The Lair of the Emerald Serpent

The Dead Zone

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 15:38:35 GMT

How the Gods laugh when serpents make plans.

On Monday I turned on my Big Mac computer for the first time since September 2023.

I kept procrastinating for so long.
It took ages to get online and I was logged off from most of my accounts.

But today I thought I could go back this evening and write a "nostalgic" post about a certain anniversary.

I wasn't chatting with Daisy today like is usual on Sunday evenings and Sunday evenings I usually don't do Duolingo.

So I assumed it was the perfect opportunity to finally get back to some serious squiggling using a real keyboard.

But that was before I started mucking around with a bunch of pathology tests which have to be done between 11pm and midnight.

Then more distractions on Substack along with some scenes from the news straight out of a Stephen King novel.

I guess the only reason that trump didn't use a toddler as a shield this evening was because there wasn't one nearby.

I was living in Ireland at the time but the story of the other Dead Zone - Chernobyl was huge all over Europe.

The British government used the accident as an opportunity to take out the trash at Sellafield (formerly Windscale)

What I vividly remember, a thing that happened again in September 2001 was how fire fighters and first responders turned up on the scene knowing that they would not get out alive.

Later came the pictures from Pripyat - a town near the reactor that was abandoned.

It's hard to believe it's 40 years ago this very day.

The USSR and East Germany was still a thing back then and the Cold War was in full swing.

I never did get to see the miniseries made in USA that apparently got rave reviews.

It sounds like it may be worth a look.

Lately, I keep thinking of the saying
Choose your enemies carefully lest you become like them.

The Soviet Gerontocracy of the 1980s used to be a standing joke in the West along with the whole culture of party loyalty being valued over actual competency.
And of course, the constant arse covering and buck passing.

And now 40 years on, that's exactly the sort of government they have got in the USA.

The current circus in the Capitol makes Brezhnev and bros look like bright young geniuses.

I wonder what the world will be like on 28th February 2066.
The 40th anniversary of the insanity that is Operation "Epic Fury"

As for me, I won't be around to see it.

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An ancient serpent

Sun, 25 May 2025 11:27:09 GMT

I've been slinking around in Eden Vale the last few days.

It's quite crisp & crunchy weather-wise.
I must be getting thin or old because I notice the cold more than I used to.

I also notice the amazing autumnal leaves.
It's definitely my favourite season.
Only Spring comes remotely close.

After feasting on serpent snacks, it's now time to curl up in the snooze sack.

I've been pigging out on watching the amazing dark night sky with so many stars that I need to actually look for Scorpio & the Southern Cross, while in the city these days, they are pretty much the only.visible constellations left.

When I'm not collecting acorns or smelling the lovely autumn leaves, I've been busy reading, squiggling and shuffling the odd tarot deck or too

Only one full day left now in my favourite serpent paradise.

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May Madness

Sat, 10 May 2025 12:45:19 GMT

Izzie is such a sad snailish serpent.

Had hoped to post a bit more this month but still a bit distracted.

In spite of being an Ex Catholic, I was still a bit sad about the recent demise of Pope Francis. Easter Monday, what perfect timing for a Pope to depart this mortal coil.

I didn't watch the funeral since it was on during day time here.

But I did follow the whole Conclave drama.
I do have a soft spot for smells, bells and rituals even if it is a sausage fest on steroids.

I don't know what to make of Leo. It's a brilliant name and that's a wierd thing for a card carrying Slytherin to say.

Leo XIV and Louis XIV are so similar sounding so I guess that makes him the Sun Pope.

He certainly ticks the boxes of pastoral and administrative experience but I do get a vibe of smugness from the pictures I've seen so far.
The cat who's got the cream.

I also learnt that Robert Harris wrote "Conclave" the book the movie is based on.
He's not Morris West but a damned sight more grounded than Dan Brown.

In personal news, I finally bit the bullet and booked my flight to Amsterdam.
The city has its 750th anniversary on 27th October so that was the obvious choice.

I will definitely be on the trail of the VOC again and I'm especially looking forward to visiting the Hermetic Library in their new location.

It was one of the highly of my last visit over 10 years ago

I will be there for all of October with a few days each side in September and November.

So glad my sister has such good taste in cities.

