A Celebration of Life

A week and a half ago my dad passed away. He wasn’t my dad by blood. Not even by marriage. My mum and he dated and lived together for a few years when I was very young and ever since then he’s been my dad. Even after they separated.

Because there’s no blood between us and I don’t have his name, I’ve often felt like something of a fake trying to claim him as my dad. Especially as he was a publican and brewer somewhat famous amongst other brewers and beer connoisseurs. I always felt like others would see me as someone trying to jump on his bandwagon, trying to claim some sort of fame or riches through his name.

The thing is, I’m an introvert. Sure, I like acknowledgment for things I’ve done, but the limelight scares the crap out of me. To me he was just dad. There with advice, stories and good food when we visited for lunch. He’d help me out if I needed it, but I never liked asking him for help. I’d feel like I was letting him down.

Last Friday we had a celebration of his life. He never liked funerals. Too depressing. In his last days he said, “I want 0 funerals and 0 people there.” The amount of people that turned up to celebrate his life would have amazed him. He lived life without regrets and that was how he died. He’d done everything he’d set out to, not one opportunity was missed.

I heard some stories from his brother, nephew and college friend that I hadn’t heard before and they put a smile on my face. They reminded me of the crazy things he’d get up to. Like the impulse to fly a plane and convincing his mate to let him fly his plane. Dad managed to fly it and land it. After they landed, his mate asked if he’d like to fly again, get his licence. “Nah, I’m done.”

The smile would slip shortly after because I would feel like they knew him more than I ever did. People I never knew he knew. Places I didn’t know he’d been. Things I never knew he did. They make me question whether I ever have the right to call him dad.

This is just something I needed to get out of my system. I'm not asking for condolences, reassurances or whatever. Just wanted it out there...

Did you get taken in?

Yesterday was April Fools and as usual, many websites pulled some sort of prank. I’m not usually up for pranks and even less so on April Fools, but these do give me a chuckle. I especially like the ones that seem to offer something so completely and utterly ridiculous but somehow one that people fall for.

At most, the only thing I would probably do for April Fools (if I ever remembered to) is the dinner for dessert / dessert for dinner trick. Something like meat cupcakes or ‘spaghetti meatballs’. I believe the spaghetti is icing and the meatballs Ferrero Rochers dunked in raspberry jelly.

I guess that’s why I don’t mind the website pranks. It seems (to me anyway) the most harmless one out of any other prank I’ve heard about.

I’ve been called ‘too sensitive’ before, and I guess I can be, but pranks just seem hurtful to me. I don’t mean physically, although there are those ones, just the emotional side of it.

Are you sensitive to pranks? Or am I really being too sensitive?

Book movies

I took my daughter to see The Hunger Games on Thursday, and even though I haven’t read the books, I quite liked it (if you can ignore the whole ‘kill off 23 kids every year’ thing).

My daughter on the other hand devoured the books in the week leading up to opening day and was quite irritated with discrepancies and missing scenes (especially seeing as she was looking forward to seeing Josh Hutcherson take off his shirt). I reminded her, “Would you rather they didn’t make the movie at all?” The answer of course being, “NO!”

It took me back to when we avidly awaited each of the Harry Potter movies. If you treat them as movies in their own right instead of trying to bring a book to life, then they’re good movies. They’re not going to be able to fit every little detail in a movie.

First there’s the time factor. You just can’t fit it all in and have a reasonable length movie. Then there are the slow moving parts of the books which would make for boring viewing and lastly we have things that don’t come across well. In a book, reading about a character’s thoughts is alright. Constantly hearing a voiceover so you can hear what they’re thinking is entirely different.

Are there any examples that you can think of where you would rather they had just not done the movie at all?

Sci-fi love

Working, as I do, for an accounting firm, I sometimes feel like I’m the odd ball. I’m no accountant, I do the admin work so when they talk about audits and such, my eyes start to glaze over. I did once find a couple of fellow Harry Potter fans. Of course, they weren’t accountants either. Not to mention they didn’t seem as… enthusiastic* about the series as me. Then they went and left the company. Well, first they moved to other departments, then they left. So, here I am feeling like the oddball again.

Last week while skimming through the feed from our company's social network, I noticed that someone had made a… wait for it… science-fiction fans group! Honestly, I would have squealed in joy if I wasn't so self-conscious of the imaginary stares. Now, I am mostly fantasy, but there’s a good dash of sci-fi in me so I was thrilled that there are semi like-minded souls in our company. Most of them seem to be from Melbourne, but I don’t care!

