elfinblaze

Yesterday I saw my niece crawling down the corridor. I assumed she was following her mother and continued watching TV.

Ten minutes later I heard a very satisfied "Heh" sound coming from behind me. I turned around to see a smiling 11 month-old poke her head around the corner to my bedroom.

My first thought was, "Uh oh," but before I could even get up, Magpie waved to me with great pride. In her hand was my mobile phone. The little monster had managed to unlock it and had open goodness-knows what app doing hell-if-I-know with it.

No wonder she was so pleased with herself. All that time I'd thought she was with her mother she was stirring up trouble in my room.

A few hours later I discovered a soggy, chewed-up jigsaw piece in my carpet.

She obviously had the time of her life in my room.

- Ha! My sister is interested in playing more board games with me! YES! One down, six billion to go!

- The same sister was trying to sing her baby to sleep yesterday. The only problem is that Magpie likes music, so much so that whenever she hears it she starts dancing and trying to sing along. Guess what happened when my sister tried singing her to sleep yesterday? Sort of defeats the purpose of getting her to sleep. Dear baby, stop trying to sing along to your own lullabies.

- I would like to write up my thoughts on Glee at some point, but it's so hot I have to switch off my computer about 10am every day because I don't want it overheating. Again.

- Same-sex marriage is now legal in one small jurisdiction in Australia (the Australian Capital Territory, or ACT) because the government of the territory actually listened to the people. The news reports coming out of the territory now are making me smile. So happy for them.

- Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, who has been openly critical of the Catholic church in the past, is sounding off about Pope Francis.
“Can one man change an institution? I feel the answer is no,” Byrne said. “He can initiate certain reforms in the Vatican … but unless he radically alters the policies of the Catholic church there won’t be a change.”

- The sky isn't orange (with smoke) anymore! But I can still smell the occasional whiff of smoke. Thank goodness it's cooler today.

- I just realised I've only read 7 fiction books this year. All the others have been non-fiction.

- It's amazing how quiet the house is when Magpie is at playgroup. Normally, at home, she's a little rascal, getting into everything she's not supposed to: chewing electric cables, pulling stuff off tables, climbing on everything like a monkey, etc. Outside the house, she's a little angel. The whole family (plus various significant others) went out for lunch last weekend, and she handled the crowded restaurant so well: she never got scared or tired, and she never complained. She just looked around with interest, and sat still, eating. She was the best behaved child in the whole place.

- Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill
Under the new law, same-sex couples throughout Australia will be able to marry in the ACT by the end of the year. The awkwardly-named bill's title was the result of several last-minute changes made in an attempt to head off a promised High Court challenge by the Federal Government under Tony Abbot.

- And in my own state: Australian state next to move forward on same-sex marriage
A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) will be introduced in the state Upper House as soon as next Thursday and all MPs will be allowed to vote with their consciences on it.

Oh my god, I have a call back for a job. Ooooooh my god... My hands are shaking as I type. This would be a pretty similar job to my last one (allied health, but a different speciality), reception, office administration work. It's far from guaranteed (this is just the first call back), but it's something.

The other exciting thing is my niece. Last week she was going after her grandmother's library book; we explained to her that it was "a book." She repeated "aboo." Then, yesterday, I was walking past our bookshelves and she said without prompting, "aboo."

I'm hoping this is a good sign: at not quite seven months she's recognised and remembered what books are.

- There's a rainbow crossing in my subburb! Almost gone by now, but you can still see the traces of it on the road.

- My niece is learning to connect her hands with what she sees. Last week I was wiggling my hand in front of her (the left hand with four rings and three bracelets) and the little magpie was fascinated by the bling. She was focussed on it for about ten minutes straight, face concentrating, her fingers flexing and hand twitching, like she was trying to work out how to reach for it. The next day my mother was wearing a new scarf, and Magpie reached up almost on instinct to touch it. Then she looked surprised to be touching it, that she could feel something. So she's learning to reach for things.

- She also may or may not have said "Mummy". It's a bit unclear yet. More like "Mah-wee".

- It's ironic that I left the Catholic Church a long time ago - half a lifetime now - and yet recently the things that have given me the most hope have been Christian blogs, but I'll take it. Hope is good, maybe especially when it comes from unexpected places.

