noisy girl

2006-09-28T13:02:00.000+10:00

Just discovered this wonderful t-shirt company. Lots of great designs - visitors to the website vote on which ts get printed and reprinted.

2006-07-02T14:03:00.000+10:00

Here is the result of a quiz I did (see link below) to see which Jane Austen character I most resemble...

You scored as Marianne Dashwood. Most girls can relate with Marianne on a more personal level than some of Austen's other characters. She represents the emotional longings and struggles that seem to attack and bless us at the same time. Loyal to a fault, passionate for experience and life, and a bit over-emotional, Marianne matures and grows (making her so beloved).

Marianne Dashwood

81%

Elizabeth Bennet

72%

Emma Woodhouse

63%

Elinor Dashwood

59%

Lady Catherine

31%

Jane Bennet

28%

Charlotte Lucas

28%

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com

2006-05-02T10:29:00.000+10:00

Book Meme!
1. Copy & paste.
2. Bold the ones you’ve read.
3. Add four recent reads to the end.
4. Tag!

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) - J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) - J.K. Rowling
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5) - J.K. Rowling
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Book 1) - J.K. Rowling
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) - J.K. Rowling
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
The Nature of Blood - Caryl Phillips
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules -Ed. David Sedaris

(Four I've read quite recently - add to list before you start the process!)

On Beauty - Zadie Smith
Nights at The Circus - Angela Carter
The Magic Toy Shop - Angela Carter
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

2006-04-04T10:49:00.000+10:00

EBAY!

I have quite a few very nice clothing items and accessories up for sale on ebay.com.au

http://search.ebay.com.au/_W0QQsassZredsuedekittenQQhtZ-1QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQfsooZ1QQrdZ0?

That link should lead to all items that I have up for sale, in case anyone's interested.

Overseas buyers, I will only charge exact postage - I understand how much it sucks to have to pay oodles on top of OS purchases!

2006-02-21T15:13:00.000+11:00

I forgot the koala from the middle of the road!

2006-02-21T15:03:00.000+11:00

A Vermeer!

2006-02-21T14:37:00.000+11:00

Cape Otway - Day 3

We got up early, had Flip's Muesli for brekky (gratuitous plug!), packed all our stuff and attempted to check out. It's such a relaxed place that this process took around an hour, but we got to look around the cafe and lighthouse again while waiting. We also had a good look in the Telegraph House (the first under-sea telegraph line from the mainland to Tasmania was laid from Cape Otway) which was full of interesting historical info and has been recently restored.

We left the Station, parked the car in the outer carpark and walked up the hill to the lookout and the old cemetery. It was only a short walk but quite steep in places and taxing and we were on the lookout for snakes because it was quite warm and the area was very grassy. The cemetery was tiny and contained about 6 graves, mostly of young children, all buried in the 1800s. It seemed like a peaceful, very secluded spot to be buried.

After this we drove west towards The Twelve Apostles. Once more we drove through Lavers Hill. The scenery was different again past this point; flatter and more typically coastal. The Twelve Apostles were accessed via an underpass. There were many many tourists there, mostly from other countries. The viewing platform was vast and took in many different angles and views. The Apostles themselves were massive and spectacular. They are quite golden in colour and contrast well with the dark blue of the sea. There were many beautiful coastal plants also, most with round clumps of flower heads. The cliffs were incredibly sheer and the same yellowy colour as the Apostles. What struck me most was the size and vastness of it all. I hadn't expected them to be so big.

After this we drove home inland, via Port Campbell, the Timboon Cheese 'factory' (more of a farm, where we purchased several yummy and affordable organic cheeses), and Colac. A had a nap there and I walked around the main street. We got back home around dinner time and had a lazy evening at my house. Marcie was very happy to see us and we were serenaded with full-blown meows and mips for hours...

All in all it was a wonderful trip. I arrived home feeling very refreshed and relaxed. I'd love to go back to the same area; there's so much to do there. We didn't get to look at any waterfalls this time as several of the better ones were closed for repair, so it would be good to go back to see them.

Photo Credits: A

2006-02-21T14:09:00.000+11:00

Cape Otway - Day 2, Part 3.

We got home and snacked as we were going to postpone dinner so that we could go see the glowworms later. A rested again and I wandered down to the lighthouse in the early evening with a cuppa in hand. Another group of people were staying in the main lightkeeper's house, but I was the only one down at the lighthouse. Again, it was wonderful to be in such a location on my own; it was so peaceful and quiet. I finished my tea, wandered around the cliff, took some snaps and went back to the house. A was up from his nap so we wandered around a bit and looked at the World War 2 Bunker/Radar Station (now a ruin). Then we prepared dinner so that we could cook it when we got back from our worm walk. On our way out we saw lots of rabbits feeding on the grass, and a couple of wallabies, also by the side of the road.

