime Point. I have a hard time taking a straight photo, so bear with me - I'm showing off my tattoo.

Bush, The Patriot Act, Bugging Devices

As I sit here in my home in Thornleigh, NSW Australia, I am all too keenly aware that we are not exempt from being "watched" by "The Bush" government. I know that Tim and I are open in our thoughts about the Bush government, and we don't mind putting our ideas into writing in this blog, but bugging us all the way over here - in the world of "down under"? Come on! Isn't this going just a bit too far?



Did they REALLY think we weren't going to notice the BUG in our home? And aren't they lacking just a tad in creativity? You can almost hear the little shutter click from the camera. As Americans, can't we expect better than this?



This is the last straw! First it was Cheney the snake, then it was the leechy lobbyists, and now this. All I can say is the best bugging device is the bugging device that you know EXACTLY where it is.

Cheers, Judi

PS: This really is a photo of the Huntsman Spider that is on our wall. I'd say he's about 4 inches across. I put the heart graphic around him because I thought it would make me see these large spiders in a more loving way - embracing nature and all that. Why am kidding myself?!! They say these spiders will eat cockroaches - that's a good thing. It is said they can give you a nasty bite when provoked - that's not so nice. Catch and release? Yuck. At least they don't kill you like some things here - that's a very good thing.

Side view of this cute little guy below:

New Mexico bites back

So Judi and I are kayaking at Apple Tree Bay late on Friday afternoon. Here's a Google Earth picture:



The hot sun and sand on the skin makes me wish for a fish taco. I mention this to Judi and we stop after only an hour or so - she's hungry too! So where can you get a fish taco in Sydney? Our mobile phones don't help or at least we don't know how to use them to find out - we're googlers. So after trawling through Turramurra on the way back, we decide that a fish curry would do as well. There are three options in Turramurra - we choose the wrong one, I think. Both of us are sick the next day, me especially (by the way one of the Mexican restaurants in Sydney is called Montezuma, which really isn't a good name). Anyway, today, Sunday, we did the research and found a place in Cafe La Soul in Bateau Bay that has an excellent sounding fish taco on the menu. It's about an hour's drive and we're neither one of us up to the drive. So it's off to Woolworth's for the makings - Old El Paso's Taco Shells, some freshwater basa (catfish), green stuff, etc. Turned out pretty good, even if I say so myself. So it can be done. I also bought some refried beans with green chile for the inevitable craving for a burrito. It's best to be prepared.

The source for my craving was a happy memory of the fish tacos at El Sombrero in Socorro. All the New Mexican food there is excellent but I really like the fish tacos. Next time you're passing by, try it out.

Tim

Entry point to American Political Blogs

Ruth and Ernie asked about American political blogs. The left (both moderate and further out) are now beginning to make good use of blogs. The Huffington Post is an excellent starting point - see both the headlined news stories and also the pointers to various blog sites about half way down the page in the middle. For video, you can go to Crooks and Liars, which provides short clips from various programs, including news and late night shows.

The Daou Report has links to both left and right wing blogs, chosen from a liberal point of view so the right wing links always look foolish (at least to me).

These are the main places that I read.

Tim

Kayaking with an Artist

Tim and I went kayaking this morning with Ernie Gerzabek. We met at a windy Narrabeen Lake, but chose a nice little creek to paddle down. Since Ernie wasn't going to bring his kayak (he hasn't used it for 3 years), I brought the dogs along thinking I would have some spare time to look after them. Well, Ernie brought his kayak (one of those sleek, tippy models), so the dogs had to keep up by running along the shoreline. This worked out well for every one, except perhaps the poor hapless ducks who were just minding their own business.... until this little black water rat, named Sammy, dog-paddled his way.... well, let me just say that his stamina is incredible. Two kayakers were paddling by whilst Sammy was pursuing his prey and to be friendly, I called out, "This dog is a very optimistic hunter!" (re: catching a duck); and one kayaker yelled back to me, "Thanks mate, I thought that was just the ugliest duck I ever saw!"