I experienced double ecstasy as a couple of days before I had purchased the SFX Doctor Who fanzine. Now I was able to share that with others! (And of course my daughter could have some relief from her crazy mother).

What are some of the unlikely places that you’ve found fellow lovers of {Harry Potter, sci-fi, gaming, cheese}?

* enthusiastic being the nicest possible way I can describe my obsession 

Besotted Wednesdays 14 Mar 2011

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

What would you do if you hit a midlife crisis? I know they say that people generally try to recapture their youth, but I still don’t feel like I’ve lost it. I suppose each would ‘deal’ with it in their own way. Motorbikes, convertibles, you name it. What about gadgets though?

I’m not one for fashion. Especially fashion shows. I never understand how they can think it’s ‘fashion’. The models are far too thin and the things they dress them in look strange to me, but this is one fashion show I can get behind.

I’ve seen lots of different fitness applications. Never used them myself though. From what I’ve seen though, there’s ones to keep track of what you do either by you entering the information or by means of GPS/pedometer. I’m not sure what they offer in the way of motivation though. I’m sure this one would offer quite a lot of motivation though.

Polaroids seem like such a timeless classic when it comes to photography. Even with the advent of digital cameras, they’ve never lost their appeal. Whether it’s the classic Polaroid border, the instant photo, people never seem to stop loving the Polaroid cameras.

People seem to be really bored with regular ice cube... well, cubes. I’ve seen some good ones out there. Bored Panda have come up with a list of the best ones.

Know a graphic designer friend? Have you ever asked a favour from them? How’d it turn out? This guy learnt the hard way not to ask for freebies.

While I’m not a fan of the books – never having read them – I thought this was an absolutely brilliant idea. It’s a fan made interactive map for A Song of Fire and Ice.

New obsession

I seem to have gained a new obsession. Well, an old obsession. Well, a new, old obsession.

See, it’s the Doctor. 

When I was younger, I remember watching the fourth Doctor. Loved it. Don’t know why I never watched it after that. Then recently, quite by chance, I was flicking through channels and came across an episode of Doctor Who with the eleventh Doctor. Not bad I thought.

Then sometime after that, I came across another episode of Doctor Who. It was when the tenth Doctor had just regenerated. After that it became my new regular show to watch. And I have to say, I seem to be slightly obsessed. I can’t seem to get enough of David Tennant.

Matt Smith makes a marvellous Doctor as well, but for the moment, I prefer David’s take.

It’s fascinating piecing together bits and pieces. Not to mention bringing back old memories. Seeing what’s changed, what hasn’t much. New companions, new foes.

True to Timelord fashion, I believe the show is just a timeless one. One quote I saw said, ‘as long as humans have imaginations, they will never run out of ideas.’ And I’d have to agree. There is all of time and space to come up with a story for the Doctor.

Have you ever watched the Doctor? Have a favourite? Have other preferences?

Help desk, how can I help you?

Have you ever found yourself playing help desk to your friends and family? I know I have on more occasions than I care to count. Now, as I’ve said before, I love to help but it can sometimes be very frustrating.

One family friend told me all about a phone call she got from Microsoft saying that there was something wrong with her Windows so she used her credit card to pay whatever it was. I cringed as soon as she mentioned the phone call. I did set her right, but it’s sooooo frustrating!

Another family friend needs clearly detailed written instructions on how to do just about anything on the computer. I still remember the day she asked if it would make any difference to her internet if she moved the computer upstairs. Or the time she worried about her files because she was going to get a new monitor.

Patience is clearly the key and I can understand why help desk operators start out on the assumption we don’t know much about computers. I’m lucky that none of my friends or family have been quick to anger either because I do know about the stories of abusive calls to help desk.

Are there any stories that have left you completely baffled as to how they came to a certain conclusion? Anything that makes you wonder whether or not people should pass a test before they’re allowed to buy a computer (like a driving test)?

Contrasts

Waiting for my tea to brew at work, I wandered over to the window and looked down at the street as I’ve done countless times before. This time though I noticed something odd.

Working in the city, you tend to get used to office workers scurrying about in their black suits so you don’t really pay much attention to them in the end. Looking down at the street, I noticed that the majority of vehicles were white and I idly wondered if perhaps it was their way of trying to balance things out.