There are no photos of the worms as they did not turn out properly (extreme darkness). We drove to Mait's Rest in the GONP, rather than Melba Gully (where they are the most spectacular, apparently) as it was much closer and we were tired of driving. It took a while to get completely dark and we stumbled down the track, nearly blind, on the right. Once it was pitch black and we worked out where to look for them, we spotted a few colonies. They seemed to live in the bottom section of low ferns and looked like tiny little fairy lights. They were quite beautiful and it was quite a thrill being in the forest in the dead of night. Hopefully my photos will turn out.

It was an exciting, slow drive home through native animal territory. We saw more wallabies, some kind of mouse scuttling across the road, and a big, fat, confident koala, which was sitting right in the centre of our lane, facing us. Luckily we could stop in time and didn't harm him. He sat there for a minute or two and let us take a few pictures, again, posing nicely and looking dead into the camera lens, as most of them seem to do so. We thought we would have to lift him from the road, but eventually he lumbered off, slowly, on all four legs, into a ditch, and let us pass. Quite a lovely experience!

We got home quite cold, excited and buzzing from the worm walk and animals, and cooked and ate a very late dinner. We had an early night after packing for our departure the next morning...

2006-02-21T14:03:00.000+11:00

Cape Otway - Day 2, Part 2.

Ask me not why I cannot insert photos wherever I like on this thing! They are at the tops of posts only because Blogger won't let me (easily) put them anywhere else.

After the koala-snapping we continued our drive to The Otway Fly, a treetop walk above rainforest, via the non-existant Lavers Hill. The scenery was again different: European trees, grazing pastures, pine forests (some of which were logged), and always ocean in the background. The Fly walk was amazing. We headed off after having lunch in the cafe, and got to the raised walking area after a brief downhill walk through the forest. The platform gradually sloped up and reaches 25 m above the forest floor at its highest point. You can see through the metal platform that you are walking on and get amazing aerial views of ferns and plants below. Alongside are the trunks of the tall, thin gums. It's not until you climb to the top of the tower in the centre (45 m above ground) that you are literally at the top of the tallest trees. It's scary as it rocks a lot, but it's quite thrilling too. The Cantilever is a short section that's unsupported from below. Supposedly it supports the weight of 14 elephants. I went out on it alone and even then it wobbled like a diving board. It was worth it for the very different scenery and foliage though: a creek below, more ferns, and lichen covered trees. Quite beautiful... We drove home after a brief rest in the car (the walk was quite strenuous and A had not slept well the night before) and attempted to find the elusive Lavers Hill. This town, which had been touted as a "must see" was not quite the jewel of the Otways that we were expecting. The bakery that we were hoping to buy many pies and giant lamingtons from, was closed and up for sale. Disgruntled, A bought a giant pack of Twisties instead and we drove home...

2006-02-21T13:37:00.000+11:00

Cape Otway and Surrounds - Day 2, part 1.

On the Saturday we had a cooked brekky and went up in the lighthouse. It was quite interesting having tourists wandering around the site just outside the cottage, but I felt quite lucky to be staying there! The views from the top of the lighthouse were beautiful. We stopped on the way to take snaps of a few very snap-happy koalas that were happily existing and posing in the trees for us. We later discovered that this was their regular home as we saw them a couple of times more in the same trees.

2006-02-21T13:13:00.000+11:00

Cape Otway - Day 1

A and I stayed at the Cape Otway Light Station this past weekend for two nights. We stayed in the Assistant Lightkeeper's Cottage, or, rather in a tiny annex of the original cottage. The cafe occupied the rest of the building. The whole complex dates from the 19th century, and the lighthouse itself from 1848. It was amazing to have free run of the property on the first night, with no-one else there other than the manager. The lighthouse could be seen from our kitchen table.

We explored the whole complex and went up in the lighthouse, explored the telegraph house, the historical displays in the old rubble cottage, the WWII bunker (a radar station), and the old cemetary up the hill.

The place reminded me of Karatta House, which my family owned and which we used to stay in for holidays when I was younger. The smell, the ocean, the plants, the age of the place all reminded me of it.

We drove down via the Great Ocean Road on Friday. The trip took around 4 hours, and the scenery was beautiful. In places the beach met the road, with rain forest on the other side. It was quite breathtaking. We stopped briefly at a couple of lookouts and also in Apollo Bay, home of giant slices, which seemed to be a feature of the region! The caramel slice we bought got divided up into 6 serves. We got more info at the Tourist Centre on the waterfalls and walks, and the glowworms.

We hit the rainforest region of the Great Otway National Park soon after leaving Apollo Bay which was quite different to the coastal scenery. We drove down through one section of the park (which is quite massive) to Cape Otway. On the way we passed a koala (just one of many that we saw), sitting on the side of the road.

When we arrived we unpacked and explored the grounds and then cooked a lovely dinner. It was quite cool there and very cold at night, but the cottage stayed warm easily as it was so small. It was very relaxing to be in such an isolated and quiet spot. We spent a lot of time reading our brochures and deciding what to do the next day...

