web-goddess

How to make a real pizza. The site is running slow as a dog at the moment (I think it got BoingBoinged), but I managed to get all the text to load. The Snook’s going to love it. Of course, he’s also probably going to burn the house down trying to get our oven hot enough…

My Mom’s posted some more quilts if you’re interested… And you should be, because they’re gorgeous. I love the old fashioned Holly Hobbie one.

How do you celebrate a big fitness accomplishment? By getting stinkin’ drunk with a bunch of random Internet friends. It was weird meeting other MeFites in person and being able to make really geeky inside jokes that even the Snook didn’t get. After four schooners I may be iffy on the names, but I’m pretty sure I met peacay (which is most definitely pronounced “pee kay”), tellurian, dhruva, arha, UbuRoivas, qwip, and Mrs. qwip. (Hopefully the qwips – who are Americans too, yay! – should have photographs.) It was actually really fun, once we got over the awkward meeting-each-other phase.

Update: Yep, pics are up.

The Snook and I started off the weekend yesterday with a long walk over to the Farmer’s Market at the Entertainment Quarter. We hadn’t really intended to get anything in particular… but somehow we ended up lugging a big bag of stuff home. Afterwards we assembled our feast and sat out in the sun in the back garden. We had slices of fresh sourdough charred and rubbed with garlic, and then loaded them up with crushed fresh cherry tomatoes and basil. We also had two types of cheese – Roquefort and Wensleydale – along with organic salami and fresh strawberries. Bring on summer! We were so inspired I decided to give SSK a miss and we spent some time weeding in the garden. Now we just need some seedlings…

A quick shower later and then, at last, it was time for Amy’s and my date with the Boy from Oz. (Amy’s friend Jacqui joined us.) We were seated straight out from the stage… just way, way far away. Luckily they had giant screens so we could see every last eyelash on Hugh’s face. He opened the show by descending from from the ceiling on a white grand piano dressed in a silver sequined suit, at which point Amy leaned over to whisper: “And I was worried he wouldn’t be gay enough!” Our boy Hugh, indeed, can camp it up with the best of them. The show was polished, slick, and highly entertaining. The acresses playing Judy Garland and Liza Minelli were pretty much spot-on, and I absolutely loved Liza’s transition into the “Cabaret” scene. MAGIC. But really, everybody was just there to see their boy Hugh. I can only imagine that the show has changed a lot since it was on Broadway. They were really playing to the local audience and a lot of the patter and expressions were very Australian. At one point, Hugh even emerged wearing a sleeveless Swans jersey with “Allen” bedazzled on the back. (That’s the moment at which Amy and I started arguing over whether his bum or his arms were more swoonworthy. Amy and the audience both preferred the bum, with one old lady actually telling him “Nice ass” as he worked the room.) The only problem for me was the lack of emotional resonance. I just didn’t really feel anything about the story. I don’t know if the problem is with the book or whether it was just that we were too darn far away from the stage, but I wanted to feel some tears welling up and I never did. Not even when his hot boyfriend (with the bad Texan accent) died. Maybe if they’d kissed… Who knows. So all in all an entertaining outing, but one that didn’t get beyond the superficial for me.

And the absolute highlight of the night? Amy brought us Beard Papa’s! I have to say, even cold and soft they kicked Puffy Cookie Puff Puff‘s ASS.

There’s a beautiful gray-and-white stray cat that’s been lurking around our neighborhood lately, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Dr. Amy Jones. We first learned about the visitor when Amy woke us up early one morning, freaking out and scrabbling at the bedroom window. “Awww, she wants a friend! Maybe we should get another cat,” we thought. We spent a few days thinking about the ramifications. Then today I was sitting at the computer with her nuzzling into my shoulder (see DeskCam), all sweetness and fuzzy purring. Suddenly I felt her stiffen and I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Gray Cat was sitting in our back garden! Amy freaked out and scrambled out of my arms, and the two of them faced each other through the sliding glass door. I ran for my camera – thinking it would make a great Flickr shot – but Amy reared up on her back legs and started striking out at Gray Cat through the glass. Gray Cat predictably ran away, and Amy sat glowering at the door daring her to return. Her little head was actually visibly vibrating with emotion. “Uh, maybe we misinterpreted their relationship,” I said to the Snook. Our dear Puss Puss seems to view Gray Cat as an interloper, and interlopers Must Be Destroyed. How cute to have our own little Attack Feline.

I was in Kinokuniya last night stocking up on comic books when I noticed they had a big poster up for International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Huh? Since when does an Internet joke become an actual holiday that is celebrated by businesses in meatspace? It’s perplexing. I’m just waiting for the big poster in Coles next February advertising Steak and BJ Day.

The Snook would be the first to tell you that I am not a morning person. However, even I would cheerfully bound out of bed in the morning if my alarm clock woke me up with bacon.

A-Z Retail Tricks to Make You Shop. MWA HA HA! The dirty hippies want to expose these tricks so you’ll buy less, but little do they know they’ve also given us wannabe-marketers a great list of tricks to try! Now excuse me; I need to go plan out my “Zone of Transition.”