Archive for the Category »Geeky Thinks «

Grammar Versus The World

15
Aug 2011
By

OK people, I’m putting on my grammar hat today, because I have a pet peeve. Tired of complaining about it to friends and acquaintances on a one-to-one basis, I am putting it out here on the wide wide world of web, so as to best reach more people, because quite frankly things are getting out of hand.

So, here’s the thing:

You know that big V between the two teams that are playing each other on the weekend? Like Lions V Velociraptors, or The Western Force V The Northern Hunger. You’ll see it a lot if you watch The Footy Show. Actually chances are, if you watch the Footy Show (or indeed present on the Footy Show) you are just the people I am trying to reach, so read on.

OK – the big V (sometimes written as ‘vs’) stands for VERSUS. It’s a Latin word. It means against.

Note the big ole U. It’s not ‘verses’. There is no verb ‘to verse’. (Unless we’re talking competitive poetry, which, well, whatever floats your boat, and if you’re into that you probably already know what I’m banging on about, so as you were, you adorable rhymey little things.) You can’t verse someone at footy, netball, naked luge, [insert your sport of choice here]. You just can’t. The Upper Turramurra Spotted Owls are not versing the Windale Heights Rabid Donkeys in the Grand Final this weekend, and it’s not just because they are fictitious, but also because the word ‘versing’ DOES NOT EXIST.

I understand kids saying it. I do. They are just conjugating what they think is a verb. My kids say it. And I correct them. Every time. And they roll my eyes at me. Every time. And also many other times, for many other things I say. It’s what kids do.

But it’s creeping into the vernacular. I keep hearing adults saying it too. Grown men and women, who should know better! I even saw it written somewhere in an actual publication last week (which so horrified me, I have blocked all memory of which publication from my brain).

Now I’m a simple girl. I’m not averse to droppin’ my g’s (although not, may I say, my g-bangers). I have been known to boldly split infinitives. I know I write messily and hastily, like a drunken fumble behind the pub on a Saturday night.  Yet still I say –  this ‘verses’ foolishness must stop. People, if your children say it you must correct them. If they are teenagers you must also shame them. And if your adult friends say it, you must slap them. Hard. Because I cannot take it any more!

 

Category: Geeky Thinks  7 Comments

Almost Wordless Wednesday

29
Mar 2011
By

My writing talismans – these guys live above my desk. On the left – Bill Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon, wielding his quill. On the right – Marge Simpson’s prom date Artie Ziff and his “busy hands”. They each have their talents to share, don’t you think? The Bard obviously reminds me to care for the words. Artie says “if the words don’t flow, just make a boob joke.”

Category: Geeky Thinks  One Comment  Tags:

Tees for a Cause

28
Mar 2011
By

It’s no secret that I love Threadless t-shirts. They are inexpensive enough that shipping them to Australia is no biggie. They are soft and comfortable. And the designs are just perfection. Geeky funny, thought-provoking or just plain gorgeous to look at, there is something for everyone. We probably have a dozen in the house at the moment – mostly mine, I admit. So much better than the kids wearing the same mass-produced crap that everyone else has. So much more awesome than an expensive shirt emblazoned with some corporate logo. (Plus I actually have the ever so awesomely awesome Dark Side of the Garden. I believe this shirt sold out long ago. I know! You’re jealous, right?)

So I was rather chuffed to see that the good people at Threadless ran a design competition for t-shirts to support the communities affected by recent natural disasters.The designs are quite lovely even without the support that buying them will give to worthy causes.

"Many Hands..."

25% from the sales of this shirt goes to Architecture for Humanity’s efforts to rebuild the city of Christchurch.

 

 

 

 

"Rebuild Japan"

 

100%  from the sales of this shirt goes to the American Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Fund.

 

 

 

Click on the pics to buy them. Go on.

Category: Geeky Thinks  Leave a Comment

2P Insert Coin to Begin

27
Mar 2011
By

My husband turns 40 on Wednesday, so to celebrate we held a  little shindig for him here on Saturday afternoon. The theme was Galaga. Had to be really. I am sure my husband spent most of the 80s crawling from corner store to fish-n-chip shop to game arcade playing all the greats – Galaga being his absolute favourite, as you can see by his shirt here:

And his cake – thanks to the Euro Patisserie at New Lambton. Not only great looking, but delicious caramel/chocolate mudcake.