I think I must be one of the few CDB office workers that doesn’t actually own a black suit. The only black thing I might wear to work it one of my jackets. Most of the time I’m left feeling if my colour choice leaves me fading into the background, but I just can’t bring myself  to wear something that would have me feeling... down... sad... whatever it is, it wouldn’t be happy or cheerful.

Watching all the black suits makes me feel like I’m watching drones or automatons, and then I’ll see someone in bright colours and it does actually feel like it brightens my day.

What would be/is your chosen office clothing colour? If it’s a dark colour, is it because ‘it’s the thing to do’ or you actually prefer to wear those colours? If you lean more towards the lights and brights, how does it make you feel seeing what seems to be a sea of dark clothing?

Besotted by Wednesdays 29-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

Everyone knows about the Google cars roaming around trying to get shots of our streets for their street view. Does anyone think about just what kind of things are recorded though? From the mundane store front to the totally weird events that can happen anytime. Jon Rafman is collecting the ones he finds in his project called ‘Nine eyes of Google’.

I’d say most kids grew up playing Monopoly. You probably started with the original version before finding other editions. There’s been quite a lot of different versions through the years, including artistic interpretations of them. Like this Web Lovers Edition.

James Hance has done some absolutely adorable Winne the Pooh & Star Wars mashup drawings, but this latest drawings takes the cake. It’s an ‘Up’ and Star Wars mashup and it’s so stinking heartwarming!

Need a project for the weekend? Do you also need a handy little carryall for your gadgets and cords? I’ve found the perfect thing for me! I mean, you... us... you know what I mean. Now to scour second-hand bookstores for the perfect cover...

One the mashup topic again, they’re releasing a Doctor Who and Star Trek mashup comic. Not really sure how I feel about this. While I am familiar with many things that are Star Trek, I’ve never really been that big of a fan of the franchise. I am though a fan of Patrick Stewart, so maybe it’ll balance out.

I loved playing pinball in my childhood and even though I never knew what to do with the end result, there was a special appeal about gumballs. So when I spotted this, it was a major flashback and it looks like it’d be so much more fun that just sticking 20¢ into a machine and having the gumball plop into my hand.

I know that there are lots of different styles of game controllers out there. Some function well, others don’t. Some feel comfortable in your hand, other’s seem like pure torture. Then there are the ones you look at and think, ‘What in the seven hells were they thinking??’.

Although, as unwieldly as it seems, the chainsaw would be awesome.

IMHO IDK WTF...

Is it just me or are we getting more and more acronyms? Companies and businesses use them. Texting, IMing, and whatever else have you. It sometimes seems hard to keep up. Then there’s the ones that use the same letters, but mean different things. Or maybe you grew up with one version and now it means something else (Lots of Love vs. Laugh Out Loud).

In a world that seems to like things fast, I sometimes feel like I’m the odd one out taking it slower. I’ll be the one waiting for the little green man to tell me I can cross the road, and I’ll be the one actually typing out the words rather than what seems to be the new style of shorthand. OK, so I do use LOL sometimes. Mostly because it looks weird if I comment ‘Laugh Out Loud!’.

Even my mum who frustrates me to no end when I watch her try to do something on the computer, or when I try to show her how to use her mobile phone uses ‘txt spk’. Oftentimes I’ll stare at the screen for a good few minutes deciphering her message. Kind of feel like it’s all backwards.

How do you use acronyms? Do you use it as much as you possible can? Avoid it like the plague? Or have you found that seemingly elusive happy middle ground?

Bugs

I’m not much of a bug person. Sure, when I was a kid I did the typical kid thing and adopt cicadas, stick a whole bunch of ladybugs in a plastic container (with holes of course!) and try to make pets of a couple of worms (sans worm garden…), but now… yeuch. I still like cicadas, ladybugs are beautiful and I feel sorry for the poor worms that get squished whenever it rains a lot around home. Those are the good bugs.

I’m talking about scary looking spiders, cockroaches, flies... you know, the ones most people don’t like. It’s the spider part that brings me to this topic today. See, I have a little courtyard and maybe I haven’t been out there in a while due to being busy and rainy weather. Well, it seems this giant freaking spider thought it would be a good place to weave a humongous web and hang out. (There may be some slight exaggeration there, but it sure doesn’t feel like it!)