I'd love to visit Lübeck and Prague again but I'm not going to be too ambitious

I guess it's time to dust off my Duolingo Dutch.

I got stuck with pesky prepositions.
It certainly helps to speak both English and German.

It's so so true that half the fun of a holiday is looking forward to it.

I also need to find a Plant Mama to water the weeds while I'm away.

My green fingered neighbour is now renting out her house so I now need to think outside the box especially since Petunia is no longer around.

I'm off now. Got a bit of Duo to do.

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May Madness

Thu, 01 May 2025 15:37:17 GMT

It's been a strange day in Dursleyville.

A gorgeous sunny day but way too warm for this time of year.

On my agenda was a very boring Muggle day.

No witchy adventures sweeping the snow from the mountains in the Brocken or even waving the red flag for May Day

Just a normal day sorting out boring goblin business, going to my day job and spending the evening doing a bit of a Putz Blitz while listening to a fascinating.radio program about the life and times of one Leni Riefenstahl.

Which reminds me,I do have a copy of "Triumph.of the Will" but have never actually watched it.

Now that there's definitely more of my life behind me than ahead of me,I better get cracking with that bucket list.

But a woman who swooned over the magnificence of "Mein Kampf" was either deluded or bull shitting.

I've tried to read it a few times. It used to be in the secondary school library along with Das Kapital but both times were just so totally tedious

These days, Mein Kampf is more terrifying because my most recent attempt was in April 2021 when U snaffled a 1938 English language edition with a foreword filled with gushing praise.

What struck me was just how much it reminded me of Trump 45 with his talk of FAKE news, the lying press, a movement like the world has never seen before and most disturbing of all -.the DEEP State. What Hitler called the Imperial Austrian Secret State

Plus ça change....

Another book I picked up today which I did not expect to see is written by the daughter of Giselle Pellicot (using her spare ribs name) so I didn't recognise what it was at first.

So many books, so few lives.

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Graveside Picnic

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 15:45:04 GMT

The month is nearly over so I finally find 5 minutes to slink by.

Still not turned on the Big Mac to do a proper post

I finally got to visit my mother's grave on Good Friday
Last time I visited was Christmas which with a max temperature of 24 Celsius was the mildest in 40 years.
And probably the next 40 too

Sadly, her anniversary in March was closer to 42 than 24. So it's been a long long time between visits.

As well as visiting my mother, I also like to start a new book when I visit the graveyard.

One of the workers at the shop asked me last month to keep an eye out for the book "Roadside Picnic" because he's getting nostalgic to have a physical copy of his all time favourite book.

(I'd asked if it was connected to the Andrei Tarkovsky movie "Stalker"
That went on forever and nothing much seemed to happen)

I said, well of course I want to read it first.

Ask and you shall receive. The very same book turned up last week on one of my days off

He asked if au wanted to read it over Easter so that's the book I took to the graveyard

It was definitely very Uncanny Valley.
A pre internet Soviet science fiction novel set in mid west small town USA was most weird indeed
But even weirder was the Chernobyl vibe from a book written in the 1970s

It turned out, just like in the movie, not much happens, but the whole idea of aliens visiting earth then just moving on completely oblivious to the existence of puny humans just made this serpent smile

I definitely suspect that this book was inspiration for The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy.
It also reminds me of the movie District 9 with the difference that the aliens run out of fuel so they can't leave

Like Panem, the Zones are a world that I just love to visit over and over again.

And Petunia can come along too. In spirit.

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A Saturday Snakefest

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 14:37:53 GMT

Izzie's been lazy. Supposed to get back to squiggling now the Fringe Festival is over and the sizzling summer is nearly over.

Did a bit or a Putz Blitz in the Lair this evening with the odd 10 minutes here & there devoted to reading my latest stash from the local library.

I wasn't even looking today but saw the book "The Gift of Fear" on display.

I had been actually looking for it last month so I'm happy with my catch

Also got tempted by another book on display
"Enchanted Creatures - our monsters and their meaning" about the history of interesting creatures.

The chapter devoted to Snake Women was a temptation too delicious to resist.

Apparently for primates, snakes are the original monsters. Fear of them is hardwired & they just keep popping up in creation stories all over the world.

