Running diary...

So here's a summary of the running I have been doing...

I started on 24 September when I decided to run the 3.5km to Cavendish to meet Richard there to go watch a movie (it was I heart Huckabees). The rest as they say is history and I have been running a few times a week since. I decided to make up a spreadsheet to tally my distance an inspire me to continue, this is how it looks now.

Date Day Distance
24 Sep 05 Saturday 3.5
25 Sep 05 Sunday 2.5
26 Sep 05 Monday 8.5
27 Sep 05 Tuesday 0
28 Sep 05 Wednesday 7.5
29 Sep 05 Thursday 6.5
30 Sep 05 Friday 0
1 Oct 05 Saturday 4
2 Oct 05 Sunday 8
3 Oct 05 Monday 7
4 Oct 05 Tuesday 8
5 Oct 05 Wednesday 0
6 Oct 05 Thursday 6
7 Oct 05 Friday 5
8 Oct 05 Saturday 0
9 Oct 05 Sunday 9
10 Oct 05 Monday 9
11 Oct 05 Tuesday 0
12 Oct 05 Wednesday 4.5
13 Oct 05 Thursday 5.5
14 Oct 05 Friday 0
15 Oct 05 Saturday 0
16 Oct 05 Sunday 10
17 Oct 05 Monday 4
18 Oct 05 Tuesday 5
19 Oct 05 Wednesday 7.5
20 Oct 05 Thursday 2
21 Oct 05 Friday 0
22 Oct 05 Saturday 0
23 Oct 05 Sunday 0
24 Oct 05 Monday 0
25 Oct 05 Tuesday 0
26 Oct 05 Wednesday 0
27 Oct 05 Thursday 0
28 Oct 05 Friday 4.5
29 Oct 05 Saturday 3.2
30 Oct 05 Sunday 0
31 Oct 05 Monday 3
1 Nov 05 Tuesday 2
2 Nov 05 Wednesday 0
3 Nov 05 Thursday 4.8
4 Nov 05 Friday 4.8
5 Nov 05 Saturday 3.2
6 Nov 05 Sunday 0
7 Nov 05 Monday 0
8 Nov 05 Tuesday 0
9 Nov 05 Wednesday 1
10 Nov 05 Thursday 0
11 Nov 05 Friday 2.5
12 Nov 05 Saturday 4.5
13 Nov 05 Sunday 0
14 Nov 05 Monday 6
15 Nov 05 Tuesday 6
16 Nov 05 Wednesday 2
17 Nov 05 Thursday 2.5
18 Nov 05 Friday 4
19 Nov 05 Saturday 7
20 Nov 05 Sunday 8
21 Nov 05 Monday 5
22 Nov 05 Tuesday 3.5
23 Nov 05 Wednesday 4.5
24 Nov 05 Thursday 0
25 Nov 05 Friday 4.5
26 Nov 05 Saturday 0
27 Nov 05 Sunday 6.7
28 Nov 05 Monday 7
29 Nov 05 Tuesday 6.5
30 Nov 05 Wednesday 4
1 Dec 05 Thursday 0
2 Dec 05 Friday 4
3 Dec 05 Saturday 0
4 Dec 05 Sunday 0
5 Dec 05 Monday 6
6 Dec 05 Tuesday 7
7 Dec 05 Wednesday 0
8 Dec 05 Thursday 0
9 Dec 05 Friday 0
10 Dec 05 Saturday 7
12 Dec 05 Sunday 7
13 Dec 05 Monday 3.5

Total 268.2

So I am doing around 100km a month or on average 3km a day... not bad :)

On Saturday I ran on the treadmill at gym and did 7km in 40 minutes, so should be able to do a 10km race in under an hour. It is my goal to try early next year.

Shaolin

We went off to see the Shaolin - Wheel of Life show at Spier on Saturday night and it was spectacular! We had front row seats, and were a meter or 2 away from the stage, in fact Richard even had to move his feet a few times to allow the monks to run past when they filtered through the isles a few times...

---
From the fabled Shaolin Temple, deep within the forest at the foot of the Shaoshi Mountain in China, come the legendary Buddhist Shaolin Monks, the acknowledged founders of kung-fu.

The name Shaolin is synonymous with the most extraordinary feats of discipline, strength and courage. The popularity of kung-fu grows each year, with films like Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Matrix all drawing upon the martial art originally created at the Shaolin Temple. This show is the legend made real.

In a crescendo of kung-fu sequences displaying speed, precision and impeccable co-ordination, the Shaolin Monks are lifted aloft on sharpened spears, splinter wooden blocks with their hands, are sandwiched between beds of nails and knives, and fly through the air in a series of incredible backflips and spins.

