tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-313310452024-03-14T04:23:52.394+13:00Not usually about penguinsRUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.comBlogger271125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-59021069955889804222011-10-13T13:41:00.001+13:002011-10-13T14:01:14.800+13:00Road tripDriving along one of Wellington's narrow winding roads with a footpath on one side I saw a child standing on the other side smiling at me. A blond, tousle haired, wee boy who looked about two. There was no one around. I pulled over, thinking an adult would pop out of a car or up from a path any moment. No one except the child on the side of the road standing between the yellow lines and a fence.<br />
<br />
I hopped out of the car and started across the road. Huge smile. Still no one else around and I'm thinking that he's probably been told to stand right there while they deal with a baby or something like that. I ask: "Hello, what are you up to?", "Is your mum around?" "Where do you live?" but don't get any answers. After a bit he points down the hill at a house. "Is that your house?". No reply.<br />
<br />
The house has toys visible and an open door. It is not obvious how to get there from here. There must be a path but it isn't the closest one. I keep chatting, hoping someone will hear me and appear. We smile at each other a lot. I think he has escaped and is very pleased with himself.<br />
<br />
Finally I hear a person in the house below talking as if to a child. I call out "Hello?" and woman appears. "Is this your little one?" Her face is a combination of relief and horror.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-33342845099483341402010-12-25T20:13:00.000+13:002010-12-25T20:13:12.997+13:00Not the figgy puddingChristmas has been lovely with delighted small people enjoying presents. My mother gave me Richard Attenborough's <i>Life in Cold Blood</i> for my birthday and right now I feel a strong empathy with snakes.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2010/02/25/95855_local-news.html"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_g9D3MW2urlc/TRWYyRtWXoI/AAAAAAAAEk4/Mfd_VxdbeiA/s1600/Cairns-WebUsual-CP25FEB10P003-C0034675-SNAKE.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Merry Christmas all.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-65954014683755711022010-06-15T12:15:00.000+12:002010-06-15T12:15:49.736+12:00Mars on lifeThe Martians are trying to communicate with me through Google Reader. <br />
<br />
Today <a href="http://susanharper.blogspot.com/2010/06/complicated-cells.html">thinking with my hands yet</a> led me to <a href="http://symphonyofscience.com/">Symphony of Science</a> which is fabulous and entertaining, it also has "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ5sWfhkpE0&feature=player_embedded">The Case for Mars</a>". Once upon a time, many moons ago, when I wrote this blog more regularly, I was thinking of posting something about why I think terraforming is a bad idea but then someone told me that first I should read Kim Stanley Robinson's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy">Mars Trilogy</a> and I haven't got around to it. I don't think there is a case for Mars, not for sending humans there and especially not for colonising it.<br />
<br />
But it will probably happen because today my favourite webcomics told me:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF248-Transmission.jpg">Perry Bible Fellowship</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_g9D3MW2urlc/TBbAPWvDHII/AAAAAAAAARE/-T9UC_RvGJs/s1600/PBF248-Transmission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_g9D3MW2urlc/TBbAPWvDHII/AAAAAAAAARE/-T9UC_RvGJs/s640/PBF248-Transmission.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://xkcd.com/753/">xkcd (in rollover text)</a><br />
"all [JFK's] arguments for going to the moon work equally well as arguments for blowing up the moon, sending cloned dinosaurs into space, or constructing a towering penis-shaped obelisk on Mars."<br />
<br />
Further research is needed on the morphology of Martian genitalia.<br />
<a href="http://xkcd.com/753/"> </a>RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-46209004187578740352009-09-19T20:30:00.006+12:002009-09-19T20:39:54.066+12:00Married lifeThis morning Ladybird and Little Bear got married. It was a grand affair: all the Sylvanians came and Ladybird and Little Bear wore clothes specially made for the occaision.<br /><br />Tonight I helped them undress and put them to bed. Ladybird with K and Little Bear with H.<br /><br />They honeymoon period wasn't very long. Perhaps they'll get conjugal visits.<b><br /></b>RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-76020043405596110892009-09-17T08:06:00.005+12:002009-09-17T09:07:00.429+12:00In characterM - Weary and long suffering Mum.<br />C - Sensitive and slightly melodramatic young Child.<br /><br />1:30am a couple of nights ago.<br /><br />Noises off - creak of door, pad of small feet belonging to Child.<br /><br />C: Mu-um<br />M: Hngft<br />C: I can't sleep.<br />M: Do you need to go to the toilet?<br />C: Mmm.<br />M: Come on then.<br /><br />C and M exit.<br /><br />A long time passes.<br /><br />Voices heard from outside door:<br /><br />M: Time to go back to your bed.