To all who have visited through 2008, I would like to thank you for dropping by and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2009.
Please keep safe, have fun and enjoy the festive season.

Merry Christmas

from the Oh Waily Waily family.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Well, congratulate me then - I've made it through another BBC Top 200 Read and yet another book set in war time.  Captain Corelli and his mandolin are duly consigned to the return to the library pile.

As you may have noticed, I have already made comment regarding one thing that annoyed me about this book, and that was the feeling that the author had fallen into the Oxford Not-So-Concise Dictionary printing press.  This annoying feature lasted roughly for the first third to half of the book.  After that point Mr de Bernières seems to have calmed down somewhat.

Don't get me wrong.  It's not that I don't like to have my vocabulary stretched - I do.  It's just a case of feeling that it was written in a manner that almost suggested the literary equivalent of name-dropping.  You know the sort of thing - "See who I know and just how smart I am?"  When in fact a more judicious use of unusual words would have indeed suggested the author was very smart, but not attempting to rub our noses in his erudite language skills.  Okay, that's my first gripe over with.

The basic storyline follows Carlo Guercio, Antonio Corelli, Doctor Iannis and his daughter, Pelagia.  There is also a wonderful set of supporting characters to back up and give the texture to the story.  The setting is predominantly Greece, but moves through the war in Albania briefly before settling back into Cephallonia .  The majority of the book is devoted to the complicated relationship that builds between Pelagia and Corelli whilst the Italians occupy Greece during the war.

The novel moves from cynical to dark to gory to funny to heartwarming to horror to disbelieve very easily.  You are not always sure what the next chapter will be bringing.  The tone and language also changes throughout.  Some chapters are crammed full of a variety of uncommon words, while others are full of easy, smoothly readable descriptions of places, people  and their personalities.   There is no shortage of commentary on the nature of man during wars, and the infliction of pain on soldiers and civilians alike.  There is also a good dose of some absolutely hilarious, acid and brutal political commentary.  To illustrate this, I have taken two extracts from near the end of the book. The first extract is in the context of Greek liberation from the German occupation, only to be overrun by the communist andartes.

In all this there was both an irony and a tragedy.  The irony was that if the Communists had continued their wartime policy of doing absolutely nothing, they would undoubtedly have become the first freely elected Communist government in the world.  Whereas in France the Communists had earned themselves a rightful and respected place in political life, the Greek Communists made themselves permanently unelectable because even Communists could not bring themselves to vote for them.  The tragedy was that this was yet another step along the fated path by which Communism was growing into the Greatest and Most Humane Ideology Never to Have Been Implemented Even When it Was in Power, or perhaps The Most Noble Cause Ever to Attract the Highest Proportion of Hooligans and Opportunists.

The second extract is a commentary on Britain and it's position in the world.

In those days Great Britain was less wealthy than it is now, but it was also less complacent, and considerably less useless.  It had a sense of humanitarian responsibility and a myth of its own importance that was quixotically true and universally accepted merely because it believed in it, and said so in a voice loud enough for foreigners to understand.  It had not yet acquired the schoolboy habit of waiting for months for permission from Washington before it clambered out of its post-imperial bed, put on its boots, made a sugary cup of tea, and ventured through the door.

There are more moments like this.  If you particularly would like to poke fun at Mussolini, then you will love reading the chapters entitled The Duce and A Pamphlet Distributed on the Island, Entitled with the Fascist Slogan 'Believe, Fight and Obey'.

My only other major complaint, without giving the ending away, is that there is a pitifully weak break in the story with regards to how the author arranges the main characters' lives after the war is over.  The reason given for the actions of at least one character is nothing short of improbable and impossible, in the circumstances.  For me the ending itself  isn't unsatisfactory, but I can see for others it would be.  And I would completely agree with anyone who finds the manner in which it is arrived at as implausible and irritating.

Saying all that, though, I can still happily recommend the book.  Just keep a dictionary beside you for the first little while.  :)
I would give it a rating of 3 out of 5.

Now I am done with war stories for a little while.  I am done with despair and gruesome details and black deeds for now.
Jeeves and Wooster are calling me in a loud voice to join them, which I am more than happy to do.

- - -

On a slightly related note:

Has anyone seen the movie?  Is it any good?
Personally I can't abide Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz doesn't rate as "must see", so I have some serious doubts about it.  Would be interested to know other's opinions though.

Christmas Reading

Our public libraries have a "Take Five" competition running at the moment.  The aim of which is to encourage people to broaden their reading.   So today while returning Miss O's library books I picked up a bundle for my Christmas reading.  The fact that I may win a hamper of books is an added incentive, of course.

In addition to those already waiting in my reading queue, I have added the following goodies:

1. The Liar - Stephen Fry


2. Four Stories - Alan Bennett


3. Sellevision - Augusten Burroughs


4. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz


5. Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 - Garrison Keillor

Fortunately for me I noticed both Stephen Fry and Junot Diaz - the first author I just adore, the second is on my hit-list as the 2008 Pulitzer winner.  So I shall be kept busy over the next month - must find the suntan lotion, hat and sunglasses, it's going to be a lazy few hours in the sun.

- - -

Also, while on the subject of reading and books.  I am just over 100 pages in to Captain Corelli's Mandolin.   Why didn't one of you warn me that Louis de Bernieres had swallowed a dictionary !?!  I am most agrieved that I was not prepared for the onslaught of large and (unless I'm living under a rock) obscure words.

I jest not, I have roughly twenty words noted down for further investigation, and could have taken more if I had been bothered to note the various Italian and Greek words that are unfamiliar to this monolingual reader.  And to be frank, I think he takes the need to be fancy just a little too far on occasion, evidence the following partial quote:

...two bottles per diem.

What was wrong with saying two bottle per day???  It's not like he was describing anything other than the local priest trying to work out how long it would take him to work his way through the gifts of penance should he drink either two, three or four bottles of wine each day!!

But, the dictionary swallowing fiasco aside, I am beginning to enjoy the book.  The early chapter entitled "The Duce" is absolutely classic.  I haven't laughed and been horrified in equal measure for a long time.  I feel that the remainder of the book may mirror this - black humour mixed with unpleasant realities.

The English Patient

Finally I have managed to make my way through a book that, by Booker panel adjudication, is a worthy read.

Many, many years ago I went to the movies and saw Anthony Minghella's Oscar-winning adaptation.  I believe it won 9 golden statues in total.  Sadly, all these years later, I can barely remember much about it.  Apparently it wasn't earth-shattering in my world.   Now, having read the book I feel the urge to go back and see the film.  I have strong suspicions that Ralph Fiennes (eye-candy value aside) and Kristin Scott-Thomas may have been mis-cast.  Still, I'll withhold judgement until such time as I rent the movie.

So, the book.

I am a little bit out of practice in reading interesting novels, so please cut me some slack on my minimalist review and probable obtuse comments regarding the underlying themes of the novel.

