I am getting really fed up with not having seen Return of the King yet. The problem is that I am committed to seeing it for the first time with my family, which has been a Christmastime tradition with us for the trilogy, and there is NO rushing my mother. She has no particular sense of urgency about it, naturally enough; she is a supporter but not a fan.

I am one of those odd people who doesn't like The Lord of the Rings in book form but really loves the movies. This is because the movies more or less got rid of all the parts of the books that made my eyes glaze over or roll sarcastically. If you have a password for the Lizzard's blog you can read her complaining about the films' 'pomposity' and lack of naturalism in characterisation and dialogue. Compared with the way they're actually written in the books, the movie characters are simply bubbly. (Admittedly, it's a good thing the 'because my axe is buried in his central nervous system!' gag was restricted to the extended DVD edition of The Two Towers, because while it was funny as hell [and thoroughly Jacksonian] it was also anachronistic as heck.) I guess I just found myself vaguely irked by the Lizzard's assertion that, for anyone who didn't love the self-consciously epic, often ponderous style of the books, the movies are/can be nothing more than magnificent set-pieces and 'pomposity.' *waves* Hello from the middle ground. I find them funny, exhilarating and moving. And Sam is my boy.

So now, evidently, ALL my friends have seen RotK including the grumpy one who didn't even like it. You understand my mild discontent.

Also, true Auckland Christmas weather has set in - the sky is grey and white and the air is warm and damp.

I am not sick any more but my appetite is not yet back to normal. I am still skittish about food, though I don't know exactly why. I've bought all my Christmas presents, and while many of them were wrapped in the shop I still have some packaging to do. I had strange dreams most of last night about changing my clothes a lot - I owned a lot of pretty, full skirts, which I wish I did in life, especially the apple-red broderie anglaise cotton one with a petticoat.

I suppose I'd better go and begin the day - there's ironing to be done.

I felt better today, fortunately; my stomach has been coming right but I have still been troubled by strange aches in my neck and limbs, especially the thighs, and have not really had an appetite. Because I was not totally all right today I didn't go to a barbecue with Kate, Tony and Wendy this evening. I stayed at home and watched movies on television - Men In Black II and then Sweeney Todd, which I was appalled and delighted to discover, at the end of the closing credits, was made in 1997 (although imdb.com says 1998), because it was so cheap and silly it looked much older. I don't know what Ben Kingsley was doing in a film like that, except obviously having a very good time. And it was a crime to make an elegant lady like Joanna Lumley wear those dentures. (I kept worrying they would come out when she snogged Sweeney.)

It had the sort of script where things keep happening for no reason, leaps of deduction are made without evidence (or at least, without the person doing the leaping having seen the evidence; apparently it's enough that the audience have seen it) and unlikely people conveniently know each other. Some people have terrifying 'THIS IS HISTORY' teeth and others have nice white ones. It was a good laugh and I feel better for having seen it.

You've got to like a movie that features the line 'I'll never spank you again, Major Routledge!' - right?

I am mightily vexed. I did stay up for Buffy, and for the Premiere Premiere episode of The Powerpuff Girls (Buttercup's unique power is the ability to curl her tongue, and very cute she looks doing it), and then shambled to bed feeling quite shattered (9:30 PM). I went to sleep quite soon but then woke up at 11:15 PM feeling weird; you know the kind of weird where you wake up in the middle of the night and you're ill and things seem unfamiliar, like the feeling of your glasses frames when you pick them up from the nightstand? After some lying around feeling vaguely too hot but dry, I thought of taking my temperature. Orally, using a digital thermometer, this came out as 37.5ºC. I stared at the LCD dully for a while before realising that I know normal body temperature in Fahrenheit is 98.6º; there was a pop song about it ('Hey, 98.6, it's good to have you back again, oh hey, 98.6, her lovin' is the medicine that saved me, oh I love my baby'), but no-one has been obliging enough to do the same for normal body temperature in Celsius (did anyone do a cover version in France?) so I didn't know what the result meant. After checking online I think 37.5ºC is the lowest grade of fever, but maybe only if you are a child. *sigh* My stomach is not really painful any more, but it doesn't feel right, and my head is buzfuzzy. I can't rest. I'm squirmy. I just want to sleep so that I don't have to be conscious of feeling so darned uncomfortable. I think it's too soon to take any more Panadol (I had another two gelcaps around 8:30) and I would dearly like to wake someone up but feel that this would be inconsiderate.

For most of today I was thoroughly sick. Communication from Kate's nanny-family suggests that they gave me some wretched germ when the children were round here yesterday to help decorate our Christmas tree; they were all in a similar state last night and today. I have had what Nanny Ogg calls 'the dire rear,' I have vomited lavishly, I have had aches and pains in my muscles (especially the thighs for some reason) and head and generally shivered and writhed miserably in my bed except for dashes to the toilet across the hall. Eventually, not sure I would be able to keep it down, I had some Panadol and this quietened the aches and pains sufficiently for me to go to sleep. Upon waking up I felt almost comically better, so thank goodness for that. I am still rather shaky and qualmish and do not expect to eat dinner, but I think I can sit up to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and that is the main thing.