<br />C: I want to be in your bed.<br />M: I know, but you need to go back to your bed.<br />C: I won't be able to sleep in my bed.<br />M: Why won't you be able to sleep in your bed?<br />C: Sister is crying.<br />M: Why is she crying?<br />C: She says her ear hurts.<br /><br />M's footsteps rushing upstairs to her other daughter who despite being stoic is whimpering pathetically in pain.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-144869592447900702009-09-14T20:57:00.004+12:002009-09-14T21:41:41.670+12:00R38Suddenly becoming in loco parentis to a 16 year-old is a fascinating experience. Sometimes it is just like parenting 6 year-olds but it is also very enjoyably different: he dresses himself every day without help <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>without being asked!<br /><br />Today I took B to the <a href="http://www.wetanz.com/cave">Weta Cave</a> and I started telling him about Peter Jackson's early movies: <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092610/">Bad Taste</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097858/"></a>and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/">Braindead</a>. Suddenly I realised that they might be <a href="http://www.censorship.govt.nz/censorship-film-labels.html#Rating">R18</a>*. I'm pretty fussy about what H & K get to watch (basically G rated DVDs and some PG rated nature/science documentaries we watch with them). But also I know that I watched R18 movies at 16-17 and thought that the restrictions were mostly pretty stupid at that point.<br /><br />So what do I think is appropriate for B? After some thought I think if I'd enjoy watching a movie with him it is appropriate for him to watch because I don't like movies that are both violent and horrible, and I'd find anything too explicit embarassing. Looking at movie ratings nearly everything rated R18 falls into one of these categories so I don't think I'll be corrupting the young lad soon.<br /><br />*Actually they are all R16.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-48087808801473945342009-09-09T16:24:00.005+12:002009-09-09T17:10:36.131+12:00The web is burning a hole in my pocketThe internet is full of tempting things. Currently it is <a href="http://www.homeharvest.co.nz/">home harvest</a> organic vege gardens, <a href="http://www.sportkilt.com/product/3871/Buchanan.html">sport kilts</a> and <a href="http://www.partypantspads.com/">party in my pants</a> pads that appeal to me. I'm trying to talk D around to the first, the second has exorbitant postage to NZ and the third is just rather expensive but maybe...RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-15136811174674167982009-09-08T10:30:00.000+12:002009-09-08T10:44:21.334+12:00Seeing redOne of the many kinds of unpaid work I do at the moment is shelving books in the junior bookroom at H & K's school. There is one in the easiest level called <span style="font-style: italic;">What is Red?</span> and I thought "Wow! I wonder how they explained what red is with such a limited vocab and structure?" Then I looked inside and found out that it meant what <span style="font-style: italic;">things </span>are red.<br /><br />I was left with the thought - what is the simplest book I could write that explains "What is Red?"<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is Red?</span> (first attempt - you'll have to imagine the pictures)<br /><br />Sunlight looks white.<br />Water can split up sunlight.<br />When sunlight is split up you see a rainbow.<br /><br />Sunlight is made up of all the colours of the rainbow.<br />Red is one of the colours of the rainbow.<br /><br />This white light is made up of all the colours of the rainbow too.<br />A glass prism can split up white light.<br />When white light is split up you see a rainbow.<br /><br />This is a blue light.<br />A glass prism can't split up blue light.<br />The blue light is made up of only blue.<br /><br />This tomato is red.<br />It looks red when it is in red light.<br />It reflects the red light.<br /><br />This is the tomato in blue light.<br />The tomato looks black.<br />There is no red part of the blue light for it to reflect.<br /><br />The tomato looks red in sunlight.<br />It reflects the red part of the sunlight.<br /> Red is what we see when the red part of sunlight shines on things that reflect red.</blockquote>RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-22245851407451184122009-09-07T10:49:00.005+12:002009-09-07T11:44:21.479+12:00True romanceThe three most romantic things D has ever done:<br /><br />Less than a year after D & I were married I went on a sea kayaking trip without him. On the first day, as I climbed out of the kayak in the surf, I felt my wedding ring slide off my icy finger into churning water. Everyone searched for it for hours but we didn't find it. That night I rang D and he said "I'll get my ring split in half." It was the perfect solution. I lost my original ring forever but I still have a ring from our wedding which I wear every day. Except when kayaking.<br /><br />Two years ago D & I were getting ready for a wedding. I was getting dressed and he was ironing his favorite shirt. Then I came out of the bedroom and he gazed at me admiringly for so long he burnt his shirt. (I have blogged this story before, <a href="http://notusuallyaboutpenguins.blogspot.com/2007/08/wedding-blue.html">here</a>).