Voiceless

 The cold I have been fending for a few days now seems to have annexed my vocal chords. All I am left with is the ability to make slight croaking sounds that vaguely resemble words but I tend to lose even this mid-sentence. At random intervals, the noise that has temporarily replaced my voice, seems to disappear altogether or deteriorate into a raspy squawking.

The problem is I can't really stop talking. Perhaps, I haven't really tried hard enough but it does seem to be impossible not to speak.

One would think that making these the pathetic and almost indiscernible sounds, not to mention inflicting a considerable amount of pain on myself, would be enough incentive to desist with all attempts at verbal communication. Apparently it is not.

Even when there are no other people around I still attempt to talk. I've taken the day off work; even my somewhat intimidating Deputy Principal thought it best for me to not attempt to teach without a voice. I guess a voiceless teacher trying to handle classrooms of rambunctious teenagers would have about as much success as flightless pigeon trying to herd a pride of lions*.

I have on several occasions today tried to talk to the cat, an act that I do not normally consider a sign of dementia but when one's throat is exceedingly sore perhaps it is excessive to strain one's voice in order to pester pets. Mostly, my voice just croaked and the cat slept through my raspy utterances. However, my last attempted communication was a somewhat squawking and unpleasant sound and it woke her up. She did not look impressed.

I think I actually need to gag myself to cease these unnecessary attempts at talking. Rather like when a dog has a sore paw or stitches and they put a bucket on its head so that it can't lick the wound**. I think I need the vocal equivalent if my throat is to heal.

* Collective nouns are cool but often unusual. Pride of lions seems understandable enough but some are slightly more obscure such as "a deceit of lapwings" and "an exaltation of larks".  Some seem entirely appropriate such as, "A crash of rhinoceroses" and "A sneak of weasels".  Others merely seem ridiculous. "A horde of gerbils," for example.  Surely, "horde" must be an over-statement. It seems a little too dramatic. "Beware the ravening horde of gerbils!" You can find many more collective nouns here.

** I have never seen this bucket treatment successfully applied to any dog I have ever owned or helped with. Generally, dogs aren't keen on the idea of people putting buckets on their heads. However, I have seen dogs wandering around with buckets firmly attached about their heads and vets recommend the practice, so it must work for some or most dogs. Otherwise there is some elaborate conspiracy to try and make me believe that it is therapeutic to place buckets on dogs' heads when it is in fact not so. I shouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

Desire for Projectors

 I spent most of Saturday night around at a friend's place watching some movies on his projector. I must say I am extremely impressed with the quality of home projectors nowadays. The sharpness of the picture, the depth of image and there is something just quite cool about having a wall-of-your-lounge sized screen. Wants it. Precious.

The problem is that filling one's home with cool technologies and creature comforts makes one disinclined to ever leave home. I can imagine that getting a projector might be the final step towards becoming a crazy hermit woman* and that I would have to be forcibly dragged out of the house in the morning for work by four strong and sturdy ponies.

The cold weather also encourages this anti-social behaviour. Hibernating is an all-too-appealing prospect when the outdoors is chilly and uninviting.

* A crazy hermit woman generally spends every hour of every day at home and has little social contact with anyone except her ever-growing colony of cats. Stray cats are drawn to the home of a crazy hermit woman by unseen forces and lurk about for food, warmth and fusses. Stray cats are then usually given overly exotic or sophisticated names such as "Sebastian" or "Aloysius" in a effort to cover-up their dubious and unknown heritage.

The crazy hermit woman only ventures out once a week to the supermarket to pick up 20 tins of cat food, colby cheese and pickle.

Oh no, not again...

 Like a disgruntled bowl of petunias plummeting to their doom, I have commenced Term Three with a deflated sense of grim inevitably. Holidays, like summers, cherry blossoms and white-chocolate-and-raspberry ice cream, are doomed to end their brief but beautiful existence all too swiftly. We have but a few short moments to savour the pleasures of this transitory world but they are snatched away and we have to go back to work.

I am consoled by the knowledge that holidays, like the seasons, blossoming flowers, and trips to Lindale or supermarket to purchase ice cream, will come again. All is not lost.

I have a couple of new students despite it being half-way through the year. I was at first concerned that these new students would struggle to catch up with the rest of the class and would be too far behind on the course material. A quick review of the previous terms' work alleviated all my worries.

