in the Kingdom of Disgruntledom

in the Kingdom of Disgruntledom i am queen.

argh.

i think i would rather be in the Kingdom of Silk.

however, something that has been making me less disgruntled today is...

the bindup i borrowed from the library of my work placement that contains 2 fabulously mad stories from Eva Ibbotson, creator of Which Witch, one of my most favouritefavouritest childrens books ever!

sadly most of her stuff including Which Witch is now out of print, out of stock or indented, however if you can get your hands on it, it is well worth it (don't even think about it, your grubby paws will be going nowhere near my copy-mostly because it is hiding in a box out of easy reach due to wet paint and bits of missing wall in my room-and also cos i love it too much to release it into the World of Borrowing, from whence it most likely will never return... err, not that i don't trust you...)

anyway, i just finished the first story in the bindup- Not Just a Witch- and it really did make me very pleased to be alive, so much so that i almost evacuated the Kingdom of Disgruntledom. almost, because a minute later i was severly irritated by a moronic waiter. still, it is an example of the healing powers of books.

Heckie is a Good Witch. so is Dora. when Heckie and Dora have a fight at their witch graduation (they are both wearing the same snake hat and each witch is convinced the other did it to spite them) 10 years of friendship ends in a squabble, and their plans for Doing Good together are finished.
so, miserable yet determined, Heckie sets out on her own to band together a group of witches, wizards and three children, and forms the Wellbridge Wickedness Hunters. what follows is very, very entertaining, and involves a sad russian wizard who makes air balloons fly by using the hot air talked by politicians, another wizard who spends his time teaching cheese to walk, and a death-dealing cauliflower, not to mention the extremely villainous villain Mr Knacksap (what a delightfully stupid name). there is also a rather pace quickening finale comprising of 300 snow leopards, a gas canister and two very displeased (yet reunited) witches.
i can't wait to curl up with Dial A Ghost, the next story. hurrah for the Eva Ibbotson! i might try reading some of her YA stuff next, but then again I might not as they don't look as silly. and i like silly.

summer lovin

oh, summer!

i can smell it in the jasmine on the back fence, and in the sea breeze that wafts determinedly around my ears and under my nose as i traipse along the back beach with the mad chien. these delicious smells promise other summery things like blowsy sweet peas, night picnics and floaty dresses, all of them entirely delightful.

another entirely delightful thing is the newest phryne fisher
dead man's chest by kerry greenwood.

phryne needs no introduction, suffice to say that she is back, more stylish than ever and off to queenscliff for a summer holiday. she promises her faithful companion dot, her adoptive daughters jane and ruth, and molly le chien a lovely holiday by the sea with absolutely No mysteries.

not likely, a mystery appears as soon as the holiday bunch arrive at their lodgings- the house is empty of both people and possessions, and the beloved dog of the missing people is found half starved and roaming with a dead rat in its mouth. the holiday doesn't look to be as peaceful as everyone had hoped. (although not-so-secretly i am very glad cos it means there was another mystery full of luxuriously conjured surroundings and morsel like historical details for me to enjoy)

monthly monday milf meeeeem

MMM is a meeeem created by kate.o.d and The Dugong Lady in celebration of those who lurk handsomely in the background. we want you between our pages.


and the first minor character i am admitting i'd like to do the nasty with is....

rambo aka robert black
from the spud series by john van de ruit, published by penguin

'robert black has the hugest willy'

bahahahaha.

actually the real reason is that he is big and strong with dark hair and eyes and an air of clever rebellion. with a vibe that says 'if you ever actually needed me to not be a dickhead, i would do it for you'.

he is the self proclaimed king of the dormitory and rambo is the nickname he gave himself. while at times he can be a bit of a bully, or at least very persuasive with his low, menacing tones, i think he has confidence issues.

and he has this underlying nice side.
afterall, when mad dog gets lifted up, carried downstairs on his mattress and laid out in the snow still snoring, it is rambo who gets blankets and carefully tucks him in. yes, it happens an hour later, and only because gecko voices concern about frostbite, hypothermia and piles. and yes, it was rambo's idea in the first place...
but i think it's all a tough guy front.

i suppose then there is still the whole side issue of him sleeping with the drama teacher... and numerous other girls. he is definitely a bit of hussy. but he does have some class, cos it takes him ages to admit that the teacher/student affair rumours are true, and even then only under threat of serious mutilation.

i think it's because he has the james dean factor.
and i think that he is a bit of alright.

a new leaf

hellooooo my pretties!

i have been a crap blogger lately. i don't apologise, but i do say...

i got a laptop!

so now i can be a blogging dynamo, churning out witty, fabulous missives to my minions* and furthering my career as a dugong lady.

also, the laptop is shiny.

and the * is to explain that i do not consider you, my dear reader, to be a minion. i just really like the word and thought it sounded nice with missives.

ps.

i have been reading a little bit in amongst the frenzy of not blogging, but you can leave that bit to your imagination and instead hear about the picture book i bought today because i had been eyeing it off for weeks and could resist no longer.

the vegetable ark by kim kane and sue degennaro

allen and unwin

it is so so so lovely. and funny. and i love neil- he reminds of neil from the young ones except more productive.

i went to the european masters exhibition yesterday and found.... diagon alley! look here . hagrid is the one in the middle.

people find me when they ask for...

silverfish pee- i didn't even know they could pee, silly i know, but while i didn't give it that much thought, i just sort of imagined them letting it out in the form of a steam that evaporated upon hitting the atmosphere.

collier the bottom billion positive review- who is collier the bottom and why does he need a positive review?

silverfish in laptop- who let them in there? that was silly.

and

impossible challenges to do with food

impossible food things

things that are impossible with food

why do so many people want to do impossible things with food?

steph bowe, fiona wood and mr magnolia are also popular.

the ins and outs of what this particular dugong lady is reading right now...

freedom by jonathan franzen: by golly. this guy writes sexy sentences. by this i meant he has these hugely long and detailed pieces of story covered in commas and semi colons in between full stops and capital letters, and it still all flows beautifully and is generally just fantastically detailed, subtle yet punchy writing. as someone that frequently gets overexcited with commas and splashes them into her writing on a whim, or cos she thinks they look pretty, this kind of classy comma usage really appeals to me. also the actual book is pretty darn good too. and how pretty is the cover?! i'm going to have to go back and read the corrections too.

the ethics of what we eat by peter singer: recently i have been making an effort to be more aware of the world around me and to live on top of my rock instead of under it. i no longer eat any meat unless it i know it is organic, and am yet to do more research on the organic meat industry. if i don't like what i find i will stop eating it all together. i have also stopped eating fish except if it is sustainably caught (and i've been finding this hard to find out a lot of the time, so i have only eaten some wild salmon once in the past month), and in general i eat organic where possible. i am finding this book quite helpful and enjoyably, it isn't a tedious read.

more adventures of the great brain by john d. fitzgerald: written in the 1890's, this book continues the adventures of T.D.,conniving hero of the great brain, and, from the inside of the front jacket, 'proves that boys in Mormon Utah in the 1890s are the same as boys today- full of limitless energy and fun yet with a capacity for sensitivty and sadness'. so far T.D. seems to me to be a bit of a little shit, but i'll continue reading and give an update later.