A tale of woe before and during WWII.  Four people come together in the Villa San Girolamo as the war in Europe comes to a close.  The English Patient, who appears to have lost his memory and is badly burned in an aeroplane crash in the deserts of North Africa; Hana, a young Canadian nurse who has lost a baby and her father during the war; Caravaggio, a thief and spy who has his thumbs cut off by the Germans and knows Hana from their previous life in Canada; and Kip, a young Sikh who is working his way through Italy defusing bombs, booby traps and other nasty devices while blocking out the harsh reality of the personal and professional loss being a sapper brings.

The writing style is quirky, and disjointed, but you get used to it very quickly.  As the book moves on it gets easier to follow and it stops you from getting too bored with what is a particularly simple story about relationships.  The 'trick' of this novel is the way in which the author chooses to tell us about those relationships.
Ondaatje chooses to release small snippets of information at a time.  We get to know the characters at a leisurely pace, and without cramming masses of details into each passage.  It is a very relaxing novel in that sense.  You have time to think about everyone's story and what brings them to the point we join them at the Villa.  This can be quite hard going for those of us (no fingers pointed at Ms O, of course) who are used to reading books crammed with detail, forcing as much in to 300 pages as is humanly possible and treating their readers as though they have no imagination.  (Ooo, was I just scathing about most of the chick-lit and trashy reading I've been doing lately?)

Anyway.
I agree with the Amazon reviewers who gave it a 4 out of 5 rating.
Personally I would have to give it a 2.5 or 3.  I understand you may be confused by this double rating, so here's my explanation.
Even though I didn't find it a 4 star read, I know that it is.  This is the danger of reading candy floss books.  They can block your ability to appreciate the art of storytelling, especially if you get caught up in 'instantaneous gratification' mode and want things laid out in front of you at top speed, preferably without distracting things like interesting prose and unusual imagery.  Having read this novel, I now find myself feeling the need to check-in to junk fiction rehab.   Is it possible to get the DTs in a novel-reading sense?  I'm beginning to think it is.

Mr Ondaatje really has an eye for unusual phrasing and beautiful sounding words. So here are some that I thought worthy of noting down.
Imagery:

That which plucks the fowl.

Dust coagulating

The paranoia and claustrophobia of hidden love.

Words:

autodidact

burnoose

antiphonal

propinquity

fata morgana

---

Also on an historical note, the descriptions of the bombs and how many there were, was quite an eye-opener.
The names for them: Hermann, Esau, Satans.
The number of them: 2,500 unexploded bombs in August of the blitz, 3,700 by September.
The insanity of the mine-laying:

The scale of the laying of mines in Italy and in North Africa cannot be imagined.  At the Kismaayo-Afmadu road junction, 260 mines were found.  There were 300 at the Omo River Bridge area.  On June 30, 1941, South African sappers laid 2,700 Mark 11 mines in Mersa Matruh in one day.  Four months later the British cleared Mersa Matruh of 7,806 mines and placed them elsewhere.

More family history links

I thought that I would add a new page to the ever-growing list of genealogical resource pages on the internet. This is not meant in any way to be a complete reference list, and is largely based on my own research over the years. Therefore it has a fairly defined geographical content. ie mostly the UK and predominantly Scotland.

I maintain a del.icio.us genealogy tag. If you want to check it out on a regular basis you can do so here.

United Kingdom

• FreeCEN - UK Census Online Project
  Check the Database coverage link at the bottom of the home page to see if what you are interested in has been transcribed and added.


• GENUKI
  This is an excellent source for beginner genealogists or those expanding their research into new geographical areas.
  
  
  
  • GENUKI Country and County codes
    This contains the three letter county and country codes that you often see used. e.g. SCT = Scotland
  
  
  
  

Scotland

• Scotland's People - the Official website for the GROS


• Scotland GenWeb

Moray

• Moray Local Heritage Service
  This is a wonderful site. Specifically you want to search the computerised index - LIBINDX. There is a link in the navigation bar and in the body of this page.

England

• North East Births, Marriages & Deaths
  This is a gateway to records for the North East of England. Some of the register offices involved have online searchable databases. If you have family in this part of England, this is a good jumping off point.
  
  
  
  • Newcastle City Council - Births & Marriages online
  
  
  • Tees Valley Indexes - The indexes of Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees and Redcar & Cleveland.
  
  
  
  

Wales

• Abersychan and Garndiffaith Local History Group
  For those looking for information on part of the area once known as Monmouth and also as Gwent.

Ireland

• Enniskillen & County Fermanagh guide
  A general interest website for this area, but it does include a family history message board.


• The Gravestone Photo Project - County Fermanagh
  Just as the title suggests - a searchable database of photographed headstones.


• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

New Zealand

• The National Library of New Zealand
  There is a family history section here, but it can also be useful for the digital collection as background.
  
  
  
  • Papers Past collection
  
  
  
  

The Month of November in Books

This month was another slow reading time.  I managed four books all up.  Here they are:

Fiction:

The first two books are by the same author.  I spotted them in desperation one Friday night at the library.  The book I was looking for wasn't to be found, so I had to take what I could get.  I must confess that I only read the two because they were here, at home, and they weren't hurting my brain cells to read.  No other reason for hitting the second book at all.

Dead Sexy
This is the second book in the Garnet Lacey series by Tate Hallaway.
Chick-lit for Buffy fans, probably, would be my best description of these books.  It is a witches, vampires and zombie-fest.  For those who like their stories quirky, you may enjoy this.  The Amazon reviewers gave it an average of 4 stars.
Personally I think that is a little over-generous.  I would have hit a 2 or 3 star rating for this.  I can't put my finger on exactly what it was that grated, but something about the writing or storytelling just didn't hit the spot for me.



Romancing the Dead
As I said at the start, this book only got past the eyes because it was here and not a struggle to read.  Perhaps I was also hoping that the series and Garnet Lacey would grow on me.  But no.  She didn't.
If the concept of a Goth witch with a vampire boyfriend, ex-boyfriend and an internal nasty Goddess sound like you, then take a trip to the local library and check these out.  They won't strain the brain, and maybe Garnet will appeal to you more than she did to me.



Don't Hex with Texas
This is the last in the current series of Katie Chandler stories.  Her author, Shanna Swendson does have other plotlines for these characters, but like all things in real life her publisher needs the number of book sales to stack up before committing to another installment.  Such is the life of an author, I guess.

In this book Katie has returned home to her very, very un-magical hometown in Texas.  You get to know her family and find out that maybe the magic community in New York aren't the truly strange ones.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this series.  It's not rocket science, and each book is sometimes better, sometimes worse than the others.  If this is the end for the character, then it wasn't too badly done and leaves it to your imagination what becomes of her and her beau, Owen.

Non-Fiction:

Tax in New Zealand
Another useful book from Martin Hawes.  In this instance, all about taxation and what you should be looking out for.
If you're in business you will probably know most of this, but it never hurts to keep current. Accountants are great, but if you don't know the way things work, you could be missing out by not asking all the right questions.  I would suggest this if you are starting up a business, or feel a bit unsure about how things really work.