Now I’m too freaked out to venture out there. I was never any good at dealing with spiders. Once I rang up my then boyfriend to come over and get rid of the spider hanging out on the balcony of the apartment I was living in. It seems his idea of getting rid of it involved baseball practice with the spider as the ball and his shoe as the bat.

How do you deal with the inevitable creepy crawlies that venture into our domiciles? Do you squeal and run like I do? Or are you made or steelier materials than I?

Note: I tried to get a picture of it, but they're coming out blurry. Mainly because I'm too chicken to get close enough.

Besotted by Wednesdays 22-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

I can’t be the only that doesn’t read the newspaper or watch the news on TV because I’m sick of hearing about all the dreadful things. I know that things happen in life, but that doesn’t mean I want to give energy to the bad things. I’d rather focus on the good and wonderful things that happen. Along comes ‘The Optimist’ to present you with news the way I think it should be.

There are times when I’m feeling very nostalgic and I think about things I used to see on TV when I was growing up. The old Cadbury Flake ad with the woman in the boat. Watching My Secret Valley. Being introduced to the Fourth Doctor. YouTube helps a lot, but what if you’re not looking for anything specific, just something from a certain year? Enter, the YouTube Time Machine.

Got a painting project coming up but need help with your inspiration? Colortopia can sort you out. You can upload a photo of your inspiration, or answer a few questions to get colour suggestions.

I love my books. I love reading them several times over. Imagine my shock when I learnt that there are people who only read a book once (‘I’ve already read it, why do I need to read it again?’) or worse, don’t even buy books? They just use the library! Not saying that there’s anything wrong with the library, but to not buy books at all? Well, apparently they’re missing out on some health benefits from only reading a book once.

Warwick Davis has done some amazing work. I first saw him in Willow and I was excited to be able to show him to my daughter when we did the Harry Potter movies. He put out an invitation on his Twitter account to ask him anything and he will answer it. His answers show us his wonderful sense of humour.

Trompe-L’oeil pictures trick us into seeing something that isn’t real. Usually on walls that show us a room, or open area that couldn’t possibly be there but looks so real or mind has trouble believing it’s just a flat area. Couture Deco have these amazing Trompe L’oeil door stickers. So many to choose from, it’s almost hard to decide...

Most people love Superheroes. Generally they have a favourite as well. They help dish out justice in whatever way they can and the town/city/village can feel safe again. They seem immutable. Always going to be there, always going to be the bad guy, always going to help us. Always is a long time though and people age. Even if they have superpowers. A gallery on Behance shows us what it might be like when that day comes.

Food, glorious and wonderful

I’ll tell anyone that I love my food. I don’t stress whether or not something is ‘fattening’ or ‘bad for me’. Everything is bad for you if you’re stupid about it. Eat in moderation. Don’t eat more than your fill. All that jazz. Not much can put me off my food either. I remember in high school while eating some musk lollies, a friend told me that musk is scraped off deer testicles.


‘Fascinating’ I said as I popped another musk flavoured lolly in my mouth.


I don’t see myself as ‘picky’ about my food, although I suppose I am. In a way that I’m about to contradict myself. I know people that are super picky about things. Like they’ll only eat such-and-such brand of chocolate. Or won’t eat something made from a particular country (yes, that’s true).


As long as I’m happy with the taste, I’m not going to worry about brands or country.


That being said though, I don’t like how food is being ‘fancied up’ (My made up term ) I like good, old-fashioned, regular ways of food. Meals that are bigger than a speck on my plate. Something that doesn’t look like I’m ruining an art sculpture. Added herbs and spices that don’t overwhelm.


Even cupcakes. Yeah, those cupcakes with the thick buttercream may look pretty in the store window, but (and I can’t be the only one) that much buttercream makes me want to puke. I enjoy icing that doesn’t make my throat spasm.


Would you prefer something that looks fantastic on display but is mediocre in taste, or would you rather keeps things simple and be in taste heaven?

Squealing fandom

In a couple of months I’m off to Supanova. Not even the one in my state, no, this time I’m flying interstate. Why you ask? Well, I’ll tell you why. I have three *very* good reasons.

