the basics

I find something simple and reassuring in the conditional love of a cat. Usually when I house/catsit, I come over to the house first, get shown around, get to meet the cat(s). This way I know what's what and the resident feline has at least met me in association with it's owners. I think it helps to break the ice. In this case (I'm catsitting at the moment), I didn't get that chance so I just bowled on up to a house I'd never been to before and met 2 cats who, although not scared of me, seemed slightly non-plussed. I was allowed to touch them but not on the head and not for long.

That was 4 days ago. By now, they have come to accept that I'm the one feeding them at the moment so, no matter whose turf this was to start with, and no matter how naturally superior they might be (because aren't all cats superior to humans in their eyes?), I am currently fulfilling my current role as Dispenser of Food and as such, I am now rewarded with being allowed to touch them and am even talked to upon occasion (but really only because I have been derelict or tardy in my feeding duties and need a verbal reminder).

I mean sure, I'm a cat person anyway but I think this is just great. This morning I actually laughed out loud when Esme, the queen of the house, was on my bed and started rolling around and coming up and rubbing her head against my hand. When I was younger I would have thought, "Oh she's so cute, she likes me!" Now, cynical and world-wise with cat experience, I laughed at her and said, "What? I feed you for 4 days and suddenly you decide I'm worthy of marking with your scent?" It's like she's given me 4 days to prove that I'm worth claiming. All because I've fed her regularly. Hilarious!

Cats make me laugh. I love dogs for their natural affection and friendly ways but I kinda like having to earn at least the pretense of civility. Maybe it's that treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen thing that cats have down so well. Maybe it's the stand-offish-ness and aloofness that is a combo of the bad boy and the hard-to-get. Or maybe it's just that my affections can also be won with regular feeding. ;-) Love me, hug me, feed me, I'm not too picky about the order.

about time

After long work and slog, it's nice to see people finally get some reward. Yes, I'm probably biased in this respect because it's my dad but still. He has had a very favourable review which he quotes verbatim anyway and I will too:

Till Noever is the talented author of the five volume fantasy/science fiction series' 'Tethys' which is comprised of "Keaen" (9780615143552, $19.95); "Finister" (9780615137926, $16.95); "Tergan" (9780615139265), 15.95; "Fontaine" (9780615139258, $17.95); and "Tethys" (9780615142630, $19.95). The five volume saga story arc begins more than 300 years after humanity's original drive into interstellar space. Now humans are to be found on a number of far-flung but life-sustainable planets, as well as hundreds of lifeless moons and stellar rocks. When a professional space explorer finds, by chance, the star Caravella which features a dozen planetoids, ore bearing space rocks, and an Earth-sized world of oceans and continents making it especially attractive to human settlement, he intends to return home to sell his discovery, but dies in a mishap. It's years later when his derelict ship is found by a passing space craft manned by 'Turillians', a socio-philosophical sext. Ten years latter a space ship containing some 30,000 colonists in suspended animation and their equipment come into orbit around that discovered plant of the Caravella system and is renamed 'Tethys'. A thousand years later in an area of the planet known as 'The Valley', is the kingdom of Keaen and its capital city of the same name. Enter two young people who are in love and, like all the rest of the inhabitants of Tethys, are ignorant of the original plan behind the settlement of the planet by those long dead Turillians. These two young lovers are about to discover a deeply buried secret that could well alter humanity's future forever. This complex, engaging, and superbly crafted story is played out by a host of memorable characters in five consecutive volumes. Also very highly recommended for fantasy and science-fiction enthusiasts is Till Noever's imaginative and original novel "Seladienna" (9780615142852, $19.95), featuring the descendants of a roman legion who in Emperor Hadrian's reign disappeared into the forests now occupied by the city of London, a man and woman stranded for a brief time in a world not our own, and a world that needs saving -- even if to do so means much of it must be destroyed.

I found it really interesting, the way they've summed up the whole series. For me, and probably others out there reading this, we've read these books one by one as they've been written. We've watched the plots unfold, seen the 'big picture' slowly be revealed. In this review, they provide a background that you only find out part way through the series- and I don't think it's a bad thing, spoiling the surprise as it were, I almost kinda like it.

For me, each book has really been about the individuals and their stories and the 'big picture' was what was holding it all together. In this review, the individuals are almost an afterthought- but not in a bad way- I just found it interesting that when you look at it as a series, the original premise of this whole thing is the overriding factor. And I guess that's why the series works. Book by book, different issues of society and our preconceptions are brought up and are the focus but this is because overall, there's something bigger behind it and a reason why these social constructs are being tackled as subjects in the first place. I think. I am definitely rambling. And repeating myself. Basically, ka pai, good review. Everyone buy all these books now. ;-)

more on Brussels later...

...but for now I just had to post this pic Di took of me and Lauren. It's a fav of mine, mainly because I'm hugging her, (which she hates) and she's grimacing. It's very 'us'.

when not to read your horoscope

1-I am never reading it from the Metro again. Usually the only horoscope reading I do is from the LondonLite on a Monday and Thursday evening on way to or from climbing. It's a retrospective look at my day and talks in abstract manners about how Mars is affecting my moon's third alignment in the second phase of its ascension so there might be some conflict in the work sector today. I like that, it amuses me.

what doesn't amuse me is:

2- reading first thing on a Monday morning:

Another week fraught with crazy misunderstandings and things going wrong. It won't kill you, but it could make you intensely irritated. Just keep double-checking everything.