2006-02-08T11:44:00.000+11:00

It's done! My Masters composition folio was submitted on monday afternoon. Not sure if I believe it just yet. I'm sure I'll be very relaxed not having to fill every available minute with study. The last two months were insanely busy. If I ever do a PhD I want to remember just how taxing the final stage is, and to give myself more time to work on it, if possible. In the last week I ate little, didn't have time to cook, clean or exercise, and only got around 6-7 hours sleep a night. I studied 10-12 hours a day. I worked even when I was exhausted, because I knew I had to. Anyone who says a Masters degree is easy or pissy or no longer relevant has no idea what they are talking about. I know from this experience that a research Masters is a huge amount of work and is very difficult to do well. It's a massive leap from honours.

Anyway, I learnt a lot about formatting and consistency and conventions of formatting and style. I also learnt that I should have kept a card file of references. Though I kept notes and word files throughout, thinking that "I can do this properly later" really doesn't help when you're in the final stage. Sometimes it took me 1/2 to 1 hour to properly locate a reference on the web, which was a big waste of time really...

So, it's done. The music is really good and I'm very happy with it. I think it's a varied folio and demonstrates a range of skills and style, which is a good thing for a Masters. I'm looking forward to getting the pieces performed now...

A took the photo of me above just after I'd handed the folio in. He bought me cupcakes and champagne, gave me the Wonder Woman Series 2 DVD, a wonderful card that he'd made, and took me out to dinner at De Los Santos. It was lovely to be treated like this! Thankyou Mr S!!

2005-11-03T11:03:00.000+11:00

Heron Island.

A took this from the helicopter on the way to the island. All the photos posted here were taken by A. We spent one night in Gladstone, on the mainland, and flew by helicopter the following morning to the island. We spent a further 2 nights on the island and got the boat back to the mainland. More detailed accounts of this amazing experience later - for now I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

2005-11-03T10:56:00.000+11:00

Me on the helicopter on the way to the island.

Algae.

Shots of the reef from the helicopter.

2005-11-03T10:46:00.000+11:00

A white Egret and her baby.

Bird in a tree.

Noddy terns.

A tiny shark near the shore.

A sting ray near the shore.

A pandanus tree.

The forest in the centre of the island.

2005-11-03T10:42:00.000+11:00

A and I on the beach.

The beautiful ocean.

The shipwreck just off the island.

2005-11-03T10:39:00.000+11:00

Me on the boat trip home.

2005-10-22T11:29:00.000+10:00

My eyelet skirt from knitty.com. I finished this 6 months ago, but haven't had the chance to get pics taken before now. I love this skirt - it's my favourite knitted item. It was knitted in Katia Idea Jeans yarn in the red colourway.

2005-10-22T11:16:00.000+10:00

Pictures from A's birthday

2005-10-21T15:14:00.000+10:00

I knitted this for A for his birthday. It's based on the Mr Dangly pattern by on craftster. The link to the pattern is here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=40974.0

Peter Manson is supposed to look like a white-cheeked gibbon (see pic above). I sponsored a gibbon from the zoo for A for his birthday, and made him a knitted one so he could have one at home with him.

Peter Manson is named after a character with lamb-chop sideburns in a film called "The Edge of the World." (no picture to be easily found online...)

2005-10-21T10:20:00.000+10:00

It's been a busy week. A and I saw a beautiful dance performance in the Festival on Sunday evening, Shelley Lasica's "Play in a Room". It's been wonderful to see all these fantastic artists in such a short space of time - quite inspiring. We also saw Joanna Newsom and SMOG perform last Friday. Joanna Newsom was quite amazing. It's rare to be in the presence of such an original musical talent, and she's still so young. I look forward to seeing where she takes her music.

______

It was A's birthday on Monday and we had a lovely day with lovely weather to share together. I took the day off work, which was divine. We had breakfast out with A's cousin, opened presents, had a picnic in the park by the Yarra and got to hear the Federation Bells. We've been wanting to hear the bells since we first met, but they haven't been working. So we were treated unexpectedly for an hour long performance. It was beautiful. The bells are electronically operated, and quite sculptural in appearance. The compositions played are by local composers and the bells are tuned to just intonation. The overall sound is rather like a gamelan orchestra. The spatial effect of the bells is interesting too as you can walk around them and sit under them and so on, leading to a different listening experience depending on your location.

______

We had a marvellous dinner out at a tapas restaurant. Incredibly intensely flavoured food - but quite wonderful. We had mojitos to drink. Also, there was a lunar eclipse, which we got to see at its peak as we left the restaurant.

______

It was a beautiful day.

______

Tuesday night we went out with A's mother and step-father for a lovely dinner in an Italian bistro. We've been eating like royalty!

______

Since then I've been at work, which is beginning to drag me down again. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'll work on my music and we'll see A's dad and stepmother and his sister for a late birthday lunch.

______

The pedant in me has added in all those lines as the damn blog formatting won't seem to allow for paragraph breaks today...

2005-10-10T17:48:00.000+10:00

Marcie!

2005-10-10T16:14:00.000+10:00

The yarn from handpaintedyarn.com arrived Friday morning. It's incredibly beautiful. The colours were almost exactly as I'd expected them to be, and the softness and lustre of the yarn is outstanding. I got the most excellent service from the company and would highly recommend ordering from them. Mariana made sure to tell me which colours were accurately photographed, and which weren't, and sent alternative photos through to me. So much assistance for an order of only 8 skeins. I've washed the 4 skeins of dusty rose merino worsted, and it's now hanging up drying in my shower. Hopefully that will get rid of the vinegar smell... then I can start my clapotis!