For the past couple of years, Tony has been tinkering with an old arcade machine cabinet with a computer inside running a game simulator. You name the game – it’s on there. So unsurprisingly we had a queue of all ages – from littluns up to, well, 40-somethings – pulling out their old skills on such classics as Bubble Bobble, Mr Do, PacMan and of course Space Invaders.

So this got me wondering – what was your all-time favourite video game?

PS – the awesome “You Complete Me” image above comes from Nerdy Shirts. Of course.

Category: Geeky Thinks  2 Comments

Poetry Wars – the continuing saga…

27
Jan 2011
By

1148656_vintage_fountain_pen_4As the poetry war shuffled further into January, Susan [@ReadUpsideDown to twitter folk] and I found our themes and styles branching out considerably. Sometimes it was inspiration from the other regular posters at the blog. Other times we couldn’t help but be influenced by the world around us. We hope you enjoy more of our efforts. At time of posting, there are only 4 more days to go, and I think I might have to sharpen my blade for a bit more fun at Sooze’s expense :)

Thanks again to Kat Apel at Month of Poetry, for the opportunity to try something neither of us has really been involved in before!

Day 10 – Meredith

The Virtuosos

Once a week down the street we strolled,
Each blithely clutching a violin case;
Laughter dancing across each face,
Couldn’t imagine we’d ever get old.
Our teacher’s expression was carefully controlled
Not a twitch or flinch could we ever trace
As to the end of a piece we did race.
“Please practise, girls!” she often cajoled.
Our squeaks and squawks she always endured
With beatific grace and saintly goodwill,
Through discordant versions of songs tried and true .
Susan, I remain to this day reassured,
With our horrible tones ringing in my ears still,
That I was never (no never!) as woeful as you!

Note: Not true. We were definitely equally terrible violinists, but Susan plays the flute AND the piano quite well, so she has much less of an excuse.

Extra note: This is a petrarchan sonnet. Bow down before my awesomeness!

Day 11 – Susan

We Talk

With our children we talk and talk and talk
Sometimes heard, sometimes ignored
Sharing our thoughts, our instructions, our love

With our workmates we talk and talk and talk
Sometimes heard, sometimes ignored
Sharing our time, but not ourselves

With acquaintances we talk and talk and talk
Sometimes heard, sometimes ignored
Sharing facts and smiles, skimming the surface

With friends we talk and talk and talk
Sometimes deep, sometimes light-hearted
Sharing the meaning behind the words

Day 12 – Meredith

A small diversion. This poem was written during the Queensland flood crisis. The news from Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley stunned us all, and the images of Brisbane battening down the hatches brought back memories of another city in crisis.

Novocastrians

In ’89 the earth shook –
Trembling, crumbling, tumbling down.
Under our feet the concrete heaved.
We were tossed
Like surfers on the swell.
Soot streamed down the walls,
Painting the legacy of a steel town.

Sirens pierced the shocked silent city.
Radios clattering and chattering.
No good news today.
Rosaries fall softly from the lips of the devout
Carrying thoughts and prayers to the suffering.

Cracks opened our houses to the world.
The world opened their hearts to us.
We steeled ourselves to stand
And rose from the rubble.
A community forged by disaster.

Now we turn our faces to the north
And send our message of courage
And hope.

Day 13 – Susan

Two dear old friends, sitting down to share some tea
The clever one is you and the quirky one is me
In twenty years when our hair has turned to grey
Will we still fill endless hours with the things we want to say?

Day 14 – Meredith

Although we’ve got friendship down to a fine art
Much remains unsaid.
It’s time to reveal my innermost heart:
I really love …
your shortbread!

Day 15 – Susan

You Love My Shortbread?
Simple
Homemade
Offering
Representing
Traditional
Baking
Requiring
Eating
And
Digesting

Day 16 – Meredith

Another teen memory. I really don’t know why Susan & I felt a debut was necessary, as it really wasn’t either of our styles. The re-emergence of some old photos recently proved that in fact “style” was not present at all at the occasion!