Featuring 25 Monks, the youngest of which is just 7, this is fun and spectacular entertainment for the whole family, which will leave you flabbergasted.
---
I am certain that the youngest member they had on stage was around 5 years old as he was far smaller and younger looking than Quinn. He was amazingly flexible and agile and almost stole the show. I really enjoyed it both from a physical ability point of view and it's spirituality and inspirational qualities. It was well worth going to.

The control, strength, balance and discipline (physical and mental) these guys have is really impressive. I would love to have that level of awareness and control over my body...

Quinn really enjoyed it too and was freshly inspired, he put on his karate suit (gee) and watched his Shaolin video the next morning ;)

My garden

I have never been much of a gardener. I used to think 'you stick stuff in the ground - it grows' I now know better! My fingers are not particularly green and a lot of what I stick in the ground doesn't grow! I am getting better though.

I have got some nice indoor plants which seem to be surviving well, some of them have been going strong for a few years now. In our previous house I started dabbling in gardening, but the garden was a bit big and I mostly found it a chore, and there was a lot of grass to mow, and added to some bad experience with garden help, it was not alsways fun at all.


In our new house we have a small garden and no grass, and I am really enjoying the garden. It is big enough to have variety, but small enough to be manageable and fun. We lost a lot of plants last summer due to the heat and drought and a lot of cutworms, and other worms and bugs have been eating the rest, which is quite disheartening, but I think it is slowly recovering and starting to take shape.

There is a gardener/hand-man at the kids' school and we have had him over a couple of times to do a clean out and to turn the soil and he does a great job, which revitalises the garden and inspires me to get stuck it.

I have been buying little pottery and metal work birds to live in the garden, and this week-end I bought a Buddha to sit outside the room I work from....

I love my garden :)

We are going to see the Shaolin Monks!

I have been very inspired and in awe of the East for a long time. The ideas of Zen, Buddism, Tao and Hinduism too, make a lot of sense to me...

I love Thailand (and all things Thai) and indeed all of South East Asia. My favorite movies include Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers. I would love to travel to China, Tibet, Cambodia, Vietnam and Japan etc too.

In Dec 2003 we happened to be watching TV one day when they showed the Shaolin Monks -Wheel of Life show. We were all cpativated by it, especially Quinn would at 3+ years wtahced the entire show enthralled and saying he wanted to learn how to do that!

As a result Quinn has been learning Karate for 2 years now. The first year with Little Dragons, and this year with the Samaurai studio. - Yes I know Karate is not Kung Fu, but I figure at 5 years old it is close enough and once he has learned balance, strength and flexibility, and discipline he can always move on to Kung Fu if he wants to. We have actually found a local Kung Fu Do Jo anyway...

Amazingly the Wheel of Life show came to SA for a week last year, but we only found out the week it was on, and it was only in Johnanesburg (1200km away) and Richard was away that week. So even though I considered flying up to see it, we never did and missed it. I did e-mail the organisers and BEG them to do a Cape Town show though. But I got no response.

On Saturday I was enjoying a post Christmas shopping mayhem coffee and glancing through a Saturday paper when I saw a Shaolin article, I read futher and saw that they are at Spier in Stellenbpsch this week. I quickly booked and Richard, Quinn and I are going this Saturday. We have decided not to take Griffin because it's quite expensive, and only starts at 8:30pm, so he will no doubt be asleep at the time... I am so looking forward to it - only 3 sleeps to go!

Irritated

I got myself all worked up over an IRC discussion last night... I should have just gone to bed...

Stupid Raven!

(Flame/Slashdot him now!http://www.flickr.com/photos/ripienaar/ He takes nice pics but is an asshole.)

