Pop Smear

Vox Hunt: It's Pink

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 18:28:10 +1300

Paws For Thought

Maddy has adorable little paws. Well, they're actualy relatively large (as is he), but one tends to associate cute with little, and his little pink and black pads are certainly cute.

Show us something pink.

The only sore point there is that he's very anti me clipping his claws. Get him to the vet and it's done in 10 seconds. Me, I have to do them one at a time, sneaking up on him when he's sleeping.

More often than not, he then reminds me he doesn't appreciate my efforts by making use of the others.

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Vox Hunt: Change Will Do You Good

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 12:17:21 +1300

Times Change

Looking through the photographs stored on my laptop, four images stuck out as signalling change: those of time, weather, spring and autumn.

Show us change.
Submitted by quornflour.

Each of these was taken in 2004, somewhere in Christchurch. That it's now 2006, and I'm in Auckland, taking relatively few photos says a bit about how things have changed for me, too. Back then, I walked to work (now I'm at home), through or past the park, and past some pretty neat sights. Some more obvious than others.

One thing I do miss about Christchurch is the amazing sky, and abundance of clouds. So clear and strong. Auckland weather is just as changeable, but but much less spectacularly so.

Weather Signals

Shots of cloud and sky are some of my favourite things, but I've taken relatively few since leaving Christchurch. Hopefully summer might bring some more opportunity!

What I really need to do is buy a spare battery for my camera, and get out there...

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Vox Hunt: Morning View

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 11:35:35 +1300

Spectacles

I've had glasses since I was ten years old, contacts since my early twenties. I am, they say, severely myopic. That's short-sighted. Really, really short-sighted. Unless you are a few inches from my face, you're blurry.

Show us the first thing you see in the morning.
Submitted by The Gaping MAW.

While my boobs or my pillow (depending on how I've slept) are likely the real first things I see when I wake up, for years the first thing I have done upon waking is to my glasses on.

I wore contacts for almost 10 years, but have recently gone back to wearing specs pretty much full-time, and am enjoying the experience much more with the advances in technology (thank you Nikon) that have slimmed my lenses down considerably. I used to hate the weight of my glasses, and now, that's not any issue. I love these ones perhaps even more than the ones they replaced.

My only real wish is that I could look over the rims of my glasses to scowl at you, and actually see your reaction.

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Vox Hunt: Snack Time

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 16:40:03 +1300

Fridge

I have more produce than a single girl can, or will, eat. I know this because of the amount I discard, and because I've not yet needed to pick the lettuces growing in my little vege patch.

Show us what's in your fridge.
Submitted by Jill.

I do need to make more of an effort to keep up my vegetable intake, and to stop wasting my money. Both my health, my scales, and my bank balance will benefit. And my relatives will be spared having receiving a wrapped carrot or tomato for Christmas.

In terms of snacks, unless your'e talking celery sticks or sweet peppers, the real substance is on top of the fridge. There you'll find the fruit bowl and platter¹ with mandarins², kiwifruit, oranges, bananas³ and apples both green and red⁴. Other snacky items are walnuts, pecans and almonds (in little containers like those in my fridge⁵). All very healthy and good.

Did I mention I live a few properties down from a dairy that stocks all sorts of badness?

Footnotes:

¹ Pretty blue glass, gifts from former colleagues. Not sure why they thought glass would be a suitable parting gift for someone leaving to travel interisland, and shipping all of her belongings by courier. But they survived, despite the odds. And to be honest, have gotten more use than the beauty creams, and Care Bear keyring that were included by the girls in my department.

² These were a purchase intended to curb bad snacking, little fruits I could grab when the need arose. But they're sour little buggers, so now instead of eating them, I tend to glare at them until the craving passes.

³ I'm regimental about breakfast. Three kinds of cereal (puffed wheat, bran flakes, and all bran), with plain yoghurt, chopped peach slices (canned, baby), and banana slices. Must have bananas.

⁴ Again, particular about applies. If I'm buying red, it's NZ Rose, or zip. I'm partial to Granny Smith apples, but they take a particular mood, and seem to bruise easily (not good when you lug your groceries up a hill).

⁵ I like plastic. And conformity. And tea towels. I'm a bit odd.

