It’s good to be a guy

According to a quiz I found on my friends page I am KAOS by association.

There are plaques on the pavement in the Octagon which celebrate Dunedin writers and sportspeople. As I walked across the upper Octagon I noticed that one was surrounded by flowers. They were bouquets in honour of Janet Frame, the author who died this week.

Coming home from the gym I bought four pairs of new socks from Hallensteins for £10. It is the only place I’ve found that sells socks that have ‘made in NZ’ on the label for a reasonable price. I left the shop and walked down the street when I realised that I had bought them for colour without checking for size. I got them out of the bag and looked. Two pairs were ok – they were sold in packs of two pairs – the others were for men with foot-sizes of 11 and higher. I am size 7. I took them back and replaced them.

Mike invited a friend for tea, an older man called Miles. He came at evensong. We talked about cats – he has six – and books and spectroscopes. The Terry Pratchett books were recommended to him, although he has read widely, including fantasy, romance and eighteenth century military dramas. Both Tessa and Fremen each took time to smell him. Obviously to them he smelt interestingly of Other Cats. Tao remained curled up on her favorite chair. Mike has been invited back to his house for desert.

I watched Dangerous Beauty, a movie, on tv. Set in Venice, or sets based on Venice, it had a gorgeous use of colour. The protagonist cannot marry the man she loves, instead she is guided in the path of becoming a cortesan, and ends up being his mistress. Ultimately her affairs bring her into conflict with the Holy Inquisition. Lots of scenes where people need cutlery.

During the movie Mike came home. He was embarrassed to having gone without us, as it had been a pleasant evening. We knew that there was a possibility that we would not get invited to the second course.

worthy of the university

I have finally got around to posting a recent photo as an id icon to Live Journal. It looks rather…hmmm…well…yes! I never like photos of me, but I’m vain enough to let people take them. Hiding from a camera suggests that I don’t want to be in the official record of being present – at least for people who may look at these things in fifty years time – barring the fact many of our records are not going to survive that long. Modern record storage media will ultimately prove to be ephemeral, especially electronic. (Then what am I doing writing here?!) The black clerical garb is a second-hand cassock over a wing-collared shirt that I wore the Xmas Saxman gig last year. I think I’m proud of the outfit. The photo and others can be found at the Saxman’s. No ‘more tea, vicar?’ comments yet. Other comments were made on the occasion!

Reputedly the Korean congregations in the PCANZ would like to start a congregation in Invercargill. My guess is that my family church, Knox, is a good candidate as that is the one the Korean students in Invercargill are gravitating towards in large numbers. Otherwise the parish would be supported by a loyal but small New Zealand-born congregation. They already have one New Zealand-born member who has connections with the Korean community in the city.

The pro-chancellor has put out a media release which is on the notice board at Knox College. Accordingly he is arranging a church service for the start of the university year that will be “worthy of the university”. This will be the first time it has been held there in 20 years. Curiously enough it clashes with service held for the start of the university year at Knox Church, the pro-chancellor’s former parish. I can’t find the media release at the Otago Daily Times. Otherwise I would have posted a link.

Having played with jpgs I was more confident to add a new item to the Griffler website and did so after I returned from the Archives. The Riddlers were preparing to come into Dunedin for the weekend and I did not linger in the chatroom after they had gone. I was pleased with my work posting up a new motherboard to the website.

Joe went into town for coffee yesterday so we could head into the supermarket earlier today. I deliberately left my non-kitty money sitting on the desk so I would not over-spend. Despite this I still paid £7 extra by EFT-POS. We got home in time to see the start of Full Metal Challenge, a part of the programme we haven’t been present for. Afterwards we watched a repeat episode of CSI, Stargate and Futurama, which irregularly plays late on Friday nights. This episode included an original Star Trek cast reunion.

Timelords…

The following was posted to the Conculture list so I will put it here to answer the question of Doctor Who in the Brithenig universe:

“Since it was announced that BBC Wales was doing the new Doctor I felt
I had to put something on the Brithenig Timeline. So last year
Telefisiwn Comroig announced that they were reviving ‘Ill Peleirin’.
I’m not sure if it’s exactly the same as the Doctor here, but it can
be placed in the same genre: Mysterious gentleman with female
companion seeks adventure in time and space (apply within). It could
be Doctor Who, The Avengers, or even Sapphire and Steel. Sure as
anything it relies on good story-telling, clapped-out sets, dodgy
effects, and great theatre! Feel free to embellish as you wish.”

I haven’t seen a way for anonymous users to identify their comments, a bit annoying because some of the people reading this journal don’t have Live Journal accounts. Best to encourage them to sign their own comments, I suppose.

Six hours at the archives again. I’m taking Summerland by Michael Chabon with me to read when at morning tea and lunch time. After that I walked into town with Joe while he told me about the benefits of going barefoot. It strengthens the ankles and allows the toes to spread out rather than become confined to the unnatural shape of the shoe. Most people don’t walk well. I prefer a supported shoe so that the shock doesn’t go through to my lower leg. Joe says this is because I have undeveloped ankle muscles.