***

That's it for November.  It wasn't particularly spectacular, but hopefully December will produce a few more interesting books.  I'm halfway through The English Patient, so all going well¹ there will be at least one Booker prize winner amongst the reviews.

¹. This means my ability to concentrate, grit my teeth, and actually make it through an entire book that is more than a bit of candyfloss.

New look dashboard

I quite like it.

It will probably take me a while to get around to finding everything again, but the grey and blue look is my kind of colour scheme.  Probably a lot of "pink" and "neon" blog owners out there crying over their keyboards at the blandness though.

On other unresolved issues I'm still getting 'interesting' links in my "click" list, some of which are not particularly palatable.  Supposedly they are from my "related posts" section - which, as far as I know I turned off a week after they introduced it.  Still, if that's the only glitch I have to suffer here at WP.com, then all is right in the world.
If those of you who visit see the "Possibly Related Posts" addenda at the end of any of my posts, could you please drop me an email or leave a comment.  Personally I have never seen any, but that's what the WP support staff seem to think is generating my unsavoury outgoing links.  I'd like to know one way or another for myself if some folk are seeing things I'm not.  [That's not to say my loyal readers are too fond of the drink, now.]

Oh, and for those who are not WP.com bloggers (or about to self-host WP 2.7), then this post has probably been a bit puzzling.  Don't worry - it's not you, it's just me rambling on about the stuff behind the blog.   By way of making that up to you, I shall be posting my November books review shortly, so see you then.

Family History Research in Auckland

This past weekend I was able to spend some time doing one of my favourite things - family history.

Not my own, in this instance, but for an in-law's family.  This is great as it gives me the opportunity to learn all about the resources available for research in New Zealand.
In this instance I was able to look through the Indexes to the Sacramental Registers for the Catholic parishes here in Auckland.  Not only did this turn out to be very useful for my in-law's research, but it was nice to visit with and use data that I helped to transcribe some ten or so years ago.  In my case I helped transcribe data from the Paeroa and district areas.

So in conjunction with the screeds of information that I gathered, I went for a wander through the internet looking for cemetery details.  I know it sounds morbid, but it can be a huge help sorting out one family from another when you don't have census details to make this possible.

Since my last foray into the online databases there have been some notable additions - Manuakau Memorial Gardens and Waikumete Cemetery have finally joined us in the 21st century. Hurrah !!  They must be about the biggest cemeteries in Auckland, so it is wonderful that their databases are now available.

And finally I revisited Papers Past and was impressed to see that their search software appears to be improving and that false returns from fuzzy old newspaper scans are decreasing.

After such a nice few hours of hobby indulgence I thought I would bring those links to you, just in case you feel the need to research your Kiwi families.

Online Cemetery Database Links

Auckland City Library's Online Digital Library - Family History
- you can search cemetery information, and other local government items too.

Manukau Memorial Gardens
- the genealogy database for Manukau Memorial Gardens

Waikumete Cemetery
- the genealogical database for Waikumete Cemetery

Wellington City Cemeteries
- this seems to have been updated since my last visit, as I have found people not showing up before.

New Plymouth District Council Cemetery Database
- another lovely database, with very helpful back-up from the council by email.

Hauraki District Council Cemetery Database
- Paeroa, Waihi and Hauraki Plains are covered here.

And, finally, another excellent source of cemetery and cemetery records links can be found at the Christchurch City Library site.

Then there is the wonderful online Papers Past site.  Great stuff for general historical research, but also rather nifty for finding those illustrious and not-so-illustrious ancestors.  This has rather made my other blog NZ Newspaper Articles somewhat defunct.  In the past year the National Library has added search software that makes transcription a little less of a requirement.  The software isn't quite 100%, so I would recommend that you scan through editions if you believe that family may have had cause to appear and to consider editions outside the immediate area of residence.  "Telegraphs from..." is a popular feature in most 19th century papers and will often name individuals from the complete opposite end of the country.  If an unexpected location pops up in your search results - do check it, it may have been newsworthy elsewhere.

There ends the family history entry for this month.  ;-)

- - -

For those who may be interested but new to the idea of family history research, I am happy to help with information, guidance and if I have the time even a little bit of research.  As long as you don't expect miracles and instantaneous gratification, I'm sure I can dig up a little bit of information for you while I am pursuing my own family matters.  Consider this my little contribution to random acts of genealogical kindness.  :)

Personality

Along with my earlier post indicating that it's time for a shake up and a kick in the pants, I was inspired by seeing an INFJ group doing this year's NaBloPoMo to re-take the online Jung Typology Test over at Humanmetrics.  As it turns out I am one of their kind. If you would like to know what that means, you can see a full description of this type here at Typelogic or take a look at the definition at Wikipedia.

I was mightily impressed to see that amongst other INFJs there were some serious big-wigs:
- Robert Burns
- Mother Teresa
- Carl Jung
- Mohandas Gandhi
- Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Florence Nightingale
- Martin Luther King, Jr
- Michael Landon
- Billy Crystal
- Garry Trudeau
- Nelson Mandela

Wow, what a group.
However, before I get carried away with being amongst these folk I need to confess to being a crap poet, useless with those unfortunate enough to be sick around me, I can't draw and I am terrified of public speaking.
Gee.  Are you sure I belong here?  Should I redo the test?

Actually I did three different tests just to see if they would replicate the result. Two from three said INFJ and the third said ISFJ.  So I'll take it as accurate enough for my purpose - personal entertainment.

So for those who can't be bothered reading the whole profile thing, here are some highlights.

INFJs are:

• 1–3% of the population


• likely to prefer one-on-one relationships to large groups.


• conscientious and value-driven.


• the people that you can rarely fool any of the time.


• seekers of meaning in relationships, ideas, and events, with an eye toward better understanding themselves and others.


• likely to establish close relationships slowly.


• creative nurturers with a strong sense of personal integrity.


• intricately and deeply woven, mysterious, and highly complex, sometimes puzzling even to themselves.


• able to intuit others’ emotions and motivations.


• devoted and loving parents.


• likely to form strong bonds with their children.


• firm disciplinarians, particularly when it comes to moral or ethical concerns.

INFJs tend to enjoy:

• writing;


• art appreciation;


• cultural events;


• reading;


• socializing in small, intimate settings;


• playing or listening to music.

So for those of you who know me in the *real world*, does it sound even a teensy bit accurate?

Now it's your turn.  There are plenty of online sites that do these tests for free.  Let's see your results.  Consider this a mini-meme for your own blog, if that suits you best. (I know NaBloPoMo ideas can be a bit scarse on the ground as the month draws to a close.)

A quiet life

Yes, the blog has been very, very quiet for some time now.
A total of two entries for the whole of October and up until now only two for November.

It is almost as though I have gone on an anti-NaBloPoMo couple of months.
Although if I tell the honest truth this really is a continuation of my loss of mojo.
Since I can't currently take Bruce's advice and whisk myself away to a Tuscan villa, much as I'd love to, I guess I will just have to blog about the writer's block.

First a few home truths about Ms Oh Waily.

