The MonSter ate my branes!

From Twitter 12-19-2009

2009-12-20T02:02:53Z

19:36:04: "Bite-Size Edits: proofreading by chance" http://j.mp/7mY2XM This is getting addictive!

Ponderings about writing

2009-12-19T17:40:03Z

I have been reading about James Chartrand's writing and (apparently male chauvinist) blogging and how he is actually a woman. I read his/her blog post about why writing as a man made more sense. I am also reading some other blog posts elsewhere that have been linked that are not at all complimentary about how "James" went about this (e.g. this one).

I had been thinking about coming up with a male nom de plume / pseudonym for myself for a while but had not been able to think of anything I liked or that had not already been taken. I have finally decided on something (which I will no publicise here as I want to keep the two totally separate) and grabbed the livejournal(s) that I could use. I may never get around to using the name but have, at least, taken the first steps towards the possibility.

Edited to add (ETA) from my comment below:

Part of the reason for a pen name would be to separate my online identity thus far (natalief for so many years - my maiden name began with an F as well as my married surname!) and some of the things I may have said or done online under that guise (or the few variations on that web-nick-name) from my future potential writing and any associated publishing - exactly so that Googling me would not dredge up the no doubt numerous skeletons in the internet and web archives.

Deleting something that is online never makes it disappear with any certainty or permanence. It might still be in someone's web cache, screen-shots folder or other archive somewhere. If you get famous, it will (according to authors I have spoken to that have experienced this) be brought out into the harsh light of day.

From Twitter 12-18-2009

2009-12-19T02:02:34Z

01:29:48: Okay I eat my words. There is about an inch of show out there now and it is still coming down. Going shopping tomorrow could be interesting.
01:35:53: #paincount = 6; head, eyes and joints. Taking evening meds, doing jab and taking painkillers, etc.
01:37:35: "Now drawing OMGFURRIEZ in a public place! *gasp*" (via @ mcahogarth) ONOEZ!!! Fink'v duh childerz! *gasp* ;-p
03:02:26: #annoyingfeature This error message from @dabr is really annoying! http://bit.ly/6KcfoS How do I turn that off?! *headdesk*
03:25:04: Some of my Winter Writings from years past: http://bit.ly/5pbt4I
03:27:03: ;-p RT @cmpriest: ONE swipe of the arm under the couch produced: 7 balls, 4 fuzzy mice, 3 feather toys, and 2 bottlecaps. …
04:23:16: #paincount down to 1 and the meds have finally let me get sleepy so I am now off to bed to try to sleep and/or do some ereading.

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

From Twitter 12-17-2009

2009-12-18T02:02:47Z

15:26:32: I hate December. The neighbours' "domestic" is very triggering. I want to go down and tell them what it is doing to their kids. Been there.☹
15:29:07: Earplugs and/or music. It is always the kids that loose.
15:29:59: Aaaaaand now a snowstorm has started lol.
15:36:48: And now the storm part has subsided and it is just lightly sprinkling snow. Rarely settles here between North and South Downs, sadly.
15:38:57: Rain now. Back to normal weather-wise.
15:44:20: Finished reading Flashforward yesterday. Loved it. Much better than the TV series. Some pretty hard Sci Fi but also relationships. Recommend
16:06:56: Won't spam your twitter feeds with blip but will let you see my http://www.last.fm/user/NatalieSF if you are interested in my varied taste.
16:27:26: Escaping into reading and music is reminiscent of how I used to escape the DV as a teenager. It feels defiant and warm.
17:22:11: Nap time.
21:06:25: RT @modeknit: "Looking life in the eyes & saying ,"I have balls" is different than looking life in the balls & saying, "I have eyes." h ...
21:08:50: RT @rebeccakoconnor: Amy Sutherland just offered to write the foreword if I wrote a book about angsty glittering vampire...animals. Car ...

