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You are here: Home / 2008 / Archives for April 2008

Archives for April 2008

Comment email responder

April 30, 2008 by Jen

Like Plain Jane Mom and others have lamented, it’s hard to know whether to reply to commenters via email, ie privately, or to respond to them via your blog in the comments, ie publicly. The trouble with the former is that the conversation is lost on your blog and the trouble with the latter is that the person you’re responding to via another comment might not check back to read it. Of course, you could do both (which I have occasionally done) but this is clunky and a bit time consuming.

But there is a way which I have just implemented here. A WordPress plugin called Comment email responder. This means:

The response becomes a comment in the normal way, but also fires off an email to the commentor with the content of the response and his original comment.

I haven’t tested it yet because I’ve had no comments since I added the plugin so I’ll give it a go and see what I think. I’d like to know what you think too.

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Big Brother 2008 – live blogging launch night

April 28, 2008 by Jen

So, Big Brother 2008 – will it be the same? I don’t think so. Mmmm, time will tell.

Intro from the hosts Kyle and Jackie. They say there’s new hosts, new house, new set. Wooo woooo.

They showed some auditions that didn’t make it, the typical get naked I’m so out there auditions.

The housemates are corralled together, actually they’re separated in small cubicles so they can’t see one another or talk with each other. The camera scans all the housemates. Kyle makes a comment – ‘hallo baby look at that one’, puhlease, do we need these type of remarks.

I think Kyle will be the bad loudmouth cop and Jackie will be the reasonable good cop.

Tour of the house with Jackie – combi van, tree swing, small pool, door of clouds (mystery), animal farm – plastic animals, the actual house is taped and locked up so no tour there. Gates aren’t just locked for us, but probably the housemates by the sounds of it.

Terri, grandmother, 52, likes Pauline Hanson. Was a single mum for a long time – one good parent is better than two crappy ones she says. Her grandson is the light of her life. She’s the oldest housemate ever in BB Australia. Everyone thinks she’s a cranky old grandmother but she thinks she’s nice. Kyle reckons they’d get on well. She has very strong opinions about everything.

Saxon, council worker, 22. He’s into conspiracy theories. He once saw a UFO and comes back to the same spot once a week to have a look for another one. His mates thinks he’s out there, but he thinks the truth is out there. He’s a council worker and admits he doesn’t do much work and says it’s not hard work at all. I’d say he’s out of a job when he gets kicked out the house. He’ll do what he wants to do. Nobody’s going to stop him.

Terri enters the house. Kyle says, ‘Nana, straight to the kitchen.’

Confidential info from BB who says that one of the housemates will get evicted from the house TONIGHT.

Saxon enters the house and meets Terri. Terri comments on Saxon’s tattoos and muscles and shows him her biceps.

Tour inside the house with Jackie – diary room (complete makeover). The lounge – question mark shaped lounge. Dining room – meals delivered on a conveyor belt and they have to be there in time to catch the food. Housemates have a locker with a false back so BB can take stuff when he pleases. The bedroom is just one giant bed.

Bianca, student, 18 – describes herself as more than bitch boobs and brains. Some men trip over things when they see her walking down the street (because her boobs are huge). Her boobs are not fake! Wiser than most 18 year olds she reckons. She’s a bit mumsy but can also dance for hours around the pool table. Kyle is speechless when he sees her, I mean her tits. She puts Kyle in his place when he asks her if she’ll be sunbaking – calls him creepy.

Back at house – Terri also thinks there’s something out there. Bianca walks in. Saxon’s very pleased with her (boobs).

Nobbi, student, 21. Has a daily facial routine which he thinks will be a problem in the house. Afraid of spending a long period of time in the house with girls because of the bitchiness but he wouldn’t mind Victoria Secret girls.

Nobbi enters the house. That’s an unusal name Terri says.

Brigitte, waitress, 20. Barbie because of the say she looks (long blonde hair). She’s a Paris Hilton wannabe. Her most prized possession is her boobs. She likes her hair extensions and makeup. Kyle thinks she’s hot too. I’m going to get sick, no – I’m already sick, of Kyle’s sexist remarks.

Back at the house, the tattoo on Saxon’s neck says dirt instead of warrior according to Nobbi.

