Swandives

doo dah doo dah.

And I lost 2.3 kgs last week. So I’m doubly happy, if a little sore and dying for chocolate.

Only 11 kgs to go…

In light of this good news, I’ve declared today official DAIRY day. Not the yummo, full fat dairy that I crave so much, mind…the very healthy and good-for-me reduced fat dairy that’ll keep me strong so I can run more. Low fat cheese and yogurt is on the menu!

1.20pm UPDATE: Help! I got the hungries! Just ate a wholemeal roll with hummous, swiss cheese and tomato but I’m still hungry. Been eating obligatory yogurt, drinking lots of water and tea…but I need more foodies…darn that running…makes me soooo hungry. Going to find a piece of fruit from somewhere…

UPDATE 2: Also just realised that my new year resolution was to lose 8 kg (10 better)…but here it says 11 kg, even tho I just lost 2. No, it’s sadly not a typo. In between making the resolution and jumping on the weight loss wagon again I put on a few kilos. Sigh.

1) J’s Bladerunner quote in the comments of Missed the memo has made me wanna go buy Bladerunner on DVD so I can have it for always and always and …well, until the tech becomes obsolete anyhoo.

2) Nasty PTB at www.oscars.com have disabled the live video stream from the media room in favour of all this end-user video rubbish such as Ellen’s video diary and Road to the Oscars (groan). I loved the media room stream…it was the best bit about the Oscars…lots of interesting stuff happened in there and you got to see more than the 5 second grab that appeared on the TV news. Now it’s gone. And I’m unhappy.

so will somebody please explain to me why Britney Spears has shaved her head?

Was reading Web n+1 and came across the absolute gem of a made-up word from Douglas Adams and John Lloyd:

ABINGER (n.): Person who washes up everything except the frying pan, the cheese grater and the saucepan which the chocolate sauce has been made in.

And I laughed out loud coz that describes my husband!! And now I have a word for it!

In an effort to be good (my godmother felt the need to tell me last night that I’d put on weight…sigh), I have switched to black coffee. And, I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it! Mmm.

This is the gorgeous Eastern Blue Groper, which I am ecstatic to say is still a neighbour of ours.

About five years ago (perhaps longer) I was standing on the end of the wall at my parents’ place gazing into the harbour, as I am wont to do. And I saw a beautiful blue groper feeding on the rock shelf below. It was an extremely exciting moment; as you can see, he’s an amazing, intense blue and was quite large, even then. Over the years I’ve spent countless hours staring into the harbour wondering if the groper was still around, or whether some nasty spearfisherman had gotten him (even though he’s protected, I don’t trust spearfishermen as far as their spears).

Well, yesterday, I was doing much the same thing and low and behold: there he was! Only much, much bigger! I’d say he’s just about fully grown now (they grow to 1.2 m). And not at all worried about me or my beloved, thank you very much…he had food on his mind, and the tide was nice and high and was allowing him to scrounge off the rocks. They’re very friendly and curious, often coming up to scuba divers and snorklers to see what’s what. And they have great Mick Jagger lips.

How do I know he’s a he? Well, he’s a member of the wrasse family, which starts out female, goes through a phase where they could be either sex and then turn male later on. Males develop that brilliant blue.

Anyway, I am so pleased! Yay!

Our neighbours are moving out. All their stuff is out in the courtyard and they’re having conversations like “we have too many books”. Poor things. Moving is dreadful, although it does at least force you to cull your belongings. I live in fear that I am going to end up like the rest of my family, with stuff everywhere, just in case sometime in the next 40 years I might need it. Experience has taught me that that kind of thinking isn’t actually justified, because what happens is when you do need something, you have to rummage through collective years worth of stuff, only to find the thing you actually needed has since deteriorated beyond repair, or the rats have eaten it, or it has rusted and is of no use. Meanwhlie you’ve spend all these resources storing the bloody thing, with mess everywhere.

Having said that, I really identify with the books problem. We do have too many books. They’re everywhere. On every surface, bookshelves, heaving with volumes until you think they’ll burst. And I love them. But I do wish we could do something with them. Perhaps I am just moving towards the inevitable and you can’t fight nature, no matter what the nurture.

A smack of jellyfish.

My source is none other than the Macquarie Dictionary (I just opened it on the collective nouns for animals page towards the back).

Nice huh?

Stories abound about eBay fraud. Normally, they’re accompanied by the inevitable ‘oh, you must have been the victim of a phishing scam’ and a few pointers on what to do to avoid getting caught out:

• Don’t click on embedded links in email
• Install security software on your computer and keep it up-to-date
• Regularly install operating system updates
• Use the My Messages function in eBay to check the legitimacy of any correspondence.
• Don’t give out usernames and passwords, don’t use obvious passwords, change your password regularly…blah blah blah.

Now, that’s a lot of work right? Human nature being what it is, the chances are that at some point in time you’ve lapsed and not done one of these things. And then, somehow, it’s your fault because you’ve been baaad little computer user. Naughty naughty. And now your ID has been stolen and used for nefarious purposes.

Well, I’m here to tell you that that’s not necessarily the case.

You see, my eBay ID has been compromised. I now have feedback (all positive), even though I have NEVER bought or sold an item on eBay. I use it for research and browsing only — my husband’s the eBayer in our family.

eBay caught on to the problem faster than I did; not having logged on since September last year I was blissfully oblivious. The powers-that-be suspended my account (but didn’t email me to tell me about it — I didn’t find out until I had all sorts of trouble logging in). But here’s my problem:

• I’ve only ever logged into my account at work, securely tucked behind an organisational firewall and all sorts of security software.
• My PC isn’t generally connected to the internet, and when it is, I use the obligatory security suite.
• I don’t ever answer eBay emails, regardless of whether they’re legit.
• My eBay password is different to other passwords.

So how did it happen? I’d love to know. Security is a complex thing, so it’s unlikely I’ll get any answers soon. But I’m beginning to suspect eBay is not as secure as it likes to tell people.

Bit of excitement in the office today - we had a fire! A lightswitch blew and started a fire in the wall. Right next to my desk! Best thing was that the wall is a firewall so even tho it all happened right beside me, I was on the other side and therefore safe to watch those gorgeous firemen do their thang. Life is good!

Actually, I’m on deadline and it’s all a bit hectic, but I’ve decided not to worry about things I cannot change. Call it part of my new year’s resolutions.

Another resolution is to lose at least 8 kg (10 would be better) and run the entire City to Surf this year. That’s right: no blisters, no excuses. So far it’s not going that well. So I’m back at the gym, doing spin. The trouble is, cycle instructors in general have crap taste in music, and the music can make or break a spin session. It seems to me that there are a lot of average gym instructors out there - the ones that just turn up, or you get the feeling they’re only there to help their own physique. Or they mistake screaming at you as motivation. I hate that - the reason I go to the gym is because I find exercise boring and I need some spice; some fun. And good music. One of the best instructors I’ve had used to begin the class with ACDC. Now that was fun! And boy, you worked! (He also used to do this class called High Energy, which I was never fit enough to do…I used to just watch on in awe.) I notice he’s now one of the trainers on Channel 10’s Biggest Loser.

So, for the moment I am trying to find my own motivation. And not watching the Biggest Loser, because I’m at the gym! Insert halo here.