1. I am predominantly an introvert.
- That has nothing to do with how much I can talk, however.
2. I like routine.
- Not that I am averse to nice surprises involving food, travel or other luxuries.
3. I tend to be lazy and/or prefer being comfortable.
- Have you seen any mention of running recently?

Those three big personality traits tend to lead you down the path to being a stay-at-home, stay-at-home mother.  Unsurprisingly this is not conducive to new experiences and therefore new blogging topics.
Either I am completely tragic or just currently in a deeper-than-I'd-like-it-to-be rut.
Obviously I'd like to think it's just a rut.

Therefore, working on the premise that it is simply a rut that I need to lever myself up and out of, here are a few spanners about to be thrown into the introverted, routinised and lazy world of Ms Oh Waily...

• Ms Oh Waily plans to join a gym again (crèche willing).


• Miss Oh Waily may join a bilingual playgroup on Saturday mornings. The entire Oh Waily family may be about to begin learning Mandarin as a result.


• Ms Oh Waily may cave in and send Miss Oh Waily to daycare two days a week.

The last one of these is a bit in the air as I have mixed feelings about it.  On the one hand, it'll be great for the little Miss to get out and socialise regularly and in a new environment with other littlies.  On the other hand it's stacking up to being a wrench for Ms Oh Waily - not to mention the cost of it.  Right at this minute the scales are balanced evenly, so the decision remains to be made on this.

What does all this mean for you, the reader?

Hopefully more blog entries, although if I do rejoin the gym it may be a few weeks before the aching disappears enough that my fingers can do their keyboard gymnastics again.  And maybe the odd word or phrase of a *foreign* language might slip in to our conversation too.  We'll all just have to wait and see.

I'll keep you posted.

- - -

A quick request to those multi-lingual readers out there - and I know there are a few of you - what recommendations do you have for encouraging bilingualism and what stories of success/failure do you have to share?   Did you learn your second or third language as a child or an adult?  Do you have first-hand pros and cons to learning earlier or later?

Miss Oh Waily Update

Miss O will be fifteen months old in five days time.
I have no idea where the last two years have gone.

Here in NZ we have a 15 month Plunket check-up and our appointment was for this morning, so I thought I would bring her stats to you.

Since her last weigh and measure in August with the Karitane nurse the little Miss has put on nearly 700 grams in weight and another 4 centimetres in height.  I wonder why she is now able to reach anything remotely near the edge of our kitchen table, then?
Madam is just a smidgen over 9.5kg and 77cm tall.  According to the growth chart in her Well Child book, that makes her half-way between the 25th and 50th percentile for weight, and just a dash under the 50th percentile for height.  This is tracking along nicely from her last weigh and measure.

The extra height is helping her in many ways.  The most recent explosion of activity centres around this extra reach.
Climbing.
Lots of it.  On anything and everything.
The ottoman.
The coffee table.
The woofer. (No, not the dogs - although given half the chance she might try.)
The plastic bins used to store craft supplies.

But we don't stop with getting on these.  We use them to scale greater heights.  These stepping stones assist in reaching the playing field known as the big beds, or the sofa, or the chair that Mum and Dad are sitting in or the iPod dock next to the television.  Until you have seen a baby climbing and scrambling I really don't think you truly understand the concept of fearlessness.

Along with this insane need to climb up and on, we are also exploring building with megablocks (large lego for those unfamiliar with these), indulging in mimicry (thanks for the monkey sounds, Nana!), and are exploring the potential for tantrums when things get a little frustrating.  Ah, the shape of things to come.

We are also able to use baby signs for food, dog and bird.  Everything else is currently pointed at (vaguely) and squeaked about loudly so we understand that it is important and we should pay attention.  Mum and Dad are becoming more clear and used more frequently to actually mean Ms and Mr Oh Waily as opposed to random sound of the moment.

We have gained more teeth and currently have seven visible, with one other obviously on the way.

Last month we decided that our lovely shapesorter was no longer a problem and seemingly instantaneously stopped using the trial and error method of finding the right hole in favour of putting the yellow circle in the yellow circle hole, etc.  This even extended to turning the sorter up the right way for the currently held shape without outside insistence or assistance.

According to our Plunket nurse the next year is going to be filled with change, especially in the language department.  I am looking forward to and dreading that all at once.  It will be wonderful to hear her exploring language, but both grandmothers have assured us that the Oh Waily parents were incesant talkers and questioners.  If genes will out, I have a suspicion it might be in the talking department.
On other verbal matters I was very interested to read about the order that children learn sounds recently, and may have a further look into that for interests sake.  In the meantime I am investigating the potential for the child of monolingual parents to have access to a bilingual environment.  This is proving to be harder than I thought.

And that pretty much sums things up for the moment.  No doubt I have missed things, but you get the general picture.  All happy and active in the Oh Waily household.  :)

- - -

Later the same day...

An update.

While playing with the Miss early this afternoon I discovered two more teeth have been through for probably a week or two.  How did I miss them you ask?  They are the first two molars in her upper jaw, and although she smiles and laughs regularly, it is not always a flip-top head moment.  Just try looking into a toddler's mouth when they don't want you poking around in there!  Clamped and shut.

The Month of October in Books

October was a completely lacklustre month in many, many ways and my reading reflects that.

I did try to make my way through two Pulitzer winners, but just had to give up.
Belovedby Toni Morrison was hard work mentally, not because of the writing style but the subject matter.  And that mindset of finding *hard* subjects difficult to read meant that in the end I managed a total of two books started and finished. Neither of which feature in any of my Booklitzer 200 challenge lists.

Fiction:

Enemies of the Empire
This is the second Libertus mystery that I have read, the other being Murder in the Forum which I reviewed here a couple of years ago.

These are nice, easy books to read.  They give an insight into what Roman Britain may have looked like under Roman rule.  In this instance the story is about social unrest and the harassing of Roman troops in the area around Venta and Isca.  Libertus stumbles into events and generally gets caught up in the goings on, dragging Marcus Septimus with him.  A good light read for those who like historical and mystery fiction.



Angels
This is the third book featuring the Walsh family.  This time it is Maggie, the good daughter.  I have previously read and reviewed Rachel's Holiday here.

Maggie's life comes apart when she finds her husband is having an affair and she is fired from her job.  To escape this she runs away to her friend in Los Angeles and finds her way into a new life and a new perspective.  An easy read, but I don't feel it is in the same league as Rachel's Holiday.  Still, this family makes you laugh and think about how you approach your own problems all in the one story.

---

As for November, it looks much more promising with three books read already.  No Pulitzers though - I'm not sure I'm quite out of the funk that is blocking me from gritty subject matter.  Have a great month of reading and I will see you back here in early December.

A Builder's Life

I have been struggling with my conscience and my apathy over this blog entry.
On the one hand, I know that I will feel hopeless if I don't commit something to *paper*.  On the other hand I am not sure whether writing this will do anyone any good, except perhaps by way of letting me blow off steam.  My issue is: am I right to bleat about this for my own satisfaction?