BB says the rules are that there are no rules. And the eviction will happen overnight.

Brigitte enters the house. Saxon is again very happy and looking for very smug. Terri wonders if her dress could have been shorter.

Alice, doctor, 24. She’s a vet and always wanted to be a vet. Lazy people annoy her. She thinks BB will be an amazing experience. She has a very shiny face. She hates spiders.

Travis, marketing coordinator, 22. The one with the high pitched annoying voice. He gets a lot of comments about his voice. He’s self-described as very upbeat and positive. Kyle asks him why his voice is so high and Travis says he’s happy with it. Jackie says his voice is endearing. He’s not allowed to talk until he gets to the house.

Alice and Travis enter the house. Saxon has yet another big smile, at Alice this time.

Rory, bricklayer, 21. Maaate! He’s going to do a trip round Australia pub by pub when he finishes his apprenticeship. He wants a wife and a mistress one day and wants to succeed.

Rory enters the house. Admits he’s terrible with names and straight away Brigitte introduces everyone.

Renee, Abattoir worker, 22. Loves playing footy. She’s loud, talks a lot and doesn’t like dishonest people. Doesn’t like princess type girls because they’re usually bitchy.

Renee enters the house. Introductions all round.

Rima, Belly dancer, 25. She’s a normal person but shrunk (1 metre tall – she’s shorter than my son). Married to Karl (full size). Honesty gets her into trouble sometimes. She has a potty mouth.

Rima enters the house. Housemates are talking to plastic animals and Rory gets told to pull up his pants. Terri’s concerned that the toilet will be too high for Rima.

Cross to Mikey and Bree to talk about Friday Night Live but they can’t say anything anyway. Bree reckons the housemates are on an even playing field but I’m wondering about Rima. Fitzy comes out and spills some ‘secrets’.

Ben, student, 19. Smart student with good marks throughout school. Self confessed stereotypical geek. Success with girls? Needs women with depth. He’s done pretty well in the past with some dry patches. He thinks people will like him because he has an ability to keep his shirt on unlike many other Aussie blokes.

Ben enters the house. Others more interested in talking to everyone else than him, but they do introduce themselves.

Dixie, Mental Health Worker, 21. Loves tomato sauce and has with salads. She’s Australian Aboriginal. She’s not just a black fella, but also an Aussie. Apparently Dixie knows Renee, but neither know that each other is in the house.

Dixie enters the house. Dixie and Renee kiss and hug and Dixie introduces herself to everyone else.

Rebecca, Waitress, 22. Loves motivating other people. She doesn’t hate fat people (awful laugh). SHe doesn’t like showering without her thongs (flipflops) on. Give everything 100% and you’ll be sure to dominate. She reckons she’ll fix people’s dirty habits.

David, Fire Fighter, 32. Was raised in a religious sect (Exclusive Brethren) for first 19 years of his life. He’s ready to be incarcerated again. He can’t share a meal with his family anymore but his freedom is priceless. He was a cop but is now a firefighter. He was married for two years but is now divorced.

Rebecca and David (the last two housemates) enter the house. Actually they haven’t entered the house yet. BB welcomes the housemates. He points out that the house is out of bounds. He tells them the first surprise is a bad one. BB tells them that they must decide whose experience will be over by tomorrow. They have to decide who must be evicted. The house will remain closed until they decide who will be evicted. This is the first of several snap evictions.

Jackie doesn’t want anyone to go, but perhaps Brigitte will go because the girls might turn on her. Kyle doesn’t want any of his favourites to go (read any gorgeous girls).

Over and out for the launch show.

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Anzac Day, listen up, and a question

April 25, 2008 by Jen

Anzac Day

Over at Aussie Bloggers this fortnight’s Carnival of Australia is being hosted. It’s the Anzac Day edition and there’s lots of Australiana in there.

I’ve never been to an Anzac Day dawn service and I nearly went this morning but thought I’d better prepare JJ for it as I would have had to wake him and then explain what it was all about. I think it would be better to do this beforehand rather than at 5am.

My great uncle spent some of World War II in Papua New Guinea and he was always involved in Anzac Day and Remembrance Day services at our school. When the The Last Post played it always brought a tear to my eye and listening to it always made me thing of those that went to war and came back, and those that didn’t come back.