Maybe I am a changeling after all since I find our serpentine foes to be more fascinating than terrifying

I had planned to mention some of magical fringe shows I went to but they will have to wait for another day

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Sizzled

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 15:45:17 GMT

Another 39 degree day in the Wild West of Oz

Still not back at the old Big Mac since it doesnt like getting its circuits sizzled

Lots of fun shows at the Fringe Festival but I would sure hate to be a performer especially acrobats or burlesque strip tease artists.
They must all be melting.

Tomorrow I am off to a Boylesque show.

And now Im off to the serpent sack for a snooze

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Out of Time

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 15:27:22 GMT

The Fringe Festival continues but I missed my chance to visit the Art Gallery for the final days of Time Rone.

Time Rone was a very weird installation consisting of 12 rooms.

It's best described as a baby ghost town or a large haunted house.

Like Chernobyl where all the people are gone but the things from their daily lives in the 1950s are left untouched.

An old library (love at first sight) a sewing factory room, a typist pool room, a telephone exchange, post office sorting room and old pharmacy were some of the spooky delights in store.

It was the cobwebs that impressed me most. How on earth could they make this new installation look so old.
Poor spiders must have been working overtime.

Turned out the cobwebs were fake but the rest was all real.

I did actually see it twice last year but liked it so much I had intended to go back.

But there are so many freaky Fringe Festival temptations so I really could not justify forking out forty silver sickles for something I'd already seen.

Today was also the Chinese New Year festival. Sadly not as snaky as I'd expected.

Next adventure is the Soweto gospel choir.

I'm quite the culture vulture this summer.

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A Zombie Serpent

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 15:54:51 GMT

It's Fringe Festival time here in the Wild West.
The time of year when flying your Freak flag is almost obligatory.

As usual, I plan for this annual event as if I were invading Poland.

First task is to fill the treasure chest ready for raids in November.
That's when the official program is released and Fringe Friends get a few weeks to sneak peak and feast on juicy Freak Snacks.

Since anticipation is just as much fun as the shows, it adds an extra level of enjoyment.

But the biggest perks are the 30% discount on many shows along with skipping the queue.

So then it's a guessing game of picking shows that are most likely to be popular & getting in early.

But I was not expecting the heat wave from Hell to hit town on Day 3 instead of half way through the festival like it usually does.

So there I was with shows lined up for Wednesday & Thursday just gone which were both best 40 Celsius & disgustingly humid.

Both venues had air conditioning but getting to them was like running the gauntlet.

If I hadn't already booked & paid, I would have stayed at home.

It turns out that's exactly what a lot of people did.

In my 12 years of Fringe bingeing, I have never been to shows after 7pm on Wednesdays or Thursdays with only 30 people in the audience.

I had a 3 seat cocktail table all to myself for 3 of the 4 shows.

What was so sad, the performers work their butts off to put on shows & it's always hotter on stage than on the floor.

On Friday night I got Rush Tix for a show in an outdoor venue.

The show got delayed because it rained.

I could get not imagine what it would have been like the previous nights when the humidity was high & it never got below 28 Celsius during the night

It also meant that the festival gardens are not as enticing as usual for lurking & lingering unless you are in one of the gorgeous air-conditioned Spiegeltents.

The last time there was such a nasty heatwave here was the Christmas of 2021. A whole week of max 40+ days and min 30 nights.

Next week we have another string of 38-40 degree days.

I was only thinking 2 weeks ago about this being the mildest summer since I came to Oz in 1993.

The Gods laugh when serpents praise the weather.

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Freak Show

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 15:01:45 GMT

I am here for a quick squiggle since this time next week I will be in Fringe Freak mode.

I've just booked another show to add to my stash.

I guess it would be tempting fate to say that it's been an unusually mild summer. There has been 5 days over 40 Celsius but they have been sprinkled about in singles or pairs not the seven day streak of Christmas 2021.

It's usually too hot to do anything in the garden other than trying to keep my leaf babies alive so the 4 weeks of Fringe festival freak show is the one thing that makes summer memorable for the right reasons.

Last year I started lurking around the show grounds instead of heading straight to the bus after a show.

It's made a huge difference to my enjoyment of the events.
Not just soaking up the festive atmosphere but taking the time to let the show sink in the old green cells.

I devoted a lot of time to being a Culture Vulture in 2024.
Loved it so much that I'm back for more of the same again.