<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A few weeks ago I was feeling self-conscious </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ab</span>out my facial hair. I told D that I don't like it because it seems such a masculine thing. He said it isn't masculine, more <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">matriarchal</span>. Matriarchal I can handle.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-30614784894634594082009-09-04T11:43:00.006+12:002009-09-04T12:14:43.258+12:00We only bite the ones we loveAs a child I was a biter. Some kids hit, some pull hair, some pinch, I bit. Chomp. I probably bit my sister more than anyone else: she was there more than anyone else.<br /><br />For the last several years she and I have been going to the same dentist but he only just discovered we are related. When she asked about family resemblances he said:<br /><blockquote>I didn't think the bites were similar, no, no, Ruth has a bite like noone else on Earth.</blockquote>RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-46036686464673883702009-09-03T13:00:00.005+12:002009-09-03T14:24:39.774+12:00Running with wordsLook I'm posting! I'm not <a href="http://xkcd.com/621/">apologising for not posting</a>. I have had a lot of things to put here but they haven't been making it out my fingers.<br /><br />So what's going on with me?<br /><br />I've just become host mother to a 16 year-old German <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFS_Intercultural_Programs">AFS</a> student, B. My mental images of this relationship owe rather too much to the Alien movies but I'm not actually expecting him to come bursting out my chest.<br /><br />Now one of our children is 6'2" I don't think I can keep using "the midgets" as a collective noun for them. Any suggestions?<br /><br />H is waiting for an operation on her shoulder. The first of many she'll have in the next 10 years. for a congentital condition called <a href="http://www.mheandme.com/">MHE</a>. Four months ago they said her operation would be in the next six months. Waiting sucks but I'd prefer universal public healthcare to the alternatives.<br /><br />My <a href="http://notusuallyaboutpenguins.blogspot.com/2008/11/treating-tricks.html">neurological oddity</a> is officially unimportant.<br /><br />I had the swine flu and 2 months later I finally think I'm totally over it. In June, just before I got sick, I set a goal to go for a 20-30 minute run/walk at least fortnightly from the middle of August. When I set the goal it seemed very, very easy and very, very far away. Today I actaully started <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>the achievement has made me blog.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-24043407946966971662008-12-23T19:56:00.003+13:002008-12-23T20:23:05.888+13:00'Tis the seasonToday the builder came to do a wee job and told us we needed to empty <span style="font-style: italic;">everything </span>out of our bedroom and the children's bedroom, so we started dealing with that, but then a delivery truck arrived with an enormous, gorgeous outdoor table which was a Christmas surprise for me, so we started dealing with that, but then we realised that our backyard was <span style="font-style: italic;">full </span>of bees.<br /><br />After a day of moving everything out of the two messiest rooms in our house I got pizza for dinner, but to keep with the theme of chaos they gave me the wrong pizzas.<br /><br />Now, we have gone back and collected the right pizzas and eaten, H & K's room is back together enough for them to sleep in, our room is still empty and covered in dust, the table is on the deck, the bees are hanging out in swarm like a giant strawberry in the neighbours' tree and I've mislaid my glasses.<br /><br />Fa la la la la la la la laRUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-30196330435356531482008-12-10T19:53:00.004+13:002008-12-10T20:08:33.384+13:00Special theory of evolutionA small figure in a nightie just appeared at the living room door and said pathetically:<br /><blockquote>"H doesn't believe that a long time ago people looked like gorillas and lived in cages."</blockquote>RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-43287853744413814332008-11-09T22:04:00.009+13:002008-11-10T13:38:13.934+13:00Now it's time for a changeThe problem with democracy is that people who don't agree with me get to vote. I hope three years of a National/ACT government will show them the error of their ways.<br /><br />10 good things about the election<br /><ol><li>I live in a democracy where I have the right to vote, I can vote without intimidation, voting is easy, accessible and popular*, and I am confident that all votes are fairly counted.<br /></li><li>Winston Peters is finally out of parliament \o/<br /></li><li>I voted in H & K's classroom surrounded by their, and their classmates, art.<br /></li><li>There'll be at least two more Green MPs in parliament.<br /></li><li>A fairy queen and a fairy princess came with me to vote.</li><li>I am now represented by an openly gay MP.<br /></li><li>The way the National party got in was by backing most changes Labour have introduced.