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

Winter writings

2009-12-18T01:23:14Z

It has been snowing this afternoon/evening and so I am reposting some of my older but relevant writings.

Winter

The deafening silence
Of icing sugar snow
Of the cascading white-flake's fall
Causes awe-struck creatures
To hark at the noiseless'
Of not e'en a blackbird's call.

Cars of red tincture
'Come stationary snow-hills
And, moving, cast o'er snow a glare
From ice-bright white headlamps
They pinpoint the paw-prints
Of creatures of night that walked there.

Trees, gaunt and leafless,
Wear white satin ball-gowns _
Their jewel-adorned cold attire.
The small birds and creatures
Lay, cold, in the snow, while
We humans stay warm, by the fire.

And, soon, the snowfall will tire.

-nsf

All is still _
Except for a boy
Delivering papers.
All is still _
No wind, no sun,
No noise -but, wait!

The tops of the trees
Begin to stir.
The boy decides
To button his coat.

All is not still _
The wind has come
To ravage the town.
All is not still _
To blow gates shut
And signposts down.

The sun begins
To clear the trees,
But it can't shine
Through rain and freeze.

Nothing is still _
The wind has whipped up
Great white snow flakes.
Nothing is still _
Children stir in
Heated bedrooms.

The boy is struggling
Hard to finish.
The wind is trying
Hard to stop him.

All is still _
The world has become
A pastel paint-box.
All is still _
Where once was landscape
Now is snow-scape.

Cars and walls,
Houses, trees _
All are under
This silver blanket _

And, all is still again.

-nsf

A tree on a windy winter's day

The tree stands on top of the bank, watching the skaters glide below. It wishes it could skate. It calls to the wind to help it and the wind pulls on it's branches. The skaters on the pond hear it's roots grind as it tries to get down onto the ice.

One skater looks up and wonders at the melancholy cause of the noise and sees the tree cry drops of dew onto the heads of the skaters. It cries desperately to the wind to pull harder and, then, with a heart rending crash, the tree falls to the ice.

The skaters scatter and flee to the edge of the pond. One by one, and slowly, they skate back, going around the fallen tree, ignoring it in it's last, dying, agony.

-nsf

The first snow

She awakes to the brutal sound of the new alarm clock, shrilling in her ear. Her eyes open slowly as she gropes for the button to kill the Christmas present's voice, and she see the unnaturally bright light as the sun shines through the yellow curtains.

It is such a surprise that she draws an involuntarily sharp breath. The trees that were once, although bare, still fairly green, have disappeared. In their place is a slowly undulating infinite sea of white, beginning halfway to the top of the lounge window downstairs.

"Tim, Gerry! Look, it's snowed!"

The patter of feet from the next room reveals that her brother and sister are also now up and, gasping, they too are beholding the sight of the first snow...

-nsf

Not a surprise

2009-12-17T13:54:03Z

Not a surprise at all, to be honest!

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them [sic] irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

From Twitter 12-16-2009

2009-12-17T02:02:34Z

09:36:04: Awake 4 hours after getting to bed. We need to take the cats to the vet this morning. Pixel's checkup and their boosters.
21:34:03: Good for the ego to see what names people give lists they add me to. Makes me feel happy&warm. http://bit.ly/72skKn
21:44:42: Wish Pixel'd give us some of the modeling fees! RT @Danacea: Spacecat! http://bit.ly/8kbwxk
21:48:09: RT @FionaJMackenzie: Don't be an Ebenezer. Go read this seasonal short story, donate to @GreatOrmondSt, and feel all pink & warm inside ...