1. Oliver Phelps

2. James Phelps

3. Peter Facinelli

Good grief. Guest stars have yet to be announced for my local Supanova, but I’ve made my choice. I first heard about the twins. I loved them in the Harry Potter movies, so that was a no brainer. Then I heard about Peter and that was just the icing on the cake. The only thing is, I’ve seen on TV what it’s like when these three are out at whatever events they attend and all I ever see is girls of all ages screaming and crying.


I just don’t get it. If you’re about to meet someone you love/admire/look-up-to/worship/crush on, wouldn’t you want to make at least a semi decent impression? I think I’d freak a little if someone came up to me screaming and crying and waving an autograph book and pen in my face.


Of course, my impression will most likely to be go bright red in the face and then to blurt out something completely stupid like, ‘omgiwannamarryyou’ and then hope to god they don’t mind a slightly older woman hanging off their arm (yes, I know Peter is married, but I can live in hope )


How do you keep your cool when meeting a celebrity? Or do you go stark raving mad from their sheer awesomeness?

Besotted by Wednesdays 15-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

With tech trends changing so fast, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with them all. GeekSugar have put together a slideshow of what the best trends were for 2011.

Who doesn’t love playing Fruit ninja? Well, this won’t interest you then. For the rest that love testing their reflexes on random pieces of fruit, you can now buy Fruit Ninja plushies! Great for testing your abilities in your lounge room.

I came across the most wonderful sketch pad. It’s browser sketch pad so you can draft up your webpages! One of the best ideas ever in my book. There’s even a stencil you can buy to use on the sketch pad.

Do you ever think much about the future? What’s going to happen, how things are going to change. Well Michael realised that we only need to look to movies to see what’s supposed to be happening.

NY’s School of Visual Arts students come up with some amazing work and for those that are interested in seeing what’s they’re producing, they’ve created a free online magazine for us to flip through.

I love a broad range of music. On my MP3 player, you can find Aaliyah next to ZZ Top. Britney singing about ‘til the world ends’ right after Metallica tell me ‘blackened is the end’. It’s not just the mainstream songs that I listen to, you’ll also find parodies and wizrock. And now I’ve found another genre to listen to. GeeksAreSexy introduce us to bands who use or base their music on video games.

A simple reminder, that reading is not such a bad thing after all. Whatever format you may choose.

The mouse maketh the (wo)man

As I have yet to do anything to fix my desktop, all my computing needs are handled by my laptop these days. Of course, ‘these days’ has been for the last couple of years or so. Seriously, all it needs is a new hard drive. I think. Anyway, sliding off topic.

The laptop is great. Does everything I want it to… except keeping peripherals connected when via the USB ports. One slight brush of the cable and it’s suddenly disconnected. One such peripheral is the mouse. I can’t stand using touchpads for long periods of time (which totally contradicts the need for my touch UI smartphone…). My mouse has served me well for the last five and a half years. Until now. It started double clicking everything that I wanted to only single click. Very frustrating when sorting through emails, copy/pasting files, etc.

I hear you saying, ‘So go buy another mouse. Geez. They’re only five bucks at Officeworks.’

While this is true, I find that I’m very picky about things in a seemingly Sheldon-esque way. I’ve handled and tested far too many mice than is normal until last weekend when, in sheer frustration, I bought the cheapest mouse I could find. Simply for the convenience of actually having something useable, but not wanting to spend a lot on something I’m not completely happy with.

It does the job sufficiently well, but the feel of it… It’s the oddest shape and makes me feel like I need to merge my fingers into an alien-looking talon.

So, how picky are you when it comes to your mice? Will any ol’ thing do, or do you test and feel as many as possible before diving in?

Money, money, money

Guess what? Don't worry, I'm going to tell you anyway. It's my birthday on Saturday (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). No idea what I'm going to do though. I'm not one for big gatherings of people. Especially if the gathering is because of me. But (yes, I did just start a sentence with a preposition) that's not what made me bring up my birthday. It's because I have stuck inside my head that I have to buy a lotto ticket for Saturday's draw. "Why?" you ask. Because my mother keeps reminding me that there's going to be a huge jackpot on that day. I don't remember how much it is, only that if I were the single winner, I would be beyond ecstatic and immediately set about organising a world trip.


Like most people I've occasionally thought about how nice it would be to win lotto/powerball/obscenely huge amounts of cash and already spent most of it in my mind, but it seems to me that my mother is obsessed about trying to win some sort of jackpot. Whenever there's a large jackpot coming up, she says to me, "Don't forget to get your entry!"