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It's Dark Outside

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 12:16:57 GMT

It's been a strange day.

Spent the afternoon at my favourite old lunatic asylum at a free concert.

It was a surprisingly mild and breezy day for January.

As one of my favourite slinking spots, I took the opportunity to bring a picnic and a bright shiny spooky book ( Courtesy of Catness)

Gone are the days when the little shop stocked lovely diaries, planners & journals, let alone have them in sale at 30%

So just as well I no longer rely on their sales for my fix of productivity porn.

So far so good with my new years resolutions which are actually more like a bunch of tiny habits.

The true test will be the next lot of 40 degree days and the start of the Fringe festival 2 weeks from now.

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A Serpent Birthday

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 14:58:51 GMT

I still can't believe that it's exactly 23 years ago since the serpentine creature Izzie took residence in the brain of this poor unsuspecting muggle

Never hang around old insane asylums as you just don't know what sort of strange creatures lurking there may snatch your soul when you're distracted.

Strange how I had woken up on the morning of Wednesday 2nd January 2002 after a nightmare where a pair of scabby hooded Dementors were just about to give me some big slobbering kisses.

It was a warm sunny summer morning but I woke up freezing and relieved it was only a dream.

This last week I finally finished decluttering and tidying my living room writing desk.

I've decided that that it's time to stop my bad habit of saving too many beautiful things for a rainy day.

My new motto for 2025 is
Use it or lose it.

As well as some gorgeous quills & witchy leather bound notebooks, I also encountered an interesting journal buried under the rubble

It has a page for each day of the year, a prompt for each page and this is the unusual bit, the page is divided into 5 sections with room for a couple of sentences for each.

The idea is that you answer the same question on the same day every year for 5 years.

Yesterday's question

What is your mission?

Today's was

Can people change?

Of all the days that one had to turn up.

The poor old Big Mac is upstairs and still unplugged. I had hoped to use it for posting the usual year in review (2024 was a particularly good year for me) but that's when there was a string of 40 Celsius days.

I just can't get back into the habit ever since my sister was here in late 2023.

I'm more likely these days to be lurking in the garden looking at the stars where I am right now.

There was a gorgeous silver sliver of a moon just after sunset today. New Moon was on New Year's Eve so it's had long enough to come out of hiding.

Next New Moon on Wednesday 29th will mark the start of the Year of the Snake.

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Use it or lose it

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 11:53:33 GMT

Another bright shiny new year.

A big one for this slinking creature with even more reasons than usual to feast on productivity porn

Last Christmas I finally tidied & decluttered the nicest of the 5 writing desks in the Lair.

But sadly I slacked off and in no time it once again became a repository of all sorts of stationery related odds and ends.

But since then I have done the "Buried in Treasures" workshops for clutter bugs and either found or bought some gorgeous leather bound notebooks & a 2025 Goal Digger planner.

So I did another desk blitz and even made a point of actually sitting there this morning & squiggling.

Today it was with a boring felt tipped pen but tomorrow I will be trying out a gorgeous glass pen & a pretty quill.

I literally was buried in Treasures. So many that I'd even forgotten about them.

There is something magical about turning over a new leaf in a brand new planner full of possibilities.

And 4 weeks from now on Wednesday 29th the year will get even more magical for emerald serpents such as Izzie.

A whole 12 months of snaky celebrations.
I've waited 12 years for the Year of the Snake.

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Pottering off into the sunset

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 13:19:22 GMT

It's been all over the news today that former US President Jimmy Carter just died.

Just a few weeks before that, someone less well known but one of my favorite artists turned up his curly toes and sailed off to the sunset in a leaky teapot with hist trusty pet duck.

At least my other favourite cartoonist David Rowe is still around & has a good many years left on the clock

My annual Duolingo subscription renewed today. I got a free month last year via a chess website promotion. I didn't care too much for the discount deal on offor so let it lapse. But then just after Christmas, Duo came up with a much more tempting 102 Oz zloty per year.

I got the same price on renewal. I guess Duo saves all the sneaky trucks for those stupid bags of gems and be bus minutes.

I'm definitely going to have to divert some of my Duolingo minutes to blitzing the Lair.

I'm off to see the la
St sunset of the year tomorrow but still haven't picked which beach.