After kayaking, Tim and I went to Ernie's house and visited with he and his wife, Ruth. These are great people - interesting, well educated, can't understand how the US population could re-elect Bush... etc. Their home is like an art museum. Ernie is an architect by training, but "retired" to pursue his art. I've put a link to the side of the blog, but here is the same link, Some Favorite Art. Ernie's art is unique and he uses the most incredible colors. You will see that he has been in the process of really being "discovered" for several years now, but his incredible work is still affordable - original art! A friend of mine in Arizona has been collecting his work for some time, I contacted Ernie while we were still in the US, and I am enamored of his paintings. By the way, Ernie is also a refugee of Hungary.... and, well.... read his site or wait until the movie comes out!

A nice way to spend a day.

Cheers, Judi

The President and the Law

See the very illuminating Q&A by Fafnir.

Tim

This Bobbin Head Ain't Noddin' Off

It has been two nights now of little to no sleep. I don't know what is causing my insomnia, but I want it to stop now! I thought yesterday after an afternoon of kayaking and no sleep the night before.... anyway, please bear with my "brain-deadness."

One thing I suggest that you not do if you desire a restful night is read Amazing Australia's on-line account of shark attacks, crocodile attacks, spider attacks, snakes, and so forth. If I weren't so darn good at dissociating, I wouldn't leave my home - ever! - but I AM a good dissociator, so I just won't think about it! I'll float around on my little blue kayak and I just won't think about the sharks, the 4-5 meter "bull" sharks, sliding through the dark water beneath me waiting to jump up and bite my boat in half! Ugh!

Speaking of kayaking, Tim and I went boating on Sunday afternoon. We went to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park at Bobbin Head and paddled (at high tide) through the mangroves. It was beautiful. (Not my photo - but it gives you an idea of what it's like.)











Tim is.... hmmmmmm... upright challenged. He's capsized more than the Titanic has been made into movies. This was a particularly funny capsize, especially since I just caught the part where his white hat is flying and his orange kayak is bobbing without it's skipper and he is just past an overhanging branch. The scenario in my head was that he ran smack into the branch and was knocked out of the boat. What he "said" happened is that he was leaning back to clear the branch and lost his balance. In any case, it was very funny.

Cheers, Judi

Two book recommendations

Another couple of book recommendations.

First, both Zoe and I (independently) read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and liked it a lot.

It's a novel stretching over a thousand years or so - it's hard to tell, starting a few hundred years ago and going into the distant future. I wouldn't call it science fiction, despite that. It's not easily classifiable but it is fascinating and wonderfully written. It consists of a number of linked stories but the links aren't as straightforward as they initially seem, even once you think about it for a while. The author does many things in this book - he subverts narrative, history, the idea of progress. And it's about real people. There are many satisfactions to this book and I really enjoyed it.

Second, I bought this book for Gavin at Christmas and he left it for me to read - A Voyage for Madmen. If you enjoy adventure books (like The Worst Journey in the World), you'll love this. It's the story of the first round the world solo non-stop yacht race. It has horrible catastrophes at sea, cheating, dispair, depression, death, and madness. Can't be beat.


Tim

Museums, Rain and Bathrooms

A woman visitor at the Contemporary Art Museum in Sydney challenged Tim to follow the artist's instructions to unzip his fly, lie down on the floor and stick the bouquet of silk flowers in his open fly. Of course, Tim, not one to back down from a challenge accepted in a heartbeat. This artist was a kick. Another of his "instructions" was to stand in one bucket while wearing a second bucket on your head. Check out the link to see a much better explanation of the artist's work.

Sunday was another rainy day here in Oz. I know the rain is needed, but I wouldn't mind a bit of sun now either. At least the temperatures are wonderful - cool and comfortable. When we had the killer hot day on January 1 (112 degrees F), all our beautiful ferns and several other plants turned brown and keeled over. I'm sure they will recover, but I think their response shows how unusual that kind of weather is around our home.

On Sunday we dragged (drugged?) each other out and took the train into the big city of Sydney. Our plan was to go to the Contemporary Art Museum, which we did, but we decided to eat first - at the Museum Cafe. We got a wonderful table sitting on the veranda overlooking Circular Quay, the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour, various street performers - and the people-watching was fascinating. I ordered what Tim ordered (since he always gets something good and I always get something that only "sounds" good). Our lunch was a blue cheese souffle with endive salad greens and caramelized walnuts. Sounds great, doesn't it? Actually, it was good, all 1.5 grams of it! The souffle arrived in a tiny white ceramic cup and the plate had about 10 small leaves of endive with what seemed to be enough pieces of walnut to perhaps make one whole walnut. This plate should have been called an appetizer, because it certainly did that - made us more hungry! We of course had some wine (in that venue, how could one resist?), and the Riesling was lovely, fruity and crisp and made us mellow enough not to protest the tiny portions.