Debutante Ball

Taffeta butterflies
flit about
the ornate corridors
of the town hall.

Black moth partners
lurch about
the dancefloor,
trapped in a strange place
dazzled by our white light.

A curtsey to the monsignor
and a curtsey to the lord mayor
before we may fly
about their carefully tended garden.

Tonight we flutter
underneath their artificial light
but the wild world calls
and tomorrow
we will fly away.

Category: Deep Thinks, Geeky Thinks  One Comment  Tags:

A long time ago on a blog far far away… Poetry Wars!

08
Jan 2011
By

3feathersI haven’t been posting much this year, indeed my own father berated me this morning for not giving him anything good to read. (Or was that a critique of my writing career in general, Dad?) But please sir, I have an excuse! Every day this month I have been busily engaged in an outright war of words with my friend and colleague Susan at Reading Upside Down. Susan was interested in taking part at Kat Apel’s Month of Poetry blog, and since poetry has never been our forte, I may have scoffed loudly at her. She threw down a challenge, I laughed even louder, she may then have double-dog-dared me, possibly after plying me with caffeine and sugar, and well that was the end of me.

Since the Month of Poetry blog is restricted to #MoP participants only, we’ve decided to post weekly updates of our war of words on our blogs.

It isn’t too late to join in the poetry fun and the opportunity for a little creative thinking if you’re poetically inclined or even if you are just, like us, interesting in giving your creative grey cells a little bit of a workout. You can get all the details at the Month of Poetry blog.

Poetry War – Day 1 (Susan)

“You? You write poetry?” she asked with some doubt

“Do you even know what such stuff is about?

Not to be mean, but I am worried my friend.

I’m kind of concerned where such madness will end.”

“Your doubts are in vain,” I replied with a smile

“My thoughts are quite deep and my mind is agile

My writing skills can take on poetry too

And I’m challenging you, so what will you do?”

A friendship of years is now put on the line

Whose verse will be better, Meredith’s or mine?

Her laughing dismissal of my skills and art

Has fostered a battle of mind, will and heart.

A poetry war with our battlelines drawn

A new challenge to face with every new dawn

A war of words using rhyme, meter and pace

A chance to put Meredith into her place

So draw up a chair and prepare for some fun

My wit will sparkle like glass in the sun

I’ll show her what poetry is all about

And make her retract all her words of doubt.

Poetry War – Day 2 (Meredith)

Oh Susie, oh Susan, oh “Guiggy”, oh Sooze,

You think you can scare me? Your poetic muse?

Lay down your quill, from your word doc log out.

Of my Seussian skill, it appears you know nought.

I write this late Saturday – first of the year,

With mind partly addled by last night’s fine beer,

But to battle I must, for the gauntlet was threwn

“A poem or bust!” And it must be done soon!

Still I wont go alone to my heroic last stand;

An army of poets are at my command.

At my left is Lord Byron – that scandalous rogue!

His debaucherous ways are still very in vogue.

To my right lurches Coleridge – Samuel T. –

Wielding rimes of a man who sailed on the sea.

Behind them the ranks swell with poetic sons,

Shakespeare throws sonnets, Blake pitches puns!

The women as well, in a frightening blitz,

Dickenson! Plath! Both sharpening their wits!

My formidable army of verse-plying rabble

Will assist me in fighting this poetic battle.

Till at war’s end we lie in the battleground’s ooze.

Oh Susie, oh Susan, oh “Guiggy”, oh Sooze!

Poetry War – Day 3 (Susan)

Fear!

Coursing through your mind and veins

At the thought of facing me

Alone

Desperate, you call to your aid

Aged and weary warriors

Byron, Coleridge, The mighty Bard

Dear Seuss

Beware!

Watch for traitors in your midst

Lurking

Plotting

Secretly planning to aid your foe

For I am not without friends and influence

Be warned!

Your flippant wit and blithe asides

May cause flesh wounds and fleeting pain

But my strength will not be diminished

And my words will carry the battle to new heights

Prepare!

Gather your troops and take false comfort

In their companionship and poetic camaraderie

Defeat awaits

Poetry War – Day 4 (Meredith)

A Sonnet (with my apologies to Mr Snakesbeer!)

