Ah, interwebs, how I love thee!

So! Those of you who I've talked to will probably know that I've been accepted into the University of Canberra's Master of Creative Writing program. Much excitingness, lemme tell you. This is just the start of it, so I'm not entirely sure if I've got a handle on things just yet. 

For all that I consider myself very 'net-savvy' taking an official online university degree online is a totally different ballgame. For one thing, I keep having to stop myself from saying things like 'zomg that is made of win!' and 'yayy! writingness ftw!'. (I got told on Friday night, funnily enough, that 'ftw' needed a dictionary sometimes, it's why I picked that example...um...oops?) Another thing that I'm finding interesting is getting my head around using Moodle; the Australian National Univerisity (where I did my undergrad BA) and the Canberra Institute of Technology (Library School) used a different online web interface called WebCT (which probably stands for something, but I has no idea what is it). Anyways, Moodle. Moodle moodle moodle moodle mooooooodle. *ahem* 

(Pssst...is anyone else having Final Fantasy flashbacks?)

So. IcansaythiswithoutcrackingupreallyIcan! MOODLE.

Moodle is...um...well, it's certainly a lot prettier than WebCT, and I'm slowly getting used to how it actually works. The layout is seriously different from WebCT, but I think it's probably more userfriendly. That's not really what my issue is of course; my issue is that I haven't used it before; moreover, I've never done 'fully online' courses before so it's all rather new to me. Sure, I've used forums before - as we are all well aware - but there's something different about doing it in a purely academic setting. I actually have to be sensible for one thing! Do you have any idea how hard that can be for lil V? I have a hard time being sensible in actual class, and now you're asking me to do it online?

...ah well, such is life, and we will persevere, because, let's face it, this is fun and this is, ultimately what I do. Write.

Clear Skies~V

Things we say part 17

Okay, so those those of you half familiar with my Second Life er...life, will know that I have the most wonderful SL sister and best friend in Buffy Shamen who is gonna be referred to in here by the initial 'A'.

A: When you are "making whoopy" online
V: 'Making whoopy'... really? roflmao
A: Ok so when you having sex online...geez. Just trying to be a lady here

Summer dessert time!

I first came across this recipe in The Australian Magazine, in December 2004, I believe. That year I made around 7 and a half million of them for various christmas / new year's / random functions, by hand because my mother didn't have a mix master. Right before I left to come back to Canberra in Feb '05, she got one for the account-disabling sum of $12. I had amazing arms that year. It's all in the wrist.

*Ahem*

Anyway, the original recipe calls for you to make 3 large disks of meringue, layer them with whipped cream and berries and make a stack. This is a bitch to transport, and very difficult to serve without ending up with a huge pile of meringue crumbs and cream-and-berries goop, so over the years I've made some alterations to the original - healthier and much, much easier to deal with. Also, tastier meringue that has less of a tendency to have that sugar-syrupy thing happening, which is also a plus.

Without further ado, I present: Rosewater Meringue with Summer Berries!

Ingredients:

6 egg whites 1 tbsp (corn, not wheat) cornflour

440g caster sugar 500g cherries (halved & pitted)

2 tbsp rosewater 300g raspberries

1 1/2 tsp white vinegar 250g redcurrants

800g thick yoghurt

Oven - preheat to 180°C, turn down to 120°C while baking. (Not fan-forced.)

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar, 1/3 at a time, fully incorporating so you end up with a thick, glossy meringue. Fold through the rosewater, vinegar and cornflour (I often sieve the cornflour, just to eliminate the chance of lumps, but it's not usually a problem)

Line a few baking trays with baking paper (I use 2 layers, but that's just paranoia). Make small discs of meringue (approx. 10cm in diameter and 4-5cm deep) and hollow the middle out a little, so each disk will bake into a 'bowl'. Place in oven and reduce heat immediately; bake for 35-45 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave meringues inside to cool. The meringues should colour slightly, but not darken too much.