After lunch and museum we went over to get a closer view of the street performer we had earlier been viewing from afar. Now this was one crazy guy. He juggled and rode a 9' high unicycle. Mostly he had the one-liner down to an artform. He was particularly good at embarrassing people, e.g., to the two men standing on the ferry coming in near us he yelled, "I was glad to hear you two got back together!" and the old woman who he gave a hug to and came away holding a lacy black bra. At first she didn't see the bra, but when she did she exclaimed, "It's not mine! Really, it's not mine!" Tim and I both had severe "cheek ache" when we finally walked away. This photo I took with my mobile phone camera shows the performer and an unwitting 10 year old volunteer.



Last Friday, I had a lovely new friend over to our house for some afternoon snacks. Lisa brought Bella with her, who is probably the most beautiful and well behaved and good tempered baby in the world. I don't know Bella's exact age, but she is seriously considering walking about now. Lisa and her husband, Chris, were kind enough to invite us for dinner at their home not long after we settled into our house last May. That kind of hospitality is unusual and special and did wonders for our sense of belonging. Chris works with Tim at ATNF, and Lisa is working part-time as a pharmacist as well as caring for Bella.

Saturday found Tim anxious to get out and do something, while I was anxious to stay home and do little. Tim called Chris to go kayaking and later that afternoon, off they went. I went to the mall to buy magazines for collaging (the weirder the mag the better).

Note: Australian toilets are interesting in that they have two buttons. The button on the left is for "light" duty and the one on the right is for "heavy" doodee. :)

In the brochure put out by the water company who is encouraging residents to be careful with their water use, I read: "If it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down." They don't mince words here in Oz.

Have a lovely day, Mates! Judi

Our house

Well, I'm late to this but I was finally able to run Google Earth. Here's where we live:

33°42'54.38"S 151° 5'1.28"E

And here's a screen shot:




Tim

Picking Up Nasty Hitchhikers

Tim and the dogs went for a walk in the bush this morning and inadvertently brought home a few Republican Lobbyists and Politicians, oops, I mean bloodsucking leeches. I first saw one on Karma's foot and removed it. I then suggested to Tim that he might check himself - yuck, three inside his sock! Those things go through fiber like it's not even there. One or two had made contact, because he had a slow bleed around the ankle for a good 45 minutes. Karma got the worst of it, and we've been finding the slimy buggers slinking across the rugs here and there. Since a good dose of salt is the recommended exterminant -- well, you probably know about the blood and stuff. Surely you've seen The African Queen?!!

Moving onto films... We saw King Kong last night. Think of 3 1/2 hours of watching giant killer leeches, and you'll get the gist of this movie. Tim will probably think this is unfair and untrue, since he totally enjoyed it. Moi? Basically it was 3 1/2 hours of pouring sweat, tense muscles and tears (or near tears). If the theater chairs would have allowed it, I'd have spent the time curled up in a fetal position.

If you like gore, you'll like this movie - primitive peoples bashing heads and offering a cute blonde to the evil Kong, giant human eating squidlike things sucking in the head of some poor sailor, and bodies being thrown against walls and the ground by the giant ape - too many to count. The special effects were incredible and the subtle expressions of the ape would break your heart, but it was one of the most exhausting movies I've watched in many years. I'm not really a blood and guts kind of movie watcher anyway, so you should really ask Tim for his review of the film.

One last thought... After three hours or so, they still hadn't moved onto NY and the Empire State Building from the terrifying prehistoric island; and if they made the cute blonde (Kong's significant other) climb any more flights of stairs (wearing stilettos) on the top of the Empire State Building.... well, I was ready to shoot her myself. Reviewers comment: ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!

Cheers, Judi

Hairdressers Are Sent By God

At the insistence of my friends at the dog park who told me that "the color doesn't really go with your skin tone," I decided nix on the Clairol fix and went to a recommended hairdresser for a professional job. Good decision. I didn't have the courage to photograph my disastrous dye job, but last night on the way to dinner, I photographed myself (in the car) using my mobile (Australian for "cell phone"). Below is the result.



You would hope that a smart woman would learn her lesson after dying her hair black in Hawaii... Hmmmm. No comment.