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noisy miner n. eastern Australian honeyeater, a predominantly grey and white bird with black face-markings, and given to very noisy calls. (“Noisy Miner” The Australian Pocket Oxford Dictionary. 4th ed. 1996.)
Justin and I were just kicking it last night with some whiskey and some dictionary-reading when Justin put two+two together in the N’s.
Photo credit: Justin
Justin has a keen eye, and a fondness for Kiwi shoe polish.
Before (found at the op shop):
After (half a container of black Kiwi polish, half a day, and new laces):
We’ll go back to our Old People Bedtime next week.
Fun and Exciting Thing Number One:
The Ideas Festival begins this Wednesday. I have been volunteering in advance of the festival, and then I will volunteer some more during the festival. I don’t know what to expect, but I think there will be 1) ideas, and 2) mayhem.
There will also be many metres of fishing net, hand-cut into neat and nearly neat 30cm x 30cm squares.
Fun and Exciting Thing Number Two:
The Australian Ballet is performing a free program on Friday at the Brisbane Riverstage. Gates open at 4 pm, and I am planning to be there right at 4. I’ve invited a few people I’ve just met, and I’m looking forward to packing a picnic, laying in the sun, making friends, and seeing the ballet.
Fun and Exciting Thing Number Three:
The State Library of Queensland has the first three volumes of the Dictionary of American Regional English. The SLQ is a beautiful place to read dictionaries.
At first, Justin was only holding one lime between his shoulder and his cheek. He added a second lime between his other shoulder and cheek, mischievously re-creating part of an act we’d seen last week, Scattered Tacks. Up and down he rolled the limes, one at a time: release, catch, replace, repeat. Release, catch, replace, repeat. Then, changing course, he grabbed a third lime and threw them all up in the air, one after the other. He caught them, one after the other. And before I could stuff a tea bag in his mouth, he walked away, juggling.
He’d never juggled before tonight.
You can thank my friend Mark for all the awws, because he e.mailed me this photo weeks ago. Sometimes, I totally hold out on you.
You know what else I’m holding out on you on? The number of bug bites I got in Noosa this past weekend. That number is 68. I have decided that 68 is not a good number, especially when applied to bug bites. Right now I am a mess of itch-y, scab-y, pus-y bites. Ya-y. Here is a computer-generated graphic of the perpetrator:
It is not as cute as the koala or the crab, but at least it’s not on this list of dangerous animals.
You can hear about it in a bar, or you can hear about it here:
My favorite part:
“‘My initial thought when I was half awake was: it’s a lunatic ninja coming through the window,’ Mr Ettlin told The Associated Press.
‘It seems about as likely as a kangaroo breaking in.’”
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