Thou canst not imagine the fear in my heart

At thy words of battle, defeat and woe.

Yet here I stand gallantly playing my part

As once more into the fray I doth go.

My purpose is hidden at present from thee

But o’er beckoning days it shall become clear,

As we are entangled in sharp repartee

Tis time to consider that which thou holdst dear.

The follies of youth fade as memories age

But a friend can remember the stories of old

P’raps I shalt share them, writ large on this page

For the rages of war do maketh me bold.

Together we spent our teens, hour after hour;

Time equals knowledge, and knowledge is power.

Poetry War – Day 5 (Susan)

Your juvenile posturing impresses me not

Threats of confidences broken and other such rot

I think you’ve forgotten your past indiscretions

Rest assured I have not, you made quite an impression

I could embarrass and disarm you with an account of your life

But what need have these dear folk for such tales of strife

We disrupt their deep thoughts with our battle rhetoric

And with your talk of matters now deeply historic

And as others share words of great beauty and form

With their imagery richly creative and warm

You threaten and bluster and call out my name

Your attitude childish, have you really no shame?

We need to return to the source of this battle

Something far more profound than name calling and prattle

My challenge to use words both clear and discerning

To craft poems that capture life, love, thoughts and learning

The others are teaching us how such things are done

Poetic creations shared by those old and young

Homages to friendship, love, cats, dogs, bees and trains

Celebrations with fireworks, the deep flooding rains

Whimsical verses with fireflies, roos and flowers

Verses with thoughts that linger for hours and hours

Where are our creations of great beauty and grace?

Instead I call you names and you get in my face.

The time now has come to transform our petty fight

To wage a war of skill, not a battle of might

Do you dare to continue on this higher plane?

I have no doubt at all that my poems shall reign.

Poetry War – Day 6 (Meredith)

Ode to a Good Girl

Hair

pulled back

always neat.

Skirt

the requisite length from the floor

when kneeling

as measured by fussing home ec teachers

who probably didn’t care.

Homework

correct and complete

handed in on time

rewritten if it was messy.

Tie

a neat half-windsor

top button fastened securely.

Behaviour

exemplary.

Me

gelled back hair

rolled up skirt

blotted and scrunched assignments

shirt untucked

tie at half-mast

loud-mouth.

Lucky

there was a meeting of the

minds

and twenty-seven years later

we still find

our common ground

in words.

Poetry War – Day 7 (Susan)

There once were two friends from The Hunter

Fighting war to see whose wit was blunter

Their words were for fun

One was smart, one was young

Those girls battling with poems in The Hunter

Poetry War – Day 8 (Meredith)

The Queen of Organisation

Every few months she goes on a spree

Of tidying, organising, things to-do,

She is quite in love with lists you see,

Just look at her blog, you’ll see it is true.

She’s ne’er met a spreadsheet she didn’t love

And owns quite a few books on cleaning.

She lends them to me when push comes to shove -

I take it as friendly intervening.

Although these organising frenzies she starts

Month over and month again

I know that deep in her heart of hearts

She finds cleaning so much of a pain.

It’s one of the few things on which we agree

(Including that leggings aren’t trousers).

We raise our glass and declare with glee

That dull women have immaculate houses.

Poetry War – Day 9 (Susan)

Our friendship

Too complex a thing to be defined

By mere words

So there you have it, at the end of the first week (and a bit). More next week!!

Category: Geeky Thinks  2 Comments  Tags:

Navel-gazing

30
Mar 2010
By

I answered this “25 things”  meme a while ago on Facebook, and thought it might be nice to break up the Deep Thoughts I’ve been posting about lately, because I am really quite shallow.

oranges1.I am completely and profoundly addicted to coffee.

2. I desperately need a haircut. I am morphing into Cousin Itt (with Morticia grey streaks.)

3. I have to leave the room during tense moments in sport. Particularly if the Wallabies are playing, and the last World Cup nearly killed me (the football one, not the rugby one.) 90 minutes of tension at 5am is not good for me!

4. I call soccer ‘football’ because I am both a wanker and a wog.

5. When I was a kid I used to go with my Dad to watch KB United play. I used to take my teddy bear dressed in a team scarf and beanie.