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

From Twitter 12-15-2009

2009-12-16T02:02:28Z

04:00:11: Is anyone on GoodReads? You can find me here: http://bit.ly/8P31d5
16:19:01: Since I bought the Sony Reader (48 hours?) I have read more non-web than in months! Santa FTW! ;-p
16:21:26: RT @kylecassidy: Please RT. New blog post up: Quelling rumors about LiVEJOURNAL forcing users to specify gender - http://tinyurl.com/ybn6klx
16:23:27: RT @ninthspace: Dear Chris, do not buy glittery wrapping paper ever again. Hugs and kisses, your desk, floor, trousers, t-shirt, hands, Mac.
16:35:40: BAH! Bought an ebook under DRM from Waterstones. Loaded it on my Sony Reader which is now going through an infinite self-reboot loop. :(
16:37:15: Turning it off did not help. Plugging it back in to Reader Library did. Can't read books with USB plugged in though. :(
16:38:38: And now the list of books in the Reader section of Reader Library has books misnamed using oriental characters. GREAT! :((((
16:39:21: Wish I had made a note of what page I was on in the book I was reading before I loaded this new book. Can't remember.
16:48:49: Eject and unplug and now infinite reboots again. May have to try the reset hole/button. :((
16:49:39: "Reset" has no effect. Also cannot turn the device off. Infinite loop is infinite and the charging light is on even with it unplugged. :((((
16:50:07: RT @Syfy: Reminder: I'm giving away a #Caprica USB drive to a random person who RTs this note by 3pm ET on 12/18 - http://bit.ly/8Ng5aa
16:53:30: May as well just let the Reader run itself out of battery slowly but surely. Won't be finishing book today, it seems. *cries*
16:54:26: You should never put me anywhere near anything electronic. I WILL make it die, stop working, explode or burn.
16:59:33: *wonders if anyone is actually following me. have tweeted many questions in recent weeks and had no answers. must be muted I guess. figures*
17:03:03: *tries again*
17:04:24: #supportrequest #cryforhelp Does anyone know how to get my #sonyreader to break out of the infinite reboot cycle it is locked within?
17:53:05: #paincount 6 -> 2 as the painkillers kick in. Have taken some video (shaky hands ofc) of the amazing infinite reboot! Will upload and post.
19:19:10: Turns out that my #sonyreader woes were caused by editing author and title of a PDF and then uploading it to the reader, both using Calibre.
19:21:10: My #sonyreader problems would not have occurred had I only used it using the less functional Reader Library software. I am an ex-scientist!
19:22:44: I have to try things to see what happens! It is in my nature as a scientifically educated geek! ;-)
19:24:16: Nap time.
19:28:24: #annoyingfeature of @dabr is the "That's a short tweet" message so often with the "cancel/retry buttons. How do I turn it off? #donotwant :(

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

You can't sleep. What do you turn to in hopes of falling asleep or embracing your insomnia?

2009-12-15T20:06:44Z

This is usual for me. I have no sleep pattern. I sleep when I need to and do what needs doing (within reason - no vacuuming at midnight!) when I am awake.

Depression "test" results

2009-12-15T02:46:36Z

Goodness! Best score ever! I guess the meds and lifestyle changes are working…

Disorder	Your Score
Major Depression:	Very Slight
Dysthymia:	Slight
Bipolar Disorder:	Very Slight
Cyclothymia:	Slight
Seasonal Affective Disorder:	Moderate
Postpartum Depression:	N/A
Take the Depression Test

From Twitter 12-14-2009

2009-12-15T02:02:26Z

11:18:06: Any publishers or authors that want to send me review copies of books, can I please have them as ebooks (Sony Reader)?
11:18:51: *wonders it is is cheeky to ask for ebook review copies of books that @NeilCFord already has as dead-tree books*
21:01:34: "Stop killing our daughters." http://j.mp/7QYEVV Nothing to add. Strong and true.