WTF kind of a reading is that?! Was the person who wrote these in an extremely foul mood? What's their gripe with Gemini? I instantly had to scan to see if other star signs had similar doomsday predictions for their week... I was slightly reassured but nobody seemed to have the end-of-the-world line-up as I did. The I got to work and I had no internet or email or server connection and then I found out that my address book did not make it in the backup of things when my computer was rebuilt on Friday and once the internet was back, one website I needed- just the one, wasn't working and I couldn't download pictures I needed. It was then that I swore never to read a horoscope in the morning again and most probably never from the Metro.

sombre

I have just had an email from home telling me of the death of a sensei. Apparently Glen Webster collapsed and died at training in Invercargill last night. I want to write something about how I will remember him and what he was l ike but I keep going back and deleting everything I write as it seems too trite or simply just not good enough. He was an excellent teacher- patient and explained things well and was able to laugh at both us and himself. He will be missed by us all. Goodbye Glen.

the truth about Juan-Jorge

It would seem that my previous post's photo may have made JJ look larger than he is. He is still quite a sizable plant but here is a picture that puts him in perspective in relation to the rest of my desk. (And for those who are starting to worry about me right now, don't worry. As I ramble on about my new plant which I have named and posted photos of, a part of me is sitting there with it's feet up shaking it's head in a resigned manner saying, "Noever, you really need to get a life. Like seriously.")

what you didn't know you were missing

I'm in a whimsical mood today. Or maybe it's just a whimsical interlude inspired by my new love, Juan-Jorge. (see photo left) I got him last Friday and he is the new light of my life. I walk in to the office in the morning and get to say, "Buenos dias Juan-Jorge. Que tal?" He's not the chatty type but manages to express himself quite well none-the-less. If I'm feeling stressed, I can just glance over at him with his Sideshow Bob hairdo and his wee pot-bellied stomach and I just smile. And so in my Juan-Jorge inspired mood, here is a link to the lyrics of La Bamba. I know you all want to know the real words.

Gaudi-arama

I guess at this point I should tell people that I'm doing lots of little posts today so scroll on down to see all the entries. And for people on Facebook, you will probably have seen these pics before- oh well.

This is a shot from the roof spine at Casa Batlló.


This is a shot of the chimneys from La Padrera. Several people have said it's quite Star Wars-esque which I'd have to agree with. One thing I love about Gaudi's architecture is that it is fabulous to have abstract photos of and yet be totally recognisable for that it is. Which may be an oxymoron because if you know what it is, it's not abstract. Hmm... well I know what I mean... This picture is also currently my desktop background.


Not a Gaudi shot one but I was highly amused that beach signs in Barcelona were in comic-styled speech bubbles. I just wish I knew what it said...


Right, time to start work. More piccies later.

bloomin' marvellous

I came home from Barcelona to find that my garden had gone crazy in my absence. The sunflowers I had left as seeds were as tall as my middle finger (and they're about as tall as my hand by now) and my lillies were finally starting to come out. For the record, I am not a fan of pink- at least not in clothing- (I did that unto death up to the age of almost 10 and judging from photos at the age of 7 or 8, all I owned was pink clothing...) but when it comes to plants I am just crazy in love with pink. So coming home to this hot pink lilly was pretty gosh darn cool. We'd bought a bag of mixed bulbs so had no idea what colours would come up. It seems I have red and pink ones and Mother Nature is the only entity I would forgive for this faux pas colour combination.


Pink lillies


Red lillies


And finally- my chilli plants. Check these bad boys out. Everywhere there are those little white buds- well potentially they can be chillies. And I have four plants- I think I'm gonna have to learn how to dry them.

happy birthday to me

I got several lovely cards for my birthday but this had to be my fav. Every time I look at it I snigger. Some of my friends know me freakishly well...


My birthday this year almost felt like a non-event as it was the first year that I haven't planned a party or gone out for dinner or cooked a fancy dinner myself for friends. Dinner had been booked a while ago for the night before my birthday and since Kerry's birthday is 5 days before mine and we were going out for dinner with most of our friends, we figured that it could count as the birthday event. [Please note that in the picture to the left, I am holding a musical cake slice. Oh yes. What was I saying about my friends knowing my freakishly well? I am also using my hand to hold back double chins to show how good my jawline can look when not impeded by me throwing my head back or pulling my chin in when I laugh.] As a result the actual day itself was very laid back. I did a yoga workshop (which left me almost immobilised in my upper body for several days. It is only now that I can reach around to scratch my back again.)

not enough hours in the day

I've worked out that to keep up to date on all the blogs I'm interested in or even just at least the ones written by my friends and check emails and keep in touch with people I'm meant to and maybe even have the luxury of getting to blog myself, I would need at least an hour a day. Realistically something close to 2. Which is a lot of time- and I don't have it. So here is a blanketing apology to everyone I should be writing to whom I haven't and maybe, just maybe, I'll get to blog tomorrow.(As if.)

oh well

I had the best of intentions- come home, pack, watch Little Miss Sunshine, clean the flat and blog about Portugal then sleep. Exactly how I thought I'd fit all that in I don't know... All I do know is that I intend to try to shut my eyes for an hour and a bit and then I have to get on my way. So no piccies of Portugal for you lot. I also don't imagine I'll be blogging much whilst in Spain but we shall see.

Peace out.