The End of Days
The End of Days
It’s time once again for the annual nostalgia fest for the year.
1. What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
The older you get the harder it is to come up with new stuff.
It was finally time to do something about the leaking roof that the dirty worthless insurance goblins refused to cover. It seemed so simple trying to pick reputable companies, getting quotes and then getting the job done
But that was far too easy. In the end it turned into a total drama involving white ants, the pest control people and a job that should have taken one morning dragging out over months.
Working two voluntary jobs instead of paid ones. Discovered that a pay check is just one of the things a job provides. A sense of structure and the opportunity to do something useful is also part of the package.
It seems that having worked 17 years in the same place is not a plus point at all when out job seeking. Most prospective employers are understandably curious as to why anyone would leave after such a long time and the conclusions they draw mean that the odds are never in Izzies’ favour
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Izzie doesn’t do new year’s resolutions and the baby version of the 101 things in 1001 days list had been gathering cobwebs until only the last month
Will be adopting some of the lessons learned from November’s novel writing adventure of lots of little steady baby steps. The time slot devoted to squiggling in November is now devoted to sorting out stuff, tidying and doing other domestic stuff. It’s becoming a habit and beats the usual binge of sorting and tidying followed by months of sloth like inactivity
Little baby steps is also a good way to sneak past the inner beast that likes to sabotage any attempt to have nice things
So far doing quite well. Conquered the loo, the laundry and one of the two cupboards under the stairs.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No. Not even the neighbour’s cats. They seem to have found greener pastures or maybe got eaten by some rotweiler
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. The day job in the nursing home always provided a couple of gorgeous people but those days now belong to the distant past
5. What countries did you visit?
Only Cyberia and unless the Izzie starts buying lotto tickets it is likely to stay that way
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
Last year it was “A decent job with a decent boss” This year got two decent jobs and one decent boss but the problem is that neither of them are of the paying kind. Other than that, the most likely candidate is some big hairy scary audacious goal that is worth getting all enthusiastic about. Got a bunch of them on the drastically downsized “50 things in 1000 days list” but still progress is slow and sluggish on that list
Only just moved the list to be the first item of the serpent squiggles. The simple fact of seeing it more often has increased its magical motivational powers
7. What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Wednesday 2nd January. (First big ritual of the year indulging in lots of nostalgia from back in 2002)
Friday 25th January - first dole check in 20 years. Back then took about a month or two to get a job. It’s taking a lot longer this time around
Saturday 2nd February A Waterboys concert. Got a scrooge special for $35 when the normal tickets were from $80 - $90. The minus was the seat was way up the back in a location where the endless stream of late comers kept blocking the view. But some other folks had that exact same problem and had paid full price for their seats.
It was a very good show and you could tell that the group love what they do.
Saturday 9th February This was a very busy but sizzling hot day. Sort of sapped the enthusiasm for the two big events - a guest speaker at an art exhibition featuring the works of The Beast (also known as Aleister Crowley) and a concert that evening with one of the serpent’s favourite singers ever - Lisa Gerrard. Problem was that her partner in crime from Dead Can Dance did every other song and he is a miserable pompous git who cannot sing. While her voice is as blood curdling and celestial as ever, there seemed to be an atmosphere between them like a bickering old couple. She never even said hello to the audience. Unlike the previous week got a seat only 8 rows from the stage. But the magic was not there. The spark was missing
Sunday 10th February - the sizzled year of the serpent
Had big hopes for this one. Had waited 12 long years for this day and the city along with the Chinese community were celebrating their new year in style. Had grand plans to be al snaked up in emerald green for the day. But the mercury hit 40 by 10am so did not even leave the Lair that day.