To me, sure, it'd be nice and if I remember to buy a ticket, then whatever. It's not going to bother me if I don't buy one.


Anyway, how would you spend your winnings if you won some huge lotto jackpot? What I'd do is;

• Buy my house. Not just any house, but the one I'm renting now. We quite like it here.
  
• Buy a car. Yes, I know I said I'm liking not having a car, but when I want to buy shelves at IKEA, I kind of need to bring it home in something.
  
• World trip! There's so many places I want to see. I doubt that I'd do it all in one go though. Oh, and I'd have to send mum over to see her sister.
  
• Buy mum her own place to live. She lost her house last year and is currently in a sticky predicament.
  
• After the big things, there's the little things. Like buy some new clothes, replace my old, worn out bookshelves, replace my ancient desktop. The rest would probably go into savings and a trust fund for my daughter.

I'd still probably keep my job though. Funny as it may sound, seeing as I keep hearing/seeing people complain about their jobs, I love my job. Would you continue working, or would it be an ecstatic 'SEE YA LATER!'?

What's your calling?

A few lunch breaks ago, one of our PAs had some questions for me. Now, what those questions were and what they related to I'm not entirely sure as she usually has quite a few. Probably either something to do with her mobile phone or her computer. After answering her, she said, "I think you've missed your calling."
What calling she had in mind, I don't know. And when did I miss it?


Sure I like helping people. Sure I'll answer as best I can or direct you to where you can find the answer, but what exactly kind of calling does that indicate? Sure I've thought about getting my Microsoft certificates before. Sure I've briefly thought about doing help desk, but I don't think that would mean I missed my calling.


For one thing, I've heard too many help desk stories. Yes there's the good ones, but it's the bad ones I worry about. I don't deal well with anger or criticism. If I went for the Microsoft certificates, then which one?


Further educataion has always baffled me. In high school, everyone else was planning what subjects they needed for what they wanted to do in life. Me? It kind of went like this; "Hmmm... ancient history sounds interesting. I'll do that. I like playing the keyboard, I'll do music. Ooo!! Woodwork! That sounds like fun!" And you can forget about me planning what university I wanted to attend and what courses I would do. In the end, I didn't finish high school. Sometimes I wish I had. Then I have a hot chocolate and feel all better.


Even now, I'm enrolled to do a Bachelor of Naturopathy. Which I like. Mostly. There's heaps of things I love learning about. Then there's the ones that make my head hurt and cause me to wonder why in blazes I enrolled in the first place.
Then there's the part of me that wants to go off and do some stunt driving courses and get into stunt driving.


In conclusion, for me, this whole 'your calling' business is completely nuts. They make it sound like there's one thing you should be doing, so you should stick with it. Personally, I'd rather go with the flow...

Besotted by Wednesdays 01-02-2012

Bringing you things that have me drunkenly infatuated. Or is it infatuatingly drunk? Either way, it's things and places I love. 

For (probably a long) while, some of the links may seem like old news. This is because I currently have a backlog of pure awesomeness to sort through.

This article places a large amount of blame on Google for not recognising geeky women, but it’s only because of the data they are getting. Follow the simple steps to state proudly, that you are a geeky woman!

If websites were superheroes, who would they be? College Humour have come up with a few ideas.

OK, this is a little late, but I was on holidays. Besides, don’t they say ‘It’s better late than never.’? A bunch of random trivia for National Trivia Day. I found this list to be a lot more random than others. Usually I’ve already heard of the so-called ‘things you didn’t know’. This time I’d be lucky if there are 10 I’ve already heard.

Another one from Mental Floss. I love them. This one brings back a lot of nostalgic feelings. Sounds that (mostly likely) your children have never heard.

Who doesn’t love typography? Well then, you can probably skip this one. For everyone else, RedBubble have found ten places where you can increase your typography skills.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of cooking lately. I mean, more than the usual steak & veges for dinner. Something about being in a new, slightly more organised kitchen I think. I usually like to make my own variation of a recipe I’ve come across, or something completely different like these two for an ‘Impossible Pie’.

(edit: link no longer works. Thankfully I saved the recipe)

Sending you back in time again is the ‘Restart Page’. How many do you recognise? Prefect for those times you miss the old Apple IIe starting up... or something like that.