Apparently the majority of my students have no idea what they learned last term and many claim to have lost their folders and work. Excellent. Should be easy enough for the new students to catch up with the class.

My attempts to refrain from guzzling too much coffee at work failed. I shall try to consume less caffeine tomorrow. Maybe. Unless I'm really tired. Or stressed. Or need a hot drink to warm up.
A colleague advised alternating drinks of coffee with milo as a method of reducing coffee intake. This approach did not work so well for me. Apparently my brain is so strongly convinced of my need for coffee, that I am unable to not spoon coffee into my cup. When I attempted to make a milo I added a spoonful of coffee without really noticing before I drank it. It was very yummy and mocha-esk though. Perhaps I shall make the coffee/milo combo a regular.

20 Questions to a Better Personality

 Yes, a quiz that claims to make you a better person. I, however, feel no real benefits yet from taking the quiz. I am a little hungry now and crave chocolate. Not really any change.

Results are interesting though I had anticipated a higher Wackiness score. Possibly getting old and being a teacher is sapping my inner wacky.

Results:

Wackiness: 54/100
Rationality: 46/100
Constructiveness: 86/100
Leadership: 72/100

You are a WECL--Wacky Emotional Constructive Leader. This makes you a people's advocate. You are passionate about your causes, with a good heart and good endeavors. Your personal fire is contagious, and others wish they could be as dedicated to their beliefs as you are.

Your dedication may cause you to miss the boat on life's more slight and trivial activities. You will feel no loss when skipping some inane mixer, but it can be frustrating to others to whom such things are important. While you find it difficult to see other points of view, it may be useful to act as if you do, and play along once in a while.

In any event, you have buckets of charisma and a natural skill for making people open up. Your greatest asset is an ability to make progress while keeping the peace.

Take the quiz if you too want to become hungry and crave chocolate.

Cheesy Movie Lines

 I watched Once upon a time in Mexico last night. I was disappointed with the movie. Certainly it is nowhere near as good as Desperado. It is actually kind of incoherent in places. Still it's pretty and has impressive fight sequences. I actually enjoyed some of the special features more than the movie I think. The ten-minute film school and cooking school featurettes and a lecture from Robert Rodriguez about making a film using High Definition Digital cameras. It is interesting the effect it has on the creative process of film-making. I would recommend renting the DVD to anyone who is interested in such things for these special features.

The film itself actually has one of the cheesier lines I have heard for a while.

"Are you a Mexi-CAN or a Mexi-CAN'T?"

I felt compelled to start a list of some of the cheesiest lines in the world of cinema. Please add your contributions to my list so far.

Other Random Cheesy Movie Lines

Mr Freeze (Arnie in the infamous Batman and Robin):
My name is Freeze; learn it well, for it's the chilling sound of your doom.

Skeltor (Masters of the Universe) Skeletor:
Tell me about the loneliness of Good, He-Man. Is it equal to the loneliness of Evil?

Anakin (Attack of the Clones):
I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth.

The World's Best Alarm Clock

 Recently I have been sleeping in later and later. Who wants to get up when it is cold and there is a cute, snuggly cat on the bed? This isn't really a problem except when you need to actually do something in the morning. Today we need to go into the Japanese Embassy so Matt can get his second Police Certificate to prove that he wasn't convicted of any crimes in Japan and is therefore a safe person to be a teacher.

I informed Matt that I should really get up by 9 at the latest so that the errand didn't take up the core part of the day. Getting something done before lunch makes the day seem longer and gives you a sense being productive in some small way.

However, when in holiday mode, I seem to be immune to alarm clocks and the sound of morning news on TV. I can blissfully sleep right through them. I have vague memories of Matt say "Time to wake up" and the radio or TV making noise but I wasn't fully awake.

Then Matt discovered the ULTIMATE WAKE-UP DEBBIE WEAPON. Sesame Street. Some incredibly loud muppet called 'Stinky' lamenting that fact that he could not write and thus would not be able to write a story. Then he was helped by Gordon (is it the same Gordon? The bald African-American guy? He was on it when I was a wee nipper. Either Sesame Street has some secret anti-aging serum or the 'humans' are actually muppets too. Scary). Gordon offered to write the words as Stinky said them. Needless to say, there was some very loud, slow repetition of EVERY SINGLE WORD in the dictation process.