2005-10-10T16:03:00.000+10:00

Diamanda was amazing in concert, but the audience was incredibly rowdy and rude. A girl two seats down from me opened a packet of chips as the concert started and rustled the foil bag for the first half-hour until I asked her to stop doing so. It baffles me how inconsiderate people can be, and why they bother coming along if that's their attitude.

Anyway, Diamanda's professionalism shone through; her performance was incredibly focused. I admire her artistic integrity and depth and her ability to confront and express political ideas through music so well. Her voice literally sounds like a sonic embodiment of the pain and suffering that she sings and speaks of. Her vocal work is incredibly skillful and varied. The range is huge, the kinds of voices she uses are varied, and underneath it all I can hear her Classical training quite clearly. I identify so much with her process of making music - it's similar to what I'm attempting to do. However, my attempts seem much less gutsy. Perhaps I'll get there one day?

Carolyn Connors was very humorous; she also displayed a range of vocal skills. Less polished, but experimental and interesting nonetheless. The intimate space of the La Mama theatre suited the piece too. It was the first time I've been there.

2005-10-06T21:51:00.000+10:00

I forgot to mention that tomorrow night A and I are going to see Diamanda Galas perform in the Festival, and on Saturday night Carolyn Connors in the Fringe. Two great vocalists - my first time seeing either of them perform. I'm sure they'll be inspiring.

2005-10-06T15:48:00.000+10:00

I am still feeling jittery from a cup of coffee I had at 10 am. Strong stuff, and I'm not a coffee drinker at the moment. I'll stay away from it from now on, I think. My mind has been scatty all day and I feel like I've been on speed!

No work yet this week on my nushu piece, but tomorrow and Sunday are study days, so I'll try to make the most of it then. Spoke to my boss today about possibly cutting back my work shifts to 3 days a week. He doesn't seem to have a problem with this idea, which is a big relief to me. I'm just trying to work out now whether or not I can survive on fewer hours. But what point is the extra money if I am just miserable and not balanced for it? If I don't have time to do what's important to me?

I may knit for a bit now - coffee rush still needs working off somehow...

Oh! My yarn has arrived in Melbourne - I've been tracking it avidly on DHL. I should receive it tomorrow, I hope!

2005-10-04T14:53:00.000+10:00

A took this photo of me knitting a few months ago. He thinks I look like Emily the Strange. I don't mind - I think Emily should knit!

2005-10-04T10:53:00.000+10:00

I've just gone through and deleted a whole lot of old posts. They made me cringe. How do I manage to utterly misrepresent myself?

A lot has happened since I last wrote here. My beloved cat Pia died, rather suddenly, after succumbing to advanced kidney disease. I miss her every day.

Marcie, her mother, seems to be coping well. She enjoys the extra attention, but she does seem to get lonelier when I'm out and away.

I also have a new job, four days a week. My scholarship ran out. I dislike the job and what it's doing to me so much that I won't mention any more about it. It already takes up way too much of my energy and time.

Here is a photo of me taken by my (newish) boyfriend:

I'd post a pic of him, but I don't have any uploaded to photobucket yet. He likes to take photos, rather than be in them, even though he's a lovely looking creature! (A, I know you're going to read this!)

Composition update: Pope Joan is long finished, my second piece, based on advertising samples, called 15 Seconds, is also done. I'm just working on my third and final piece, then I have to complete the critical commentary, complete all the presentation aspects, and submit the bloody work!

It's only taken a full year longer than I expected. It's been an interesting, eventful time.

Knitwise (haha) I've progressed a long way with my skills. I've finally finished that damned purple cardigan, and it's way too big. It's no problem, as I've finished another cardigan that is wearable and countless other things. I'm excitedly waiting on a yarn delivery from handpaintedyarns.com... to knit a clapotis, of all things.

I may even be able to post some pics of these knitted things online, if I can cajole A into taking pics of them for me.

2005-03-06T18:26:00.000+11:00

Quiet Girl

What kind of little girl were YOU?
brought to you by

2004-08-27T13:01:00.000+10:00

"It takes a lot of time to be a genius, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing. " Gertrude Stein.

Just beautiful. And comforting.

2004-07-29T12:53:00.000+10:00

Hmm, Pope Joan is so very close to being finished that I am doing that strange thing I do when something I want is within reach: I slow down. I feel very much as if I have little energy or patience for the final steps, but I also worry that if I have this attitude I will decide that it is finished and complete when really it's not, or when it could be a little better. I must give it an honest listening-to, take note of any flat spots and fix them accordingly. Otherwise all the hard work to date and brilliant moments will be diluted.

Ah, anxiety setting in!