retards
Jane

--------

Largo picture a bunch of networking geeks telling stories
Largo got some vaguely experienced dudes here
Nuffing heh
Largo got a compliment about ubuntu too
Largo Its pretty
Raven it is, prolly the nicest of the linux desktops that I've seen, still wouldnt use it as primary desktop though
Nuffing Largo: w00t
Nuffing ubuntu rocks :)
Nuffing esp breezy
Raven the installer sux donkey balls though
Nuffing Raven: what's wrong with it? works for me...
Raven Nuffing: its crap
Nuffing Raven: although it is being improved anyway
Raven Nuffing: you've obviously not had enough studies done with non linux people on how easy it is to use
Nuffing er I am basically non linux...
Raven did u install the first one without any help?
Raven cos I've had 3 diff people of varying tech abilities try install it this week and the partitioner screws them over each time
Nuffing the first one maybe (responding to the it's crap comment fyi..)
Nuffing it's matured a LOT since then....
Raven its identical to the debian 3.1 installer, both sux
Raven put a newbie infront of windows installer and they have no probs
Raven I've also had it install on a box where it didnt support the screen card properly
Raven then when it boots you just end up with a blank screen
Raven no GUI
Largo raven: i agree it can be easier but i didnt find it that difficult
Raven but X was running, it just managed to screw the video output up, so you couldnt even log in from the console at all
Raven not giving people choices of what software is being installed at install time is completely unexcusable
Raven redhat got their installers pretty much perfect from day one
Raven you've always been able to do selections of software to install
Raven they got graphical installers around 4.2 or whas it 5?
Raven brilliantly scriptable for automated installs
Nuffing anyway I am in a meeting...
Nuffing but thanks for the opinions
Raven but once its going its not bad, we're giving away 15 desktops to people at work I've got ubuntu on them all
Raven and got the desktop support people to do some of the installs, they ony support the windows machines
Raven so they're a good test audience, they liked it once installed, but the installer gave them all nightmares
Nuffing good to know
Nuffing edubuntu is going for a 'chicken install'
* KnightOrc has issues with people installing Linux
inflex hah
KnightOrc Linux + GUI == problems
KnightOrc Linux without a GUI is fine
Raven yip, ubuntu is pretty etc, but i totally wouldnt use day to day etc
Raven neither would i use any other linux desktop I've ever seen
KnightOrc any server you can't control completely via a terminal session == arse
inflex well, that's why I use Slackware if I must use linux on a server
KnightOrc Windows Shell might be interesting *8)
Raven am forced into using debian servers for something
Raven driving me insane
Raven just cant get over the Debian-exim user
Nuffing this was the old version http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=305&slide=1
Nuffing new screenshots don't show installer for some odd reason
Raven thats exactly how the installer looks that I see when i run the iso i downloaded today from your site :)
Raven and it blows
Nuffing https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuExpress/GnomeUserInterface - a goal for the next release " Rationale: The current installer is ugly and confusing, especially in the partitioning stage. We want people to be amazed at how easy and pleasant the Ubuntu installation experience is. We also want them to be able to get work done while Ubuntu is installing."
* inflex CURSES and swears at linux wifi
Raven nods
Raven the osdir.com screenshots for breezy badger has installer screenshots
Nuffing inflex: mine works fine
Nuffing Raven: where?
Raven http://shots.osdir.com/slideshows/slideshow.php?release=342&slide=2
inflex Nuffing: this is a Toshiba genuine wifi card (miniPCI) for my laptop (TE2000). Works fine in XP (of course), sort of works in linux, everything shows up, you just can't configure it right
inflex try to configure the AP "Sorry, can't do that", try to configure the frequency "Sorry, can't do that"
inflex gharrrr... this is the trouble with linux... 90% complete stuff
Raven inflex: no doubt the machines that nuffing has were bought specifically for linux used and spec'd up for compatibility etc
inflex Raven: there should be a distinction between "Linux detects it" and "Linux can use this device correctly"
Raven yip
Nuffing Raven: I have an IBM T42p - I am happy
inflex d00d uz3 l1nU><, 1t'5 l33+
* inflex straps on his barbed wire wang and prepares to assult another penguin
Raven Nuffing: like i said, bought and spec'd up to work great iwth linux so you can tell everyone it works shit hot and never have any problems :P no go buy a laptop that normal people would get over the counter and try again
Nuffing Raven: ah right those shots were Colony 1... first CD build for Breezy ... ages ago
Raven Nuffing: it still looks the same on the ISO i got today
Nuffing ok
Nuffing anyway you guys sound so negative for ppl who supposedly support linux
KnightOrc Nuffing: we're FreeBSD supporters
Raven Nuffing: no, we're sounding that way cos you're sounding like the fanboy who cant see how things really are
inflex being in #linux doesn't me we support it.... just like I am in #c but I don't suggest it to most ppl
KnightOrc we just couldn't be bothered to change the channel name
Nuffing and afais things are progressing and improving all the time
Raven Nuffing: I'm telling you i had 3 windows people install 15 ubuntu machines and give me feedback on intall and use experience and the best you can do is tell me yours work great *shrug*
* Raven 's installed linux machines in 15 countries, if i didnt support it that wouldnt be the case
Nuffing no actually that wasn't the best I could do, that was my first resonse I then took a lot of time to explain that it's being improved and to give you the URL of the spec describing it and thanked you for your feedback...
Raven Nuffing: fact is 90% of your target audience will run the OS on a laptop that costs 1/4 of what yours did, and for them the expeirence will almost 90% of the time be utterly crap
Raven Nuffing: but you'd never know that
Nuffing Raven: and just to be pedantic you did not say "i had 3 windows people install 15 ubuntu machines and give me feedback on intall and use experience" initially, you said, " the installer sux donkey balls" to which I replied 'works for me'
Nuffing Raven: don't you think we get user feed back?
Nuffing raven: or buy someting like 100 laptops and give them to ppl to test so we can adapt and improve to ensure they are fully supported?
Raven Nuffing: yeah, works for you cos you had the developer hold your hand and explain it to you
Nuffing Raven, fuck you
Raven Nuffing: thats the spirit
---
later...