I was up braving the cold and mooching about for coffee before they got past "Once upon a time". Powerful stuff.

In Search of the Perfect Sunday Brunch

 I don't know why but I always crave brunch on Sundays, even when I have already had breakfast. There is just something about the time 11am-12pm on a Sunday that makes me crave brunchy goodness.

To me, Sunday brunch has replaced the traditional Sunday Roast as the comfort eating meal of preference on the last day of the weekend.

Sunday brunch is often best at a café. My favourite café Sunday brunch is probably cappuccino and banana/bacon/maple syrup on pancakes or waffles. Yummy.

Sunday brunch at home can be just as good. Often we have delicious omelettes or pancakes.

Debbie's List of Recommended Brunchables:
(Note many of the recipes can be found on this website. Please comment if there are any excellent Brunchables I have not listed and need to try. Need more Brunch recipes…)
1. Cherry tomato, spring onion, mushroom, bacon and feta omelette
2. Hotcakes with banana, bacon and maple syrup
3. Cinnamon French Toast
4. Waffles with fresh melon or berries and maple syrup
5. Ham, brie and red capsicum grilled panini
6. Eggs Benedict
7. Chocolate and Strawberry French Toast
8. Pancakes with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream
9. Sweet chilli chicken and cream cheese grilled panini
10. Freshly warmed croissants and coffee

FLCL Madness

Heh heh. I'm Haruko. Sugoi!

You are [haruhara haruko]. You are energetic,
strange, and a bit mysterious. Your mood seems
to change frequently.

Wedding Anniversary

 Today is in fact the day upon which my lord-and-whatsit and I celebrate our four years of marital bliss. My, how the time flies. It is only the second anniversary we have celebrated in New Zealand, the first two being whilst we were in Japan.

The stars have aligned themselves auspiciously and as fate would have it, things have worked out rather well for ultimate relaxing anniversary fun!

List of evidence from which Debbie concludes that marital union shall be celebrated with BIG SMILES
1. School holidays! Yay. No work makes anniversary a happy day!
2. Fortuitous arrival of DVDs. Yes, even international shipping connives its way to arrival on our anniversary (or the day before in the case of Fruits Basket and FLCL).
3. The sun is shining yet there is a chill breeze. Perfect weather from walking through serene parks amongst trees and shrubbery wearing reliably warm jackets and comfy footwear.
4. Coffee, milo and other hot beverages are GOOD. Admittedly, they are good on other days of the year as well but they are especially tasty when consumed with a good book (book being read, not eaten naturally) or watching a good movie. Post-walk hot drinks are also good.
5. The fridge and pantry are packed with delicious treats (including Old Gold dark chocolate with peppermint chips - the best!) so I may indulge my epicurean desires without a trip to the supermarket.

According to my mother, and a slightly less reliable website listing such things, the traditional gifts for the fourth anniversary are Fruits and Flowers. I guess Fruits Baskets is really appropriate then! There is also an adapted list of 'Modern' type gifts. The 'modern' fourth wedding anniversary gift is Appliances. Huh?

To me, appliances are not romantic. A toaster does not really say, "I love you", nor an iron declare, "You have made my life complete". Sure they might be practical but after the wedding gifts and four years of marriage, you have probably accumulated all the appliances you could really need. You would be getting down to the superfluous 'alternative' appliances such as electric cheese graters and automatic coffee stirrers.

Maybe I should make my own list. Debbie's REALLY COOL WEDDING ANNIVERSARY GIFTS:
(I would provide two options. The first for if you have already spent too much money, the second for spending heaping big cash).
1st (cheap) Books and warm, fluffy socks
1st (not-so-cheap) Giant Floor to ceiling bookshelf (yes, furniture is good)
2nd (cheap) Holiday to not-very-exotic location such as Palmerston North. Or maybe you could just stay at home.
2nd (not so cheap) Holiday to exotic location
3rd (cheap) Spouse's favourite movie or TV show (that they don't already have) on DVD
3rd (not so cheap) Big screen TV or projector
4th (cheap) Bottle of wine and chocolate
4th (not-so-cheap) Wine trail holiday and shares in Whittakers

Three flavours - Three times the fun!