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

From Twitter 12-13-2009

2009-12-14T02:02:15Z

02:52:30: "Why do media report 'the other side' of scientific fact? | Commentary | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ" http://j.mp/8t8Q4F Please RT!
04:51:37: Goodnight twitterversians.
16:22:25: Can haz chrimbly pressie! Sony reader (pocket) thanks to those who gave me cash. Now installing software and organising library of ebooks ;)
16:23:13: Tribe Post: Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-13 http://bit.ly/5b5xz5 (via @ramtops) Recursion! ;-p
16:29:23: Clever! Install is 173% done and has -1:58 mins remaining! It also seems to have stopped. *waits*
16:32:30: To be accurate:
"173% complete / -1:58:-3550 remaining"
Clever. I wonder if The Doctor or Torchwood know about this alien tech. ;-p

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

I have been talking about this for years now

2009-12-13T03:16:36Z

BBC News - 'My son had multiple sclerosis aged five'

My first symptoms, in retrospect and in dialogue with my MS Specialist Neurologists, were at age 9 with some that may even have been earlier - vertigo, fatigue, pain (headaches and back pain - don't even start me on the doctors that *still* try to tell me that "you don't get pain with MS"!), loss of concentration, forgetfulness.

I was not diagnosed until I was 30 and able to persuade the doctors that these symptoms I had been getting on and off for much of my life were real and not just "growing pains" or "all in [my] mind". I know that in those days they did not believe that these diseases could appear in children and so I do not blame my parents or the doctors. Not any more. I used to get very depressed about it all and angry at the medical profession in general for not believing me and other patients.

I have a vague theory, with no scientific evidence to back it up but that might make some sense based on my BSc Biochemistry and the reading I have done subsequently, that many of us with MS were born with it, that is it a genetic susceptibility which does not always express until later in life (and that might mean at age 30, 9, 5 or 2 weeks). Time will tell, I guess.

I am glad that this little boy will now get the care and medications that he needs and hope that his MS will not therefore progress.

P.S. Another thing that the doctors always used to say was that children do not get MS. I have been saying and still say that what they mean is that children do not get diagnosed with MS because the doctors cannot understand from the children what is wrong and/or the children cannot express themselves. A slightly off-the-wall though had just occurred to me. Vets have to train for longer than doctors because the animals cannot express their symptoms to the vet. Maybe paediatricans could learn from the vets.

From Twitter 12-12-2009

2009-12-13T02:02:07Z

11:52:56: Splitting headache. Hoping painkillers do their job.
12:41:25: #paincount is down to a 1 from 5. Painkillers FTW. Now knitting and trying to wake up enough to find food. Glad I keep basics in my room! ;)
12:47:53: RT @incapete: Paul Lewis makes Guardian cover! I'm a Photographer NOT a Terrorist campaign hots up! http://twitpic.com/t65fi
12:57:06: Has an idea for making some xmas gifts. Better get on with it! Need to shop for parts.
13:00:09: Question for Twitter-pedia: What are the dimensions of an average bar od soap? I don't use them myself or I would measure one.
13:00:51: Rephrase - I *can't* use soap bars.
13:52:16: Second sock of nth pair completed. Speepy.
13:52:42: I do love my muzzy-brain and ugh-eyes typos!
13:56:28: taught a Dame how to use her computer this morning. :) (via @gwenzilla) Cool!
17:09:23: RT @ebertchicago: My Avatar review. The King of the World has been re-elected. http://j.mp/54Y4GD
17:45:29: You know it is not a good day when I am not even knitting while I read the web. I am propping myself up on my hands and barely awake.
22:04:55: "Kitty Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3 is Today's BIG Thing - NOV 12, 2009" http://j.mp/4DPsPn Old but great!

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

Thank you!

2009-12-12T16:23:37Z

I have just received my first donation using the donate button in the sidebar on my LJ. I know who it was from. They know who it was from. I will not reveal who it was here unless they would like me to credit them! Thank you!

comments screened

throw another bear in the canoe - all together sister machine gun automatic high what a ride

2009-12-12T12:25:30Z

Cabdriver Protocol: a work ethic that suggests that, rather than knocking off early when you've made good progress and toiling harder when you haven't, it is more productive to work hard when things are happening (ie, you are getting fares) and give yourself a break when they are not (nobody is riding). So named because the original research was done on cabdrivers.

