Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Living in the Future

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I may have mentioned in these here parts before that I have a not insignificant number of niblings (yes, niblings, look it up).

As a dutiful auntie I do my best to anticipate their birthdays but usually I’m a bit rubbish at being organized enough to get gifts to them before the actual day, more often or not, they’re late.

So, as I was home in NZ in Sept it seemed smart to buy Healy’s* gift while I was there, and having observed his passion for all things Thomas the Tank Engine I inquired of my sis which engine was missing from his set. The reply was Diesel 10, an engine which was unheard if to me it’s been so long since I had little charges who were train mad.

Of course, Diesel 10 isn’t currently in production in the set that Healy owns (don’t get me started on the myriad of versions of TTTE tracks and how easy it is to get the wrong ones!) so some Internet surfing was employed to find one, which I duly did, in Hong Kong.

Had all gone according to the plan the train would have arrived on time, posted direct to his address and all would have been hunky dory! But these things rarely go according to the plan and the package never arrived. So while the vendor gave me a refund, the hunt for another was renewed.

I found one a week or two back, and of course, it wasn’t local, it was in the UK, but as I put in a decent bid which was maximised by the strong Aussie dollar, I sat back anxiously to find out if anyone was quite so desperate as me.

HURRAH! They weren’t, and so after a wee flurry of correspondence with the previous owner, the engine, complete with two troublesome trucks was despatched to NZ.

Here’s the best bit of the whole story… Lil’ Sis waited till I was available on Skype to have Healy open the present while I was ‘there’ so I could get the full impact of what we suspected would be a VERY welcome gift (Diesel 10 is Healy’s FAVOURITE – can’t think why, he [the engine] really is a nasty piece of work!!) … and I wasn’t disappointed… His little face was an absolute picture of delight!! So much so that I got a text message a bit later that read ‘that Diesel 10 is sooo berry cool’. (I melted…)

So here’s to living in the future – where buying almost anything you need is possible from anywhere in the world, and where seeing the joy such a thing can bring is possible from over 2,000 kilometeres away…

*Not his real name.

How to Make Friends with Internet People

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I’ve been noticed of late that it’s very hard to be both a blogger and a twit; to do either well one seems to suffer at the expense of the other.

I’ve been on Twitter since 2007, I’m within the first 1 million users actually (#797,113), how’s that for an early-adopter hall of fame statistic? And when I finally figured out what it was for, and that it was way better when you’ve got friends on it, then all the brain space I allot to writing was directed towards thinking up witty bon mots of 140 characters or less. Gradually, as life got busier it was easier to wow my loving audience that way, and frankly the conversation flows a lot more easily than it does in the comment section of a blog post, so in a sense there was more instant gratification on twitter than on the blog, an frankly when you spend all day on the computer and at that time, all evening studying then brain space was hard to find let alone allot to the blog.

But I miss the blog when I’m not posting on it, and it’s been interesting this week having to think about blog posts then actually write them down. It’s been great reading and responding to comments too! But the long form writing writing part’s hard, I’m tired and 140 characters seems a lot more attractive some times.

Interestingly, over on Twitter I’ve been making friends, not just following and connecting with people who already live in my little corner of the internet world but ‘meeting’ new people! The connections have been spilling over from twitter into real time chat as well which has been really fun!! Frankly I’m really enjoying this new mode of twitter that isn’t just about me trying to amuse but is actually more about conversation. It’s still kind of a weird medium to conversate on actually, so few characters harder even when you use half of them linking the 4 of us up ( @sassygirlcanada @AidaofNubia @Into_The_Mystic is a whole lotta characters) but is a good challenge!! Given that we are 2 Canadians, 1 in America and me, the hardest part is synchronising watches!

Squeaking In

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I really only have 8 minutes to post this before the midnight deadline so it will be brief… The blogging about dating websites is in the pipeline but my emotional bandwidth to cover it is a bit thin – and I’m tired so instead I shall leave you with a look at my latest venture… my website.

Not a website I’ve been working on for anyone else but MINE. The one for the business that keeps me in the lifestyle to which I’m becoming accustomed… you know, one where you’re I’m not in shedloads of debt and in which I get to work every day doing stuff I love. I know, I’m so ridiculously blessed… In any case, I won’t keep you in suspenders anylonger… go over, have a look! !

http://www.as-scene.com.au and if you like it… would you ‘LIKE’ it?? There’s a ‘f’ button in the welcome panel, if you would click that, I’d be grateful!…

I’d really appreciate the support, thanks!

Nibblicious!!

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Once again a sibling of mine (Sis) has produced for me another nephew. This brings the utterly precious and adorable total to, hang on, 1..2..3..4..5..use other hand… 6..7..8.. 8 EIGHT nephews. Eight nephews and one utterly precious and adorable niece.

As I announced the auspicious event on facebook I asked also the question, “what’s the collective noun for nieces and nephews?” you know, like siblings is for sistren (yes, ’tis a word) and brethren. Low and behold, my intrepid google adventurers (ok, adventurer, Ian) went looking and found it. Niblings. How absolutely awesome is that???

There you have it, I have 9 Niblings. And I love them all dearly. Welcome little man – whose dad calls him ‘Rockstar’ because of his Britpop hair… I hope it [the name] sticks – you’re gorgeous!!