Nuffing try Ubuntu "The only installer with BUILT IN ORAL SEX!"
Raven try ubuntu "The only distro that spams irc channels" :)
Nuffing I didn't bring it up Largo did
Nuffing and what happened to you ppl anyway?
Raven we're bored, you're apparently easy to annoy
Nuffing you all used to be fun, interesting and entertaining, now you are bitter, ascerbic and perpetually complaining
Nuffing yes it is annoying
Nuffing Raven: I still take issue with your attitude, bacuse apart from my initial response, which was very resonsable after your comment (and being in a meeting and unable to respond fully at the time) I have illustrated as well as I could that there is energy and focus going into improving the installer, so I don't know what you are on about...
Raven I'm on abnout "ubuntu roqs" all the fucking time, when there are many many a) issues with it b) scenarios where it does not, which you're usually not prepare to admit
Nuffing so yes I work for Canonical, but I hardly ever mention it, and I didn't bring it up tonight
Nuffing yes there are issues, which are a)being improved on all the time, and b) we welcome constructive feedback
Nuffing and my main point is that it's NOT perfect
Nuffing but it's prgressing and getting better all the time
Nuffing so compared to Breezy, Warty was awful and soom Breezy will seem awful
Nuffing we are trying to keep moving forward
Raven so it doesnt roq yet, cos for every aspect of it, there are distros that does it better, maybe not 1 distro that does everything better, but right now, it has issues
Nuffing it's not trying to be the best of everything
Nuffing it's trying to be useable
Nuffing and right the installer isn't perfectly usable
Nuffing but that wasn't the #1 priority
Nuffing but it is being addressed for the next release
Nuffing windows didn't get to where it is within 3 releases either...
Raven yip, so the first tthing i said was it was pretty and decent once installed
Raven then you made a swooping statement, and i made one right back at ya
Raven and then you proved that you were incapable of having a mature argument when you told me to get fucked
Raven so right at yeah, get fucked.
Raven ..right back at yah...
Nuffing because you offended me by asserting that I would only be able to install it myself with a developer holding my hand
Nuffing I find that very offensive
Raven Nuffing: I wasnt asserting, i was quoting fact, you said you had it shown to you the first time
Raven Nuffing: everyone i showed the first time has no problems installing it now
Nuffing I didn't have someone show me
Nuffing I said the first version's installer sucked
Raven ah so then you just didnt answer my question
Raven i asked did someone help you
Raven you said 'the first one maybe'
Nuffing no they didn't
Nuffing I installed it myself following the prompts
Nuffing I'll concede that I do have a laptop with pretty darn good linux support
Nuffing and some other brands may not be as easy yet
Nuffing but anyway I am done arguing now.
Nuffing Sorry.
* Disconnected (Connection reset by peer).
* Nuffing already in use. Retrying with jane_...
*
Largo Hello Nuffing...
Largo Sorry my comment started a bit of unpleasantness :/
Nuffing Largo: not your fault at all
Nuffing Largo: I shouldn't have let myself get so worked up
Nuffing Largo: besides your comment was nice :)
Largo I agree with Raven in that it looks pretty (I ahven't used it a lot) and that the installer needs work...I also like that they are working on the installer to make it easier to use...
Nuffing I think I just get riled if I think someone is questioning my abilities (and how I do my job)
Nuffing the installer is one of the main complaints we get
Nuffing so a gui and other improvements are def on the cards
Largo Good...
Nuffing but since it's something you see once, it wasn't the first priority to get right.
Nuffing other functionality came first
Largo Unfortunately first impressions last... :(
Nuffing I would love to get proper feedback from Raven's guys still, we welcome stuff like that
Nuffing yeah the thing is no matter what you do, some ppl won't like it
Nuffing I guess we are trying to make a windows equivalent linux, power users may want their customised best-for-purpose build, and that's fine
Nuffing Ubuntu is for human beings not (just) techies
Nuffing anyway I'll shut up now
Largo heh

Quinnlander

Quinn has been very photogenic recently, and has been enjoying posing and hamming it up for the camera (whereas I can't get Griffin to either keep still or smile most of the time, so only get kak shots of him). He is also showing an interest in taking photos and has taken some not too bad ones of Richard and I - I might actually give him my old camera as part of his Christmas present.