Ugh. Stupid unhygienic children.

You are MOJO BUBBLES! Technically, you're not
evil; you're just misguided. You don't
consciously do evil things, but once in a
while, you key in on someone else's evilness,
and almost by accident, become consumed by it.
You don't even remember your normal life during
these periods of what can best be called
psychosis. The people who support you in your
normal life are forgiving, and understand your
temporary descent into evilness. Just don't
make a habit of it, and your secret will be
safe to the outside world.

Which Powerpuff Villain Are You?
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Rock. I get to do The Voice - and be cute too.

You are "Which D&D Class Are You"!

Which Quizilla Quiz Are You?
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Now THAT'S intertextual. Or maybe just lame.

Watch out. She's been to Quizilla again. Tonight's theme: the Beatles. EEEEEEEEEEEE!

By George! You really go for the quiet kind types,
and George is your man. But dont let the silent
demeanure fool you, he can get very John-like
if you know what I mean. *wink*

What Beatle do you wanna snog?
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I'm surprised, really; I fancy John the most. And I do want to say that I feel it should be which Beatle do you wanna snog. But, those considerations aside, yeah, why not. But 'demeanure'?

Well thanks a lot, bitch, and don't bother to make a result graphic. *rolls eyes upward*

HIPPIE JOHN! Positive spy traits: Will tackle any
opponent with his razor sharp wit and political
tunes. He may scare them with his natural
intimidation. Negative spy traits: Yoko's
screeching voice acts as a shield.

WHICH BEATLE IS YOUR GROOVY SPY SIDE KICK, BABY?
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What are you talking about? Yoko? She won't be involved. And John, wash your damn hair. Long is one thing, but there's no excuse for dirty.

Paul McCartney would love you. That means you're
the perfect woman for the cute, family man.
The McCartney charm gets us all sometimes.

Which Beatle would fall in love with you?
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Ooooooooh shit no. I like having TWO legs and TWO breasts.

YOU ARE GEORGE: friendly, spiritual and VERY
talented. George is my favorite beatle. He was
an excellent songwriter (i think his songs had
the most feeling behind them). You probably
didnt want the beatles to break up. avoid smoking.

which beatle's ''post beatle'' attitude do you have?
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Also, I like to believe that my significant other would smite an assailant with a bedside lamp for me.

Today was the first day of my mother the primary school teacher's holidays. So naturally she has a summer cold. Boo! This meant that she did not feel like executing the plan for shopping in the morning, so while she levered herself up by gentle degrees I went and cleaned Jannie's. After that, we sallied forth and bought a new market umbrella to go over our outdoor table, a frozen turkey the size of Prince Chid, some stuff from the garden centre (bark chips, a big ceramic pot, cactus and succulent potting mix, some flowering succulents to go in the pots round the front door because everything else there has died, my grandmother's Christmas present from me which it is probably safe, in this forum, to say is a trowel) where we also had lunch in their café (I enjoyed my bacon and avocado panino)... I got new sunglasses, since I have no idea where the ones I used to wear are now. There is an annoying preponderance of sunglasses in pharmacies that make the wearer look like an Agent Smith pretender. I managed to find some pinky-grey rimless ones that look all right.

Weatherwise it has been a beautiful day, sunny, lightly breezy, warm but not excessively warm, with clear skies and just a few decorative clouds. I want it to be like this for Christmas. (nods firmly)

I also found a bunch of tapes in my mother's car glovebox which she does not listen to, so they are going to become my car's music library. Reety awrighty. After Wendy has had a bit more of a post-shopping rest we are going to venture out again and look for a Christmas tree - they usually sell good ones next to the St John's ambulance garage in Highland Park.

I have made my decision, filled in the form and posted it - next year I will be going to ACE and training as a teacher of English and Drama for secondary schools. I did, however, ask the MLIS people if I could defer acceptance to a later year, since presumably I would be just as acceptable in 2006 or 7 as in 2004.

It's only Wednesday, but it feels later in the week. This is partly because the movie and takeaways yesterday made Tuesday feel like Friday. This realFriday the Buffy rerun on Sky One will be 'Tabula Rasa,' an episode that various vicissitudes have always prevented me seeing before, so I am quite determined to watch it this time. After all, I don't want to forever miss out on Spike wearing a suit and thinking his name is Randy Giles.

Today Kate, Natalie, Kate's friend Tia and I went to Underworld, a movie which already suffered in my mind from having the same name as Mike Baldwin's lingerie factory in Coronation Street. It was hard to imagine Haley and Karen and Janice weren't involved somehow, with Fiz gurning in the background. But no, it's a horror-action film about vampires and werewolves, which is funny because when I first met Natalie in high school she said, with all the self-assurance of a seventeen-year-old goth, 'I'm a vampire' and I said 'Oh yeah? Then I'm a werewolf' and we were friends from then on. Underworld is equally silly. I'm sorry, but it was. It had its moments of coolness, the art direction pleased me very much, I especially liked Erika the bitchy blonde unappreciated groupie vampire, and Selene was an authentic and satisfying action heroine, with a style of femininity that was neither defined nor compromised by her warrior role - but it was silly.

