Thorns

So, my father in law came over tonight to get distancam do his computer-nerd magic on his laptop. He showed us some photos he'd taken..and there were strangedave and doctor_k_! So, you guys, just so you know, the middle aged indian man you sat opposite at the Tai Chi dinner is my father in law :)

So, first my ex I hadn't spoken to since early 1999 decides to send me back my copy of LOTR for no apparent reason.
Then a friend I had a falling out with in 1999 and hadn't really spoken to since appears suddenly on livejournal causing some small measure of Drama (this is a flocked post, sorry)
Then I go to my "Class of 96" reunion
Then I bump into said '98 ex on the train.
And today I bumped into someone I haven't seen since 1998 (we had classes together, apparently. I must admit I do not remember her, but it was nice chatting anyway)

It's like this wacky late-90s nostalgia trip that refuses to end. I also bumped into my high school drama teacher and walk over my year 11 physics teachers name every time I check the toilets (both at work) but they both happened at sufficient remove from the others not to weird me out.

And yes, I realise it's probably just selective observation or whatever, it's still a little surreal :P

Thanks to everyone who came to my birthday dinner, it was great. My brother(*) and sister even came, and got along with people and everything! People who didn't come are forgiven I guess. Got lots of cool presents and chocolate, the latter of which was possibly partly responsible for me having to leave work early with nausea though that would be a very unusual reaction(**) and I didn't eat very much. So far the ordinary Lindt dark chocolate (not the 70% cocoa stuff) is my favourite :)

Anyway this did mean I got the chance to read The Sharing Knife. Not quite finished and I must say I'm a little dissapointed. nico_wolfwood warned me that it was more "traditional fantasy" than her more mythological/theological previous fantasy books, but what she should have said was "cliched girly fantasy romance". Feisty young girl leaves behind her small minded farmer family and encounters love and adventure with a war scarred, much older man with semi magical powers who she slowly teaches to love again? Guh! It's even "Book 1" of a series :( It is good for what it is, and if I didn't know she could do better I'd just enjoy it in the same way as I enjoy Tamora Pierce (Only more so). Still, the more time she spends writing stuff like this the less time she has for interesting fiction.

Also, we have cupboards! Unfortunately I was napping/reading for the afternoon, and Cam is napping now so our clothes are still beboxed.

(*)The ones who's 20, not 10 :)
(**)In that it came on very suddenly 5 hours later. I think a recent change in tummy medication is more likely which is annoying since chocolate I can avoid but I'm kind of stuck on this new lower dosage.

Well! The big day out was fun. It would have been more fun if I wasn't (a)Utterly buggered from lack of sleep and (b) Unable to stand very long (let alone dance) due to my stupid knees. So I spent most acts sitting at the back in the shade (where there was any), and if it was really rocking I swayed slightly from a cross legged position :)

For anyone who hasn't been: they take up like half the Claremont showgrounds, four of the grass areas being turned into stages with the two biggest on the Really Big oval (only one of the two was used at a time). There was also this fenced off area called LilyWorld which looked intriguing (the entrance was two giant eyes on stalks) but it needed I.D. Most of the food outlets are opened (complete with crazy showground prices), along with lots of stalls all aimed at the young-rock-fan crowd. Not as many free samples as I would have liked, but I managed not to spend a cent with my packed lunch and 1 litre bottle of frozen water.

I didn't get much out of any of the Headline Acts on the two big stages since with the exception of Faker at the begining sitting down meant being waaaay back in the stands. The only time this made me Very Sad was the White Stripes, since by this time I was a few steps shy of Sudden Catastrophic Failure so sat there barely able to hear them over "Tainted Love" coming from Lilyworld for like two songs then went home :( Someone needs to lend me one of their albums so I can play it Very Loudly and pretend like I'm at a concert.

On the other hand the smaller stages were pretty cool. The perth bands one was so empty the "mosh pit" up by the stage was like 1 person thick, so I "moshed" (stood and swayed slightly) to Red Jezebel just because I could :)

My absolute favourites were Youth Group and Sarah Blasko (who I hadn't really heard of before looking her up for the BDO, and now I'm pondering getting an album!). Henry Rollins spoken word was pretty cool too, and it's nice to say I've seen Iggy Pop and the Beasts of Bourbon, even if I didn't actually get that much out of them. (I know, heretic, I did try)

Saw a bunch of people which was fun, but not gyges_ring because he wasn't really there.