Let's hear more about the yurt

#87 - Complete A-Z reading challenge - titles

"Dark side of the sun" Terry Pratchett
About a little green man who travels through space looking for the ultimate secret of his universe.

What did I think? Initially I was disappointed - it's billed as a Discworld book but is quite quite different to that series. Plus I'm not too keen on 'scientific language' and words that I can't even pronounce in my head. However, okay overall. A fun way to spend a couple hours. (I think I have read this before but somehow managed to block it out of my mind. I think I thought it was by Douglas Adams which is ridiculous. They're nothing alike. Well, not much alike.)


#86 Complete A-Z reading challenge - authors.

Collins, Max Allan "Before the dawn"

(Continuing with 'Dark Angel' (c.f. #93) I thought I'd read the novelised prequel to the story.) It follows Max as she tracks one of her brothers to Seattle and makes a life for herself.

What did I think? Just. Stay. Away. There aren't enough words to say how awful this is. Cheesy, cliched, badly simile-d, dodgy scenarios, uncomfortable characterisation. He's written a lot of other novels, mostly based on other TV shows, and is apparently also responsible for "Road to Perdition" the graphic novel. Even so. Stay far, far away.

do not leave your longings unattended

Progress!

#87 Complete A-Z reading challenge - titles 3/26 and started #86 Complete A-Z reading challenge - authors. Reviews to come.

#97 'Run' from home to my home town. 4/160km. There's a long way to go.

#93 Watch 'Dark Angel' on DVD. Complete. Mental note - next time watch Season One BEFORE Season Two. A whole lot of things made so much more sense. Verdict to come.

#2 Make alphabet cubes. I have a niece who is only new - she will be 1 in september. I'm planning to make her some alphabet cubes which I have never done before. But of course I have to do something tricky - I want her to be able to spell her names out. That means I need at least 6 cubes for the longest name. Then I want her to be able to spell the names of her friends and family which means that certain letters can't be on the same block - e.g. D and J and O. Add to that the fact that I want to include the Maori alphabet making it 28 letters rather than 26 and it all gets a bit complicated. I think I've figured out what I need to do to ensure that it will work. I'm thinking of mocking some up in paper before I start cutting and sticking. Plus I have to buy some fabric scissors. I do have the fabric and a sewing machine!

#50 No black to work for a week. Done and laundered. This was an interesting experiement. I had to combine clothes that I normally wouldn't wear together. Surprisingly this went down quite well with my colleagues. What did I learn? That you should always try new combinations of things. (Thank god it's over though!)

No progress - We didn't end up going to Tawharanui on the weeknd. My friend's family came up and she hung out with them - and had a great time by all accounts. So #7 remains unfulfilled.

That's just crazee talk Mr Hickey

Update #13 -plus 15

Update #93 - Season one has arrived. Is it too geeky that I watched half an episode at work? And that I'm loving it?
Update #87 - still reading

Update #101 - tweaking to read "Plant a tree for Arbor day." There's an ARC planting mission on Queens birthday - the day before. Near enough is close enough I say.

update #50 - 3/5 days with no black worn to work.

update #52 - spent the pig money on icecream from the ice-cream van. yumyum! but. yeah. oops.

On a whim

Update #13 - plus 15km. I've decided to cycle the length of State Highway one. It's more achievable than around New Zealand. All it would take is one bad week and then suddenly I'd have to try and fit in a 100km ride on top of the normal 15km-a-day cycle. For a good read on cycling in New Zealand try "Long Cloud Ride" by Josie Dew. I've read all her other books (at least, I think I've read them all...) and she has a unique way of looking at the world. I guess you have to when you're cycling alone through foreign countries. :)

Update #93 - watch Dark Angel on DVD. I'm getting it from the library and the first discs from Season one have started coming through. Unfortunately it's discs 4,5,6 and not 1,2,3. 1 is on it's way, 2 is out and god only knows what's happening with 3. On it's way soon hopefully.

I've started '#50 Don't wear black to work for a week' by mistake really. Yesterday I wore brown and blue, today brown and red. Tomorrow I'm going to wear brown and pink. Tomorow I'll also be doing some washing.

Um, what else? Well, my friend has finally finished her list which has a number of very cool, challenging, exciting things on it. I'd link, but she's made it invitees only (so I'm hoping I'm going to get an invite!) BUT one of the things on her list (I think) is to plant a tree on her birthday which is this Saturday. I've suggested we sneak the list and plant it on Sunday at one of the Auckland Regional Parks - Tawharanui ( #7 Visit all Auckland Regional Parks.) I have a HUGE vehicle bill coming up so I can only give her time as a present. Isn't that all anyone wants though?

Cup of tea - some of the threes

Day two and it's all going well. I knocked off #63 - buy food from the Farmers Market this morning. Next time I'll check what time they open - I was there before they'd finished setting up! On a Sunday! I bought 2 huge bags of apples, 1 of mandarins, 1 loaf of bread and a pain au chocolate for breakfast. Hopefully all the fruit will last until next weekend. :)

I've also started on numbers 13, 35 and 93. I'm beginning to think that I should't have added so many that have more than one component to it. For example. #35 cook through the Edmonds cookbook - there are nearly 500 recipes in the book that I'll need to cook. Some are just for things like icing and sauces while others are more intricate. I'm also not going to bother with some of them - what will I do with 5 litres of pickled gherkins?

Update #13 - 23.56km. Haven't decided whether I will cycle the length of New Zealand or around. If I go around I'll have to cycle an average of 15km a day. Achieveable? Yes, but only just.
Update #35 - 4 done. Poached egg; lemon rice (very fragrant); beer batter; fish with parsley sauce.
Update #93 - I missed this when it was shown on tv all those years ago and thought it might be a bit of fun to watch it now. Unfortunately I got season 2 before season 1. I'm going to know how it ends before I know how it starts. Never mind. Gives me something to do while I'm on the windtrainer.