So here it is, judge for yourselves...

If you have been here for a little while you will be aware that the Oh Waily family has had substantial renovations carried out on their house.  You can read all about this if you do a search (see the sidebar) for my posts on Renovations.

Well, the saga continues.  As of writing we don't have our code compliance certificate from the council and since May have been having what amounts to a stressful and angry-making experience with our builder.
So angry, you might notice, that I have finally sat down to write about it.
Perhaps we should have seen it all coming.  Then again, I have never professed to being clairvoyant.
My first bleat was back in November, and that should have begun the alarm bells.  That bleat involved a lack of customer service skills on the part of our builder, a theme which he has managed to master in spades.
Following on from the previous aborted attempts to move back in to the house we had this bleat about customer service to move on to.  Then of course there was the curtain debacle.

I know you are all sitting reading this and thinking to yourselves - how did they ever make it to this advanced age while being patently naive?!

So, what could we possibly move on to that I haven't shared before now?

Well, the principal work on the building finished just before Christmas.  Naturally there were things that slid through and trailed along.  But, I'd say that most things were complete by mid-January.  Then it goes quiet.
Not a peep from the builder. Nothing.  No request for final payment - nada.
While we sit and think this is unusual for a businessman, we also don't have a particularly high estimate of this person's business skills.  We figure that he's probably getting the code compliance stuff sorted and will be in touch in due course with a final bill of around $20,000 - $25,000.

Now we hit the nitty and the gritty.  Mid-to-late May and we get a massive envelope in the post.  It contains the remaining invoices from the builder.  Somehow he has managed to expand, what according to his last open-listed items was work totalling what we expected, to a set of invoices in the $50,000 range.

Even now I still feel sick thinking about it.  I feel sick and disgusted.  I feel taken advantage of, treated abominably and generally really p*ssed off with what is clearly an individual who feels that he has every right to take charge of my bank account for his own benefit.
It is also funny to note that this set of invoices is the only one that came with a legal note that in my opinion amounted to attempted intimidation (pay up or else).  Do you think that someone else knew that they were in a morally corrupt position of attempting to extract money that they neither informed us about, nor in any way signalled the possibility of.  Sadly these costs should have been indicated to us prior to the building process starting, as they were a council requirement, but not one word passed the builder's mouth to us on the subject of cost blow-outs.  Oh, and he also didn't bother to mention that the changes also involved registering an encumbrance on our title - with the attendant ongoing costs that this means to us.

We took legal advice, as you would in these sorts of instances.  In the end we decided that despite feeling we had a better than 50/50 chance of convincing an arbitrator of our view on this matter, that it was our sanity and stress levels that were more important than prolonging the unnecessary stress.  We came to an agreement on what we would and would not pay with the builder.

I cannot stress how unpleasant this last experience has been.  In my heart I feel that perhaps we should have pushed on and taken the legal road.  But then this is countered by my experience of watching others go through mediation, arbitration and finally a court case with a builder.  It is fair to say that the law does not necessarily take the common sense view of situations and while you may feel that your case is strong, the law does not always come down on your side.  It is almost a case of gambling on a roulette wheel - will they view the situation in my favour, or not?  Or in the case of builders, avoiding responsibility for actions that are clearly theirs and theirs alone.

***

Ms Oh Waily's lessons:

1. Don't employ builders if you can possibly avoid it. (Lots of people have agreed with me on this.)


2. Make sure that you remove the option for provisional sums (it is an industry standard to have them, I believe) and or have a specific stated maximum increase that you will pay before re-quoting is needed.


3. Make sure that any changes you agree to are done in writing, with a request for quoting prior to work being carried out. (If your builder is twitchy about the time this adds to his job - drop him, he will be organisationally cr*p, just like ours was.)


4. Make sure that you have the time and inclination, if your building project is as big as ours was, to be your own project manager.  Let the builder do his thing - but you need to be watching his back like a hawk - and you need to be on his case each and every day.


5. Keep a diary of the work.  Take notes of all meetings and their outcomes or actions to be taken.  Copy them and send them to the builder. (I know, I didn't think I needed to do his job for him.  Turns out I was wrong.)

I think that covers most of it.

If you live in NZ, and are considering building anything of any size, I am happy to give a personal review and recommendation regarding builders - especially those who belong to a franchise where the franchise owner is happy to take the word of their franchisee rather than visit and investigate the complaints of their ultimate customer.  Hmm.  I don't like being vindictive - but in this instance, I can truly and honestly say that I hope our builder does not survive the economic downturn.  The pain and aggravation he has caused our family is a disgrace, simply because he could not organise and communicate the important financial information that every client (in my work experience) expects from their service supplier.  Others who do not share our fortunate situation and flexibility with regards to work and financing could be left bankrupt by this sort of behaviour.

Here ends the Bleat!

The Month of September in Books

This month was an even split between fiction and non-fiction.  In total I managed six books.  Here they are:

Fiction:

The Siege of Krishnapur

This is the first Booker book that I have read in my Booklitzer Challenge 200.  It is the 1973 prize winner, set in India during the 1857 mutiny.  It is a bit slow to start with, but on the whole I feel that I can reasonably recommend this if you are looking to expand your reading.  I would probably go so far as to say that I may try to find another J.G.Farrell book to read once my Booklitzer 200 is finished.  For my full review you can browse back here at my post The Siege of Krishnapur.

The World According to Bertie

This is the fourth book in the 44 Scotland Street series. It once again follows the stories of Bertie Pollock, Angus Lordie, Domenica MacDonald, Pat and Matthew.
As usual I am horrified at the personality of Bertie's mother, Irene, but the wit with which she and her family are drawn is irresistible. Without giving anything away, it is also nice to see two separate storylines come together at the end of the book.  I am wondering if a previously minor character is going to be bumped up a notch.  I must take the time to get the next installment - The Unbearable Lightness of Scones.

And What Do You Do?

I chose this book because it sounded interesting, for chick lit.  A woman gives up her high-powered life as an executive in London to have a baby and move to Paris with her much younger French husband. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't a view of infidelity and supposed French marital mores.  While the writing was light, the characters didn't grab me and frankly neither did the tit-for-tat affairs.  But then again perhaps I have an old-fashioned view of marriage.  You know, that there should only be the two of you and that being faithful is important.  Obviously I was never French in another life, nor Bohemian, nor Hippy.  Oh well. Can't say that I would look for another by this author.

Non-Fiction:

Trump: Never Give Up

Following up from last month's Carolyn 101, I spotted this at the library and decided to take The Don for a test drive.
The book was extremely easy to read, full of anecdotes and ego.  Considering the fortune that the man has made, he is probably entitled to gloat over his achievements.
Love him or hate him, he certainly takes his business seriously and if we are to believe many of the comments repeated throughout the book, he is also big on improving things. Certainly not a business classic, it does still give common sense advice as well as an insight into a larger than life personality.

