Things fall apart… the center does not hold.
I’m speaking of underwear, of course. It has recently come to my attention that all my underwear is falling apart (except for Hello Kitty, of course). Just about everything I have was purchased at Marks & Spencer on arriving in the UK four years ago, and four years is apparently the threshold at which M&S smalls start to disintegrate. Thus I found myself staring glumly at the lingerie department in Kmart yesterday. I hate shopping for that stuff. In desperation I went with the only brand name I recognized… Bonds. To my surprise, everything fitted well and looked nice. And hey, it’s all new and supportive and cute! And, oh, how nice it is to not have a wonky underwire digging into your armpit! I happily pranced out of the dressing room and dropped $80 on undergarments. Now I’m sitting here in 100% cotton comfort. I feel my overall outlook on life improving. Perhaps I should sell this as a self-improvement strategy…

It’s been pretty windy and stormy for the past week, and though our corn and tomatoes are loving the rain, they’ve been taking quite a battering. Do you think we should stake them upright? I’m just worried that if this wind keeps up it’ll blow all our plants over!

I just got back from the newsagent where I stood in line nervously for five minutes hoping they hadn’t sold out of today’s Daily Telegraph Lord of the Rings “Saruman” pin only to have the clerk pull out a giant bag of about a hundred and then struggle to tear it open, thus proving that I was the first nerd in the whole shopping center to actually ask for one. *cringe* And I have to go back tomorrow for Gandalf day!

Helen finally got me. I had a bunch of fake little plastic spiders out as decorations for my Halloween party and that cheeky Luna Lovegood went around hiding them in my house to scare me later. I found most of them right away (though it did take me a couple weeks to discover the one floating in the jalapeno jar at the back of the fridge). Then last night I decided to take a shower in the guest bathroom for the first time in ages. It was all steamy; I didn’t have my contacts in; and as I lifted up the bar of soap something black with many legs flipped up off the dish. My response is best left to your imagination, but I will say it’s a wonder I didn’t kill myself jumping around on the slippery tiles. Damn you, Helen! 🙂

Gollum goes hip-hop. This made the Snook and I giggle insanely. (Link courtesy of Kevin.)

Hmm. Pride and Prejudice gets the Clueless treatment. Some of the reviews don’t sound too bad though, for a low-budget film with a reworked plot and no-name actors. I’m also pleased that they observed the unwritten rule that all men who play Mr Darcy must have sexy sideburns. I’d definitely watch this. (Link via an e-mail from my sister.)

It’s gettin’ serious. I just got a letter from the Department of Immigration to let me know that my two-year temporary residence period is nearly up. Now Rodd and I basically have to go through the whole application process again to secure my permanent residency. We have to provide sworn statutory declarations that our relationship is continuing and genuine and then back that up with all the evidence we can (photos, bills, bank statements, joint travel itineraries, wills, everything). Such a hassle. At least I don’t have to do the full medical checkup this time. The only thing that makes it easier is knowing that we’d have just as much difficulty (if not more) getting the Snook into the States. These international love affairs ain’t easy, you know.

Knitting goes to war. Fascinating information about knitting during World Wars I & II. I love the historical posters, especially the one with the “glamour girl” knitting.

Johnny is a baby name. Now come on, Australia. Even I think you’re munching on some serious sour grapes there. 🙂

We had a massive thunderstorm this afternoon. By the time I left work, water was gushing from light fixtures in the ceiling in four places! Pretty scary.

A-HA! I was all confused last week because the episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy that we saw wasn’t listed on any of the show’s websites. Turns out – based on this TWoP discussion – that we Aussies actually lucked out and saw an episode that hasn’t aired in the US yet! Pretty sweet. This week’s episode was our “series finale”, which was the one with Psycho Girlfriend Lisa. Man, that Blair guy really was pretty useless. Can anybody fill me in on the situation with him? Did they fire him and hire Jai?