Unlike last year, NYE is not a Sunday so I have more choice with public transport options.

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A Quiet Christmas

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 15:28:44 GMT

It's that time of the year again.

I'm lurking outside at the Lair since it's a beautiful cool evening after a lovely mild day. But the house hasn't got the memo yet. It still thinks it's 43.4 Celsius.

That's what the mercury hit yesterday. And not too far off the day before.

In spite of having all the doors open , it's proving difficult to get a decent bit of ventilation.

That's the problem with houses made of brick

For the first day or 2 of a heatwave they are cooler inside than out but then after about 3 days of it, it's le living in a pizza oven.

At least we are lucky to have a string of 25s for Christmas Day itself.

But I'm still a bit brain dead from the last few days.

I will wait till tomorrow to get my little Christmas picnic organised.

I can sit in the garden in the light instead of the stuffy dining room

I might even indulge in a bit of reading before hitting the road around midday.

Meanwhile, over in Grinchville, dear old Vernon Dursley will be busy thinking of excuses why his dreadful daughter isn't visiting.

I'd much rather spend the day at the graveyard in the company of my dead mother than endure the miserable living Grinch.

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40

Sun, 22 Dec 2024 15:56:29 GMT

I'm slinking about in the Lair.

Sitting in the garden looking at the constellation of Orion trying to distract myself from the ridiculous 32 degrees Celsius temperature

It hit 40.2 earlier today with more of the same tomorrow.

Usually this is the sort of weather we get on Christmas Day. At least for 4 of the last 5 years.

Apparently it's going to drop to 41 max on Tuesday then a lovely mild 23 on Christmas Day itself.

I really find that a bit hard to believe

Never did go to the beach for the solstice sunset.

Simply way too sizzly.
But I do hope to be there watching the last sunset of the year next week.

Now it's time to slink into the serpent sack before midnight

It's going to be a longhot day tomorrow

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Pretty Pickled

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 12:02:47 GMT

I'm slowly starting to slink here a little more often.

Just survived a wicked week of sizzling summer and spent most of it feeling like a brain dead maggot even only 30 minutes after jumping out of the shower.

It started last Monday, peaked with a 40 degree day on Wednesday (40 Celsius) followed by miserable soul sapping muggy weather until Saturday when it was back to mild mid 20s and beautiful cool breezes.

I felt like I finally got my brain back and my mojo too.

It's been wonderfully mild ever since but it's back to the 40s on Sunday.

So I guess I'll stay curled up in the serpent sack with the fan turned up to 5.

I must live in the only house on the street without air conditioning.
But thankfully, the trees I planted 20 years ago usually compensate for that.

Certainly the only one with no car. Most the others have at least 3 these days.

I just hope it's not more of the same for Christmas Day.

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A Pickled Python

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 15:26:19 GMT

It's been a wierd week.

It started just fine but then the mercury went ballistic.

Not just a bunch of 40 degree days but an electricity outage to add to the drama.

Since the electricity is underground in the local area, a fallen power pole was not a possible cause.

That left sabotage or the more likely possibility of a blackout due to a system overload especially since these days houses are much bigger with passive solar design being a totally alien concept in much of Oz, blocks are smaller & often taken up almost completely by the 4 bedroom 2 bathroom MacMansion

I'm lucky to have lots of trees and shade in the Lair instead of paving and pencil pines.

A good 3/4 of the trees I planted some 20 years ago so Lady Luck only gets some of the credit.

I had planned to get aircon for my bedroom but since getting the new fans last September, I noticed that they drastically reduced the number of hellish hot nights.
The roller shutters definitely help.

Putting all your eggs in the air conditioning basket is not much use when the electricity grid goes down

On the shop floor at work is lovely and cool but the back room is hot and stuffy even with the fans and aircon on.

We are now keeping the staff room door shut so that it's also a lovely cool sanctuary ary

I've definitely noticed getting a bit delirious with this weather. It's the humidity that's the real killer.

I just hope that these 40 Celsius days stay away for Christmas.

I turned off the Big Mac yesterday since it already had its snooze mode extended by the outage.

Now my main mission is to stay sane & keep the leaf babies alive over summer.

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A Feast of Weeds

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 12:16:21 GMT

This serpent is getting in early with New Year's Resolutions.