From this post by Elizabeth Bear matociquala).

That seems to be how I work best and how my body/health works best.

From Twitter 12-11-2009

2009-12-12T02:02:16Z

00:58:39: Maybe this is why my intarwebz are so sticky and slow? http://j.mp/67Q6RI (an old one but a good one)
03:08:21: (02:05) Starting to get sleepy so off to bed. Alarm is set for 07:30. Orthoptist appointment in the morning. Goodnight Twitterverse!
20:20:19: LOL! "Cat Is A Fan Of Peanut Butter Video" http://j.mp/7lxSMo Smudge loves PB as well!
21:36:44: Note to Self: Do not George Foreman Grill your finger. It will not taste nice and you need it. *facepalm*

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

From Twitter 12-10-2009

2009-12-11T02:02:19Z

01:22:57: I officially hate December. Also, I hate my MonSter because it ruins everything.
01:25:30: "Time repeats. Tick tock." Quote from something I wrote years ago. How come things have to happen more over and over again?
01:26:32: Note to self: check into a private clinic for all of Dec and Jan next winter. I can't do damage there.
02:12:32: My mac's wifi reception just dropped to only the dot on the menubar icon. Again.
03:01:16: RT @newsomobile: RT @rossdawson New Dragon Dictation iPhone app http://bit.ly/7cTkYu is not available in Australia - very annoying - wh ...
03:46:09: Giving up and going to bed. Maybe I will be able to sleep…
15:25:19: "A Colder War - a novelette by Charles Stross" http://j.mp/7hajNN Reading this now on screen as I knit. Gripping! I do like eFiction/ebooks!
15:43:17: "Dave's Free Press: Journal: October 2009 in books" http://j.mp/4YRJBS This is where I got the rec for Stross' novella "A Colder War".
17:26:21: RT @natalief: "A Colder War - a novelette by Charles Stross" http://j.mp/7hajNN Finished. WOW that is STRONG! Woah. *thinking deep thoughts*
17:28:51: Thank crikey/FSM/$deity that you can now tell ow.ly links to not display the annoying panel at the top on that browser/machine any more!
17:37:24: "to improve access to books in formats accessible to people who are blind, visually impaired or have other disabilities" http://j.mp/6yPlh5
17:59:44: New post: "The best Wii game you haven't played" - http://bit.ly/57240a (via @brainygamer) Looks cute!
18:01:37: RT @frontierdev: LostWinds lands in a jolly 3rd place … Telegraph's (UK Newspaper) Top 10 downloadable games of 2009 - http://bit.ly/tele10
18:02:18: RT @warrenellis: project for next year: rig a dialysis machine to a Tassimo machine with a stack loader and replace my blood with espresso
18:07:20: "…@folksy sampler…" (via @folksy) What's that then? Linky?
20:55:37: RT @SilverGames: Did you remember the good old times of Prince Of Persia? Play it again - 20 years later.. http://urly.at/pop #game #retro

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

If you could be a winged animal, which type would you be?

2009-12-10T14:58:20Z

Well, seeing as this is a totally fictional possibility, I would be an invisible winged human or a human with invisible wings that could turn herself fully invisible when she flies. Or a human that could turn into an invisible hawk of some kind. Maybe an invisible raven. Invisible wyvern or dragon-kin? Invisible flying cat? ;-p