2004-07-08T12:45:00.000+10:00

Hmmm, Pope Joan is coming along. Slowly. The declicking of the speeches is extremely painful and slow. About 5-10 seconds per hour. I am not looking forward to declicking the Martin Polonus speech, which goes for about 2 minutes. I'm interspersing this dreary stuff with wild and free experiments on sounds and texts. That's fun, quick, satisfying. I'm surprisingly good at creating interesting and coherent stuff in this way. I think I'll work on that today. At the moment I'm working on creating chords of stacked 5ths out of tambourine and bell sounds. The files I'm using are rough, raw and somewhat random. It really is within my reach, if I work hard enough and refuse to be distracted by aforementioned silliness, to finish this piece within 2 weeks.

2004-06-26T01:45:00.001+10:00

It seems that two out of three of the scarves I submitted for the Melbourne Scarf Festival have sold. That is, they weren't there when I went to check out the exhibition yesterday, so I'm assuming that's what happened to them. (pre-emptive YAY!)

The festival was interesting. Most items were somewhat expensive I thought, although I think mine were a little underpriced. It's hard to price handmade items properly and yet still expect people to buy them. There was a good turnout, and probably hundreds of scarves, all hung in colour groups from the ceiling. It was a beautiful display.

Pope Joan is going along still - to say it is going well would be nice, but how does one judge that? I enjoy working on it when I do; it feels good, it feels like it's going as it should be. External constraints - i.e. Masters degree deadlines - are what's making me feel otherwise. I'm a little peeved by this. Art should be allowed to develop at the pace it needs to develop at. Determining or predicting this pace is just about impossible. I envisaged that this piece would take six months - it's taken 16 1/2 so far. It will be lovely when it's finished though - I do know this, and it brings me some comfort...

2004-06-02T02:17:00.001+10:00

A few weeks back I mentioned that my dad had bought me a venetian glass tree pendant. Here is a picture of a similar one that I found online: .

2004-06-01T23:23:00.000+10:00

My naturopath thinks I have strep throat. Today I am marginally better, but at this rate won't be fully well for another 5-6 days or so, I think. It's a nasty nasty thing - yesterday I had massive attacks of dry, tickly, scratchy coughing - actually, it had kept me up the night before. Luckily some liquid zinc from the naturopath seemed to clear that up by this morning.

2004-05-24T11:22:00.000+10:00

Pope Joan is coming along really well - I'm getting lots of excellent and encouraging feedback from people. It's nice to feel like the completion of it is within reach; it doesn't feel like such a huge burden anymore.

I have knitted my bag, and have only one handle sewn on so far. Then I have to line it; I have some lovely 1930s style printed linen for this. I also knitted a lovely lacey scarf for a friend's birthday out of unusual yarns from the Yarn Barn in Coburg. Quite an exciting place to visit, if you can. I found some amazing cones of multi-coloured sparkly yarns there - 3 for $10, and also got some fine purple mohair in bulk - $8 for 200 grams. They have lovely balls of wool out the back too - and I grabbed a few of those as well. Quite a spree!

I'm planning on knitting some scarves for the Melbourne Scarf Festival - they're due in by the end of next week - so I'll probably only get 3 or so done. Given the reaction people are having to my stuff, I think they will probably sell. I hope so - it will be an interesting exercise to go through anyway - working out how to price things etc.

Other than that, I have the new issue of Creative Knitting - which has an amazing mohair top in it. It's knitted in a very open lacey eyelet pattern with very fine mohair. I'll use my purple mohair from the Yarn Barn to knit this. But first, I must make some more progress with my purple cardigan!!!

2004-05-17T23:19:00.000+10:00

Haven't had anything too exciting to write for a while now. But, in the last few days I've been getting back into my work, and my knitting - the cardigan, and also a new handbag. The handbag is a lustrous and vibrant pinky red - a ramie and wool blend on special from Lincraft. It will be gorgeous when finished and I'd also love to get some more of the yarn and make a cardigan or wrap top for summer with it. I made a scarf for my Dad in a few hours as well - actually, I've done alot of knitting this week! My good friend Sally got the scarf I made for her, and she loves it! It's nice to have one's work appreciated!!

Pope Joan is in the final weeks of creation, I think, but there are still lots of nit-picky annoying things to do - mostly sorting files, deciding which to use, editing the clicks and noise out of them, and then making some kind of acceptable music with them. I'm so looking forward to hearing the final work - I do hope it will be as special as I would like it to be. If not, I will keep reworking it until it is...that's just how I am!

The other day I made the Communion - still have a recording to make though, edit, and add in, before it will be fully done. It's been very quick though. I was pondering for over a year as to what I would do for the Communion, and finally, in a meeting with my supervisor, and thanks to his good thoughts, decided on using a text that refers to a medieval text that refers to the 'abominable' and 'hideous' nature of women's menstrual cycles. This, of course, will be used in stark contradiction to, and juxtaposition with, traditional Communion texts that praise the body and blood of Christ. Funny how a man's blood is seen as spiritually and physically transformative and rejuvenating, while the blood of women is seen as dirty, destructive, disease-causing, etc. See the text below, then you'll know what I mean:

“Only women are menstruating creatures; by touching their blood, fruits will not ripen, wine will sour, grass will die and trees lose their fruit. Iron rusts and air gets dark; when dogs drink it they develop rabies.”