I've been spending so much time gaming Duolingo's latest evil seemingly random triple points rewards schemes & pottering amongst the weeds.

While the planting season is well and truly over, I'm still tempted by the countless critters on Death Row at the plant nursery where I volunteer on Fridays.

No venomous tentáculas but lots of lovely snake vines ( Hibbertia Scandens) and hakeas.

All the years of planting are paying off as the Lair is now full of leafy munchies for all my feathered friends.

I even have little baskets of twigs, hair and straw for them to use for making nests

It's just as well that I'm a loopy leaf lady rather than a crazy cat Lady as rescuing weeds from doom is a lot cheaper and easier than having a house with a dozen cats

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Na NO

Sat, 30 Nov 2024 16:01:20 GMT

For the second November running, I did not sign up for Nanowrimo

I used to look forward to it every year since I first signed up in 2009 but since 2019 the magic has gone for me.

I made a conscious decision to sit it out in 2023 since my sister was here at the time and I did not want to be distracted by deadlines and daily quotas. Especially since I never did anything with all those words over the years.

Same with this year's visit to Eden Vale for the first 4 days of November & Dudley Dursleys plans to land in the Wild West on Friday 15th.
He chickened out just like last year.

But I have sussed out that when a source of fun becomes just another burdensome chore, then it's time to move on

Actually, since my sister's visit last October & November, I have darkened the door of the room with the Big Mac less than 5 times.

I just can't get back in the habit.

Then there were the scandals of 2022 when it turns out that Nano HQ were being rather economical with the truth & putting in a performance of buck passing & pretending that Cardinal Pell would be proud of.

I left the church over their despicable behaviour only to find the same MO popping up again.

I've gone from 50,000 words in November to almost nothing at all.

I think I need to get back in the habit of squiggling here more often.

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Fry Day

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:20:07 GMT

This snailish serpent posts memes 4 weeks after everyone else

1. What is your favourite food?

Bread. The real crusty stuff made with organic unbleached flour and served with my other favorites

Cheese, butter and peanut butter (the crunchy stuff made of 100% Oz peanuts & a bit of salt. You can tell because the oil floats on top)

2. What is your favourite food preparation method?

Roast, grilled or fried.

Especially garlic, potatoes and cauliflower

3. What is your favourite cuisine or style of cooking?

I have SO many.

Mainly Mediterranean, Malaysian, Mexican and Japanese.

Mexican minus the chili because I love all the other ingredients. Especially corn & avocados

Same with Malaysian.

It's a bit if a cheat since it's a fusion of Indonesian, Indian and Chinese cuisines.

I'm especially find of dhal, deep fried tofu or tempeh and anything with satay sauce.

Japanese - I consider to be summer munchies since so much of the best things are served cold.

We are lucky in Oz to have places like Sushi Hub and Saka.
Sushi is mainstream here rather than exclusive & extremely expensive.

Also, it was a Japanese scientist who came up with the concept of Umami.
The savoury flavour from Heaven & the one I am most addicted to.

4. Do you have any dietary restrictions and if so what are they?

I am diabetic. I happen to hate sugar & sweet things in general. But it's no free pass since carbs also get converted to sugar & I absolutely love bread and pasta

I'm technically a vegetarian because my rule is that I only eat meat or fish if I've killed it myself.

5. If you could introduce the whole world to one ingredient to improve their culinary experience, what would that be and why?

Only 1?

I'm greedy

My list includes pesto, pine nuts, peanut butter and freshly ground black pepper.

I'd pick the pepper as it's the most practical.

Pesto needs to be refrigerated & has a habit of leaking everywhere.
Pine nuts are expensive & it's almost impossible to get the Italian ones now. Chinese crap has flooded the market

But proper pepper ground beef s are portable. I even add a twist to coffee or Chai

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The Real Black Friday

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 14:24:29 GMT

This snailish serpent still hasn't got back in the habit of squiggling.

So many distractions.

Sitting in the garden sniffing Angel's Trumpet flowers or watching the rainbow lorikeets squawking while feasting on the nectar rich bottlebrush flowers, slinking in Cyberia or even doing a Putz Blitz like this evening when I nuked a bunch of old newspapers and sorted piles of books.

I didn't do anything special for this real Black Friday (no time for that fake November nonsense)

The other serpent temptation is Duolingo.