From Twitter 12-09-2009

2009-12-10T02:02:36Z

04:03:25: Can't sleep. been trying for about 3 hours. Clowns've chewed me up and spat me out. Now they can't sleep either & I can see worse than ever.
04:05:44: Am trying to read the first Smeyer Twilight book. Readable if painful prose. So far. Page 71 of 950 or so in ereader.
04:07:49: Keep thinking that I wish I still had some of the fiction I wrote as a tween. It was this good. All I need to do is remember & rewrite it!
06:34:16: I should have been asleep, but the cogs were determined to turn: http://bit.ly/4Ovmkk
14:30:54: RT @TransworldBooks: It's Transworld Xmas giveaway time! To be in with a chance of winning a mystery box of books simply RT this message!
14:31:22: RT @simonschusterUK: WIN A CHRISTMAS BOOK BOX!! Win a box with 20 different S&S books inside. RT this before 5pm to be in with a chance!
14:48:06: Steampunked Nerf weaponry http://www.deviantart.com/#order=9&q=nerf+maverick Awesome! #steampunk #nerf (via @NeilCFord) ;-)
14:56:01: "Peacock feathers wedding dress" http://j.mp/70It7C I thought peacock feathers were supposed to be bad luck?
17:24:49: My mac's wifi reception just dropped to only the dot on the menubar icon.
17:26:33: Now back at 75%. Strange. It is usually at 100% and was 5 mins ago.
18:26:11: Spotted via sbisson at livejournal, this realistic roleplaying webcomic: http://bit.ly/5Fhy19 Yes!
18:50:36: "Dragon Dictation comes to the iPhone. Wow." http://j.mp/54qUZ0 It is SUCH a pity that this is US only! I NEED it! Fix that ASAP Nuance!! :(
19:26:13: I love how @dabr allows me to view a list and enter a new tweet at the same time. Other clients take note! @brizzly @tweetie @twittelator ;p
19:27:43: …although, sadly, if I am viewing a list in @dabr and I send a new tweet it switches back to viewing all of you not the list. #bugreport ;*/
19:30:00: I still wish that @twitter & clients would allow me to select one list to always view instead of "all" like LiveJournal can… #featurerequest
19:35:29: Can you tell that I am trying out web clients for @twitter? ;-p
19:38:52: P.S. does anyone know why on the @twitter home page I see retweets by people not on my following list that are not anything I tweeted? *⁈⁇⁉*
19:41:56: Oh, right. One of you retweeted something but it shows the icon for the original tweeter and not you on my @twitter home page. *confusing* ☹
19:43:22: Not going to be using @tweetie on the mac any more. or the @twitter home page unless I HAVE to. @dabr it is for me on the mac an iPhone.
19:53:05: RT What you should do (and NOT do) if you hate your book cover: http://bit.ly/5MU7iM (via @janetkgrant) Sadly, I can only see three images.
20:27:26: Tennant on QI: Apparently his episode airs on Xmas eve. http://bit.ly/6CMKCB <- trailer
22:56:07: I have no idea how, but I have seen this episode of Spooks before - and not recently which, of course, is not possible. Or is it? *confused*

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

I seem to have extra userpics space!

2009-12-09T17:38:23Z

I was at 194/196 and am now at:
Currently uploaded: 196 out of 200. Yes, I uploaded a couple more. ;-p

200?! YAY!

All of my LJUserpics

E.T.A.: I am now at 200/200! I need more! ;-p

A couple of thoughts as the birds start to sing

2009-12-09T05:18:05Z

I have had difficulty sleeping tonight, as in I have not managed to sleep at all and so I got back up. I was sitting here reading LJ and other web-ness when I realised that I was exhausted but wide awake mentally and not at all sleepy. My mind seems to function at its best between about 2 am and 6 am. It is little wonder that I did not do well in the 9 to 5 life of offices and corporations.

Then I happened across this post by moschus on her non-lj blog in which she is describing herself and her creative process but where she could just as well be describing me and how my brain works.