I left Joe to walk down to Bag End before I went to the gym. Michael and I compared the shop with the similar shop in Invercargill, one of the Area 52 franchises that Dave goes to. I thought Bag End compared favourably. Michael remembered Dave as somebody big, round, wears glasses and talks a lot. There was a new copy of Arrowsmith in. No sign of Liv Taylor’s dad yet. Michael pointed me to Comic Book Resources as a good place to keep track of up and coming comic book titles and news. Usually I don’t pick up on things until after a couple of issues have been published.

I checked the Griffler website when I got home because I had received an update from Golden Leaf. Changed one price but that was all. I need to talk to somebody how I cut and paste images using a Windows box.

I spent the first part of the day at the Presbyterian Archives. Then I came home and packed my bag to go to the gym. I was debating whether to do that or do some work on the Griffler websites until it was time to go to Nominations Committee at half past seven. As I felt out of breath coming up the hill I decided a visit to the gym was in order. I slung my back pack over my shoulder and the strap broke. It was a clean break along the seam and could be repaired if I took some effort, either myself or finding someone who repairs such things. I stopped to find a suitable bag to use as a replacement. I found my macpac and used that – a Gemini daypack if you follow the link. It smelt dusty for being in storage for a long time.

They have new treadmills at the gym and everything was rearranged. I lost points for not observing where the stored exercise cards were moved to straight off, and then didn’t see where the board for booking the treadmills was moved to. Both were in plain sight. I got home in time to go to Nominations committee at church. Opoho church is half a block away from home and Tao followed me down the street. She mewed outside the church until I let her in. Then she took one look at the people there and wanted out. I ended up taking her home and shutting her in the house so she would not follow me again. The weather is so fine again after two days miserable rain that the cats are feeling playful.

Joe made lamb’s fry for tea which is fine by me because I love liver! My mother rang from Invercargill and gave me a clue to this week’s Concert FM competition question. I would not have answered it otherwise.

What a day!

Have breakfast, make lunch, write journal. Go to archives. I was there until four o’clock in the afternoon when I came home. I had morning tea and lunch upstairs in Room 3 of the Hewitson wing where the Archives has extended to. Since the kitchen is charging horrendous amounts for morning tea the archives staff and volunteers are staying over in this wing. It is beginning to feel like we are not welcome in the college wings.

After I got home the money for the power bill from Mike and Joe was on the peg. I took it and walked into the post shop at the university to pay it. Afterwards I took the time to browse the University Bookshop and the Library. Yvonne gave me a gift vouchure for the UBS a couple of years ago for work that I had done for the archives. I have not spent it yet, although I did not see anything that I wanted to buy.

Came home again and made tea: pork pieces made warm in sweet chilli sauce; pumpkin and swede mash; and boiled potatoes. Can’t see why people compliment my cooking. It can only improve.

I turned my computer on in the evening, but I have done no work for Griffler Enterprises so far. Instead I have replied to emails from Constentin and IJzeren Jan about the death of the king. There are some jobs I know I could do at Griffler Enterprises. The memory modules need to be relabeled for a start. Jumpgate or Rribbitt will write to me if something urgent comes up, I hope. There is still the #griffler chatroom if I need to talk to them.

Turning, I turn again…

In the morning I went to the Archives. There were shelves in the strong room to catalogue. I stayed there until one o’clock. I had lunch and looked at the items on the store. Felicity came just before nones. We went to Robert’s, but he had guests. He had not been expecting us. We went away again. I resumed my work on the computer until Joe disconnected the system to do surgery on the network connection card. I started writing an email for Ill Bethisad about the death of King Gereint of Kemr. It was nearly complete, about two thirds done when the screen froze! It had crashed on me! I was furious. I took my quarterstaff outside into the wet evening air and swung it around until I felt I had worked off my anger. Then I went inside, got myself into a calm state so I could think again and rewrote the whole thing. After that I wrote an email to IJzeren Jan who wrote a welcome to me on the Conculture list when he realised I was writing for Ill Bethisad again. It was about midnight when I went to bed.

Epiphany 3

I arrived late for church, just before the service began. If I had not arrived at least one person I know would have volunteered to sit with Graeme.

The preacher today spoke on the gospel reading. Jesus returned to his hometown, having been away for several weeks. He recited from the book of Isaiah, took the preacher’s seat, and proclaimed it to be his mission statement, fulfilled to his listeners.

There was a hearty morning tea of sausage rolls and little potato-top pies. I don’t know what the occasion was that bought this on, but it did away with a need for lunch. I spoke to one doctor who is a member of the congregation about testing for blood clots. He said it would be easier if we knew what tests produced results and what particular syndrome was discovered. I will have to make more enquiries. After a cup of hot chocolate at home I decided to go into the university library for the afternoon.

I looked up new words for Brithenig, and spent a couple of hours researching MacLennan’s Gaelic Dictionary for words I could adapt as source words into Brithenig. There are a lot of older words I find that I can still preserve.