Friday 22nd February - the first opportunity to go on a binge at the annual Writers Festival. Missed out on tickets to see Michael Leunig but did see a panel featuring China Mieville and Margaret Atwood. Those two were just so wicked and twisted and half the time the audience were in fits of hysterical laughter. The Cult of Cthulhu is alive and well even in Oz
Wednesday 24th April The collapse of the buildings at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh. When you live in a graveyard you cannot weep for everyone but this particular industrial disaster was particularly egregious.. While shop and bank workers were told not to come to work because cracks had been found in the buildings and they had been declared unsafe, no such concern was given to the workers in the textile factories who were threatened with being docked with a months pay for not turning up to work because of course they too had heard the rumours and were afraid to turn up
Now some 8 months after the disaster the families of the dead and the injured survivors have been left high and dry by the government and the companies who had promised all sorts of compensation during the weeks of outrage that followed
Friday 24- Monday 27 May. The annual visit down south to Eden Vale but for Autumn rather than the spring gardens festival. Gorgeous and spooky as ever
Wednesday 26 June - the night of the long knives in Canberra. The Prime Minister had survived the third anniversary of deposing her predecessor in a very unexpected coup in 2010 and she seemed to be safe. But a week is an eternity in politics. Just two days later her head was on the chopping block
Since then there’s been too many dates to mention on the Australian political calendar most of which the Izzie would rather forget. Especially the first Saturday of September
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
The two rounds of “Introduction to Mathematical Thinking” and Dan Ariely’s online course “A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Thinking”
Having some grand project or some purpose makes life infinitely more interesting even when in the grand scheme of things the project is pointless
It was fascinating to discover that it’s not just dark chocolate that keeps the Dementors away. Keith Devlin’s weekly maths assignments also worked wonders and gave the old grey cells a bit of a work out too
Did the maths course back in March but crashed just when it got to all the really weird stuff. That meant leaving 3 whole questions blank of the 10 on the final exam. Still managed to scrape a reasonable 68.9%. Unlike most online courses this one does not shower the students with high grades for very little effort. It’s lots of work for ancient folks long out of the school routine. But it is far more memorable and educational than the countless courses where a couple hours a week can get a big fat 90%. It just cheapens the currency especially if such results can be got from just guessing. But the week spent looking at the questions and wondering what on earth the strange symbol salad on the last two were about had inspired insatiable curiosity. So came back for another fix
And it’s the deadlines that make all the difference. Been meaning to revisit the weekly problem sets to see how much stuff still remains in the ancient serpent skull and also been meaning to do a bunch of problems from Project Euler. But of course without the deadlines, so many other distractions mean that they end up again and again on the back burner
Camp Nano and the annual November novel writing adventure. Sort of cheated in July and set a goal of 30,000 words for the month instead of the usual 50,000. Between April, July and November ended up with more than 130,000 words so that’s plenty of raw material for a first draft
Garden stuff
Getting rid of a rather nasty monstera plant. It was apparently providing a sneaking means for white ants to enter the serpent abode for the grand project of eating the place down to the ground. The infernal beastie had more tentacles than Cthulhu and they were everywhere
It has now been converted into a vegie patch as it is one of the few spots sheltered from the sizzling summer sun in the afternoon
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not getting a real job
Being on the wrong side of 40 does not help but the other big obstacle apart from being fat and frumpy is the insatiable curiosity of most potential employers as to why some one would leave a job after having been there more than 17 years. It’s a case of being damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Dissing previous employers at a job interview is an absolute no no. So the only other alternative leads them to draw unfavourable conclusions about the Izzie. Either way means no new paid job. Just as well the voluntary work places are not so fussy
Losing the mojo
One would think that having nothing to do and all day to do it would be the next best thing to winning the lotto. That would be true if there were a deadline attached. It is precisely the limited time allowed for a holiday that makes all that free time so precious and valuable. Maybe immortals suffer from the same problem. When there’s an eternity to do stuff what is the point of getting out of bed before sunset since there’s plenty of time tomorrow for whatever has to be done?
Solved that particular problem by finding some voluntary work which takes up two days a week. This simple decision has provided structure to the week and added value to the other five days.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just the usual serpent insanity
11. What was the best thing you bought?
It’s usually the annual zoo membership but this time things are different
A bright shiny new tablet. Finally yielded to temptation in August when there was a half price sale in one of the city department stores. Still struggling somewhat to control the little critter as it is a bit sensitive and does unexpected stuff but it is so good having such a light and portable Portkey to Cyberia.
Lots of fabulous fringe shows
Made the most of all that free time to go on a total Fringe Binge back in February. Took advantage of the cheap ticket offers to see lots of stuff for half price.
Even raided the nest eggs as there’s no point in having a big fat bank balance while living the life of a miser
12. Where did most of your money go?
The roof repairs and the ant man got far more than their fair share
Bills, buses and pots of earl grey tea and a ridiculous amount on culture vulture events at the Fringe Festival
All those years spent using more than 3/4 of take home pay to banish the mortgage goblins paid off big time in 2013. It was such a pity that I never got to enjoy a few years of a proper paid job without the ‘rent’ to worry about. Would have been able to indulge in lots of holidays while building up a big fat stash of cash at the same time
13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The never ending drama in Canberra
Lots of elections both state and federal
Dead can dance concert. Bought a ticket as soon as they went on sale some three months before the concert. Pity the reality did not live up to the expectations
The Water Boys concert - found out about this one only a week before the event and got a ticket for less than half price.