Here are some shots of him from yesterday:

Welcome to the house of FUN

Hello Sailor

In a trance

You looking at me?

MCQP are you ready!?

Well it's almost that time of the year again, and time to start getting ready for MCQP.
It is THE PARY OF THE YEAR in Cape Town.

MCQP stands for Mother City Queer Project. "The first plan was a queer tribal gathering formatted as an Art Event and a themed costume party. The first project in 1994, 'The Locker Room Project,' was such a hysterical success, that MCQP has grown up to become an annual event on the international queer circuit party calendar. And this year, with Andre's handing the reigns over to new owners, it's an African first: a Party Brand being sold!"

^-2003 Tea Bags
Earl Grey

See the official website for more info.

Here are some of the previous themes, and our take on them...

• 1998 - Safari Camp - we wore Safari Suits and pinked them up a bit. It was at the Riverclub and was really fun.
• 1999 - Heavenly Bodies at the Nico Malan - We were shooting stars. This one was AWESOME (and I was 8.5 months pregnant at the time). We had a blast.
• 2000 - Toy Box at the Goodhope Center- we went as 2 Blind Mice (the 3rd chickened out at the last moment - asswipe). This was not the best year.
• 2001- Farm Fresh - I missed it due to having a 3-week-old baby. Richard went as a sheep/Ozzie Prozzie. LOL
• 2002 - The Wedding, at the Castle. This one was fun. I was 'Braaied' and Richard was 'Just Marinated', we puned the bridal theme, with the traditional SA BBQ called a 'braai'. My sister and her then fiance came along and we had a great time.
• 2003 - Kitch Kitchen in the CTICC - we were Tea Bags, Richard was Earl Greay and I was Rooibos (Red Bush). Photos above and below.
• 2004 - Jungle Fever outside the Artscape. We went as Jungle Bunnies. Photos below.
• 2005 - It's a Circus at Ratanga Junction - we are still deciding what to go as...

2003 Tea Bags
Rooibos (red Bush)

Jungle Bunnies 2004

Christmas Tree, Angels and Narfiness

I dreamed this morning that I was putting up the Christmas tree with my sister Belinda, and after we finished we were driving somewhere and it started to snow...

Yeah right it's been around 30 degrees celcius here for several weeks, there no hope of SA ever having a white christmas, in fact some people go as far as having a big Christmas meal on 25 June, so that they can enjoy the decadent feast without the stiffling and appetite sapping heat...

Anyway I was inspired when I woke up, and since it's less than a month to go before Christmas the boys and I set up our little tree, and got their advent calendar set up and ready to roll on Thursday. It's a really nice calendar we found marked down in the middle of the year, where you can slot your own treats into a little pocket. Last year we waited to long and could only find one of those over priced one's with the chocolates behind the windows, so they had to share...

On finding the Christmas hats the boys quickly put them on, so I took some photos of them, to use for our Christmas card. It seemed much easier than the usual way I do it, which is to take a photo of the 2 of them together and with my limited graphics skills I attempt to draw hats on their heads!

I am feeling VERY narfy today, not sure why, but I am suspecting it's lovely hormones. I wish this bloody Mirena would go back to working the way it used to, life was great without monthly mood swings and causeless depression.

The result has been that I have done pretty much nothing else. The boys have been swimming and watching TV and I have been mooching around and looking at old e-mails and pictures. I must start on the familly Christmas presents and getting Quinn's school clothes labelled, but I just don't have the energy and motivation today... so I am basically wasting a day and snacking way too much ;). At least the pool is mostly fixed in that we have a brand new pump and filter and the water is clean and sprakly again in time for us to enjoy it in summer, but the Creepy Crawly is just not happy and its pulse rate goes down after just 30 sec or so, and you basically have to nurse it along. It's become quite anthropomorphic actually... and I have been know to talk to it in both coaxing and scolding tones ;)

I took this photo of Quinn and I earlier because I realised I haven't done that for ages. Griffin didn't want to cooperate, so I gave up...

I have been looking through old e-mails I sent to ppl which pretty much track a lot of what I have done and felt over the past few years. i have decided to add them to this blog in relevant date order, as an accululated diary of sorts. Who knows it may mean something to someone eventually. I have already added my Thailand trip stories and the UDU account I wrote. More to follow...

I am considering having my hair done (again) because besides spending 3.5 hours getting it done by a trainee last week (who messed dye on my favorite pink top!), it looks exactly the same! Now annoying is that!?