 Well, it is official. If I were an ice-cream, I'd be neopolitan.

Your Icecream Flavour is...Neopolitan!

You aren't satisfied with just one flavor. They say variety is the spice of life and this shines through in your Ice cream of choice! Just don't eat all the chocolate and leave the strawberry and vanilla behind!

What is your Icecream Flavour?

Find out at Go Quiz

Let the holidays begin!

 Well the holidays have officially commenced. Unfortunately I had an unplanned holiday from blogging yesterday and this morning, as I couldn’t log in successfully. However, it is now 7 O’clock and all is well.

The holidays have gotten off to a solid start I feel. Lots of fun balanced out with the completion of mundane tasks such as laundry and tax returns. I have also discovered that a variety of household chores are preferable to filling out tax returns. Dishes, laundry and general cleaning can all be officially declared as more fun, or at least, more appealing than tax returns.

I shall compile a list of various things I have thus far accomplished so as to make the last three days seem busy and active rather than the slovenly sleep-in days they were (mostly).

Saturday
- Watched several episodes of the extremely pretty Haibane Renmai series
- Read some but not as much as I would have liked
- Went into Wellington for delicious meal at Zibibbos*.
- Attempted to sing for free-parking (or at least discounted) but was denied. Clearly some more SingStar practice is required. Still harbour ambitions that my singing will one lead to discounted parking or goods. If singing got the Von Trapps out of the clutches of Nazis, it should get me some free-parking or coupons.

Sunday
- Went for a nice walk around Raumati
- Did supermarket shopping (more out of necessity than desire, which is unusual because normally I like shopping for food)
- Played the excellent Hero boardgame. Thanks to the awesome teleport powers of the Traveller, I won by about 1 point. Paragon was my other hero but functionally was more of a chiselled-jaw, incredibly buff sidekick. He didn’t really fight much crime (not successfully anyway).
- Watched Bichunmoo a Korean epic fantasy movie set in 14th Century China.

Monday
- Became a giddying whirlwind of bill-paying, tax-returning, cleaning-things action
- Fed horse (or rather horses but it was only supposed to be feeding one of them. Horses in wet weather go on aggressive begging and scavenging mode).
- Walked dogs in inclement conditions
- Ate delicious soup and stir-fry
- Played SingStar. (Yay!)


* Zibibbos is a rather nice restaurant on Taranaki Street. I had the Tapas platter (very nice), followed by the divinely delicious Lemon and Rosemary Rubbed Rotisserie Chicken with Salsa Rosso. The decadent dessert of Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse with Black Cherries was mouth-wateringly good with a capital Mmmmmmm. I only have two small complaints. Firstly, there are too many ‘B’s in the name. Three ‘B’s is, to be frank, excessive and bordering on the pretentious. Secondly, they have removed TIRAMISU from the dessert menu. Madness.

Nearly the Holidays!

 Heh heh.

The one time of the year when teaching seems like a rewarding profession is when it is nearly the school holidays.

Indeed today is the last day of Term Two which means I have nearly finished my first half-a-year of teaching.

Despite having mysterious back pain* and panda-eyes of tiredness** from the Senior Parent-Teachers evening last night***, I am feeling surprising chipper and optimistic.****

Yay for holidays! Joy! Rapture!

* My lower back has been hurting for the last couple of days. I have tried to combat it by assuming the Yoga position of ‘the corpse’ (lying flat on the floor) at home but have found it largely unsuccessful due to the fact that a) I started to fall asleep and, b) the cat sat on my head whilst I was vulnerable and tried to prevent me from be able to breathe. It must be noted the breathing is an essential part of successfully a) doing yoga and, b) staying alive for extended periods of time.

** The dark shadows and lines of worry under my eyes have started to migrate upwards giving an all-over panda eye look. I shall need industrial strength concealer next term if I am to continue the attempt to appear vaguely human.

*** There is a certain amount of cruelty in the management at my school. They scheduled yet another Parent-Teacher evening, this time on the last week of term! What I think is now irrefutable proof of their evilness is that they then didn’t provide any lunchables for staff at interval! It is an unspoken rule that teachers need biscuits, muffins and sausage rolls after an evening of talking to parents.

**** Heh heh. I like footnotes.