The Fringe Festival - four weeks of freaks. It was fabulous
The year of the serpent - it was a 12 year wait. Also indulged in a lot of nostalgia due to the fact that this year’s calendar and that of 2002 shared the same dates and days. Unfortunately that is about all the two years had in common
Coursera
This is an online arena for folks addicted to learning all sorts of strange and peculiar things and long may they be of no use to anyone
Nanowrimo
An ounce of achievement beats a tone of entertainment. It’s fun to go unleash the inner beast on a crazy squiggling fest. And this year there were so many guest speakers and writing events that is was one of the busiest months on the serpent’s social calendar
14. What song will always remind you of 2013?
The Panem anthem
Just loved the soundtrack from the Hunger Games but the anthem was particularly spooky and appealed to Izzie’s sick sense of humour.
Also paid a bit more attention to one of the other songs on the soundtrack - “Abraham’s Daughter” a wicked twist to one of the nastiest Bible stories ever
15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Older or wiser?
Obviously older and hopefully wiser too
Thinner or fatter?
Fatter. Ask Petunia - that's the only bit of Izzie that she is capable of noticing. It was particularly insulting for the pair of them to proclaim that the Toad wanted Izzie out for being too fat and ugly but of course she could not openly say that. The Izzie’s indignant reply of having been fat for the last 15 years fell on deaf ears.
Richer or poorer?
The serpent is presently living off old nest eggs but now that the Lair has been paid off living expenses have dropped dramatically
So got lots more time and lots less money but also less need for it.
16. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Reading, gardening and making toad skin shoes
17. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being cranky and neurotic. Hoarding and other crazy irrational behaviour. Needing to find sneaky ways to get around this stuff
18. How did you spend Christmas?
At Petunia’s place. It was perfect weather. Such a pity about the Grinch in the house
19. Did you fall in love in 2013?
What is love?
20. What was your favorite TV program?
Gruen Planet - a program full of commercials on the advertising free ABC
Gruen Nation - the same mob talking about politics for several weeks before the Federal Election
21. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hate might be a bit too strong - detest or despise might be the right tone
Moaning Myrtle and miserable Michael from the two Zombie Jobs
Been very remiss in posting gossip about stuff this year but the pair will somehow make an appearance in some future November first draft
Kevin Rudd - dislike and annoyance turned to serious loathing. His political demise was the silver lining of the cloud that was this year’s Federal Election
Christopher Pyne - the present federal minister of Education - truly the most mincing and pathetic of poodles
The Mad Monk does not count as he was already on the list
22. What was the best book you read?
There’s no way that Izzie is going to stick to just one
“This Machine Kills Secrets” by Anthony Greenberg
Started reading it in December 2012 so it was a crossover into the new year. It was mainly about Daniel Ellsberg, Wikileaks, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and a whole pile of geek stuff concerning the war between spooks and leakers. The comparison between the efforts it took for Daniel Ellsberg to leak the Pentagon Papers and Bradley Manning to snatch all the data he later sent to Wikileaks was particularly fascinating.
The Code Book - Simon Singh - got this ages ago as a birthday present from a certain cat. It seemed a most auspicious time to read it after all the Snowden drama.
It is basically a potted history of cryptography and cryptanalysis from ancient times until the present including a few tangents such as the tale of the Rosetta Stone
The Hunger Games trilogy - power, politics, dystopia and one very twisted government. What’s not to love? It’s just as good second time around
The good man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
This book seems to be targeted at teenagers. A wicked twisted retelling of the New Testament based on the fascinating counterfactual that a certain Messiah from Nazareth had a younger twin brother. This brings up some amazing possibilities along with a favorite Izzie twist. I simply cannot resist stories where the Devil is out there doing deals and making offers that you cannot refuse
The Bone Season
Another Dystopian tale where Clairvoyants, Seers and other unnaturals are persecuted by the state. It’s a tale of the relationship between one of these beings and the prison warden who has the power of life and death over her. There’s a tiny twinge of Twilight but what was especially fascinating is the world building and the dream worlds. When similar ideas keep coming up in other stories it sort of gets spooky
The idea that some people have the power to appear in other people’s dreams or otherwise invade their minds and sniff about exploring the landscape within is most intriguing and scary indeed
23. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Thelma Plum Strange and spooky
The following two artists I've liked for a long long time but this year they've come up with some seriously spooky stuff
Deborah Conway's Stories of ghosts The Book of Life
Paul Kelly Conversations with ghosts
24. What did you want and get?
Lots of cheap tickets to Fringe shows
3 nano win badges
A bright shiny new tablet
25. What did you want and not get?
A paid job
26. What was your favorite film of this year?
The Hunger Games - Catching Fire - what a most delightful Dystopia. Izzie wants a visa already
The Queen of Versaille - kitsch on steroids. Nothing like seeing one of the one percenters getting a taste of the chopping block
Monsters University - lots of adorable clever monsters, games, geeks and books. What’s not to love?
27. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Had a wonderful weekend in Eden Vale pottering around smelling the roses, reading and plotting and planning for assorted nano adventures
28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A bright shiny new toad skin hand bag and pair of shoes to match
29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
Fashion is an alien concept to this slobbish serpent. But we are rather partial to green hats and baggy blouses to hide all the blubber
30. What kept you sane?
Sane - Izzie sane? Never ever?
31. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Hands down winner has to be Edward Snowden
The guy gave up a very comfortable life and his family in order to do the right thing. Having followed the sad saga of Bradley Manning he knew what the cost to himself could be but he chose to follow his conscience and the narrow path anyway. That takes tremendous guts.
Papa Francisco - the choice of name in itself was sufficient to spell all sorts of wonderful mischief and he’s living up to it so far. It seems like centuries ago since the white smoke. Here’s hoping he finishes the work that John Paul 1 was never allowed to start
Did not fancy him but old Troy Boy Buswell (The State Government Minister for Everything) never ceases to entertain the perverted plebs along with the Mad Monk. Watching the effects of the One Ring on its bearer is an endless source of amusement and fascination for this serpent
32. What political issue stirred you the most?
Edward Snowden and the spooks
The drama in Canberra
Lots of elections and broken promises
The desecration and destruction of two serpent sacred sites. One is Hale House near the State Parliament and old astronomy tower and the other is what used to be the Esplanade and is soon to be a mosquito infested yuppie swamp. This included nuking several gorgeous spooky old Moreton Bay fig trees.
Rana Plaza
Those slimy textile factory owners in Pakistan and Bangladesh who got away with burying their workers alive and will probably suffer consequences no more severe than being slapped with a wet lentil and the pathetic Pakistani government that seemed far more concerned with sending head hunters after desperate actors in Z rated excuses for movies. It’s almost like they made the thing themselves to create a distraction which leads of course to
The sensuous steamy love affair between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbot. It’s been going on for ages but this year it become seriously hot and horny and exceedingly entertaining. Such a pity that the scheming antics of Kevin Rudd put an end to this tempestuous relationship
33. Who did you miss?
Ickle Winnie who is one of Izzie’s adopted ‘fairy godmothers’. She is still alive but residing in the hell hole that is Toad Hall. In the last few weeks before being bullied out got to thinking that things are so bad that it’s no longer possible to say hello to Winnie except at the end of the shift. The other elves would be amused at how often Izzie would offer to shower this lady ‘for free’ rather than in exchange for some one else. That was until the goblins started cutting staff so much that we ended up working short nearly all the time and it became a struggle to finish our assigned residents without volunteering to help with anyone else
34. Who was the best new person you met?
A few folks from Nanoland. They know who they are
Bella Nina - a gorgeous happy lady from one of the day jobs. Just to even think about her makes a serpent smile
35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013:
Saving for a rainy day pays off big time. The stash set aside during the seven years of plenty is proving itself to be very useful this year
Blessed are those who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed
Aside from several encounters with Dementors, most of the really awful days all had in common that they'd been the object of much anticipation and expectation. Most of the misery was due to sizzling hot or icky sticky weather which made original plans difficult or plain damned uncomfortable.
On the other hand, some days which carried no expectations at all turned out to be the most wonderful and memorable of all the year.
The power of little baby steps. That is the real magic of Nanowrimo. There’s always some last minute crammers out there but the easiest way to reach the target of writing a 50,000 word first draft of a novel in 30 days is to stick to the daily word count quota. Came across a saying that summed it up. Enthusiasm gets you started but it is habit that keeps you going
Also discovered just how true it is that all you really need to be happy is something to be enthusiastic about
And the other big one - never ever underestimate the power of the reptilian brain. Not the wise and playful inner serpent but that miserable irrational paranoid creature that goes into survival mode at the slightest provocation even when there is no actual danger.
36. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
This one sums up pretty much any year
Ancient books and creepy crawlies - two Izzie addictions for the price of one?
Move over Little Drummer Boy and make way for the Little Rare Book Room
Come they call me
(The special book room)
The rarest books to see
(Librarian's tomb)
Kept under lock and key
(In terrible gloom)
To save man's sanity,
(It's pointless, we're doomed, thoroughly doomed, utterly doomed.)
Necronomicon
(The first I exhumed)
From the book room.
It’s time once again for the annual nostalgia fest for the year.
