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Stuff
I suppose I should post at some point, and this is it. So here's an assortment of things.
Birthday
My sister Jenni came up from Hamilton for the day (also to look at some French doors she saw on TradeMe) and we had lunch with Greg at the local Mexican (as in run by Mexicans) cafe where I was greeted with a hug as we haven't been there for a while. Jenni gave me a scarf she bought in Israel, and Greg's present hasn't arrived yet (this week, I hope): a new computer. We also went out for dinner at a local Malaysian place (run by Malays, yay) and we will be back. NUM!
Cats (and another birthday)
Ashley is now three if you go by her notional have-a-stab-at-it birthday of 1 May. All three enjoyed tuna in celebration. She's asleep on our bed now but earlier she was dong her squeaky "chase me" act for Sebastian and they were rocketing all over the house. I do love the sound of little scampering paws. Sebastian fits in really well, playing with both cats. I have yet to see actual snuggling but this may yet happen. There will be photos of all three when I have my own computer again.
I wish he'd learn to use the cat door though. It has a magnet to stop it being blown open by the wind and he thinks it won't open when he feels the resistance. I've tied it open when I'm here, but that means he's effectively locked in at night and when I'm out which means I have to keep buying litter.
Teleporting
I am glad to see that China Mieville is with me on teleporting/beaming killing the person and copying them. Not that I choose to believe this happens in Star Trek or Blake's 7.
I'm sure there were other things but I can't think of them now.
Re: *nitpicking*
Oh no, please don't pay any more, I feel guilty enough already about taking so long to write the story (mainly due to feeling crap about unemployment and the mess this country is in financially: not much hope for the future).
I've had three contracts this year, all short-term. I need something longer and with decent pay. The last one was for a new agency so I hope that encourages them to find me more work.
Re: *nitpicking*
I know how difficult it is to be creative on demand if the timing is bad, and I know about being depressed and what it does to you as well. And I'm not expecting anything extraordinary if you're worried about that (though I know you're capable of it - and in a way you've already written one wonderful story for me, back when we had our first teleport discussion- remember?) And in any case, it's for charity, right? You couldn't make it wasted money even if you tried!
But all right, I promise that if I donate more, I won't tell you about it. ;-)
Things have been feeling a bit shaky at my workplace for a while too. The company's in the middle of negotiating for a renewal of contract with one of their biggest customers; they were supposed to have decided by last month but it got moved forward so we still don't know. If we don't get it... Well. I try not to think too much about it until I have to.
...But please don't feel bad. At least not about the story. *offers hug*
Re: *nitpicking*
Ouch. My sympathies. I've been through that a couple of times though the second time I jumped ship before it happened, but there were jobs to be had in those days.
I bet your country is in better shape, so if you lose your job, you get unemployment (I don't), and can find another one. Here people's pay hasn't changed for years, the cost of living has gone up by at least 25%, and people have been once again shafted by this week's budget. The huge expense of the earthquakes has made it all worse, regardless of the projected boom years ahead when Christchurch gets on its feet. A lot of Christchurch people have come here, and already there were hundreds of applicants for every job. :-( I stand very little chance of even earning the average wage again, yet I used to earn over it with my skills and degree. Sigh. I wish Greg would agree to move to Australia.
Re: *nitpicking*
Yes, Sweden's made it remarkably well through the crisis and the situation's nowhere near as desperate as yours. Really, my largest fears about unemployment are related to my personal failings with people and with things like driving (I still haven't got a proper driver's license, though I'm taking driving lessons once again, for the fourth time now) and generally not being good at handling too many things at once. So far, I've been very lucky to have a local job which demands practical skills above social ones.
But at least those are things that I can work with (and constantly do, though my degree of success often feels like a hit-or-miss deal), while your situation is dependent on so many things beyond your influence. I can understand how hopeless that must feel.
Re: *nitpicking*
I'm OK driving around areas I know, but get very nervous if I'm out of my comfort zone in a part of the city I don't know well, as I was on Friday. Can you drive without a licence over there, then? You only can here if you have someone else in the car with you.
Re: *nitpicking*
No, you can't drive a proper car without a license here either. What I've been driving so far is what we call a "moped car", a kind of light-weight microcar designed for a maximum speed of 45 km/h (about 28mph?) Those require a license too, but it is not as strict as the regular one. I do have that one. :-)
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Oh yeah, that short-circuits my brain. I have to talk to myself to get my thoughts back on track. Songs on the radio do that to me too, and if they're ones I really hate, I have to leave the room. Asking people to turn their radios down in the office is yet another way I mark myself as a weirdo. And just losing interest in a conversation and going back to work probably ruined a few work relationships for me too.
get taken the wrong way by NT's
You know, I always read that wrong and think, hey, I'm an NT! Meaning intuitive thinker from the MBTI personality thing, not neuro-typical.
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Yes, that's a bit sloppy of me, using it like that. There are enough acronyms around as it is. (I like the word though; I think it's a good way to get around problematic notions like "normal" or "ordinary")
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Though in the end of course it all comes down to usage. If "neurotypical" is used primarily as a disparaging term, then it will lose its usefulness as a neutral definition. Sadly, I could see that happening.
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I suppose people don't like to think of themselves as being average. I agree though that 'normal' and 'typical' aren't as bad as 'average', and I admit when people say I'm not normal, I just laugh and say, "Who wants to be average?"
Where did you learn your English? It's excellent, a lot better than many native speakers'.
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Thank you! I don't get a lot of feedback on my language use, so hearing that from a native speaker matters a lot. I think Swedes in general have a good start on the English language; we start studying it early in school and all television shows are texted rather than dubbed, so we hear it a lot too. I've had the further advantage of most of my secondary school and university studies being taught in English, but above all, I think it comes from reading a lot. The number of SF and fantasy novels available in Swedish was pretty limited when I was a kid, and I had to switch language pretty early in order to satisfy my appetite... :-)
In any case, I love the English language! It has so many more words and is so much more flexible than Swedish. It makes it much easier to satisfy my craving for exactness, and even though I know I'm prone to what tvtropes calls Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness
- believe me, it would sound even worse in Swedish!
I feel I have to add a bit of a disclaimer, though. Because I've learned most of the language from context rather than studying it in itself, I don't actually "know" a lot of grammatical rules, I just write what sounds good to me. Also, I'm not particularly good at pronunciation (not likely to be a problem between us, though!) or the spoken and informal uses in general; as well as finding it difficult to separate British and American usage etc. If you notice me consistently doing something strange, please feel free to point it out! :-)
IRONY
It's been bugging me all evening. XD
Re: IRONY
When I lived in Germany, I noticed that they dubbed (and very well) all the foreign TV programs, but they don't in Holland and I've noticed the Dutch speak much better English. As for my German, it's good enough for me to pass as a native by accent--until I make a mistake which usually doesn't take long. :-P
Re: IRONY
Yes, it probably makes a big difference to have heard it spoken regularly. I actually think my accent was all right (back in the days when I used to speak it a lot), in the sense that I made the right kind of sounds not to sound like a foreign speaker to a casual listener. But since I've learned more words by reading than by hearing them spoken I've had to guess at pronounciations, and often end up stressing the wrong syllables etc. Sometimes it takes me a while to recognise a spoken word that I commonly use in writing, just because I've pronounced it differently in my head all this time.
Re: IRONY
Re: IRONY