Listen up

While fiddling with my phone the other day I found the recording feature so I’ve mucked around with it. Of course it records files in some proprietary format that most software doesn’t recognise but I found some software that converted it to MP3 format.

Here it is – JJ and what he did during the holidays (MP3 file, 236kb, one minute duration). He says something in about one minute that could have taken 10 seconds and this is what I have to put up with all the time. Not being a really patient person it’s really hard not to say – just get to the point will ya?

A question

One thing I’ve never really done on this blog is to ask you what you might like to ask me to write here. So, now’s your chance. Do you have any burning questions for me? Is there anything you’d like to see covered here?

I’ll be away from the computer for a day or so. I hope all you Aussies enjoy your long weekend.

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The absurdity of parenting

April 21, 2008 by Jen

Sleep
Two Friday evenings ago was a bitch of a day as far as being a mum goes. It was the last day of the school term and JJ was obviously pretty tired of the whole school thing. He hadn’t had a great week at school (nothing too bad behaviour wise fortunately), and his teacher looked really fraught too. I tried to take that into account which is really hard when your son says that he hates you, and is constantly testing the limits. I also had a bit of a cold so wasn’t feeling the best. He’s still on minimal or no television and computer after the fighting episode at school so I couldn’t use these to get some respite. What parents did before television I don’t know. I guess they just sent the kids outside to play with their mates down the street.

After some disagreement he stormed off to his room to play. A little while later I decided to join him and have some floor time, ignoring the ‘you hate mes’ and ‘I hate yous’. It’s hard being hated (even though I know he doesn’t hate me really) and I can see why some parents cave in and give in to their kids demands. JJ was playing with his marbles and Magnetix and built a house. It looked really good and colourful so I decided to get the camera and take some photos.

This activity certainly deflected any bad feelings and it turned out to be fun. I set the camera up and took my photo for this month’s self portrait challenge.

It would be so easy to give up and put my head in my arms and have a very long sleep but to me, that’s not what parenting is about. I could have packed him off to bed and settled in front of the television instead of spending some quality time but I knew that I needed to develop a thicker skin and spend some time with him, time that was not spent picking at each other.

The absurd thing is that one minute I want to dig a big hole out in the back yard and bury him in it. The next minute I want to smother him with my love. Fortunately it doesn’t come to either of these extremes. (Of course I wouldn’t dig a big hole out in the back yard and bury him in it – it would take far too long.)

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It totally slipped me by

April 20, 2008 by Jen

I just saw the date 14 April on someone elses blog and I realised that my four year blogiversary completely slipped me by. This doesn’t surprise me as I saw a friend today and realised I’d completely forgotten her birthday too. She always remembers mine and JJ’s and I felt really really bad.

It’s not worth apologising to myself for missing my blogiversary, but happy belated birthday to this blogging thing for me.

2005 blogiversary

2006 blogiversary

2007 blogiversary

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Mini cam

April 19, 2008 by Jen

The other night I went out for dinner minus the child and my sister looked after aforementioned child. When I got home she said there’s some stuff on the table that JJ might be interested in. One thing was a tiny little digital camera that can take 25 photos and has the resolution of about 1 pixel. It’s probably more than that, but not much. Apparently she got it with some catalogue shopping she did and it has no brand name on so I have no idea what type it is.

After I found a battery for it he snapped the 25 photos in about two minutes and they look kind of cool so I thought I’d share. First of all though, is a photo that I took of this little camera.

Mini digital camera

Here’s some photos that he took and they’re completely unprocessed. I just uploaded them to Flickr.

Self portrait

Self portrait

Vegemite

Mum in the kitchen

 

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Talking the talk

April 16, 2008 by Jen

My son doesn’t talk to me any more in a normal way.

Instead of ‘mum, please pour my rice bubbles’, it’s ‘m u m, p l e a s e p o u r m y r i c e b u b b l e s.’ The spaces are supposed to show that he’s spelling everything to me.

It’s great that he is really keen to learn to spell and read everything but sometimes I just can’t be bothered to compute what his spelling is. At least some of it is quite phonetic and not what it should be which makes it a bit easier.

I’ve been meaning to do an update on his school behaviour. It’s coming.

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