Paucupalea (12thC), based on an ancient text by Solinus (quoted in Boureau's book on Pope Joan, p. 39)

2004-05-11T13:21:00.000+10:00

My Dad left this morning for the return drive to Adelaide. I am quite tired from his stay, but it was good to do a few different things. We caught the ferry to Williamstown yesterday, and saw the wharfs and container ships, also tug boats and navy ships. It was a nice sunny day but icy cold on the water. Williamstown in lovely - lots of nice old shops and cafes - but rather small. We caught the train back.

I've started one side of the front of my cardigan and am 41 rows in. It's looking good. Much further to go though still. I am about to sit down and start a scarf for Dad - variegated blue/grey/cream yarn mixed with a black wool. A simple garter stitch will look best I think.

I'm giving a presentation at a local girl's school tomorrow with my supervisor - we're 'promoting' Monash School of Music and I'm going to talk about my experience as an undergrad and postgrad there.

2004-05-07T23:12:00.000+10:00

Have had my Dad here for the past two days. It's been nice to have some company and to get out of my usual, panicked headspace. We went out for baked potatoes on Bridge Rd in Richmond tonight, and then for a walk by the Yarra in the city. Dad bought me a beautiful Venetian glass pendant that I've had my eye on for years - little glass flowers all joined up together in the shape of a tree on a blue background. Very lovely indeed! Now I am sleepy and look forward to a restful weekend.

2004-05-01T23:45:00.000+10:00

Have had a somewhat relaxed day without the expectations of having to work on my music. I did my usual Saturday afternoon library shift, caught the bus and train home, and have had a relaxing night in front of the telly finishing off the back of my cardigan. I encountered my first knot in a ball of wool in the second to last row! I've never come across one before, so I suppose I am lucky. The back looks great, but is measuring a bit smaller than it should - perhaps I have knitted tighter than in my swatch? I think it will still fit ok in any case - it's not tiny by any means. And there's always blocking.

I have my Dad coming to stay with me next thursday for 4-5 days. He'll be sleeping in the study, so things will be a little cramped, but we'll get by. I wonder how I'll go not having/being able to do my work for those 5 days. I sometimes wonder if I need it, or the stress of it, to get by and fill my days. I'm quite certain I spend more time worrying about it than actually doing it, so I hope that when Dad's here I don't spend all my time worrying that I can't do it! Confusing, huh?

Today was our first taste of winter - 12 degrees, grey and wet. Not my favourite kind of weather, but like most things, it has its own charm. I don't mind the freshness of it.

Am tired beyond reason, and my fingers have had a good workout from the knitting. I think I'll wash the dishes, do some tidying, and have an early night. Tomorrow I'm off to the city to get spare wool for my cardigan - I think I won't need it, but one can never be certain.

2004-04-29T13:55:00.000+10:00

My purple cardigan is going slowly - had some problems with dropped stitches in my first decrease section, so I ended up undoing a night's work and starting the section again. It's looking much better now. Still haven't successfully learnt how to pick up a stitch, or to decrease in purl (left slant), but the decreases I've done are on the very edge anyway, and I figure they'll be invisible once the whole thing is stitched up.

Have knitted my brother a nice scarf in the last two days - black yarn and a multicoloured semi-slubby yarn with lots of browns, beiges, greys, etc. Am blocking it as I type this. Hoping it will stay in the blocked shape as the rib pattern made it rather skinny and curly.

Today I will tell you about my two cats. Marcie is about 13 years old. We're not sure about her age exactly, but she strayed into my family's house 11 years ago, gave birth to kittens, and has stayed with me ever since. So has one of her babies, Pia, who is now 11. Pia has earned the nickname "Wondercat" from a good friend of mine. She is gorgeously fluffy and round and friendly. She is indeed wonderful. Marcie is equally wonderful in a much more subtle and subdued kind of a way. She is very sweet and loving but hates cuddles. Nevertheless, she sits on my desk most of the day when I'm working, follows me to the loo and goes to sleep next to me on the bathmat when I have a bath. She likes to leapfrog over my head in the middle of the night when I'm asleep; very unnerving! Pia is queen of the cat food and will eat until all food is gone, whether it is hers or not. She is obsessed with the goldfish in the pond outside, and loves to watch them being fed in the morning. She even watches them at night when it's dark. Spooky!

2004-04-26T00:10:00.000+10:00

Have had a good weekend - again because I ventured outside of home and routine. Had a very relaxing shift at the library yesterday (I work at one of my university libraries once a week) and saw "Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" last night with a friend.

I think I can also safely say that I've finished my recordings for Pope Joan. If, of course, I don't decide that I want some recordings of tambourine sounds from a tambourine that has a drum skin attached, which I probably will want. The recordings I have so far are from a 'bell only' tambourine. I'm using the tambourine in my piece because in medieval and renaissance times, the tambourine, and other round, drum type instruments, represented women's sexuality, particularly sexual licentiousness (in paintings). As so many of the (misogynistic) texts used in Pope Joan refer to Joan as a whore (because she dared to be sexual and fell pregnant), I'm using the tambourine as a sonic symbol of her 'reprehensible' status.