To serve, 2/3 fill each meringue with yoghurt (I use King Island Dairy 'creamy indulgence' yoghurt, either the plain or vanilla bean version. Any very thick or set yoghurt will do the job, but you're better off not using a strong flavour, as the rosewater gives the meringue a very delicate flavour which matches the fruit perfectly). Distribute the berries between the individual meringue bowls, and serve. The amount of fruit called for is from the original recipe; I tend to use whatever is on hand. I've never actually used the red currants, as I tend to make this when there are home-grown raspberries, cherries, strawberries and jostaberries on hand, and I put on as much or as little fruit as I like.

This will make about a dozen servings. The meringue is of the chewy variety, although you can lessen that slightly by baking them for a slightly shorter time, turning the oven off before they begin to colour.

Holy cow, I am a lazy, lazy non-person.

So, I'm going to fall into that tried-and-tested blog apology - I have totally failed to post... well, pretty much at all in the past couple of months, and for those who give a damn, I apologise. I can pretty much guarantee it'll happen again, though. Just sayin'.

I guess there should be a holiday-roundup taken care of first up: it was awesome. Apart from that bit where I crashed my Mum's car, that is. That was frustrating and upsetting, and I can now add 'guilt-ridden' to my various other neuroses. On the upside, I managed not to kill V in the process, and the only injuries were inflicted on said vehicle (sorry, Tracy). Thanks to the stupidity of insurance companies, the car was written off due to the relatively minor damage (Although I'm still confused about how I managed to screw up the wheel alignment, rear axle, crack the windshield and blow out a tyre while only putting a couple of scratches in the bodywork, but what the hell). Also, V bounced completely off the seat during said accident, but is so tiny that she didn't even hit her head (*whew*).

Before I wiped out the car we were using for our lil Tasmanian road trip, we spent a fun(!) spider-filled night in a caravan at Orford; camped in the Douglas Apsley National Park, visited my ex-sister-in-law and her two delightful (and incredibly energetic) toddlers, stayed in the St. Helens YHA and drove to the Bay of Fires. If you ever have the chance to take your time and see Tasmania, it's a beautiful place - also, wandering around in summer is pleasant, rather than hot. I'll trade 40 degree Canberra days for 25-in-the-sun any day.

We spent a goodly amount of time picking berries. More or less every day we were at my mum's, actually - our record was 5kg for one afternoon's effort. Freezers that smell of raspberries are awesome. I will also post the most amazing summer dessert recipe ever at a later stage, if only 'cause it's fun to be enjoying an antipodean summer while various places experience their snowmageddon.

(Is anyone else underwhelmed by using 'snowpocalypse' or 'snowmageddon' to describe these snowstorms? I guess it must be comforting to have a way to refer to them when you're stuck in the middle of one, but I can't help feeling that if we're gonna make up words, they might as well be fun ones.)

I also spent a fair bit of time sorting through my childhood relics, and lugged a bunch of them home with me. If you've never come across Barbro Lindgren's The Wild Baby, I whole heartedly recommend it - possibly the most endearing and funniest toddler ever. Also, V and I apparently had the same first watches. Weird.

I will leave you with this last comment - 6am skinnydipping in the Douglas Apsley waterhole is the best wake-up idea ever.

Things we say part 16

This one is L's fault...but I don't know why.

L: Well it could be worse. I could be wearing my bonnet.

Ah...Valentine's Day.

So. Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you're all snug 'n things with your partner of choice, be they male, female, virtual, furry, fluffy, blown up, near or far, a book, a cat, a dog, or a box of tissues and chocolates (or as it is in my case, a large bottle of vodka, a bottle of cranberry juice, and my computer).

I've been meaning to talk about this for a long time, but for some reason it just seemed silly and somewhat stupid to talk about that crazy lil thing called 'love' when, firstly, I don't claim to know a thing about it other than what goes on in my brain, and secondly, I figure it's different in all books. And then, hey, check out the date! Perfect excuse right? But before we begin, let me set the rules: I will not cry, I will not rant (much), I will attempt to be objective and general, and I will attempt to use as little profanity as I can. Provided you lot don't laugh or roll your eyes or cry, rant, rave, or judge. Also: I'm not the expert! I'm just being opinionated 'n stuff 'n things, so no one kill me. All happy? Awesome, let's rock...