<br /></li><li>I'm told there is a better quality of political comedy under right wing governments.<br /></li><li>MMP continues to encourage diversity in parliment. For the first time there will be a Sikh MP.<br /></li><li>I got to use a big fat orange pen.</li></ol>* 78% turnout of registered voters.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-59410961468819051202008-11-06T13:25:00.004+13:002008-11-06T13:45:08.456+13:00Objects in mirror are closer than they appearLast night we huddled around a laptop and watched Obama make <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008">political history</a> in America and then went outside and let of fireworks to mark <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night">political history</a> in England. It's not that it is so much a small world as that we are at one end of the binoculars and the USA and UK are at the other.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-68433448828683980402008-11-04T15:20:00.004+13:002008-11-04T15:44:25.318+13:00Treating tricksA couple of updates:<br /><br />I have been to the neurological ophthalmologist (because I couldn't get an appointment with a neurologist [backstory <a href="http://notusuallyaboutpenguins.blogspot.com/2008/09/blank-page-in-diary-of-my-life.html">here</a> then <a href="http://notusuallyaboutpenguins.blogspot.com/2008/10/next-blank-page.html">here</a>]) and he says that my jerky eye tracking is "asymptomatic" and I should only worry if it starts to cause me problems, e.g. nausea. Given that my concern is that it is a symptom of something else this is only partly reassuring. I am trying hard to be reassured as there is no advantage in worrying. He is also going to chat to a neurologist about it and let me know what they say.<br /><br /><hr /><br />My plan for <a href="http://notusuallyaboutpenguins.blogspot.com/2007/11/cultural-contamination-and-begging.html">world domination</a> is progressing, this year we lured 99 trick or treaters to our door. Last year we had 70. I think next year I should cater for 130.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-91563557056244008092008-10-25T17:11:00.005+13:002008-10-25T17:23:56.491+13:00Sometimes about penguinsI thought it was about time to post something about penguins. I tried looking for a weird penguin fact but the ones I found weren't nearly weird enough. This, however, is:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.freakingnews.com/the-Penguin-portrait-Pics-33120.asp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_g9D3MW2urlc/SQKdIe6-jTI/AAAAAAAAAHE/IApkKHQvIp0/s400/the-Penguin-portrait--26995.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260940083787107634" border="0" /></a>From <a href="http://www.freakingnews.com/Penguins-Pictures--1339.asp">here</a>.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-17034783456322797002008-10-24T18:16:00.004+13:002008-10-24T18:27:10.300+13:00Capitalism at playH waiting for her first visit from the tooth fairy:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_g9D3MW2urlc/SQFasY02I7I/AAAAAAAAAG8/8XUfvs2vZPQ/s1600-h/P7230234.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_g9D3MW2urlc/SQFasY02I7I/AAAAAAAAAG8/8XUfvs2vZPQ/s320/P7230234.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5260585558370296754" border="0" /></a><br />Yesterday she lost her second baby tooth. I'm pleased to report this time she just left a flower for the tooth fairy.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-54022005825444953762008-10-22T20:49:00.006+13:002008-10-22T21:01:00.454+13:00Democracy in technicolour<div class="blogbody"> <p>In a couple of weeks there will be an election. I wrote this three years ago during the build up to the last election and I still haven't changed my mind.<br /></p><p></p></div><blockquote><div class="blogbody"><p>The more I think about it the more I am unable to consider voting anything but Green.</p> <p>I think they were unbelievably stupid creating contraversy around the Meningococcal B vaccination campaign.<br /></p> <p>But consider global warming.</p> <p>Seriously.</p> <p>I mean just for starters think about the Wahine Storm hitting Wellington every year. What about the effects of the sea level rising on the CBD? What about a changing climate on our agriculturally based economy?</p> <p>Even social welfare spending is a trivial issue by comparison with global warming.</p> <p>Now you can argue that global warming is a far bigger issue than the NZ government can sort out and that you should use your vote on something more personal. The problem with this is that global warming will get personal. If you believe it is worth voting at all - that your one vote might make a difference, then it is worth believing that your one country might make a difference too.</p> <p>So - how do the parties stack up? Well, Forest & Bird did a nice summarised evaluation of the parties policies on this and other environmental issues and I'm afraid I don't have it in front of me and I can't remember it all but what I do remember is that the Greens were the only party with two ticks for global warming, Labour got one and National got none.</p> <p>I am struck at this point by a profusion of silly slogans - Vote for the weather. Vote for the future. Vote for the continuation of the species.