- American Academy of Pediatrics: Promoting the Well-Being of Children Whose Parents Are Gay or Lesbian
Extensive data available from more than 30 years of research reveal that children raised by gay and lesbian parents have demonstrated resilience with regard to social, psychological, and sexual health despite economic and legal disparities and social stigma.
(full text freely available)

- This is a fun game to play: Combine the title of the book with the author's name to get a completely different meaning.
Call of the Wild Jack London
A History of Reading Alberto Manguel
The Silvered Tanya Huff
Trick of the Dark Val McDermid
Traitors Moon Lynn Flewelling
Walk Two Moons Sharon Creech
Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone J.K. Rowling

I can't be bothered writing up a Gleeview for the last episode, despite how much I enjoyed it, especially Kitty trying to get rid of Vicky the Robot Girl. Such a tiny snippet of a scene, so much love.

My niece has learnt to smile. She's the most adorable baby, but I may be a bit biassed. I just walked in on my sister reading to her. :) Goldilocks.

Along to same lines, I started looking at children's books yesterday, thinking about what kind of books I want to read to her, and I've come to the conclusion that I will need to write a few. Mainly because the ones I want to read to her don't exist. Yet. Some of them are specific to our family, and some are books that I grew up with that just need updating (I'm talking newer scientific discoveries in non-fiction books), so I may as well do the work myself. Either way, I've got about five different ideas in my head right now, both for fiction and non-fiction books.

There is a little person living in my house.

S. is staying here for the moment until her mother finds somewhere else to stay.

She's really strong. Nine days old and already holding up her own head. The doctor was impressed.

We'll see how much sleep I get from now on, though.

My sister sorted through some old boxes of hers today. She found all sorts of stuff in the process. Like stuff she wrote in Primary School, for school assignments. In between gasps of laughter she read some of it to me.

There once was a kitten from Mice
Who thought she had too much spice.
She decided to change
But felt very strange
When she turned into something so nice.

She and I were literally crying with laughter reading some of these things.

Like a story she wrote called, "How the Leopord Got His Spots". It begins, "A long time ago, back in the dreamtime, there lived a leopord..." Yes. A "leopord". In the Dreamtime. I didn't realise leopards were native to Australia.

She also found an essay titled, "Why I Like Small Furniture".

Neither of us knows what she was thinking. She was a strange child.

- Stuff to look forward to:

April 19: Glee, episode 17, "Night of Neglect"
April 22: Good Friday. Day off work!
April 23: Doctor Who series 6
April 24: Easter Sunday. Chocolate Day!
April 25: Easter Monday & ANZAC Day. Another day off work!
April 26: Glee, episode 18, "Born This Way" (extra long special episode! Whee!)
April 30: Those Who Fight Monsters released.

- A few days ago my brother thought he had lice because his scalp was itchy. My mother's first comment was: "Zum Glück hab ich keine Haare" ("Luckily I don't have hair.")

See? There's a up side to everything. Even cancer treatments.

- I got a lift home from David last night. He happened to be driving past, saw me waiting at the bus stop, and offered me a lift home.

I can't help but feel like the two of us are going to spend a great chunk of our lives orbiting each other, whether we want to or not, just because this keeps happening. I first met him 11 years ago, on the bus, both of us on our way home from school. We became friends first; a few years later we went out a couple of times but I called it off because I realised I was gay. And now we both work and have our own lives, and we still keep running into each other on trains, on the street, randomly. I think if I travelled to the moon I'd still run into him there, it's that sort of weird relationship.

But it's nice. We're still friends and one thing that never once changed was how easily we talk. So that was the fastest trip home ever; time flies in good company.

- I have a new baby cousin. Cousin once removed, to be exact, but still. Welcome to the world, Emma.

But the best part of this is her birthday's not in February! I guess she missed out cause the rest of us are hogging all those February birthdays.

- Posted another fic here. It's no more than me attempting to break through this writer's block I'm stuck on, and some thoughts that were occurring to me, but viciousdisorder would badger me forever if she found out I'd finished a story and not shared it with her, so that's for you, brat.

- Apparently Borders is closing down its shops in Hornsby, Macquarie, and Parramatta, among others. I'm sure Dymocks, QBD, and the independent bookshops are pleased.

So much to write! Point form under the cut, to spare you all.

( Christmas and more )

And it's still only Sunday! I have two more days off! *spins*