Your Mortgage And How To Pay It Off In Five Years

Yet another in the Anita Bell series of financial advisory books.  I whipped through this one at light speed because we already have a mortgage, while the first half of the book is dedicated to saving for one, estimating what you might reasonably want to pay in order to do as the title says, and structuring that said loan with an institution of your choice.
My interest was in any advice for those of us already up to our ears in home ownership. Briefly, it goes like this...
Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice and budget like a demon.  (And I thought I was bad about paperwork!)  Still, I can heartily recommend this to anyone not yet encumbered by a loan, especially if you don't want to flounder about for the normal 25-30 years of repayments.

Why Mars And Venus Collide

This is another in the Mars and Venus series by John Gray.  I thought it was time to see if Dr Gray had anything new to say, and apparently he does.  Unlike the original (which I am dredging my memory about), this effort introduces testosterone and oxytocin to the explanation for the differences in gender response to stress and therefore interaction.  He also has two new techniques to deal with these responses and the communication problems they can generate.  If like me and you have wondered if he was sitting outside your house pressing a glass up to the wall while reading the original Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, then you may enjoy this updated version.  Get it from the library first though.

***

That's it for September.  I will see you back here at the end of the month for a review, hopefully, of some Pulitzer prize winners and the odd BBC Top 200 entry.

Happy reading.

Cerebral Mutterings revisited

It's been quite some time since my Cerebral Mutterings emails finished, and I started blogging.  But tonight, while stripping out my long untouched email folders in a frenzy of "archive it - delete it - do it", I came across some of my original Mutterings source material.

So, here is a trip down memory lane for those of you who were once recipients of the CM emails.

The News

Mr O is currently in Wellington re-installing equipment on Kaitaki.  Lucky him, he gets to start work at 4am.
Miss O is currently struggling with the concept of falling asleep.  But she has grasped the idea of making a mess with paints and enjoys riding her horse in her spare time.

The Quotes

Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears.
- Rudyard Kipling

Would you know others?  Read yourself -- and learn!
- Friedrich von Schiller

Thought takes man out of servitude into freedom.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can't drown your troubles . . . because troubles can swim.
- Margaret Millar

Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.
- Ethel Watts Mumford

Life is like a ten-speed bike.
Most of us have gears we never use.
- Charles Schultz

There is everything in a name. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but would not cost half as much during the winter months.
- George Ade

***

I also came across this rather profound and thought-provoking comment by the anthropologist, Margaret Mead.

Even very recently, the elders could say: "You know, I have been young and you never have been old."
But today's young people can reply: "You never have been young in the world I am young in, and you never can be." . . . The older generation will never see repeated in the lives of young people their own unprecedented experience of sequentially emerging change. This break between generations is wholly new: it is planetary and universal.

Murderburger - Jobs Available

Okay, so this is doing the rounds via email but I still thought I would share.

Looks like I'm a safe bet for a job here if my life as a mother doesn't pan out so well.
And as an employer, I too vote for avoiding Mr Stabby.



If you can't quite read it - visit my Flickr stream and view the large version.

Oh, and I was driving along Ponsonby Road last weekend, and can testify that the Murder Burger signage is indeed on a shop.  The windows were blacked out, and there was a white piece of paper in the window.  If it's a hoax or a joke, then they've gone to a lot of trouble and expense.

No doubt someone somewhere will be offended and report them to the Human Rights Tribunal for discrimination against P users and Pol Stud students.    :P
Considering our largest newspaper once told me that I couldn't specify the length of work experience required (5 years) for the position I wanted to advertise with them, I'm always happy to see stuff like this.  It's a nice big thumbing of the nose at the politically correct establishment (who largely don't seem to live in the real world and deal with real problems people).

***

If I sound grumpy, it's just because I'm overdue for a good bleat.  It's been a little while, but there is a good one working itself up as we speak.  I'm hoping to have it, and my advice on how to avoid a similar situation, all written up and posted by the weekend.  In the meantime, please be patient with any sarcastic, cynical, jaded and slightly petulant comments that may attach themselves to innocent posts. ;)

The Siege of Krishnapur

This is the 1973 Booker Prize winner by J.G.Farrell.

The setting is the 1857 Indian Mutiny.  The story is told from the perspective of a number of British residents in Krishnapur.  The central characters are Mr Hopkins, the Collector; Fleury, a recent arrival to India and his widowed sister, Miriam; the Dunstaple family - father, the local physician - son, a young military man and daughter Louise, the season's beauty; Mr Willoughby, the Magistrate; and the Padre.

I felt that the story started off very slowly and I was dreading another reading trial like The Poisonwood Bible.  Fortunately as I went further through the book and when the siege finally began it all started to flow for me.  In the end I was fascinated by the characters and the way the author grew them and altered their views through the trials and deprivations of living through a siege situation.

And for the first time in an absolute age, I actually felt like I picked up on some of the themes.  Admittedly they came to me one morning in the half-dozing state that occurs when you are on the cusp of waking up.

The political & philosophical themes were primarily voiced in the observations of each main character given page time by Farrell, although behaviour was also used, especially by the minor players.

One aspect that this novel shared with The Poisonwood Bible is the theme of people under stress and what that brings out of their character.  Are character and world view interlinked and changeable?  The Poisonwood Bible seemed to suggest a strengthening of existing character traits and views, while The Siege of Krishnapur seems to suggest a person could go either way with an extreme strengthening of convictions or a complete weakening of convictions, even to the point of altering them diametrically.

Briefly the themes I identified were:

• Materialism and Advancement through Invention of things versus the importance of Advancement of the human spirit.

This was primarily played out by Mr Hopkins and Fleury.  Hopkins has fitted out the Residence at Krishnapur with items he believes represent advancement, especially items from The Great Exhibition.  He is reverential about the Exhibition, almost to the point of worship.
Fleury, on the other hand, views the advancement of the spirit to be the most important thing that humans can aspire to.  Certainly materialism and objects are not worthy of the reverence he sees Mr Hopkins display.

• The Established View versus Scientific Observation and Rationalism

This pits the two Doctors against each other.  Dunstaple is 'old school' and is frequently found to be criticising the methods of his colleague, McNab, as experimental and cold.  Dunstaple views the 'establishment' as the source of information and direction, while McNab views his own observations (as well as alternatives to the prevailing treatments) as valid guides to patient treatment.  This comes to a head over the treatment of a cholera outbreak.  While the Dunstaple cholera episode should be sad, it is actually completely, gut-bustingly and ironically funny.

• Scientific observation

The Magistrate also showcases the duality of science that prevailed during this time.  On the one hand he views scientific rationalism very highly, as seen in his support of McNab's use of statistics to back up his arguments on the treatment of cholera.  On the other hand is his interest and wholehearted believe in the "science" of frenology.

• Sin

Farrell also touches on themes like "sin" as well.  This is displayed through the Padre's progressively vigorous pursuit of sin, and the expunging of it from the congregation.  The women also feature here, with a "fallen" woman, Lucy, brought into the enclave.  She is socially shunned with the exception of Miriam and Louise who feel it their duty to be kind to her until she begins to make herself cosy with their brothers.