I came home and added those words to my translation. Later it was time to make tea so I made a risotto using mince and rice, adding in interesting flavours as I went along. After tea there was an email from the Conculture list about whether Doctor Who existed in the Brithenig universe. I added my own contribution and that has set off it’s own discussion.

In the evening I started watching 102 Dalmatians. Fun but I think that they have toned down the motives for Glenn Close’s Cruella de Vil from the first movie. I loved her anti-family values ethics and her defense of artifice against nature. I thought she was the heroine and cheered her on. Somebody should have warned her against the dangers of wearing those trailing furs through a factory. Too many things to catch herself on and cause an injury.

The only thing new in the second movie is a parrot who thinks he’s a dog, thus giving the ‘good guys’ a voice that was lacking in the first movie. The parrot was voiced by Eric Idle, who Douglas Adams once pointed out, has always played parrots. The starlight barking also appears which Joe thought was reminiscent of the beacons lighting in Return of the King.

While this was playing my brother phoned from Wellington. His favorite car, the Lotus Ellise, was on the motor show Top Gear on the other channel. When he wins Lotto he hopes to buy one and we will tour the North Island in it. So far his ticket has not come in. There’s no hurry. I stayed on that channel to see a group of clergymen: a bishop, a vicar, a priest, a rabbi, a Buddhist monk and a Hare Krishna race a car to see which was the fastest religion – sounds like a joke in the making. The Anglican vicar won.

After the Dalmatians had finished with a happy ending. We watched Reign of Fire which I had not seen before. Dragon-slaying in post-holocaust planet Britain.

After Meridian Music Review I went into the gym. I rode the lift with one of the staff and asked her about the possibility of allowing people from Friend-Link come to the gym. She told me that the gym gave a discount to such people but they were not prepared to be minders for them and it was up to Friend-Link to found people to support them.

Afterwards I went to the Savemart again because I had some money to spare. I bought a shirt that I liked, althought the sleeves are a little short. I think I can live with that by either rolling them up or wearing something over it. It is not noticeable.

Then I stopped at the university library. I wanted to get a book out on Indo-European languages as I had an idea for the Prester language on the Hypercronian fantasy world and I wanted to explore it.

In the afternoon there was a party at Sanctuary that dryad had organised for Zargoff’s thirtieth birthday. I asked Joe if he wanted to go. He said ‘maybe’. It would have meant organising a ride several days in advance. Even though it was an overnight event it would have also meant organising a ride back because I would like to be at church the next day to sit with Graeme. So I have made no preparations. Instead I spent the afternoon writing on the computer about languages.

Mike is getting into cooking with oranges at the moment, using them to marinade the meat before cooking it.

During the day I worked on the New Zealand site, checking items and adjusting prices. It was after seven o’clock when I stopped to go down to the supermarket. We paid £70 for our groceries. I think I paid more for it personally than I needed to. Mike had gone out to the pub before we had left. The plumbing is still working fine. TV watching finished the day: Full Metall Challenge; Comedy, Inc. and Stargate. I hope that they play Full Metal Challenge again at a better time as we regularly miss the first half of the programme.

Temporarily Out of Stock

In the morning a friend of Mike’s who is training for ministry visited. While they were talking I asked her if she knew the contact person between the students and the Association of Presbyterian Women presbyterials. She did and I will be able to pass that information on to my mother.

I did some more work from the monthly spreadsheet at the Australian store and then I went to the New Zealand store and started checking Golden Leaf for items that were ‘temporarily out of stock’, an indication that an item is not going to come in again.

Jumpgate asked me if I would be willing to do some work for them while I am working at the Archives. This is good by me. No one else at Griffler Enterprises will have the time to maintain the stock and I will let let my skills atrophy otherwise, and will have to re-learn it all when I come back to it in a few months time – so, yes.

Jump and Rribbitt departed to meet with clients at Mount Cook. While they were gone not only were we out of canned catfood, but we finished the dry catfood. The kids insisted that this was an emergency. I stopped work and went down the hill to the supermarket to buy more catfood with Joe. He carried it back up the hill while I went on to the gym.

Another friend has returned to the gym who I haven’t seen in a while. He is training towards the ten kilometre run in the Masters’ Games in Dunedin in February. His firm put him on their team while he was on holiday for a month in Napier and Coromandel. Three challenges await him: to finish; to beat his personal record (52 minutes); and to beat a certain older member of staff who hassles him about the general unfitness of the ‘younger folk’.

I did not have my cell phone on as I walked him and I missed a phone call from Joe to pick up some pineapple as I was coming home.

Nothing on tv but there was a translation exercise on Conlang, a Native American story called Eye Juggler. I took note of it and tried translating it into Vayaun.

Later my mother rang. I gave her the contact name and number so Southland Presbyterial can take support for an extra student at the School of Ministry. I also emailed this week’s competition answer to Concert FM. (Nigel Kennedy’s teacher at the Juilliard School was Dorothy DeLay.) She tells me that one of our cousins is now on medication for blood clotting. It is a heriditary disease. We do not know which side of the family it comes down, so I will consider getting myself tested.