1. What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before?
The older you get the harder it is to come up with new stuff.
It was finally time to do something about the leaking roof that the dirty worthless insurance goblins refused to cover. It seemed so simple trying to pick reputable companies, getting quotes and then getting the job done
But that was far too easy. In the end it turned into a total drama involving white ants, the pest control people and a job that should have taken one morning dragging out over months.
Working two voluntary jobs instead of paid ones. Discovered that a pay check is just one of the things a job provides. A sense of structure and the opportunity to do something useful is also part of the package.
It seems that having worked 17 years in the same place is not a plus point at all when out job seeking. Most prospective employers are understandably curious as to why anyone would leave after such a long time and the conclusions they draw mean that the odds are never in Izzies’ favour
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Izzie doesn’t do new year’s resolutions and the baby version of the 101 things in 1001 days list had been gathering cobwebs until only the last month
Will be adopting some of the lessons learned from November’s novel writing adventure of lots of little steady baby steps. The time slot devoted to squiggling in November is now devoted to sorting out stuff, tidying and doing other domestic stuff. It’s becoming a habit and beats the usual binge of sorting and tidying followed by months of sloth like inactivity
Little baby steps is also a good way to sneak past the inner beast that likes to sabotage any attempt to have nice things
So far doing quite well. Conquered the loo, the laundry and one of the two cupboards under the stairs.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No. Not even the neighbour’s cats. They seem to have found greener pastures or maybe got eaten by some rotweiler
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No. The day job in the nursing home always provided a couple of gorgeous people but those days now belong to the distant past
5. What countries did you visit?
Only Cyberia and unless the Izzie starts buying lotto tickets it is likely to stay that way
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
Last year it was “A decent job with a decent boss” This year got two decent jobs and one decent boss but the problem is that neither of them are of the paying kind. Other than that, the most likely candidate is some big hairy scary audacious goal that is worth getting all enthusiastic about. Got a bunch of them on the drastically downsized “50 things in 1000 days list” but still progress is slow and sluggish on that list
Only just moved the list to be the first item of the serpent squiggles. The simple fact of seeing it more often has increased its magical motivational powers
7. What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Wednesday 2nd January. (First big ritual of the year indulging in lots of nostalgia from back in 2002)
Friday 25th January - first dole check in 20 years. Back then took about a month or two to get a job. It’s taking a lot longer this time around
Saturday 2nd February A Waterboys concert. Got a scrooge special for $35 when the normal tickets were from $80 - $90. The minus was the seat was way up the back in a location where the endless stream of late comers kept blocking the view. But some other folks had that exact same problem and had paid full price for their seats.
It was a very good show and you could tell that the group love what they do.
Saturday 9th February This was a very busy but sizzling hot day. Sort of sapped the enthusiasm for the two big events - a guest speaker at an art exhibition featuring the works of The Beast (also known as Aleister Crowley) and a concert that evening with one of the serpent’s favourite singers ever - Lisa Gerrard. Problem was that her partner in crime from Dead Can Dance did every other song and he is a miserable pompous git who cannot sing. While her voice is as blood curdling and celestial as ever, there seemed to be an atmosphere between them like a bickering old couple. She never even said hello to the audience. Unlike the previous week got a seat only 8 rows from the stage. But the magic was not there. The spark was missing
Sunday 10th February - the sizzled year of the serpent
Had big hopes for this one. Had waited 12 long years for this day and the city along with the Chinese community were celebrating their new year in style. Had grand plans to be al snaked up in emerald green for the day. But the mercury hit 40 by 10am so did not even leave the Lair that day.