Through the latter half of the book, and the siege, the writing gets progressively more double-edged.  You can't help laughing at the characters.  I am sure that Farrell intended to almost caricature certain aspects of British India, Victorian science and the intensity with which people hang on to, or shed their beliefs.

I thought that the "voice" of the book was reasonably authentic.  Apparently a lot of material was taken from diaries of events and there is even a note by Farrell that indicates some sections were almost completely lifted from his research.  Presumably this is why it felt 'of it's time'.

I can highly recommend this novel.  After the first, slower part of the book, it picks itself up and becomes at once entertaining, sad and thought-provoking.

Nation

Nation is the newest, about to be released book by Terry Pratchett.

So far all of his previous children and young adult books have fulfilled their promise to be great reads and this one looks to be yet another to add to the bookshelves.

You can get a sneek peak inside the first 78 pages (or 3 and a bit chapters) if you visit the link that I have pasted at the bottom of this post.  HarperCollins have also included the Author's Notes at the end of this preview.  I think that the last note is wonderful...

Thinking
This book contains some.  Whether you try it at home is up to you.

If you don't want to read through the first three chapters, then here is the teaser as per the publisher's website:

The sea has taken everything.

Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned, and somewhere in the jungle Daphne—a girl from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave.

Together the two confront the aftermath of catastrophe. Drawn by the smoke of Mau and Daphne's sheltering fire, other refugees slowly arrive: children without parents, mothers without babies, husbands without wives—all of them hungry and all of them frightened. As Mau and Daphne struggle to keep the small band safe and fed, they defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down. . . .

Sadly, while visiting the publisher's website I also noted that Mr Pratchett has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease.  Apparently he is active in fundraising efforts for Alzheimer's research and you can read a speech he made to the Alzheimer's Research Trust Conference.

It is more than a little sad to think that such a creative talent is going to have this struggle to face.

***

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

Return from vacation

It was tough, but someone had to do it.  After all, you can't just let all that good sunshine and tropical heat go to waste.


And if they put up bure shelters and sandpits for you to sit and loll around in, then the very least you can do is spend some time drying off after your swim.


And before you ask... yes. We did have a great time.  Thanks.

On Holiday

This is just a quick note to say that I will be away on holiday next week, and that I haven't planned far enough ahead to have posts popping up while I'm not here.

However, when I get back there should be posts about:

• The Siege of Krishnapur


• Two novels from the Claudine series by Colette
  
  
  
  • Claudine à Paris (1901)
  
  
  • Claudine en ménage (1902)
  
  
  
  


• A trip to Fiji (if anything more than "I swam, I ate, I slept, I read" happens )


• Air travel with an infant (if anything of use comes to mind)


• Any photographs that I think are worth sharing from the trip.

In the meantime, have a great week and I will see you back here some time after the 15th.

A political laugh

Normally I like to keep my political opinions to myself.  Or at least only express them to family and close friends.  But when this little gem crossed my email, I just had to share.

For those non-NZers, feel free to replace Winston Peter's name with a similarly suitable politician from your own parliament.

***

A man died and went to Heaven.
As he stood in front of the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him.
“What are all those clocks?” he asked

“Those are Lie-Clocks,” St. Peter answered.
“Everyone on earth has a Lie-Clock.  Every time you lie the hands on your clock move.”

“Oh”, said the man. 'Whose clock is that at 12.00?'

“That's Mother Teresa's”, replied St. Peter. “The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie.”

“Incredible”, said the man. “And whose clock is that one at 12.02?”

“That's Abraham Lincoln's clock,” St. Peter responded. "The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abraham told only two lies in his entire life.”

“Where's Winston Peters’ clock?” asked the man.
“Winston Peters’ clock is in Jesus' office”, smiled St Peter.  “He's using it as a ceiling fan."

***

If you are wondering about who Winston Peters is and why this little joke is doing the rounds, scroll down the Wikipedia entry to the section on funding controversies - or alternatively take a look through any online NZ newspaper or other media website.  He is something of a teflon-like character who is economical with the facts (omissions are not lies, after all) and quick to jump on popular bandwagons (immigration and immigrants, for instance - imagine an apparent xenophobe as your Foreign Minister !?!?).
He would also win any "Survivor" special dealing specifically with politics and politicians, hands down.

Noah's Ark - August 2008 Progress

There hasn't been an awful lot of progress, but at least the blue border stitching has finally been done.  As you can see I have started on the corners next.  All of this is an attempt to put off the inevitable stitching over one that the animals call for.   Oh well, I'll have to tackle it eventually, so I'm picking the next fine and bright day that comes around will be my best choice.  You may see more than cats next time - or not.

Words for this week

This week my reading has provided me with the following interesting sounding words.

Hummock

a knoll or hillock.

Interestingly this was used to describe a character's stomach.  I liked the sound of it.

Sepoy

(formerly, in India) a native soldier, usually an infantryman, in the service of Europeans, esp. of the British.

Nautch

(in India) an exhibition of dancing by professional dancing girls.

Can you tell I am reading about British India?  The Siege of Krishnapur is certainly expanding my vocabulary amongst other things.

Phaser on limp, Captain

So sorry.  I've just discovered Eddie Izzard on YouTube.  This could turn into a video a day posting schedule.

Today's edition is Star Trek.  If you aren't a fan, step away from the screen, otherwise bear with him until he gets to the Phaser settings near the end. (For those who can't wait - it's about 6:30 in.)

Just for a laugh

This came to me on the email today and gave me a good chuckle.
Please skip if you're not a Star Wars or Lego geek.  :)

The Month of August in Books

This month I managed five books.  Here they are:

Fiction:

Carry On, Jeeves


This was my antidote to slowly grinding my way through The Poisonwood Bible.  It is your typical Wodehouse.  Bertie getting into scrapes and Jeeves attempting to redeem the situation.  The outcome is not always what Bertie would like, but sometimes the best answer isn't what we like.
This is a series of short stories, some set in New York as well as England.  It was a nice, light work to offset the darker novel that I read concurrently.

The Careful Use of Compliments


This is the fourth book in the Isabel Dalhousie or Sunday Philosophy Club series. It once again follows the stories of Isabel, Jamie and Cat.
We see the domesticity that follows the arrival of Charlie, Isabel and Jamie's son.  We see the conflict this provokes with Isabel's neice, Cat.  And thrown into the bargain is the world of Scottish art and artists.  The mystery of a dead artist is the background for this story, as well as changes at the Review of Applied Ethics.

The Poisonwood Bible


This book has been given a full post here.  Briefly, it is the first book from my Booklitzer 200 Challenge, in which I am going to attempt (slowly, it seems) to make my way through all of the Booker Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners (fiction only) and the BBC Big Read Top 200.
This is book #125 of the BBC Top 200.
Hmm. Scary that it got there.  Mind you, considering Gormenghast made the list I shouldn't really be disrespectful of this work.  Hard going though it was.

