A nephew, a cold, an essay and a journey

It's been quite a week. Last Friday I became an auntie - my sister had a tiny little boy at 31 weeks.  Both are doing okay.  There is a picture above of the little fellow.

I was only able to meet him yesterday as I was really sick with bronchitis, which was frustrating. I'm now attempting to pack a bag and write most of an essay before heading off the the ALIA LibTech Conference in Perth, while playing scrabble on my phone with a friend who is writing a major report.

My partner now has a serious manflu, which is quite dramatic and all-encompassing, so I'm going to have to stop everything soon and get him some medicine. 

I must be feeling better today, as I'm multitasking again, which is comforting.  The whole week with the only doing one thing at once, and then barely doing the one thing, was a bit disconcerting.

Just before I got sick again (although throughout the month of August it was hard to tell where one illness stopped and another began), my partner and i were both home, making spaghetti, drinking red wine, and we ended up writing a whole song before dinner.  I live for these moments... I love that thing I heard Tom Waits say in an interview when someone asked him in an interview what came first, the music or the lyrics, and he replied, "the phone call". (Sorry, I have no idea when he said it).

Now to see if blogs are happening...

It's day #9 of blog every day of june & I really hope my mobile blogger is working...
Making some coffee & trying to keep warm watching a Happy Days rerun. It's about 9 degrees celsius.

Bloggy frustration

I've been trying to blog from the blogger app on my phone for a week or so and no joy. There were times when I had a few choice gems to say as well.... Frustrating! My little lifeless posts are living in my phone but can't get out, all waiting for the elusive day when they upload. If I'm not blogging from said phone, the simultaneous tweet is not, er, simultaneous, I guess. I'll try to sort myself out when I've had some beauty sleep for the brain...

My first essay in years

I've been writing my first essay for my degree this afternoon, and realising I've become a bit rusty at writing.  Also it has seemed easier to work out my thoughts on paper at times.  I guess this demonstrates my Gen X mixture of digital vs analogue thinking. The new laptop is a breeze to work on and still very pretty.  It is very strange writing an essay without a cigarette in my hand, though.  When I think that all of my creative and academic writing, since 1987, was done with a cigarette in one hand, it is with an odd, calm, unobstructed but strangely empty clarity that I attempt to think creatively sans addiction.  Four months is not very long in the face of a 24 year relationship with the evil weed, and it is probably a good thing to do the degree now and really practise this writing without anything to mentally lean on.  I have eaten a lot of biscuits today, but I find this is becoming less as time goes on.  As I become immersed in the task at hand, I do notice less and less that I am doing it without smoking, and that can only be a good thing.  And now to return to the essay and see if it still sounds as erudite as it did when I stood up for a stretch half an hour ago...

Woohoo! A new laptop!

I've just been setting up my NEW laptop. So excited to do this with no help so far. It's very pretty.  I expect I will be a little more web present now that I have everything I need at my fingertips. Also, I've now started studying towards the Bachelor of Information Studies, so no doubt most of my distractions will be centred around my desk, e.g. blogging, myspace, twitter, facebook, flickr.  There are just so many things to do in the same space as where I look at my study...It's okay, I know when to focus.
Here's to many more blog posts!