</p> </div> <span style="font-style: italic;">Posted </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.stonesoup.co.nz/chinashop/archives/005753.html">here</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> 30 August 2005.<br /></span> </blockquote>My favourite thing about New Zealand elections is that you vote with a fat orange felt pen, a clear sign of a serious democracy at work.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-72329517361407422512008-10-22T20:26:00.004+13:002008-10-22T20:43:26.780+13:00The next blank pageMy referral was faxed through again. Outpatients booking at the hospital sent it to Neurology. Today I found out Neurology assessed it and cancelled it due to "insufficient information". In September. Today my GP found out when I rang and told her. I asked my GP to refer me privately. She is having trouble finding a private neurologist who is available.<br /><br />There are many things I love about the New Zealand health system. The fact I, or any other New Zealand resident, should be able to see a Neurologist if their GP thinks it is appropriate without paying a cent is one of them. The underfunded administration is not one.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-41055927032633056542008-10-22T11:31:00.003+13:002008-10-22T20:25:08.968+13:00TestingI've just set it up so I can post from txt. Neat huh?<br /><br />Edited to add: it would be neat if it didn't have my phone number as the Title...RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-88829933835009594392008-09-13T19:56:00.004+12:002008-09-13T20:40:56.033+12:00A blank page in the diary of my lifeIn June my optometrist recommended that I referred to a neurologist because my eye tracking is slightly jerky and has been for at least a year (ataxia). He also asked questions like "Have you ever had a head injury?" - No, and "Do you have a family history of Parkinson's Disease?" - Yes.<br /><br />I went to the doctor the next day and she wrote a referral letter. 5 weeks later I hadn't heard anything back from the hospital so I followed up. The doctor wrote another referral and got the practice nurse to fax it through.<br /><br />On Friday I followed up again, 12 weeks after first being referred, a different practice nurse figured out that the fax was sent upside down, i.e. the hospital received a blank piece of paper. I don't know what happened to the first referral perhaps it was not the first time the nurse made this mistake.<br /><br />Aaargh.<br /><br />Fortunately it is not something difficult to live with and a delay in investigating the cause is unlikely to make any difference to the outcome as the scenarios I know of are:<br /><ul><li>the ataxia will never be explained, it is just a mysterious quirk,</li><li>when I was born I received brain damage which was so minor that it has not been picked up until now (I was a difficult forceps delivery),</li><li>Parkinson's disease,</li><li>Multiple Sclerosis.<br /></li></ul>Unfortunately I have spent 3 months with the last two scenarios lurking in the dark corners of my mind. Parkinson's scares me less than MS. I know too many women who died in their late 40s/early 50s of MS. But, la la la la la, there is no point in worrying, la la la la la, I just need to wait and see, la la la la la, I've probably always been like this, la la la la la, think happy thoughts, la la la la la.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-84935014092122948932008-08-26T20:47:00.004+12:002008-08-26T21:11:07.108+12:00Public service announcementIf you're in Wellington and have been meaning to go to a first aid course and not getting around to it then join me at the NZ Red Cross comprehensive first aid course on 15 and 16 October. You can book at www.redcross.org.nz or by ringing 499 5827.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-2820585804164357042008-07-22T09:49:00.006+12:002008-07-22T10:08:50.138+12:00Electric sheepLast night I hosted a toy library working bee at my house. Early this morning I was part of a futuristic SWAT team with Barack Obama, Sigourney Weaver and some other tall thin famous people. In our shuttle we donned helmets and leather superhero suits as we prepared to take on someone with seriously overdue toys.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31331045.post-44900936909263364602008-07-20T08:52:00.004+12:002008-07-20T09:04:30.834+12:00The consumption and development of brainsSchool holidays has overtaken my life but it is ok:<br /><a href="http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/zombie" style="background: transparent url(http://www.oneplusyou.com/q/img/bb_badges/zombie.jpg) no-repeat scroll 0% 50%; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: none; display: block; width: 385px; height: 209px; padding-top: 35px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; font-family: Times New Roman,sans-serif; font-size: 60px; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block;">45%</span></a><br />Yesterday as a 4 year-old chatted to me about playing Halo 2 (which is R16) on the xbox in his bedroom I was struck by the wide variety of options we have as parents. I expect he is better prepared than H & K for surviving a zombie apocalypse.RUTHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17066700024072725883noreply@blogger.com5