6. I am a writer because I love words. Also because I can spend my working day in my pyjamas.

7. I know more about Star Wars than my kids, and I will yell at them if they ask me one more time if “this is the one with the ewoks?”

8. Jar Jar Binks made the Ewoks look like fucking Shaft.

9. That is a quote from Spaced. I love Simon Pegg.

10. I am not a geek. I swear.

11. OK – maybe I am – a little bit.

12. Apart from a year in Germany, I have lived my whole life in the zone of my archnemesis, the Sydney Funnel Web spider.They are found from Nowra (where I was born) to Newcastle (where I grew up and live now.) I swear they’re after me!

13. I sincerely believe that my extreme arachnophobia comes from watching the Dr Who “Planet of the Spiders” episode as a kid.

14. “People are Stupid” is my mantra. Seriously, once you accept this, life gets much easier.

15. Frangipanis used to be my favourite flower until everyone started sticking them on their damn cars.

16. I am a little bit jealous that our cats like my daughter more than me, but I have come to accept that she has the Kavorka for cats.

17. The dog likes me though.

18. The dog also likes random strangers and sniffing other dogs’ butts, so I am finding little solace in this fact.

19. My Arts degree means that I can answer all the brown questions in Trivial Pursuit. That was four years well spent, yes?

20. My obsession with pop culture means I am also quite good at pink questions, and having once worked in travel helps with the blue. Tony is good at Sport and Science. If we just learn some history and politics we’d be the perfect team.

21. Sometimes I think with our Mad Trivia Skillz, we should quit work and just do the pub trivia circuit. Except we both find it hard to focus on anything other than beer while in a pub.

22. I would rather have a good gin and tonic (Bombay Sapphire and Schweppes Tonic water) than any fancy cocktail.

23. I am a literary snob who not-so-secretly loves reading chick lit. This is because all the worthy literature is so damn depressing. Kind of like the Best Picture Nominees at the Oscars.

24. My kids are quite possibly the funniest, cleverest, sweetest children that ever lived. I know every mum thinks that, but it’s TRUE!

25. And some mornings I would still trade them in for a really good cup of coffee.

Category: Deep Thinks, Geeky Thinks, Thinking with my Heart  5 Comments  Tags: ,

Let the Wookiee Win?

25
Oct 2009
By

starwarsFor those of you not fluent in Star Wars-ese, the title of this blog comes from the scene in Star Wars where R2D2 is beating Chewbacca at some kind of animated chess game. Chewie, not happy at being on the receiving end of a flogging by a small blue droid, flexes his muscles and growls, so C3PO suggests that R2 adopt a new strategy, and “let the wookiee win” .

In our ever-so geeky home, “letting the wookiee win” is code for letting kids win at games if they are getting disgruntled. Now some of you (let’s call you “the kind people”) will think that’s par for the course.  Kiddies feelings are easily bruised, and why can’t they always win? It makes them feel good. Life is hard enough, let the kiddies have some fun.

Others will be shaking their head emphatically. (You get to be “the realistic people”.) Life isn’t fair. Letting kids win isn’t teaching them about the world; it’s just raising a generation of ungrateful little sods who don’t know how to lose.

Let me tell you how it works in our home. Young children are like wookiees. They look cuddly and warm, but they are really ferocious beasts. They’re all right when they’re on your team, but you don’t want to get them off-side. If it looks like they are losing it with losing, I let them win.  I treasure my life and my sanity.

However once kids hit about five years of age, all bets are off.  If the game involves skill then I will help them along the way. One-sided matches aren’t fun, so I’ll make a game of it by offering tips and advice. But I’ll still beat them. Games of chance? They’re on their own.  Good natured ribbing is encouraged. (My 9 year old is always delighted when he gets to declare “mugs away” when playing cards.) Gloating winners and sore losers are not.

I’m treasuring these years when my age works in my favour. It won’t be long until it will work against me. One day the kids will be stronger , faster and possibly smarter.  Then I plan on throwing a tantrum until they let the old wookiee win.

Are you kind or realistic? Do you always, sometimes or never let your kids win at games?

Category: Deep Thinks, Geeky Thinks  Leave a Comment  Tags: , , ,