Friday 22nd February - the first opportunity to go on a binge at the annual Writers Festival. Missed out on tickets to see Michael Leunig but did see a panel featuring China Mieville and Margaret Atwood. Those two were just so wicked and twisted and half the time the audience were in fits of hysterical laughter. The Cult of Cthulhu is alive and well even in Oz
Wednesday 24th April The collapse of the buildings at Rana Plaza in Bangladesh. When you live in a graveyard you cannot weep for everyone but this particular industrial disaster was particularly egregious.. While shop and bank workers were told not to come to work because cracks had been found in the buildings and they had been declared unsafe, no such concern was given to the workers in the textile factories who were threatened with being docked with a months pay for not turning up to work because of course they too had heard the rumours and were afraid to turn up
Now some 8 months after the disaster the families of the dead and the injured survivors have been left high and dry by the government and the companies who had promised all sorts of compensation during the weeks of outrage that followed
Friday 24- Monday 27 May. The annual visit down south to Eden Vale but for Autumn rather than the spring gardens festival. Gorgeous and spooky as ever
Wednesday 26 June - the night of the long knives in Canberra. The Prime Minister had survived the third anniversary of deposing her predecessor in a very unexpected coup in 2010 and she seemed to be safe. But a week is an eternity in politics. Just two days later her head was on the chopping block
Since then there’s been too many dates to mention on the Australian political calendar most of which the Izzie would rather forget. Especially the first Saturday of September
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
The two rounds of “Introduction to Mathematical Thinking” and Dan Ariely’s online course “A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Thinking”
Having some grand project or some purpose makes life infinitely more interesting even when in the grand scheme of things the project is pointless
It was fascinating to discover that it’s not just dark chocolate that keeps the Dementors away. Keith Devlin’s weekly maths assignments also worked wonders and gave the old grey cells a bit of a work out too
Did the maths course back in March but crashed just when it got to all the really weird stuff. That meant leaving 3 whole questions blank of the 10 on the final exam. Still managed to scrape a reasonable 68.9%. Unlike most online courses this one does not shower the students with high grades for very little effort. It’s lots of work for ancient folks long out of the school routine. But it is far more memorable and educational than the countless courses where a couple hours a week can get a big fat 90%. It just cheapens the currency especially if such results can be got from just guessing. But the week spent looking at the questions and wondering what on earth the strange symbol salad on the last two were about had inspired insatiable curiosity. So came back for another fix
And it’s the deadlines that make all the difference. Been meaning to revisit the weekly problem sets to see how much stuff still remains in the ancient serpent skull and also been meaning to do a bunch of problems from Project Euler. But of course without the deadlines, so many other distractions mean that they end up again and again on the back burner
Camp Nano and the annual November novel writing adventure. Sort of cheated in July and set a goal of 30,000 words for the month instead of the usual 50,000. Between April, July and November ended up with more than 130,000 words so that’s plenty of raw material for a first draft
Garden stuff
Getting rid of a rather nasty monstera plant. It was apparently providing a sneaking means for white ants to enter the serpent abode for the grand project of eating the place down to the ground. The infernal beastie had more tentacles than Cthulhu and they were everywhere
It has now been converted into a vegie patch as it is one of the few spots sheltered from the sizzling summer sun in the afternoon
9. What was your biggest failure?
Not getting a real job
Being on the wrong side of 40 does not help but the other big obstacle apart from being fat and frumpy is the insatiable curiosity of most potential employers as to why some one would leave a job after having been there more than 17 years. It’s a case of being damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Dissing previous employers at a job interview is an absolute no no. So the only other alternative leads them to draw unfavourable conclusions about the Izzie. Either way means no new paid job. Just as well the voluntary work places are not so fussy
Losing the mojo
One would think that having nothing to do and all day to do it would be the next best thing to winning the lotto. That would be true if there were a deadline attached. It is precisely the limited time allowed for a holiday that makes all that free time so precious and valuable. Maybe immortals suffer from the same problem. When there’s an eternity to do stuff what is the point of getting out of bed before sunset since there’s plenty of time tomorrow for whatever has to be done?
Solved that particular problem by finding some voluntary work which takes up two days a week. This simple decision has provided structure to the week and added value to the other five days.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just the usual serpent insanity
11. What was the best thing you bought?
It’s usually the annual zoo membership but this time things are different
A bright shiny new tablet. Finally yielded to temptation in August when there was a half price sale in one of the city department stores. Still struggling somewhat to control the little critter as it is a bit sensitive and does unexpected stuff but it is so good having such a light and portable Portkey to Cyberia.
Lots of fabulous fringe shows
Made the most of all that free time to go on a total Fringe Binge back in February. Took advantage of the cheap ticket offers to see lots of stuff for half price.
Even raided the nest eggs as there’s no point in having a big fat bank balance while living the life of a miser
12. Where did most of your money go?
The roof repairs and the ant man got far more than their fair share
Bills, buses and pots of earl grey tea and a ridiculous amount on culture vulture events at the Fringe Festival
All those years spent using more than 3/4 of take home pay to banish the mortgage goblins paid off big time in 2013. It was such a pity that I never got to enjoy a few years of a proper paid job without the ‘rent’ to worry about. Would have been able to indulge in lots of holidays while building up a big fat stash of cash at the same time
13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The never ending drama in Canberra
Lots of elections both state and federal
Dead can dance concert. Bought a ticket as soon as they went on sale some three months before the concert. Pity the reality did not live up to the expectations
The Water Boys concert - found out about this one only a week before the event and got a ticket for less than half price.