Come on, Bill Nighy as vampire elder Viktor? When he was revived from dehy-bernation I half expected someone to ask if he was 'still crazy.' That bit of casting smacked of 'We couldn't afford Jeremy Irons.' He has a cadaverous face but he didn't act like a vampire. The young man playing Kraven had evident difficulty talking around his fang dentures, and deciding whether his accent was Californian or Northern Irish. ('I want to sock your blod,' mimicked Natalie.) The last scene was a craven (ha) set-up for a sequel, even telling you who to expect to be the villain (although I for one am hoping Erika will get over her Kraven Krush and put herself about a bit more - she has potential, and a really nifty reaction to being startled, leaping into the air with a squeal and a hiss and clinging to the ceiling like a cartoon cat). It was a curious touch that only two people with speaking parts in this movie were actually human, and one wasn't any more by the end. Thus we see the vampires and werewolves (I don't see why 'Lycan' is supposed to sound cooler; like 'vampire' isn't corny too? In one scene we even see it spelled 'vampyre' on a label) solely in their relationship to one another, and never in action as predators. This allows us to enter into sympathy with them, their struggle and alliances and politics, while temporarily disregarding the fact that the whole lot of them are despicable parasites upon the human race. At least the werewolves are underdogs. HA HA! And, with the best will in the world to avoid spoilers, I must say that what Selene does with the sword at the end is the silliest of all. You watch. Tell me if it doesn't make you hoot or groan.

Also, perhaps it was just a problem in that particular theatre, but the soundtrack was way too loud, especially in fight and flashback scenes.

So anyway, we said bye to Tia and Kate and Natalie and I went home and we had KFC for dinner and watched telly and it was nice. Wendy has finished school for the year and tomorrow, if all goes according to plan and she is feeling well (she was a bit peaked this evening) we will do a Christmas shopping knock-it-on-the-head expedition and also get in the tree - and I will somehow have to fit in cleaning Jannie's.

We are thinking about a road trip down via some LOTR locations to Wellington in January. Details unclear so far, except that we are planning to make a mix tape for the journey. You know, the important stuff.

Oh, and this morning before the movie I went to the optometrist and picked up the lenses that I think are going to be keepers. (I had a trial pair in a few days ago and they were not right.) I wore them for two or three hours in the morning with surprisingly little discomfort and very good vision (a bit better than 20/20, according to Kylie Optometrist and her charts). Then I thought it would be overambitious to leave them in to watch a movie, so I took them out, cleaned them and put them away neatly; I'll give them another go tomorrow. With hard contact lenses you need to acclimatise your eyes gradually. Although they are more uncomfortable at first they let much more oxygen through to your eye than the soft type. Kylie finds my eyes noteworthy; one of them is minus eleven and you don't see that every day. (It's pretty dreadful.)

I have missed The Powerpuff Girls tonight because Kate wanted to watch Men In Black II, but now that's over and it's time for Johnny Bravo so I believe I'll say good night - good night.

Last week's resolution to write something every day lasted through Wednesday. *pscht* Typical. Anyway, let's kick off a brave new week with some more daft Quizilla results.

Discworld: Which Ankh-Morpork City Watch Character are YOU?
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This means I have ve-ry persuasive handwriting.

Soul Music - "Scythes, Dibbler, and Music with
Rocks In."

Which Discworld Book are you?
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And as it happens, this is the book I got signed by Pterry the first time I went to one of his bookshop appearances.

You are Greebo. Stay the hell away from me.

What Discworld Animal Are You?
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Actually, I am tremendously proud of this. Greebo rocks. Who do you think would win in a fight, Greebo or Bigwig from Watership Down? Who do you think has more scars?

You are Rincewind (first name forgotten). The only reason you are a wizard is because it says
so (quite badly) on your hat. You are an abject
coward and solve problems by running in the
opposite direction. It's not that you can't
stand blood... It's just the sight of your own
which is so undesirable.

Which Discworld Wizard Are You?
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That's funny, I thought I was going to be Ponder Stibbons. I really don't run well enough to be Rincewind.

You are a Human.

Which Kind Of Inhabitant Of Discworld Are You?
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Well, that's reassuring. I can show THIS to the doubters!

I have been surprisingly social lately owing to doing things with Natalie, who needs to be kept amused until she goes back to England. Last night we went to her friend Rajneel's house and watched This Is Spinal Tap and The Fanimatrix, which he directed. (!) Which was nice.

I'd probably better go and make dinner. Today I had to clean the whole house until it squeaked. I do not like doing everything on Monday but it's the list my mother leaves me. She's nearly finished at school for the year so I suppose our arrangement will change somewhat.

I have still not made a proper decision about next year but am leaning towards ACE simply because I can *imagine* being a teacher; I can't imagine a day in my life as a librarian or archivist.