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER AND THE CREATIVE BRAIN: why a room of her own should not be near the mall

This is the comment that I left there along with all my hastily typed and not reread before hitting "submit" typos:

I think we may be identical twins. You are describing me whilst describing yourself. I am 42 and have not yet had any creative 'success' whilst being "good at everything I try to do" according to my friends and family. {I am passingly good at a lot of things but get bored of them too quickly to spend enough time practicing and so never become good enough.}

I have three people with schizophrenia in my large extended family (on both the maternal and paternal sides), many people with mental disorders from depression on up and a number of creative types including an actor and a successful fine artist. I was also the girl in class that would stare out of the window bored senseless but still ace all of my homework and fail a lot of exams. I never could get on with exams.

Many of the things you describe in yourself that I see in myself have been put down to the multiple sclerosis that I also have by the doctors. I did read a book about women/girls with ADD and how they tend to differe from men/boys with ADHD, having ADID (Attention Deficit Inattentive Disorder) instead - I wish I could remember the author(s) and title but it is in storage right now.

So, what I am trying to say with all of this rambling is, thank you for posting this! I will try to remember to dig out that book and read it again. I will also be posting this comment to my livejournal along with a ~~loing~~ link to your post.

Spooky.

P.S. I have an optical mouse by Logitech. Very often (and I mean five or six times an hour) it behaves as if it was a ball mouse that has a huge dustbunny holding onto the ball and I have the urge to take the ball out and scrape the rollers clean - only it does not have either of these. How is that even possible?!
What with the mouse's mind-games and Time Machine running for about 20-40 minutes out of every hour (well, it seems like that anyway!) and making the mac run like treacle mixed with Araldite™ … ARGH! *headdesk*

That written and got off my chest, I am now sleepy - but, of course, Smudge is wide awake and wants to play / trash everything on my desk until I feed her. Two hours early. *facepalm* *headdesk* *earplugs*

From Twitter 12-08-2009

2009-12-09T02:03:45Z

00:41:02: RT @catvalente: "OH MY GOD FRAGGLE ROCK IS ON NETFLIX INSTANT." Heehee!
14:42:42: I think I hate Time Machine. Whenever it is runnig (seems constant) my mac is unusable. Very frustrating. :(
20:43:28: Weird. Just got an SMS from @twitter - a tweet from someone I have not got notifications set for and not a DM. #bugreport
23:31:21: RT @akaADAM:today is international day of the disabled, would u please help raise awareness? #intdayofdisabled

Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

What really killed Jane Austen? - CNN.com

2009-12-08T22:46:15Z

"Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken."

So true.

What really killed Jane Austen? - CNN.com

What phase of your educational cycle was your favorite?

2009-12-08T15:47:12Z

Elementary school - those were the good ol' days.

Well, if 'elementary school' equates to 'primary/infants/junior school' in the UK. To be honest my favourite time at school was one particular year at primary school when I was in 4th year Juniors.

My teacher was Mr Pearson and, before he had to leave to take care of his sick father and was replaced by another teacher, he was an amazing inspiration to me. He gave me extra maths work to do and so I was the only child in the class to have homework (we did not get homework at that age in those days). He encouraged me to read adult books like The Hobbit (Tolkien) and Great Expectations (Dickens). I was heartbroken when he left.

Other than that, all of my school years after age seven when we moved to Sussex have been full of bullying by both students and teachers. I was a 'cry-baby', a 'square' (my mum bought second-hand school uniform or made it by hand and the other children had new clothes) and a 'swot' (too clever and proud of it) according to the children and a 'lazy daydreamer' according to some of the teachers (when, in fact, I was bored senseless and always a chapter or two ahead in the text books).

It is ironic, really, because I eventually started to get slower and slower at school - mainly once I went to university and the glandular fever (Mono) relapses (I first had the G.F. for my A level exams at age 18), depression and fatigue (all of which may have actually been Multiple Sclerosis - my G.F./Mono blood-test was negative) meant that I barely managed to scrape through my Biochemistry BSc and subsequent Information Technology MSc.

Yeah, okay, this has ended up being T.M.I. and TL;DR. Summary:
I had one partial year after I was seven where I had a teacher that was supportive and encouraging and other than that school mostly sucked.