Today I ventured out to Chapel St to look in some shops and to go to Borders. I sat in the cafe there for a while looking through a huge mound of knitting books and drinking extremely sweet hyperactivity-inducing-not-even-remotely-authentic-but-bloody-addictive-anyway 'chai'.

When I got home I cooked an amazing Stephanie Alexander recipe, "Chickpeas & spinach" from "The Cook's Companion". I'd really recommend it - completely healthy, satisfying, and amazing. I added roasted pumpkin to it. Such simple ingredients and flavourings, but unbelievably good!

Now I'm up to the first exciting bit of my cardigan -- have reached 92 rows finally, and now must do the shaping for the armholes. Egad, I hope I don't mess it up. Thank goddess knitting can be ripped apart!

I've worked out the words I want stitched onto the shoes I won - "noisy girl" of course! Don't know why it took me so long to work that one out!

2004-04-23T19:51:00.000+10:00

I'm always fascinated by the number of voices I can make - that are inside me, so to speak. Today I spent a few hours recording and re-recording four brief spoken passages for Pope Joan. I initially thought that I would recite them all in the same way, but each called for quite different expression, which will, of course, make the piece even more interesting. I think this piece overall will sound quite varied and constantly interesting. I hope so. I have such rich recordings to work with.

It was fun recording. The last time I did it I was recording extreme sounds - both sexual and sounds of pain - they cross over so easily in some cases. I found the experience quite cathartic - as if I'd actually experienced and released those emotions, rather than just acting them out.

2004-04-23T10:39:00.000+10:00

Feeling a bit nauseous this morning - I've just started taking a few extra naturopathic medicines (flaxseed oil/ Bush flower essences) and there seems to be a hefty dose of ginger in my usual herbal mix this fortnight. All that on an empty stomach first thing spells disaster. I hope it settles down soon; I'm supposed to be leaving for uni in 25 minutes!

2004-04-22T11:57:00.000+10:00

Well, last night I made a little more progress with the cardigan - another 10 rows or so - it's starting to look like part of a a piece of clothing now, which is a relief. I'm also knitting a scarf for my mother - a 'keyhole' scarf in coral and red. It's my first go at seed stitch, which I really like.

Had a relatively productive day with my work yesterday, reading more about nushu, and sorting through some of those dauntingly huge sound recordings. I am narrowing down the choices and putting them into categories so they'll be easier to deal with. Some of the recordings are very funny - I've put on a very nasal 'witchypoo' voice in some of them. They make me laugh, which is always a good thing!

2004-04-20T23:24:00.000+10:00

Now up to 53 rows on the cardigan and it's looking really good. The violet coloured wool is quite vibrant and rich. Bought myself 6 old pairs of needles from local op-shops today - much cheaper at 50c - $1 a pair as compared to around $5 new in the shops. I am building up quite a collection already! Now I just have to find some 12mm circulars somewhere to make a funky cape/poncho from Stitch n' Bitch.

Pope Joan is going slowly. I think I'm nearly completely burnt out from it. It's been such an enormous project and I want to finish it, but at the same time I am so, so tired of it. Arrrggghhh!!!

Have been reading more about nushu, the Chinese women's language, tonight, and found some excellent, comprehensive articles and books on the topic. I don't want to do a massive amount of research as I did for Pope Joan, and I'm quite keen to start the songs soon and work through them quickly. I need this after Pope Joan to (a) restore my sanity, and (b) to reassure me that I can indeed still write music in a reasonable amount of time.

2004-04-19T23:46:00.000+10:00

I'm 38 rows into the cardigan, which feels like quite an accomplishment, even though it only measures about 5-6 inches so far. My stitches are even and neat, and only one slipped stitch so far, which I've decided to leave in as it's virtually invisible and doesn't affect the structure of the fabric.

Was emailed some info about making scarves to sell at the Melbourne Scarf Festival in June. I may give it a go.

The offertory is still noisy but I seem to have found some solutions to the problem today in the studio. Even though I have good headphones at home, my soundcard is basic, so it's not always possible to pick up on all mistakes/noise issues.

I'll get there - one day!

2004-04-18T00:15:00.000+10:00

Had a really nice day by breaking with my usual routine and getting out of the house. I went to St Kilda with a friend and had felafel for lunch, then had a look at the shops in Acland Street. I've had a restful evening knitting and watching TV. I've started knitting a cardigan from "Stitch n' Bitch" and it is going to take forever - only 8 ply wool and size 3.25 mm needles. Such hell after all the big chunky scarves I've knitted! I'll have to get used to the fact that this will take weeks to complete instead of hours! And next time, I will choose a pattern that uses bigger needles and thicker wool!

2004-04-15T13:43:00.000+10:00

Hoping to get straight into my work today after I've had breakfast. I'm going to see if I can finish of the Offertory and sort through some of those dauntingly huge recorded sound files. If I do a little bit each day it won't be so bad... I hope!

