cyberspace junkyard

Homeward Bound
Will be heading home to Sydney this evening after 2 nights in Adelaide. I really really really needed the time off (though am exhausted after having 8 hours sleep a night! My body clock is completely thrown off!) but I'm looking forward to getting back to Sydney and back into saltlight stuff. I miss it now!

See ya back in the state where not 50% of cars on the road have numberplates starting with "W".

Monday Tuesday Mumbles
This, from Column Eight in the SMH.

Opened yesterday morning, the refurbished David Jones Food Hall in the Market Street store, is decidedly up-up-market. There's a sushi bar, a truffle bar (actually chocolates), a pasta and cheese bar, an oyster bar, numerous imported brands of groceries, four bays with countless different brands of olive oil - but you can still get, we are glad to see, the somewhat downmarket Vegemite, Eta Peanut Butter and Heinz Baked Beans.

Mmmmmm....... can't wait to go and try out the new Food Hall! (They also make the best dark chocolate covered strawberries ever!)

Just call me Eámanë
Eámanë Vardamir to be precise.
I love these Elvish/Hobbit name generator things. The perfect thing for the LOTR obsessed.

BTW, my hobbit name is Bramblerose Moss of Lake-by-Downs. That's so pretty!

Friday Five - oh dear
Ummmm.... I never would have considered myself a geek (though apparently, the geek test has tried to prove me wrong at 29.7ish% ie Total Geek). Oh well, I'm self-disturbed at these answers!

1. How much time do you spend online each day?
Literally? About 15-16 hours. I'm actually active for a good deal of that time too ie I don't just log on but don't do anything. Instead of taking coffee breaks, I take internet / email breaks. And I have a sad habit of staying indoors with my packed lunch at work, reading message boards.

2. What is your browser homepage set to?
At work, it's the compulsory work intranet. At home, it's my blog.

3. Do you use any instant messaging programs? If so, which one(s)?
Yup, mostly Yahoo Messenger (I have 3 profiles) but also MSN Messenger and ICQ occasionally.

4. Where was your first webpage located?
My first year uni computer science student homepage! We all got one for free and had to fill in a questionnaire on ourselves and create the page for an assignment.

5. How long have you had your current website?
This blog's been around for 16 months now!

Monday aMusing Mumbles
We bought a coffee machine. Hee!
I suppose it's only funny when you realise no-one in our household actually drinks coffee.

2 hours...
... is how exactly how much sleep I'll be getting tonight before my alarm goes off and I groan and roll around in bed reluctantly. And what am I doing up this late, you ask? Let me just say that I'd like to make a new window in my room, somewhere in the middle of the wall. I'm not fussed. As long as it's computer-shaped.

I've recently reinstalled Windows XP as I upgraded my motherboard, CPU and components. Fun fun fun. Joyous hours of sweat and frustration yesterday, leading up to the system not powering up, which turned out to be due to a faulty motherboard. Nice. New motherboard now installed, and the BIOS isn't compatible with my old system (apparently) so installed a new O/S.... only to remember that I had locked my documents etc into a separate folder and now can't get at them. Grrrrrr.... all those hours and hours of video clips, figure skating (Michelle Kwan.... wah!) and American Idol. Darn diggidy darn darn.

Hopefully I'll come up with a miraculous way of accessing those files soon.

In the meantime though.... boy is my computer fast! :)

Monday Mucus-y Mumbles
Yes, I'm sure you really needed to know that!
I've been sick since last Thursday, though not feeling sick, just am sick (sore throat, blocked nose, constricted airways etc). Had a great night last night, playing and singing at Burwood@Five, with the music team, and also for a saltlight promo. It was a relaxing weekend overall - dinner on the wharf and watching Australian Idol.... hee hee!

I know I haven't been blogging very much, but that's cos so much of my life is saltlight and This Way Up related at present, so all my updates are on the saltlight website!

PP: I am in awe and truly praise God that my flu-like symptoms disappeared for 30 minutes last night.... enough for me to be able to sing On That Day with no major hitches. I have about 2 free days/nights in the next 3 weeks, so pray that I get adequate rest and stay relaxed and focussed.
BV: I found this passage so challenging. 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry."

Be vigilant, be prayerful
Warlord admits hostages are dead is an article in the Sydney Morning Herald about 6 Anglican missionaries who were held hostage and recently killed. As I have friends currently serving overseas, and am considering and planning a short-term myself in the next 2 years or so, it just hits me in the gut that the gospel is such a precious gift, and such a powerful force, that it is worth even our lives. It also blows me away how important prayer is and continues to be... so if you're a Christian.... take a moment to stop and pray for our dear brothers and sisters who live in unfamiliar cultures and sometimes hostile environments... all for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Friday Five the Second
1. What time do you wake up on weekday mornings?
My alarm goes off at 6:45 am, and I roll around in bed til about 7:30am. I do my best thinking when I'm ensconsed in layer upon layer of blankets, and set my alarm extra early to give myself the illusion of a sleep-in.

2. Do you sleep in on the weekends? How late?
Nope! The only sleep-ins I get are on public holidays and the like. On Saturday, I start teaching at 9am (get up at 8am) and on Sundays, I have music practice at church at 8am (get up at 7:15am)

3. Aside from waking up, what is the first thing you do in the morning?
Avail myself of my convenient bathroom next door, brush my hair and put on lipstick. If I have guests, then the hair and lipstick comes before the bathroom! :)

4. How long does it take to get ready for your day?
15 minutes - I have the routine down pat: boudoir, get changed (clothes ironed the night before - thanks dad!), put shoes on, grab breakfast on my way out the door (usually toast with something - thanks mum!) and final freshening up on the ferry.

5. When possible, what is your favorite place to go for breakfast?
Anywhere that serves great Eggs Benedict (eg, a little cafe down the road in Concord), or hotel buffet breakfast (eg Sheraton on the Park (best buffet in the world!) or Stamford Grand in Adelaide. Maisies in North Sydney and Pancakes on the Rocks are good if you're in search of breakfast at around 4am in the morning!

Friday Five the First
Ooh - these questions were about to disappear to make way for new ones, but I thought they looked interesting! Might take a while to finish, but I'm posting it up to remind me to think about it sometime soon...

1. If your life were a movie, what would the title be?
2. What songs would be on the soundtrack?
3. Would it be a live-action film or animated? Why?
4. Casting: who would play you, members of your family, friends, etc?
5. Describe the movie preview/trailer.