The Fringe Festival - four weeks of freaks. It was fabulous
The year of the serpent - it was a 12 year wait. Also indulged in a lot of nostalgia due to the fact that this year’s calendar and that of 2002 shared the same dates and days. Unfortunately that is about all the two years had in common
Coursera
This is an online arena for folks addicted to learning all sorts of strange and peculiar things and long may they be of no use to anyone
Nanowrimo
An ounce of achievement beats a tone of entertainment. It’s fun to go unleash the inner beast on a crazy squiggling fest. And this year there were so many guest speakers and writing events that is was one of the busiest months on the serpent’s social calendar
14. What song will always remind you of 2013?
The Panem anthem
Just loved the soundtrack from the Hunger Games but the anthem was particularly spooky and appealed to Izzie’s sick sense of humour.
Also paid a bit more attention to one of the other songs on the soundtrack - “Abraham’s Daughter” a wicked twist to one of the nastiest Bible stories ever
15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Older or wiser?
Obviously older and hopefully wiser too
Thinner or fatter?
Fatter. Ask Petunia - that's the only bit of Izzie that she is capable of noticing. It was particularly insulting for the pair of them to proclaim that the Toad wanted Izzie out for being too fat and ugly but of course she could not openly say that. The Izzie’s indignant reply of having been fat for the last 15 years fell on deaf ears.
Richer or poorer?
The serpent is presently living off old nest eggs but now that the Lair has been paid off living expenses have dropped dramatically
So got lots more time and lots less money but also less need for it.
16. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Reading, gardening and making toad skin shoes
17. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Being cranky and neurotic. Hoarding and other crazy irrational behaviour. Needing to find sneaky ways to get around this stuff
18. How did you spend Christmas?
At Petunia’s place. It was perfect weather. Such a pity about the Grinch in the house
19. Did you fall in love in 2013?
What is love?
20. What was your favorite TV program?
Gruen Planet - a program full of commercials on the advertising free ABC
Gruen Nation - the same mob talking about politics for several weeks before the Federal Election
21. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hate might be a bit too strong - detest or despise might be the right tone
Moaning Myrtle and miserable Michael from the two Zombie Jobs
Been very remiss in posting gossip about stuff this year but the pair will somehow make an appearance in some future November first draft
Kevin Rudd - dislike and annoyance turned to serious loathing. His political demise was the silver lining of the cloud that was this year’s Federal Election
Christopher Pyne - the present federal minister of Education - truly the most mincing and pathetic of poodles
The Mad Monk does not count as he was already on the list
22. What was the best book you read?
There’s no way that Izzie is going to stick to just one
“This Machine Kills Secrets” by Anthony Greenberg
Started reading it in December 2012 so it was a crossover into the new year. It was mainly about Daniel Ellsberg, Wikileaks, Julian Assange, Bradley Manning and a whole pile of geek stuff concerning the war between spooks and leakers. The comparison between the efforts it took for Daniel Ellsberg to leak the Pentagon Papers and Bradley Manning to snatch all the data he later sent to Wikileaks was particularly fascinating.
The Code Book - Simon Singh - got this ages ago as a birthday present from a certain cat. It seemed a most auspicious time to read it after all the Snowden drama.
It is basically a potted history of cryptography and cryptanalysis from ancient times until the present including a few tangents such as the tale of the Rosetta Stone
The Hunger Games trilogy - power, politics, dystopia and one very twisted government. What’s not to love? It’s just as good second time around
The good man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
This book seems to be targeted at teenagers. A wicked twisted retelling of the New Testament based on the fascinating counterfactual that a certain Messiah from Nazareth had a younger twin brother. This brings up some amazing possibilities along with a favorite Izzie twist. I simply cannot resist stories where the Devil is out there doing deals and making offers that you cannot refuse
The Bone Season
Another Dystopian tale where Clairvoyants, Seers and other unnaturals are persecuted by the state. It’s a tale of the relationship between one of these beings and the prison warden who has the power of life and death over her. There’s a tiny twinge of Twilight but what was especially fascinating is the world building and the dream worlds. When similar ideas keep coming up in other stories it sort of gets spooky
The idea that some people have the power to appear in other people’s dreams or otherwise invade their minds and sniff about exploring the landscape within is most intriguing and scary indeed
23. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Thelma Plum Strange and spooky
The following two artists I've liked for a long long time but this year they've come up with some seriously spooky stuff
Deborah Conway's Stories of ghosts The Book of Life
Paul Kelly Conversations with ghosts
24. What did you want and get?
Lots of cheap tickets to Fringe shows
3 nano win badges
A bright shiny new tablet
25. What did you want and not get?
A paid job
26. What was your favorite film of this year?
The Hunger Games - Catching Fire - what a most delightful Dystopia. Izzie wants a visa already
The Queen of Versaille - kitsch on steroids. Nothing like seeing one of the one percenters getting a taste of the chopping block
Monsters University - lots of adorable clever monsters, games, geeks and books. What’s not to love?
27. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Had a wonderful weekend in Eden Vale pottering around smelling the roses, reading and plotting and planning for assorted nano adventures
28. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A bright shiny new toad skin hand bag and pair of shoes to match
29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013?
Fashion is an alien concept to this slobbish serpent. But we are rather partial to green hats and baggy blouses to hide all the blubber
30. What kept you sane?
Sane - Izzie sane? Never ever?
31. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Hands down winner has to be Edward Snowden
The guy gave up a very comfortable life and his family in order to do the right thing. Having followed the sad saga of Bradley Manning he knew what the cost to himself could be but he chose to follow his conscience and the narrow path anyway. That takes tremendous guts.
Papa Francisco - the choice of name in itself was sufficient to spell all sorts of wonderful mischief and he’s living up to it so far. It seems like centuries ago since the white smoke. Here’s hoping he finishes the work that John Paul 1 was never allowed to start
Did not fancy him but old Troy Boy Buswell (The State Government Minister for Everything) never ceases to entertain the perverted plebs along with the Mad Monk. Watching the effects of the One Ring on its bearer is an endless source of amusement and fascination for this serpent
32. What political issue stirred you the most?
Edward Snowden and the spooks
The drama in Canberra
Lots of elections and broken promises
The desecration and destruction of two serpent sacred sites. One is Hale House near the State Parliament and old astronomy tower and the other is what used to be the Esplanade and is soon to be a mosquito infested yuppie swamp. This included nuking several gorgeous spooky old Moreton Bay fig trees.
Rana Plaza
Those slimy textile factory owners in Pakistan and Bangladesh who got away with burying their workers alive and will probably suffer consequences no more severe than being slapped with a wet lentil and the pathetic Pakistani government that seemed far more concerned with sending head hunters after desperate actors in Z rated excuses for movies. It’s almost like they made the thing themselves to create a distraction which leads of course to
The sensuous steamy love affair between Julia Gillard and Tony Abbot. It’s been going on for ages but this year it become seriously hot and horny and exceedingly entertaining. Such a pity that the scheming antics of Kevin Rudd put an end to this tempestuous relationship
33. Who did you miss?
Ickle Winnie who is one of Izzie’s adopted ‘fairy godmothers’. She is still alive but residing in the hell hole that is Toad Hall. In the last few weeks before being bullied out got to thinking that things are so bad that it’s no longer possible to say hello to Winnie except at the end of the shift. The other elves would be amused at how often Izzie would offer to shower this lady ‘for free’ rather than in exchange for some one else. That was until the goblins started cutting staff so much that we ended up working short nearly all the time and it became a struggle to finish our assigned residents without volunteering to help with anyone else
34. Who was the best new person you met?
A few folks from Nanoland. They know who they are
Bella Nina - a gorgeous happy lady from one of the day jobs. Just to even think about her makes a serpent smile
35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013:
Saving for a rainy day pays off big time. The stash set aside during the seven years of plenty is proving itself to be very useful this year
Blessed are those who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed
Aside from several encounters with Dementors, most of the really awful days all had in common that they'd been the object of much anticipation and expectation. Most of the misery was due to sizzling hot or icky sticky weather which made original plans difficult or plain damned uncomfortable.
On the other hand, some days which carried no expectations at all turned out to be the most wonderful and memorable of all the year.
The power of little baby steps. That is the real magic of Nanowrimo. There’s always some last minute crammers out there but the easiest way to reach the target of writing a 50,000 word first draft of a novel in 30 days is to stick to the daily word count quota. Came across a saying that summed it up. Enthusiasm gets you started but it is habit that keeps you going
Also discovered just how true it is that all you really need to be happy is something to be enthusiastic about
And the other big one - never ever underestimate the power of the reptilian brain. Not the wise and playful inner serpent but that miserable irrational paranoid creature that goes into survival mode at the slightest provocation even when there is no actual danger.
36. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
This one sums up pretty much any year
Ancient books and creepy crawlies - two Izzie addictions for the price of one?
Move over Little Drummer Boy and make way for the Little Rare Book Room
Come they call me
(The special book room)
The rarest books to see
(Librarian's tomb)
Kept under lock and key
(In terrible gloom)
To save man's sanity,
(It's pointless, we're doomed, thoroughly doomed, utterly doomed.)
Necronomicon
(The first I exhumed)
From the book room.