I've moved!

Check out the new me:


http://myminimanifesto.wordpress.com/ 


Kitty 

recent reads (mark II)

Did I say I love my kindle? I love my kindle. It let me down oh so slightly on the Thailand trip due to it’s pervious-ness to sand, but aside from that we are in love. Even though it’s been delivering up a few ‘meh’s on the book front.
Which is why this isn't a top five:
1. Jayne Eyre, one of the Brontes: Period drama and not in manner of menstruation (boom-boom). It’s good, the language has gone the distance and better yet, is free (and free).
2. My Booky Wook, Russel Brand.  This is rags to riches tale of sorts...  RB starts life as a very weird, very chubby kid that nobody likes/you feel sorry for/want to beat up and goes on to have eight-somes with models and goats.  It's pretty scandalous.   He's smart and entertaining but completely lacking in humility. My negativity could be tainted by the fact I still begrudge him the two hours and twenty bucks he robbed me of when I say ‘Get him to the Greek’. Which was my own fault. 

picture credit

3. The Hare with the Amber Eyes, Edmund De Waal.  This is a book about carved little figurines.  It is a true story. Dull to the max. 
4. Home: A History of Private Life, Bill Bryson. Bookshelf worthy.  I could print this onto gloss but I'd prefer to just buy the hardcover. 
5. Ghostwritten, David Mitchell: I have a love/hate relationship with Mr Mitchell. He does this thing where each chapter is basically a short story written from one persons point of view and all the chapters in the book are inter-twined and sometimes reference other books he’s written (which is awesome and never so awesome as when it occurred in Ally McBeal/The Practice circa 1997 - [someone else liked it too]). When the person/chapter are good they’re great, but there’s a couple of duds that tend toward excruciating.  'Bat' the radio DJ ushering in the end of the world is a case in point, my God that went forever.  

Next up my ma is giving me Top Cop with Christine Nixon, whom I have a spot for (of the soft variety). 

Anyway, I'm fishing for recommendations...  See this comment for what not to write.
Kitty

@shelley's

I rarely experience food envy when eating with Carney.  This is mainly because he orders tripe and other such items that are not widely used because they are disgusting and because he’s happy to share.  (NB: I’m also happy to share/speed eat the good bits from multiple dishes.)

Anyway, new experience for me on two fronts when we visited @Shelley’s in High St Preston – not only food envy but curry envy.  Has the world gone mad?  I don’t really come at curry, but the goat was vunderbar.  He ordered with extra spinach and extra veg and roti ($1.90).  And then roti again because the roti was awesome.  I would say best curry I’ve ever had. Spicy too.  

Coincidentally, the owner/chef at Shelley is called Shelley too.  She is disarmingly friendly.  So disarming she blew my cover as  an epic food critic – I revealed all under the slightest of cross examinations.  Just like the time I dobbed Tommy J into the police for stealing bottles of wine from a 40th birthday party across the road from my house.  Sorry TJ.  I was only wearing a singlet and those police were intimidating.    


Kitty 

cheap chickens and my impressive herb garden

I went to Preston South Safeway three times this (long) weekend. Each time I did not spend $9.88 on a roast chicken.  This was despite the enormous amount of signage advertising their chicken special; chickens were $9.88 each rather than the usual $10.98.  What was perplexing about this was that the signs read:  'Don't pay $10 for a chicken'.  Seems a rather short sighted proclamation given their normal price is more than $10 which, according to the sign, one should not pay.  It also irritatingly over-states the (12 cent) difference between $9.88 and $10; if you paid $9.88 you're basically paying $10.  


Anyway, this weekend - aka 'the garden bonanza' - was not quite the garden bonanza envisaged.  My grandiose plan for paved area, planter boxes and a small jungle-enclosed bench (for reading in manner of secret garden) reduced in scale to a delightful-but-considerably-more-modest selection of herbs mounted onto the kitchen window sills:

Is magnifique, eh?  If not that practical - there's probably only a meals worth of herbs in total.  But so easy to water.  


Kitty  

yesterday's news

this is my friend meg's blog:

http://tailsalaska.blogspot.com/

it's technically out of date now having run from 2006-2009 - but as we fell out of contact during this time, it's proven the perfect way to catch up.  she lives in alska now.  meg makes me wish i was less consumerist and more of a composte-r/tree loving in general.  


thanks for saving the planet meg. 


kitty 

look at moi (II)

I said to Carney recently that I was going to use my maiden name as my writing name and my married name as my normal name.  This is for self important protective reasons - i.e. in case I become brilliant/controversial and people want to kill me aka Steig Laarson, etc., but mainly because I miss my old name.  It was a good name.


Anyway, that was before I send this into Onya Magazine:
http://www.onyamagazine.com/lifestyle/the-year-i-became-polish/ 


Kitty x

wednesday night at the vegie bar

gen is a vegetarian that eats bacon when on first dates. she reminds me of nina from offspring but in a good way. i won't add that she's one of 12 and grew up on a dairy farm because she gets that all the time. she's a technophobe without a facebook account. this is for reasons of living in the dark ages and not fear of terrorism or bad photos; i think she uses a typewriter at work. if you google gen there is a different gen of the same name who's written 'i am gen i hate school'. this gen would prefer people didn't speak to her while she eats her breakfast.

tara 'brown eyes-blue eyes'/'five fingers' is an early adopter with a thermomix and a hair dryer purpose built for curly hair.  she gets up earlier than the sun and stole clothing as a child.  it was from her sister though, so not actually a criminal offence (just offensive from the sister's point of view).  she's got lovely skin and her teeth/mouth are not nearly so prominent as this picture suggests.  she likes to speak to people while she eats her breakfast.

last night we three went to the vegie bar on brunswick st, fitzroy and had many interesting conversations.  


kitty x