I keep seeing people stuck in relationships they shouldn't be in, either at all or anymore, take your pick. I know people who shouldn't still be together, except somewhere down the line in the turns and twists of their relationship they forgot that they were allowed to choose their own way, and now they're stuck together for the rest of their lives (granted, at 70, I suppose you really have to want to get out). Humans are creatures of habits, we like things we know, we're scared of things we don't. So few of us take risks anymore, and those of us who do tend to be looked upon as 'crazy idiots who really should settle down'. The thing is, habits and patterns are all well and good, if they're good patterns and habits. If you're in a relationship right now where you respect and love your partner and get that respect and love back, where you're communication is brilliant and everything is shiny 'n happy etc etc etc, then by all means, stay in that pattern and that habit. People who end up sticking it out in relationships where the spark has flown, either need to rekindle (and no I don't know how, I'm just half ranting thoughts here) or need to break the cycle and move on. The trouble is, they don't, because they're in a pattern where they know the ins and outs, where they know the rules and they know how the game is played - even if they don't like that game.

Of course, it's easy for me to say all of that. They're only words for me, for people in the situation, they have to be actions and that's always harder than words.

I've always viewed Valentine's Day as a little bit of a 'silly' holiday, carrying the same weight like 'Teacher's Day' - that came out a little bitter, but the metaphor stands: Teacher's Day is great for people involved in it, bringing apples to the teacher or whatever the traditions are these days (did that make me sound old?). The same goes for good ole V-day: if you're in love, and you're with someone, YAYY!!! If you're not in love and (I suppose therefore) not with someone, then YAYY!! Just another day!! If you're in love but not with someone, then you're just f***ed, cept not literally, which would be part of the problem maybe. (Okay that was bad. Sorry, couldn't help it. BAD V! *finds L and gets  a slap on the wrist*).

(Side question...is quarter to 4 in the afternoon too early to start drinking?)

Of course, you could argue that Valentine's Day is primarily driven by the deliciously capitalist chocolate fabrication businesses, I mean this is their jackpot day right? Forget Halloween, forget Easter (though I would really like another chocolate orange, kthnxbai), and forget Christmas, Valentine's Day is where they really hit the spot. Why? Because people forget about it if they're not 'in the loop', and so they look at the calander and go 'Oh shit, Valentine's Day...should do something in case s/he thinks I forgot and don't love her/him! Where's the nearest chocolate store?'. Okay, so maybe that's a little cynical (*cough*unhealthycynicism*cough*)...and maybe I'm spending too much time thinking about it, but it is V-day...that kind of gives me perogative to think about it right?

Anyways, I hope I didn't spoil anyone's chocolate kisses, and those of you celebrating, celebrate away (safely, please, the world is already overpopulated, we'd like to avoid more accidents in the back of the car, kthnx). And those of you who can't wait to move onto the next chocolate season where you don't have to think about not being someone, it's okay, Easter's just around the corner and we can all celebrate Zombie-Jesus Day with extra chocolatey oranges 'n bunnies, if that's your thing.

Clear Skies~V

Things we say, part 15

L: Is it bad that I had 3 slices of leftover pizza & a gin & tonic for breakfast at 3pm?

D: There's a fine line between 'bad' and 'awesome'. Army of Darkness and Edguy taught us that.

Things we say...part 14

D: Givenchy. I love that word. Like eviscerate.

Things we say part 13

 I don't really remember when this happened, but it did...and that's all that really matters right?

V: Don't be ridiculous I'm a perfectly balanced individual.

L: Somewhere a kitten died for that lie.

V: Oh noes! If I clap my hands loud enough will it come back to life?

Ensconced in the Apple Isle, hardly noticing the net withdrawl.

I have indeed stolen V until the end of January (actually, to be more accurate, the beginning of February), and am holding her captive in my little island home state. It’s been a lot of fun to be here, and made of awesome to have finally managed to drag her down here to show her the stuff I’m often rambling on about. It’s come at a particularly fortuitous time for me, but anyways, on with the postings… the dialup here chez Mum has only made me more remiss with the whole regularity thing, though I s’pose that’ll be made up for with the photo splurge we’re sure to post once we’re back to a connected (civilised?) space.

I felt extraordinarily privileged to see a performance by Ash Dargan last night, with my Mum and Auntie Eva, along with a full house at the Peacock Theatre in the Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart. (Just an aside – Auntie Eva actually isn’t a blood relation, but bears the title as an Elder of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.)