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Vox Hunt: My Collection

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 18:42:23 +1300

Barbed Wire

I'm not really much of a collector, unless you count clothes, paper, books, domain names, and weblogs with little content, and a few postcards. And for this purpose, we won't be counting those things.

Show us pictures of what you collect.
Submitted by Kirsty.

I did, however, take a collection of photos on a walk the other way - pictures of cirlces, basically, that I spied on my way home. One of my favourites is this one to the right. You can see the others in the collection here.

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Vox Hunt: Animal Drawing

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:07:41 +1300

Hairy Maclary

When you say "animal drawing" to me, the first thought that come to mind is Animal, drawing. Not that I'm aware of the drumming muppet having artisitic talent to match his music ability.

The second and third thoughts are Beatrix Potter, and Hairy Maclary. I do have an old edition of a Beatrix Potter story somewhere, but as it's not on my bookshelf, I'm not sure where that somewhere is. Hairy Maclary, however, is close by.

Show us a drawing of an animal.

I don't think I owned a copy when I was a youngster, but I definitely read it, and had it read to me, like a lot of New Zealand children. This copy was a gift from a flatmate and friend, the Christmas of 2000.

I spent that Christmas alone, but it was a good one. There's nothing like reading the book aloud to cheer you up. The fact that I was accompanied not just by Maddy, but the other "flat cats" I was babysitting, as I read might have helped too.

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Vox Hunt: Needs A Good Scrub

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 11:07:19 +1300

Stepping Down

I don't have the best of luck with steps and stairs. I was grateful, then, that a gust of wind didn't send me tumbling down these as I snapped this photo. A chilly spring day isn't the best time to go head first into the harbour, I'm thinking.

Show us something that needs a good scrub.

The steps look grimy, and green stuff is growing. They could do with a bit of a clean, but I imagine it would be futile. And an environmentalist might come to the aid of the green organism, and I wouldn't want that, even if I were inclined to whip out the scrubbing brush.

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Vox Hunt: Counting The Days

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 17:07:06 +1300

Planner

I don't really *do* calendars these days. I have a wall calendar somewhere around here - I seem to recall cartoon cats. But I didn't use it, and so it didn't get unpacked after the move. I probably have several past years calendars too, kept with some vague thought of framing the pictures.

On my board at the moment I have my work schedule, an excerise schedule that is more of an exercise in guilt than anything else, and reminders about markets, recycling collection, and other local activities. General reminders - the need to buy a hammer, and collect my new library card also make the board, along with the few items I need to buy on my next shopping trip.

I've had all the fancy planners and calendars, both online and off. I'm really happiest when I have bits of paper (self-adhesive, all the better), and some whiteboard markers. Budgety things are spreadsheeted 3 years in advance on my laptop, but things Iike birthdays I don't really record. I either remember them, or I don't. To-Dos are usually work related, and in that case, marked as such in my email, or updates.

No, my whiteboard doesn't help me keep track of the days - but a calendar doesn't do that either. At least this way I get to play with magnets and pretty paper and pens. If there is one thing working in a different timezone (or three) to your colleagues does for you, it's mess up all sense of time. It's all very well knowing you have to do something on Monday the 18th, but if you don't know if today is the 15th or the 14th, that's not much help.

If it weren't for the clocks on my mobile and laptop, I'd probably be screwed. And if I really need to know whether the 27th of July was a Wednesday or a Thursday, I have a widget installed for Opera which can tell me that.

Show us your desk or wall calendar.

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Vox Hunt: Cornered

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 12:54:43 +1300

Town Clock

It's not necessarily my favourite corner in the world (that would likely involve supremely comfortable cushions), but this photo does have a sharp pointy corner in it, and I do like it.

This photo was taken in the early-ish hours of the last Sunday morning, when it wasn't rainy, and I wasn't unduly tired thanks to the switch to Daylight Savings. I'm at the base of the town/villiage clock in Devonport, near the ferry terminal.

And yes, people do look at me funny when I take photos of things like this.

Show us a picture of your favorite corner.

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Vox Hunt: In My Pocket

nobody@vox.com(Sarah) — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 11:39:05 +1200

Lavender

There are numerous lavender plants (bushes?) around here, and I can't seem to walk to the letterbox without plucking at least one head from a plant.

Show us what's in your pocket.

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