Learning Curves and Curving Learns

I can't report on anything joyful right now, except that it's almost Christmas. I happen to like Christmas so to all those people who whinge that it's "too commercialised" and has "lost its meaning", I agree with you, but can you go stick it where the sun don't shine?? You're ruining it for those of us who choose to accept but ignore all that and can see through a Coke-coloured Santa to a good time once a year spent with family and friends where people are forced to care about each other. Surely you can give us that one teeny tiny day of goodwill, hmmm?? And go complain about the ads the other 364 days you get. Gorn, git. Git oudda town.

I'm actually not happy at this parTICular point in time, but that's okay, because it's my own fault, and in a kind of macarbre way I'm happy that I'm sad cos I have learned an extreme amount about extreme things. New things, shiny things, faded and dull things, old things that are shiny underneath, they're all floating around in the Pool of Surprising Things Life Throws At You like some kind of freakish debris that you DON'T wanna get out with that giant sieve thing that people clean pools with. So yes, it's a dirty pool, but an interesting and pretty much needed one.

I dunno what else to say on the subject, except Merry Christmas, please make sure you see past yourself and actually value the time you spend with your family and friends. It ain't hard, life is short, and you never know what it's gunna thow at you and who you're gunna lose for whatever reason.

A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!!

Hello and Good Morrow.

Once again people are jet-setting all over the show: I can count 3 people in 3 different countries on 3 of my fingers. Or toes, if I can be bothered pointing my leg skyward. Regardless of which extremities I use for maths equations (you should see me do Trigonometry, it's like watching a game of Twister for One), I am back here click-clacking away on my mother's frustratingly ergonomic but very strain-preventing keyboard. Judy, the young ratbag, has taken off to Austrahliah to do various Judyish things, to be honest I am not surprised, it happened just as fast as it did when she took off to Finininland, something I didn't realise was happening until we were at the airport and I was sitting on the ground bawling my eyes out with Kelly's mum patting me on the back going "it's not fair, is it??" after watching her own daughter disappear through the gate as well. That hungry, greedy gate which swallows all my friends. Well I tell you one thing, Smith, one day it will be ME who is swallowed. That's right, and YOU can sit on the ground and cry. Yeah. Damn Straight. If that's not a life goal I dunno what is.

We got a paddling pool the other day and I love it. I have been wanting a paddling pool for as long as about 3 years, then the other day Kim and Gareth were here and it was hot and sunny and we had just put up the Gazebo which I had found while looking for an umbrella, which Marcus was very Downy about, he seemed to think that putting up the gazebo would "take years, it's like a puzzle, it's too hard" and we got it up in about 10 minutes while he sat on the steps yelling out helpful suggestions such as the ones above. And I was thinking "wouldn't it be swell to have a bit of water to puddle around in" so we all got in the car and went to the Warewhare and got our pool (30% off, scooooooore!!), and when we got it home and filled it up, the sky had clouded over. Kim and I still sat in it though. We moved the gazebo over it and took off its legs, so made a kind of sun house with gazebo roof and pool walls and water floor, and it was AWESOME.

Gareth was so stoked with our pool the excitement was far too much and he had to have a snooze.

While the pool went through the painful process of being filled for the first time, Kim decided to offer a bit of moral support and stand with it until the ordeal was over.