The Tainted Relic


This is the first collaboration book that I have come across.  Perhaps I lead a sheltered life.  In this volume (there are three of them according to Amazon), six authors of medieval fiction collaborate with their own settings and characters to create a short story series with a central theme - The Tainted Relic. Starting with Simon Beaufort and the character Sir Geoffrey Mappestone, set in 1100 AD during the First Crusade and finishing with Philip Gooden's character, Nick Revill, set in the 1600s with Will Shakespeare as a minor character, we follow the course of the tainted relic through many hands and settings.  We witness the mayhem and deaths of those who come into it's sphere of influence.
I liked the idea of different authors allowing their creations this type of collaboration, but strangely found that there was very little distinctive voice to be heard between each story.  Erroneously I thought that the different authors' work would have rung out with a unique and personal style of prose.  I am quite surprised that this was largely a uniform sounding work.  Of course two of the six authors are one person - Simon Beaufort and Susanna Gregory - but what of the others?  If anyone else has read this, please let me know if you also found it to be this way.

Non-Fiction:

Carolyn 101


I picked this up out of curiosity.  I have never watched more than a few minutes of any of The Apprentice series.  While Mr Trump is obviously very successful, I struggle with the whole concept and execution of "reality TV".  It's not so real, and it's not my idea of entertainment.
Still, I wondered what the suited woman (the hardback has a photograph of Carolyn in a sharp looking red business suit) might have to say about working for such a flamboyant employer as Donald Trump.  Turns out that it is a book full of short, anecdotal stories from her rise into corporate Trump-land.  I was surprised that she chose to name individuals, especially those that she held up to be bad examples.  However, in saying that, a lot of the ideas and suggestions held a lot of common sense.  They also held a lot of "no bull" attitude too.
If you are looking for a pithy book that is readable (I finished it in about four sittings of an hour or so each), gives you a little bit of insight into the Trump organization and dishes out some fairly straightforward views on how to run a business and the people in it, then you may find this worth reading.  Get it from the library though, as I doubt you will feel the need to keep a copy.

***

I know I have posted a whole four days early, but the books I am now reading are not going to get past the finish line before Sunday.  I am once again on the Booklitzer 200 trail with The Siege of Krishnapur - this is the 1973 Booker winner - and I am about to start on a couple of business books. Wish me luck and see you here at the end of next month.

P.S. August's reading has tipped my over my 2008 reading goal of 24 books.  Will miracles never cease!

Shibboleths and Termagants

As usual I can count on Alexander McCall Smith to expand my vocabulary. The first two are from his work and the third from The Tainted Relic, which is my current reading material.

Hopefully no one I know will fall into the possibility of being described as a termagant. However I am sure that I can slip shibboleth into conversation at some point. Or at very least it may now appear in the occasional blog entry. In fact, wouldn't the term blog be described as a shibboleth? ;)

Shibboleth

A word or pronunciation that distinguishes people of one group or class from those of another.
A word or phrase identified with a particular group or cause; a catchword.

Termagant

A violent, turbulent, or brawling woman.

Concupiscence

Lust

A Year in Review - Miss Oh Waily

Last weekend was Miss Oh Waily's first birthday, so I thought I would do a review of her first year with us.

The Little Miss joined us on 17 August 2007 at 7:35am after giving twenty-four hours of notice. She didn't make it easy and was in danger of getting familiar with the ventouse when she finally gave up the fight and arrived the old-fashioned way.
Shortly after arrival she flat-lined and had some assistance from our midwife and hospital staff in order to clear her airways and set her on her way.

For those who understand these things, here are her statistics:

APGAR at 1 minute: 4
APGAR at 5 minutes: 9
Birth weight: 3465 grams
Head circumference: 34cm
Length: 52cm

As for her parents, she left her mother requiring running repairs and both of us completely smitten.

At three months old she had grown by 5cm and had added 2 kg. She was talking away and making her grandparents fall in love with her while we lived with them during our renovations. At three and a half months old we were back home and the little Miss managed the first of many physical milestones - she rolled herself over.

By January, at five months old, she was happily sitting unaided and was able to stand with support. She had added another 1.5kg and 5.5cm to her little body.

By March, just before her 7th month birth day she had added another half a kilo and 3cm. She began crawling a few days before her birth day and by month end was crawling everywhere and anywhere she could. Also at this point she began to kneel more and more, as well as attempt to pull herself up to stand using the furniture. She managed to do so a few times. By the end of March her two bottom teeth arrived within three days of each other. Just like buses. ;)

By April and her 8th month she was successfully pulling herself up to standing and was "cruising" around the living room. By the end of the month she was very stable and fast at cruising, and had also developed the ability to clap her hands properly. Previously she would clap with one hand open and the other closed as a fist.

By her next Plunket visit in May the little one had added another half a kilogram and 2cm. On my birthday, about two week shy of her 9th month birth day she provided me with a wonderful present - she stood up independently and unaided. A few days after her birth day I have noted in her Well Child Book that she had taken a step or two unaided, and so began the walking and running dynamo that is our daughter. By month end she was walking across the room with a fair amount of stability, but wasn't able to turn around yet without falling on to her bottom.

By mid-June the little Miss was sleeping through the night in her own bedroom. Her top right lateral incisor had appeared, and her curiosity about all things was growing like Topsy. Peek-a-boo had been a regular favourite ever since she became able to pull blankets or clothes between her line of sight and her parents. Now we had Peek-a-boo from behind the sofa and under the curtains. Books had become even more interesting and our attention span had begun to lengthen enough to really enjoy looking at the pictures and listening more to the story.

By July another top tooth arrived, this time the right central incisor. We developed another game - Up and Down. This is a derivative of Peek-a-boo. In our open plan living area we have had to develop a home-made security system for corralling a mobile baby since commercial baby gates just wouldn't cut the mustard. This largely involves the use of plastic boxes full of stuff (Christmas decorations, craft supplies, etc) placed strategically between seats and windows and walls. This however, has provided another source of Peek-a-boo material - the hiding by squatting down behind things. What happens when a baby brings this out into the near-open? Well her Mum changes it from Peek-a-boo to "Down" "Up". Within a fraction of a second the little person gets the concept, and off she goes - squat down "Down", spring up to standing "Up". Like all babies, we don't just do this one time and move on. Oh, no. So we have the beginnings of learning opposites.

By August, just before her first birthday, she had her visit with the Karitane nurse. Another kilo added and another 6cm grown. I still struggle with the fact that she sprouted up at the rate of 2cm a month.

And then on her birthday she got to enjoy her first ever piece of chocolate cake. And yes, she did like it. We did not, however, allow her to eat the inhabitants of 100 Acre Wood - that was left to the adults.

It's hard to believe a year has gone by. It's also hard to believe the extent of the changes and growth in her during that time. It's one thing to 'know' intellectually about these things, but it's a different thing to watch it all happening. Some things just seem to slip past, even though you are seeing her every day. I mean to say - 2cm a month in height !! The only real inkling I get that this is occurring is the fact that she can reach to the back of our little side table now.

Nowhere is safe any more, I spotted her managing to reach things at the edge of the dining table this morning.
Good grief - what will the next year hold ?!