I'm a sucker for the Early Bird and Night Owl freebies as well as the biggie - 60 minutes of Happy Hour on Saturday. Needless to say, I use up lots of 15 minute double points specials to max out the 5 extra points per lesson.

I've managed to team up with the Cat a lot lately in the weekly Friends Quests.

But thanks to the magical Jail House Jackpot that has turned up 3 times this week, I can clock up points at almost Criminal rates.

If the Jail house lesson revision or the even juicier Federation Jackpot turns up tomorrow, I'll be busy clocking up 50 point scores for 20 second lessons

For some strange reason, these honeypots are only available in Russian for English speakers.

I'm sure other languages have such perks but I've yet to find any.

I'm still plodding along with the music lessons but I've been in Zombie mode so much the last 6 weeks that I'm doing them a lot less lately. Not helped by their pissy points count.

Timed lessons is another thing not suited for zombie mode.

I'm now off to the serpent sack.

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As Mad as a Hatter

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 08:45:29 GMT

I just seem to be getting nowhere with all those grand plans to start squiggling again.
This month is no different.

I had my bank do a Justin Trudeau on me. It blocked my debit card arbitrarily.
Or more likely, an algorithm in Mad Eye Moody mode that just suddenly assumed that every transaction is dodgy.

( Constant Vigilance )

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A Nerdy Serpent

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 14:00:11 GMT

I'm such a slacker lately.

I'd hoped the new month would
get me back in the habit of squiggling in Dreamwidth Land especially since I recently got my forked tongue on the Daily Stoic journal with a writing prompt for every day of the year.

Sunday evening is my catch up on decluttering & reading time ever since Duolingo moved the goal posts for the weekly leaderboards then
brought in the deliberately addictive Early Bird and Night Owl double points sessions.

I make a point of staying away until as late as possible on Monday evenings so that I don't end up with a bunch of Hermione Grangers or annoying Zaris.(Zari a Duo charter and such a sad little swat)

I think I've mastered the dark art of getting the most points for the least effort.
My number 1 rule
Never do a lesson that isn't either earning double points or unlocking them.

With the exception of Musuc which I do solely for the sake of learning. Especially as the points to work ratio is so abysmally low.

I'm certainly getting my money's worth from upgrading to Super in the dying days of 2023 when they had it on offer for $108.00

I'd already turned down the $120 deal on offer after the free month trial from the partnership with Chess.com

I've also noticed that Duo is a very good way to test out the state of the old serpent grey cells.

Sadly, the Green zone days are rather less frequent than they used to be

I am still hunting and pecking in the tweet stone because I'm logged out of DW on the Big Mac and the whole reset password business is beyond my ancient brain lately.

There are so many interesting posts from friends that I want to reply to.
I do hope this is the month where I finally start lurking and squiggling on this site.

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Walking on the Moon

Sat, 20 Jul 2024 15:54:10 GMT

Happy Moon Day!

This was how I greeted my fellow Toasties at this morning's meeting.

I'm some looked a little puzzled & convince that the Izzie had finally lost the plot.

(For background, I'm a card carrying member of a Toastmasters club. A masochistic mob devoted to the Dark Art of public speaking)

Last time I gave a speech with the title "Walking on the Moon" was exactly 5 years ago. Also on Saturday 20th July at the same club.

But since that was also the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, it was pretty much the topic on everyone's mind.

This time I stuck to shamelessly promoting the current exhibition at the museum "To the Moon"

My scheduled time was between 5 & 7 minutes and I went just 10 seconds short of the 7 minute limit.

I must say I was amused when my evaluator praised me for being so confident & calm & always coming up with quirky & interesting takes on things. He also said I had good eye contact with the audience.

It really does show that plenty of practice works wonders. Because when I first joined the club I was quite a shy mousy member hiding behind a wad of notes.

I still do my dinosaur hands thing.
That's the last trait left from my beginner days

I also liked that it was not at all obvious that I had nothing more than an absolute basic roadmap with 4 key landmarks and improvised the whole thing on the spot.

I wonder if I tempted anyone in the audience to pay a visit to the museum.

Tomorrow I'm off to the maritime museum since the James Cameron " Challenging the Deep" exhibition ends next Sunday.

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