Ash is from the Northern Territory, a member of the Larrakia people, and he performs his music, the music of his Dreaming in the spirit of cultural education. His performance was part of the Mo Fo expo-festival-y thing that’s happening in Hobart atm, and was (amazingly) free. If you ever have the chance to see him perform, GO. The way he invites the audience to share in his cultural heritage and connection to his Country are truly humbling, and his technical skill with the instruments he uses amazing.

Perhaps it's a shortcoming, but I always find myself trying, after an experience I've found truly moving, to articulate to myself what being moved by that experience means about me. Essentially selfish, I suppose, but I think in a way, also useful - Ash's performance, like the Bangarra Dance Group retrospective I saw with my sister several months ago, their skill, beauty and completeness, seem inevitably to bring me to reflect on the quality of my own life and my engagement with it. It's akin, in a way, to the feeling aroused in a wannabe writer by the sheer grace of wonderful prose - I can't read Neil Gaiman or Thomas Hardy without finding their qualities as wordsmiths transcendent, but the experience is not without a trace of jealousy.

Anyway, I would hate to shift the focus away from the beauty of Ash's performance, so if you get the chance, in whatever form, try to experience his music, and the glimpse of his culture that he is generous enough to share. It truly is a privilege to have the opportunity.

Yay! January! WTF happened to 2009?

So here I am, sitting in L's backyard, if we're gonna go with traditional terminology (seeing as how backyard tends to invoke imagesof fences and immaculately maintained lawns and this backyard desires an Australian definition; think open spaces, your nextdoor neighbour isn't anywhere within thinking distance and the only things you can hear are the wind blowing through a multitude if trees that populate line of sight pretty much from horizon to horizon, and the dog - aptly named Puppy - occasionally having a conversation with the water hens or rabbits - or possums, let's not forget the possums.)

This trip has been a long time in the planning, I promised L in our first year of university at the ANU that I would visit her pretty birthplace before I left Australia. Well here I r, and there are no disappointments, only recongition about people and placed who up until this month have only ever featured as caracters in stories about the always distant wonderous Tasmania, which, like Narnia always seems to summon feelings if mysticism. Or maybe that's just cos I like the sound of the word: Tasmania. Hmm.

Anyways, my iPhone is eating up battery power while I'm hooked up to the great interwebs without which little me would be insane by now - oh fine, more insane - so I'll finish up here. I hope you all had a great start to the New Year (btw if anyone knows where my 2010 went I'd appreciate it if you could hos it up somewhere so I can download it again, cheers) and hope you're all doing great in general.

Clear Skies~V

Ah, communication...

I for one am beyond pleased that we have experienced such a high degree of democratisation of information and communication. I am rapturously happy that the publication of one's thoughts and opinions are no longer the sole province of the privileged. It's just such a pity that there's enough wrong with some people that this (insert derogatory adjective here) woman considers it appropriate to blog BLAMING the mother of a toddler for his death, clearly without bothering to look into ANY of the available information on the actual incident.

Apparently experiencing a tragedy isn't enough punishment. Roll up, roll up, all victims of circumstance, treat yourself to the guilt trip tongue-lashing of a lifetime! For no extra charge, Madison McGraw, QUEEN of victim-blaming, PARAGON of self-righteous bullsh*t, EXEMPLAR of emotional abuse, will provide an unbalanced and insulting critique of why YOU are to blame for EVERYTHING that's ever happened to you! NOTHING is beyond this commentator's capacity for passive-aggressive, insulting, insensitive and downright offensive use of social media to interrogate your life!

Ms Ross used Twitter during the day of the accident, and yeah, she asked for help, support and prayer for her son. Believe it or not, plenty of people have incorporated a window of social media into their lives. In times of great pain, do you honestly expect them to shut down that avenue of expression? You don't have to agree with them, but come on - surely it's not beyond the realms of possibility that human communication contain a little compassion for a grieving mother.

You know it's bad when...part 1

Needs no real explanation...

L: You know it's bad when you make internal dirty jokes about not being able to open your mouth properly.

Clear Skies~V