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( Other Stuff )

Livejournal links:
the_safehouse A place for all Professionals fans (primarily slash-focused)
discoveredinalj Slash, but gen-friendly comm for seasonal/festive challenges
pros_pearl A community celebrating the 30th anniversary of 'The Professionals' - slash/gen
ci5hq Story recs and discussion.

My home smells of lemon and garlic and cumin because I'm marinating lamb strips overnight. You know that means I've got a few days to myself, right? *g*

Had the most wonderful trip away this Easter. There's a pine forest just outside Armidale where a local Dark Ages group holds biennial Gatherings. Since 1992(!) Actually there was one in 1990 that got rained out, but a few silly fools *g* made it to that one anyway, and some of us count it as a kind of unofficial first.

I've been doing 17th century for the last decade and a half and haven't been to a Gathering for years. I couldn't stay for all of it - curse you, real life! - but what I did experience made me feel terribly nostalgic for the old days. Beautiful site and lovely, welcoming people.

Here have some photos:
( Behind the cut )

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I have no idea how the usual theys are going to check the validity of this survey, but the source is kosher. And Adam Bandt's introductory speech on the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill is a thoughtful piece of work. So, um, go vote, Aussies!

Originally posted by drjon at House of Reps marriage equality survey

Family stuff again, but of the good this time.

My niece is a keen rower, and is pretty good at it too (3 gold medals in various classes at the recent NZ Nationals... /auntie brag). She has the opportunity to take up a sporting scholarship to a university in the US this year and she wants to do a degree in logistics management.

So she has two offers. One from Ohio State (Columbus), the other from Michigan State (East Lansing). Both offer the courses she's after. There are a couple of other scholarship girls from NZ at Michigan. The finances are about the same. Ohio wanted an answer last week, but in view of Dad's death they've given her more time. The offer from Michigan only came in a week ago.

So... is anyone familiar with either of these universities? Any advice, anecdotes, information about them, the cities they are in, anything to help her make up her mind - I said I'd ask!

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( Beautiful turtle girl under the cut )

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I'm just back from a long weekend in Melbourne, combining my favourite things - re-enactment and Pros. byslantedlight was visiting \o/, there was the possibility of an IRL meeting with someone I'd only been in email contact with before, and then there was some talkfest-y stuff that was happening in association with the Timeline Fair, which I hoped wouldn't get in the way of more informal enjoyment *g*. Oh, and Melbourne is a great place to visit, with many interesting things within an easy tram-ride.

900 km of driving (one-way) was too hard, and I didn't want to perform the airport shuttle juggle, so I took the overnight train from Strathfield, arriving early in the morning. Walked from Southern Cross station to a friend's house in West Melbourne, chatted with Rob and Laura for a little while, then left Rob to get on with thesis/seminar/something similar writing and went shopping. Victoria Markets were only five minutes away:
( pics and more under the cut )

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Watching the rugby:

- Tackle on Williams (W) - ouch, not nice
- Barnes (A) definitely didn't get brought into play often enough this tournament. Works well with Quade...
- Oh no, Curtley (A) *sympathies*
- looks like a game, though...

( bit of ongoing commentary, not all serious, under the cut )

So many of my IRL friends are on Facebook, yet it continues to baffle me. I can see no sense in the way things appear on one's wall, for example. A friend on holiday has updated 3 times in the past few days yet her most recent - sent from Heathrow, on her way back to Oz - was actually listed below the earlier two. I've figured out that I don't actually see the updates of lots of friends I want to keep up with - these are the ones who, like me, post something about once a month, if that - but I'm swamped by "share" messages (of varying quality) and rot from people who post 6 times a day. Do Not Like!

I'm surprisingly invested in tonight's RWC semi-final between France and Wales. Go Wales! It would be great to see a Wales vs All Blacks final. I mustn't get ahead of myself though - with Carter out for the rest of the tournament and McCaw injured but playing, tomorrow's game will be tough. Less of the good wishes though, ta mate.

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