2004-04-15T03:12:00.000+10:00

Pope Joan is at a frustrating point - I've got most of the main Mass movements done, and have just started working on 'filler' material that I want to put in between these movements. I want this to be an intuitive process, but because of this, am finding it hard to know where to start. There are so many possibilities and so many uncut, unedited recorded files to sort through. It's daunting. At times like this I try to remind myself to keep things simple - it's usually the best approach. If I take the simple route, I could conceivably complete the entire piece within 3 weeks or so.

2004-04-13T22:12:00.000+10:00

Today I've spent a few hours working on the Pope Joan piece. I put all the completed sections together in order and lay down on the floor and had a listen through the whole piece. Having not worked on it for 5 days, I was pleasantly surprised with the sound quality, the consistency of style and how good it sounded as a whole. This got my spirits up a bit after a weekend of the Easter blues, and I feel encouraged to keep on working on it. I've never worked for such a long period on one piece of music before, or made anything so big, so it's a new experience for me. It can be very frustrating sometimes, knowing how much work is still ahead of you, and that you have to edit new sound files to the same high standard as the rest of the piece (which is what takes up most of the time). Nevertheless, although there is still work to do, the really crucial, difficult stuff is mostly done now. The rest is somewhat flexible and I will be working on it in a more intuitive and playful way, which is always more enjoyable.

2004-04-12T20:49:00.000+10:00

Cooking is another thing I love to do, and I've just made a batch of chilli jam with chillies from my garden. I put about 12-14 Thai red chillies in one batch - it's so bloody hot my mouth and nose are still hurting after putting a tiny bit on my tongue! I'm not quite sure why I grow chillies - I don't eat many - but they do grow so easily and prolifically. And they look beautiful in the garden. As winter moves in, I also have to use up my enormous hedge of basil. I'm going to make pesto and freeze it - this way I can have fresh basil pesto in the winter instead of using that horrible soggy schleppy basil that you buy in supermarkets. The tomatoes are coming to a slow end also, and I've already made two batches of pasta sauce with them. Oh I do love food, and I love to make things!

I have some brussels sprouts to plant, and have baby silverbeet and broccoli happily growing in the garden beds. The sunflowers and zucchini were pulled out over easter, now I have literally thousands of sunflower seeds from the old flowers to plant in the future. (Considering that I only used 6 this year, this batch of seeds should keep me supplied for, well, about a millenium.)

2004-04-12T16:34:00.000+10:00

Have spent most of the day looking at knitting websites and message boards. Knitting is my new obsession. I only started 3 weeks ago and already I've made 5 scarves, 1 collar, 2 hats and a coin purse. My hands and arms are aching! Nevertheless, I'm not tired of it. I bought Debbie Stoller's "Stitch n' Bitch" the other day, which is getting me thinking about making even more things. When will it stop?!

Joined the Melbourne Stitch n' Bitch group today, and have also printed off a list of yarn stores in Melbourne. Haven't ventured beyond Lincraft yet, so I'm really looking forward to checking out these other stores.

2004-04-12T13:21:00.000+10:00

I've been working on a piece about the (possibly) mythical (although possibly quite real) pope, Pope Joan, for about 14 months now. The piece is in the form of a 9th century Mass (the 9th century was the time when Joan supposedly ruled). I've used my voice almost exclusively in the construction of the piece - recording speech and singing, and processing the sounds with Cool Edit, AudioMulch, and various plugins.

As Pope Joan disguised herself as a man -- her female sex was only exposed when she gave birth in public procession -- the piece deals with gender-crossing, and I've used pitch-shifting and formant-shifting plugins to alter the gender and tone of my voice.

The piece is large (30-40 mins) and has taken at least 1,000 hours work so far. The process of composing, performing, recording, editing and assembling the piece has been very painstaking. I'm hoping that I will finish it in the next month.

Nevertheless, it's been great fun to work on, and I've managed to explore and express a wide range of emotions and vocal characters in my recording sessions.

link to a decent online text about Pope Joan (previously published in book form only):

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/PopeJoanHome.html

(Sorry... you will have to cut & paste - damn HTML code for links not working)

2004-04-11T14:56:00.000+10:00

Day one of my new blog. This will be a space for me to share my thoughts about all things, but especially the two things I care about most: writing music and feminism. Music has been a big part of my life for the last 20 years. I've had lessons on the recorder, piano, cello and voice, but my two main talents are playing the flute and writing music. Flute playing has been left behind in the last few years as I returned to uni to concentrate on writing music and hone my skills as a composer. I can happily say that as a result of this focused effort I am well on the way to creating a style that I feel suits me, and has meaning for me. Making music is now inextricably bound up with the feminist ideology I subcribe to, and most pieces aim to express feminist ideas or a feminist aesthetic.

I'll post in more detail about my music and ideas in the days to come...

As part of my introduction, I should mention a few more things about myself. I was born in Adelaide, Australia and lived there for most of my life. I spent one year in Canberra studying flute, and moved to Melbourne just over four years ago. I live happily with my two cats, and have recently developed an overwhelming obsession with knitting! No doubt this will also become a topic of discussion here...